“Dave was there too, the captain of the team. I worshiped him back then.” He paused, an odd look crossing over his face, “Anyway, it was New Year, I was the center of attention and loving it, and Dave offered me a drink. I refused at first and he gave me this look of surprise and almost, well, disgust. I couldn’t stand having my idol look down on me so I told him I was kidding and took it. I know it sounds weird, but I really wish I’d gotten drunk that night.”
I stared at him, wondering where on earth he was taking this.
He turned towards me, “Please believe me, I hate getting drunk. I can never remember what happened so I don’t even know if it’s fun and I get the worst headaches in the world. If I’d gotten drunk that first night I would have realized that and never touched it again. Instead, I began drinking in reasonable amounts that slowly grew worse and worse until before I knew it I was waking up with terrible headaches, occasionally in the arms of some girl I didn’t even know.”