There was a very good chance this would end in turmoil.
At the same time, there is still the small possibility it could end well, right?
With that attitude in mind, I sucked in a deep breath and approached Jenko's booming house.
I had not ever been to a party and it is not my cup of tea, but I could tell that Ashton was very right when he said Jenko throws slamming parties. The music was so loud outside the house that it already felt as though it was making me deaf, and I heard the sound of a crash inside that was followed by a loud chorus of hoots and hollers.
Were there even strobe lights in there? Gosh, this party was really going strong.
How did I end up here? That's a logical question.
I didn't anticipate this happening. After my small squabble with Ashton, I planned to forget about him for the weekend and go to the football game and the diner. However, when I went to eat before the game, I found I was unsettlingly full, even though I had not eaten much recently.
I found myself wondering why I even cared what Ashton did. After all, he has been almost nothing but unkind to me, with a few rare moments of smiling. It just does not make sense why his well-being is occupying me so much. Perhaps it is just my tendency to care about others too much. Heck, I hardly know him yet I am concerned he is ruining his life with this excessive partying.
My stomach was so upset by the time I forced down my cheeseburger that I couldn't even go to the game. I actually did make it all the way to the football field entrance, but that's when I decided to turn around. I couldn't let Ashton possibly make some really bad mistakes.
Instead, I went to the grocery store, where I knew they had a phone book, and looked up Jenko's address. Thankfully Jenko is not a common last name and there was only one in this area. It took me awhile to find it, but, eventually, I did.
Jenko lived in a prestigious part of town. His house was a giant two story that had that castle looked mixed in with some classy stones. If there hadn't been trash all over the lawn it would have been spectacular.
I approached the front door and lifted my hand to knock. I then realized how entirely pointless it was, as it was impossible for anyone to hear my knock from inside. Someone slithered by me and opened the front door, and I timidly trailed in behind.
Okay, I'm here to make sure Ashton stays out of trouble. Then I'll be on my way out. That's it.
The stench of alcohol soon became overwhelming, and I had to concentrate on not breathing out of my nose. It is beyond me how people can drunk something that smells so vulgar. Add that with the strong odor of sweat in the crowd of people. I was going in to sensory over drive.
Finally, I made it to a slightly open area, and started to survey for Ashton. It was fairly useless, since this house was so big and I was just one small person amongst the hundreds here. Noticing a barstool that was vacant, I climb atop it so I could see a little better. I didn't realize it was a swirling one, though, and after a few seconds I came tumbling down. Instead of hitting the ground though, someone had caught me.
"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry," I began, looking up to see a fairly good looking male. What struck me about him most though was that he had a beard that made him look twenty.
He curled his lips into a crooked smirk, "Ah no biggy."
I gave him a faint smile and a thank you before excusing myself.
"Hey wait, I haven't seen you around, you come here often?"
"Uh, no. No I don't."
"Figured, you stand out like a fly in the milk here," He chuckled.
"Why?" I asked warily.
"You're the only girl wearing a Stanford sweatshirt here. Every other girl is showing way more skin than you."
My face reddened at his comment, and I decided it was probably for the best that I just walk away.
"Who are you looking for?" He asked before I could get out of ear shot.
I turned back to face him, "What?"
He rolled his eyes playfully, "That's obviously why you're here. Who are you looking for?"
"Ashton Cromwell?"
I watched as realization dawned on his features, "I know where he is! He should be over by the karaoke machine in the living room! Man, that guy is a kick when he's drunk."
I'm sure my face looked as horrified as I felt, "Is he already drunk?"
"Out of his mind. What can you expect? He's been here over an hour. The guy usually gets hammered in the first twenty minutes."
My stomach sunk and I nodded. Still, I managed to give this guy a grateful smile. "Well, thank you for your help."
He returned the grin, "No problem! I'd walk you there but I'm bringing a few chicks some beers out back. But hey, maybe I'll see you around sometime! What's your name again?"
"I'm Sami, Sami Spark."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "The name sounds familiar. Anyways, I'm Adam. Adam Jones."
"Thanks Adam!" I told him again before we parted ways.
I had my information, now I had to find Ashton.
Making my way through the crowd was much trickier than I hoped. Everyone was already wild and jumping around, and me and my timid self weren't being aggressive enough to plow through effectively. Plus, I did not know my way around the house in the slightest. I was guessing blind over which direction to turn.
That's when I heard his voice in the distance, it was definitely coming from a speaker. His words were slurred and his grammar was appalling, and this seemed to revive a new determination in me. I began to instead hurry my way through the people, squeezing through the small gaps and following the sound of Ashton's voice.
