35. PEER PRESSURE
I heard epic stories about last year’s Christmas party. The party had started in the afternoon and lasted well into the night. People had so much fun between the deejay, the pool, game room and karaoke setup. Ooh, karaoke, there was something I could have fun with.
I was both excited and anxious about the party. I didn’t know why exactly. I just had a feeling about it. I chalked it up to the fact that the only reason I was going was because the crew and their invite. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be going. I definitely would not have the guts to just crash the party and I wasn’t really a party person. Well, it was that and I heard Becca was going to be there as well. There would be no stopping a confrontation. No teachers, no school administrators, no school consequence of fighting like suspension or expulsion.
We all piled into Patrick and Jason’s cars and carpooled to the party. When we got to the party, there had to be at least 50 people there already, just inside the house and who knows how many outside. The music was blasting. It reminded me of the dance. There were people in the middle of the living room dancing. It seemed weird, only because there was so much light streaming inside. I don’t remember the last time I saw people dancing with that much light. At dances, it was usually pretty dark.
Dylan had a huge family room with big French glass doors which opened to the backyard. There was a huge pool, a Jacuzzi and lots of lounge chairs surrounding it. There were a bunch of people in the pool, splashing each other and those that were close enough to get wet. The pool house contained the game room. It had dart boards, foosball, air hockey and pool tables. I could just picture flying pool balls, darts or pucks hitting unsuspecting bystanders in the head. With my luck and coordination, that’s exactly what would happen.
Most of the food and drinks, and there was a lot of it, were in the kitchen. Pizza, chips, cookies, and brownies were just some of the stuff to eat. It wasn’t Mrs. Connor’s homemade food, that’s for sure.
Guys wanted to go to the game room and play some games. Cassie and Emily were up for it. I didn’t mind going along and watching them, but I was reluctant to play. As we walked to the game room, Bobby challenged Tony to foosball, Jason challenged Patrick to pool and Kraig challenged us girls to darts.
“Yeah, no. I don’t think so. You guys go ahead and play.” I shook my head.
“Come on, Liz!” Emily begged and handed me some darts. “You’re here to have fun!”
“Fun, yes. But possibly cause bodily harm, no.” I tried to hand back the darts, but she wouldn’t take it.
“Just try.” She turned me to face the dart board. “Kraig challenged us, you can’t pass up a challenge.”
“You don’t want me on your team. I won’t add any points to your score.” I shot at her a pleading look.
She was insistent that I participate. “You can’t be that bad. And we always want you on our team. Besides, we’re not all that good either. So, the three of us to Kraig, we should be able to take him.”
There was no convincing her. I stood where they told me to. I looked around to make sure that everyone was a safe distance away from the board. I saw Patrick watching me, looking nervous, but hopeful. I shook my head. I took aim and threw the dart at the board. It didn’t land on the board, or anywhere in front of the board. It ended up a few feet to the left of the board, just missing a lamp.
I could hear the crew chuckling behind me. I winced and covered my face with my hands. “I told you this wasn’t a good idea. I’ll just watch. It’s safer for everyone.”
Emily gladly accepted the darts this time. “No kidding. I didn’t really think you’d be that…”
“Bad?” Patrick laughed. “Why do you think I stood this far back?”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him. “Gee, thanks.”
I knew he was right. Patrick knew what to expect and that I was not exaggerating. Patrick played innocent. “What? Hey, we’re not laughing at you. We’re laughing near you, you’re just not joining in.”
I corrected him. “No, you guys are laughing at me.”
I didn’t mind. It was funny. And I knew they weren’t laughing to be mean. They were laughing because I was one of them. I couldn’t help but smile. However, this didn’t mean that I wanted to repeat the dart incident that brought this bout of laughter.
I let Cassie and Emily take on Kraig without me. I tried watching Bobby and Tony’s foosball game, but I had a hard time following. The ball bounced around, going one way then the other so fast. Also, my shortness made it difficult to get a good view of the ball. It was challenging to keep up. So, I opted to watch Jason and Patrick’s game of pool.
I could follow pool. It was slower, more methodical and based on physics. I didn’t know the rules of the game, so that part I didn’t follow. But in my head, I thought about the best shot that could be done to sink the ball. Patrick beat Jason. It was one more example of how Patrick was good at everything. Pool was coordination and skill. The skill being physics. Of course, he’d be a pool shark. I don’t know what the score was. Is there such thing as a score in pool? I just knew who won because Jason wanted a rematch and a handicap.
“What?! You act like I cheated. You know I didn’t.” Patrick laughed.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I want a rematch.” Jason looked at me and grinned. “And one where I stand a chance in hell in beating you.”
“So, what? You want me to spot you two balls?” Patrick picked up two solid colored balls and dropped them in the pocket.
“No. That’s not what I had in mind. Where’s the challenge for you?” He grabbed the balls out of the slot. He snickered. “I have something else in mind.”
“You want me to shoot left-handed?” Patrick tilted his head and shrugged. “Okay. Sure, I can try.”
