A Rollercoaster Kind of Rush

For some reason, Evan seemed to honestly believe that we were on good terms. Just thinking about it, I didn’t bother to ignore the urge to roll my eyes to my reflection in the large mirror. Shaking my head, a small sigh sneaked through my lips as I fluffed my hair.

No matter how much I tried to hide it towards my friends, being jealous of Lily wasn’t just an act. While I was certain Evan wouldn’t cheat again, I knew Lily was convinced he would. And what Lillian Marto wanted, Lillian Marto got. I shook my head, willing the thoughts to be pushed to the back of my mind for the time being.

I had smeared thick eyeliner across my lids, enhanced my already long eyelashes with coal colored mascara and feathered blush across my cheeks, I was almost ready to go. Painting on a coat of strawberry flavored pink lip gloss, I pursed my lips to my self in the mirror, making a smuckering sound as my eyes showed a smirk.

My curls bounced with each step I took, and my heels clicked against the hardwood floor of Evan’s apartment. He was lounged across the couch, grey Penticton sweatpants with a Red Wings shirt. Upon hearing my shoes tap against the floor, indicating my arrival, he looked up with curiosity shining through his brilliant shade of brown eyes.

“I’m going out,” I told him, collecting my black bag from the table that matched my black and white party dress perfectly. His eyes trailed from the significant amount of cleavage my strapless dress was showing, down to where it ended just above mid thigh, and finally down my legs and to my red pumps. Evan then nodded a bit, standing.

“Well, I’ll come with you,” he suggested. Immediately, my eyes widened a bit, going unnoticed by Evan, and shook my head.

“Um, no,” I replied instantly, “It’s a,” I paused, “girls night out type of deal,” I finally choked out, smiling to myself in pride of how fast I could come up with that one. But I wasn’t sure whether I should feel proud or guilty about how easy it was to lie to Evan.

It was a bold faced lie. I knew for a fact that Danny, Brett, Pony and Davey were all going to be there too. Sure, Evan was most likely going to find out I lied about this, but I guess there’s no taking it back now.

“Oh,” he mumbled softly, looking slightly shot down. If lying didn’t get to me, his sad eyes sure did send a pang through my chest. Biting my lip, I almost took back my words to offer an invite. He waved me off before I could speak, falling back into the couch. “It’s cool, I’ll just call some of the boys over. Frattin should be back soon anyway.”

Though his words weren’t too convincing, I let them slide. For both of our sake. Once again, Evan started speaking before I had the chance to.

“Will you be coming back here or to your apartment?” He wondered, his eyes fixed on the television screen. That’s how I knew he wasn’t okay with this. I continued to chew on my glossed bottom lip.

“Um, I’ll go home if you want me to…” I trailed off, not really knowing what to expect. With old Evan, he wouldn’t want me to come back if he was mad at me. I wasn’t sure what this new Evan would want. He nodded very shortly.

“I’ll make sure the door is left unlocked.” I nodded, the awkwardness brewing so thick in the air that it almost choked me.

“I’ll see you tonight then,” I spoke softly, leaning down to kiss his cheek lightly, and almost shyly. My coated pink lips stuck briefly to his cheek, leaving a print on his skin. He nodded, not replying. So I made my way towards the door, where I slid my arms through my red pea coat.

Just as my hand turned the door knob, Evan called out to me from the couch.

“Av, you look gorgeous, please be careful,” he turned his head, looking at me with his smothering eyes. My breath caught in my throat, all I could do was nod.

I waited for a few moments, just to see if he was going to say anything else. But when he didn’t, I let out a sigh, listening to the light click of the door closing behind me.

We hardly remind each other that we love the other anymore. I had to fix this relationship before it falls apart completely.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I took another shot, almost spitting it back into the glass as I laughed at some joke Danny made about some girl a few seats down at the bar.

“That’s so mean,” Phoebe shook her head, trying not to laugh as she stirred her drink.

“Speaking of Asian bitches,” Brett started, looking around, “where’s Trupp at?” The alcohol laughed at the joke as I shrugged a bit.

“At home I guess,” I replied nonchalantly, shooting back the last of my whiskey. Davey raised his eyebrows.

“Are you two on good terms yet?” Kendall wondered, ordering us both another drink as Pony pulled out his wallet to pay. I shrugged my shoulders again, not exactly liking this conversation.

“We were never really on bad terms,” I let out a sigh, taking the first long drink of the new burning liquor. I didn’t even bother to ask what it was, it wasn’t too strong and it had a sweet after taste, and that was all I needed.

“New topic,” Davey suggested, obviously noticing my discomfort. “This is depressing the fuck out of me,” Davey sent me a wink down the bar. Smiling at him softly, I sighed in relief, realizing that that was one of the usually hidden traits that he shared with his older brother, Jonathan. Both had a knack for knowing exactly how I was feeling and bailingme out when I needed it.

“Speak of the devil,” Mika mumbled. Following her eyes, I groaned. Bright blue eyes connected with mine the second the hardly attractive sound left my lips. As her mouth turned up into a smirk, my eyes narrowed and my hair flipping as I turned in my seat quickly.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” I asked annoyed, “She’s underage, isn’t she?” Pony cocked a red eyebrow.

“You’re underage,” he pointed out. Kendall swiftly smacked his shoulder, causing him to let out a pathetic whine. When Kendall leaned in for a kiss, we all adverted our focus away from them.

“Here you go, kiddo,” Danny said, sliding a double shot glass towards me as he kept one for himself. The bartender took Danny’s five as I clanked the glass against the one in Danny’s hand.

