“Well, cheers” Shane says. We all raise our shot glasses and boy does this ***** burn. Most be top shelf as my sister would say. Ah, yes, there it is that familiar buzz. I take it that everyone else felt it too because I was not the only one sporting a glassy eyed stare. No one was driving for a while.

“Well, we cant let a perfectly buzz go to waste, lets dance.” Alice says. Well slurs really. But at this point I doubt that any on us could do much better. “Come on Grace you ready to cut a rug with the best dance partner youve ever had?”

I waited for Grace to reply. I knew that Alice was not she had in mind. But she didnt say anything and I wasnt about to speak up for her. Shes a big girl. Of course when she opened her mouth,it was too late as Alice grabbed her towards the dance floor. She hold her back a moment to talk to me though.

“TK, little help here” She can give me those sad puppy eyes all she wants. But I didnt want to completely destroy her night.

“Just go, Gracie. Pump Al for information about Bette. They are best friends. Ill stay here ok, talk to Bette for you.” That seemed to do the trick because she quickly pulled Alice out onto the floor. She had confidence in me to get the goods on her intended. “On her intended” how old am I?

“You ok?” Bette asked me. I guess my confusion over my last inner monologue showed through on my face again. She did look really concerned. But then again it could be the liquor making her softer.

“Im fine. So, is anybody gonna tell me what happened to Eric?”

It took her a while to answer as whatever happened really bothered her. “Can we just skip the heavy stuff and have him tell you tomorrow?” Hmm, thats suspicious.

“But Bette, he looked like he was about to hit a girl. Is he usually like that?” Seriously, I think its important that I get to the bottom of this before I think about hanging out with him again.

“Would you like to dance?” ok, she is so not going to answer my question. Is she protecting him or hiding something from me.