Chapter 25

The next morning when I woke up, I had forgotten about the fact that I had a sprained ankle when I got out of bed and ended up face planting into the carpet.

“Arghh.” I groaned.

Wait.

This carpet actually feels kinda nice…

I lay there for a moment before finding the strength to get up and limp downstairs.

This was all Grayson’s fault.

He’s the reason I was limping with a sprained ankle.

As I descend the staircase in a slower than usual manner, I hear clinking coming from the kitchen. I hope Stacy isn’t still here.

Following the sound of clinking crockery and scratching cutlery, I found myself stunned when I see my lazy ass brother doing the dishes.

I needed to take a photo of this moment.

Crap. I left my phone upstairs.

“What’s gotten into you?” I wondered, eagerly taking a seat at the table. Standing on one leg is exhausting, then again, so is standing on both of them.

“Since Mom and dad aren’t here, and you’re currently handicapped, someone had to clean up.” He says, placing a clean plate on the dish rack.

“Blame your dumb friend for my impairment.” I said with anger.

“Speaking of, he dropped off something for you.” Mitchell says.

“Who did?” I wondered.

“Grayson.”

Say what?

For me?

I wonder what it is…

“What is it?” I wondered.

Mitchell placed another plate in the rack and turned to face me, cleaning gloves on his hands. “His old crutches from that time when he broke his leg.”

He’s referring to their freshman year of high school, when I was still in middle school. According to Mitchell, Grayson had broken his leg after falling out of a tree. Luckily enough for him that it wasn’t a major fracture, otherwise he probably wouldn’t be as good at football as he is today, or he probably wouldn’t even be able to play.

“They’re in the foyer.” He says before continuing to do the dishes.

In the foyer, Grayson’s crutches stand upright against the wall near mother’s precious assortment of indoor plants. This will make walking a hell of a lot easier.

I take the crutches and walk back into the kitchen on them. “Have you heard from mom and dad at all today?” I asked to avoid complete silence.

“Dad called before, he says they might be away longer than expected.” Mitchell says, sounding unbothered by it.

“We should throw a party.” I joked.

“Already planning it.” Mitchell says.

“I was kidding.” I tell him. “We can’t throw a party! Mom and dad will murder us.”

Mitchell chuckled. “They can’t murder us if they’re not here.”

“Well, I don’t want to throw a party.” I say.

“Well, who cares what you want.”

“I swear to god Mitchell, if you throw a party I will actually call the police to shut it down.” I said in all seriousness.

My words fell on deaf ears.

That afternoon as the sun was setting, the house party that my idiot older brother planned was already in full swing. I felt uncomfortable and out of place, despite this being my house!

Why couldn’t Mitchell just plan a party elsewhere?

I hear parking lots are usually vacant at this time.

Having a bunch of strangers in my house was beyond vexing. Especially since none of them cared enough to get the hell out of my way as I tried to make my way through the rabble, on crutches, to get myself a drink. I had initially planned on sequestering myself inside the four walls of my bedroom, but Hannah managed to persuade me to, in her own drunk and garbled words, “Quit being a boring loser! Get up and get yo party animal on.”

“Excuse me.” I say softly, my words going unheard. I rolled my eyes before clearing my throat and repeating myself at an increasingly strident volume. “EXCUSE ME!”

The dolled-up female obstacle dropped her jaw at me in disbelief. “How rude.” She says.

Rude is whoever told her that the color yellow suited her.

She moved out of the way, allowing me to continue my journey to my kitchen. I would have thanked her if she hadn’t been such a hypocrite.

I find it baffling how people think parties are entertaining. It’s just one-too-many people cramped in the same vicinity, drinking cheaper-than-candy beers and dressing like they’re attending a burlesque version of the Met Gala. There is no way on earth people are actually enjoying themselves.

“Hi Dallas.” Deja says from the other side of the countertop. “How are you?”

I approached on crutches and let a sigh of annoyance answer her question instead of using vulgar words to explain all of the things that was wrong with this stupid party.

Like, for example, the music was far too loud. I swear I could feel my ears bleeding.

I eye her outfit and raise my eyebrows. She’s wearing a Scoops Ahoy costume with Robin Buckley’s name tag attached to it’s left chest area.

“Are you wearing a Stranger Things costume?” I asked her.

