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A bunch of freshers sat around the kitchen table of their flat. It was already one week in and everyone was getting to know each other in an alcohol laced environment. On the table it was piled high with empty cans of lager, half empty bottles of vodka, other spirits and probably one half of a deck of cards. Orla handed a pint glass filled with a double vodka cola to her old secondary school acquaintance and her now flatmate.
She began chanting, “We like to drink with Jenny ‘cus Jenny is our mate and when we drink with Jenny she takes it down in 8…7….6….5….4….3….2-”
The model student spluttered and almost the entirety of the drink ended up down her chin and the front of her t-shirt. Everyone booed and some laughed.
“Come on Jenny you can do better than that,” said one of the flatmates.
“Yeah you almost got there,” another added.
Orla poured another drink, this time with a little less vodka and a bit more coca-cola. “Try again,” she forced it in Jenny’s direction.
“Do I really have to you guys?”
“Aye. This is a bonding session lad.”
Jenny shrugged, anything to make her fit in was good enough for her. She wasn’t exactly shy to alcohol - in fact during a-levels it’s probably the only thing that kept her sane, the only thing she didn’t have experience with was finishing a drink so quickly. Quickly she accepted the pint glass and tried again.
“We like to drink with Jenny -” they began the chant again.
It was a success, she finished at the count of six and slammed the glass down on the table. She raised her arms in victory. Everyone screamed in excitement, some punched her playfully on the shoulder and some wrapped their arms around her.
“What a legend!” Orla exclaimed.
“I fecking did it!” Jenny was so proud of herself. She climbed on top of the table and continued celebrating.
Orla lifted Jenny from the table and gave her a piggyback around the room, then down the corridor of their flat, descending the stairs till they made it out the front door of their accommodation block. She spun around in circles, Jenny clinging on for dear life, them both chanting absolute nonsense in their drunken states. Their other flatmates, Niamh, Liam and PJ, Ciara and Natalie followed them outside carrying two bottles of booze each, watching on in amusement.
“I can’t believe I never got to see this side of ye before, Jenny,” Orla yelled.
“We never talked in school.”
“Aye that’s right, you grassed up my mates.”
Jenny hopped off Orla’s back and sat down on the wall that the others watched from. Orla continued to spin in circles.
“You’re going to make yourself sick!” Ciara warned.
“Nah I’m not, you have no faith in my boke-control.”
She stopped spinning and joined the others, sitting in the middle and extending her arms to try to pull them all into a giant huddle. They had sips of their alcohol and took in the sights before them, the flashing colourful lights of people having a party in the flat across the way, some students traipsing home after a night out, and one boy poking his head out of a door before making his walk of shame back to his own block.
“Back inside, I need my drinks,” Orla commanded as she slapped the backs of her flatmates. They jumped down off the wall and returned to their accommodation. Jenny sighed contentedly, it had been so long since she had a proper group of friends to have fun with - having one best friend in secondary school didn’t really cut it and she envied the bigger groups who always seemed to be getting themselves into hilarious predicaments. She was so glad to have this now, a group that she could grow closer to and help make her three years at university an enjoyable experience.
“Jenny,” Orla began, “I’m really glad you’ve came out of your shell,” she gave a drunken smile and patted her on the back.
Jenny replied, “I don’t think I could have done it without your encouragement.”
“Awk, come here you,” Orla wrapped her arms around her friend pulling her into a tight squeeze.
Their moment of happiness was disturbed by PJ yelling to them, “Are you coming in or nah?” Jenny and Orla broke the hug and ran inside following quickly behind the others. The night of fun had only just begun.