Ginny and Georgia: The Younger Shadow

Chapter 14- Sophomore Sleepover Fun!
"Haha, Kara, is your hair red?" Aria laughed and tossed her the bottle of wine.
"No, no, but I see circles in front of me...when did you get so tall, Aria?" Kara slurred her words and put her head in my lap. I stroked her silky brown hair, and rested my head agains the cool wall in the classroom. I had drunk for the first time in my life. And honestly, I was petrified. What if I choked? What if something just went wrong? But actually, the wine was crisp and the flavour was intense. When I poured the mouth watering liquid down my throat, it seemed to numb my emotions, pains and worries, and let me relax, and sink into a different reality. The girls were getting hyper as well. "You know, imsickofnothavingaboyfriendiwantonenowletsgoaftersomehotsophomores" Madi slurred, jabbing a finger into Aria's chest. I took the glass from Madi's hands, sloshing the vodka over both of us.
"I'm not drunk how dare you I'm the soberest girl in this room!" Madi protested, but she lay on the desk slack jawed and slumped over, closing her eyes gently. Kara was now asleep in my lap as well. Carefully, I laid her on the floor and put a blanket on her. Madi was sleeping on the desk, but Aria quickly slung a colourful quilt over her.
"Thank God they're asleep!" She exclaimed, and she took a bottle of water and downed it in one go. I was starting to feel a pounding headache in my head, and I groaned inwardly. My knees buckled over me as I struggled to get up, and Aria held me.
"Let's go to the bathroom, Char. You don't look so well." We made our way over to the girls bathroom. The masses of lockers around me blurred into one pointless image, and I felt terrible Aria had to take my weight, especially since she was way smaller than any of us.
Once we had gotten inside a cubicle, I vomited. It made me feel so wretched and like I had let my feelings take over me completely. Aria took my hair out of the way and whispered coaxing words. I guess vomiting is a storm. It comes, it passes, it leaves its destruction, but things seem to get brighter after. I was wiping my mouth with the tissue paper when we heard the door being opened. It was 3am now. Aria out her finger to her mouth, and we both climbed onto the toilet seat so nobody could see our feet poking out.
"D'you feel better, Abs? You seemed really bad? Why did you get so upset when Norah said to swap your clothes with Ginny? It was only a dare." Maxine. Aria gave me a panicked look that meant if we so much dared as breathe, they would definitely recognise us now.
"Nothing, it was stupid, Max. I know I'm still a bit drunk, but I swear out sisters walked through into the classroom! But it did feel like a dream..."
"Well, I can't remember, and neither do Ginny or Norah, so don't worry, my Abby."
We could see them through the thin cracks in the cubicle, so I saw Max leaning in to give Abby a hug. But it wasn't a hug. In the shadows their faces were so close together as they kissed. Abby flung her arms over Maxine, and they jumped up on the counter and well- I didn't feel it was my place to look any more. I let Aria peek through, and her mouth hung open. I nudged her to get her to stop looking, but that was our ultimate mistake. Aria slipped over the cubicle and landed on the floor. The door burst open and Aria yelled "Fuck! That hurt!" And pure shock dawned on her face as she stared at Abby and Max, who had jumped out of their skin as they saw us.
"What. The. Fuck. Aria!" Abby walked over to her soster. The slap seemed to sting, but knowing she wasn't in control of our night anymore made Aria burst into floods of tears.
"I-I'm sorry!" Abby's eyes softened as it struck how much she'd hurt her sister. Max's green gaze stuck on me. Usually she looked friendly, but the deadly stare she gave me just made me want to go home and cry into my pillow.
"Um-"
"You had better fucking explain what you were doing here, Charlie Miller. Or I'll fucking kill you" Abby hissed. She gestured for me to sit down.
"Um, Madi, Kara, Aria and I broke into sophomore sleepover. We just wanted to drink and have fun in one of the classrooms. I wa just throwing up abs we heard you come in- um- we never meant to cause any harm?" I tried.
"Madi and Kara are here too? I'm going to fucking murder you all, you little lunatics!" Abby cried. Max took her hand and squeezed it, and she seemed to cal m down a little.
"So you just decide to come here, come to the classroom and mess around with us? You really thought we wouldn't notice because we were drunk? Then you spy on us? Aria, who's watching Amos? Dad and mom aren't home tonight."
Aria stayed still and didn't move an inch.
"Um, no ones watching him now, but he was asleep when I left, so..." Abby's eyes flashed with terror.
