ELYSE's POV
Bargaining.
The party I was invited to was at Matthew's house. I knew that place like the back of my hand considering how much time I spent here. When the house was in view I was getting second thoughts about attending this party at all. The right side of my mind told me not to but before I could decide for myself, I was outed.
"Ey! Look who decided to show up!" Ares pointed at me in the driveway. "It's Elyse motherfucking Garcia!"
"Long time no see, Ares." He pulled me into a hug. Two girls ran out of the house squealing before tightly embracing me.
"We missed you so so much!" Evie and Valencia spoke in the same time. I knew they didn't really mean their words since when we used to be a trio, I'd hear them talk shit about me. Part of the reason why we drifted too.
"Yeah, missed you too." I awkwardly chuckled.
"That's enough girls, she's clearly here for me." Matthew joked. He always had an irritating way of joking which he likes to call 'having a good taste in humor'. I like to call it being a cocky asshole.
"Pshh, yeah. As if." Some 'ooo's sounded here and there but before anyone could say anything I changed the subject, "Now when is this party getting started?"
Everyone cheered and rushed back into the house. The DJ loudened the speakers and people danced, made out, played pool, drank from the keg, snorted a line of cocaine. Not the type of parties I attended anymore, though the nostalgia of going to parties like this was really hitting me.
"Consider this your welcome back party?" Matthew handed me a drink.
I laughed , "Well I'm not exactly staying here for long."
"2 weeks is better than nothing." He suddenly spun me around, "So, to you coming back?" He raised his drink as a toast.
"To me coming back." I nodded, clinking my glass with his.
"Kiss!" Evie cheered from behind us. Matthew looked at me with a suggestive smile.
"Shut up, no." I downed my drink. "Get me another."
"Anything for our Ellie. Isn't that right guys?" They all hummed in agreement.
I ended up drinking a lot more than I intended on drinking but hey, I was actually having fun. Getting to know about how much my old friends' lives changed was quite entertaining.
"Tell us about you, Ellie. Are you dating anyone?" Valencia asked me.
"Nope." I shook my head no.
"I'm pretty sure I saw articles and photos of you and Neymar. You guys are dating, no?"
I chuckled lightly, "No, just friends."
"How can you be 'just friends' with Neymar Jr?! Didn't you have the biggest crush on him last time I saw you?" Evie exclaimed. "Not a single kiss, even?"
"It's obvious, guys, she's still hung up on me. I don't blame her, I'm not easy to forget." He ended getting smacked by me and Evie.
"You're still so full of yourself. Good to know you haven't changed." My words were coated with sarcasm but I meant every word I said, "But to answer your question, Evie, yes. We kissed once. But that's it, really."
"What about flings? Of course you've had flings with famous celebrities. God, if I was you I'd be in a new bed every night." Evie stared into darkness in awe, fantasizing about whatever the hell she was fantasizing about.
Valencia snorted, "We get it, Ev, you're a slut."
"Shut up, Vee, it's not like you're a saint either." Evie rolled her eyes at her bestfriend.
"What are you trying to say, Evie?" Valencia squinted her eyes at Evie, challenging her.
"Shouldn't we try and stop them?" I whispered to Matthew beside me who was watching in amusement.
"Nah, they're always like this. Just watch and enjoy."
"I know you slept with Ken while he was still dating Christine. Not once, or twice, but three times!" Evie outed her. I recognized some of the names that were being thrown around, all of them were from high school. It was crazy how connected this town was even after all these years.
"Yeah? Well, are we gonna forget about your fling with Matthew that has been going on for years now? Hell, you were sleeping with him when he was with Elyse!" Valencia yelled back at her before realizing I was sitting right there, "Sorry, Elyse."
I laughed. I didn't give a shit that was in the past anyways. Just glad to know now. I gave Matthew the nastiest look ever though.
"You bitch. How dare you say that?! I thought I trusted you with that, backstabber."
"And I thought I trusted you with the whole Ken thing but I guess not, bitch." Valencia snapped back.
"Fuck—" Evie was interrupted.
"Okaaay, girls. Calm your tits, I've got weed to make life better." Ares jumped on the couch, putting the drugs on the coffee table in front of us all, rolling some cigarettes for everyone.
I tensed.
Evie moaned in relief, "Finally, now the party has really started."
"Here." Matthew handed me a blunt.
"No, thanks." I shook my head.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot you didn't like blunts— Yo, Ares, where's the cocaine?" Matthew asked Ares who threw him a bag of at-least a kilo of cocaine. "Here ya go, treat yourself."