“Nah. That’s not it.” Jason chuckled. “But I’ll have to remember that for next time. No, let’s see how good you really are. Can you get Liz to beat me?’
What? How’d I get dragged into this? My eyes widened and I shook my head. “Uh-uh. I’ve never played pool. Did you not see what happened with the dart?”
Jason rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well, that had a sharp point. You can’t hurt anyone with pool balls.”
I pleaded with Patrick, “Tell Jason that’s not true.”
I could tell Patrick liked the idea of this challenge. “I think I could teach you.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “Really?”
They agreed that the rematch would take place in one hour. Great, I had one hour to learn how to play pool. More importantly, not have them jump off the table. Of course, that presumes that I could actually hit the ball. I can’t forget that the ultimate goal is to beat Jason. So, no pressure here. Just learn how to play pool in an hour, hit the ball, keep it on the table and beat Jason. Great.
Patrick handed me a pool stick. “So, what do you say? Want to help me beat Jason?”
Somehow I had the feeling that I was being setup. But I couldn’t prove it. I resigned. “Like I have a choice.”
He turned me to look at him squarely in the face and stared into my eyes. His voice was serious. “You always have a choice. ‘No’ is a perfectly acceptable answer.”
I gazed into his hazel-green eyes and knew he was afraid that he was forcing me into something I didn’t want to do and that the playfulness that they meant might have gone over the line. That’s not how I felt though. I was just scared of embarrassing myself. But I was with him and the crew. I shouldn’t be frightened of looking stupid. They’d like me either way. “I know.” I grinned. “Sure, why not? I’m not the one putting myself in harm’s way. You guys are.”
Jason smiled and leaned against the wall, watching us. Now that I agreed to this challenge I was determined to do my best. Patrick had me try to hit a ball. He set up an easy shot with a ball in front of a pocket and the cue ball in front of that. Cassie came over to watch and stood near the pocket I had to aim at.
I lined up my shot. I mimicked what I saw Patric
k and Jason doing earlier. At least what I thought I saw them doing. I held the end of the stick with my right hand and rested my left hand on the table. I put the tip of the stick under my left index finger. I ignored Jason and Cassie watching me. I pulled the stick backward and quickly pushed it forward. I missed the ball entirely and scraped the table.
“Oops.” I laughed. “Let me try that again.”
I tried again. I positioned the stick closer to the ball. I pushed the stick as hard as I could. This time I made contact. The tip of the stick went under the ball and launched it the air. I guess I hit it too hard. Before I could yell anything, it hit Cassie in the chest.
“Oh, god! I’m sorry. Sorry! Are you okay?” I ran over to her.
Cassie rubbed the spot where she got hit. “Yeah, I’m okay. My fault. I shouldn’t have stood so close. It’s okay.”
Knowing she was okay, the guys started laughing. Sure it was funny to them, a girl getting hit in the chest. If it was a guy getting hit in the groin, they wouldn’t laugh, but the girls would. At least we’d all make sure the person was fine before laughing.
I felt awful about hitting her. I thought about quitting for a second, but I wanted to help Patrick try to beat Jason. I didn’t want to let him down. I, also, didn’t want to hurt anyone else. The clock was ticking.
Patrick showed me how to hold the pool cue and had me practice shooting the ball without the ball. I know I looked silly, but I wasn’t going to argue. I still wasn’t doing it right. I knew I was learning impaired when it came to stuff like this. He knew it too. I was happy that he was patient.
Patrick briefly went over the logic and rules of the game. The logic part I understood. It was just vectors, force and momentum. I knew what shot to take and what angle the balls should be hit at to get it in the pocket. I just couldn’t actually make it happen.
We played a practice game. Well, it was more like he semi-played both sides. When it was his turn, he’d have me tell him what he should do. When it was my turn, he’d help me. He stood right behind me and helped me hold and control the stick. He was like a coat wrapped around me, guiding me. I slowly got a better feel on how hard to hit the ball. I was improving. I could hit the ball, keep it on the table and have it go where I wanted. I wasn’t perfect, but I was a lot better than an hour ago. Not only that, I was having fun and laughing.
It was time for the rematch. Patrick racked the balls for me and Jason. Jason let me break. I was so excited that the stick hit the cue ball which hit a ball which made all the rest scatter. I was solids. I did a pretty good job keeping up with Jason. It was a close game. I was proud of myself. In the end, I lost. That’s okay. The crew still gave me high-fives and hugs for doing as well as I did, considering I just learned how to play.
The crew seemed suspiciously celebratory. Why did they seem so happy about all of this? I knew they weren’t rejoicing in the fact that I lost and Jason won. There was something I was missing.
I looked at Patrick, “What’s up?”
“Nothing, Liz. Nothing.” He grinned and put his arm around my shoulders.
I slapped him. “Don’t lie to me. What am I missing?”
“Okay. Okay.” He leaned in. “They knew you didn’t want to play pool or darts or anything. So, their goal was to get you to.”
“So, I was setup, huh?” I knew something was weird from the beginning. I should have known. Well, it worked. I was glad they did.