Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 21 |

Rebecca felt pressure against the entire right side of her body, as her mind woke from an extremely uncomfortable slumber.

As she stretched and laid on her back, her eyes slowly crept open. Blinking a few times to adjust to the bright lights, Rebecca stared at the unfamiliar ceiling in confusion. Some memories from the previous night came back to her and her eyes widened. She quickly darted them around the room and sat up suddenly, grimacing as the headache she had made itself evident.

She looked around and had no recollection of where she was, observing the few people that were also scattered around the room sleeping. While she began to stand up slowly, she then noticed Ashley from across the room, shooting up from her previous sleeping state and scrambling around.

Ashley was looking at her phone in a panic, before she saw Rebecca and sighed in relief, "Becks, thank God you're here! I need to borrow your truck!"

Rebecca stared at her confused, too tired to be up to her usual quick thinking, "Why?"

"My dad is expecting me home in ten and if I walk it'll take me at least thirty. Your truck is my best bet." Ashley impatiently spoke.

Rebecca slowly nodded, processing the words, "Yeah sure, just don't crash."

She rummaged around her pockets, praying the keys were still there. When she reached her leather jacket's secret zipper pocket, she found the keys, still miraculously where she left them. She dropped them into Ashley's hands, not knowing how they managed to stay put.

"Thank you so much! You are my literal saviour!" She quickly gave Rebecca a kiss on the cheek and ran out of the room.

As Rebecca looked around the room she didn't recognize, she patted down her hair, hoping it looked half decent, and she walked around the room looking for the left shoe she had somehow lost.

Once she found what she needed, she opened the door and walked out of the room, shocked when it led to the outside. When she stared ahead of her she saw the house that the party was held at. She turned back, examining what she thought was a room before figuring out that it must have been a guest house of some sort.

She slowly and quietly made her way into the house when she realized she didn't have her phone. With her luck, she knew that the chances of it being stolen were extremely high. As Rebecca walked through the house she looked at the shambled state, saw the bottles of booze laying everywhere, stains of all sorts blemishing the couch and carpet fabrics, as well as a few scattered sleeping bodies.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw her phone sitting on a counter filled with other people's belongings. It looked as if someone had collected them for everyone and Rebecca was genuinely surprised anyone actually cared.

"Irish? At the scene of a party? I must be seeing things." Rebecca turned on her heels quickly and saw Joseph pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Rebecca tilted her head slightly with a smile, "Joe! I didn't know you were here!"

He laughed and took a sip of coffee, "Yeah well, Colby and I have gotten pretty close again ever since I moved back, so he invited me. I didn't show up till way later though, everyone was already outside."

She slowly nodded, trying to hide the throbbing pain in her head, "You seem pretty at home."

Joseph laughed as he watched her gesture to the way he moved around the kitchen, "Well, this isn't the first time I've been to his house."

Rebecca's eyes slightly widened and her entire demeanour shifted once she fully understood what Joseph had just told her. Bits and pieces of the previous night that she hadn't remembered before, began trickling in.

"You okay?" Joseph turned to the stove where he started making breakfast.

Rebecca slowly nodded to herself, "Yup, just peachy."

Joseph instantly looked over at her, before raising an eyebrow, "Okay, now I definitely know something's off."

"Nope. I'm fine." Rebecca forced a smile as she placed an elbow on the kitchen island, holding her head in her hand.

She quickly tried changing the conversation, knowing Joseph would begin to interrogate her if she didn't, "Are we the only ones up?"

"Seems to be." Joseph nodded suspiciously, knowing something couldn't be right, while turning his attention to the eggs he was frying, "You want some?"

"No, no. I'm good." She glanced at her phone, looking at the time, "I was actually going to head out."

Joseph watched her inch closer to the front door, getting ready to leave, "Okay, be safe."

Rebecca smiled and nodded, before leaving the house. After walking for a while, she decided to quickly go grab her things from home before continuing her walk to school.

She grabbed her backpack and slung it over one shoulder in a hurry before heading back out of the house. She glanced at the time on her phone and cursed, knowing the chances of her being late were high.

Although she was in a hurry, she walked on the edge of the road slowly, admiring the peace. She tried to ignore her headache, as she put her hair up in a ponytail, hoping to hide the mess.

The sounds of leaves brushing against one another, whenever the wind blew, drew her attention, as she purposely distracted herself. She couldn't remember exactly what had happened during the party but she assumed she didn't stay as incognito as she wanted to.

After a while of walking in the silence, the sound of tires rolling on the rubble of the road slowly began getting closer. Rebecca watched from the corner of her eye as a black truck pulled up beside her, purposely slowing down.

The sound of a window rolling down was heard before someone spoke, "Need a ride?"