Finally, I made it to what must be the living room, and I saw him.
Standing on top of what appeared to be waist high entertainment center, Ashton was talking into a microphone as he swayed back and forth. A friend was beside him, and they both had wild grins on their faces. I watched them for a moment, completely horrified and unable to move.
Drunk people freak me out.
They began to sing, I believe it was Free Falling, and I found myself surprised at the fact that drunk Ashton could actually sing in key. I wonder if he can sing sober...
I sprung in to action after I recovered from my initial shock of how drunk he was. But the time I made it to the front, Ashton and his comrade had jumped off the counter and everyone surrounded them. Everyone started chanting "shots shot shot shots!" and I knew I could not handle being here any longer. I shoved my way through the people just in time to see Ashton down a shot of tequila.
"Ashton Cromwell!" I startled even myself by yelling. It was mainly out of fear, but the sound still didn't sound like one that would come from me.
Ashton looked up and squinted at me, but then looked away back to the drinks. Not caring if I made a scene anymore, I made my way straight to him, linked my arm with his, and began to tug him away.
"Ooh! Ashton's getting told!" Someone cooed from the small crowd. Everyone began to laugh and fist pump each other obnoxiously and I grew more repulsed by the scene.
"Stop! I'm not going anywhere!" Ashton slurred to me.
"Yes, yes Ashton you're coming with me," I said soothingly, hoping he would listen and come with me with cooperation.
The small crowd began to shout some more vulgar things, but I tuned them out.
"I don't wanna!" Ashton continued to whine.
"Yes, Ashton, you do. Let's just get you some fresh air," I told him with the same calm tone I held before.
"I, I, I wanna drink some more!" He shouted, causing everyone around us to cheer and raise their glasses. Unfortunately for Ashton, this gave him a momentary distraction and since the crowd was looking away, I pulled him away and out of the room. The front door was just outside the room, thank goodness, so I opened the door, pushed him out, and closed it behind me.
Ashton stumbled forward before falling onto the damp grass.
"What the hell are you doing!" He spat, now angry at me.
"Ashton, I would be so upset if anything bad were to happen to you because you were drinking. I didn't want-"
"I don't care! God, you just, you, you embarrassed me in front of everyone! You're jusss so annoying!" He grunted, making weird huffing sounds in the process.
"Ashton, you're not being rational. You drank too much-"
"I'm fine, leave me alone," He puffed out, standing to his feet and digging around in his pockets before pulling out his car keys.
That was when I snapped.
Instead of saying anything, I stormed up to him and yanked the car keys right out of his hands.
"Hey, give those back!"
"No!" I shouted, making him freeze for a moment. He was surely startled by my raised voice. "Do you have any idea how many people die because of teenage raves and drunken stupidity? A lot, Ashton, a lot. And it's awful. Innocent people die because of reckless mistakes. Do you want that on your conscience?"
Ashton blinked at me, still surprised. "You could get yourself killed, or kill someone else. I'm not going to let you do that. It's someone's life." My voice was affirming, and, interestingly enough, Ashton responded.
"Okay, okay, just. Just, just don't cry anymore," He mumbled.
I sniffled, and then reached my hand to my face. Sure enough, my cheeks were wet with tears, and I had not noticed.
"Bleh, alcohol leaves a funny taste in my mouth," Ashton changed the subject. When I returned my eyes to him, I saw that he was smacking his lips and touching his tongue with his fingers.
I let out a breath and chuckled, but it was humorless at this point as I wiped away the rest of the tears with my brother's old sweatshirt. "Come on, I'll take you home."
"No!" He said defiantly. "I don't wanna get in trouble! My dad said, he said if I came home drunk again, he...he would..."
"He would what?" I probed.
Then, Ashton busted out into laughter, "I don't remember!"
"Do you remember where you live?"
He furrowed his eyebrows, then his face lit up. "Second star to the right, and then straight on until morning!" He was starting to wobble, so I moved forward to grab him, just in time before he fell.
"Oh, wow, your breath smells awful," I told him, scrunching up my nose in hopes that I wouldn't be able to smell it anymore.
"Well I had like a million shots so it probably doesn't smell too fresh."
I sighed, "Gosh I don't think I can take you home. Your sister might see you like this."
"Why are you so obsessed with my sister?"
"From the perspective of a little sister, my older brother is my biggest role model, and I wouldn't have ever wanted to see him drunk out of his mind."
"You have a brother?" Ashton asked. At this point, I slung an arm around him and began to walk with him down and away from Jenko's house.
