When the Lights Go Out {complete first draft}

Day Four: I Want to Run Away

                  Vincent grumbled as I pulled my top over me, and I rushed back over to him. The ideal situation now would be to get Vincent out of the house, find George, and get home without disturbing Matthew. I didn’t want him with me. He couldn’t come with us.

                  I roughly placed my finger over Vincent’s mouth as he sat up, shaking his head. “Don’t say a word,” I said.

                  Automatically, he pulled my hand away, and frowned hard. “What’re you doing? Did you kick me out of bed?”

                  “Shh!” I hissed. “Shut up, be quiet, will you?”

                  “Why?” he asked, this time far more quietly.

                  “I don’t want to wake Matthew – did you let him in here with us?” I didn’t give him time to answer the question, because I carried on. “Look, we need to go. We’re late, and I need to freshen up before we go to school. I don’t think either of us want a detention, I can’t afford one today.”

                  “I hit my head – did you push me out of bed? – it hurts!”

                  “It doesn’t matter,” I said quietly, “you’re hung over. You drank too much and I drank too much. Now we need to go.”

                  “Did you say Matthew was in here?”

                  “Yes?” I replied with a dry throat. “Why?” Did he not invite Matthew here? Did he not remember anything from last night? Had we all just innocently stumbled into bed, gotten too hot, and taken off clothes? Or had something happened – between the three of us? I dared to think, it freaked me out. “Vincent,” I said slowly. “Nothing happened, did it?”

                  Vincent shoved me away then stood up. He glanced over at his friend and then reached down to put his top on, at least he’d kept his bottoms on during the night. “No,” he said after a minute, helping me up. “I wouldn’t let anyone touch you.” Then he took my arm and pulled me out of the room, being careful to open and close the door quietly. “We need to find George,” I said, rushing down the hallway.

                  Vincent followed, shaking his head. “He left, last night.”

                  I stopped in my tracks and turned around, looking confused. “He did? How?”

                  “You asked him to go with you, but Laura said you weren’t driving. She didn’t want anything to happen to you – which is why she offered the room – I remember that. Some other boy was leaving, and hadn’t drunk at all, so he offered to take George. It’s fine, really. George is fine. He kept saying he wanted to go early, anyway. He needed to get to school.” To see Kendal, I hoped.

                  “Well then let’s get home, quickly, so I can go to school!”

 -

                  I’d seen Vincent have a few hangovers in my time, but this one wasn’t so bad. I didn’t mind that he was napping on my bed when I got out of the shower, because he’d offered to fill my tank for me. I was happy with that, I could deal with him being a little bit grumpy. When I got out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, I had dashed across the hall to my room. Vincent looked up at me, and smiled slightly.

                  “Why don’t you take that towel off?”

                  “You wish,” I replied with a snort. “Are you going to shower?”