There was just something different about Patrick. I just couldn’t quite place it. All of a sudden he just seemed to be so lucky in everything that he did. Somehow he kept getting A’s on tests he never studied for. Or winning giveaways that he didn’t even know he participated in. Or when we went to the casino and were asked to leave because he was winning too often. Nor when the bouncer gave him his phone number as we were escorted out. And just to make matters worse, he called it out each time. He would just say, “I’m going to get his phone number when we leave,” and then it happened. I couldn’t believe it.
“You’ve got to tell me how you’re doing this,” I finally snapped as he won another giveaway online. He just saw it on the last day you could participate, pulled out his phone, and in two days got the email to verify his winnings.
“Doing what?” he smiled innocently.
“You know what,” I frowned. “How do you keep winning at everything? I mean it’s just insane! You barely even try and you still come out on top.”
“Just natural talent,” he flipped onto his back, still playing with his phone. I just rolled my eyes. “What? Not a good enough answer? What if I said I was Irish? Got the ole luck of de Irish down in me.” Pat’s accent was terrible but it was still able to pull a bit of a smile out of me.
“Well, whatever it is you got to let me in on the secret sometime,” I pressured the conversation.
“Oh?” he turned to his side taunting me. I couldn’t him like this. “You wanna know? How about if you out drink me then I’ll let you know.”
“Out drink you…” my face flat lined. “I’m not exactly a drinker…” I’d never even gone to one of the parties on campus. It just didn’t feel right. I’d be so far out of my element and then I’d have to make friends with people I didn’t know. It sounded like an awful time.
“C’mon…” Patrick goaded. “Celebrate that Irish ancestry.” I paused for a second. There was a bit of a discrepancy in my head as he said it. For some reason I thought I was German, Polish and French but that didn’t make any sense all of a sudden. There was clearly a bit of British and mostly Irish. “That’s why you got that flaming red hair; ain’t it?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “I guess… But still I don’t drink all that often.”
“Well… Holiday’s a great time to start,” he pulled out a couple of shot glasses with a giant bottle of flavored vodka next to him. I couldn’t believe the size of the thing.
“The store?” he said casually pouring us each a shot. “Go on. You’ll like it. I know you like beer more but let’s start with this.”
“Right…” I muttered, not sure if that’s what I meant. Alcohol wasn’t meant to be stored in the dorms but I guess that didn’t really matter. It’s not like I was about to rat him out just cause he had some. I looked at the small glass.
“Bottom’s up,” he smiled as he handed me the small cup. I took the shot. It burned all the way down. I could feel my face scrunch as it went into my belly. Patrick gave me a quick slap to the back. “Good job,” he complemented. “That probably won’t be the only time you hear that tonight.” His eyebrow cocked as if to taunt me. I ignored it. “C’mon big guy. Don’t be like that…”
Suddenly my entire body felt warm. It was an odd feeling. For just a second I felt like none of my clothes fit right. Like they were a few sizes too small. I stretch my heavy arms to the sky and felt my shirt fit more snuggly over my round belly. Even if that usually did show it off, it was better than being uncomfortable. I gave him a grunt. Patrick knew I didn’t like it when he called me big guy. I gained a lot more weight over my first couple of semesters than I thought I would have. For all the cafeteria’s ‘healthy choices’ most of them were still loaded with salt and fat.
“Not what I meant…” he muttered to himself. He poured us each another drink. “You’ve been working out a lot since you started here.”
“Huh..?” I questioned as I downed it. The sudden warm feeling washed over me again. Of course I’d been working out for a while. If I was going to gain weight I wanted it to mostly be muscle. I flexed my arm almost out of impulse at what I assumed was a complement. He always mentioned when I was looking good. I may not be gay but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the complement every now and then.
“I mean you’ve always been such a jock. So I guess it makes sense,” we took another shot.
“Dude, why you bein so weird all of a sudden?”
“I’m not being weird,” he laughed. Not weird for him maybe. “Why don’t you flex for me? It’ll make you feel better.”
I held up my right arm and gave it a nice flex. It bulged under my sleeve. In the other hand I took another shot. He wasn’t wrong. It did make me feel a bit better. I wasn’t sure why though. “What are we still doing here?” I asked, realizing we were in our dorm by ourselves.
“Just a little pregame. But it seems like you’re going pretty hard,” he laughed. “You feeling alright? You look pretty wasted already.”
“I ain’t swasted,” I slurred. My balance was off. I could feel myself stagger even just standing there. “Well… Maybe a little…”
“I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere tonight. But then again you did challenge me to a drinking contest…”
“C’mon dummy,” he mocked. “You don’t remember. Do you..?”
“Uhh… Guess not… Slipped my mind…”
“You’re lucky you’re so handsome. And have a friend like me who helps you out. I know you’re grades really started to improve since you told me you were failing,” it felt like he was mocking me.
“I’m not that dumb…” I retorted. For some reason I could feel like he was right. School was difficult. I’d much rather just be partying with the guys at the frat house than studying the night away. It was far more freeing and liberating that being stuffed behind some computer.
“I know… I know…” Patrick smiled. He drew himself closer to my body running his hands up and down my arm. “You try your best. That’s all anyone can ask for.” I suddenly felt the urge to pull away but Patrick just tightened his grip. “What’s wrong? You like it when I touch you.”
“Huh?” I realized what I’d done. “Dunno…” I muttered. I could feel myself getting hard all of a sudden. He put more of his weight on me. It felt nice. I fell down onto my bed. He squirmed his way up my body, groping each muscle as he did so.
“That’s more like it,” he smiled as he kissed my neck. I figured he wasn’t the only lucky one tonight.
