Uncontrollably Falling For You

I walked down the school hallway, glancing around as I made my way through the different groups of teenagers to find my friends. Thank god it was Friday. I had plans that night... plans that made Friday nights even more easy to look forward to. I didn't share the last class of the day with any of my friends, unfortunately. I knew we were meeting out front of the school, but I figured I would look as I walked anyways. "Yo, Green!" I suddenly heard my last name being called from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Rhett, my best friend at the time, waving to me from behind a group of preppy looking girls. They were taking up the whole width of the hall; it was pretty obnoxious. He stuck out like a sore thumb next to them. His bleach blonde hair was unkempt, and his skater apparel was far from what the girls were wearing. His hazel eyes darted between the girls as he attempted to squeeze past them. I stopped walking once I noticed that his method wasn't working and waited for them to pass so I could walk with my friend. "What's up?" I asked with a smile, glancing one last time at the group of girls. "Nothing, that was f*****g boring," He complained as we walked towards the front of the school. "I can't stand my f*****g classes." "Well, you better get used to it. School only started a few weeks ago," I grumbled. I hated school. It was a struggle to wake up every morning and find the motivation to go. Somehow I managed. Rhett was in 11th grade, where I was only in 10th. I was jealous of that. For whatever reason, my mom had started me and my sister in school a year late. If she hadn't done that, I would have one less year to deal with. "I know.. I don't even wanna think about it," He sighed. "So are you ready for tonight?" He changed the subject abruptly, a smile forming on his face. My stomach warmed with excitement at the thought. We were going to our friend Brody's house to drink, as we so often did. His family situation was odd. His dad was an alcoholic who didn't give a s**t if we partied at his house, and would usually buy us alcohol. Hell, he would even drink with us on certain nights! Unlucky for Brody to have to live with him, but lucky for everybody else to have a place to drink. "Hell yeah!" I replied, smiling as well. "Do you know who's gonna be there?" I had an idea of who might be there, but I wasn't completely sure. He nooded after a second of thought. "Uuuuh, well, I know Felix is going for sure. Lillian. Is Jay going?" He asked, frowning slightly. Jayla was my sister, who I was extremely close with. If it weren't for her I would have never gotten into the punk scene and I probably wouldn't have as many friends. I would probably be a f*****g loser who stayed home every night if it weren't for her. "Should be. I convinced Olive to come, too." Olive. My sweet Olive. She was my girlfriend. My first serious relationship. She was beautiful, had a great personality, and was smart. I felt like the luckiest guy to be with her. I never understood why she liked me. I always felt average... I wasn't too muscular, I was pale, my eyes were a boring green, and I never had anything interesting to say. Maybe she liked me because of my dyed red hair, or my snake bite piercings, or maybe because I was 6 foot tall...? "That b***h is our ride, anyways. So she better be f*****g coming!" I laughed, referring to my sister. We finally made it out the front doors of the school. It was hot out for September. We didn't need sweatshirts. But then again, south central Pennsylvania was always weird like that. Some years, fall would come early and some years it still felt like summer in October. "Looks like you can ask her," Rhett said casually, pointing up. I looked at where his finger led to to see my sister standing a few paces in front of us. She had her hand resting on her c****d hip, talking to some guy I'd never seen before. There was a sleazy smile on her face and she moved her other hand up to playfully tap him on the arm. I rolled my eyes. Jayla was known around the school to be sort of a slut. I understood why guys would like her, though. She was a really small girl, only 5.2' and one hundred fifteen pounds, but she had a body. Many of my friends and acquaintances liked to remind me of what a 'sweet ass' she had. It was always somewhat disturbing to me, obviously, since we were best friends and siblings. As many of us did, she also had quite a few facial piercings. She had a stud in her nostril, her eye brow, a middle lip ring, and another lip ring to the right side of her mouth. I definitely found that a certain type of guy was into all that shit... "Jay!" I called as we got closer. She turned her head, her blue eyes focusing on me. She grinned and turned back to the guy standing in front of her. "Hey, I'll catch you later, alright?" She said and bit her bottom lip on the opposing side of her two lip piercings. God, how did guys eat that s**t up? He looked like an intact dog that had caught wind of a b***h in heat. I swear to god his mouth was about to water. "Okay, sweetheart." He gave her one last longing look before she turned on her heels and walked over to us. Her shoulder length dyed white hair was pulled into a ponytail, some strands framing her face and her bangs, which were dyed black, left down. "The f**k is that?" I pointed to the guy who had turned and started walking away. Jayla glanced over her shoulder at