☆Blaze☽
Chapter 18:
"So, are you guys a thing now?" Trick directed the question at Beatle and me as he pressed the bottle of gin to his lips. School had let out a few hours ago, and drinking together seemed to be the only thing they considered 'hanging out'.
I blushed and turned away, focussing my attention on a brown leaf falling off a tree. My fingers were numb from the cold and I was already sick of fall, it felt too much like winter.
Winter was always so unpredictable, sometimes there would be mountains of snow so high that the car had to be dug out of the driveway, and snow would fill the inside of your boots. Other times we would be lucky to see any snow that stayed long enough to form any sort of white layer over the ground. I had a feeling this winter was going to be the former. I wrapped my jacket tighter around myself.
"Yeah," Beatle replied, grabbing some alcoholic mixture and swishing it around in the cup. They weren't able to scrounge up enough of one kind of liquor, so they decided they could mix some together. I didn't know much about alcohol or alcohol poisoning, but I knew that was a stupid idea.
The feeling that I didn't belong here slowly took over my body, adding to the awkwardness I already felt. Maybe if Whiskey had come it wouldn't have been so bad. I seemed to be able to relate to him the most. When he was with the guys, he acted like one of them, but he was softer than them. I still hadn't managed to fake my way through my insecurities and feel like part of the group. Maybe I never would.
Whiskey had gone straight home after school though, most likely because of Gemma. I probably should have said something to Hayden, but I didn't really think it was my place. I knew Whiskey would make me anyways, though neither of us had a very intimidating nature, and I was well aware that there was nothing I could do to stop Hayden from doing what he wanted to.
Trick and Beatle were ignoring me for the most part, which didn't annoy me. I had nothing to add to their conversations anyways. I pulled out my phone and began to text Whiskey, my fingers stating to turn red from the cold as it became nearly impossible to hit the right letters.
Where are you? I typed into the keypad successfully after numerous attempts. The cold feeling faded as my fingers became completely numb, changing to a burning warmness.
"Who are you texting?" Beatle looked at my curiously, but didn't crane his neck so he could see the screen of my phone. That gave me some level of comfort, he trusted me to tell him instead of him having to find out.
"Whiskey."
Beatle and Trick went back into a conversation that was most likely sex related. I accidentally caught a couple words of it every few minutes, and they were enough for me to know that I didn't want to know.
Whiskey Agren
Received: 6:57 pm
Home. Wanna come over?
I looked up from the text with my bottom lip in-between my teeth. Beatle and Trick were laughing about some joke I had missed. I wasn't even talking, so I didn't think they would miss me if I left.
I tugged on Beatle's jacket and he looked down at me, smiling. "What's up?"
"Is it cool if I leave?"
Beatle shrugged indifferently and reached his hand into his pocket. I could hear his keys jangling. "Sure. Do you want a ride?"
"No, I'll just walk."
"It's really cold out," Beatle pointed out like it wasn't completely obvious by the lost snowflakes that occasionally fell even though it was November.
"I like walking." So, maybe I lied. Honestly, I hated walking. And showering. Anything that meant you had time alone where you actually had to deal with your thoughts. But I didn't want to cut Trick and Beatle's time hanging out short because I was going to Whiskey's.
"Are you sure?" His green eyes seemed to pierce my own. I looked up towards the sky and huffed in annoyance as he pushed my blond fringe from my face. I felt like a small child.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Bye, Lake." The fact that he considered himself too 'manly' to call me El in front of Trick made me smirk to myself. Beatle placed a chaste kiss on my lips. I pushed myself up from the ground and waved before turning towards the empty street and beginning to walk down the cracked sidewalk.
Whiskey's house was not very close to mine, but it was in reasonable walking distance from what Beatle and Trick had deemed the perfect place to drink.
I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets and kept my head down as I examined the cracks in the sidewalk. I didn't dodge them, instead I stepped on every one I could. I rubbed my fingers together inside my jacket to keep them warm; my ears were already tingling with numbness, and I was pretty sure my nose was frozen.
By the time I reached Whiskey's house it was so dark it might as well have been midnight. He lived in a stereotypical red brick house with a fence surrounding it. The lawn was covered in multicolored leafs, and there was only one light on.
Instead of knocking on the door I stood at the bottom of the porch and texted him that I was there. In a few seconds I heard someone fumbling with the lock.
"Hey, Lake." He yawned and ran his fingers through his messy red hair. Whiskey was wearing a Marvel t-shirt a plaid pajama bottoms that hung low on his waist. He gestured his arm for me to come in and closed the door shut behind me.
His house was decorated nicely, with a vanity situated across from the closet at the entrance. From here I could see straight though the kitchen and to the other side of the house.
"Is Gemma at your house?" I stared at him with confusion as I slid off my black Converse- I had stopped wearing my black leather shoes to school. The teachers didn't seem to care that much.
"Who?"
"My sister."
"Oh, I don't know. I haven't been home yet."
"She's so dead," he muttered as he started to lead me through his house. We got to a white wooden door in the kitchen and he paused to pull it open. There was a carpeted staircase going down into a finished basement. Most people around here didn't have finished basements; the chance of a flood was too high. Every time there was a heavy snowfall that melted or a thunderstorm you wouldn't be able to get a plumber for days because of all the old houses that had water coming through literally everywhere. My house had had its fair share of flooding; we had to tear out part of a wall after the window leaked in the basement. It was just an old town with old houses. So, I found Whiskey's carpeted basement to be a bold statement.