A look of embarrassment overcomes her face. “I was told it was a costume party.”

I highly doubt that Mitchell would ever decide to host a costume party.

“I bet I look ridiculous, huh?” She pours herself a cup of orange soda.

“No.” I tell her, reaching for a plastic cup so that I could pour my own drink. “I think you look pretty cool.”

Her cheeks flush red as she smiles. “Thanks.”

I poured lemonade and vodka into my cup and swiftly took a sip. I take a seat on a stool and set the crutches against the stool to my right.

“Hiiiiii!” Hannah appeared beside me with Lucy and Cody close behind. “Oh my gosh! Deja, you look so pretty tonight!”

“Hi.” I greet my friends over the music.

“Hey, Dal.” Lucy says.

Cody just gave a nod, his gaze averted.

“Wait, is this a date?” Hannah wondered, looking from Deja to me.

“If we were to go on a date, I would never agree to have it at a party with poorly chosen music playing through the stereo.” I say, downing my drink.

“Hey! I chose this song.” Hannah frowned.

I think she should choose a bottle of water instead of alcohol next time. I think to myself before pouring another drink.

“Woah, you drank that so quickly.” Deja stated the obvious.

“I’m having a bad day.” I tell her. “Scratch that, I’m having a bad week.”

“What’s going on with you?” Lucy asked concernedly.

“I don’t want to bother you guys with all my problems.” I say, taking a sip of the drink that I just poured. “What are all of you drinking?” I changed the subject.

“Vodka.” Was Hannah’s answer.

“Beer.” Cody says. So he can speak…

Lucy answered with. “A margarita.”

All eyes turned to Deja, who was currently taking a sip of her drink.

“Oh, I’m drinking orange soda.” She says.

“You don’t drink alcohol?” Hannah asked her.

“No, not really.” She answered.

“Sup.” Jake came into view and slings an arm around my shoulders.

Jake just so happened to be one of those touchy-feely drunks.

“Hey Dal! Long time no see.” He slurred.

“Hey Buddy.” I greet him. “Uh, how many drinks have you had?”

“A lot.” He answered. “Like a whole lot.”

“Where’s Phillip?” I wondered.

“Oh, he didn’t come.” Hannah answers, taking a sip from her cup. Her eyes widened as she spits out the alcohol, returning it back into the cup. “What the hell is she doing here?”

All of use followed her line of sight to see Alicia dancing with a group of girls. Oh shit….

Jake’s happy demeanour died down as he glared over at his ex girlfriend. “I’ll be back.” He slurred, already walking away.

“Jake, don’t.” Hannah called out, but was unsuccessful in stopping him. She rushes after him as I finish off my drink and reach for my crutches to follow them.

“Jake, let’s just go.” Hannah begged, attempting to pull him away by his sleeve. He shoves off her hold on his sleeve and says something to Alicia that I couldn’t make out over the music. Whatever he said must’ve been bad, because Alicia responded with a slap to Jake’s face.

Holy shit.

“What the hell, Alicia!” Hannah groaned.

“Fuck you.” Jake seethed.

“Jake, come on.” Hannah attempts to pull him away, again.

“What, are you dating this tramp now?” Alicia asked with a scoff.

Hannah’s jaw fell open. “Excuse you?” She moves in front of Jake and gets all up in Alicia’s face.

“Guys, please don’t fight.” Lucy implored with an innocent tone of voice.

“Don’t call her a tramp.” Jake said furiously.

“Or what?” Alicia snapped.

Diego, the guy that Alicia cheated on Jake with, comes into the scene with a beer in his hand. “Is there a problem?” He asks, looking to Alicia for an answer.

“No. All is good.” I say, standing awkwardly on crutches beside a fuming Jake.

“I wasn’t asking you.” Diego threw a glare towards me.

“It’s none of your fucking business.” Jake cursed at Diego.

“Come on, let’s go take a walk. Please.” Hannah begged Jake once again.

“Yeah, go and take a walk with Miss trampy.” Alicia smiled.

Hannah’s face turned into a scowl. “That’s funny coming from you, you cheating skank.”

“Don’t call her a skank.” Diego warned, leaping like a whipped puppy to Alicia’s defence.

“If the men’s sized shoe fits.” Hannah says.

“Might wanna put your bitch on a leash.” Diego says to Jake.

