I leaned against the wall. I leaned because if I had not I would have fallen. My head was spinning a bit and I felt for all the world like I was going to just go to sleep right where I stood. Needless to say, I had been drinking. I had been drinking a lot. I had no idea how much I had drank, or what I had been drinking. People just kept handing me glasses and I kept drinking what was in them. I looked down the hall toward my bedroom door. It was just there, no more than 10 feet away. But it might as well have been 10 miles. No way I was going to make it to that door. So I just stood there and closed my eyes.
It had been quite a party. Mark had wanted to have a party to celebrate the new apartment. I had been living with Mark for about 6 months. I had moved in with him right after he had tried to kill himself. He had scared the hell out of me and the thought of losing him had sent me into a panic state. So I had parked myself on his doorstep once he had gotten out of the hospital and declared I was moving in and there was not a damned thing he could do about it. Mark and I had been through hell together more than once. He had been there for me when I thought my world had ended and when I had nearly ended it myself. And I was going to be there for himâto make sure his did not.
We had only just moved from his old apartment, which was small even for one person, into this apartment. And what do you do when you move into a new apartment? You have a party! Mark was really a social animal. He loved to party. Heâd always been invited to every party anyone had during high school. He had more friends than he had familyâand that was saying a lot! And this apartment was big enough to actually have more than one or two friends over at a time! So he made a big event out of it. Invited all of our closest friends (they were really his friends) and made sure to invite some girls he knew liked me. He hadnât given up on getting me back into âthe worldâ as he called it. I hadnât really dated or anything for a long time. And I usually avoided people in generalâand especially girls. Hadnât really gotten over the thing with Linda, which made me tend to avoid girls if possible. And then the thing toward the end of the last school year still messed with my head and made be tend to avoid everyone as much as possible. But that was getting a little better. Markâs suicide attempt had changed my focus a bit. I made a point of trying to do things with him, of trying to do things that would make him happy. And I know that it made him unhappy when I was hiding in a corner somewhere. So, despite my fairly shitty mood, really tried to make the best of Markâs party.
There were a lot of people there. Mark had a couple of his âfriendsâ there. By âfriendsâ I mean gay friends. He really didnât know many guys like that. I mean, rural New York is not exactly a hotbed of homosexuality. It had really shocked me when Mark had told me he was gay. Shocked me not because it was such a horrible thingâbut because I had not known. I had known him since I was 13, but I had not known. And when he just stood up and announced it to everyone last year, after the incident, I had been more shocked than anyone. And when he had finally regained consciousness in the hospital, after wrapping his car around a tree going about 90 mph, and had told me that he had tried to kill himself because he couldnât stand being such a disappointment to his family and to his friends, and that he loved meâin that way⌠It had been a lot to deal with. I had just walked away from him after he told me that last part. I had really needed to think. But Mark was my best friend. And I loved him like a brother. No way I was running out on him. So we had talked about it and agreed that we would just stay best friends forever and not mess that up with anything else. And I just got used to him having âboyfriendsâ instead of girlfriends. No big deal. As long as they didnât hurt him, I didnât give a shit.
So I just watched across the room as one guy he invited, David, hit on Mark all night. Mark was enjoying it, too. No doubt they would end up in bed together before the night was over.
Actually, I ended up spending a great deal of time talking with one of Markâs other âfriends,â Paul. He was quite a bit older than Mark and I knew they had been together more than once. He was really nice, though, easy to talk to, even for me. And that was saying something, because I really didnât know him and I always had a hard time talking to people I didnât know. But he was cool. We talked about a lot of things, writing mostly. It turned out he actually had some things published. Short stories in magazines, but to me that made him very cool! He handed me a few drinks throughout the night. I noticed that he kept brushing my hand as he handed them to me, but I really didnât make anything out of it. Iâll admit I was getting very relaxed by all the drinking and was not really noticing muchâand what I did notice, I really didnât interpret. We talked a while, then I somehow ended up on the couch with one of the girls there.
She was a very pretty girl, and I had actually spoken to her a few times without feeling like I was going to have to run to the bathroom and puke. That was a good sign! Most likely, it was a sign of how very drunk I was! I ended up kissing her and making out a bit on the couch. I caught Markâs eye over her shoulder and noticed him smile. He smiled as if he were relieved that I was having a good timeâand very glad that I was finally making out with a girl. I donât know, maybe it was that look in his eyes, but suddenly I really felt like I needed to get out of there, to lie down. I didnât feel sick or anything, I just knew I needed to lie down. I told her that and she offered to lie down with me. She said this while trying to stick her tongue down my throat, which was a pretty impressive thing to do! I donât remember what I said to her. But a few moments later, I was leaning against the wall in the hallway just down from my bedroom door, alone.
âAre you ok?â The voice was close, very close. I started and nearly fell. He chuckled softly as he grabbed my arm to steady me. âI saw you holding up that wall and it looked like you might be going to sleep right there!â
I opened my eyes. It was Paul, but I already knew that from his voice. âNo, I just stopped to rest my head for a minute.â My words sounded a little drunk, even to me.
âI think you better rest your head on your bed.â He laughed outright as he put his arm around my shoulder and began leading me down the hall to my room. My feet were unsteady, and I was glad of his support.
He shut the door behind us, which I noticed at the time, but didnât make anything of. He helped me to my bed and I just fell back on it. My head was spinning a bit now. I wasnât precisely dizzy, but things were shifting around a bit. He sat down on the bed beside me. He was sitting close, so close that I could feel the heat from his leg where it brushed against mine. I tried to sit up. âNo, donâtâ he said softly, placing one hand on my chest. I couldnât sit up. It wasnât like he pushed on me and held me down. He just placed his hand lightly on my chest. But the sheer surprise of the action caught me off guard and held me firmly in place. He started rubbing my chest. I could feel the heat from his hands right through my shirt.
âDo you always wear silk shirts?â The words were very close to my ear. But I didnât open my eyes. The feeling of his hand caressing my chest felt so relaxingâŚ
âNo.â I heard myself answer. I was wearing my black silk âdress upâ shirt. I had actually spent a bit of time picking something to wear. I wanted to at least look like I wanted to be at the party. Markâs party. âBut itâs Markâs party.â I said that simply, as though anyone hearing it would completely understand.