Status: On hiatus

No Such Thing as Too Young

Chapter 2

Well, fuck, what am I supposed to be, impressed?
You're just another set of bones to lay to rest.
I guess it's time to say goodnight,
Hope you had a really good time.
"I'm Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket" - Pierce the Veil

“Kellin!” whisper-yelled Justin from behind me, hitting my arm.

“Ouch! What was that for!?” I whispered back angrily.

“Dude, I’ve been trying to talk to you for, like, five minutes and you weren’t listening.”

“Sorry, I zoned out.” We were in Geography and I’d zoned out of the teacher’s droning like I usually do. Geography’s just so fucking boring. Vic was listening intently beside me as usual, though. I don’t know how the guy can be so interested in such a boring subject.

“Well, I was trying to tell you that there’s a party happening tonight at Jack Barakat’s house. Are you two in?”

“Yeah, I’m in. What about you?” I nudged Vic’s elbow.

“Me? A party?” he whispered, bewildered.

“Yes, you. And yes, a party. Haven’t you ever been to one before?”

“Well… not exactly. I wasn’t exactly the party type back at my old school.” Obviously, judging by how much of a nerd he is. The guy probably spends his Friday nights buried in textbooks.

“You should come,” I said. “It’ll be fun. Trust me, Barakat always throws the best parties.” Justin and Jack Fowler, who was sitting next to him, nodded in agreement.

“Well… alright. What time is it?” Vic said hesitantly.

“6 o’ clock. And Barakat said there’ll be booze,” grinned Jack.

“There always is at Barakat’s,” I chuckled. “So how about I text you the details of where he lives this afternoon and meet you out front?” I asked Vic, who nodded.

“Gentlemen up the back!” barked the teacher. “Something you’d like to share with the class?”

“No, sir,” Jack, Justin and I chorused, stifling laughs. Vic, however, looked mortified. I don’t think he’s ever gotten told off by a teacher before. That’s weird, cuz it happens all the time to me.

“Well then, face the front and stop talking!”

“Yes, sir.”

That night I met Vic out the front of Barakat’s house at 6 o’ clock on the dot. We were both wearing our black skinny jeans, band tees and wristbands, and Vic had his usual snapback on. I don’t think I’ve seen him without a hat before, actually.

There was also someone walking next to Vic, a guy I didn’t recognise. He was tall with dark, longish hair, a medusa piercing and a lip ring and he was wearing a beanie, a muscle tee and black skinnies.

“Hey,” I said as they strolled towards me.

“Hey,” said Vic. He had a bright pink flush to his tan cheeks and he sounded cheery and confident, which was unusual for him. “Kells, this is my younger brother, Mike. Mike, this is Kellin.”

We shook hands and nodded politely at each other.

“Excited?” I asked them.

“Sure am,” replied Vic. “You?”

“Hell yeah. I love parties, they’re the best.”

“Same here,” agreed Mike.

“So you’ve been to parties before?” I ask.

“Fuck yes, loads of them. I was way more popular than Vic at our old school,” he said as he elbowed Vic, who flinched away and cursed at him. Mike just laughed.

As we entered the front door we were greeted by loud, thumping music and the sound of a lot of people talking and shouting and singing and laughing all at once.

“Yo, Quinn! Good to see you could make it!” shouted Barakat as we walked in. “And who’re these guys?”

“Uh, this is Vic and this is his brother, Mike,” I said, gesturing to both of them in turn. “They’re new to the school.”

“Well, nice to meet you both then. I’m Jack,” he said with a wink, shaking their hands. “Well, enjoy!” he said, disappearing off into the crowd of people.

I beckoned to Vic and Mike and lead them through to the kitchen to get a drink, where we found our friends chilling on the benches.

Vic started searching around the kitchen and soon came up with a bottle of vodka while Mike dug up a bottle of whiskey.

“Anyone want some of this?” Vic asked as he started pouring himself a glass.

“Me!” said Justin.

“Um… you ever had a drink before?” I asked Vic, grabbing a beer to start off with.

“Yeah,” he said. I hadn’t really expected him to, considering he’d never even been to a party or anything. I was even more surprised when he practically threw the stuff down his throat and started pouring himself another glass.

“Whoa, slow down, buddy! You’ll make yourself sick!”

“Stop being such a parent, Kellin,” said Ashley. “Let him do what he wants.” I rolled my eyes. Whatever, I’m just trying to take care of my friend.

