Opposites Attract

“Max, how many shots did you give her,” the voice of Robert Ortiz asked curiously as I sat relaxed against the old, leather sofa. A sloppy smile was covering my face as I listened to a story Bryan “Monte” Money was telling me about all the trouble Max and himself have gotten in since forming their friendship.

After the incident at my apartment, Max decided it be best for everyone to go out and have a good time. Luckily, when Max came back out of the building twenty minutes later without a scratch on his body. He had told me that all he did was merely have a conversation with my father and that if anything like this happened again to let him know.

Ronnie had been incredibly sweet while we waited outside together. He didn’t let go of my shaking figure once while whispering reassuring words to me. I was surprised I didn’t end up scaring him away.

Instead of going back to the party he and Ronnie were at before, they decided to just go hang out at their friend Omar Espinosa’s house since his parents were going to be gone until Sunday night. It ended up being a couple other of their close friends from school. Of course alcohol was going to be involved in this little shindig, I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from Max and his friends.

Max could sense my uneasiness as I sat down on the edge of the black, grimy couch. My eyes darted quickly around the garage. There was a large, white fridge in the corner, where everyone had been getting beer and various other types of liquor from. There were a couple old worn chairs scattered on either side of the sofa. A couple of guitars and amps were placed away from where we were sitting. There was a stench in the air that was a mix between cigarette smoke and sweat, basically the scent of a teenage boy.

But, I had to admit, it was better in here than I thought it would be.
And definitely better than being back home.

Ronnie sent me a reassuring smile as he sat down by me, lazily slinging his arm behind me up on the couch.

Their friends looked confused at first as to why I was there. Max luckily didn’t tell them the whole story. Just that I would be staying with him for a few days while my dad was away. The guys seemed to easily accept his answer. Max ended up offering me his hoodie to cover the bruises. I was extremely grateful for his thoughtful gesture. After everything today I really didn’t want to explain to three strangers about how the purple marks got there in the answer. They were all still pretty curious however, shooting me questions to try and get me to talk.

I barely answered their questions, being too shy and nervous to respond.

That was until Max held up a bottle, smirking wide at me.

“Hey Abs, come take a shot with me,” he stated, nodding his head to come stand over by him by the card table situated in front of the refrigerator. He held a bottle with clear liquor in one hand, shaking it slightly as he raised it up. “It’ll help you relax.”

Instantly my face begin to turn the color of a perfectly, ripened tomato as all eyes were on me. “I don’t know Max,” I stated quietly, biting down hard on my lip. “I’ve never had a drop of alcohol before.”

He simply shrugged while pouring the clear liquor into two large shot glasses. “You only live once Abs.” I gulped as he filled the glasses to the very top. He carefully pulled the bottle away once they were filled and twisted the cap back into place on top of the bottle.

He started walking carefully towards where I was seated, a shot glass in each hand. His lip was biting down hard in concentration as he attempted to walk across the garage without sloshing the liquid out of the glass.

I let out a loud, nervous gulp as I eyed the alcohol. Did I really want to try the same substance that now controls my father’s life? What if I end up like him, a raging alcoholic with a drug problem to go with it?

“Hey,” Ronnie stated, causing my gaze to fall onto him. He had a kind smile on his face, as if he could detect how awkward and uncomfortable I was right now. “You don’t have to take it if you don’t want too.”

“Shut up Ronald!” Robert snapped, causing Ronnie to send a glare in his direction for using his whole name. “I want to see Abby drunk! She’s always so uptight!”

Ronnie rolled his eyes at his friend. “Yeah, because saying that isn’t going to make her awkward at all.”

Robert’s cheeks turned a slight tinge of red at Ronnie’s statement. “No offense or anything Abby,” he offered sincerely.

I sent him a reassuring smile, letting him know I didn’t mind. “It’s fine Robert. I know what you meant.”

He sent a friendly smile back my way before Max blocked my view of him. He smiled cheesily at me as he held out one of the glasses towards me. “Come on! Just one shot. It’s just Schnapps! It’ll go down easy!” he begged relentlessly, not giving me much of an option to say no.

Slowly, my hand reached out for the small glass. Max easily shoved it into my palm. Quickly, he raised his own up high in the air, high above his head. “To welcoming Abby into our fucked up family!” he declared loudly.

The boys all around me cheered at Max’s little toast, making me groan. He really couldn’t go anywhere without embarrassing me.

Once again my eyes fell back to Ronnie who had a large smile on his face. He simply shrugged in response to my curious look to Max’s speech.

