I walk to the kitchen to grab some alcohol, I didn't have any and I'm going crazy. I'm still on the edge because of Derek. I hope he just fell asleep.
My mouth falls to the floor when I see Nicole and James making out. Wow. After what he did to me. I thought they were done.
James notices I'm staring and winks at me. This fucking idiot.
Is Louis here too?
I quickly grab the whole vodka bottle and drink from it directly, like it's water.
My throat feels on fire while my chest feels warm. If I can't get coke, I'll just drink until I pass out.
Now thinking back to what Derek said. Are they my friends?
I scrunch my face at the taste of the burning liquid on my tongue.
I rush to the bathroom, and bend down near the toilet, throwing up almost half of it.
I rinse my mouth with some water but I continue drinking from the bottle, just more slowly.
I sit on the carpet near the toilet, with my head against the wall. I feel so nauseous, the whole room is spinning and I cannot stand up.
Every breath I take feels like torture, but at the same time I can't stop, I feel like throwing up everything.
I reach the toilet again and I throw up again, feeling disgusting with myself.
I can't see anything else other than the toilet and it worries me. I drank too fucking much.
I hear some footsteps extremely close to me but I can't raise my head to check who is it.
I feel a gentle hand wrapping my hair and holding it up, while I keep throwing up.
The person hands me a glass of water, which makes me vomit again.
I'm so weary, I try to look at the person to see who is it but my eyes are slowly closing as I fall into a deep sleep.
~
I wake up in Derek's arms, holding me against his body, slowly caressing my hair which takes me by surprise but I also experience a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
It's still night and everyone is here as I can hear the loud rap music.
"You passed out for like ten minutes, you worried me so much," Derek says as he keeps caressing my face.
Oh, I drank too much in such a short time.
"Veronica, you can't drink like this, you might just end up dying." Hearing him say these words gives me a weird feeling in my heart that I cannot describe.
"I- I was mad." I try to justify my drinking but it doesn't work. I drank that vodka like water, it's not okay.
"What happened?" he asks as he helps me stand up.
"I saw Nicole kissing James, again. I really thought she was going to stop seeing him. I'm scared he will hurt her."
He clenches his jaw. "Is it bad that I want to murder that jerk?" I laugh at his statement, completely disregarding that he might be serious.
"I think we all want to do that," I reply and his expression eases.
After a long, uncomfortable silence I decide to finally say something.
"How come you are always here when I need you?" I ask him while I stare at his blue eyes.
Sometimes they look so grey, but it's mesmerizing regardless.
I realize I just voiced that I need him and he must have no idea how much I want to vanish right now.
He also seems pleasantly surprised and smirks.
"I was looking for you, then I found your phone in the kitchen, so I knew you were still here," he explains and I think back to the moment when we almost kissed and he admitted that he wants me.
He was drunk, he didn't know what he was saying.
"Do you want to talk about what happened in my room?" he asks.
Fuck, he remembers. And why would he even want to bring it up?
"What happened?" I tease him. Might as well avoid the discussion.
"You are annoying, Ronnie." He chuckles and I laugh with him. We just feel so in harmony with each other, it's almost like this is meant to be.
The right person at the wrong time.
I'm not that kind of cheesy person anymore.
I almost leave the bathroom, but he gracefully grabs my arm.
"Take this. Hopefully, it will keep you away from cocaine or alcohol." He hands me a few joints.
I am getting sick of marijuana, now I prefer coke but better than nothing.
"Nothing bad can happen to you with this tiny amount, anyway," he says and I perceive that he wants to pull me in for a hug but I'm disappointed when he doesn't.
"Thanks," I mutter and I try to leave again but he doesn't let go of my arm.
"And stop going around asking for drugs from strangers," he warns me but I shrug.
~
"Veronica Reeves!" my mom yells at me as soon as I step foot in the house.
My dad abruptly grabs my wrist and makes me sit on the couch.
"We are fed up with your behavior. We gave you everything!" my dad yells at me disappointed and a few tears roll down my cheeks.
"You smell of vodka. What the hell are you doing?!" my mom interrogates me while throwing her hands in the air and I wince thinking that she is going to slap me.
My mom searches my purse and she finds the joints from Derek.
Oh God, no.
"What the hell are these?" She holds them up and throws them on me, for the first time I'm afraid of both of them.
"Just leave me alone, mom." I try to stand up but my dad grabs my wrist again, my tears filling with more tears.
"Dad, it hurts. Stop." He relaxes the hold but he still doesn't let go.
"Is this what you do now? You smoke weed with that Dominic?"
My eyes widen. How does she know about him? What else does she know?
"No. I d- don't. He wasn't the one- who gave it to me," I try to explain while sobbing.
"Who did it, then?!" my dad yells and I cover my ears. I have never been yelled at like this before.
"I won't tell you," I murmur and my dad slams his hand against the table and I start shaking uncontrollably.
"You are in so much trouble," he continues as my mom searches through my purse.
She holds up the fake ID as I make myself even smaller on the couch.
Fuck, no, it's getting worse.
"We will send you away," my mom spits.
What do they mean?
"No, please mom, no." I sob and she looks empathetic towards me but still holds her serious posture.
"If you want to stay here, you play by our rules. You will be grounded and homeschooled. You won't see any of your friends, especially Dominic."
"Also, we will take your phone and check your room every day. You either agree or you go to a boarding school far away," my dad scolds me.
I try to suppress the crying but I can't. They stare at me until I'm done and I just nod. I can't be sent away, I'd rather be isolated here.
My mom takes everything away from me, she turns off the phone in front of me.
I go upstairs to take a shower, whimpering while washing off the long day.
What am I even going to do now? I can't live without alcohol or coke for more than three days. I become hysterical... I also won't see Dominic and Derek.
~
It's almost Christmas. It's been two months since they grounded me. I could only travel with them. I was going insane without coke at first but after a month it started going away. I was furious which made them even more strict with me.
It was not a smart idea. They made me study so much to catch up with the low grades I had for two months. Homeschooling is terrible.
I didn't talk to anyone since then, Dominic once came to knock on the door but my dad sent him away, almost threatening to report him.
They weren't gentle with me and I barely slept at night.
I'm back to square one. I don't eat either sleep, but to them, all that matters is that I don't party and drink.
The flashbacks were more recurring as I was always in my bed, I have nothing to occupy my mind with. I'm genuinely going insane.
I contemplated running away so many times, just for a little bit of fun, so I can forget about everything but that would cause more trouble than I already have.
My new plan is to act the best I can until they free me, and then I'll just hide everything better.
——
Thank you so much for reading, please don't forget to vote and comment. I love you!
It's funny I drank A LOT before editing this chapter, I'm becoming Veronica. Joking.
Although the best cure for writer's block is doing what your character does. It helped me understand her better and how you have no control over your actions when you are drunk. I don't recommend doing the bad stuff, though.