Re: Under the lights: Tandy/Mars
The beer was cool, but not exactly cold. Cold didn't exist for very long on warm summer nights. This was something that, having grown up entirely indoors, was newly realized over more recent years. There'd been some ice packed in around the keg to begin with, but now it was reduced to end-of-the-party slush, which wasn't doing a whole lot of good to chill the keg's interior. It was a good thing that Mars had decided, if only for tonight, not to be so particular.
For anyone who'd yet to develop a knack for it, beer might taste like a punishment. But, like Tandy said, it did what it was meant to. There must have been better, more efficient ways of reaching delirium, but Mars wasn't entirely convinced on the merits of party drugs. As somebody who'd grown up taking a handful of capsules at every meal time, the idea of swallowing a pill for a good time just didn't compute. She'd stick with cheap, frat-froth beer, even if she thought it smelled unappetizing.
"Do you have friends here? At the party?" She thought it would be strange to come to a party where you didn't really know anyone, but she couldn't entirely say so considering that she didn't really know anyone.