IV

We're interrupted by Ashton who's filling his cup with tap water. How uncharacteristically responsible of him.

"Hey, Cal. What's up?" Ashton says to Calum.

They know each other? Of course they know each other, Ashton seems to know everybody that goes to our school.

"Not much. Enjoying yourself?"

"Well, there's good music, so yeah I am. What about you?" Ashton responds as Paramore plays in the background.

"I am now." Cal says, looking back to me.

"I'm, uh - oh hey, Luke!" Ashton calls to someone in the crowd, purposefully dismissing himself from me and Calum. He shoots me a wink before walking away and I feel my cheeks flush as I narrow my eyes at him.

"Well, you wear it well." Calum says, pointing down to my beer-soaked jeans.

"Ha, thanks." I say as someone stumbles over, making gagging noises and spewing into the sink.

See, the problem is, I'm standing right next to the sink.

Next thing I know, my shirt's decorated with regurgitated beer and what's left of his dinner.

Tonight has been so much fun, it's ridiculous.

"Michael, what the fuck!" Calum shouts, grabbing the boy who's wiping his mouth with his arm and pushing him away from the sink where I stand looking down at my shirt.

"Sorry! Sorry! I drank too much. Won't happen again. Never again. Like, never again, mate." Michael mumbles as he stumbles away, presumably to the bathroom to hurl again.

"Oh, man, Jackie. I'm so sorry."  Calum says, eyes scanning my body. 

"Don't worry about it." I say as I try to wipe the excess away with a dish rag.

"I have a spare t-shirt you can wear if you want." he offers.

"Uh, yeah I guess so. I don't mind beer, but I kind of mind vomit." I say chuckling.

"Follow me." he says and I do, or at least I try to. The crowd's so thick that I lose him quickly and stop trying to push through the people. Just as I decide to head back to the backyard to find Ashton again I see his black hair and hear him calling my name. 

"Let's try this again." he says and grabs my hand, towing me through the living room. I don't even pay attention to how we're bumping into people or how people are glaring at us for God knows what reason. I'm too focused on our hands and how the people make a path for him to get through.

Suddenly I feel like I'm back in elementary school - an excited little girl because she's holding a boy's hand. Such a simple thing, but it makes me happier than the liquor did.

We finally get through the living room and he leads me down a hall, opening a door.

He lives here? With who? The house is far too big for just him.

He releases my hand and I find myself feeling disappointed. Quit being so stupid, Jackie my subconscious scolds me. I stand by the doorway awkwardly as he sifts through a dresser drawer, pulling out a t-shirt.

"Sorry if it's big." he says, handing it to me.

I hold it up, it's going to be huge on me.

"I don't really care about fit right now. It'll be fine. Thank you. But where can I change?"

"Uh, there's a bathroom down the hall there, but I'm sure there's a really long line so you can change in here if you want." he says, turning away from me and walking over to a laptop that sits atop a small desk.

"Don't turn around." I say as I shut the door behind me and pull my damp shirt over my head. Gross. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to burn it when I get home because it smells horrible.

Once his shirt is over my head and tugged down my torso I tell him it's okay to turn around now. The shirt's hem hits halfway down my thighs and the sleeves reach my elbows. He does and his eyes seem to dilate a little bit too quickly for a change in lighting. He walks over to me and my dirty shirt slips from my hand onto the hardwood floor. I bend down to pick it up and when I stand again he's directly in front of me, eyes locked with mine. I step backwards once and end up flush with the door. He takes another step towards me, closing the distance again and is close enough for me to smell the alcohol on his breath. I feel his hand move to my hip. I'm too intoxicated for this. I need to leave. Now.

"I, uh, I need to go." I say as I break his gaze and push his chest with both hands, willing him to back off.

He steps back immediately and my hand finds the doorknob at record speed. I fly down the hallway, and driven by determination end up pushing and heaving people out of the way to make it to the backyard.

Ashton's in the same place he was when I left him. I walk up to him, stumbling a bit.

"Are you okay to drive?""Yeah, I only had a half a drink a couple hours ago. Why?" he replies.

"I need to go."

"Are you okay?""Ashton, I need to go." I say more sternly this time as the world starts to tilt again. I was walking through that crowd too fast for the amount of alcohol in my system and now I'm really dizzy.

"Okay, let's go then." he says, standing and waving back at the people that were sitting around him.

As he reaches me my vision starts to blur around the edges and I feel him grip my arm as I fall.

"Damn it, Jackie. You're never drinking again." I hear him say.

"Yeah, yeah. I can walk. I'm fine." I mumble, regaining my balance and shoving him off of my arm.

He shakes his head at me as we walk to the car. He's parked much closer than I am and I'm very thankful for that because I don't think I'd make it to mine without passing out somewhere along the sidewalk.

Ashton opens the door for me and belts me in. "Thanks, Ash. You're a really good friend. You know that?" I ask, slurring."I know I'm amazing." he says jokingly.

"Sorry I'm such a shitty friend. I don't deserve you.""Go to sleep." he demands, dismissing my apology.

I wake to Ashton slipping one of his arms under my knees and the other across my shoulders to lift me from the car. I'm too groggy to protest but I hate when I need people to take care of me like this.

"Keys?" he asks.

"It's open."

He opens the door and quietly makes his way up the stairs, still carrying me. It's good to have a strong friend, I think to myself. He reaches my room and places me on the bed, pulling back the covers and taking my converse off for me as my head hits the pillow.

"Goodnight, Jackie." Ashton says to me as he walks toward the door.

"Night, Ash." I say as sleep invades my thoughts once again.

...

The alarm goes off at 09:30 and I don't think I've ever noticed just how loud that obnoxious thing is. I don't think I've ever noticed just how bright my room gets in the morning either. A wave of nausea runs through me as I sit up in bed.

Today's gonna be a blast.

My first class is at 10:00 and my hair's greasy but I don't have time to shower so I braid it back. Then I look down at what I'm wearing and last night comes trickling back into my mind, bit by bit. I throw Calum's shirt onto my bed so I don't forget to wash and return it soon. 

I wish I hadn't left when I did. I'm embarrassed about it to be honest. Every time someone tries to get close to me like that I panic - sober or drunk. Granted, I barely know him but this has happened before and I hate myself for it.

My car must still be parked at Calum's house since Ashton drove me home. That means I have to take the bus. This day just keeps getting better and better.

Ibuprofen seeps into my system as I clamber onto the city bus, head pounding and the people chattering around me at a volume that only makes it worse. It's Monday now. Two things I hate? Hangovers and Mondays. Not to mention loud people which seem to be in surplus on today's bus.

School's packed. People bustling every which way, some running to make it to their classes on time. I'm about five minutes early and don't want to go in early so I sit on a bench outside the classroom and try not to focus on my headache.

A laugh that I recognize sounds from in front of me and I look up to see Ashton... with Calum.

I mentally groan and get up to walk the opposite direction but am stopped by Ashton calling my name.

I really need to talk with him about doing that.

I turn around slowly and shoot Ashton a look then switch to staring directly at Calum, ignoring Ashton. He picks up on it and says that he'll see me in Brit Lit later then turns and walks away, leaving me with Calum.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please, comment and vote! It'd mean the world to me! The next chapter will be up really soon.