Michael knocked against me. “Earth to Rae. You there?”
I shook my head. “Sorry. Allison’s question dazed me there. Because for the life of me, I don’t know how a sane person can be standing in front of school and be thinking about more school.”
And as Allison playfully stormed away from us, Michael ran after her. Like he’d always done.
Leaving me to stand there and smile at them as dread slowly filled my gut.
2
Clinton
I groaned and rolled over, burying my face into the pillow. It reeked of booze and regret, just how I liked it. My jeans rubbed against my legs and I groaned, then w
iggled my toes. I felt my bike boots on my feet over the sweaty socks creating blisters against my heels. I rolled over, flopping onto my back as I sprawled out in my king-size bed.
And I lay there in the pitch black room, reliving the fantastic party the other night.
I grinned as the sun tried its hardest to stream around my blackout curtains. I cracked my neck, then toed off my boots. I needed to get these damn socks off. I needed to change my pants. I needed to get washed up for the first day of school.
Then again, I didn’t really want to.
“Fuck school,” I murmured.
I rolled back over, reaching for my cellphone. And when I clicked the harsh white light on, I chuckled. Of course it was almost lunch time. I’d slept through my first two periods. What a great way to start my senior year. The smell of alcohol followed me as I sat up. I burped, and the taste was rancid. I was damn near the puking stage, but I refused to do that.
I refused to pussy out after the best party of the summer.
I slipped to the edge of my bed, groaning. I felt like utter shit. One too many beers, and it was hard to move. Hard to think straight. Hard to even fathom getting myself cleaned up so I could get to school. I mean, if my parents figured out I was late for my first day, all hell might break loose.
They might video chat me from their safari trip and really give me a good tongue lashing.
“Idiots,” I said, snickering.
I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled into the wall. I caught myself with my hands, but the glaring rays of the sun made me cower away. Fuck, that sun was bright. Did it have a dimmer dial of some sort? I sighed as I stumbled my way around my darkened room, running my knees into furniture and jamming my pinky toe against my bed frame.
“Fuck!” I roared.
Why the hell did I need so much mahogany furniture in my fucking bedroom?
Oh, yeah. Because my parents had more money than sense.
“Fucking bullshit,” I murmured.
I stripped my clothes off, leaving a trail from the foot of my bed all the way to the shower. I turned on the hot water and got in, allowing the burps to work their way up with ease. I refused to puke, though. And as I leaned my head against the tiles of the shower wall, I drew in a deep breath.
If I got to school right at lunch time, I could fill my stomach with enough bread to get me through the rest of the day.
“Or you could just not go,” I whispered.
Nope. The last time I missed a day of school like this, my parents actually flew back from their vacation, taking the time out of their busy recreational flight schedule to be decent parents for once. And it ended up with them selling off my fucking bike. I wasn’t losing another bike over this. That thing was my peace. My solace. It made me feel powerful and on top of the world.
Plus, it got me laid more times than I cared to count.
“Nope. Get your ass to school,” I murmured.
The summer had been great, but it was time to get back to reality. I cleaned myself up, slowly sobering as my vision cleared. I sighed as I got out of the shower, feeling the steam wrap around me. It was nice waking up in an empty house, kicking around streamers and empty beer cans and wiping red Dixie cups off my bathroom counter.
Yeah. It felt nice to always fucking be alone.