him. "Oh... Jackson?" She asked, sounding slightly distant. "He's been pretty much obsessing over me since school started. He's in my sculpture class," She explained, sounding proud, a crooked grin on her face. "She's a man eater!" Rhett sang, quite poorly I might add, and laughed to himself. "You tryna go for number twenty eight?" "Shut up," Jayla said inexpressively before turning to me. "You ready?" Of course I was ready to get away from this shithole! Before I could answer she turned and started walking towards the parking lot. "Yeah, but hey-" I began, jogging quickly to catch up to her. "Are you going to Brody's tonight?" "Mmmm... Brody." She looked like she was in deep thought for a moment, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I'll go. " Rhett and I exchanged relieved looks. "What time?" She asked. "I'm not sure... maybe 7:00 or 8:00? You know, it's pretty much whenever people show up," I told her. That's how it had always been. "Could you give me a ride, too?" Rhett asked quickly. Jayla rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, Rhett!" She groaned. "You only live like two fuckin' blocks away from him, why can't you walk?" He gaped at her. "I do not!" He retorted. He definitely did not. He had lived two blocks from him before he moved out of Lititz. Brody's house was located on the outskirts of Manheim, down a long back road. There were only houses on that road, no companies or stores, so it was the perfect place to party. It was also pretty easy to get to from where we lived, only took ten minutes at most. Rhett and I both lived in the town of Lititz, but on opposite ends from each other. "Oh, fine, fine..," She waved him off with a playful smile. We finally arrived to her grey Jetta and she leaned against it. "So pick you up at 7:00, 7:30?" She asked, crossing her arms loosely. Rhett nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. I guess I'll see you guys-" But he was suddenly cut off by my rude sister. "Wait, is Felix the Cat going to be there?" She scoffed, crinkling her nose up in disgust. I couldn't help but snicker to myself. "Yeah, why? Don't you wanna go anymore? 'Cause that's gonna annoy the piss outta me," I growled. "No! It's just... he's... well, you know," She trailed off, kicking gravel out from under her shoe. Felix met us all through Brody, as they went to the same school. About six months earlier Felix and Jayla became pretty close. They were spending lots of time together, and I also got to know him pretty well. But... Jayla got played, for once. The situation was strange. He suddenly cut things off and started seeing a different girl. I don't think she ever really got over it, not because she was madly in love with him or anything like that. I think it was because Jayla was never the one getting dumped; Jayla was always the one doing the dumping. But not that time. "So are you picking me up or not?" Rhett sighed, also visibly annoyed by her resentment towards our friend. "Yeah, whatever. I wanna drink tonight," She said quickly before moving to get into her car. "Bye!" She shut the door behind her. Rhett laughed softly, shaking his head at my slightly outlandish sister. "Alright, see ya later, Mark." We waved good bye and he headed off towards the street to walk home. He only lived a couple blocks away from the school. I got in the passenger's side and noticed Jayla was pulling out a cigarette. "Want one?" She asked. I nodded, reaching my hand out to take one from her. It was really shitty having to go all seven hours at school without one. We both lit them, even though you were not technically allowed to smoke on school property. Who f*****g cared. With that she started the car and backed out of her parking spot. The Misfits were playing loudly on the stereo. Static Age. It was such a good album. It didn't take very long to get home, about seven to ten minutes because of traffic, which was crazy since we only lived a couple miles from the school. We had to go through the square and down main street, though, to get home. So that definitely took some time. Lititz was a popular little down, and there was heavy traffic from three o'clock to about six o'clock every day. That was definitely my least favorite thing about it. That and the hipsters... oh the hipsters... We were soon approaching the familiar church that was directly across the street from our home. The owners of the church allowed everybody who loved across the road to park their cars in the parking lot, which came in very handy. Our street was narrow, and it always seemed like there were more cars parked around than there were people who lived in the houses. Our block consisted of a row of townhouses connected together. We did have a walk way to our back yard from the front, so we weren't connected completely to both our neighbors. Jayla parked in her usual spot under a small tree that looked on the verge of death. Probably why nobody else parked under it.. The leaves that were left were beginning to turn orange and yellow, which I was more than happy to see. We got out of the car and walked across the road quickly. She entered our townhouse before I did and we were immediately greeted by our three year old Great Dane, Titus. I had wanted to name him after somebody from one of my favorite video game series, Final Fantasy. Everybody seemed to like Titus, so it kind of stuck. The way our house was set up was you entered the front door into