california.

You would think "Cheap Vodka Night" would have taught me a thing or two about keeping alcohol out of my purse, but instead it became rather a theme once I arrived at USC. As my purses got bigger, so did the containers of liquor. A cell phone met a tragic end when stored next to a 40 of bacardi on Halloween. A skirt was irreperably stained after being used to conceal a corked bottle of wine. But it was all worth it for the popularity I gained at parties after the kegs ran out.

"Whoever finds me a wine opener gets the first sip!" I trilled, waving bottles in the air and sending frat boys scurrying in every direction.

At parties where the supplies were ample, I saw nothing wrong with taking something with me for the road. Unfortunately, this became such a habit that when I did not have a purse to store the containers, I would march straight out of the party with a carton of cheap vodka under my arm. While the hosts of the party were usually too drunk to notice, the campus police officers stationed outside always objected.

There's a certain element of security in having alcohol with you wherever you go. I liked to be the one to provide it in the least obvious of situations.

“Anyone want some tequila?” I whispered down the aisle at Cinema 190’s screening of “Jurassic Park.”

"Anyone want a mimosa?" I asked, waving a water bottle, when some friends joined me by a fountain at lunchtime.

"Anyone want some schnapps?" I asked Bonne on the first day of our art history class together. She declined; she was always very engaged in the material, whereas I would stick around for half the class at most, getting increasingly annoyed with the pretention of modern artists such as Frank Stella and scribbling angry notes in my margins. Then, at the break, I would wander off somewhere to be angry and finish the Schnapps.

At restaurants I always ordered alcohol just to see if I could get away with it, but usually lost interest once I was served. Olivia and I went for sushi before meeting up with the rest of our friends to see the latest Harry Potter. I obtained a small bottle of sake that I couldn’t stand the taste of, yet couldn’t bring myself to waste. It was a bit tricky keeping the open bottle upright in my purse for the next hour, but it was all worth it one we got inside the IMAX theatre.

“Anyone want some sake?” I hissed as the opening credits rolled.