|chapter two:: drugs and alcohol|
"ARE you going?" I heard from above and I looked up from my salad to Niccoló, who quickly sat in the seat next to me, which is usually Ander's.
"Going where?" I asked, looking at the door as Ander came in and seen Niccoló in his original seat. He furrowed his brows and looked at me, but I shrugged before he sat next to Polo, which was across from us.
"To the club, silly. The party Valerio is throwing," He emphasized, "We can catch up and party until are legs feel like jelly, like old times."
"I think we're a little too old to party like that now," I chuckled at the thought, "But yeah, I'm going. Ander is making me." I motioned back at Ander, who was talking to Polo, but glancing over at us.
"Oh, so you replaced me with another boy best friend, Addy?" He questioned, exaggeration in his actions as he put his hand over his heart, "So soon?"
"He's not my boy best friend," I assured him, looking at Ander, "He's my boyfriend, Nic."
His eyes instantly go wide as he lowered his hand, "Wow, Guzman barely let you talk to guys let alone have a boyfriend. He used to hate when I was around you."
"Used to?" I retorted, "He wanted to flip you off earlier."
"And he's not the only one," Polo intervened, and I give him a look.
Nic only laughed, "I thought that was his gesture of love. I was gone for a while."
"Yeah, but not much changed." I shrugged, eating my salad.
"I can see that," He nodded slowly, "Polo is still someone's lapdog, Guzman still has his pent up anger, and you still look gorgeous."
I froze as I Ander's gaze, who quickly joined the conversation, "So, Niccoló, how was boarding school?"
"Surprisingly fun, but only because Valerio and I had our own." He smirked and Ander raised his brows with fake amusement.
"Hmm, I can only imagine," Ander hummed, faking interest, "I just hope you're laying off the hard stuff now. Isn't that what got you sent away anyways?"
Nic looked at Ander, his smirk fading away, so I clapped my hands, "I can't wait for the party. I've been in mood for a distraction."
Nic then looked at me, a wide smile now on his face, "Well, Addy, that's what best friends are for." He then glanced at Ander, "Isn't that right, Ander?" Ander only gave a small smile that he forced on before talking to Polo again.
Ander never liked Niccoló, along with Guzman because Nic was just trouble. He always used to get me involved in crazy shit, like parties and arrests before his parents sent him away. He was the complete opposite of Carla, besides being stuck up, being more of Valerio's other half instead. Guzman didn't like Valerio either, so their presence instantly was very disconcerting.
When it was time for the party, it was an uncomfortable silence between us all, even though the music was blasting like no tomorrow. Ander handed me a drink before he sipped on his, "Having fun?"
"Not really," I admitted, "Thought VIP would be less.. volatile."
Guzman once again tried to attack Samuel when he seen him enter the club with the Nadia and the new girl who moved into our old home, Rebeca. He got pissed at Ander for holding him back, trying to argue with him, but Lu pulled him away. I was too stressed already to intervene.
Ander let out a light laugh, "Hopefully that helps." He motioned to my glass before I sipped on it. I didn't really want any hard drink because I had took my anxiety pills fifteen minutes ago, so Ander just got me a sparkling water. "How are you feeling?"
I put the glass on my lap and smiled at him, "I'm okay, don't worry."
"There's my favorite girl!" I looked past Ander to Nic, who hurried over to us.
Ander glanced back before rolling his eyes, so I leaned over to him, "Be nice, Ander." Ander only hummed as he finished his drink, before I looked at Nic, "Hey, thought you weren't going to show."
"Well, you know there's always a thing called being fashionably late." He grinned, taking the cup from my hand and sipping on it, before looking at me with a grimace, "This is what you're drinking? Come, let's get something stronger."
Without hesitation, he grabbed my hand, pulled me out of my seat and away from Ander to go to the bar. Niccoló was very unbothered my everyone and everything. He didn't care for anyone's approval because he thought his money and his attitude made up for it.
When he's successfully dragged me to the bar, he waved down the bartender, "Two rum and cokes."
"Nic, I don't want to drink tonight." I tell him.
"Who doesn't drink during a party?" He asked me and I sighed.
"I just took my anxiety meds," I then explained, "I don't want to mix."
"Since when did my best friend not prefer to mix drugs with alcohol?" He questioned and I shrugged as the drinks came, "That's what makes it all fun, Addy." I shook my head, but he proceeded to slide the drink to me, "You want a distraction? Well here it is."
I stared at him for a moment before hesitantly grabbing the glass and bringing it to my lips to sip on. Nic clapped with joy, "You see, aren't you glad I'm back?"
"No," I joked, looking around to see Ander now dancing with Guzman and Polo.
"Niccoló," Valerio called out, coming over to him before whispering in his ear, which made me roll my eyes. They haven't changed. Valerio then looked at me with a smile, "Sorry to pull him away, he will be right back." Before I could even get out a word, Valerio pulled Nic to the bathroom with him and it brought back old memories who made already know what they were about to do.
I took another sip from my drink, before I see Carla sit down next to me, "Hey, Ana."
I meet her eyes and raise a brow, "Can I help you?"
"I wanted to see how you were." She explained, "I missed you."
"Really? Because you were quick to hop on a yacht with Christian than attend my sister's funeral." I swirled my drink around, "I didn't even get a text from you, Carla. I thought we were friends. "
"We are friends, Ana. Shit just got hectic with the whole watch situation -"
"And so your anger toward my sister taking that dumb watch trumped you being there for me, your friend?" I cut her off, and when she didn't respond, I scoffed and take a large gulp from my drink, "I hope that dumbass trip was worth losing me as a friend."
I walked away from her, my chest tightening a little, so I hurried to find somewhere secluded to lay low. When I go further upstairs, I was glad to see there were only three people, I quickly go to a chair in the corner and bring my knees to my chest.
"What happened? What happened to my sister?"
I screwed my eyes shut as I put my head in between my legs and chest. Stop it, I thought, stop it!
"Please, Marina. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
I felt tears well up in eyes before flowing down my cheeks, "Please," I whimpered to myself, "Not again."
"Who killed my sister? Who killed her?"
"Adriana?" My head quickly snapped up to see Ander, slowly coming up to me, "I was looking all over for you. Carla said you'd be here. I just got a text from Omar and..." He began to trail off as he got closer to me, "Hey, what's wrong?"
I shake my head and wipe away my tears, "It's nothing." I sniffled, looking away. I haven't told him about my constant flash backs. He dealt with enough of my trauma over the past three months, I didn't want to burden him with more.
"Adriana," He sighed, kneeling in front of me before grabbing my hand, "What happened?"
I place a smile on my lips before kissing him briefly, "I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about."
"But-"
I place his head in between my hands, having his worried eyes meet mine. I held onto my smile, though I probably looked like a mess just by looking at him, "Let's just go dance, okay? I haven't danced all night and I've been saving my one dance for you."
He smiled a little too, choosing not press on the situation anymore because he knew I would just tell him the same thing. He understood that there were just things I couldn't get to him about like he would with me. He stood up and held out his hands, "Then what are we waiting for?"