Taion

Adrian pulled into my house a few days later. Avery was in the seat next to him and I rushed out of the house, shoving my phone in my pocket. Emma was already asleep and Mrs. Barakat was cleaning up the kitchen as her husband watched TV. She eyed me carefully as I raced out the door and stopped me quickly, “Where are you going? It’s eight thirty.”

I grinned and started chewing on my lip piercing. “Avery’s house? Remember? We’re all going to have a movie night and Avery just pulled in.”

Mrs. Barakat wiped her hands on my shirt and slapped them dry. “Does he want to come in?” She pushed back a strand of hair.

I shook my head and started edging towards the door. “Nah, he said Adrian’s with him. I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Adrian?” She asked, stepping closer and looking out the window. “That’s not Avery driving.”

“Nah, it’s Adrian. He’s a friend from school, too, but I really have to get going. Bye, Mrs. B!” I rushed out the door before she could say anything else and climbed into Adrian’s Honda Civic. I was in the backseat by myself and noticed Marcy wasn’t here…and that there was also a case of Mike’s Hard Lemonade in the seat next to me. I placed my hand on the back of Avery’s seat and leaned up in the consol. “Drive,” I demanded, “Before she comes out and thinks it’s a good idea to meet you and sees the alcohol.”

Adrian didn’t need to be told twice, and he spun the car out of the driveway skillfully. “Where’s Marcy?”

Her twin brother laughed at my question and answered, “She’s PMSing. She threw me out of our room when I asked her if she was coming.”

I frowned. “What’s wrong with her?”

Adrian didn’t answer and instead shrugged. “I don’t know what’s buggin’ her, but whatever it is, its annoying her like crazy. I mean, she literally kicked me out of my room and told me not to come back until it was Sunday.”

“It’s just now Friday.” Avery pointed out, frowning.

Adrian chuckled darkly. “You don’t think I don’t know that? I’ll just stay at your house, okay?”

Avery shrugged, muttered an alright, and turned his attention back to the road.

It took us another ten minutes to get to the party. It wasn’t hard to spot: a large field in the middle of nowhere with bon fires. Guys and girls were blasting a radio loudly as it was hooked up to three very large speakers. Groups of the teenagers were grinding against one another as if they were trapped in a house; the field here was pretty large. Suddenly I felt lost again. Adrian and Avery were already out of the car, rushing towards separate groups and socializing as I was left behind. I bit my lip again, hard, and didn’t realized I’d drawn blood until the coppery taste had invaded my mouth.

I grabbed the alcohol from the seat and started walking towards Adrian. He’d already gotten a beer in his hand and was sipping at it quickly –as if he was about to die from starvation and it was a big juicy steak.

He noticed after a few moments, grinning and pulled me into him. It was becoming clear that he couldn’t hold his alcohol and was becoming easily drunk…and it was only his first bottle. Perhaps someone had spiked it-? He caught my eyes and nodded at his group.

There were two girls and a guy. One set was a couple, the girl practically groping the other guy through the jeans. He directed his attention at the couple. “Phoenix, this is Amber and Nick. And that,” he nodded to the other girl who looked about as awkward as me, “…Is Natalie. Ignore everything she says. She’s a slut!” He grinned teasingly at the girl as she glared, a devilish grin on her lips.

“Me? The slut? Last time I remember, you were the one on your knees at last year’s party giving a blowjob to a Twinkie.”

I cocked my eyebrow, smirking at the new information and trying to hold back a laugh. Adrian, even in his intoxicated state, blushed. “Ignore her. She has no idea what she’s talking about,” He slurred, dragging out words.

I laughed and looked back at Natalie. “You’ve got to tell me the Twinkie story.”

She laughed. “He was drunk. Like he always gets. His inner gayness comes out when he’s intoxicated.” She giggled again and held out a red cup. “Wanna drink?”

And I accepted.