"Caleb."
"Oh. I didn't know that."
"Most people don't." I had told him this before, but since he was drunk he must not remember. And then he dropped it.
"Sparky?"
"Yeah?" I asked, wondering how he remembered that strange nickname when he was this drunk.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to get you freshened up a little so you can hopefully go home."
"Oh. Okay."
We didn't really talk much after that. Well, Ashton sure did. The guy is a rambler when he's drunk. He sang several Hannah Montana songs, but somehow by the end of the song he would be singing 3 Doors Down.
"Where are we?" Ashton asked for the umpteenth time as I was unlocking the door.
I took a deep breath, sincerely hoping he would be too drunk to remember some of this.
"We're at Angel's Café."
"Oh." No questions asked.
"Come in," I tugged his arm gently inside and them locked the door behind me. I felt him clinging to my arm. "What's wrong?"
"It's really dark."
"I know my way around, follow me."
He loosened his grip on my arm, but only so he could lace his fingers through mine and tightly hold my hand. Despite his intoxication, I found it to be touching that he would trust me to lead him in the dark, even if it is just a café.
Ashton followed suit all the way up to my little apartment, where I had him wait on the couch. I made my way to the kitchen to heat up some noodles from the fridge. When I came back to him, he was on the floor looking at the cassettes that were laying around.
"Here, I brought you some pasta and water."
"Why?"
"It'll make the hangover less painful," I told him. "Now come sit and eat."
A drunk Ashton is an obedient one, and he came to sit next to me on the couch and to eat his pasta. He bounced a little as he sat, like a little kid who was excited to be eating a warm meal.
"You seem to have experience with alcohol issues," he commented casually between mouthfuls and humming of the Star Spangled Banner. It was a random comment, causing me to grimace just slightly.
"My parents came home hammered a lot when I was little. My brother used to take care of them."
He furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait, really?"
I shrugged, "Yeah."
He looked around, "Do you live here?"
I looked around too, and smiled, proud that I finally had a place to call my own. "Yeah, I live here."
"All four people live here? Isn't it a little snug?"
"I have a sister too. But, uh, it's just me that lives here."
"Is that legal?"
I sighed, "Well, almost. For a couple months I've been trying to become legally emancipated from my parents. I haven't seen them in over a year."
Ashton stared at me for a moment, and I began to grow worried. Would he remember any part of our conversations when he was sober? Part of me hoped he would, just so someone would know a little bit about me, but another part of me was terrified at the prospect.
"Where is your sister?" He asked.
I grimaced, but tried to hide the fact that Mikayla is a sore subject. "To be honest, I have no clue. I have only seen her twice in the last six years."
"And your brother?"
This, I decided, was too much, so instead of answering, I asked him a question. "Do you want some coffee? It might help you sober up. I'll get the pot going." I had yet to make any coffee up here, but there was a really old pot on the corner of the counter that could be finally have a use. I ignored his response, if he even had one, and went to start the machine.
When I came back, Ashton looked really zoned out, and he was slouched on the couch too. "Coffee?" I asked again, setting a cup down in front of him.
"Yeah sure," He answered, his face still etched into that blank stare.
"Sami, why do you care so much that I'm drunk?" He asked, and I gulped. He definitely seemed to be sobering up at least a little bit.
I let out a breath, deciding just to let it all out there.
"My brother," I began, looking at him to see he was still looking ahead blankly. I closed my eyes for the next part. "About six years ago, he was killed by a drunk driver. He was walking on the sidewalk and the driver swerved off the road and hit him. It was one of his classmates."
The silence was nearly deafening, and I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. We stayed like that for a bit, and my ragged breathing felt like it was all that could be heard by Ashton. Opening my eyes, I didn't dare look at Ashton, knowing that if I did I might just break down. I haven't had an emotional lapse in a while now, and I wanted it to stay that way.
"I remember."
"What?"
"Hearing about that story. I sort of remember it."
I blinked, and just nodded.
I sighed, after another minute of silence, and changed the subject again. "Do you want to sleep on my couch tonight?" Since my confession about my brother, this was the first time I looked at him. His coffee cup was empty, and his eyes were drooping a little.
With a yawn, he said "That would be...delightful." Despite myself, a small smile graced my lips at his word choice. He surely was still quite drunk if he was using such dainty words, but it was still an adorable little phrase he uttered.
I got him a blanket and once he was situated, he was alseep before I could snap my fingers. I turned the lights out and slipped in to my own bed, clutching Caleb's Stanford sweatshirt as if I was clinging to his security.
Tonight, I did not fall asleep.