You're Not Lost

Elizabeth and Alex stood at the bottom of the staircase, watching Jack hop down the steps to meet them.

"Yo, where's Jessica?" Alex asked, indicating the girl Jack was supposed to be on a date with.

"Pshhhh, who's Jessica?" Jack rolled his eyes. He was standing in the basement now with the others. His two toned hair was a mess, but he was wearing nicer clothes than usual.

"Uhh the hott girl that asked you out, the one you've been crushing on for like 4 years?!"

Jack ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"Oh you mean that bitch that just wanted to use me for my brother?"

"What?" It was Elizabeth's turn to ask questions. She was still confused, but also growing more and more concerned about Jack. He seemed...off.

Jack seemed to just realize Elizabeth was in the room.

"Oh hey, Elle! Listen, don't ever change and try to be more like regular Baltimore girls, they're fucked up. Just stay Amish."

"Oh...um..."

"Shut up Jack, what happened with Jessica?" Alex intervened.

"So I pick her up, she gets in my car looking beautiful as always, I'm driving to the restaurant I'm gonna take her to when she says 'Oh Jack, why don't we just skip dinner.' At this point I'm kind of excited because everyone knows dinner is just the gateway to sex..."

"That's not true..." Alex feels the need to add for Elizabeth's sake.

"So anyway I go 'What else did you have in mind' and she's like 'I was thinking, is your brother home? I heard your brother gets you alcohol...'"

"Get the fuck outta here!" Alex seems angry now, and Elizabeth can't help but feel the same.

"Yep! Because she's having a party tonight, that I could go to if I wanted for 'being such a good sport', well fuck that. But my brother did get me alcohol tonight, but not for that bitch!"

Jack then pulls out a small bottle of the dark colored liquid Elizabeth did a shot of at the bar. It's only half full.

"It has your name on it!" This seems exciting to Elizabeth and Jack grins.

"Yes it does, my dear Amish friend. And we are going to drink this and walk to town and fuck shit up!"

"I don't want to...do that last part." Elizabeth frowns, although excited for the walking to town part. Jack erupts into laughter.

"Ok, we can skip it."
He opens the bottle and takes another swig.

"Sharing is caring."
Alex grabs the bottle from his best friends hands and puts it to his lips. Soon it's Elizabeth's turn. Feeling more adventurous tonight, she doesn't hesitate.

"Where's everyone else?"
Jack examines the empty basement.

"Janie and Zack are 'getting popcorn', and Jill, Ryan and Roxy all bailed."

"Well shit, I guess it's just the three amigos!"
Jack flops his arms around each of them, almost knocking Elizabeth over in the process.

"You're cursing a lot today, Jack." She speaks up. He stares at her. None of his friends had ever said that to him before.

"I'm...sorry?" He means it sincere but it comes out confused. She giggles and shrugs her shoulders.

"Doesn't bother me really."

"Well let's go then, the night is young!" Alex gets a burst of energy and heads for the stairs.

"What about Janie? Can I still go with you guys?" Elizabeth wonders. Alex rolls his eyes.

"We're all responsible young adults here, you'll be fine."

"Yeah, Elle, responsible young adults."
Jack repeats while thrusting the bottle in his hand towards her. She laughs, taking another sip and decides to tag along with them for the night. The she has another thought.

"Maybe I should dress English."

"Like...a British person??"

Jack grins at the thought. Elizabeth shakes her head 'no'.

"No, no. Like you guys. I could borrow some clothes from Janie."

Jack frowns, liking the British idea better, while Alex shakes his head.

"No, if I know one thing about girls it's that they take forever to get ready. You look fine the way you are."

It was Elizabeth's turn to frown, as she reluctantly nodded and followed them up the stairs and out of the house. She had always felt comfortable in the clothes but there was something about tonight that make her want to take off her bonnet and change a little. She did her best to push these feeling to the back of her head for now.

On the walk to town they finish the bottle and throw it away down an alley. Elizabeth felt good, but not as good as the night they were drinking in Zack's shed. Alex had drank considerably more from the bottle than Elizabeth, and Jack had drank twice as much than both of them.

"See...this is fun times. You guys and me, no one asking where my brother is..."
Jack was going on about random things like that during the entire walk.

"Well forget Jessica, man. She's missing out."

Alex tried to console his friend. Elizabeth nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, Jack. She wasn't a good match for you. You are much kinder than she seems."

Jack groaned.

"I'm not kind! I'm a prick and she's a bitch and we were meant to be!"

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Well, that doesn't make any sense but ok."

There was no more talk of Jessica for a while after that, as the group walked in silence down the cracked sidewalks. It was short lived, however, when Jack spoke up again.

"I think we should go to that party she's throwing. I think we should crash it."