The sounds of several vehicles disturbed the wild life, and a few birds went flying into the sky, their feathers ruffled at the intrusion. Carly turned toward the creek, pulled her car up to the tree line, and cut the engine. They all piled out, though Beth had to infuse each movement with an enthusiasm she no longer felt. Shane’s loaded car came in a few seconds later, and soon laughter and music filled the night. She watched Michael’s truck amble up the road, could see Ryan and Halley laughing about something while their driver’s face was solemn. Michael must’ve felt like she did, like maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Several more cars turned in before she saw Sammy’s dad’s sedan. The boy she’d had a crush on for so long was alone.
The music was coming from Tyler’s jeep, and it was loud. Beth liked Alice in Chains, but she wasn’t sure she needed to hear the band inside of her brain. Tyler, a loud, skinny guy who still had the acne of a prepubescent, was collecting cash with one hand and handing out bottles with the other. “That’s right, $5 keeps you drinking until the well is dry!” he shouted, perched on his bumper as he reached into the back seat.
For a moment, Beth thought maybe she’d just say she didn’t have any money, but Carly was dragging her over. “My treat!” she shouted over the loud refrain of Rooster. “We need to celebrate our new friend!” She giggled, and her smile looked genuine, like she was really glad Beth was with them.
There was no escaping it. Carly handed over the $10, and Beth had a bottle thrust into her hand. A moment later, she was surrounded by Jessica, Amber, Carly, Mindy, Tiffany, and even Halley had managed to unglue herself from Ryan long enough for this induction. She had a glint in her eye though, something Beth couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“To Beth!” Carly shouted. “The sexiest girl in Barryville!”
For a second, Beth thought maybe this was a trick, and they were all going to dump their bottles of beer over her head, but they clanked the bottles together, and then all the girls took a long swig, smiles all around, and she felt inclined to do the same, though she had to fake just how much she ingested. There was no way she could chug a beer when she’d never even tasted it before.
She wished she still hadn’t as soon as the bitter liquid hit her tongue. It tasted nothing like the bubbly, fresh champaign her mom had let her taste seven months ago. In a word, she thought it was awful. It tasted like she imagined horse piss must taste, not that she’d ever had that in her mouth. But she swallowed it back anyway, keeping her bottle tipped up as long as the other girls did, though she thought she only drank about half as much as they did. They all clanged their bottles together again.
Almost immediately, the girls turned their attention to Ryan, who was standing next to Michael, bottles in both of their hands. Beth wanted to run over to Ryan and take it away from him. She knew he wasn’t supposed to drink with the medication he was on—he’d joked about it when he’d first come home from Kansas City. It was funny then because she knew he’d had about as much alcohol as she had. Now, standing there in the streaks of moonlight that managed to cut through the overhanging branches, holding what might be poison in his hand, he looked nonchalant and carefree, like he was one of them.
Halley had her arm laced through his, and they looked like they belonged together. Natural. As natural as the creek that bubbled nearby. Beth took another drink of her beer, wondering if that might be the trick in making this situation seem acceptable to her.
“Slow down, Beth. You don’t want to get drunk. Believe me.”
She turned her head to see Sammy was back to try again. She remembered how miserable he’d looked at the batting cages the day after he’d last been out here, and she imagined he must’ve been drunk then. “Speaking from experience?”
“Yeah, I think so. I mean… I left here that night feeling really weird. I’ve been drunk before. I’ve never felt like that.” Beth cocked her head to one side, wondering what in the world he meant. But he didn’t elaborate. “Beth, can we talk now?”
She glanced over at all of her new friends chatting up her old one. They hadn’t noticed she wasn’t with them. “About what?”
“About… this. About you.” He looked away for a second and then back at her. “About us.”
A scoff escaped her lips before she could even think of reining it in. “Us? What are you talking about, Sammy? There’s no us. There’s never been an us.”
Robby stepped over, laughing like he was already drunk. “Man, you’ve gotta see this leaf! It looks like Franklin Roosevelt!”
“Like you even know what Franklin Roosevelt looks like,” Michael said, grabbing the other boy by the arm as he started to fall over.
“How about we talk in my car?” Sammy gestured with his head away from the others, and she assumed Michael must’ve heard because he raised his eyebrows at her.
Swallowing hard, Beth nodded. “Fine. Five minutes.” She looked at Michael, a question in her eyes, and his head rocked back and forth. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Not that she really thought Sammy was a threat to her physically, but there were other ways he could destroy her. Beth was just doing a really good job of forcing those emotions down. She took another drink and followed.
“We can’t take beer in my dad’s car,” Sammy said, taking her bottle away from her and setting them both on the hood of Michael’s truck, which was parked next to his car.
“But…” Beth began.
“They’ll be fine. Or I’ll get you another one. It’s drink until he runs out, remember?”
“Yeah, but at the rate Robby’s going, that’ll be in less than five minutes.” He opened the passenger side door for her, and Beth wondered what she was arguing with him about. It wasn’t like she wanted to drink anyway.