“Alright Abby,” Max stated with excitement, causing my full attention to fall back on him. “All you have to do is chug it really fast, then you won’t taste anything.”

I simply nodded in response to him, his smile growing bigger with each passing second.

“One,” he began counting, holding his other hand up in the air matching the appropriate number. “Two,” he murmured. My hand began to shake out of nervousness.

“Three!” he exclaimed loudly before throwing his head back.

Instantly, I mimicked his actions, tossing the shot glass back, causing all of the warm liquid to flood into my mouth. At first I didn’t taste much except the artificial flavoring of peach. Once it reached my throat, however, it began to cause a burning sensation. My eyes began to water as I let out a few coughs once I swallowed it all.

Max let out a loud cheer at my accomplishment. “I can’t believe you actually did it!”

I shook my head in disgust as my face instantly began to warm up in response to the liquor. “That wasn’t too bad,” I admitted softly, causing Max’s smile to grow once again.

“I’ll go find something else for you to try!” he said in excitement before dashing back to the fridge.

I let out a groan at his sudden eagerness. “He’s going to make me sick, I know it,” I muttered quietly to myself.

A strong hand placed itself upon my shoulder, making me look to the right. Ronnie was sitting there, gazing intently at me, his signature smirk plastered onto his face. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you get to drunk,” he promised me sincerely.

Well that was a few hours ago, and let me tell you, I felt beyond trashed at this moment. Max had given me a couple more shots of Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels as well as a couple mixed drinks. Right now I felt so carefree and relaxed.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had had this much fun.

“I think I gave her more than I thought,” Max admitted sheepishly as his green eyes roamed over my body. I’m sure my eyes were bloodshot at the moment. When Bryan had finished his story I let out a loud laugh, finding it to be the funniest thing ever.

Max flinched at my shrill cackle while Robert just smirked. Ronnie had gone outside to have a cigarette and call his brother back. Apparently he had had a serious question for Ronnie and apparently I had grown very loud and slightly obnoxious thanks to my liquid courage.

Wanting another drink, I slowly attempted to stand up, my legs wobbling gently beneath me. It didn’t take long for me to lose my balance, causing me to clumsily fall back deep into the couch. The boys all let out a loud laugh at my balancing skills.

“What I miss?” Ronnie’s raspy voice rang out, causing my eyes to land on him. His tall body had just walked through the side door of the garage. The smell of tobacco was radiating off of him.

I’m not sure if it was because of the alcohol, or if I just started looking closer at Ronnie, but he did look really good tonight. Underneath his slender frame I could see a thin layer of muscle sprawled out all around his body.

God he was hot.

Omar instantly launched into the story, laughing while he did so. If I didn’t know any better I’d think that I was the only one who was drunk here. I was surprised the other boys weren’t as wasted as I was. But then again, they did drink a lot more than I ever had before.

“Abby,” Max started, making me sloppily turn my head to where he was sitting besides me. A look of concern was carefully etched onto his pale face. “I think you’re wasted.”

I let out a loud huff at his words and rolled my eyes. “Maxie, trust me,” I slurred out carefully, trying to sit up more while I spoke to him. “I am not even, not even a little bit intoxicated right now.”

My body began to slump forward slightly in reaction to trying to sit up to quickly. Luckily, Max’s quick hands shot out and caught me before I fell face first into the concrete floor. Okay, so maybe I was a little drunk at the moment. I still wanted another drink.

“Jesus Abs,” Max muttered as he carefully attempted to sit me up right. “I really got you trashed, didn’t I?”

Without answering him, I slowly nodded my head, answering his question honestly this time. My whole body was completely numb. I didn’t even notice Ronnie sitting down by me again, sipping lightly on his beer. Without consciously knowing what I was doing, I carelessly rolled my head towards Ronnie, allowing my head to rest easily against his shoulder. My eyes began to close as I let out a content sigh.

I could feel Ronnie’s body tense up beneath me at the sudden contact. Sober me would have never have had the confidence to do this, ever. Especially after feeling his reaction.

Distantly, I heard the familiar snicker escaping from Omar. “I think somebody’s ready for bed.”

I slowly nodded my head once again in response in agreement with Max’s friend’s proclamation. I regretted moving my head in an instant. The lazy movement was enough to make my world feel as if it was spinning quickly around me. My stomach began to start churning uneasily, the liquid doing somersaults inside of my stomach. A loud hiccup erupted from my mouth, causing me to groan.

