The next week, Marc-Andre and Vero showed up at the loft to carpool to the party. At first the ride was awkward; it was a long silence to Sewickley, where Pascal Dupuis was hosting his party. Luckily, Alvin and Marc-Andre broke the silence and got the three women to start a conversation. By the time they reached the house, the animosity was gone. Things were ok between them. The girls were playing nice, which appeased the men. The party went well also. Vivienne was having a great time meeting all of the new people, becoming friends with some of her sports heroes, and even joking with Vero.
There was a beer pong tournament that Vivienne was wrestled into joining. The teams were mostly couples, but because they were alone, TK and Vivienne were forced to be a team. Before the tournament started, Pascal recited the house rolls: no blowing, single bounce, fifteen cups, both partners have to toss a ball each round, no do-overs, and every time a team is scored against without reciprocation, they either have to kiss or both members need to remove a clothing article, but when they score without reciprocation, one partner may return a piece of clothing. Most of the people had played at Pascal’s before, so the twists didn’t come as a shock. But Vivienne, Alvin, and Monica all shared an intimidated look. Alvin and Monica looked at Vivienne sympathetically. She was stuck with a hard choice: kiss TK and look like a slut, or take off her clothes and look like a slut.
The Dupuis’ had two tables for this such occasion. A couple of people got both set up. This way, two teams could be eliminated and two could pass to the next round at the same time. Someone else drew up the brackets on a small chalkboard the hosts had on the wall. The Dupuis’, Cookes, Adams’, Johnsons’, Kunitzs, “Fleury”s, “Fanando”s, and “Kennedy”s were all paired up.
In the first round, TK and Vivienne played Pascal and his wife while Monica and Kevin played the Cookes. The first couple plays were easy; there were enough cups that all the balls went in. But after the fifth ball thrown, the gaps were a little far. Vivienne wasn’t great at this game, and she missed the point on her turn. She and TK shared a look.
“What should we do?” TK asked the girl.
She looked at the table for a moment, then back up at the athlete. “If we are gonna lose any dignity, we might as well lose it in a way that is outrageous…” Vivienne grabbed the cup with the ball in it, chugged it, and pulled off her sweater, revealing a black tank top. Someone whistled, but she ignored it. “Sorry. This has nothing to do with you personally. I don‘t kiss just any guy, and I certainly don‘t do it the first time I meet him.” She justified. It was true; Vivienne had set rules, like nothing serious until at least the fifth date, can’t be older than her parents, and this one.
Tyler nodded and removed his shirt. It had long been a joke between her and her father that his face somewhat resembled Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons, but his body sure as hell did not. Vivienne only looked for a second, then turned back to the game.
It was their turn to toss again. Tyler got his ball in, but Vivienne’s bounced off the rim. The Dupuis’ had their chance, and one of them scored. The game continued, until Vivienne and Tyler had two cups, and the Dupuis’ only had one. They managed to keep most of their clothes. Tyler was missing his shirt and socks; Vivienne also lost both of her.
“Alright Viv, you gotta get this. We gotta win.” TK told her. He made her nervous as she tried aiming the ball. His “encouragement” psyched her out more than Pascal’s taunting. The ball bounced on the table. It looked like it bounced too far, but the arch of it went high and narrow, narrowly hitting the inside of the cup. In slow motion the ball moved. Luckily it stayed inside of the cup’s rim, and landed in beer. TK high-fived his partner and took the other ball. In one fluid motion he tossed the small white orb. It did its bounce and landed right in the cup without a splash. Vivienne stood awestruck because it seemed as though he didn’t even look at what he was doing. All he did was toss it. Where was this skill during the rest of the game?
Pascal’s wife went first, but her ball missed. Marc-Andre caught Vivienne’s eye from across the room. He smiled, ensuring her that they would win for sure. Then he moved, coming towards the table and nonchalantly started walking behind his fellow Penguin, just as his arm moved forward. Marc-Andre “accidently” bumped Pascal at a crucial point, preventing the follow-through that would have ensured the ball’s entrance of his cup.
“Sorry Duper!” the flower called out. No one knew it was on purpose other than Vivienne. She is the only one who saw his real intentions. But why? Why had he wanted her to win?
While the next game at that table was set up, the Fanandos and Cookes finished their game. Vivienne walked over to Marc-Andre. “What was that back there?” she asked him blatantly. She saw that he was about to play dumb, but made an all-telling face that she was serious and wanted a real answer. His bright smile faltered only slightly.
“Just looking out for you and TK, I guess,” he told her shrugging and turning away, grabbing another beer from a bucket on the floor.
Vivienne was still confused. “Looking out for us?”
“I figured you felt awkward with TK. You don’t know him. It wasn’t fair to have you pushed with him. We should have found another couple. I don’t want you forced to walk around without your shirt or anything…”
Vivienne smirked a little to herself. “So chivalrous…Thank you.” He just nodded and walked over to Vero. Vivienne watched as he laid his arm around his fiancée’s shoulders, watched as she shrugged him off, as she continued to be in full conversation with another party goer, as his face fell. She looked away and saw that her friends lost to Matt Cooke and his wife. Alvin shook hands with Matt while the girls said some words of encouragement.
Monica made her way over. “So, you have another game coming up. Looks like it will be against the Cookes…”
“So I see. Any tips?”
“Well I am no good at this game. But neither is the missus. You’ve got her beat by forever. It’s the man you’ve got to worry about. He has a lot of skill. Hopefully you and Tyler can destroy them. Also, watch out for Fleury. He is a sneaky bastard.”
Vivienne just looked at her wide eyed for a minute. “Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know. I just saw that he ruined Pascal’s final toss. Ya never know. The man may be graceful on the ice but does not seem so off of it. If you notice that he is gonna walk by you, wait. Let him go by.”
“I will keep that in mind.” Vivienne looked around again. The other two games were starting. Vero and Marc-Andre were against the Adams’ and the Kunitzs played the Johnsons’. The Fleurys and the Kunitzs won. It was weird to Vivienne that while the Fleurys played, Vero didn’t seem enthusiastic at all. Marc-Andre looked like he was in puppy love with her, but she just looked distant. Vivienne didn’t want to jump to any conclusions; she hardly knew the two. Maybe this was normal for them. She did make a mental note, however, to ask Mrs. Dupuis about it some other time if she continued to observe this kind of behavior from them.
The second round began with Vivienne and TK playing the Cookes. She stole glances to the other game when she could, trying to see who was winning and attempting to note on any techniques. This game did not go so well for her and TK. It got to the point where Vivienne lost her sweater, shoes, socks, and shirt. She and TK decided that they would draw the line there. More cat calls filled the room but everyone was respectful, and now that more alcohol was in everyone’s systems, it seemed less inappropriate.