Ross's Point of View:
"Does this look cute?" Danielle asks, looking at me through her mirror. I bring my eyes away from my phone to look at what she's asking.
I nod. "Yeah, I like your skirt," I reply a bit dryly.
The door to her bedroom opens and her friend comes strolling in to sit in the beanbag chair in the corner. "Wow, you look hot," she says to further hype up Dani's ego.
I go back to my phone and open my messages again to see if Hayley has texted me. She didn't say she was going to, but since the call about her passing out has had me worried.
I just want her to be okay. That's all I ever want. I go back to our old texts and there's no typing bubble coming up.
"What're you doing?" Danielle asks, walking over to the bed that I'm laying on.
I lock my phone immediately and roll over onto my back to glance at her. "Nothing. I just don't find sitting here and watching you get ready fun," I shrug.
"So come out with us tonight," she says, frowning. "Wait, did you get more of the coke?"
Her friend, who I can never remember her name, replies. "Yeah. I got it from that scary drug dealer because he always has the good stuff. The one who definitely carries a gun all the time because someone may jump him."
I roll my eyes and grab my phone again. Why am I here?
Dani comes closer to me, racking her long claws up my chest. "Michelle got us some of the good stuff. Hear what she had to go through and you're not going to come out?" She asks, her hand finally settling on my cheek.
I shake my head against her palm. "I told you I can't do that shit anymore, Dani," I reply.
"But you're so fun when you're on it." She pouts as if she can change my mind about literally anything.
I shrug. "I can't, Dani."
"You're so fucking lame, Ross," the bitch on the beanbag says.
I snap my head to look at her and raise my eyebrows. "Yeah, and you're so fucking annoying, whatever the hell your name is," I say.
Dani grips my chin and turns my face to look back at her. "Stop it," she says.
The girl from the chair laughs, clearly not affected by my words. I roll my eyes again to Dani and lean up so I can get off the bed. I want to go home.
"I'm going home. Have fun at your party," I say then pull from her grasp to walk out of her bedroom.
She crosses her arms and stands still by the bed. "Can I at least have a kiss before you storm off?"
I glance to Michelle who is watching my every move. I fucking hate this.
I sigh and turn around, walking back over to her. I slide my hand on her cheek and kiss her twice. "I'm sorry. Have fun at your party. Call me later. Be safe," I say.
"I will," she replies with a smile on her face. She kisses me once more then I pull away from her to leave.
I walk down the stairs to grab my keys and escape this form of hell. Danielle just keeps testing my limits and I can't handle it anymore.
I go to the kitchen and grab my keys, seeing a small baggie with a white substance on the table. I grip my keys a little tighter and walk toward the front door.
I drive home with my music blasting, attempting to drown out any thoughts of her.
Once I walk inside of my house, I'm greeted by the noise of loud chatter. I contemplate for a moment about whether or not to go straight upstairs, but I decide to go to the kitchen.
Rydel is sitting there with a paper in front of her and some of her friends. "What's up?" She asks, glancing up at me quickly.
"Nothing. Just wanted to see what was going on," I reply, heading toward the fridge to get a drink.
She replies. "Is Danielle coming? Her family? I just want to get a headcount."
"Coming where?" I ask.
"To my party, obviously," she says.
Oh, right.
I shrug my shoulders. "I'm assuming she is. I don't know about her family. I'll call her quick."
As I lean against the counter, I pull my phone out of my pocket while playing with my water bottle lid. I click her name and press it to my ear.
"Miss me already?" Dani asks into the phone.
I want to roll my eyes, but Rydel's friends are staring at me.
I let out a fake laugh. "I have a question. Who is coming for Rydel's birthday party?"
"Hmm, I know I am, obviously. Then I think my parents," she says.
I look at Rydel and repeat what Danielle just said to me. I watch as she scribbles them down onto her paper.
I turn my attention back to Danielle. "Okay, awesome. Have fun tonight," I say then hang up after she says her goodbye.
I walk over to the table and glance at her paper, examining the names quickly. No Hayley.
"What're you looking for?" She asks, sliding her hand over the paper like a kid in elementary school during a quiz.
Her friends laugh.
"I wanted to see how you were writing down the names or why that's important in any sense since you already booked the room and catered the food," I reply. "Just trying to make some sense of it," I say, tapping my hand onto her bun then turning in the other direction to head toward my room.
"I don't think Hayley is coming," she says.
I know she felt like some powerful bitch by saying that because she knows why I was looking at her paper.
I glance at her, my hand on the handrail of the stairs. "Yeah. I don't know why she would," I reply then head up the stairs.
That was a bit mean, but that's what she gets for trying to embarrass me in front of her friends.
I can count all of the reasons why she won't come with hardly any as to why she would. I hurt her.
I grab my journal and continue writing out some possible song lyrics to occupy my head from her.
Twenty minutes later when my hand begins to cramp, I glance at my phone.
Danielle: please come out with us :(
Fuck it.
Ross: Fineeeee. Give me 15 to get ready.
Danielle: perfect, we'll make the Uber go there first.