Ronnie stilled beneath me once again. “Are you okay?” he questioned softly to me.

I shook my head. “I don’t feel good,” I whispered back before another hiccup escaped from me.

Ronnie quickly snapped into action. His voice sounded far away as he told Max that I was going to be sick. Max just let out a small laugh and told Ronnie that he was the one that offered to watch over me tonight, knowing that I had never drank before.

Ronnie let out a few curse words at his friends before he turned his attention back to me. “Abby, I’m going to bring you to the bathroom, okay? But you’re going to have to stand up.”

Knowing I shouldn’t nod my head again, I simply laid against him, not moving. I was so tired, too exhausted to move.

Ronnie let out a frustrated growl as he attempted to stand up, causing me to slouch more into him. “I could use a fucking hand here people,” he stated with annoyance laced in with his voice.

His voice made me wince and let out a quiet whimper. I didn’t like his tone. It reminded me to much of dad’s tone whenever he was mad or upset with me. Then he hurt me. It never failed to happen in that order.

Max let out a loud huff before I felt the weight to the left of me gone. “Calm down Radke. You’re scaring her.” It was only a few seconds before I felt the gentle touch of someone grabbing my arm, tugging me away from the boy I was laying against. “Come on sweetheart, let’s get you to the bedroom.”

I allowed Max to slowly tug me up into a standing position. I wobbled unsteadily on my feet before he put one arm around my waist while dragging the other to hang loosely around his neck. I opened my eyes halfway, taking in the environment around me. It had gone quiet. Robert and Bryan looked amused at my current state, trying to hold back a smile from forming. Omar looked worried that I might vomit at any second in his garage.

And then there was Ronnie.

His expression was blank as he studied me intensely, his eyes hard. The dark eyebrows above his brown eyes were furrowed tightly together as if he were upset about something. Most likely, me. I just couldn’t win tonight. Not only did I manage to piss off my father, but I also managed to piss off the only other person who seemed to give half way of a shit about me.

My eyes quickly darted away from where he was sitting. I leaned in close to Max, almost falling over in the process. The intensity of his stare sent shivers down my spine, making me uncomfortable. “Scared,” I whispered into his ear, being the only word I could manage to spit out.

Max tensed beneath me as soon as the word got out of my mouth, understanding how much that one word meant. I saw his head dart towards Ronnie, his eyes turning into slits as he stared at the raven haired boy lounging easily on the sofa. “You know, you’ve become one of my good friends, but sometimes you can really be an asshole,” he spat out harshly, not holding back.

Ronnie looked taken aback by Max’s insult and opened his mouth to argue back, but Max began to lead me away from the group before he had a chance to say anything else.

He was quiet as he helped me walk into the strange house. Multiple times I l almost tripped over my own two feet. If he didn’t have a grip on me, I would’ve surely crashed into the ground by now. My vision was now blurry. I tried to study the house’s layout on my way to the guest bedroom I would be staying in, but my mind was hazy. Thankfully, the bedroom was on the main floor and Max wouldn’t have to try and drag me up any sorts of steps.

We paused momentarily, before I heard the sound of a light switch turning on.

“Time to sleep it off Abs,” Max told me quietly before dragging me over to the large bed centered in the middle of the plain room. The light was giving me a headache, causing a dull thud to beat harshly in my brain. Once we reached the mattress, Max tenderly removed my arm from around his neck and pushed me down so I was sitting on the bed. Speedily he tore back the grey bedspread part way before he proceeded to softly shift me around so I was laying on my side, facing him. He carefully removed the flip flops from my feet before pulling the sheets up to my chin

“Don’t let him hurt me Max,” I whimpered out looking into his eyes with my own scared ones. “I’m sorry I made Ronnie mad.”

Max sent me a smile that didn’t quiet reach his eyes. I noticed he was staring intently at my bruised arms. “Hey, you know I would never let anyone hurt you,” he said reassuringly. His hand that rested on my arm began to rub soothing circles on it as he continued to speak to me. “And Ronnie’s not mad. He’s just a drama queen sometimes.”

I knew he meant to make me smile or laugh, but I continued to stare stoically at him. “Stay?” I slurred out, still having fear course through my body. Max and I usually stayed in the same room whenever I crashed at his place. His mother was pretty easy going, knowing Max and I would never do anything but sleep when we were together. I often wondered if his mom knew what happened across the hall from her apartment. Often times when Max told her I would be sleeping over for a few days, I saw pity fill her eyes.