I didn’t do a very good job. By ten o’ clock I’m sitting in the bathroom with him, holding his long hair back as he spews into the toilet.

“I told you that you shouldn’t’ve gone so hard with that vodka, man. And then those were a hell of a lot of shots you took afterwards.” Vic just groaned and puked again.

When he pulled back I noticed tear tracks on his cheeks. “I’m tired, Kellin. I’m so sick and tired of this.”

“Of being drunk?”

“No, of… this. Everything. I just…” At that he dissolved into sobs. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“I think we should find your brother and get you home, man,” I said cautiously. I was really worried about him. Was it just unimportant drunken rambling, or something more?

“No, I don’t want to go home,” he slurred.

“Come on, you gotta get up.”

I wrapped an arm underneath his armpits and pulled his arm over my shoulders and managed to get him on his feet. I half-dragged him down the stairs to where the party was still going, although there were a few other people asleep and passed out around the place. Those were only the idiots who drank like Vic, such as Barakat, Vinny Petrocelli and a guy a couple years younger than us with spiky brown hair.

“Mike!” I called out, relieved, as I saw him dancing in the lounge room with another tall guy who must be his friend. “I’m sorry dude, but you gotta help me with Vic.”

“Oh, shit, not again,” he muttered. “Sorry Tony, but I gotta go,” he said to the other guy.

He hurried over and pulled one of Vic’s arms over his shoulders, taking some of his weight and helping me lift him.

“Is this something that happens often?” I panted as we dragged him outside.

“Uh, kinda.”

“So, uh, what do you wanna do now?” I asked.

“Just take him home I guess.”

“What about your parents?”

“They won’t care, trust me.” Whoa, their parents don’t care about them partying and drinking? I have to say, I’m a bit jealous.

“Ok, I’ll help you get him home then.”

“Thanks, man. You can stay the night at ours if you want, if you’re worried about your parents catching you out or something.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be a burden…” I’d told my mum that I’d gone to Justin’s for a sleepover, and if I came home that night with the smell of alcohol on my breath and her still awake I’d be in deep shit. I was trying to be polite, but I did kind of need somewhere to stay and I didn’t really wanna go back to the party after dealing with this.

“Trust me dude, it’s no burden. And then you don’t have to walk home in the dark or back to the party or whatever you were gonna do,” he said, waving away my half-hearted protests.

“Alright, I’ll stay. Thanks a million, dude.” He just smiled at me and we started dragging the drunken Vic home together.

It took an hour to get to Vic and Mike’s house, and we were both about ready to collapse by the time we reached the front door. Vic hadn’t been able to support himself the whole time, and just spent the half-hour muttering mildly insulting things about me under his breath.

Their house was at the edge of town and pretty isolated, and from what I could see in the dark it looked kind of run down. It had two stories and was made of old wood covered in peeling paint, with a front lawn that looked like it hadn’t been mowed in a long time.

When we made it to the living room we immediately dropped Vic on the lounge and both collapsed on dusty carpet, panting and sweating. We lay there for like ten minutes without saying a word to each other until Mike suggested we get Vic upstairs to his bed.

We dragged him up as quietly as we could so as not to wake their parents, and dumped him on his bed. The furniture in his room was kind of simple and there was a bit of a funny smell. He had a wooden double bed with a plain blue bedspread, a wooden desk and matching chair and a large bookshelf. He had a hell of a lot of posters and a lot of books on the shelf, though. And not just textbooks, there was fiction there too. Fantasy and adventure and sci-fi. I guess I should have known he’d like reading. I read sometimes, but not a whole lot.

“So, do you wanna sleep on the couch downstairs or something? Or you can sleep in my bed, I’ll take the couch,” Mike offered awkwardly.

“Do you reckon Vic would mind if I just slept on his floor? I kinda wanna keep an eye on him.”

“I think he’d be cool with it. So, did you need anything?”

“Nah, I’ll be right. Thanks for letting me stay again, man.”

“Oh, no problem. Sleep well.” He gave a little wave of his hand and headed out to go to his own room. I was kind of jealous of Vic to have him as a brother. I was an only child and always wanted a brother, and Mike seemed like a pretty cool guy.

I then went about trying to make Vic as comfortable as I could. I shifted him into a more comfortable position, carefully laid his head on a pillow and tucked him into the blankets as best as I could before nicking another pillow for myself and finding a blanket in the corner of the room for me to use.

With one last check to make sure Vic was fast asleep and comfortable, I settled down on the floor and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.