One quick and important advice for everyone- If you're attending the first party of your life, and if that happens to be in college, then don't ever go with a wild, jackass girl who supposedly "lives for the thrill", unless you want to learn to live for the thrill as well.

*****

Maya Parker loved parties, and her excitement on taking me to my first one definitely didn't say otherwise. Let's just say, that the moment I entered the house and had a quick look at Maya's face, I knew I was going to have quite a night.

The first thing we did, or Maya did, was greet people whom she was familiar with, or at least that's how it seemed to me. She was hugging students whom I'd never seen, a familiar face or two once in a while. I'd already started feeling bad for myself for being such a loner, but I was quickly saved from entering any sort of depression, by the girl on my side. "In case you're wondering, no, I don't like these people," she said, as though the one thing she'd want was to get away from all those people. "It's just that, well, once you're where I am, you just sorta have to socialize, like it or not." I nodded, though I doubt she even noticed.

"You know," I started, "I could always leave, give you some proper time for socializing." I was desperately looking for a way to get out of the house; the combination of unknown faces and alcohol was making me sick already.

"I think I'll pass," she said as she quickly grabbed my hand and led me towards, well, somewhere that I couldn't see in the crowd of teenagers. As we reached there, I noticed that we were standing in front of a bar. I turned my gaze towards Maya, who looked like this might just as well be the best part of the night.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"To help the waiter serve drinks. Duh." Sensing the sarcasm, I looked at her as I waited for a proper reply. "Okay, fine. I was joking; loosen up a bit, Grey. Anyway, we're here to watch these stupid teenagers get drunk and then puke all over each other. It's worth it, I swear." I looked over at Maya incredulously. She caught my look of horror and burst into laughter. "Relax. We're here to have the night of, well, the month!" And with that, she sat on one of the seats, gesturing for me to occupy one, and ordered two tequila shots.

*****

"Uh, I don't drink."

Again, I was greeted by the dropping face, look of horror and the utter surprise. "Look, you've not been to a party before? Fine. Spent your entire life alone in your room? Fine. But never gotten drunk despite being in college? Not fine."

"I don't think it's that big a deal, really. Or at least I didn't think it was," I mumbled.

"How is- you know what? Forget it. I get it; you've spent your entire life living under a rock. But not anymore. Now, you're here, with Maya Parker, and I'm going to make sure you do some stuff with your life," she said, and I could tell she was forcing herself to not overreact. She passed on one of the two glasses the bartender had given us towards me. Then, she raised her own, expecting me to do the same. She looked on while I went through several internal debates, deciding whether I should give it a shot or not.

I was being given a chance. An opportunity to try something new, something different. Plus, it was all going to last only for one night. How bad could it get? There was a chance I wouldn't get this opportunity ever again. Was I okay with that? I mean, a while back, it wouldn't have mattered to me; alcohol or no alcohol, I couldn't have cared any less. But today, right here, I was being given a chance to try something new. I even had this wonderful, adventurous girl to accompany me. After all, how bad could one night get?

Picking up the second glass and raising it up to Maya's, I sighed. "Just this once."

She nodded, her eyes flooding with sparks of excitement. "Just this once." Then, she tapped her glass with mine and said, "To new thrills." I repeated the same, and with that, I drained my first glass of alcohol quickly into my mouth. I'll be honest, it was terrible. But the fact that I had finally started something new made me feel so proud that I was able to overcome the taste of the drink. I looked at Maya, who looked as though she had just had the finest taste of her life. She looked up at me, her eyes questioning, and waited for my reaction. Instead of saying anything, I simply turned to the bartender. "Two more glasses, unless this young lady has already had enough," I said, a smirk emerging on my face. Needless to say, Maya Parker was beyond thrilled.

*****

I don't know if I should be proud of this, but I ended up chugging four glasses of tequila shots in all. I partly blame my alcohol consumption for making this decision, though a part of me loved this mistake.

Now, Maya and I were on the dancefloor, and even though this was also the first time I was dancing in a room full of strangers, given that I was drunk, Maya claimed that I actually had some good moves. We were speaking of famous poems and poets, something that probably made both of us feel much more comfortable, or at least it did do so for me. We were nicely speaking of poets of The Renaissance, when Maya hushed me and pointed to someone behind my back. "Hot girl out there. Nice ass. You've got to go for it," she said, looking up at me.

I looked at her in surprise. Partly because not many girls would be so comfortable on commenting about another girl's ass so smoothly, partly because I wasn't that comfortable myself talking about a girl's behind, forget about making a move on her. "I think I'll pass," I said.

She looked at me as though I were an idiot. "Why not? Just go and make out with her, as simple as that."

"I haven't ever kissed a girl before."

This time, Maya didn't bother commenting. Instead, she held me by my wrist and made her way out of the crowd of not-so-sober scholars. Since Maya was fairly heighted herself, and since the entire place was so crowded, I was unable to look ahead of myself and see where we were headed towards.

We walked further ahead until we were finally out of the building and had entered a lawn which was also inside the premises. Thankfully, it was mostly empty, so I wouldn't have to face the humiliation of whatever I was going to hear from Maya, in front of a big crowd. Still grabbing me by my wrist, Maya finally came to a stop and comfortably seated herself on the grass, pulling me along with her.

