You Know Me

11| Relationship Problems

"So, you go to Florida State with Stells?" Lauren asks me over the loud music.

The stars sit unmoving in the night sky, glistening around the full moon. That and the many strings of light hanging from the gutters brings peace to the secluded area, making everything feel homier. If I hadn't eaten so much cake and pizza maybe my stomach would agree with me.

"Yes. It's an okay school. A bunch of parties," I shrug and take the last swig of my bottle of wine. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk so much but it makes it easier to talk amongst Stella's friends.

"What are you planning to do after college? I'm stuck between beauty school and nursing, but I haven't made it far enough to college," she laughs.

"I'm undecided," I say bluntly. I've never really thought about what I wanted to do. If my mother didn't push me so hard to apply to Florida State, I wouldn't even be in school. Nothing has interested me enough to make me want to do the same job for the rest of my life.

"That's okay! There's nothing wrong with being undecided," Peyton pipes in. Her voice is annoying as the words fall out of her lips.

"Did I say there was?" I need to quit drinking with lack of sleep.

Peyton's arms tense on the wooden table and her back arches, making Christopher groan from the way she adjusts in his lap.

"So, Florida State. Christopher was thinking about going there this year, weren't you, Christopher?" Lauren asks.

Peyton looks at Christopher with a confused glare and taps her fingers against the table. "Were you?"

"Uh, yeah kind of," he shrugs. Something tells me Peyton wasn't expecting him to move so far. Or maybe she mentioned it earlier. I can't seem to remember.

"Unbelievable," Peyton huffs as she stands from Christopher's lap and hurries to the door, forcefully sliding the glass open, and slamming it shut behind her. What a drama queen.

"I didn't know she didn't..."

"She'll get over it," Christopher says, interrupting Lauren. "You saved me from telling her myself."

Stella shakes her head and sighs. "You two need to communicate more."

Woah, Stella's acting like a couple's counselor? Who would've thought?

"It's hard to do that with her breathing down my neck all of the damn time. You saw how she reacted," He says with a shrug, scrunching his forehead to match his scowl.

He's an asshole. I don't want him to move to Florida. I'm an asshole myself and there's only enough room for one asshole. I don't want to share my assholeness.

The table grows silent and in that time I look up at Christopher, matching his long face to the picture of him that's been wretched into my mind. His well-known frown stays planted on his face and his hazel eyes glow from the lights cascading off of them. I don't see any hurt but there has to be something hidden under those shimmering eyes. Why else would he be so... secluded?

"What?" Christopher barks from across the table.

It takes me a second to realize that he's talking to me. This is what happens when I get drunk, I stare at rude, bitter, obnoxious things like Christopher himself.

"Oh, nothing. Just didn't know if you were being serious," I shrug.

He looks angry, furious even. I don't know why. Is it not normal to look at people? I do it all the time. Most people don't seem to mind. Maybe I should quit. No, I won't quit just because he doesn't like it. I now realize I also tend to fight with myself in my head while I'm intoxicated.

"Why wouldn't I be? I don't joke, Josephine," he says and laughs but in a slightly condescending way.

"Josie," I bark. "And I don't like to be laughed at." I've really had enough of it. I'm not that funny.

"My bad, Josephine. I'll only laugh at you when you're not around from now on." He says and shakes his head as he stands up from the table. He slowly walks inside with a shrug.

"He hasn't changed much has he?" Stella asks aimlessly and pushes her hair out of her face.

"Not much at all," Sarah sighs.

He's too mean. I can say the same for myself but I never go out of my way to be mean like he just did. Or do I? Maybe it's just easier to notice with other people than me. There is something about him that feels oddly familiar but my best guess goes toward the picture that I deeply looked into before we came.

"I'll be back, I have to pee," I say before getting up, almost tripping over a beer bottle that someone carelessly dropped on the deck. The others giggle until I turn around with a glare. Okay, so maybe I am mean for no reason.

I walk into the dimly lit house and from the colossal amount of food that I ate, mixed with my wine, and the blaring music, I can already feel a headache coming along. Can I not get a break?

I make my way through the trashed house, holding back a cough as I walk through a thick cloud of smoke. I hope Sarah knows that people are smoking in her house. With the way Sarah is so keen on her house being clean, I don't understand why she invited so many people. Definitely, since she's just sitting outside and not paying them much mind. I cringe at the thought of Sarah having to clean up after everyone. I definitely won't be helping but I'll at least clean up after myself. I mean, this place looks like a true shit show compared to how it looked when I first got here.

I step over the loose chips that sit in a pile on the floor for Sarah's sake and direct myself toward the hall to find the bathroom. There are four doors down the hall so I try the first one to my right. As the door creaks open I can hear soft moans and a creaking bed. I almost trip on my own feet trying to back out of the room but successfully make it out without being seen. Of course, the first door I opened would be a sex room.

I laugh to myself, receiving weird looks from a few strangers in the living room. With everyone being outside besides Peyton and Christopher it's likely that these two strangers are fucking on Sarah's bed. Unless it is Peyton and Christopher, and in that case, maybe I should rat them out since Christopher was such a dick. Being the courteous and slightly mischievous person that I am, I walk back to the back porch so Sarah can kick them out herself.

"Hey, um... whose room is the first on the right?" I ask hoping someone says that it is her room instead of the guest bed. I don't want to sleep in other people's sweat and sex fluids. I've done it before but I'm a bit squeamish tonight.

"It's mine. Why?" Sarah questions.

"So, um... someone is in there fucking on your bed," I say, not even attempting to sugar coat it.

"Fuck!" She yells, hurrying past me and into the house.

I'm not usually the nosy type but I follow her knowing that whatever she does should be interesting. I cuss at myself as I step in the pile of chips that I tried to avoid earlier and stumble to the hall.

As I reach the hall I see Christopher and Sarah outside of the door, Sarah's mouth hanging wide open. Christopher doesn't look shocked which surprises me as out comes none other than Peyton with another man on her heels.

This really should be interesting.