Girl With Guitar by Caisey Quinn

lightly, but she was kind of glad he’d dropped his heavy arm off of her shoulders.
    “Uh huh. I know how you famous types are. I’ll probably wake up tomorrow feeling used and alone.”
    “And wondering where your wallet is,” she added with a mischievous grin. “Wait, I have a question. What the hell is Ladderball?”
    L adderball, as it turned out, was much harder than it looked. Especially after a few shots of something purple that made the Earth tilt. And it didn’t even involve a ladder, which made it all the more confusing.
    Kylie and Steven played against the lead singer of Hero for a Night, Ben, and his girlfriend, a raven-haired chick named Gina. It looked like PVC pipe and balls on a string, but there was some complicated scoring system and Kylie couldn’t keep track of who was winning.
    “Are we winning?” she asked her new friend, who was swigging his Michelob from the bottle and smiling at her with a playful gleam in his eyes.
    “No, darlin’. We’re pretty much getting killed,” he told her with a shrug. Gina high-fived Ben and did something that looked like a drunken victory dance.
    “Can we go play something else?” She had seen some couples playing beer pong and a bunch of girls playing flip cup, and she’d rather play either.
    “We can go find an empty room and play doctor if you’d like,” he said quietly.
    Kylie’s head swam. She didn’t really know where she was, only that they had walked to the party from the bar. Dread and regret pressed down on her. “Actually I need to find a restroom,” she informed him.
    “Come on, I’ll show you.” He reached a hand out to her, so she took it. Kylie played it cool as Steven led her up the stairs to a tight hallway, though the whole night was starting to seem like a pretty shitty idea. Just before she started to panic and flee back downstairs, he gestured to a door on the right where two girls were propped on the other side, looking moments away from puking.
    She did have to pee, but she also wanted to text Pauly the address and ask him to come get her. Steven seemed harmless enough, but it was nearing two in the morning and the crowd was thinning out. Kylie had heard enough stories from girls at her high school about what happened at college parties. At the very least it was going to get awkward. And she was tired and pretty heavily buzzed.
    Just as she pulled out her phone, a Hispanic guy with a buzz cut burst out of the bathroom, sending the other two girls in line reeling backward. “You do not want to go in there ladies. Sorry,” he said before staggering toward the stairs.
    “Oh gross,” one of the girls groaned as she peeked into the restroom.
    “I know where there’s another one,” Steven told her, taking Kylie by the elbow.
    The other restroom was down another dark hallway and through a messy bedroom. Kylie darted in quickly so Steven couldn’t follow. As soon as she’d closed the door, she pulled out her phone and started to text Pauly. Except, oh for heaven’s sakes, she’d forgotten to get the address from Steven first.
    “Hey, Steven?” she called out.
    “Need some TP?” he answered back.
    “Uh, no. I was just wondering, whose house is this exactly?”
    “It’s the Phi Kap house, why?”
    Okay, that was less than helpful. But Pauly was smart. Surely he could figure it out. “So, are you like a brother here?”
    His deep melodic laughter sounded from the other side of the door. “Nah, some buddies of mine from high school are brothers here. I’m not really the college type, sweetheart.”
    Kylie prickled a little at this random dude calling her sweetheart. After a minute passed, he called out, “Everything okay in there?”
    “Peachy, thanks.” She peed quickly and washed her hands, leaving the water on as she texted Pauly. I’m at the Phi Kap house (?) and am not sure how to get back to the bus. Don’t really know anyone well enough to ask for a ride or walk back. Come get me? At least that’s what