“Phoenix, you’ve got to wake up. C’mon. We’re leaving.” I groggily opened my eyes and blinked as my vision became clearer. Christine was standing over me, smiling. Her dark hair hung in her green eyes and there was a slight smug of brown eyeliner under them but she didn’t seem to notice. She was already dressed and had a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. I blinked, yawned, and then returned to my previous state of laying down and snuggling deep into my blankets.

She “Tch!”ed in annoyance before grabbing my covers and ripping them away from my body. I squeaked and grabbed for the sheets because the only thing I was wearing was my boxers and I felt exposed in front of her. She laughed softly and said, “Oh, quit it, Envy. It’s nothing I hadn’t seen before. Besides you’ve got boxers on.”

I still felt exposed, but did as she said, climbing from the bed before asking sleepily, “Where are we going?”

Christine looked at me, biting her lip and grabbing a pair of dirty jeans, and shirt, and a jacket before tossing them to me. “Put these on. It’s cold outside.”

Of course it would be cold. It was November and we were in New York. What was she thinking? I repeated my question.

She held up a wad of cash and grinned cat like. “To a hotel. I’m tired of him whoring you out.” She ran a hand through her hair as if she were an older mother and not my sister. “It’s not right for a boy your age to be traded around like a pet. You’re so much more than that. You’re human, too, but some people don’t realize that, so we’re leaving for a few days. That alright?”

I nodded wordlessly and shrugging into the clothes as she lead me out of the room, out of the house and to her car. When I got in, I positioned myself against the door and leaned on it, something Chris hated me doing because she always had this strange fear that someone would fall out even though the door was closed and locked shut. She reached forward to press the CD player on, but her hand froze in mid air when she heard me talking.

“He’ll just wait for us to come back and start selling me again.” Silence followed, but I could slightly catch the sound of her breathing and a slight depressed scoff. “We don’t have enough money to stay in that hotel, forever, Chris. And when we go back, nothing’s going to change.”

“I know.” She whispered, “but a vacation is just a short break to get away from him. You’d grab at that chance, too, wouldn’t you? To just not see him for a few weeks?”

Scornfully, I muttered, “That kind of hope left when mom ran away two months ago. Even she couldn’t stand him. And we can’t support ourselves. We’re stuck with him.”

Christine glared at me. “You can’t just give up like that, Phoenix! You need to be happy about getting a break from him!”

“Why not? Why do I need to be happy of false hope?” I asked, monotony and looking at all the lights that whizzed by as Christine drove. When she sputtered and couldn’t come up with an answer I quoted lazily, “ ‘Accept the things to which fate binds you-‘” Before I could finish she’d cut me off.

“Phoenix, what have you been reading that makes you loose hope?!”

I shrugged. “I haven’t read anything. Dad told me that.”

She went ballistic. “And you are stupid enough to believe something Dad tells you?! He sells you body, Envy! And you’re going to believe this crap he tells you?”

I shrugged again, “Marcus Aurelius said it. I figured why not. I mean, he was the Roman Emperor.”

She closed her eyes as if she was battling an immovable force. “Yeah, Phoenix, but my guesses are that he dead and doesn’t know people in this day and age sell their children as prostitutes!”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not a prostitute!”

She barred her teeth and pulled into the hotel parking lot. “That’s putting it nicely! To him, your just a whore! A slut! Do you like those terms better?!”

I bit my lip and refused to let the mewl escaped my mouth. After a shuddering breath, I murmured, “Shut up.” And Christine did.

That was the longest conversation we’d ever had on what our dad was doing to us. We usually didn’t talk about it and we mostly kept to ourselves, but I could tell Chris was getting a little worried about how stable I was. However, it wasn’t her business and she should have just kept to herself, but I guess that’s what family’s do: worry about each other.

I woke up with my phone going off in my side pocket. I blinked myself awake and tried to comprehend where I was at because for one, my back was killing me, two, my head was pounding, and three, I couldn’t remember anything. When my eyes adjusted they grew slightly wide because realization hit me and I was in the backseat of a car with Natalie asleep on my chest. By now my heart beat was being erratic because I was so confused. Trying to calm myself, I extracted my phone and looked at the screen, reading the caller ID.