a small room where we kept bookshelves and a spare couch, and there was a wide archway that led to the actual living room where we had our TV and the usual stuff like that. From the living room, you took a step down into the open spaced kitchen. We had a little back room, where we kept our litter boxes and other neglected items, that led to the back yard. The stairs leading to our second floor were just to the right when you entered the kitchen. Directly at the top of the stairs was our only bathroom, and to the right and back was a skinny hallway connecting to our three rooms. My bedroom was at the far end of the hall, towards the back of the house. There was an attic attached to my room as well. We would sometimes go up to the attic to smoke and drink, it was fully carpeted and everything. We also had a creepy, spider filled basement that I tried to avoid. Titus jumped up, smashing his huge paws into my stomach, sending a ripple of pain through me. "Ow! Down, bud!" I ordered, laughing slightly. Jayla had managed to sneak by while he was obsessing over me. He turned and ran into the living room, grabbing one of his stuffed toys to show me, his tail wagging quickly. I gave his slick, black coat some pets once he stopped jumping up on me before walking into the living room. Jayla was in the kitchen, staring into the refrigerator. "f**k I'm hungry!" She complained as she pulled out some lunch meat. I sat down at the small, round table we had sitting in the corner of the kitchen. Our kitchen was very open with plenty of space. I heard footsteps from the hallway upstairs. "You guys home?" I my mom called from upstairs. "No, we're robbers!" Jayla called sarcastically at the same time I replied with a 'yeah'. She was soon walking down the steps. She had on a pair of scrubs and I wondered if she had just gotten off of work or if she was just heading in. She worked at a local veterinary emergency clinic as a certified veterinary technician. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun, her green eyes looking tired. "Heading to work?" I asked. She sighed and shook her head. "Not yet, thank god." She sat down in the seat beside me. "I go in at six. Working a twelve hour shift tonight. I just live in my scrubs," She laughed. I curled my lip slightly at the thought. I would never want to work the hours she did. Overnight wouldn't be an issue. It's the night to day shifts that would bother me. Some weeks she would go three days in a row working nights and then all of the sudden they would expect her to get off at eight in the morning and be back in by twelve in the afternoon. Luckily we didn't live far. But seriously, how could they expect that from anybody? She would often have conversations with me, saying 'I love working in veterinary medicine. But sometimes I feel like this job is making me lose all of my compassion for my clients and patients.' She was often in a horrible mood, and I couldn't blame her. She did an excellent job of not taking any of her emotions our on Jay and I, though. "Look, Mark!" Jayla suddenly shoved her turkey sandwich in my face, the smell quickly filling my nose. I grimaced and backed away. I didn't eat meat, and she loved to poke fun at me about it. I ate fish on occasion, but not anything else. It had been that way for several years... not because I thought it was cool, trendy or anything like that. I just didn't like meat and it made me feel disgusting! "Turkey!" She laughed, wiggling the disgusting sandwich right in front of me. "Knock it off!" I growled, smacking her wrist out of the way which sent some mustard falling to the floor. Titus was quickly on it, licking it off the linoleum. "Jayla, stop torturing your brother!" My mom scolded halfheartedly, rolling her eyes. Jayla shrugged and took a bite of her sandwich. "Just sayin', you don't know what you're missing!" She walked into the living room. I shook my head, not missing the taste of turkey at all. "So what are you guys doing tonight?" Mom asked, rubbing Titus's ears, who now had his big head resting in her lap. "We're gonna go over to Brody's," I told her, practically waiting for a small lecture. She knew we drank, and she certainly knew what it meant when we were going to Brody's house. She wasn't 100% okay with it, but as long as we were safe about it she was happy. I think she felt the need to lecture us every once in a while for her own sake. Surely if anybody found out that she knew they would be highly judgmental. "Jay driving?" She asked, glancing over at me. I nodded. "She'd better not be driving home tonight." "No, we're gonna stay." I looked down at my hands. They were dry and cracking and it wasn't even cold out.. "Good. Be careful, okay?" I nodded in response. "I worry about you guys." "We'll be fine, Mom," I assured her, smiling over at her. "Really. You don't need to worry." She grinned back and nodded. "Okay, Mark.. You should eat something before you go!" She stood up. "I'm going to go take a nap." She yawned. "Alright, rest well," I said dismissively. "Have fun, Jay!" She called to my sister as she walked up the stairs. "I will!" She answered, her mouth sounding full of disgusting food. I really hoped it would be fun. But why wouldn't it? > We were greeted by the oh so familiar scent of cigarettes, weed, and whiskey as we entered Brody's basement. His front door lead into the basement, with the stair case to the remainder of the house directly ahead when