"No. Thanks."
"C'mon, Ellie, don't be a buzzkill. You always used to love doing this shit."
"Yeah, Ellie, it'll be fun! Just take a hit." Evie agreed with Matthew.
"No, seriously, guys. I'm clean now. I don't wanna go down that spiral again. I'm a better person now." I shook my head, standing my ground no matter how tempting their offer was. They all gave each other looks.
"Are you calling as bad people?" Ares asked, seeming offended.
"What?! No, it's just that—"
"Alright then, take a hit." He passed me a euro bill and spread out the coke in a line.
"Snort it! Snort it! Snort it!" They chanted. Even random people joined in on the chant.
I was stuck between running the fuck out of there and looking like a baby or take the hit and loose everything I've worked for. On the other hand, I could really use an escape right now. Like, really badly... I'm sure one hit won't be that bad.
"Fine. But just one hit." Everyone cheered as I rolled up the bill and snorted it all. It tingled at first but then it felt like always.
I quickly grabbed myself a few drinks to distract myself from what I just did. But after only a few drinks, my conscience had vanished and I was saying yes to anything and everything.
I wasn't wasted, I was hammered. Hammered beyond hammerification— if that was even a thing.
"Oh my God, Valencia! What happened to your eyes?!" My hands automatically reached out to touch her eyes.
"Ow, Ellie! That's my mouth!" She shoved my hands away, "Is this you first time getting high or what?"
"Quit it, Val." Matthew warned her before facing me, "Come on, Ellie, let's get you home."
"Noo." I whined, "I want to get ice cream. Also why is everyone so damn thick today?— Ooh, grape juice!" I reached out for a tray with wine glasses filled with a reddish-purple liquid inside.
Matthew quickly stole that glass from me, "First of all, that's red wine. Second of all, we have no ice cream and third of all, you're high. Nobody here is thick. I mean I wish, but yeah, no."
Hearing all that was like a stab to my heart, "So none of that is real?"
He laughed before repeating, "Non of that is real."
"I'm gonna go home now and eat my own ice cream. What party doesn't serve ice cream?!" I exclaimed, my words morphing into one. I could barely keep my eyes from drooping. What was going on?
"The one that isn't filled with Formula One drivers?" He answered, more in a question tone.
"Ugh, just leave her be, Matt." Valencia's voice sounded from the pool table.
"Yeah, I'm out. Nice party or whatever, I hope I don't see you soon!" Right after that, I was out of the house.
I tried navigating my way around the streets but each street had moving mailboxes and smiling doors. The sky was spinning too and it made me feel uneasy.
I opened my phone, pressing on my contacts and lazily typing a certain someone's name before calling.
I hummed and sung until the line picked up.
"Hello?"
"Maxie! You answered." I laughed.
"Yes, I told you I'll always have time for you." He sounded like he was asleep, "What are you doing right now, it's 5 in the morning?"
"I'm trying to get back home but the mailboxes aren't very friendly and I'm scared to go past them." I admitted.
"The what— mailboxes?"
"Yes! The mailboxes. They're staring at me weird and I don't know what street I'm in. But the doors seem nice. Should I go talk to them?"
"Wha— Elyse, what are you talking about?"
I ignored him and made my way to the nearest door, "Hi door, do you know where Angela Gomez's house is at?" I received no reply.
"I— Ellie are you talking to the door right now?" Max asked me.
"Yes, but it's not answering— why aren't you answering?" I asked the door. It's eyes blinked at me, giving me side-eye. "It's side-eyeing me!"
"What are you doing on my property at 5 in the goddamn morning?!" The door yelled at me. "I can see you through the ring camera, you're not slick, kid!"
"Max! The door is yelling at me." I complained to him.
"Ellie, get out of there." Max told me.
"Okay," I looked at the door once more, "Sorry, door."
I was back on the street and the sun was starting to rise, "What are you doing, Ellie? Are you high?"
"No, I'm on the ground right now. Plus, I'm scared of heights so that's not happening any time soon." I answered.
"No , I mean— fuck. I can't believe your high right now, Elyse."
"I told you! I'm not high I'm on the ground—"
"Yeah I heard you the first time. Why?" He interrupted me.
"Why what?"
"Why did you take drugs, Elyse? I thought you were being truthful when you said you stopped."
"You're the last person to be calling me untruthful, Max." I was frustrated now. I didn't do anything bad, I wanted to feel good for a while. That's all.
"What do you even mean by that?!"