"My bedroom's down here." Whiskey ran swiftly down the stairs like he probably had a million times before. There wasn't a railing, and I found myself taking small and unsure steps.
He led me to a room that had a sliding tinted glass door. It was obvious the room wasn't made to be a bedroom but it has been secluded from the rest of the basement.
Whiskey slid the door open and walked inside as I followed him.
He fell back into a bean bag chair that was opposite a large television that had a PlayStation 4 hooked up to it. It squished under his weight and I awkwardly sat in the other chair next to it.
Just as Whiskey opened his mouth to say something, his phone started to ring. He pulled it from his back pocket and looked at the caller ID before scowling and shoving it back into his pocket.
"Mi?"
"Yeah, he won't leave me alone."
I was going to tell him that Mi came to my house; I swear I was just about to. But then something stopped me. It was the realization that Whiskey wasn't answering Mi's calls because Whiskey wasn't strong enough to not forgive Mi. The second he heard his voice, even if it wasn't an apology, he would crumble and tell him it was okay, that is didn't matter. But it did.
Maybe it was wrong of me to not tell him, to try and distance Whiskey from Mi. It was definitely not better for Mi. Mi need Whiskey, thought he would never admit it. Whiskey was the only person that would constantly care about Mi. If Mi was gone Whiskey was the first to notice, and he tried to understand him more than anyone else. Maybe they had known each other longest, I didn't know. All I knew was that Whiskey was Mi's backbone, he relied on him for everything, and I had a strange sense that without him things would start to fall apart quickly.
Whiskey waved his hand in front of my face to catch my attention, and I smiled at him as he pushed a controller into my hands.
"Wanna play Lego Marvel Superheroes?" He held up the box for the game and smiled like a child. It was adorable.
"Actually? You're such a geek," he rolled his eyes at me.
"DC characters are the best though."
"Don't go there," Whiskey warned as he grabbed a controller for himself.
"Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman-" He shoved his hand over my mouth and I resisted the childish urge to lick it. He scowled and furrowed his eyebrows as I laughed into his palm.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up. I don't want to start this argument. I'm going to get something to drink and you can start the game."
He left the room, and I stared at the PlayStation 4, pressing a few buttons before deciding it would be easier for Whiskey to do it when he returned.
He stood by the sliding glass door with his hands full and cocked an eyebrow at me. I huffed and lifted myself from the bean bag chair. He had a can of Red Bull in his right hand, and one tucked between his elbow and ribcage. In his other hand he held a bag of hickory sticks.
I slid the door back and he stepped inside, not getting more than a few feet before his phone began to vibrate again. He groaned and shoved the bag of chips into my chest. I clutched it tentatively as he shot his hand into his pocket and grabbed his phone. A smile played at his lips and he pressed the 'accept call' button, pausing to mouth one sec.
"Hello?"
"That's sounds nice," Whiskey voice wasn't close to it's to normal tone, it was happier. Usually he sounded bored. His eyebrows began to furrow and he bit his lip, eying me awkwardly.
"Um, I can't right now. Maybe tomorrow?" Whiskey smiled and whispered a soft goodbye into the phone before hanging up and looking at me. I resisted the urge to laugh at his awkward, embarrassed expression.
"Who was it?"
"Uh, no one." Whiskey shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked slightly up to avoid making eye contact with me. I put the bag of chips down and he passed me a can of Red Bull, opening the other for himself. I had never had any sort of energy drink before, I typically avoided them. I tentatively pushed on the metal tab and opened the blue can.
"Was it coffee shop boy?" I asked with a smirk. His eyes widened a bit.
"No!"
"So it was coffee shop boy. Not everyone is gay," I replied, mimicking what Whiskey had said to me that day in the coffee shop.
"It's not like I was lying, not everyone is gay. Coffee shop boy just happened to be."
"Do I get to know his name?"
"Nah, I don't think much is gonna come from it," Whiskey said plainly as he plopped back down into the bean bag chair, being careful not to spill any of his drink.
"So optimistic," I replied sarcastically with an eye roll for added effect.
"It's called realistic." Whiskey slid off the bean bag chair so he was in front of the television, fiddling with the buttons the PS4 until the screen lit up with the logo.
"Well, what's wrong with him then?"
"Nothing, he's fine," he said.
I finished for him, "but he's not Mi."
* a/n I'm like really really so sorry. This is really short, like 900 words shorter than usual. But i decided it was better just to post it instead of making you wait another month.
It's basically project season in school, because all the teachers are rushing to get everything in before Christmas break. But hopefully I will get a lot of writing done during break because I won't really have much else to do. So sorry guys. I love y'all <33
Oh, and how would y'all feel about Whiskey getting his own book after I finish Blaze? Lemme know in the comments below :)
-Update, Whiskey does have his own book, it's called Asymptote and it runs in the same timeline as Blaze but I'm still writing it like now (2023) which is 9 years after I wrote Blaze. So don't come for me if the timeline of events don't match up perfectly, Asymptote is my baby and I will hear no slander