State Of Grace

Chapter 9 - Champagne Problems

Once they had finished their drinks, Gracie's confidence skyrocketed, she took Jason's hand and led him inside to dance again, she could barely walk straight without his hand on her waist, but she didn't care, she was finally having fun.

They danced around for hours until they finally collapsed onto an armchair, Gracie in Jason's lap. They'd both had a lot to drink, Jason had a tolerance, he'd probably been to hundreds of parties, but Gracie was slurring her words, unable to follow a train of thought and her vision was beginning to blur; shaking from side to side with each move she made. A warmth had begun growing inside of Gracie, it may have been from the alcohol, but it still felt better than being sober.

She hadn't noticed Riley and Maia storming towards her until their arms were linked through hers, pulling her away from Jason, she stumbled backward, almost knocking them over.

Gracie giggled and balanced herself, "What are you doing?" She asked her foster sisters, "I'm not even drunk," she said, throwing her hands up in defense and consequently spilling some of her drink. She fell back into Jason and started kissing him again, but he stopped her.

"You should go with them," he smiled.

"You're wasted," Riley said as she and Maia pulled Gracie away from her new favorite hobby. "Does Mexico know you drank all of their tequila?" She asked when she smelled Gracie's breath, "Come on, we're going home."

"Ugh, fine," she whined like a petulant child, "Bye Jason," she leaned down to kiss him one last time before being hauled out of the house. He smiled at her again, and for another moment, it felt like Gracie was in a dream.

"Moms are gonna go insane, we can't bring her home like this!" Maia said to Riley as they tried to carry their intoxicated foster sister out to the car.

Her head was flopping from side to side, and her arms and legs were limp. She was getting drowsy, any words she was trying to say came out as unintelligible babbling.

"Just lay her down in the backseat. God, Gracie, I told you to pace yourself!" Riley scolded her, and before they could get to the car, Gracie bent forward and violently threw up on the sidewalk.

The faint silhouette of the girls in the front seat was backlit by the blurring street lights reflecting off the windshield. She could hear the girls talking but the words weren't making sense to Gracie's frazzled mind.

Every time she blinked, it was minutes later, so it wasn't long before they were all back at the Tucker house.

"What happened?" Gracie could hear Marco's whispering voice as he lifted her out of the backseat, wrapping his hoodie around her. He carried her upstairs while she blacked out again.

That was the last thing she remembered before waking up the next morning with a pounding in her head. The sun was just starting to rise, an orange glow came through the windows only intensifying Gracie's headache. With heavy limbs, she sat up slowly, still wearing the same black dress with a blue hoodie on top, she still had her shoes on. Riley and Maia were sound asleep in their beds. Her stomach rumbled and clenched, and she shot out of bed to sprint to the bathroom, making it just in time to throw up in the toilet instead of all over Maia's fluffy pink rug.

After emptying the entire contents of her stomach, the door knocked, "Gracie? Is that you?" It was Stella, "Are you okay love?" She asked, with a yawn.

Gracie couldn't answer, she was too embarrassed. The Tuckers had opened their home to her, fed her, and kept her safe, and she repaid them by disobeying rules and getting drunk. How could she face her foster mother now?

"I'm coming in," Stella swung the door open, and her eyes landed on Gracie who was sitting slumped against the wall next to the toilet, "Oh, love, what happened?" She sat down next to her, "Are you sick?"