you stepped in. "Hey, Brode!" Jayla greeted happily as she ran down the couple steps to the ground floor and hugged her best friend. His short, green mohawk was down that night; which I was finding to be the normal for him. He was around my height, maybe a bit shorter, but had a decent amount more muscle than I did. He lifted her off the ground briefly, both of them laughing. Brody and Jayla had always been close ever since I could remember. When they both entered highschool, he had moved to Manheim Central School district. He had to change schools, obviously. Before Jayla got her license she hardly ever got to see him. She was always very excited when they saw each other. I glanced around the room to see Lexie, Brody's girlfriend, sitting on the couch casting a terribly resentful look at my sister and her boyfriend. Her black hair was resting down, her bangs clipped to the side out of her face. I'm pretty sure she'd been jealous of Jay ever since the day she met her. I didn't understand why... it wasn't like there was anything going on between the two of them. She noticed me looking at her and quickly averted her cold blue eyes to the floor. Sitting a few seats down from her was Felix. His brown eyes were fixed on me and when I noticed him a grin spread over his face. His hand went up in a small wave. I waved back and walked over to him, noticing he had a bottle of something resting between his feet. Felix's somewhat curly, bright blue hair was peaking out ever so slightly from a dark red beanie on his head; he was wearing a Clutch t-shirt that I was always particularly fond of, and some dark green pants. He always wore similar attire when I saw him. But then again, we all kinda had the same style. No matter what he dyed his hair, it always seemed to pop so well against his beige skin. It made me somewhat jealous. I thought I would forever be stuck with red against my pastey, white tone. "What's up?" He asked, reaching down to grab the bottle. It was old crow. Oh, god dammit. I hated old crow, but it was not uncommon for Brody's dad to purchase cheap ass liquor for us. "Nothing much, how about you?" I asked casually. He bit onto the ring resting in the center of his lip and shrugged after looking to be thinking for a moment. "I would have to say the same." He put the bottle up to his mouth and took a sip after he was done speaking. He must have noticed the disdain on my face because he laughed and gestured to the bottle. "Don't like this?" He asked. I shook my head. "No, but beggars can't be choosers, right?" I grinned and he nodded. "Indeed," He said, wiped his mouth, and handed the bottle to me. I grabbed it and took a seat on the couch next to him. I sighed, trying to prepare myself for the disgusting taste, and took a swig. I grimaced and handed it back to him immediately. God it was disgusting! "Where's your girl?" He asked. I shrugged and glanced around. The only people I saw were Rhett, Jayla, Brody, and Lexie. Brody's dad must have been passed out drunk. "I guess she's coming with Lillian," I told him, not concerned with when she arrived. I felt somebody sit down to the other side of me and looked to see it was Rhett. "Hey, man," He greeted Felix. Felix nodded to him and passed over the bottle. His expression pretty much matched mine and I couldn't help but laugh. Felix had a knowing grin on his face and he shrugged a shoulder. "Hasn't been the group favorite tonight," He laughed. I wasn't sure how much time had passed with us sitting there, bullshitting with each other, when Lillian and Olive arrived. I looked at the door to meet my girlfriend's deep blue eyes. She was so beautiful. She had bleach blonde, shoulder length hair with pink bangs. Her facial structure was very feminine and her body was pretty petite being that she was only five four. We always looked funny next to each other due to my height... but then again, Jayla looked even more ridiculous with how short she was. She smiled as soon as she saw me, and immediately bounced over to where I was. She sat down fluently in my lap, her arms draped around my neck. I held my arm around her waist, pulling her up to keep her from falling back in Rhett's lap. "Hey, babe!" She greeted loudly. I widened my eyes, studying her face briefly. It didn't take long at all for me to realize she'd already been drinking. "What did you have before you got here?" I asked, snickering slightly. "Your fuckin' girlfriend drank a s**t load of vodka!" Lillian called from beside me somewhere. I glanced over to see she had taken a seat next to Rhett, who looked fairly amused. "Did you now!" I teased. She stifled laughter, letting her hands drop to her sides heavily, smacking Rhett's leg as she did. She laughed, shaking her head. "Pssshhh, no!" She objected, waving her hand carelessly. Rhett and I exchanged glances, while Lillian was mouthing 'f*****g liar' to me. I couldn't help but laugh at this. She drank, but she wasn't the biggest drinker in the bunch. Every now and again she would get pretty f****d up, though. I didn't always enjoy those nights.. She could get emotional rather quickly. My eyes shifted to the other side of me to look at Felix. He had an expression I couldn't quite place on his face- annoyance maybe? That's when I realized Olive had one of her legs draped over his lap. I snorted with laughter. "Olive! Get off of Felix." I tapped her leg. "What?" She asked obliviously before noticing how she was splayed