"Oh quit acting, Max, I know I'm just a game to you. God, I wish I wasn't so stupid to actually believe you liked me. Anything that comes out of that stupid mouth of yours has always been a lie. All for what, a championship? You're such a fucking asshole, I hope you know that. I can't believe I was so naïve and actually believed that for a second, you cared about me or even loved me the slightest bit like I did for you." My chest felt heavy and I doubt he even heard anything from me since I, myself, couldn't make it out half the words I was saying, "Sorry for bothering you, it seems it's the only thing I'm able to do nowadays. And don't bother trying to help me find my way back home, I'll just go ask this mailbox over there. Bye, Max."
I hung up, then walked to the nearest mailbox who looked at me with the same look.
I kept going back and forth like this until I gave up and curled into a ball in someone's backyard, falling asleep.
However, I was later awoken by children screaming.
"Oh my God, Mama! Elyse Garcia is in our garden!" The little boy yelled.
"Shhh! She's sleeping!" The little boy's sister shut him up.
Quickly after, the mother and father were outside. When I opened my eyes, it was like those movie scenes where everyone is looking down on something. I jumped, my vision still pretty hazy, but the faces of people so close and sudden nearly gave me a heart attack.
"Am I dreaming?" I rubbed my eyes.
"I think I'm the one who should be asking myself that." The mother nervously chuckled, "We're really big fans."
"I— uhm, thank you. Do you know how I happened to get here?"
The father laughed, "No, our kids found you here."
"Oh gee, I'm so sorry." I got up from the grass, "I didn't mean to disturb you, I'm so sorry."
"No worries, it's a dream come true simply meeting and talking with you." The mother reassured me, "Would you mind taking a picture?"
"Uh, sure." I was pretty sure I looked beaten up and I prayed this photo wouldn't end up on social media. Once they had their pictures, I apologized and walked back home. It wasn't far away and I wondered why the hell I ended up in someone's backyard.
I checked my phone during my walk back home— I had a shitload of messages and missed calls from Max and Aunt Angela. I don't know what the hell went down with Max last night, hell, I didn't even know I called him.
Memories of the night before were foggy. But the memory of giving in and smoking weed filled me with regret and guilt. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My keys struggled to unlock the door and when I got irritated I banged the door using my legs multiple times, while cursing it before opening.
When the door unlocked, I saw Angela put a relieved hand over her chest and I was surprised to find Max fucking Verstappen sitting on the chair beside her.
"I was so worried, chica, how could you sleep over at your friend's house and not tell me?" She shook me as if she was smacking some common sense into my head, "Thanks to him letting me know, I would've had a heart attack by now!"
What did I tell Max yesterday? And why the hell was he here if I was 'staying at my friend's house' all this time?
"Oh, yeah, that. I'm so sorry, Angie. I passed out."
"You better be! I know it was a bad idea you start hanging out with those kids again."
"They were my friends!" I argued.
"There's a reason why you're using past tense!" She pointed out, "Please tell me you haven't gone more than alcohol."
I looked at Max who was already looking at me. I gulped and smiled, "Of course not, Angie. I've been clean for years."
"Alright, good girl." She let out a sigh of relief, "Your mother would be so disappointed in you if you ever broke your sobriety."
I almost threw up from the guilt that was already suffocating me alive.
"Anyway, I'll be out now. I joined a gym near here so I'll leave you and your friend to hang out." She motioned towards Max. Taking her extra gym equipment with her, she left the house, leaving just me and Max in an awkward silence.
"Uhm, I gotta go shower. Thanks for visiting, though. I'll see you in Russia?" I started walking upstairs. His hand grabbed my wrists.
"You're not going anywhere."
"You can't hold me hostage, this is my house." I tried to pull my hand away.
"Technically it's Angela's house, so I can do whatever I want. She said it herself." He stated as a matter of fact.
I begrudgingly sat down in the living room, waiting for him to say something. "Look, I don't know what I told you last night, but just know I didn't mean anything. So if I hurt your feelings or anything, I'm sorry— it wasn't personal. Now, can I go?" I pointed to the stairs.
"You don't remember anything from what you told me?" He asked me.
"Nope. Nothing. Nada." I shook my head no, I took out my phone to see the texts he sent me incase it helped me remember what I said.
verstappen🦁:
please answer
ellie
elyse
please
im sorry
i was going to tell you but i didn't know how
i swear i mean everything i say
i know it doesn't seem that way but its true
If i could take it all back I would
please i beg u to please answer
Could you atleast let me know if you got home safely?
????
hello??
Are u okay??