Then, after a few seconds, she turned to face me. "Zach Grey," she began, "you're a nineteen-year-old college student who is supposed to be living his life to the fullest. You're supposed to have adventures, feel the thrill, do everything your heart wants you to do. Because, trust me, this is the time where you can do it all. After a few months, or years, you won't be able to do the stuff you can do today. Till earlier today, you'd never gone to a party, never gotten drunk. But now, you have. And face it, you liked it. Perhaps some good things do take time. Now that you know me, I'm going to show you a lot more good things, starting from now."

The determination and confidence she said it with made me want to try new things, made me want to feel the thrill. Unknowingly, I nodded. Out of nowhere, a piece of paper and a pen emerged out of the pocket of Maya's leather jacket.

Finally finding the ability to speak again, I asked, "What are you doing?"

She looked up at me. "Giving you an aim for whatever is left of this college year." As puzzled as I was, I decided I'd just watch her play her game. I mean, part of me was actually wondering what she could be up to. This was Maya Parker, after all. The girl who spent three hours with me in my dorm after she'd only just officially met me, then barely noticed my presence for a week straight, showed up at my doorstep and convinced me to go to a party after that, and also made me have my first alcoholic drink. I'd barely known her for two weeks and this was only my second proper interaction with her, yet I wanted to know more about her. I don't know why, but I just did.

Ignoring my thoughts, I looked down at the piece of paper on which Maya had been writing. She looked at it with immense pleasure and pride, as though whatever she written was truly a commendable piece of work.

Zach Grey's Bucket-list:
1) Go to a party
2) Get drunk
3) Show some moves on the dancefloor
4) Kiss a girl
5) Play a proper game of 'Spin the Bottle'
6) Get in trouble for doing something in college
7) Bang a girl
8) Bunk a whole day of college
9) Steal from the canteen
10) Hit on a teacher
11) Plan 'Prank of the Year'
12) Bang the girl

The first thing I said was, "You've mentioned banging a girl twice."

Maya looked up at me. "Not exactly. The first one says 'bang a girl', the next one says 'bang the girl'."

"And that's very different because?" I questioned.

She sighed. "The first one means that you have to bang-"

"Don't you think "bang" is a bit too harsh?" I interupted.

She rolled her eyes at me before continuing. "The first ones says that you just have to bang any girl. It'll be your first time, therefore I added it in the list."

"You think I'm a virgin?"

"Never been to a party, never gotten drunk, never kissed a girl. You can't possibly make love without having done all that, can you?"

"Okay. Whatever," I answered in defeat.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the second one means that you have to bang the girl. You know, a specific girl you set your eyes on."

"So what you're suggesting is that I should go on full-player mode and target one specific girl?" I asked in disbelief.

"No, not that. There are roughly six months left for the year to end. You're a young guy, you get turned on. Obviously, you'll like some girl, some time or the other. So basically, the second one says that you have to win her and then make love to her. Happy?"

"Six months is way too short a time to fall in love," I remarked.

"Who's talking about love? Just someone you like. Try not having it be just a crush, someone a bit more than that," she said.

"Look," I began calmly, "I appreciate what you're doing for me. I really do. But some people just don't change. And all this, I don't know what I'm going to get out of it. I don't think I'll be doing it, following this bucket-list and stuff."

Maya took a deep breath before she started next, her eyes reflecting determination. "If you'd told me that a week back, I would've believed you. But today, you just completed three things from that list within two hours. And who's talking about changing you? Not just some people, no one changes! You just- you can only learn new things. But at the end of the day, you're still the same person. What I'm saying is, I know what your heart lies at- writing. I love that, too. But there's so much more that you can do. My heart lies at the thrill you get from new experiences, but I do so much more than just that. I write, I read, I dance, I sing, I get drunk, I love, I hate, I do so many things. All I'm saying is, a person like you shouldn't be missing on such things. That's it. The rest is your choice, of course."

I don't know what hit my mind at that very second, but something did. Flashes of memories from years back till date came rushing back to my mind; being teased by a bully in second grade, getting beaten in a fight in fifth grade, getting taunted by my classmates for being a weakling, getting ignored by girls for being boring in highschool, being left behind because I wasn't "the shit", never having a group of friends because I was silent, simple and plain. All of it hit me like a hard rock being thrown with immense strength. Maya's reaction on knowing how I'd never been to a party, never gotten drunk; it flashed in front of my eyes. And then, I felt the pleasure I'd felt when I'd finally gotten drunk, danced on the dancefloor, had actually started enjoying myself at the party. I had felt the thrill. And at that moment, I realised, that even though my heart may lie with writing, there was so much else I could do. So many things I wanted to experience, wanted to feel.

I'd made many mistakes in my life, and at that moment, I thought that this one could be the biggest one of my life, but I made it anyway. And I wasn't sorry.

I took a deep breath before looking at Maya right in the eye. "Okay. We have a deal."

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Firstly, I'd like to thank cool_reader_ for these beautiful graphics that she's sent me. Thank you so much, girl!

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I know I shouldn't be self-promoting *cringes*, but it'd be great if you all could check out my cover-making book. I'm accepting orders 24/7, mostly, and always try completing the covers as fast as I can.
You can check out the same in my works, present on my profile.
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Like always, I would like to take this moment to thank all my readers for reading this novel. I hope y'all liked this chapter. Comments, opinions and suggestions are always welcome. Kindly vote for this chapter, thereby extending your support for the same.
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