Apartment Fivers: Adventures at Guavaween, pt. 2

As she sat on the steps, waiting for her friends to show and listening to "Don’t Fear the Reaper," Candace reflected on the past few months. It wasn’t just her fight with Mike that made her sour. She missed her friends and her family back home. She missed her ex-boyfriend, Dick (short for Richard), who dumped her less than a month after she moved to Tampa. Although she loved being in the "big city," her new roommates and the few friends she made so far, everything still felt very, very alien to her. She looked at the colorful costumes whirling by, not really seeing them. It’s amazing that even though you seem to be surrounded by people, you can still feel lonely, she thought.

"CAAANNNDDDAAACCEE!" The yelling penetrated Candace’s thoughts and made her jump. She looked in the direction of the yell and saw her friends Jen, Marie, Jess and Charlie heading toward her. She met them all while working at Victoria’s Secret, and they bonded over stockroom gossip sessions, chatting about ugly/snobbish/annoying customers and about their evil co-manager, Amanda.

"Hey, girl!" said Jen, who had yelled out Candace’s name. Candace hugged her. "Happy Birrday!"

The slightly slurred words made Candace step back and examine her friend. Jen had a huge smile plastered across her face and her green eyes were glassy. She was also wobbling a little.

"Did the party start without me?" Candace asked.

"We had some tequila shots at Marie’s apartment before we came here," said Jen. "That’s what I kept calling you about!"

"Oh." Jen had called periodically throughout the day, but since Candace was in the middle of moving, she just let her phone ring. The only time she answered it was to tell Jen the new birthday plans and the time she wanted to meet them at Ybor City. She now regretted not having answered before.

"It’s okay!" said Jess, hugging Candace. "We’re still good to go clubbing!"

That was when the girls discovered that Guavaween was a scam. Apparently, the twenty dollars did not get you into all the clubs. It only allowed you to see crappy cover bands and drunken assholes roaming the streets in Halloween costumes. Candace had to withdraw an additional forty dollars to pay for cover charges and drinks. Furthermore, only she and Charlie were allowed to go in most of the bars and clubs, as they were the only people in the group who were twenty-one or over. Although the other girls didn’t seem to be put out by the fact that they had to wait outside while Candace and Charlie went in to get drinks, Candace still felt like the world’s biggest douche bag. She knew that if she were in their position, she would be pissed as hell at having to wait outside while her friends went in to drink.

She and Charlie were in an outdoor bar when Jennifer started vomiting. On the average person, the amount of tequila shots Jennifer did earlier would have gotten them plenty drunk, but not sick to the point of throwing up. Jennifer, however, was not the average person--she stood 4’11" in her bare feet, and the shots were too much for her.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked as she and Candace peered through the gate that separated them from the rest of the group.

"Huh-uh-uh-HUAG!!!!" Jen’s tiny body heaved.

"I guess not," mused Candace.

"I think we’re going to have to take her home," said Marie.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Candace asked.

"No!" Marie waved her off. "It’s your twenty-first birthday! Have fun! Don’t worry about Jen, she’ll be alright."

"Okay," said Candace. "I’m really sorry this had to happen."

"She’ll be okay," said Jess. "Bye and have a happy birthday!" The girls walked back down Seventh, toward their cars. Jen managed to look back at Candace and wave before throwing up again.

"I’ll stay," said Charlie. "We can catch a cab, if we need to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Maybe my neighbor will pay for it!" she winked at Candace.

"Thanks."

"You’re welcome. Here, let me buy you another drink!"

That was when the night started to pick up. Now that it was just the two of them, they had the freedom to go into all of the bars they wanted to without the guilt of leaving the other girls behind. They took full advantage of the opportunity, and ended up calling it a night at 2a.m. They stumbled out of the Green Iguana bar and onto Seventh Avenue, laughing like idiots. Candace’s head felt light, her face warm and her spirits uninhibited.

"You’re HAWT!" she yelled to a Chippendale’s dancer walking by. The dancer smiled and waved.

"Oh my God, I can’t believe a Chippendale's dancer waved at me!!" she exclaimed to Charlie. "He had a really nice ass!" She felt warm and tingly all over. "Didn’t he have a nice ass?"

"He was alright," Charlie replied. Candace marveled at how Charlie managed to keep herself somewhat composed, even while drunk.

"Hey, can I crash at your place tonight?" Candace asked.

"Sure." Charlie hailed a cab and the pair got in. Candace marveled at Charlie’s ability to give clear directions to her house. Charlie had to be as drunk, if not more drunk, than Candace. Candace was so far gone she couldn’t tell her ass from a hole in the ground.

"So, did you girls have fun tonight?" the driver asked. He was friendly, with a Jamaican accent.

"Oh yeah!" Candace exclaimed. "Guavaween was AWESOME!!!" Charlie remained silent, watching Candace with a bemused expression on her face.

"I’m glad," the driver replied.

"I’ll bet you’re making a lot of money tonight!"

The driver chuckled. "The weekends always provide for good business."

"I’ll bet you drive some crazy people!" Normally Candace hated small talk, but the alcohol coursing through her veins loosened her tongue considerably.

Again, the driver chuckled.

"I would hate to be a taxi driver," continued Candace. "I would hate to drive all these drunken assholes!" She cackled as they drove by a group of guys trying to pry one of their drunken buddies off the street. "Dumbasses!"

The driver didn’t respond, and even in her alcohol-induced stupor, Candace knew she had gone too far. The rest of the trip passed by in awkward silence, and when the girls got to Charlie’s place, Charlie was able to get her next door neighbor, a fifty-six year old man named Guy, to pay the cab fare.

"I’m glad you girls had fun!" chuckled Guy as the taxi backed out of the driveway and the girls stumbled into the house.