Might as well get drunk. No harm, no foul. With that in mind, I get dressed into jeans and a nicer shirt with a belt. By the time I'm done fixing my hair, I glance at my phone to see a text that they're here.
I grab my wallet and keys and head downstairs. "Where are you going?" Riker asks, an apple in his hand.
"Out with Dani. Be home later," I reply then walk out to the black Uber car.
I slide into the backseat and Danielle immediately kisses me. "Hi," she whispers, squeezing her face into my arm.
"Hey," I smile. "In a better mood?" I ask her friend who I already forgot her name.
She nods. As the Uber begins driving, her friend crosses her legs and places her bag onto her thin thighs. I watch as she pulls out the baggy I saw on the table earlier.
"Want?" She asks quietly so the driver doesn't hear.
I shake my head. "No, thanks," I reply. "So who else do you know who's going to be there?"
As Danielle goes off on her tangent about all of the famous people she knows, I daze out a bit while staring out of the window. I immediately regret coming here because I want to get high.
We walk straight into the house party and head to the backyard. Danielle, high as a kite, starts to drink some hard liquor. I follow her lead, needing this in my system as soon as possible.
Three drinks in, I begin feeling looser and not so uptight. Some of her friends are cool so we've been hanging around them.
I watch as they dig their nail into the powder, pressing their finger up to their nose then inhaling.
Does everyone in this industry do this?
I'm shoved the bag and I quickly pass it to the person beside me. "Stop being such a fun sucker," Danielle pouts, her hands gripping mine.
I shake my head. "I just don't want to do it," I shrug.
"So then dance with me instead," she suggests and begins swaying her hips. Along with them, she begins moving her head and she looks like a hot mess.
I awkwardly dance along with her. I'm not drunk enough for this and I can tell she knows that.
I lean down to her ear. "Let's get more drinks," I say, running my hand down her arm.
"Yeah, perfect," she says, gripping my hand and dragging me to the bar area where we can get as many drinks as we like.
She just orders us shots and I'm more than thankful because I need to get drunk.
By the time we stand up after 4 shots, the two of us immediately stumble forward and thankfully don't fall. Danielle grabs my hands some more and pull them so my arms go around her waist as we stumble toward her friends again.
"What?" I ask her, a goofy smile on her face.
She shrugs. "I like you like this. Not so uptight," she admits, her arms around my neck.
I want nothing more than having the coke go through my system. As she leans up and pushes her mouth on mine, I melt into the kiss and I know her friends are singing loudly beside us so I'm not surprised if they're recording a video for some social media hence why she's being so touchy feely.
I pull away shortly after. "I want some coke," I admit after making sure nobody had their phone in our faces. It's as though I had loose lips, the truth slipping out without my mind realizing.
Her eyebrows are raised. "Wow, okay. Yeah, let me grab some from Michelle," she says, kissing my cheek then pulling away.
I watch as she rushes to Michelle. Fuck, what am I doing?
As if it clicks through my mind, I walk to the opposite side of the house. I didn't pass Danielle so it looks like I disappeared out of thin air. I pull out my phone and click Hayley's name, wanting desperately to hear her voice.
It goes immediately to voicemail and I feel like my heart breaks a bit more. I debate for a bit then call Rocky.
"Hey," he says into the phone. I hear his video game playing in the background.
I feel my eyes water a bit and I'm too emotional for being drunk. "Do you know where Liv is?" I ask. "Well, I'm asking about Hayley more so, but I'm just wondering if they'd be together because-"
"How drunk are you?" He laughs and the shooting noise in the background is cut off.
I glance around to my surroundings. "I'm so drunk and I'm so sad. Can you come get me, please?"
"Yeah, of course. Send me the address, I'll leave now," Rocky replies. I agree and hang up.
I send him my location just as Danielle rounds the corner. "What're you doing, silly?" She asks, her hands reaching out to me with the stupid, fucking baggy in between her fingers.
"Rocky's picking me up," I reply. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to disappear on you. I don't feel well."
A frown comes across her face. Her lipstick is smeared and I ignore it. "Are you sure?" She asks.
I nod. "Yeah," I reply, my eyes glancing back down to her red makeup smeared across near her chin.
"Okay. Text me when you get home, okay?" She asks, her hand reaching out to squeeze mine.
I nod. "Yeah. You too," I reply then pull away from her completely to go to the front of the house, not trying to kiss her if she just kissed someone else.
As I'm sitting on the curb outside of the house, everything begins to get a bit spinny. I dial Hayley's number and it goes to voicemail again.
Why is her phone off?
I need her.
Just before I am about to hear the beep of a voicemail, I see headlights pull up and Rocky comes shortly after around the car so I hang up. "You alright?" He asks, squatting in front of me.
I nod and stand up with his help. He ushers me into the car and I lean my head back, closing my eyes. "Fuck," I whisper.
"I called Liv," he informs me. "She told me that Hayley was studying because she had some big online test she had to do in the morning, but she said she can get her if you need her to."
As badly as I want to tell her to, I decide against it.