Toxic

"Violet!" Rian yelled down the stairs, "Did you find it?!"

"Hang on!" Violet yelled back up at her brother. She knew she had it in one of these boxes, it was just finding which one.

Rian, Jack, Alex and Zack were sitting in the living room upstairs with a case of beer, half a bottle of vodka and hopefully the bottle of whiskey Violet said she took from one of her mom's boyfriends a few months back.

Violet ran back up the stairs with a grin on her face and the bottle in her hand.

"Yes!" Rian cheered.

Violet went over to where the boys were sitting and plopped down on the floor.

"So who wants some shots?" she asked, twisting the cap off of the expensive alcohol.

Rian had collected all the shot glasses in the house and lined them up on the carpet. Jack swallowed hard,

"I've never taken a shot before" he laughed nervously.

"Have you fuckers ever gotten drunk?" Violet replied, looking back at the four wide eyed boys.

"We got buzzed off of a few beers over the summer but none of us have actually gotten hammered" Alex replied with a shrug, motioning Violet to pour the shots.

Violet just grinned back at them, pouring a shot for each of them.

"Here's to being rebellious teenagers" she said with a laugh.

Taking the shot and looking at each other with disgusted looks from the burning alcohol, Rian let out a big laugh, and the others joined in.

Mr. and Mrs. Dawson had left the house for the weekend for a wedding earlier in the day so the house was a perfect place to have their pre-drink, and for them to crash at later. It was about 8:00, Violet put on some music and everyone took another shot and started a beer, and could already feel the alcohol make their minds fuzzy. The party was only a few blocks away so they figured walking would be fine, all of them excited for the night ahead.

"Vi throw me a beer!" Alex called to Violet who was in the living room changing the song on the stereo. After popping in a Blink CD she grabbed two cans of beer and handed one to Alex, giggling from the alcohol. Her cheeks were flushed pink and she let out a small hiccup, her eyes widening as she realized she was already drunk.

"I think I'll take that" Alex said, taking another step toward her and removing the beer from her hand.

"Hey!" she said, reaching for the can he was holding out of her reach.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked while she was still struggling for the can. She stopped, leaning back on her heels and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well I'm glad you're coming" he finished with a grin, and she smiled right back at him.

"You guys ready to go?" Rian called from the kitchen, "I have some beers and the whiskey in this back pack!"

Alex and Violet walked into the kitchen with excited looks on their faces, matching the ones of Jack, Rian and Zack who were standing there waiting.

"Finish those" Rian said pointing to the two beers in Alex's hands.

The two looked at each other and Alex handed Violet's back to her and they both tried their best to chug what was left, laughing too hard to help from spilling some on the floor.

"Away we go!" Jack cheered, slipping his shoes on and walking out into the cool fall night.

"I'm going to go grab a sweater" Violet said before dashing down the basement stairs, almost tripping on her feet. Looking herself over in the mirror she was pleased with her work. She straightened her hair perfectly and carefully applied her makeup before they had started drinking. She was wearing a black v-neck and some denim cutoff shorts, now reaching for a blue hoodie for over top. Quickly digging out her black converse, Violet ran back up the stairs and out the front door where the others were waiting.

Drunkenly laughing and joking all the way there, they finally managed to get the house where the music was practically shaking the street. Walking up to the front doorstep, Alex opened the front door and guided everyone inside. The placed was packed full of kids, young as well as some that looked to be in University.

"Holly titty fuck" Jack said, his mouth hanging open. Zack punched him in the arm causing Jack to flinch. They walked further into the house and they noticed that the place reeked of alcohol. Emerging from the crowd, a very handsome Austin appeared with another one of his captivating smiles, his eyes locked on Violet.

Rian, Alex, Jack and Zack all looked at each other, taking it as their hint to go off and see some of the other people there.

"Hey" Violet said, looking up at him.

"Glad you decided to show" he said, handing her a red cup filled with beer.

Violet took the cup from him and took a sip, Austin grabbing her and and guiding her through the house.
Across the living room the guys decided to pull out another beer from their backpack, looking around for someone they knew.

"Now I know why Violet changed her mind" Alex mumbled, pulling at his hair.

Rian just looked at him and shrugged, "Lets just make sure we don't lose her" he laughed while he handed each of them another beer.

"Boys! Nice of you to show up!"

Spinning around they saw Elizabeth and Lisa standing there, looking like they had spent hours on their appearance for the evening.

"Hey" Alex smiled,

"Thanks for inviting us to your party" Rian added, popping the tab on his beer can.

"No problem! I'm glad you guys could come, I saw your sister too Rian. Not to worry, there's no more hard feelings" she smiled, taking a gulp from her red cup.

He just smiled back at her, not sure what to make of her comment.

"Where's your bathroom?" Jack asked, "I really have to piss."

Elizabeth and Lisa giggled, "around the corner there" she pointed and Jack and Zack darted off.

The night began to blur as the alcohol kept flowing. Alex spotted Violet from across the room making googely eyes at that blonde haired pretty boy and it festered a weird feeling in his stomach. Another drink and he somehow wound up making out with Lisa on the couch, his brain feeling more and more fuzzy by the minute.

Suddenly pulling his attention away from her was a bunch of loud laughter, mainly Elizabeth's high pitched voice. Alex managed to stand up, getting away from a complaining Lisa. Looking across the large living room, a group of the kids had begun to gather.

"You're making such a fool of yourself! Guys look how drunk she is" he heard Elizabeth say.