Please answer, I'm worried.
that's it
I'm on my way
"Wait, what did I tell you?" I was curious, now. I had no idea what I said to get a reaction like that out of him.
He sighed, "That doesn't matter now. What matters is why you did it."
"Why I did what?" I acted oblivious.
"Come on, you know what I mean. You told me you were clean."
"I was!" I burst, "I am." I tried to correct myself but I was too late.
He scoffed, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I can't believe you did that. Why? Why'd you do it?"
"Why does it even matter to you?" Perfect, switch topics, make him forget about the original topic.
"It matters to me because I care about you. I don't want to see the same thing that happened in 2016 to happen again. This time I'm not just your rival but I'm also someone who happens to really care about you. So, tell me, why?"
I huffed, contemplating if I should answer his question or not.
While I thought about it, my phone pinged. It was Matthew.
matt🦆:
hey
we r gonna go to this abandoned theme park ares found earlier and smoke some pot
wanna come?
me:
sure i'll come
but i will NOT smoke.
matt🦆:
yeah sure we'll see ab that😬
anyways meet us in an hour at my house, we'll use my car incase we have to run from cops or anyth
me:
sounds fun
see u in an hour
"Sorry, Max. I have to be somewhere in an hour." I felt bad treating him this way, especially when he came all this way. But I really didn't want to go through this with him, right now. I couldn't. Facing my problems has never been the thing for me.
"Are you fucking kidding, Elyse?" He stood up. "I've been up since 5 in the morning and came here to talk to you and you wanna bail on me? At least have some fucking decency in you!" He looked at me as if he was disappointed in me. "I'm simply trying to help you but I guess helping you is a lost cause if you don't want to help yourself."
"That's not true." I contended.
"Then, please enlighten me on why you're still going to meet up with them? The same people who caused your addiction in the first place, aren't I right?" He inquired.
"Stop acting like you know everything about me because you don't. You didn't even know anything about me during that period so don't act like you've been here since day one and know me like an open book."
"I know enough, and I do know you like an open book, Elyse. So, stop acting like you know everything because you don't." He expressed, "I guess they were right when they said once an addict, always an addict."
I slapped him.
"Fuck you, Max." I clenched my fists, "I know I'm not a fucking angel and what I'm doing is dumb but I'm so fucking drained. Everyday drains me more and more and I dread waking up every morning so excuse me for wanting to feel numb and happy for a while. But you have absolutely no right to tell me that, you ignorant asshole." My voice cracked at the end and I couldn't help but push him lightly. Expressing my anger towards him.
He held the hands I used to push him in place before placing his lips on mine. For a moment, I melted in his touch, but then I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him and immediately pulled away.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I stared at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm sorry for saying that but I can't help it. Do you know how it feels seeing the person I care most about ruin herself like this? Please understand."
I scoffed, "I'm done falling for your meaningless words, Max. I won't continue hurting myself like this."
"Please, Ly. I know you know about the whole story." He said, "You told me yesterday. That's why I'm here."
"Oh yeah, and you being here will make it better, right?" I nodded my head as I asked him, sarcastically.
"Of course not. Nothing will make this situation better. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am and—"
"Save your sorries to anyone else." I cut him off, "I'd tell you keep them for your girlfriend but seeing as she already knows, you could shove those sorries up both your asses for all I care."
"How—"
"How do I know? Your girlfriend talks a lot." I cut him off again. "Anyways, I don't care anymore." I lied.
"You don't mean that." He shook his head, looking as though my words hurt him deeper than I thought.
"I do." I nodded my head despite my heart wanting to shake 'no'. "Now, if you're done scolding me and feeding me another bowl of your lies, I'll be heading upstairs to shower and get ready. I'd kick you out if this was my house but as you said, it's not. So make yourself comfortable, or not. I don't know."
He grabbed his coat before giving me a tight and forced smile, "No need. Sorry for wasting your time. I'll see you in Russia."
With that, he abruptly left, leaving me alone. My heart ached when I heard the sound of the engine of his car get further and further. I didn't want to do any of this, but I kept repeating to myself that this is the only way I'll be able to prevent myself from getting hurt anymore.
The urge of wanting to cry didn't leave me the whole time I was getting ready. It didn't leave me the whole way to Matthew's house. It didn't leave me when we got to the abandoned theme park.
I was silent nearly the whole time and nobody even noticed.
I promised myself I wouldn't do the same mistakes I did the previous night. But I was known for making empty promises, these days, and the urge to cry didn't leave me until I gave in and had one too many hits.
-
sorry again... lol