Babysitting The Bad Boy

Chapter 24 - Truth or Dare

"It wasn't him. My friends were smoking and-"

"Where are your stupid friends?" I step forward, looking around for a group of annoying chicks. That's when I notice Zoey and Cole are together. And there's no sign of Marnie.

My pulse quickens and I rush over to them without another word to Maggie. "Where's Marnie?" I ask Zoey.

"I don't know, she went to the bathroom and when I went to check on her she wasn't in there and I can't find her."

No, fuck.

I run a hand through my hair. Why am I worrying so much? She can handle herself. Fuck, I need to find her.

I walk away from Cole and Zoey and look around for Marnie. She's not in the hallway, or in the living room.

"Zeke-"

"Not now," I push the girl away from me. I hooked up with her a couple times.

I rush up the stairs, my heart racing in my chest. She'll be fine, Zeke. Stop being so dramatic.

When I walk through the hallway, I find her sitting on the floor outside the bathroom, drinking from a bottle of vodka.

"Where the fuck did you go?"

"The bathroom," she breathes, looking up at me.

"Zoey couldn't find you," I sit down beside her on the floor. "What happened to your beer?"

"Finished it. Want some?" She motions to the bottle she's holding.

"No. But you should stop drinking."

"No. I like this," she sighs. "I don't know why i've never had alcohol before; this is great. I'm not even stressing out about school or anything like I usually am."

"Don't talk like that, chica," my eyes go to her tits. Fuck why did she wear that? Thank God I found her. Any guy who saw her around in that dress would take advantage of her and who knows what they'd do.

"Zeke," she nudges me and I realise i've been staring at her tits.

I clear my throat, looking away. "This isn't you. When you realise that alcohol takes away your problems, you'll keep drinking it. But you know what i've learned? Numbing the pain for a while just makes it even worse when you finally feel it."

She watches me with curiosity, "What pain are you trying to get away from?"

I sigh, "The pain of being restless."

"Huh?"

"I feel so... bored. There's nothing that I want. Nothing I look forward to. So whenever I feel this way, I drink. I smoke. I do bad shit. Because what else is there to do?"

Why am I opening up to her like this? She doesn't need to know.

"Just give it time. One day you'll know what you wanna do," she takes a swig of her drink.

"Yo, Zeke. We're playing truth or dare, you in?" Jackson, one of the few people I tolerate asks.

"No-"

"Yes!" Marnie stands up, almost falling. "I'll play."

This damn girl.

Jackson smirks, looking her up and down, "Okay. Come on then, babe."

He did not just fucking go there.