It’s only natural for a high school teenager to sense the presence of Spring Break once eighth period lets out. My two weeks I’ve been in this school, nothing really seemed to alter about anyone’s thoughts, except that the ultimate Spring Break meant the ultimate time to party. I mean, what was this? I may be brutally honest, but it was still being honest. These kids had nothing going on for them, including the few friends I met my first day: Thatcher, Frasco, and Desi. Sure they were pretty great, but even their breathing spelled out party1. I couldn’t wait to sit down with my dog and watch TV until school started right back up again. However, not long ago I had heard about a party that everyone was invited to. A girl, Vanessa, was throwing it in honor of Spring Break by using a house that wasn’t even hers; it happened to be her second cousin’s. It may not have been in Cancun or the Bahamas2, but it was on the corner of Vladimir Parkway, and boy was that a nice place to live. My buddies have been yammering on about even before I came into existence, but I really couldn‘t see what the big deal was. What was better than watching TV all week? Okay…so maybe I was incorrect there.

Something gigantic and sharp was lifted from our shoulders as we stepped out to the first day of Spring Break. Thatcher and Frasco linked arms and skipped alongside each other like a couple of Girl Scouts selling stale cookies door to door. Desi was chatting to Vanessa about party themes and what types of alcohol guests would enjoy the best. I on the other hand saw the homework-free sun as if it was chocolate syrup, and while everybody walked ahead of me, licked at it voraciously.

“Banner? What are you doing?” Desi’s voice said to me jokingly.

“What?” I blurted, embarrassed that they actually cared enough to turn around and see what I was doing.

“Never mind,” Desi shook her head. She wasn’t cute. Not cute at all. “So are you totally crazy about this party or what?”

She was such a girl, as was everybody else around me. “Insanely,” Thatcher squeaked. “But what about supervision?”

“Thatcher, are you living in kindergarten or what?” Desi stated proudly. “Nobody on the MTV special3 has anyone yelling and screaming about breaking a vase or the volleyball net.”

I laughed with her, proud of the way she told Thatcher off. Frasco glared over at me, confused. “Dude, Banner, you never said if you were going or not.”

All eyes stared me down as my fearful kitten side leaped out from under my skin. “I don’t know.”

“Why do you not know?” Vanessa pondered. “Everyone will be there.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun Banner,” Desi smiled at me. If only I could’ve been guy enough at this time to keep my skin cells from turning a bright pink.

Still, I wanted to please them. “Fine. I’ll stop by.”

“This is going to be awesome guys,” Frasco cut in between us all. “I can’t wait to get totally hammered.”

Party day. I dressed in my best clothes, and drove as slowly as possible so it wouldn’t appear that I would be unfashionably early. Twilight had descended over Vladimir Parkway, and all the houses were gently lit except for the one on the corner: the dazzling sight of multicolored lights and the booming of what sounded like six different stereos acted as a magnet and pulled me to the front door. My heart thumped vigorously once Vanessa answered the door. She had a drink in her hand; something in a long, glass bottle.

“Banner!” she pulled me in for a hug, you know, the way girls do. “Great that you got to make it tonight.”

I plainly followed her inside. The house was elegant, but could pull off the perfect area for a Spring Break party. A TV the length of a large cow played MTV music videos on it, followed by cut-ins for their Spring Break special. Everyone danced around half-naked.

“Hey Banner,” Thatcher came up to me. His hand carried no drink, but his boozy breath stung my nostrils like acid. A cell phone could be seen in his hand so he was apparently messaging someone he had feelings for.

“Hey,” I greeted him. “What are you doing?”

“I met this girl here but I can’t seem to find her. She gave me her number and she’s been sending me flirty stuff ever since we met. She’s totally hammered though. I thought I saw some guy following her upstairs4.”

“She’d better watch herself,” I shook my head, gazing over at Desi who startled me with her new outfit. Luckily she saw me first and made her move.

“Banner, you look like you need some refreshment,” she yelped.

I blinked a few times, somewhat ignoring part of what she said. “Uh, thanks. So do…you?”

She laughed, and I knew she was a bit tipsy. “C’mon!”

