Madison could not believe it was finally here. She was finally 21, and could partake in what she considered to be the last 'adult' milestone, drinking at bars. Dressed in their trendy outfits, the group; Madison, Cassi, Anna, and Kelsey went down to the warehouse district near campus, the Powers entertainment district. Given the close proximity of the campus to downtown, they were able to walk, which was a good thing, because by the time 9:30 rolled around, they were already quite lit.
Madison had led the way, with her lower tolerance, and excessive birthday drinking. She had already consumed 4, or was it 5? beers beforehand, and a few vodka cranberrys in the sorority house with the others while they pregamed. As they got to the bar, there were no shortage of guys who were willing to congratulate Madison on her 21st with a drink, and the opportunity to chat her up. As more and more drinks came, Madison lost her remaining competence and Cassi took the role of making sure Madison wasn't going to fall into any trouble.
This was not to say the others were not drinking as well. Anna, one who was always down for a good time, had gotten very drunk, but was overshadowed by Madison on this rare occasion. Her reasons were different. Yes, she was out to have a good time, but it was also because she wanted to run into a guy, Aaron, and be loose enough to just talk to him, without any nervousness. It was not typical for her to have this kind of trouble, but he was special, she thought, so she wanted to make sure it worked.
Kelsey mainly worked around the bar, running into people she knew, and drinking with most of them as the night progressed. It was a clinic in drinking for the girls, yet not out of the ordinary from any other college campus on a nice spring evening. This was how they partied at Powers, and Madison was happy to be a participant.