“Here’s to not being a slut,” Danny toasted before we both poured the harsh liquid down our throats. Bacardi 151. Obviously Kristo had the intention of getting us completely wasted.

And that’s precisely what happened. Within the next two hours, around one am, I was completely incoherent.

I laughed loudly, holding onto Brett’s hands tightly as I twisted my hips. His smile shone brightly as he spun me. Losing my balance a bit, Brett caught me easily, his reflexes were as fast as a cats.

“I have to pee,” I announced over the loud music, the old twangy country song that Pony and Danny had picked on the juke box. Coincidentally, we were the only ones dancing.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Mika asked immediately halting in the middle of the drunken line dance. I shook my head, letting go of Brett’s hands.

“I’ll only be a second,” I slurred, balancing on my heels as I turned towards the bathrooms on the other side of the bar.

My eyes scanned around the place as I walked. It was the infamous Judy’s Tavern that Jonathan Toews, T.J. Oshie and Robbie Bina were arrested in a few years ago. The bar was oddly packed for the Thursday night. I had early classes tomorrow, but that didn’t stop me from coming out, and I’m sure most of the students here tonight felt the same way. I weaved my way through the groups of people, realizing I was drunker as I had originally thought.

“Hey Avery,” Lily smiled sweetly, stepping in front of me with a bottle of beer in her manicured hand. I pursed my lips.

“Hi,” I replied, attempting to side step past her. But she also took a step to the right, blocking me once again from my destination. I sighed, getting increasingly annoyed.

“So how are you and Evan? Has he left you yet?” Lily wondered, her eyes widening with faux innocence. I raised my eyebrows, my fists tightening at my sides. I smiled at her.

“No, he hasn’t, actually, but I don’t see why that would be any of your business,” I said, matching her tone perfectly. Lily tilted her head to the left.

“Hmm, what a shame. You see, my friends and I,” she started, looking over her shoulder with a smirk to the group of girls sitting at a table not too far away. I cocked my eyebrow. “We have a bet going. I, personally, don’t think it will take too much longer for Evan to realize that he can do so much better than a piece of trash like you, but Katy thinks that he’s ‘blinded with love’ or whatever,” she waved her dainty hand. I let out a long breath, nodding my head sarcastically.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bid my own.” She raised her shaped eyebrows. “I’ll bet, scratch that, I know that my boyfriend would never even think about actually dating a stupid, good for nothing slut like you that has to sleep around for recognition and sucks guys off so she feels better about herself. I may be a piece of trash, sweetheart, but at least I have the boy, and didn’t have to suck dick to get there,” I smiled at her as I finished. Her eyes narrowed before I felt her fist collide with my left cheek.

A few gaps sounded as the echo of my own fist connecting with her jaw and the shattering of her beer as it hit the floor bounced off the walls just as the song came to an end. I ignored the stinging of her blows, and just concentrated on letting out every ounce of hatred I had for her, and every little bit of frustration I’ve been holding in for weeks.

Yells from bartenders and both of our friends were heard, but neither of us let down. Of course Jake taught his baby sister how to fight, it’s the big brother thing to do. And though I had never been in a bar fight before, I wasn’t about to shy away. Lily Marto deserved every punch she was receiving.

Just as I managed the take down, strong arms pulled me off of the smaller girl. I glared down at her as I was pulled away, ignoring the blood that was coming from both her nose and her lip. Just before I was pulled into the cold air, I heard Lily let out a whine as her fake friends rushed to her side.

Danny released me at the door, shaking his head as he looked down at me with incredibly pink cheeks.

“That. Was. So. Awesome!” Brett exclaimed, following us out the door. Brett was the fighter of the team, of course he was proud of my showing. Danny wasn’t though, and I knew it as he sighed.

“Half of the bar saw up your dress when you took her down,” he informed me quietly.

“Yeah, nice lace panties,” Pony grinned, also stepping outside. Danny rolled his eyes at his fellow ginger. I hardly blushed though, the pain now becoming unbearably present.

“They called the cops,” Mika whispered to Danny as she also came out. Phoebe pushed past her though, carrying a few wet paper towels.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she gushed, taking my chin in her hand. “You’re going to be so bruised tomorrow,” she told me, beginning to clean up the sore spot on my bottom lip.

“You look like hell, Av,” Kendall commented. I was going to reply with a snarky come back, but Phoebe hit a sore spot, making me pull my head back and wince.

“Fuck, the cops are here,” Brett groaned as the sirens got louder and louder. Suddenly I realized the consequences of what just happened. My heart started racing as I started to take shallow breaths.

“Calm down, it’ll be okay,” Phoebe reassured me, but her eyes didn’t show any certainty. In my drunken stupor, I began to slur out a string of words that weren’t even coherent to even me.

It all happened so fast. The officers asked me to walk to their cruiser and away from my friends to talk in private. I stumbled over, which didn’t look good for me. They exchanged a look and listened to my side of the story. While the two officers shared another look, I started to feel sick to my stomach.

“Turn around and put your hands behind your back, ma’am.” I choked on a sob as I did what I was told to do, now facing my friends as I felt the cuffs link around my wrists. Phoebe gasped, taking a step forward as if she could rescue me. But Danny caught her wrist, telling her that it was a bad idea.

It all happened so fast that the next thing I remember was sitting in the back of the car, my forehead pressed against the cool window as I was going to the one place I promised myself I’d never find myself.

And back on the sidewalk, as they watched the car drive away, a sleepy voice answered the phone from his slumber.

“Ev, we have a problem…”