Even my Dad, knowing what he did about me, was worried.
"You'll be okay tonight Bill?" He asked as we stood next to his car.
"You bet Dad." I told him. "I'm going to be the designated driver tonight. I'll get everyone home safe."
He nodded slowly and then climbed into the car, Mom beside him. They drove off and I returned to Nina, who was standing with her own parents.
"Congratulations Bill." Jack told me, holding out his hand. I shook it and then received a surprise when Mary, repeating his words, actually stepped forward and hugged me.
"Thank you." I told both of them, giving Mary my best hug before she released me.
"Where are you two going tonight?" Jack asked next.
"Oh, just to a party." Nina replied vaguely.
Jack gave her a knowing look. "And will there be drinking at this party?" He asked.
Nina hesitated and was probably about to give him a pathetic lie. Nina was not a very good liar, particularly to her parents. But I jumped in.
"There certainly will be." I said.
Nina looked sharply at me, her expression disbelief. Jack and Mary also seemed surprised.
"It's graduation night." I went on. "I believe that the law states you MUST drink on graduation night. But have no fear. I'm driving and I take that very seriously. I'll get Nina home safely, I promise."
"You're not going to drink?" Jack asked, skeptical.
"Maybe a beer or two at the beginning." I answered. "But I'll be sober when it's time to come home. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that." Jack told me, his eyes boring into me. "Remember what I told you about my daughter. She's the only one I got."
"And remember what I told you about your daughter." I shot back. "She'll be safe with me. Won't you Nina?"
"Of course." She said softly, watching the exchange and realizing it was taking place on a level she was not a part of.
Jack and Mary finally climbed in their car and drove off. Nina and I went to find Mike, who was explaining to his parents how he was going to the school sponsored party where no alcohol was allowed. His parents were reassured by this and were smiling as they entered their own car. When they were gone we all looked at each other.
"Let's go." I said.
"Fuckin aye!" Mike put in happily.
We climbed into my car and headed for the falls.
I must say that it was very eerie being at the party. You see, I'd attended it before when I'd graduated the first time in my previous life. The only differences were the presence of Mike, who had not graduated before, and Nina, who had not been a member of the party-group before. Aside from that, everything was the same. Everything.
The kegs were scattered throughout the parking lot as they had been before, lines of people, still dressed in their dress clothes winding their way to the tap to fill their cups. The same cooperative effort with the car stereos had occurred, with everyone agreeing to tune them to the local rock station and not to play any tapes. The music of Van Halen, Foreigner, Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osborne, and others marched by and I was almost able to predict which song was coming next. The conversations were the same and though I hadn't memorized them on my first trip through, hearing them as I went by it was uncanny how much my subconscious had absorbed seventeen years before. It was a little like being in the middle of a dream, one of those dreams you have of prior events in your life, but never had the sensation of deja vu been so strong.
Nina, Mike and I paid our money and had our hands stamped. I quickly drank down three beers, giving myself a pleasant, non-dangerous buzz. The alcohol was able to dampen the sensation a little but not completely. It was very disquieting.
Mike of course was hitting the keg as fast as he could, filling his cup and then walking immediately to the back of the line. By the time he reached the tap again, his cup would be empty. He then repeated the process. He also had several joints with him, which he shared with those in line around him. It was less than an hour before he was hopelessly wasted. This was not surprising.
What was surprising was the fact that Nina was sticking with him and doing the exact same thing. She was drinking beer like water and hitting every joint or pipe that was passed her way. I'd never seen her do anything like this before.
"You might want to slow down a little." I suggested to her as she came staggering over to me after her latest trip through the keg line. She was weaving and unsteady on her feet, spilling some of her beer on her arm.
"Fuck it!" She said, giggling. "I'm having a good time tonight. How many times in your life do you graduate?"
I nodded. "Good point. But be careful. If you keep up this pace you're going to be unconscious before too long."
She reached down and grabbed my cock through my pants, making me jump and look around to see if anyone had seen it. A few had, and they turned away, smirking.
"Nina!" I admonished, pushing her hand away.
"I'm not gonna pass out until I get what I want." She grinned, taking a huge drink of her beer.
Apparently Nina wasn't the only one whose inhibitions were being destroyed by alcohol. Every time she walked away from me some girl would come up and strike up a conversation. Most of them were girls that I'd bedded before during my "male-slut" period. Most of them made no bones about what they wanted.
I'd run into this before of course. When I stopped making my rounds and committed myself to Nina a lot of the girls continued to approach me for a while. They always used the line that I was used to, that they needed help "studying" and had heard that I was an awesome tutor. I would tell each one the same thing, that I had a girlfriend now and that my tutoring days were over. It hadn't taken long before the grapevine had informed all but the most aggressive that I was out of circulation. Even the most aggressive gave up after a while. But the party atmosphere and the alcohol had renewed a lot of the aggression. I believe I gave up more sex that night than I ever would have thought possible.
One girl, Jessica Round, was especially persistent. She would not take no for an answer. I remembered her well. A redhead that was a member of the elite, she'd been well versed in sexual technique before I ever got to her. She had been one of my favorites both because of her staggering good looks and because of the fact that she was on birth control pills, which made a condom unnecessary. She had been one of the longest holdouts when I'd dropped out of circulation.
Three times she approached me when Nina was getting her beer refilled or heading off to the porta-can to pee. On the third time she became nasty in her suggestions.
"C'mon," She pleaded, burping a little as she sipped from her beer. "I haven't had my pussy eaten with any skill since I came over to your house that time. Ditch that little lisping, skinny chick you're with and take a walk with me." She grinned. "You WON'T be sorry."
I bit back my anger for a second and took a deep breath. An idea came to me.
"Listen Jess." I said softly, conspiratorially. "Nina and I are pretty much committed now so I can't really do that."
"Nina." She scoffed. "What does that…"
"But." I said.
"But?" She asked hopefully.
"Well, I couldn't really take myself out of circulation without finding a suitable replacement, could I?"
She looked at me fuzzily. "What do you mean?"
I pointed at Mike, who was standing among a group of guys near the keg. They were all looking at the passing females with admiration and probably explaining to each other which one's they'd fucked, how they'd done it, and when they'd done it. A joint was being passed around while they conversed.