out. "OH!" She went into a fit of laughter before sitting up in my lap more. She leaned close to him, seeming very unsteady in her seat. "Sorry- I'm sorry!" Her voice was an exaggerated whisper as she spoke. He shook his head, looking amused once more. "No, it's no big deal!" He assured her. A huge smile formed on her lips and she nodded. "Well, good! Whatcha got there?" She slurred, tapping her finger roughly against the bottle of Old Crow. I peered over at Rhett, my eyes wide. I had a feeling I would be babysitting tonight.. maybe I could pass her off to Lillian. "Some grade A whiskey. Would ya like some?" A devious smile formed on Felix's face before he shoved the bottle in Olive's hands. "Awwww, yeah!" She drunkenly cheered before untwisting the cap. "Dis dat good s**t, yo!" I nearly gaped as she spoke. "How much vodka did she drink?" I hissed to Lillian. She shrugged her shoulders, her brown eyes wide. I could hear Felix laughing loudly beside me, not even trying to hide his amusement in the slightest. "Wait!" She suddenly exclaimed, causing my attention to turn back towards her. "Felix. Take a shot with me!" She grabbed onto his wrist before stumbling off my lap. I was surprised when she pulled him up without falling backwards or anything. "Alright, alright.. anyone else?" He called out. Rhett raised his hand slightly before standing as well. Felix's large, dark brown eyes met mine and he smiled, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. "Mark...?" He asked slowly. I snickered and shook my head. "I'll pass on this round," I declined. "What!" Olive barked. "Come on, babe! Don't be a fucking... Party pooping mother fucker!" "Yeah!" Rhett chimed in. "Party pooping mother fucker..?" Lillian repeated. "What the hell is happening over there?" Jayla suddenly asked, amusement heavy in her voice. I looked her at, hoping she could see the desperation in my eyes. I needed to get away from my drunk girlfriend, and she hadn't even been there for ten minutes. "Mark is being a big ol' p***y!" Olive yelled. Jayla smiled widely at her and nodded. "O-oh, is he?" She asked, sounding taken aback by how unreserved she was acting. Olive nodded quickly. "Get him to take a shot!" She demanded, causing Jay to stifle her laughter loudly. I groaned and stood up. "Alright, fine!" I caved in to her wishes. She clapped her hands together in glee before turning to Felix again. "Pour them bitches out!" She squawked. I smacked my palm against my face and shook my head, unable to keep a grin off my face. It was funny, but at the same time, I knew I would need to deal with it later. She was undoubtedly going to vomit before the night was through. There were a couple shot glasses sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch, and as if on queue, Brody came walking over with more. There was only one less for as many people as were there. "Gee, Olive... I didn't realize you turned into a little gangster when you drank vodka," Felix snickered as he began pouring the whiskey into the shot glasses. "If I didn't know any better, I woulda sworn you were drinking Hennessy!" God, he loved adding fire to the flames. She waved her hand to him and made a very loud 'psh' sound with her lips. "You don't know nothin', then!" She barked before going into a fit of laughter. "Oh my god...," I muttered under my breath. I didn't know whether to cringe or laugh. I suddenly felt an arm around me and looked to see Jayla grinning up at me. "She is so f****d up...," She said quietly. I nodded, widening my eyes. Before I could say anything, Felix was handing me a shot. I took it, Jayla shifting herself so she wasn't leaning against me anymore. "Jayla..," Felix said with a small grin as he handed her a shot glass as well. She c****d her head to the side and gave him a fake ass smile. "Felix," She spat bitterly. He simply laughed and turned back to the shots. The tension between them was so heavy I felt like you could cut it. I got the feeling Jayla was the only bitter one. Felix didn't seem like he had any issue with her. Once everyone had a shot of the vile liquid in their hand, minus Felix who had the whole bottle, we raised our glasses. In almost the same rhythm, we all forced our shots down. I grimaced as the warm, disgusting whiskey went down my throat. I closed my eyes for a few moments, letting my stomach settle, before glancing at Felix. To my dismay, he was pouring another shot for my already wasted girlfriend. I took a few steps closer and held my shot glass out for him to fill. If she was going to be like that, I might as well get plastered too. Felix grinned at me and happily filled mine before tapping the bottle head against it. We all took our shots and Olive let out a loud laugh. "That s**t is disgusting!" She complained, still sounding happy. I snickered, beginning to feel the familiar buzz. It didn't usually take too much for me to get drunk. I got drunk fast, but at the same time I could still drink a lot. There were some nights that I would drink almost a while fifth to myself... of course I would be totally obliterated, but still... I could do it. I was hoping tonight would turn into one of those nights. > I'm not sure how much time passed, but I was having a good time. The whiskey ran out and all that was left was beer, but I was okay with that. I kept drinking, wanting to get drunk so that I could forget about my annoyingly wasted girlfriend. She was still awake, but I