Chapter 4
The cups were set up in a sloppy triangle considering everyone there was practically trashed. Splashes of beer covered the blue ping pong table and cigarette ashes seemed to be outlining the sides of the standing board. Alex’s opponent was a tall, heavy set, boy with curly dirty blonde hair and dark eyes. His eyes were quite red due to the smoky atmosphere and the amount of alcohol he’d most likely consumed. Alex stood across from him, eyes fierce set on winning.
“Alright, it’s all you.” The frat boy said messily tossing Alex ping pong balls to throw with. She easily caught them with a single hand, smirking cockily as she did so. Carson stood at the long side of the table, uncomfortable and fidgety more so than usual. Matt came up to her left and tried to hand her a beer.
“Drink up, you seem tense” he said nudging her elbow and handing her the red cup.
“No thanks, I don’t drink.” Carson said, pushing away the cup lightly.
“Are you sure? You look like you need something to help you relax.”
“Yea, I’m sure” She reassured him while crossing her arms defensively.
Carson never drank she knew very well the effects of alcohol as her father had taught her before his passing. She recalled something very specific he once said “Honey, always make sure that when at a party either try to remain sober or have a close friend who will”. Seeing that Alex was already drinking and Jane was out of sight Carson understood that she was to remain sober, well even if they hadn’t been drinking her decisions would have remained the same.
Meanwhile Alex made her first shot and the frat boy drank up. The crowd cheered loudly and Carson couldn’t help but wonder how often Alex partied or how much she’d played the game. It was now the other boy’s turn to toss the ball. He angled the shot as best he could despite how much he’d already had to drink. He pulled back his arm slightly and tossed the ball straight into one of Alex’s cups. Alex picked up the cup, grabbed the wet ping pong ball from inside and drank the contents. The game remained a tie for a couple of rounds, she would make a shot then he would make one, each time becoming more and more intense. That was until Alex missed.
“Ooooooo” could be heard from the circle of people that surrounded the table. Alex was clearly getting tipsy and quite sloppy with her game. She missed the following shot as well, whereas the frat boy had now made both of the shots Alex had missed. Carson noticed the expression on Alex’s face, the expression of pure discouragement.
“C’mon kid, you can do it!” Carson yelled loudly to make sure Alex could hear her. Alex let a huge smile slip as she made eye contact with the blonde. Carson gave her a thumb up as Alex continued with her game. The boy on the other side missed his next shot as Alex made hers in; she was now only behind one cup but she was determined to win. The next couple rounds were incredibly stressful, each of them consuming more and more alcohol. Alex wasn’t drunk but she was most definitely tipsy. They both had only cup left; however it was the frat boy’s turn to toss.
“Hey! Give me a minute let me talk to Alex.” Carson yelled at the other boy. He held up a hand letting Carson know it was okay. She hurried up to Alex and pulled her aside, grabbing her hand as she did so. When she had pulled the brunette away she let go of her hand and placed both hands on Alex’s cheeks and spoke in a soft but firm voice. “Okay girl, listen up I know you can do this. Breathe, all you need to do is make one last cup and you win. You got this.” Carson kissed the Alex on the forehead, “for good luck” Carson said as she sent Alex back to the table, Alex slightly stumbling.
Sure, it was just a game of beer pong but Carson was clearly treating it as so much more. She just wanted to see the other girl happy, victorious. It was odd how Carson had already felt so drawn to the girl considering they had just met.
The frat boy pulled his arm back slightly and angled his shot. He let the ball fly across the table. Carson watched it closely as it appeared to be in slow motion. The ball hit the rim of the cup and bounced off, hitting the table.
“Ah…” the crowed cried in unison.
“Alright Alex, you got this just one more shot!” Matt shouted. Alex nodded in response. She took her time a lined up her shot; she took a long deep breath. Drawing her arm back she let the ball soar through the air. The ball spun in the air and landed straight into the red cup.
“ALEX!!!!!!” Carson yelled as she attacked her with a hug, Matt joining in.
“That was great; I knew you could do it.” Matt told her as he smiled lightly.
“Um I’m pretty sure everyone knew I could do it; I’m the beer pong champ.” The champion retorted
“Cocky much?” Matt asked raising his eyebrows.
“Maybe a little, is that a bad thing?” she pouted
“Possibly,” Matt chuckled.
Alex turned to Carson “Do you wanna dance?” she asked softly.
“Well… um… I’m not really much of a dancer.” the blonde responded tugging nervously at her sleeve.
