Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

I awoke the next morning and groaned, pulling the sheets up over my head. The bright August light was filtering through the curtains that I had neglected to shut the night before, making my morning start off brilliantly. The clock beside me began going off, an annoying beeping noise that was sure to get me up so I could get ready for school. Why did I not turn that damn thing off last night? I thought before rolling over and looking at it. 7:00 flashed at me before I unplugged the whole thing completely. I had twelve hours to do absolutely nothing before the party started. Fun.

Stumbling down the hallway with half-closed eyes, I made my way downstairs so I could make myself some breakfast. The question was, what did I want? There was plenty to choose from, and it made my head spin. Looking between the pantry and the fridge I sighed and looked at the cookies that were still sitting on the counter.

Twenty minutes later, my mom came into the kitchen and found me eating cookies, eggs and bacon while drinking a glass of milk. She laughed and ruffled my already messed up hair before opening the fridge and grabbing one of her yogurts.

“So…are you looking forward to the party later tonight?” she asked softly, her voice still thick with sleep.

I shrugged my shoulders before standing and going to rinse off my plate. To be honest, I was trying to not think too much about the party later tonight. I mean, sure, I’d have to get a hold of Alex somehow, but I wasn’t going to worry about that until later. So instead of answering her directly, I went with the obvious teenage answer; the shoulder shrug.

“Okay then…I’ll leave you to yourself. You have a ride there and back?” she asked as she threw her now empty yogurt cup away.

“Yeah. Alex is going to give me a ride,” I said before leaving the room, my feet leading me to the bathroom.

One look in the mirror confirmed that I looked like a complete wreck. My hair was tangled and messy, there was eyeliner smeared down my cheeks, and to top it off, I smelled, well….gross. Turning on the water in the shower, I waited for it to warm up and then stripped down and got in. The water pounded down on my back, waking me up completely so that I could do my usual routine. Wash and condition hair, wash body and shave. My mind played over all of the ways this party could go wrong, most of them revolving around Zack or the cops. I shut off the water and sighed, wiping my face with the towel hanging over the rack before drying off.

My clothes were already set out for later, but since I still had time to kill, I threw on one of my Fall Out Boy shirts and a pair of gray skinny jeans. I think it’s a good time to go see if I can find me a couple of new shirts, I thought as I grabbed my house keys and the car keys. “Mom! I’m going to the mall, I’ll be back in a little bit!” I yelled, hoping that she actually heard me.

The mall wasn’t that big, compared to some of the ones in Baltimore, but it was big enough that it had a Hot Topic and a food court with all of the good places like Subway, Taco Bell, and of course, Chinese food. I smiled as I walked into the Hot Topic, my gaze traveling instantly to the wall of t-shirts off to one side. Hmm…so many good bands. But where to start? My eyes raked over the wall, knowing I had to be selective. I could only get five shirts, and maybe some more of my jelly bracelets. I’d have to see how many shirts I actually got.

Linkin Park and of course, Fall Out Boy. A My Chemical Romance shirt, along with a Lostprophets one. Okay, so that was four. I could get one more..and still have money for some bracelets. There was a Hawthorne Heights shirt, which was a must have. But that’s when I saw it…Poets of the Fall. My heartbeat sped up and my eyes widened in surprise. “Oh hell yeah! Sorry Linkin, but Poets of the Fall are worth more money than you are,” I said as I swapped out the shirts. Now…where were the bracelets?

I left Hot Topic with about $80 less than what I had entered with, but I felt that it was well worth it.

<->

My eyes scanned over my clothes as I stood in front of my full length mirror. My legs so much longer in this skirt…though that could be because it was so short. The halter top looked a lot like a corset, and was simply beautiful. I thought I looked pretty damn stunning. My phone went off from across the room, and I picked it up, shoving it into the pocket of my jacket as I ran for the front door. I already knew it was Alex, since he’d told me five minutes ago he’d be here shortly.

I threw open the door, busy telling my mother goodbye, and didn’t realize he was standing there about to knock. Rubbing my arm where I had run into him, I gave Alex a small smile and quickly apologized.

“It’s okay. Actually, it’s great. I mean..uh…you….wow. you look really pretty Jerri. Like, no joke,” he said before hugging me and linking arms with me. We made our way to his car, where he politely held open the passenger door for me.

“Erm..thanks, Alex. You don’t have to be such a gentleman….it’s kinda..odd.”