Alex.

I opened it: big mistake. “Where are you!?” His voice was stern and dangerous and I covered the ear piece so Natalie didn’t hear it and wake up.

“I’m at,” I racked my brains trying to think of the excuse Avery had told Mrs. B, but I couldn’t think of it. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep and stop my headache. Alex wasn’t doing anything for it. I groaned.

“Where are you, Phoenix?!”

“Shut up,” I whined. “My head hurts.”

He cursed. “Your head hurts? What did you do!?”

“Like you care!” I moaned. “I needed to talk to you earlier and you couldn’t!”

“Whatever, Envy. If your not back to this house in thirty minutes –“

I hung up. That last line, that Whatever Envy had just proven my older thoughts: that Alex didn’t care. But I wanted so hard to believe that he did. My thoughts raced back to when I first met him when he was crying over me in the hospital, but I dispelled the thoughts and carefully sat up, supporting Natalie as I wiggled out from under her and placed her back on the seat. I opened the door and got out, stretching my stiff muscles and trying to gain back my balance as I smoothed out the fabric of my clothes one handedly. The other hand I let rest on the car’s cool metal, supporting myself. It only took me a few seconds for my stomach to lurch and for all of its contents to be all over the ground. My head started throbbing harder and I gripped at my phone.

It started ringing again. I groaned and looked back at the screen. It’s Jack this time and I want to ignore it, but I can’t and instead I answer just as I did when Alex called. “Hello?” I spit, trying to get the disgusted taste from my mouth.

“Phoenix, where are you?” His voice is calmer and I immediately lean into his voice, the tension melting away. “We’re all worried about you. My mom said you were going over to a friends house and they found out you weren’t actually there and everyone’s freaked.”

My stomach lurches again and I manage to tell Jack to hold on before I lean over a puke. When I regain my balance, I spit again and wipe my mouth with my sleeve. “Sorry,” I say, shaking. “I’m sick.”

“With what?” Jack’s voice is still calm and caring and I halfway wonder why Alex isn’t using the same tone as him.

I shrug at his question, forgetting he can’t see me and then answer, “Flu.” Wrong. It’s called the Hangover Virus. Terribly contagious at parties.

“Where are you, Phoenix Envy, and I’ll come pick you up.” I take my phone away from my ear and glance at the screen. It’s 3:42 AM. I press the phone back to my cheek and hold it there with both hands as I slip down the side of the car, my knees up to my chest.

“I thought you were on tour.” I press the heel of my hand to my forehead and grimace. It feels like my head is exploding.

“We canceled the rest of the shows. Alex wanted to come home early and see you.”

I laugh harshly. Alex didn’t want to come see me. I was quite certain he didn’t even want to have anything to do with me at the moment. He hadn’t even had time to talk to me at school and when he does call me, he screams. Wonderful. “He doesn’t want to see me. Did you just witness the phone call he just sent me two seconds before you called?” My voice sounds weak and it takes me a few moments to realize I’m crying. I sniffle, and it’s also around that time that I realize how cold it is. I brush away my tears.

“Phoenix? Phoenix, are you crying? Please talk to me.”

“I’m not crying,” I lie. Before I give him another chance to answer, I hang up and send a text to both Adrian and Avery that I’m leaving. Neither reply, but I don’t care. I wipe my face again and start walking.

I’m usually good with backtracking, but my intoxicated mind is making things a lot more complicated and when I come to a fork in the road I don’t remember which way to go. I bite my lip and touch the protrusion in my pocket. The phone seems more annoying than ever and I pull it back out, pressing send twice to get to recent calls and called Jack.

“Jack?” I ask, when he picks up. My panic is going into overdrive and I’m shaking. “I’m lost. I don’t know where I’m at.”

He yawns. “We’ve asked you a thousand times. Where. Are. You?” My lower lip trembles as I give him the two road names of the intersection. He sighs. “Me and Ri will be there in about ten minutes. Stay put.”

“Uh-huh.” I murmur.