“Oh, c’mon I’ll guide you.” She grabbed Carson’s arm and lightly led her over to the living room. She took a few steps before turning back around to face Matt once more. “I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?”
Matt raised his glass and nodded his head letting her know it was okay.
Alex continued to lead Carson to the living room, they dodged several groups standing in the middle of hallways and Alex once had to duck her head to avoid a football coming straight at her face. They reached the living room and Alex lightly dropped Carson’s arm. The green eyes beauty started to move her hips to the rhythm of the song. “Follow my lead”
Carson started to sway her hips but it was very, very off beat.
“No, no, no. That was worse than an orangutan after it had just eaten a pot brownie.” she put her hands on Carson’s hips to stop her from moving. “Listen to the music. Time your sways to the sound, watch me.” Alex moved her hips again. “See with the music, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Now you try” Carson started to move her hips again this time watching closely to the brunette trying to match her beats. “There you go, you’re getting it”
“Wow this is really fun.” She danced more, now getting her arms into it. She could feel the music in her body moving with every beat. She danced and danced and danced some more, the smile on her face couldn’t possibly be bigger. The room was filled with all sorts of college students doing countless reckless things but she didn’t really care. Usually in this type of situation Carson would’ve felt uncomfortable and out of place, but for some reason she had felt so right, so relaxed, so at… ease. Maybe she was still felling the rush from the green eyed girl’s victory; maybe it was that Alex made her feel safe, but who really knew? Whatever it was she liked it.
Alex shuffled her way closer to the blonde, their bodies danced almost in sync. Alex’s head was slightly pointed down and the way she moved seemed so care-free. Her smile was so bright it could have illuminated the entire room alone. Carson began to examine the girl up and down fixating on the way she moved, stopping when she noticed something on Alex’s right collar bone. It appeared to be a tattoo but she wasn’t entirely too sure. The brunettes head lifted slightly and her green eyes met Carson’s blue ones, Alex’s smile still heavy. Carson couldn’t help but smile back, feeling a tad bit insecure, knowing that her smile wasn’t nearly as breath taking as the girl across from her.
All of a sudden Alex was shoved by some overly intoxicated jock. She stumbled and tried frantically not to fall, however she knew that she was going down, she closed her eyes and braced herself for what was to come. As she fell she hit the ground much softer than she anticipated. She opened her eyes and came to realize that she hadn’t hit the ground at all but that the blonde girl she’d been dancing with caught her. She stood up out of the girl’s arms and brushed herself off.
“Wow, um sorry about that. Thanks for catching me though that fall would’ve been pretty nasty.” Alex chuckled nervously expressing a shy smile as she looked at the floor, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“No kidding!” she laughed, catching the sight of Alex’s small but vibrant smile. It was then she noticed a gash on the brunette’s ankle. “Shit, Alex you’re bleeding!” she pointed to where the blood was coming from.
“Oh yea… I should probably clean that” she laughed not really caring too much, trying to play it off cool.
“Let’s get you to the kitchen,” Carson placed her hands on the girl’s waist guiding her to the nearby kitchen, which was filled with many drinking college kids. The brunette hopped up onto the granite counter top rather swiftly despite her cut ankle, Carson slid off the injured girl’s heel grabbing a close by paper towel, dampening it. Carefully she picked up Alex’s dangling ankle and dabbed up the blood.
“Jesus Carson, that stings,” she winced as the towel came into contact with the open wound.
“Well you rather get an infection?” Carson said sternly as she continued to clean it up Alex. The pale blue eyed girl caressed the other girl’s leg with a gentle touch. Carson scanned the brunette’s legs she noted how tan and smooth they were. She noticed how nice the curves of her legs were, the way her calf made a perfect slope as it dipped down to her ankle, the way her knee flowed so easily to her shin. She realized just how beautiful the girl on top of the counter truly was, it was incredible. She was then broken out of her trance when she heard the injured girl speak up.
“So am I gonna be okay?” Carson looked up immediately her eyes meeting the green emeralds that were Alex’s eyes.
“What? Oh yeah… sorry um we have to bandage this.” Carson offered her hand to Alex and aided her off atop the counter. Alex’s hand felt warm, almost hot. “So I’ve got a first aid kit in my dorm, my mom made me bring it. I’m sure it’s got bandages in it, I’ll walk you back?” she raised the pitch of her voice towards end of her sentence indicating it was a question.
“Yeah sounds good to me.” They walked hand and hand out of the house Carson taking the lead as they started to walk back to Carson’s dorm room, the cool air once again brushing on their skin.