He grinned as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Actually, I do. It’s the way I was raised, hun.”
I nodded and we sat there in silence until we got to Jack’s house, where it was obvious a party was happening. There were kids all over the front lawn, half of them drunkenly making out with someone else. Jeez…must be all of the lightweights. I mean…the party just started! Chuckling to myself, I followed Alex inside, past all of the kids talking and getting high.
Jack was in the kitchen doing shots with a bunch of other guys I had classes with, most of which stopped long enough to check my out with appraising eyes.

“If you’re gonna check me out, the least you can do is make it not completely obvious,” I scoffed, gaining a small smile from Jack as he came and picked me up in one of his bone crushing hugs.

“Jerri-Berri! I’m so glad you’re finally here!

I grinned at Jack and nodded, hoping that my ribs wouldn’t be bruised again tomorrow. I loved Jack, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes he didn’t know his own strength. The last time he’d hugged me, I’d woken up the next morning with bruised ribs. It was painful, yes, but I didn’t have the heart to tell Jack he was hurting me. He would beat himself up over it for days. The boys all grinned at one another before Chris; a kid in my English class dared me to play Beer Pong with them. I was horrible at the game, but it was still fun to try, so I agreed and followed Alex and Jack out to the backyard where the table was already set up and ready to go.

Five games later and I was not only buzzed, I was flying high as a fucking kite. The mingled effects of about half a pack of cigarettes and all of the beer was making me do stupid things, such as make out with Alex. Not that either of us minded. I probably wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow morning, and with any luck, neither did he. We spent a good thirty minutes laughing at how silly we must have looked, before I finally went and sat down by the pool. There was a porn show going on in one corner, but I didn’t pay much attention to that because my feet were glowing! The underwater lights in the pool made my feet glow, which was enough to entertain me until somebody came and sat beside me.

“You might want to lighten up on the alcohol, Jericha,” Zack said. He didn’t seem nearly as drunk as half of the people here were, which I found odd. Nearly everyone, even Alex, was drunk. Oh shit…Alex. He was supposed to drive me home….and he was drunk. I bit my lip and looked around, wondering where he had disappeared to. Probably with some random chick making out. I mean, I loved Alex, but he had a habit…of well, being a bit of a player. I didn’t approve, but it didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

“Jerri? Hello? Are you okay?”

I turned to look at Zack, my eyes narrowing as they glanced over him quickly. He seemed worried, genuinely worried about me. But that couldn’t be possible. Zack didn’t care…he just liked to prank me and make fun of me. Maybe it was lowered inhibitions, or maybe it was the fact that he was a good actor. Whichever it was, I looked at Zack and shook my head before laying it on his shoulder and groaning.

“Alex is supposed to drive me home, but he’s drunk, and god knows where. I don’t trust you…but you are the only one here who seems to be sober. I haven’t seen Rian at all since I got here, and I bet he’s probably off doing something with Kara anyway. I just want to go home and sleep, because my head is pounding in time to the music, and my throat feels all dry and…well, I feel sick,” I said, unable to stop my rambling once I started. It was one of my many bad drunken habits. However, not too many people complained about it.

Zack laughed and patted me on the head, making me groan in pain and pull away. He looked around and then grabbed my hand, pulling me up off the ground so fast that I almost fell over. “Come on, Jerri. I’m taking you home,” he said as he carefully led me through all of the people in the house.

Alex was out on the front porch making out with some girl I had never seen in my life. Zack got his attention long enough to tell him that he didn’t need to drive me home, because he was going to do it himself. Alex looked at me in surprise, almost as if he didn’t believe it. I was in my own world though, so I just let myself be led to Zack’s car and buckled into the passenger seat.

The car ride was dead silent, not that it bothered me. My head wasn’t pounding anymore, though I knew I would have the worst hangover in the morning. I could feel it in my bones. Zack pulled up to my house and looked at me, his eyes locking onto mine before he gave me a small smile.

“You’d better get upstairs before you pass out in my car, Jerri. I need to get back to make sure Alex doesn’t try driving himself home while drunk. Can you manage long enough to get upstairs?”

“Uhhh….I…I’ll be fine. Go take care of Lexie,” I slurred as I got out of the car and slammed the door shut. The loud bang was enough to make me wince as I walked towards my front door and headed upstairs.

The moment my head hit that pillow I was out for the count. The last thoughts I had however, were of Zack and how nice he had been. I mean, he gave me a ride home for crying out loud. That boy had to have ulterior motives, but I was too drunk and too tired to worry about it tonight.