had a feeling she wouldn't remember any of what was happening. "I love you, M!" Olive drunkenly sputtered into my ear. I snickered and shook my head. "I love you, too," I told her back. She was clinging onto me, and I was beginning to feel trapped. She gripped tightly onto my shirt as she swayed. I was holding onto my can of beer, trying to keep myself steady as to not spill it. "I'm gonna go piss," She mumbled before letting go of me. I peered over as she stumbled towards the stairs to head for the bathroom. I breathed and sigh of relief and took a sip of my beer, shaking my head. It really wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't already been drunk when she'd arrived. I nearly jumped as a hand was placed on my shoulder. "Come smoke a cigarette with me," Felix's voice rang in my ear. I looked over to see he had an amused look on his face. I nodded, glancing at where Olive had just disappeared. "Sounds good," I breathed and we walked out the door quickly. We were greeted by comfortably cool air, especially compared to earlier in the day. I pulled out a cigarette and lit it before taking a seat on the porch step. Felix took a seat next to me, a beer held loosely in his hand as well. I took a deep drag of my cigarette, feeling relaxed almost immediately. It was dark, the stars out on full display since it was so clear. "She's something else," Felix said quietly. I snorted with laughter and nodded. "Yeah, dude.. She's being insane tonight," I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. He nodded, taking a drag of his cigarette. "You havin' fun still?" He asked lightly. I nodded. "Yeah, I am... I feel uptight saying this, but I kinda wish Olive weren't so fuckin' shitfaced," I admitted before taking a sip of my drink. Felix laughed and shrugged. "Nah, man. If she expects you to take care of her, then it's not fair. You deserve to have fun, too..." He looked over at me, a crooked grin on his face. I was glad he understood how I felt. Getting annoyed when Olive got wasted always made me feel like a buzzkill. The door suddenly opened behind us. My stomach dropped immediately, but was relived when the loud voice of Jayla sounded through the quiet, night air. "There you are!" She laughed. "The f**k you guys doin' out here?" She definitely sounded drunk. "Oh- you know...," Felix began, an amused look on his face. "Having a romantic cigarette under the stars." I raised an eye brow at him and laughed. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure," Jayla snorted dismissively. I heard the flick of a lighter and soon she was plopped down next to me, a cigarette between her fingers. "Olive was looking for you." Before I could stop myself, I groaned loudly. "God dammit, what now!" I complained. Jay looked slightly taken aback. "What's the matter?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "She's so f*****g annoying!" I blurted out, the alcohol definitely adding to my indiscretion. "I can't f*****g enjoy myself when she gets like this!" Jayla laughed loudly. "Damn, Mark! Tell 'em!" She snickered, taking a drag of her cigarette. "She looked like she was beginning to feel nauseous the last time I saw her." Oh great... "Well it's not my fault she drank so much," I muttered, taking another deep drag. "Yeah, I know." Jayla nodded in acknowledgment. "I am not jealous of you right now, that's for sure..." Felix stifled his laughter and she snapped her head over to scowl at him. "Hey! It's partially your fault for giving her so many fuckin' shots!" She growled. Felix simply shrugged, a smile on his face. "I just want people to have a good time, what can I say?" He replied, not seeming bothered by her anger in the slightest as he took a swig of his beer. I took a large swig of mine as well, determined to get more drunk than I already was. "Well...," She sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Hopefully she'll fall asleep soon. Then you won't have to worry about it." "f**k, I hope so," I laughed, peering up at the sky. "Maybe we should just stay out here until it's safe to go back in." "Don't you wanna go hold her hair back for her?" Felix asked sarcastically, nudging his elbow into my arm. "Please, Mark is not that much of a gentleman!" Jayla jeered. "Hey!" I protested, but she only continued. "You would think since he grew up with his oh-so-lovely sister, he would be! But he's really not.." There was a pause, and Felix and I exchanged amused glances. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. "Well...," He began, a smirk creeping over his face. "You're not exactly the most lady like... and your ideas of being a gentleman really aren't the most conventional..." Jayla shot him a scowl and rolled her eyes. "I know that!" She snapped. "I was joking." She stared at him, resentment in her eyes. I couldn't help but snicker to myself. Felix looked content as he took a drag of his cigarette. It didn't take much longer for us all to finish our cigarettes. We tossed our butts onto the concrete drive way in front of us. I moved to stand, but soon realized how unsteady I was as I fell right back down onto my ass. Felix laughed and held his hand out for me. I took a hold of it and stood up, having to grab onto his arm to steady myself. "Ooooh, you guys are so cute!" Jayla heckled with a smirk on her face. She loved making gay jokes about the two of us... Felix was a pretty good friend of mine, and due to their history together, I