Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

"You ever play beer pong before?" Aiden asks me after directing me to the opposite side of the table from him. Other than the single throw I had witnessed him do, I had no experience with the game. Doesn't ping pong involve paddles? Where are they?

But I know that I can't say this to Aiden without looking suspicious. "I played a while back, but surely the rules have changed by now," I lie, trying to sound casual. 

Aiden laughs and drinks from the beer can to his left. "Seriously dude, like the rules change almost in every house you play at. It's ridiculous," he shakes his head. "Well at my house, the rules are as follows: if you bounce the ball into a cup that's two cups; arm's length behind the table; guys finger, bitches blow; rollbacks are free throws; the cup in your hand is the bitch cup, make it and you win," Aiden lists and I try not to look too confused.

What the hell is a bitch cup? And what does "guys finger, bitches blow" mean? Other than the complete obvious.

"I think that mainly covers it. Oh and you can call reracks at six, four, three, and two." Does that mean the time or throw number? Why are there so many rules? "Got it?" Aiden asks me.

No. "Yeah, I got it. Not too different than what I had played before," I say and shrug.

"Great, here's your ball." He holds up the ball in his hand and I look at it from across the table. 

And that's when the real problem arises. I can't see at all. How am I ever going to play now? 

Aiden rolls the ball towards me and I grab it. I mirror his stance as best as I can and bring the ball up. "Eye contact, shot in goes first," he says and I look at the general area of his eyes. Oh this is so terrible. "One. Two. Three."

I release the ball at the same time he does. I look down into the center cup in front of me, a ping pong ball lazily floats in it. Aiden, however, is picking the ball up off the ground. He drops it into a different cup off to the side and grins at me widely.

"Looks like I get first throw," he says. I figure this should mean he gets the ping pong ball back and I pull it out, rolling it over to him. He dunks it into the cup with the other ball before bringing it out again. I have no idea what that does, but there's a similar cup on my side as well. I'll take note to dump the ball in it. 

Aiden doesn't even seem to try as he tosses the ball towards me. It sinks into a cup and I know from watching the previous guy that I'm supposed to drink it. I remove the ball and put it in the side cup, the contents inside of it look like water. I'm about to  remove the cup but Aiden has another ball in his hand. I take it that I'm not supposed to drink yet. 

"What was that deal again?" He asks playfully before arching his arm up and tossing down the ball. It lands in the front cup. "Not like it matters. Drink up," he says cockily. 

I take the cups and drink them, placing the cups off to the side. I'm glad I drank that beer in the kitchen with Vic and the guys, otherwise the taste might have come as a shock for me. 

I grab a ball out of the water cup and take a breath in. I look over at the pyramid of cups across the table. How many cups are there? My eyesight is blurred and the cups look fuzzy. This is not good. 

I decide to chance it and toss the ball, aiming for the center cup since it seems like it would be the easiest cup to sink. I throw the ball and miss completely. The ball goes over the table and Aiden quickly grabs it as it bounces on the ground once. 

Aiden starts laughing. "That's alright, first shot of the game usually always sucks." I don't know if he's trying to be nice or not, but this is starting to feel more and more like a bad idea. 

I shake off the regret of starting this up and grab the other ball. All I have to do is get the ball in the cup. Phsyics, the art of gravity and projection. If I can just arch enough, it should go in. 

I stare at the hazy cups and toss the ball. It lands with a plunk! into one of the cups and Aiden nods his head. "Now the game can start!" He cheers and drinks the cup easily, putting it off to the side. 

I feel a bit more confident about myself. Sure, I can't see anything, but the table isn't that long. I've got a pretty decent sight. I can do this. 

So Aiden and I play my very first game of beer pong. He sinks cups faster than I do but I don't give up. I make a couple more and soon there's only two cups sitting in front of me and five in front of him. I'm not doing that great, but it's better than I would have thought possible. Seeing as I'm blind and new at this, I'm pretty proud of myself. 

I have, however, drank way too much beer from the cups he sank and was now starting to feel really hot. I've been told that this is the sign of getting buzzed and I know I'm not going to last much longer before I end up in the yard. 

It's my turn and I sink both balls into two more cups. Aiden actually cheers when I do so and pours the contents into one cup. He doesn't drink this one as quick as the others and he keeps it in his hand. I think he's doing it to look cocky as he throws his turn. 

He lands one of the balls into a cup and the other misses by a slight hair. I gulp down the beer and look at my solo cup left. If I lose, I'm going to have to drink his remaining cups, get thrown naked into the pool, and have to deal with not knowing the truth between him and Veronica. Needless to say, I'm not sure which I'll be more against. 

Probably the third one. 

"Ready to give up yet?" Aiden's laughter fills the air and he brings the cup to his lips. I think he drinks this one slowly so that he doesn't get too drunk. He's got other beer pong games to play. 

But I'm not giving up. If I lose, then I lose. I might as well finish the game. 

I look around me at the small crowd of people that have gathered around. Since it's practically the end of the game, people have started watching to see the end result of Aiden winning another game once again. I sigh and take the ping pong balls out of the water. Here goes nothing.

I stare at the blurred red cup and will the ping pong ball to fall in. I throw and watch it hopefully. I miss. The ball doesn't even touch one of the cups. 

"Cheers, Parker," Aiden holds the cup at me , still laughing. He turns to the crowd and starts boasting about his upcoming win. He's practically undefeated, but I catch on that one other person beat him. 

I hold the other ball in my hand. "Cheers," I mutter. I've got literally no hope in winning. Once I throw this one it's his turn and it'll all be over. 

"Who has next game? I'm hoping someone has brushed up on their beer pong skills by now," Aiden boasts. He pays attention to the crowd and they laugh with him. 

I take the ball and toss it forward. I'm too blind to watch it descend, but I know immediately I overshot. It doesn't even come close to the table. 

"Great," I mutter.

The crowd gasps and even Aiden has stoppped talking. "Bitch cup," people start whispering.

What the hell is bitch cup?

"Bitch cup. Dude, you lost," a guy in the crowd says. He's looking at me and I shrug. I knew I would lose. 

Screams erupt around us and I'm suddenly trampled by people. They cheer and grab at me, telling me about how it must feel to win. I'm so confused. I thought I had lost. 

"Good game," Aiden says and everyone stops crowding me. Aiden nods and takes the ball out of the cup in his hand. I'm assuming that's the bitch cup. "Good game," he mutters again and tosses his head back, drinking down the beer. 

I won. I actually won. 

"YEAH!" I yell and pump my fist in the air, the people around me cheer and congratulate me on my victory. "Drink up, bitch!" The words leave my mouth before I can even register them. 

Aiden lifts his head up to look at me slowly. He's got a cup in his hand. The crowd must feel the sudden change of energy because they quiet down and back away from me. I swallow. What did I just do? 

"Excuse us everyone," Aiden says and they all nod before immediately scattering across the lawn to other tables and back into the house. 

Fear starts crawling into me. I probably should not have called him the b word. 

"Sorry man, don't know what got in to me." I raise my hands in surrender. 

Aiden comes over to me and I involuntarily step back. He starts laughing and leans against the table. "Chill, I'm not mad about losing. I'm just shocked that it happened." So he's actually okay with losing? 

Aiden steps away from the table and starts walking away. I stare at him and he turns back towards me. "Well? Aren't you coming along? Thought you had some questions." 

I nod and go over to him. Looks like he isn't that much of a bad guy afterall. I mean if he was, why would he keep his word to someone he doesn't know?