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Before I can say anything else, she’s already gone.
Letting out a sigh, I relax into my chair. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“That’s Taylor for you.”
I guess I should have realized that by now. This wasn’t the first time she turned into a whirlwind on a whim, and I imagined it wouldn’t be the last.
Enrique turns to me, his hand falling on my knee. “You don’t have to drink the shots if you don’t want to. She won’t be offended if you say no.”
“I…” The hairs at the back of my neck prickle, a sensation as if somebody’s watching me, sending tingles running down my spine. I look over my shoulder. The reaction is completely instinctual because it’s not like I can see even if somebody’s watching me.
“Penny?” He squeezes my knee, making me turn back to him. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, I spaced out for a minute.”
Before he can ask any more questions, Taylor comes back. How she managed that in this crowd, I’ll never understand.
“Here.”
There is a softclinkas the glass hits the table. Carefully I reach for it and bring it to my nose. A fruity scent reaches my nostrils, something sweet, blueberries, maybe? Then there is the undeniable bite of alcohol hiding underneath it.
“Try it. It’s way better than beer, I promise.”
“As if that’s hard,” I mutter, bringing the glass to my lips and down it in one go.
The alcohol burns down my throat. This one’s definitely much stronger than beer, but the sweetness of the fruit takes away the worst of the bite, leaving just cozy warmth filling your belly.
“So? What did you think?”
My tongue slides out, running over my bottom lip. “You were right. This is way better.”
“Good, because I got us another one.”
She places a new glass in my hand and clinks her shot with mine. “To an amazing year.”
“To an amazing year,” I echo as Enrique’s glass joins ours, and we finish our drinks.
Thankfully, after that, the subject goes back to the summer, and our upcoming classes, and nobody asks me about what other new things I want to explore, which is just fine with me. Taylor and Enrique finish off the pitcher, and I ask the waitress to bring me a cherry coke since there is no way I can drink beer. I’m totally fine with not doing it anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Why people were so obsessed with it, I’ll never understand.
However, those fruity shots? I could get behind those.
“Penny?”
“Huh?” I look up, realizing they’re waiting for my response.
Taylor chuckles, “You going home or what?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, thinking over my options before giving a quick shake of my head. “One of my friends said that she should be here tonight, so I think I’ll just text her and see if she’s coming or what.”
“Okay, have fun!”
“Want me to wait with you?” Enrique asks.
I shake my head. “I’m good, but thanks. See you in class?”
“Sure thing.”
With a goodbye, they walk away. Henry sits upright, so I place my hand over the top of his head, giving him a reassuring scratch as my mind goes back to the list. I’ve crossed one item off already by drinking those shots, but now my mind shifted to a different item on my list.