Pushing his way through the crowds of people Alex finally locked eyes on a terrified looking Violet Dawson, who looked as though she had just fallen over and hit her head on one of the chairs. She was sitting there, barely able to hold herself up. She looked petrified, her eyelids fluttering and a hand pressed on her forehead.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people?" Alex burst out, shoving multiple people as he staggered toward her. Forcing himself to sober up and focus his eyes, he got down on his knees to kneel beside Violet. She was passing out fast, but she managed to recognize the boy in front of her.

"Alex" she whispered, barely able to form the word.

"Violet what's going on?" he said urgently.

"Something's not right" she managed to get out. He could tell she was trying to force her eyelids open.

"She's obviously just drunk and making a fool out of herself" he heard Lisa from behind him, he could hear the jealousy in her voice.

"What did you do to her?" he said raising his voice, turning around to face the people who had congregated around Violet.

Rian and Zack heard the commotion from where they were in the kitchen and headed through to the living room. As soon as they entered, Rian saw Violet nearly passed out in front of Alex who was kneeling on the floor with her and a crowd of people surrounding them.

"What the fuck is going on" Rian shouted, "Violet?!"

"She's fucked up, I think they fucking drugged her man" Alex said in a panic, trying to pull Violet's hand away from her head where she had hit it. She had begun to cry and she was still fighting to stay awake.

"What did you do to her?" Rian said furiously at Elizabeth, whose smirk was wiped right off her face when she saw how angry Rian had become. "I'm calling the police" he said, turning to head for the phone in the kitchen.

"Wait!" Austin called out, causing Rian to spin around. Zack grunted at him, puffing out his chest to make himself look bigger.

"They were just my moms sleeping pills" Elizabeth blurted out, a look of fear flashing across her face.

"Elizabeth! How could you do something like that?!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Oh shut up, you were in on it Lisa" she retaliated, and the two girls started bickering.

From where Alex was seated on the floor, holding a now fully passed out and bleeding Violet in his arms, he was horrified at the girls standing behind him. This was so sick it wasn't even funny.

"Elizabeth wanted her to pay for the fight earlier in the week so she came up with this plan. I gave her the drink it was my fault. We didn't think she'd hit her head" Austin said to Rian with a look of concern, glancing down at her.

"I just wanted to embarrass her in front of everyone like she did to me" Elizabeth spat.

Jack came running and took in all that was going on in the living room. All he could do was open his mouth wide, his heart racing at the sight of poor Violet on the floor.

"Jack! Get me a cloth would you?"

Jack ran out of the room, quickly running back in with a clean cloth he found in the kitchen drawer. He handed it to Alex and he pressed it to the top of Violet's forehead where there was a small cut. It wasn't too bad but he wanted to stop the bleeding.

"Lets go" Rian said angrily through his teeth. He knelt down to where his sister was lying unconscious with Alex on the floor. He scooped her up in his arms, and headed straight for the door, not bothering to grab his backpack. The other boys followed, not saying goodbye to anyone.

"I'm fucking loaded right now" Jack said, pinching the bridge of his nose as they began their walk home. He was barely able to stay balanced as they navigated back in the dark. Alex was fuming, his hands shoved deep in his pockets he didn't lift his eyes from the sidewalk.

"Zack can you carry her for a little bit" Rian said, out of breath after about ten minutes.

"I really would man but I think I'm going to puke" Zack said uneasily.

"Alex!" Rian called.

Snapping his head up, Alex jogged ahead. Rian stopped and handed Violet over to Alex before turning to throw up in the bushes behind him.

"Oh god" Zack said, joining him and throwing up too.

Alex walked forward away from his puking friends. He looked down at Violet who was beginning to whimper in her sleep. She was small enough that Alex could carry her but she was dead weight in his arms so it was harder than he thought it would be.

"Come on guys we're almost there" Alex called out, wanting to get back to Rian's as quickly as possible.

The boys moaned and dragged forward, clutching their stomachs.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Rian called ahead to Alex.

"I don't know" he replied, unsure of what they should do.

"Do you think she needs to go to the hospital?" Zack asked.

"No my mom drinks and takes sleeping pills sometimes" Jack piped up.

All of the boys turned to look at their friend with confused looks.

"What?" he said, shrugging.

"So she should just sleep it off?" Rian questioned.

"I guess so. Should we keep an eye on her though?" Alex asked as they turned up the driveway.

"All I can think about is throwing up" Rian groaned, "This is horrible"

Everyone filed into the house and Rian turned the kitchen light on. Zack and Rian ran for the bathroom and before Alex could turn his head Jack was asleep on the living room sofa.

Alex carefully maneuvered Violet down the basement stairs and flicked on her light stitch with his elbow.

Violet let out another whimper, fighting her eyelids open to see Alex's face.

"What happened?" she managed to get out as he set her on her bed, examining the wound on her forehead.

"Those idiots put sleeping pills in your drink" he replied angrily. Violet grabbed Alex's hand tightly, trying to keep her eyelids from closing again.

"Don't leave" she whispered, reaching her other hand out to put on his shoulder.

"Rian's going to kill me" he said with a sigh, crossing the room to turn off her light.

"Alex?" she muttered, no longer able to fight to keep her eyes open.

"Right here" he said, climbing in on the other side of her bed and taking her hand in his. What a night this had turned out to be he thought. Unable to fight sleep himself, the two dozed off quickly, their hands still clasped tightly together.