There Is No Room For Sparks

“Don’t come near me!” Noella warned, holding up the large unidentifiable glass bottle of alcohol in front of her to ward off the approaching persons. They released overzealous laughs in response, trudging past her and through the house, leaving her stumbling over her own feet and grasping for stability on a flat wall.

No one came to neither her aid nor her assistance, but left her to bruise her body against sharp corners and hard ends. Moments like these reminded her exactly who her real friends were. And the fact that absolutely no one bothered to pay her any mind proved that Noella Graves didn’t have any real friends

Noella hated this feeling. The feeling that she was hated amongst everyone, the feeling that no one really cared what she did, the feeling of being alone. Noella prided herself with many things but being a loner was not one of them.

The aching and sloshing in the pit of her stomach was enough to make her want to pass out right in the middle of the hallway but she knew she couldn’t do that. It would only cause a scene and just give these people another thing to snicker about. All she had to do was get to the front yard where the grass was cool and she could clear her head with the night air.

The bottle of liquor never failed to leave her hand as she struggled to get out. Every few steps, Noella took a swig of the clear poison, planning to do so until she didn’t care about being alone anymore or until all these faces began to blur together; whichever came first.

“Watch it, bitch.” A tall, brown haired guy spat at the disheveled Noella as she swung the door open, nearly hitting him in the face.

“Shut the fuck up.” She returned, in no mood for anyone’s attitude. The guy shot her a nasty look, one that clearly implied that he planned on arguing with her further, but Noella didn’t notice him. She continued in her drunken daze through the door and out into the front yard.

With immense effort, she managed to pry her cell phone from the cleavage of her tight shirt and press the buttons correctly, squinting in the bright, painful light of the phone. “Danny?” she questioned when the person on the other end answered.

“Yeah? Noella?” he asked groggily.

“Baby, c’you come gemme?” she whined into the phone, her words slurring.

“Are you kidding? It’s two AM. I‘ve gotta work in the morning.”

Noella groaned into the phone, stomping her foot childishly as she lost her balance and feel to her knees, “Danny, please? I gotta get home.”

“Not tonight Noella.” He said, adamant.

Frustrated, Noella began to cry, throwing her phone across the yard and watching as it tumbled across the grass and sat there, lit.

The party was coming to a close early and numerous people were shuffling past her in a quick attempt to get home and panic spread throughout Noella’s body as she cried even harder. She was drunk out of her mind, nobody cared, not even her boyfriend and she was stuck at some strange house with no way home. She didn’t even know what way home was.

She jumped at the feeling of a hand on her back as she whipped around to face the person, “Hey, are you all right?” They asked, towering over her, their face lost in the shadows. Their voice was caring and kind and Noella felt like she could trust this person.

“No,” she sniffed, “I dunno how I’m ‘a ge’ home but I gotta and-an—“

“Would you like a ride?” They asked, their composure steady and clear.

“No!” she snapped, pulling away from the man, shooting his dark face the dirtiest expression she could manage to conjure up, “I don’t even know you.”

A slight chuckle emanated from his throat as he squatted down to be eye level with her, the angles of his face reflecting what little light there was coming from the house perfectly. Noella froze.

And suddenly, everything felt like nothing but a dream.

But it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t the tale of desperation, a drunken girl trying to cheat her way through her pain as she attempted to fill the gaps that had made her feel incomplete with reckless actions, alcohol and attention. It wasn’t the retelling of the mistake that was this girl’s life and the things that had been lost. It wouldn’t tell you anything about what was to come or truly ever explain what had happened. The only thing it was, was the life of Noella Graves and it wasn’t a dream.

It was all too real.