Chapter 9: Seeking new perspectives at Mama’s party.

We walk into the bar as Mama is talking on top of a table. Raising a jar with a hand, hugging a man with the other.

“Fifteen years ago, I married this man. I was afraid I would make the worst mistake of my life. Giving up my adventurer life to settle down. I was afraid to change what i loved for who i loved. Well. today I can tell you I was wrong 'cause there’s not a day in my life that’s not an adventure with this man. Cheers for that!” says a tipsy tearful Mama, then she passionately kisses her husband. The whole town is here, and they start cheering at the couple until they fall off the table. I think they remind me a little of Mom and Dad.

Ouch! That must have hurt.

“Mama!” says Ellie as she runs to help the couple.

I spot a lonely place in the corner of the room. It looks like a good place to be antisocial during a party. As I walk, I take a view of the party. The whole place is packed. People raise their jars, talk, laugh, and dance in the center of the room while a musical group fervently plays their musical instruments.

I wonder if Maggie wanted to take me to a place like this that day…

“Hey, kid!” someone says as they pull me from the shirt in their direction. It’s Neb. “You look a little down. Come on! Cheer yourself up.”

Neb takes a big jar filled with an unknown beverage and makes me drink it all at once. The bubbly bittersweet beverage slides down my throat with ease. I can feel how it starts warming me up.

“Wooo!” Neb and a few strangers say as I hit the table with the empty jar.

“Kid! I didn’t expect you to empty it in one shot,” a stranger says, patting me on the back.

I’m not an avid consumer of fermented drinks at all! I guess I made it because the beverage was too tasty.

“Another one!” Neb shouts, giving me another jar.

I stay still for a second. thinking if another jar will be too much for me to hold. I always drink just a can when I hang out with Masa and Aki.

“Go, go, go!” cheers everyone around me.

Nobody here actually knows me. Will no one judge me if I get a little crazy for once in my life? I think about those American movies where the protagonists just have fun, unbothered by what may come. Can I be like them just for tonight? Ellie said I should get a new perspective on parties.

I pour the beverage down my throat until the jar is empty.

“Let’s go!” Neb shouts s everyone around me takes another jar. We clash them together and empty them.

I spend the rest of the night clearing out jars. How many? You may ask. Well, I have no idea.

I go dancing with Neb’s group for quite a while, creating the most random dance moves I can figure out of the music. Everyone is having fun. No one is to be judging me despite how ridiculous my moves are.

Eventually, the group splits into couples that begin drifting away in all directions. I end up alone, lying on the bar. I clear out another jar.

A voice next to me says. “Hey, handsome,” she’s a girl from the group.

“I guess… it’s just… the two… of us now,” I stutter as I try articulating every word.

My head is so numbed. The bar behind me is the only thing that keeps me on my feet. I’m afraid that if I move, I will smack the ground.

The girl standing next to me is so pretty. A mane of caramel curls frames her delicate facial features. Her tanned skin glows under the lights of the candles. Her round brown eyes don’t waver away from mine.

“Then. Can I know your name?” she asks, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Rin,” I say. “Yours?”

“Emmir,” she says. “Do you want to play a game?”

“Sure,” I say.

“Okay. Each of us has a chance to ask an easy question. If you get it right, we go on until someone loses.” Emmir says.

“And… what happens to the loser?” I ask.

“The loser will have to do something the winner wants,” Emmir says.

“You first,” I say with confidence.

“Ummm. How many eyelashes do I have?” she asks with a smile of satisfaction.

I’m feeling confident, so I start counting them. I start feeling dizzy for forcing my eyesight so much.

“I give up,” I say without giving it much importance. “What’s the winner’s request?”

“Kiss me,” Emmir says. “On the lips.”

This is definitely not the way I imagined my first kiss in another world, but I guess these things just happen. You don’t plan them.

I get a little nervous. What if I suck at it? Will Emmir laugh at me?

I start leaning towards Emmir. Her eyes are closed, and her lips are ready for the kiss.

I lean closer. She’s still a bit away from me.

I turn to get closer, but I lose the bar’s support. The next thing I know is that I’m on my way to kiss, not Emmir, but the ground.

I black out.

…

The most awful headache wakes me up in my bed. The sunlight coming through the window makes the pain even worse. My mouth is as dry as your ex’s heart, and my morning breath couldn’t be worse. If this is what partying like in the movies feels like the day after, I don’t want to feel it ever again.

I sit on my bed to realize I’m naked. Oh my! Did I just become a man, and I forgot?!?! I look around the room. Emmir is nowhere to be seen.

“Hey!” Ellie says as she bursts into the room.

“Wh-what are you doing here?! Don’t look!” I scream as I cover with a bed sheet.

“Dude! I personally undressed you last night!” Ellie says, gloating.

“You did what!?!” I exclaim.

In the middle of panic, I run my hand down my crotch, I feel an air of relief after noticing I’m wearing my underwear.

“After you knocked yourself out last night, you puked all over your clothes and basically became a piece of furniture,” Ellie says. “So. Mama, that girl Emmir and I dragged you here, undressed you, and bathed you like a baby.”

I start blushing hard. Ellie immediately notices and raises her hand. “Don’t worry, you were wearing your underwear the whole time.”

An air of relief hits me once again.

“Mama washed and dried your clothes,” Ellie says as she hands them to me. “You gotta thank her.”

“I will,” I say. “Thanks to you too.”

“No problem. It was a lot of fun!” Ellie says and smiles. “I guess I shouldn’t have dared you with the perspectives thing.”

“Please stop. I was the one who decided to go that crazy,” I say, ashamed.

“Hey. But you had fun, didn’t you?” Ellie asks.

“It was a lot of fun,” I answer.

“Then it was worth it,” Ellie says. “Just be sure to know your limits for the next time. No one wants a piece of human furniture at their party.”

I let out an ashamed laugh. “I will.”

“Now hurry. It's time for lunch,” Ellie says as she leaves the room.