Notice Me

7

Seren was drunk.

And I don't just mean she was tipsy, like she was when I was trying to talk to her earlier. No, she wasn't just stumbling around and speaking with slurred words. She was drunk.

"You know I don't really like any of you sons of bitches," she slurred out, tipping the glass bottle of vodka up to her lips. "I'm just pretending to be friends with you."

Her hand was wrapped around Carter's neck, and I could tell he was supporting most, if not all of her weight. I expected him to be offended at her words, if not a little startled at the least. He didn't seem to be, however. He simply laughed.

"Yes, Seren, so you tell us every six months or so. Yet, you're still hanging out with us the next day. I think you might be the one lying," he told her, as he tried to tug the bottle from her hands.

"I'm not lying," she slurred out, after she gulped the vodka down. She raised a shaky hand, extending one finger towards him, "if anything, you're the liar, Carting."

"Carting? That's a new one," Carter laughed out, giving up on his attempts to take the alcohol from her. He lowered his hand, wrapping it around her waist instead. I had the feeling that nothing Seren was telling him even registered in his brain, he was just happy to be around her. He was happy for the attention from her.

"Yeah, whatever. I know you're lying," Seren seemed to be trying to hold a serious gaze, but her muscles were too relaxed with the booze to be able to do such a thing.

"Okay, babe. What am I lying about?" Carter asked her, though he wasn't taking it seriously.

"You're all lying. Every single one of you all," she swung her still extended finger at the group of Cain's friends, which were now gathered together.

Cain was standing beside me, watching Carter and Seren interact as I was. Noah and Olivia were dancing, their hips pressed closely together. Tyler and Trinity were having what looked like an argument in hushed voices, and Benji and Jax looked to be in the middle of a conversation. Though, like the rest of the guys at the party, their eyes still flickered towards Seren every few minutes.

"Oh yeah?" Carter let out, seemingly thoroughly amused. "Share, why are we liars?"

"You lie about everything! All the time. We all do. We're all liars, you lie, he lies, she lies. Jax lies, Cain lies. Benji, Tyler. Liars. Oh and don't get me started about Olivia, and Trinity. Liar liar liar. Lies and lies and lies. All the lies and they don't stop. They keep going, around and around. And around. And around. Like a..."

"Like a Merry-Go-Round," I muttered, finishing her sentence. I was almost lost in thought at this point, her words were echoing with Henry's in my mind. My eyes were narrowed as I looked at her, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Seren's eyes widened with surprise, like she had forgotten people were actually listening to her rambling monologue. But, we were. We were all listening to her, though I seemed to be the only one taking it seriously.

"Yes, Zade. A mother fucking Merry-Go-Round. I bet you're a liar, too," she raised her hand to her chin, as if she was pondering her words. Just like Carter, I wasn't offended at her calling me a liar. At this point, I was only deeply fucking concerned.

I glanced at Cain beside me, who was shaking his head at the ground. He didn't seem alarmed by her words, nor did anyone in the group. I knew they all heard her, she was practically yelling. They were only looking strangely amused, like this was something they had come to expect by now. Something that was funny to them.

"Sorry, Zade. I mean, Zade. I mean... Zade," she extended her palm, as if she was telling me to stop. "Zane."

I didn't speak, waiting for her to continue. She seemed to be stumbling through the words in her mind, trying to make her mouth say the things she wanted it to.

"Zane, it's Zane right?" She paused, looking at me for confirmation. When I nodded, she continued, "I don't know you enough to call you a liar."

"That's okay," I said calmly, "do you need some water?"

"No," she said instantly, shaking her head in an exaggerated way. "Do you have any weed?"

"Who's taking you home?" I asked her, looking around the group. Olivia just shrugged, Trinity didn't seem to care enough to stop whisper yelling at Tyler. Cain opened his mouth to say something, but Jax beat him to it.

"Me," he rushed out, as if he was worried someone else would offer. "I'm her ride. Why?"

"Might be time for her to get home, no?" I asked him, noticing the way my tone was sharp. What was he doing keeping her here? Not that he was the boss of her, but she was obviously too intoxicated to be at a party full of people who could easily take advantage of her.

"Might be time for you to shut up," Seren said to me, though I could barely understand it by the way her words sounded. They sounded like she was speaking underwater, the syllables warped.

"Seren, that wasn't nice," Cain added, though he was smiling. Of course he was, I wanted to roll my eyes at the thought. These guys were like crabs in a bucket, stepping on top of each other in order to get her attention.

"Oh well," Seren shrugged, turning back to Carter. "Can you take me, Carter? Please?"

Carter looked like a kid who's parents had just told him they were going to Disneyland. His eyes widened, and his mouth broke into a complete smile.

"Of course I can. You know you can always sleep at my house, if you don't want to wake your dad." Carter offered, causing my stomach to clench. I was about to say something, like no way he was going to take a girl so drunk she could barely form a coherent sentence to his house, when Seren did my job for me.

"No," she said bluntly, flooding me with a feeling of  relief. "Nice try."

"We'll come with you guys," Olivia interjected. She pulled a tumbling Noah forward, using her arm to support him. He was no where near as drunk as Seren was, but anyone could tell he had one too many.

I watched as the group of them left. Olivia and Noah both waved goodbye, but Seren, she didn't even turn to look at us. She didn't say anything to her other friends, not a word. She simply stumbled out the door, grabbing onto Carter whenever she almost fell.

Once they were gone, I turned back to Cain. I'm sure the questions were evident in my eyes, because he laughed again, almost immediately as I looked at him,

"She's... she's just like that," Cain explained poorly, though the way he was scratching his neck told me he wasn't as comfortable with his words as he was trying to seem.

"She's just like... what? An alcoholic?" I asked him, my eyebrows raising,

"No, no... she's just a partier. She likes to drink on the weekends. Sometimes she has a little much," he told me, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, she had a little much two hours ago. That was... well honestly I've never seen anyone drunk like that." I said, though that was a lie.

I had seen someone as drunk as Seren was. Henry was as drunk as that almost every weekend, close to end. It was concerning to me then, it was concerning to me now.

"Yeah, well... she'll be fine," Cain told me, his eyes flickering over to the door she had just left from, as if he was questioning his own words.

"Has she always been like that?" I asked him, wondering if there was something specific that caused her drinking habits.

"No, not always. She didn't really drink until last year," Cain looked lost in his memories, as if he was trying to remember the switch. "It's not like she drinks at school or during the day."

"Still," I protested. "I wonder if something is wrong. Maybe she's depressed."

Jax walked over to us then, and judging by what he said next, it seemed like he had been listening to our entire conversation.

"Depressed?" He echoed my words with a hint of condescension, "a girl who looks like that... it's not possible for her to be depressed. I mean, she could have anything she wanted, just by the snap of her fingers."

I glared at him, having to clench my fist against my side. It was begging to hit his face.

"Nah, bro. There is no way that Seren Garcia could ever be depressed." Jax chuckled, taking a sip of his beer.