Amidst the arguing, I didn’t even realise that the music had been paused and that there was now a gasping crowd gathered around.

“Who the fuck are you calling a bitch?” Hannah scowled.

“If the child’s sized shoe fits.” Diego says, mocking her.

“STOP IT!” I snapped at them. All eyes turned to me as the arguing settled.

Okay… Guess it’s time to give a big speech about how fighting isn’t the answer.

Before I could start talking, Mitchell makes his way through the gathered crowd and asks. “What’s going on?”

“Your brother’s stupid little friends are starting trouble.” Alicia says.

“They’re not stupid!” I snapped at her.

“Yeah, they are.” Diego chimed in with an amused chuckle.

I had the sudden urge to crack him on the head with my second-hand crutches.

“You’re stupid!” I insulted him.

“My three thousand Instagram followers are loving this live stream right now.” I heard a girl from the crowd say before Diego sauntered towards me with a glare. Oh fuck, I think he’s going to punch me. I gripped tighter onto the handle of my right crutch, readying myself to smack him with it when, luckily, Mitchell stood between us, crossing his arms as he faced Diego. “The fuck’s your problem?” Mitchell asked him.

“Your bitch of a brother is the one with the problem.” He responded.

With a clenched fist, Mitchell throws a punch that lands on the bridge of Diego’s nose. Alicia managed to keep Diego from falling onto his back as he holds a hand over his nostrils. When he pulls his hand away, there’s blood, which caused him to clench his own fist and return Mitchell’s punch. Mitchell stumbles into me, causing me to lose my foothold on the ground. I fall backwards when two hands clasp me by my waist, stopping me from falling.

I thought that it was Cody, but it was Grayson.

He released his hands from my waist after I regained my stability.

“What’s going on?” He asks, moving to step between a pissed off Mitchell and a nose-bleeding Diego.

“Diego was being an ass to my brother.” Mitchell answers.

“Your brother is the one who called me stupid.” Diego says I’m defence.

“Because you are.” I mumbled.

“That’s it.” Diego rushed at me. Grayson managed to shove him backwards before he crippled me any further.

“I think it’s time for you to go home.” Grayson says to Diego, whose nostrils flared as he shook his head.

“This party sucks anyways.” Diego spat. Literally. He started towards the front door, Alicia following behind.

“Wait, Alicia!” Hannah called out.

Alicia turned back with upraised eyebrows.

Hannah approaches her and slaps her hand across Alicia’s face. The slap sounded like a booming crack of thunder.

“Oh my god.” Alicia cried out.

“That’s for calling me a tramp.” Hannah says, flipping her hair.

When Alicia exited the house with her idiot of a boyfriend, the crowd both applauded and cheered.

“That was awesome!” Jake says to Hannah.

“It felt awesome.” Hannah says. “I desperately need a drink.” She started towards the kitchen when Jake stops her. “I’ll get it for you.” He says.

Awww.

“Oh, thanks.” She smiles.

“Vodka and raspberry soda, right?” Jake asked, looking for reassurance as the music came back on.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll have one too, please.” I add.

“Okay.” He patted my shoulder on his way to the countertop.

“Are you alright?” I asked Mitchell.

“Yep. All good, bro.” He says, twisting the cap off of his beer before walking off.

At least his nose wasn’t bleeding.

When Jake returned with drinks a few minutes later, we started towards the living room to enjoy the rest of the party. As we reached the foyer, I see Grayson standing at the bottom of the staircase. His eyes meet mine as he raised his beer to his lips and began drinking.

I should talk to him.

No. No I should not.

Now is not the time to talk about our snogging in the woods…

Ignoring my own thoughts, I start towards him.

He pulls the beer away from his lips, straightening his posture with averted eyes, as if preparing himself to be confronted.

“There you are.” A beautiful girl says, descending the staircase.

Grayson turned around and forces a smile onto his face. “Hey, Aisha.”

I halted in the foyer, feeling embarrassed.

The girl named Aisha snakes her arms around Grayson’s neck and pulls him into a vehement kiss.

I slightly lift up the crutches and defeatedly swing them around to take me to the living room. Before I exited the foyer, I steal a glance at them.

Aisha had made her way down to his neck. He looks over at me with guilty eyes as I quickly turn away.

A sudden wave of disappointment overwhelmed me.