I hang up and go sit on the side of the road, rolled up in a ball as I wait. The quite night air gave the perfect climate for thinking and I got pulled into a world of my own. My thoughts were overrun by Christine and the dream I’d had. I smirked, thinking, I’m not a whore anymore, Christine. My thoughts were crushed when a car rumbled down the road. I looked up when the headlights passed over me and stopped. A car door opened and Jack rushed at me, his lanky frame awkwardly bending down to my height.

None of us said anything, despite it being the first time in a few months since I last saw him. Instead, he picked me up as if I were a child and carried me back to the car, my arms loosely hanging around his neck and my head buried in the crook of his neck. “He hates me, Jack,” I whispered. Jack hesitated with his next step, but he regained his pace quickly and acted as if he’d not heard me.

He sat me down for a moment and opened the backdoor, allowing me to climb in and take up both seats by laying down. From the passenger seat, Rian smiled slightly and greeted me. I answered by nodding and looking at him, forcing a small smile. “I hear your sick.”

I nod.

“Hangover?” He questions.

My eyes open wide and I narrow them at him, but I stick to lying. “Nah. Avery got sick and I guess it was contagious or something.” Jack gets in the car and Rian starts laughing. "Don’t lie to me. I’m not Alex. I’m not that gullible. Besides, I can smell the alcohol on you.”

I groan and mutter, “Whatever,” before shuffling and turning over on the seat. Even without my input, the previous statement snowballs and Jack gets involved. Surprise, Surprise.

“He’s been drinking?”

“He’s got a hangover. He isn’t sick.” Rian states, turning on the radio.

I groan and put my hands over my ears as I bury my face into the seat. “Turn it off,” I whine. “It hurts.”

The radio is turned down lower and I breath a sigh of relief when I see to white pills being passed to me. I glance at them suspiciously before Rian explains their Tylenol and it will help with my headache. I dry swallow them and try my best not to think of what will happen when Alex finds out about everything, but all of that hope goes down the drain when we come to a stop and I realize we’re back at The Barakats’ house.

Before I could even groan again, someone’s banging on the window. The person opens the door and I know its Alex because he yelling at me and Jack got out of the car and told him to shut up. I crawled out of the vehicle sluggishly and walk to the door. The house is noisy, but as soon as I step through the door way, everything stops.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Mrs. Barakat stretches her hand out towards my face and caresses a lock of hair off my forehead. “Where have you been?”

My eyes dart around the room. Mona is standing with her hands on Emma’s shoulders. Rian has come in behind me and Zack is sitting on the couch at the edge of the seat. Mr. Barakat, his son, and Alex are no where to be seen, but I have a feeling they’re outside. Everyone looks worried.

“I w-was at Avery’s,” I stutter. My teeth are clacking and my nerves are going insane as my whole body goes into shivers. A bark catches my attention and through the kitchen, I can see the screen door where Cricket is whining.

Mrs. Barakat gives a soft frown, scolding. “Don’t give me that. We know you weren’t at Avery’s. Mrs. Gaskarth knows his parents and we were talking and she let it slip that Avery was over at one of his friend’s house. She called over to his parents and told them that you were supposed to be over at their house. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize you, Avery, and that other boy we not where you said you were. So…where we’re you?”

I look down at the colored Mexican tiles and shake my head. “Nowhere.” Mona opens her mouth to say something but the door behind us clicks and I turn to look at the three men that enter. Mr. Barakat and Jack look average as if they’d just come home from a store and I might have believed they were, but Jack’s busted lip tells me other wise. Alex steps in a few seconds later and he’s got a busted lip as well. It’s obvious: They were fighting. Alex refuses to look at me and Jack gives me a reassuring smile, but it’s fake. I sigh. “Please, let’s just talk about this in the morning. I’ll tell you everything then. I’m just really tired right now.”

I look around, hoping someone will tell me that that would be fine and we’ll chat over breakfast, and finally Rian nods. “Alright. C’mon. I’ll take you to your room.” And it doesn’t take me but a few seconds for me to go to sleep.