think she was pretty bitter about it. So any caustic joke she could throw our way, she would. "I know, Olive better watch out!" I played back. "He's gonna be my new boo thang soon." She laughed loudly. "God, Mark.. you're drunk." She opened the door and we all filed inside. My eyes searched the basement from the doorway, and I was relieved when I didn't see Olive anywhere. Maybe I got off easy. I tilted my bottle of beer back as I took the final mouthful down. The last sip was always the worst... I grimaced and moved to set it in the pile of empty cans and bottles. "Hey!" Jay suddenly called. "Come upstairs and take a shot with Brody and me!" I nodded with a grin, everything becoming fuzzy around me. I stumbled over to the stair way and followed my sister up. I remember thinking that my beer seemed to have taken me over the edge, but after that everything became very blurry. That's how a decent amount of my nights partying would go. > I opened my eyes, immediately aware of the world spinning around me. I squinted against the light and shook my head to try and clear it. I glanced over to see Jayla sleeping on the adjacent part of the sectional, her feet nearly touching my head. She looked pretty comfortable, one of her arms hanging down so that her fingers were touching the floor. That's when I became aware that somebody else was beside me on the couch. I sat up slightly to look towards my feet. To my surprise, Felix was leaning against a pillow on the arm rest, his eyes closed, our legs draping over each other's. His one foot was resting on the floor, and I immediately felt bad that I had taken up so much room on the couch. I let out a deep breath and sat up, carefully sliding the leg that was under his out. I stood up and stretched my arms over my head. I didn't even remember falling asleep. I glanced around the basement to see that it had only been the three of us sleeping down there. With so many people over, there was limited sleeping space. Upstairs there was Brody's bedroom, an extra bedroom, and then his dad's room. More often than not, a bunch of us would pile in the extra bedroom to sleep. I wasn't sure why the three of us ended up so uncomfortably on the couch. I walked heavily over to the door and stepped outside to the porch. I actually didn't feel nearly as hung over as I thought I would; which made me worried that it would hit me later in the day. I took a seat before pulling out my cigarettes. I took a long, satisfying drag as soon as it was lit. I didn't even want to think about how Olive would be feeling once she woke up. I almost wanted to wake Jayla so she could drive me home. I was sitting outside for probably fifteen minutes, just about to light another cigarette, when the door opened behind me. I peered over my shoulder to see Felix walking over to me, dragging his feet as he went. He sat down heavily beside me and sighed. "Yo," He greeted lightly before pulling out a cigarette of his own. "What's up?" I returned the greeting. He shrugged a shoulder and looked out at the landscape in front of us. "How do you feel this morning?" I asked, snickering slightly. He looked really tired, and I couldn't blame him. "I feel great other than my neck hurting." He grinned over at me. "How bout you?" "Good... I don't think Olive will feel so great, though." I shook my head. "Not looking forward to her waking up..." Felix let out a loud laugh and began shaking his head as well. "That might be the most f****d up I've ever seen her," He laughed as he reminisced. "Does she always talk like that when she drinks vodka?" I couldn't help but smile. "Dude, she hardly ever gets like that," I explained. That's when an idea popped into my head. "Heeey! You drive. Can you take me home before she wakes up?" I asked somewhat desperately, taking a drag of my cigarette. Felix raised an eye brow at me before laughing once more. "You wanna avoid her that bad, huh?" He asked, amusement on his face. I nodded with a shrug. "Yeah... I had enough of that last night." I felt kinda mean, but she would get over it. "I know what you mean... when did you wanna go?" He asked. "I dunno. Whenever you're ready, I guess," I told him indifferently. "You wanna go when we're finished with these?" He asked, referring to our smokes. "Yeah, dude.. Just in case she happens to wake up soon," I laughed. "Good plan." He stifled a yawn and stretched his arms over his head. Once we were done with our cigarettes we headed towards his black Mazda parked in the drive way. I got in the passenger's seat and shut the door behind me. I felt stupidly giddy, like I was doing something bad and I knew it. Felix got in beside and I heard him sigh. I had been in his car a few times before. He drove a manual transmission, and he said he had pretty much since he started driving. "Ready?" He asked as he turned the ignition to start the engine. I nodded with a small sigh. He pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road, accelerating and shifting fluently. I didn't often get to ride in manual cars, and I always thought it was fun. He reached forward and turned his stereo up, Queens of the Stone Age playing through the speakers. "So what're you doing the rest of the weekend?" He asked over the music. I shrugged a shoulder, quite happy it was only saturday. "I dunno. Nothin' much prolly. Why?" I returned his question, glancing over to see him staring ahead at the road. He shrugged a shoulder, a small grin