His pierced lips turned into a small smile. “Of course. I’m just going to have a cigarette and go chat with the guys a bit longer,” he promised, standing up from his kneeling position by my bed. He turned around for a moment, reaching for something that was stashed in the corner. When he turned around I saw a white garbage can being shoved on the ground by my head. “And if you puke, do it in this. Omar’s mom would be pissed if she came home to vomit sprayed across her immaculately clean house.”

I accepted his answer, noticing the turning in my stomach getting stronger as he mentioned that. I closed my eyes, hoping the sickening feeling would fade if I fell asleep quickly enough.

Max gave me one last pat on the arm before he turned around and left, switching the light off in the process. In a second everything around me was surrounded in darkness. This made me even more sick to my stomach. I know I’m seventeen, almost eighteen years old, but I had a strong fear of the dark. Usually I left my closet light on at night back home. It illuminated enough of my room where I could dimly see everything, but not bright enough to the extent for causing me to lose any sleep.

I clenched my eyes tighter together while pulling the blanket closer to my body.

Please don’t let me puke at Max’s friend’s house. Especially not into a garbage can.

Just the thought of throwing up made me feel ill. The room was rapidly spinning again, preventing me from passing out. I could taste the bile beginning to slowly crawl up my throat, making a sickening taste take place in my mouth. Deciding it would be better to try to swallow it instead of puking it up, I swallowed the fowl liquid back down my throat.

This made it rise back up faster than it had before, and before I knew it, I was leaning over the bed, puking my guts out. The sound of my wrenching echoed loudly in the bedroom as I spilled up the alcohol I had previously consumed. Tears sprung to my eyes as I heaved yet again with so much force it made me cough.

“Abby?” the familiar raspy voice called out, sounding concerned. The light was rapidly switched back on, causing me to inwardly groan.

I attempted to swat him away, not wanting him to see me this way while also not wanting to piss him off any more than I did earlier.

“Go away Ronnie,” I whispered out in a hoarse voice. Within seconds I started hurling back into the large garbage can again.

Instead of listening to me, I heard his rushed footsteps pace speedily towards the bed. Moments later I could feel the soft tug of my hair being tugged back away from my face.

“Like I’m going to leave you here so you can choke on your own vomit,” he muttered out. His large hands began to rub my up and down my back in a calming pattern, causing my body to instantly relax.

After what seemed like hours, I had finally resulted to having a few dry heaves. By now I was so exhausted that I wanted nothing more than to just pass out and forget that this embarrassing moment even happened.

Once I finished I felt my body began to fall forward, not having enough energy to hold myself together anymore.

“Hey there,” Ronnie’s worried voice spoke out as he caught me before I could fall. His strong arms instantly tugged me back up so I was laying on my side. “You really are trashed, aren’t you?”

A simple hum of agreement left me, not having enough energy to even speak.

He chuckled lightly at my laziness, moving off the bed to give me more room to sprawl out. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”

My eyes rapidly snapped open and before I knew what I was doing, my hand jerke out, grabbing at his leather jacket.

He turned back around, shooting me a curious look.

“Please don’t leave me,” I begged, my eyes tearing up yet again. God, he must think I’m pathetic. “I’m sorry I made you mad earlier, just please don’t leave me alone in the dark.”

His eyes turned gentle at my childish wish. He looked as if he was contemplating my words hard. A loud sigh was exhaled out from his lips before he looked back over to me.

“I’ll stay, but Max might kill me for scaring you earlier,” he grumbled.

Inside my heart was beating rapidly as I watched him hastily tug off his black, biker boots. He easily shrugged the black leather jacket off from his broad shoulders. My eyes travelled up and down his body as I took in his tight skinny jeans and form hugging shirt. I wasn’t sure what attracted me to this boy, but every time he was around me butterflies formed in my tummy. Rumors were spread around our school about him after his first day. How he dropped out from his other school because he hated it. How he wasn’t afraid to start a fight if he had too. That he too, like Max, was known as a womanizer. How big of a druggie and partier he was. But for some reason none of those things seemed to matter to me. There was just something about Ronnie Radke that was extremely intoxicating to me

Wordlessly he shut off the light to the room again, causing instant darkness.

My heart started beating faster as I felt movement on the spot of the bed besides me, the springs screaming in protest from the weight of another added body. Long arms were wrapped tightly around my shorter frame. He was so close to me I could feel his hot breath against my face as he spoke to me.

“Now get some sleep,” he whispered quietly in a demanding tone.

And for once my body listened. It only took a few seconds before I fell into a hard, dreamless, slumber.