"You freaking left him? He could've been fucking abducted! I'm taking you home right now! Maxine, get Georgia and the others from the classroom." They were telling on us?
"You're telling on us?" Aria cried out.
"Yes, you psycho! You deserve it! How could you leave Amos alone? He almost always wakes up in the night!" Aria looked incredibly guilty for a moment, before retaliating with,
"I'll tell everyone about you and Max. I will. I hate you, Abby! Just fucking die!" Abby looked like she'd been struck across the face. Max glared at us, before saying,
"Ok. Tell everyone. But don't you dare tell your sister to die, Aria Littman. Don't you fucking dare." Aria gulped, and that was when I realised the only armour feebly protecting us had come falling apart.
"Charlie, I thought you knew better than our sisters. Come with us." Max sighed. Abby grabbed Aria's arm and Max took mine. Ginny and Norah walked out of the classroom, and when they saw us, her posture stiffened. And from the other end of the corridor, Kara and Madi ran towards us. Madi still had the blanket draped around her thin shoulders, but her face fell when she saw her sister. All of us when Into the classroom and talked things over. I couldn't believe our night was ruined. If I hadn't shoved Aria, she wouldn't have fell.
"Max and Abby kissed." Aria announced in a shaky voice. She was still rubbing her face from the throbbing purple bruise Abby had given her. Max drew back her breath, but nobody gave a reaction apart from a slight shrug. Maybe they knew it was coming anyway.
"Well, should we tell everyone that our sisters are here?" Ginny called. Abby bit her lip, Norah shook her head and Max gave Madi a huge hug.
"No. We can't. Well be blamed for letting them come. Let's not cause trouble. I think they've learnt their lesson" Norah added.
"Go home, girls." Maxine added. She gave us all a quick kiss on the forehead. "Hey, Max? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for invading your privacy like that. Please don't blame Aria. I was the one who needed to go the toilet, she just came with me."
"It's ok. You guys are like my little sisters. I overreacted. I get you wanna go out and have a life, but if anyone else caught you, your head would be on a stick." Just as we were about to leave through the entrance, Abby came over to me. The girls waited for me by the flagpole.
"Uh, Charlie. I just wanted to say sorry. It's not your fault you saw Max and me. I guess I just got scared of anyone else finding out. Thank you for treating Aria well. For treating them all well. You're a great friend to them. And now you're my little sister too." Wow. I didn't think I would ever get trying to Abby. Her hair tickled my face, and she blew us all a kiss before her figure was swallowed into the shadows.
"Guess even my sister has accepted you as one of us, Char." Aria laughed.
"But I feel bad for leaving Amos home alone. It's usually Abby who gets up and changes him if he has an accident, or is hungry or just needs someone. I gotta get back."
"Seeya" I whispered as Aria and Kara went off home the same way.
"Madi, do you really think Abby and Max will get together again?" Stars filled the night sky like pale corn into freshly turned ground. It was the promise of light in the darkness and gave me a sense of warmth.
"Yes. They love each other. It's so obvious. I think maybe a reason Abby doesn't like Ginny that much is because she's scared Max will like her. She's scared to let anyone in. She's been hurt load of times, Charlie."
"So, why did they break up?" I asked. This love story was really starting to interest me.
"Abby's dad found out she was dating a girl, and forbid her from dating. But maybe they'll do it secretly."
"That's terrible. What a piece of shit father."
"I know rifht? Like, my dad says we can love whoever we want. What about yours?"
"Oh,uh..." I replied. I'd been trying to keep my friends from the truth, but I felt they should know anyway.
"I don't know who he is." I whispered. Suddenly, the night sky seemed to be closing in and felt a lot more sinister.
"Havent you ever asked your mom? You and Ginny don't have the same dad, do you? I gathered that from, you, know..."
"Yep, she's biracial. And I'm as white as can be. Well, my mom said she got pregnant with me the following April. Well, she did tell me my dad's first name was Anthony, but just said I was better off not knowing him. And Ginny's dad Zion treats me pretty much like his daughter too."
"What about Austin's dad?"
"His name's Gil Timmins. He's in prison, but he sends my brother letters every so often." Madi put her arm around my shoulder.
"Thanks for telling me, Charlie. Sometimes it feels like we're in a tv show, right? Our lives are crazy and that's just the way I like it! See you tomorrow. Love you, mean it!"
"Hate you, kidding!"