I nodded hesitantly. We walked to the kitchen and I noticed the prominently senseless friend of mine was no where to be seen. “Where’s Frasco?”

“Wasted, outside in the hot tub,” Desi answered.

“Already? How many drinks has he had?”

“Probably around ten or so5,” Desi giggled.

In the kitchen, there were boxes of booze everywhere I turned. Randomly, kids I’ve seen in school were plucking out drinks like taffy out of a barrel. There was no difficulty to it, and I felt my face melt.

“What do you want?” Desi’s voice cut my thoughts off. Really? All I had to do was ask for my choice in alcohol and enjoy?

“Where did Vanessa get all of these?”

“Someone she knew went to Panama City and a tour place put her on their mailing list. They were sending her all of these favorite types of stuff6.”

I raised an eyebrow as Desi smiled at me. “Does she have any…water?”

Desi rolled her eyes, and I felt immediately embarrassed, like a loser with too much dud added in. She threw me a bottle of water. “Banner, are you going to be one with the crowd or be a baby about it?”

“I happened to do some research on alcohol Desi. Apparently it’s bad for you.”

She had no idea what I had said, so she just laughed again.

I had yet to explore the back patio, so I wandered outside onto a torch-lit backyard, and my eyes danced around with everyone who moved with one of the stereos. The hot tub was loaded with girls and guys including Frasco.

Unfortunately, that insane child saw me and unplugged himself from the bubbling water and right over to my side. His breath was potent, and disgusting.

“Dude, I didn’t know you were here!” he huffed into my face.

“And I didn’t know you could drink that much in one sitting,” I said.

Frasco ignored my insult and laughed at me. “Nah, I had a few before I came here. It was hot so I grabbed a couple from my fridge. I shouldn’t be out in the sun that long right7?!”

He blurted the last sentence a bit loudly and it made me jump back.



“Uh…right.”

“So what are you drinking?”

I held up my bottle of water, and Frasco slapped my shoulder blade.

“What are you waiting for Banner? Go all out tonight!”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“No you ain’t man. You’re not part of this party until you get something inside you. Here, you can have some of mine.”

I just walked away after that. To me, it was more enjoyable to watch all the stupid events taking place when several people are drunk in one acre of land.

I hung out for a while away from everyone else. Honestly, I would‘ve rather been at home with fourteen extra pounds instead of standing in the middle of halitosis country. What was the big deal? I was obviously an idiot, but that stuff contaminated with adult-only liquid tasted like a green sky and a purple sun.

Suddenly, I saw headlights of a car pull along the street next to the house. My eyes widened and abruptly there was Vanessa’s screaming as if she was getting her limbs torn off. I jogged into the living room and found everybody frozen, staring at two figures in the doorway. The parents of Vanessa’s cousin were mirroring our stares right back. But instead of calmly apologizing for this wretched decision for a Spring Break party, everyone started screaming and hopping around like two monsters had just entered the house. I stood in the middle of it all, my hands stuffed into my pockets.

Screams, shouts, and the horrible stench of burps and alcohol flooded the air around me, and I winced from the pain. The parents of Vanessa’s cousin stared at me from across the room, and oddly, they looked excited for me. I knew I was in trouble either way, but hopefully not as much as Vanessa, Thatcher, Frasco, or Desi would. The alcohol concentration tests would always tell the truth, and from this truth, they deserved consequence.

In the end, I was grounded for that unsupervised party, but my parents thanked me for not drinking. They knew it would be a huge deal anyways8, though I thought it wasn’t that hard living above the influence.



Key

1 80,000 students in the world are only focused on drinking during spring



Break.

2 High school students are most likely found in Cancun or the Bahamas,



and college students are more commonly found in Mexico, Brazil, and



Jamaica.

3 The MTV Spring Break special is a huge influence on high school



students.

4 During Spring Break, alcohol plays a dangerous role for women.

5 Spring Break averages 18 drinks per day, 10 for girls.

6 Tour companies sell under-aged drinking packages without questioning



status just to make money.

7 Alcohol actually dehydrates the body.

8 90% of parents say that alcohol consumption is the most serious issue



during Spring Break.