Charlie arrived at the kitchen to find Becca in a state of choice paralysis. The kitchen table was completely covered with bottles, pitchers, and solo cups. There was a vat of ice chilling countless bottles and cans, with more cases waiting to take their place. There were a couple huge bottles of soda and juice, but the rest of the table was covered in liquor bottles.
Becca wasnât an idiot. She had been to bars. She knew how to order a drink, and she knew a lot about wine pairings. But there was no wine here, and no bartender either.
âWhatâs your poison?â asked Charlie.
âI donât know where to start.â
A girl who was in the kitchen for the same reason as Becca overheard.
âYou wanna get to the pleasure plateau!â She offered cryptically. âFirst, you put, like, 4 shots in your water bottle, and fill the rest up with a chaser. When you finish that, have one drink every hour.â She giggled, shaking her nearly empty water bottle. âThatâs what we did at my sorority anyway!â
âThanks,â said Charlie as she wandered back to the party. Then, to Becca, âThat sounded reasonable.â
But Becca was already pouring vodka into a solo cup.
âShould we measure it?â
âIâmnot trying to be reasonable, Charlie,â she retorted coldly. âIâm trying to have FUN. And that girl looked like she was having fun. Becca kept pouring until the solo cup was half way full, until Charlie said âJesus! Thatâs a lot, Becca!â
âWhatâs good with vodka?â She replied.
âWell, anything, really. Itâs pretty versatile.â
Then, to his shock, Becca tipped back the cup and emptied about half of it into her mouth.
âDAMN!â she said when she came back up for air, her face screwed up like sheâd bitten a lemon.
Charlie stared, dumbstruck. He didnât want Becca to go overboard, but he couldnât help but be impressed.
âI guess thatâs an option,â he said weakly.
Becca stood there for a moment, blinking. She had never done anything like that before, but she didnât feel any different. So she drank the rest of the cup.
âOK, thatâs a lot, Becca. Give it some time to kick in  before you drink more, OK?â
But Becca was grabbing two beers from a cooler. Charlie reached for one, but she didnât hand it to him.
âHold on,â she said, cracking one of the beers and downing it in a few swallows. She belched as she cracked the next one and took a sip. She was going to keep drinking until she was having Fun.
âWhy donât we check out the rest of the party.â
She eyed him suspiciously, skrewing up her eyes dramatically.
âBut weâre coming back here.â She giggled, and continued in a sing-song voice âWeâll come right back here when I finish my beer!â
