First Drink by Richard Wan

“Well, that’s the last one,” I said as I mailed my last college application off. “That’s pretty much the end of high school for me as I see it.”

“Sure, David, well I had already finished all my apps last week, unlike you, Mr. Procrastinator,” Ed said jokingly. “But seriously, we are pretty much done come to think of it.”

“Hell yeah we’re done, I mean, the second semester is gonna be a joke. As long as nothing goes horribly wrong with classes, then everything is out of our hands.”

“You guys finally done,” asked Allan enthusiastically as he came crashing through my room door, “Well it’s about time.”

“What are you so happy about Allan,” I said as I studied his exuberant face.

“Well, you know how we’ve been wanting to celebrate our finishing of our applications?” Ed and I both nodded in agreement. Allan continued, “Well, I kinda begged my brother to buy us some alcohol sometime before the break. It’ll be a great way to celebrate, no?”

“Alcohol? Really? I don’t know man,” replied Ed as he pondered the decision to drink over in his mind.

“Yeah Allan, do you think it’s really necessary?” I questioned.

“Oh yeah, come on guys, don’t chicken out on me. It’ll be fun, we’ll all get drunk together for the first time. Memories, people, memories,” Allan persisted.

“Sure, I guess, there’s a first for everything right?” Ed said after much thought.

“Sure, I’m in too,” I said, though I wasn’t really sure about all this.

#

“Hey David, you gonna be at my place tonight?” shouted Allan across the cafeteria, “it’s gonna be epic.”

“Yeah, I think I should be able to make it,” David replied not very convincingly.

“Well you better, this weekend calls for some special celebration.”

It was a couple of weeks until winter break this senior year of high school, almost everyone had already sent in their college applications and it seemed like we were pretty much done with this chapter of our lives. As long as we didn’t fail any class or get into some ridiculous trouble there wasn’t much left to do except to let the college admissions committee do their job.

“I know, I guess we definitely deserve it.”

“We sure as hell do, and don’t forget the fact that I pretty much sold my soul to my older brother for him to get the alcohol.”

“I know, I know. Like I said, I’ll see you later tonight.”

Our first semester of senior year was almost over and with our applications sent in; we had decided to throw ourselves a little party, with alcohol. My parents were always against underage drinking, actually, they were against drinking of any kind. They always told me the alcohol was bad and that being under the influence was wrong. But I’ve never really given it much thought though, I live in a pretty protected area and most of my friends have the same feeling towards alcohol as I do. Alcohol was just never really a part of our lives, until we had decided to get drunk that night.

#

“Hey mom, I’m heading over to Allan’s okay? Don’t wait up, I’ll probably be a little late,” I said over my shoulder as I laced up my shoes.

“Okay dear, but don’t stay up too late, we need to drive up to you grandmother’s tomorrow remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. I’ll try to make it back faster then.”

“Have fun, David. Say hi to Allan’s parents for me?”

“Yeah sure mom, see you later,” I said as I grabbed the keys off the table and headed out the front door.

“Remember to drive safe,” she called out as the door closed.

“Yeah, yeah”

The drive over to Allan’s place wasn’t long, but it still got me thinking about whether or not drinking was such a good idea. Most of what I knew about alcohol had been either from movies and television, or from health classes in school. But in school the only thing they taught us about alcohol was to abstain from it, not to even think about drinking it, let alone drinking responsibly. But before I could debate myself any longer on the morals of consuming, I had already started to pull up onto Allan’s driveway.

“You finally here?” Allan called through the window, “it’s about time, Ed and I have been waiting forever.”

“Yeah man, the vodka and beer ain’t gonna drink themselves,” said Ed. He seemed a little too enthusiastic about this whole ordeal.

“Hurry up and get in here, my parents are gone for the night visiting some relatives, so we got the house to ourselves.

“That’s great,” I said as I climbed out of my car and started walking towards Allan and Ed. “So, how much stuff did your brother get for us?”

“Definitely enough, I think. We got a couple of six packs and a handle of vodka, should be enough right?”

“Of course it’ll be enough,” said Edward, “don’t you guys ever watch anything? That’s enough for like 10 people.”

And so we proceeded into the living room where the stash was already laid out on the table, as if displaying it for me, inviting me to drink it.

“Doesn’t it just look good?” joked Allan.

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied, though it just seemed like some cans and bottles, nothing too spectacular.

“Everyone grab a beer,” said Allan, “I propose a toast to our friendship, and finally being done with high school. Everything is out of our hands and we deserve a break. Cheers bros.”

“Cheers,” said Ed and I as all three of us took a gulp from our first beer.

“Ugh,” I thought to myself, didn’t really taste all that good. I wasn’t really anticipating anything, but that taste, it made me question what the big deal was all about. “You guys like the taste of that?” I asked the other two.

“Not really,” said Ed truthfully, “I’m pretty sure it’ll get better as we drink more. Let’s just finish this one off and see.”

“What are you guys talking about, this stuff is golden.”

“I don’t know man,” I said hesitantly.

“Lets just try a shot of vodka, it might go down easier than the beer,” suggested Ed, like he actually knew what he was doing.

“Great idea Ed, let’s all have a shot of vodka. At least it’ll go down faster than the beer,” seconded Allan.

“Sure why not,” I agreed as I opened the bottle of vodka and poured out three separate drinks into three shot glasses. “Cheers again guys.”

The vodka definitely went down faster, but not even close to being smoother. It was literally like drinking fire as the liquid burned all the down my esophagus down into my stomach where it settled like a bomb. I looked up and noticed the twisted expressions on Allan and Ed’s faces, apparently they also felt the same way I did towards the vodka.

“That was absolutely disgusting,” I said, revolted at the taste and sensation of pouring jet fuel down my throat. I could feel a warming tingling beyond the feeling of my stomach and was beginning to feel a little light headed. “Hey Allan, Ed, you guys feeling a little dizzy or anything?”

“Umm, a little bit I assume,” said Allan, sticking his tongue out to try to get the taste of vodka off.

“Same here,” replied Ed, “but I sure as hell don’t wanna subject myself to another shot of vodka, not worth it.”

“Come on guys, we should all at least take a couple more shots. My brother is gonna think we’re all losers if we don’t even barely drink any of this,” Allan said as he started pouring out another round.

“It doesn’t seem worth the pain we put ourselves through for this,” I said, “how about we ditch the alcohol and just watch some television like always.”

“I agree,” said Ed as he placed his shot glass back down onto the table.

“I guess alcohol can wait until college, let’s just enjoy the time we have together now like we’ve always had,” I said, “Cheers to that.”

“Cheers!” replied both of them, and we celebrated that night like we’ve always had for the last 4 years.