forming on his lips. "Just askin', man." He glanced over at me briefly. I cleared my throat before speaking once more. "Hey, uh- sorry for having my legs like practically wrapped in yours this morning," I laughed awkwardly. Felix stifled his laughter and shook his head. "We've been friends long enough now dude. Not like we're strangers. It's fine..." His eyes narrowed. "I don't even remember how that s**t happened," He pondered. "Me neither!" I agreed, leaning to pull my cigarettes out of my pocket. "Everybody else must have been upstairs." "Yeah, I guess. I don't know how the f**k I got the shittiest part of the couch, though. One of you guys could have moved so I could squeeze behind you," He joked, laughing after he spoke. I snickered at the thought. "I'm sure Jayla would have loved that!" I could picture her reaction so perfectly. She would flip the f**k out. "Woulda been worth it," He said matter of factly as he rubbed his neck briefly. I lit the cigarette I'd pulled out earlier and cracked open my window. "I had fun last night. I just wish my girlfriend had been a tad bit more in control..." I couldn't help but smile at the memory. "I'm not used to her being so social." Felix smiled as well. "She was talkin' like she was somebody who grew up on Beaver street in Lancaster!" I laughed loudly at that and shook my head. "I'm just kidding. They would prolly shoot her if she showed up there talkin' like that." Felix cleared his throat before warping his voice into a deeper, much more 'ghetto' accent. "Yo, Shaniqua, da f**k this lil' white b***h doin' up here. Dis b***h makin' fun of us?" "I don' know, Shauntel, but I'm finna bust this hoe up!" I gave the best woman ghetto voice I could muster. Felix stifled his laughter at this but I burst out laughing. "God, I hate the city..." "Yeah, dude. Me too." He leaned down in his seat slightly as he drove. "It's so dirty." I nodded in agreement. "Aren't you Puerto Rican?" I asked, glancing over at him. His eyes widened slightly, a crooked grin stuck on his face. "Nah, man.. what makes you think that?" He asked. I stared at him, my eyes narrowing. "Seriously?" He had to be kidding. I would feel like a d**k for asking. He cast me a devious smile before laughing. "I'm f*****g with you. I'm a quarter Puerto Rican, a quarter Cuban, and half white.... why?" He asked, his brow furrowing. I couldn't keep a large smile from creeping over my face. "How the hell did your mom come up with Felix? Why not something for traditional? Like Jose?" I asked, taking a drag of my cigarette. "Oh, my god! Mark!" Felix let out a loud laugh. "You honkys just don't understand." "Who you callin' a honky?" I retorted playfully. I wasn't sure why I was in such an odd mood, but I was just rolling with it. Maybe the lack of good sleep, and the alcohol still running through my blood? "The only honky in this car!" He rebutted. "Well you're half honky! God, if anyone we didn't know was listening in on this conversation, they would think we're filthy racists." I shook my head, grinning at the thought. "You could go to Beaver Street and they wouldn't care, ya know." I couldn't help but keep going. "A half hispanic punk kid walkin' down Beaver Street?" He snorted with laughter. I took a drag of my cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke. We were getting closer to my house, but I was enjoying the ride. "I think Olive is gonna be mad...," I groaned. I would probably get an angry text from her or some s**t annoying like that. "Why?" He asked, sounding slightly astounded. "I thought you had tons of girlfriends- you know how they are. She's prolly gonna be all offended that I didn't say goodbye to her or something." I rolled my eyes to myself and gazed out the window. "She doesn't really strike me as the type," He muttered. "Don't get me wrong, she's a pretty cool girl.. but sometimes she can be pretty insecure. Not sure what happened to her to make it that way, but she's always paranoid I'm cheating on her. You know.. stupid s**t like that. Or- in this case, since I didn't say bye to her, she's gonna think I'm mad at her or breaking up with her," I explained, taking one final drag of my cigarette before tossing it out the window. Felix snorted, shaking his head. "That's why I don't currently have a girlfriend!" He announced proudly. "Too much work- not enough reward." He shook his head slowly once more. "Why put a label on it when you can f**k and run instead?" He cast me a sly smile before letting out a laugh. "Kidding... kinda." "I don't think I would like that," I murmured with a small sigh. "Well that makes you a better person than me!" He replied lightheartedly. I knew Felix got around with different girls, but he didn't come across as the sleazy type of person to me. I wasn't sure why, but I always got the impression that he was searching for the right person everytime he was with somebody. Eventually we pulled up on the curb beside my house. He stopped his car and grinned over at me. "Alright, man," I said before opening the car door. "Thanks again." "Not a problem, dude. Hopefully you don't get too much s**t from her!" He snickered. I nodded with a smile. "I hope so too, trust me!" I got out of the car and shut the door after a final good bye. I watched as he pulled away and drove down the street. I let out a deep breath and turned to head for my front door. Another fun weekend party gone. I knew we would do it again next week, though.