𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆

❛i hate staying sober❜

》❈《

𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐂𝐊 as his phone rang, Adina's name flashing on the screen. He quickly picked it up before it could stop ringing.

"Are you at home?" She asked, her voice sounded hoarse and tired.

"I just left school," he answered. "What's up?"

"Can you meet me somewhere?" She asked. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh, sure. Where are you?"

Adina told him where she was and quickly hung up. Hoshi quickly walked to the park. It was kind of empty, only the elderly people were around. He walked down a pebbled road that led straight to a stream. Adina had told him he would spot a boulder by his left when he stopped by the stream. He saw the large boulder, crawling with cracks and moss. There was a small passage beside the boulder and he crawled through it and saw a hunched figure sitting cross legged in a small clearing, strands of her hair dangling in front of her eyes.

Hoshi looked round, large trees blocked out the light and flowers were on the ground with some fallen fruits. He approached Adina who looked up, her emerald green eyes focused solely on him.

"What's that in your hand?" She gestured to the small package he held.

Hoshi looked at it and back at her, a shy smile spreading across his face. "I got some cupcakes."

Adina smiled, a very small smile and patted the spot next to her. Hoshi moved over and set himself beside her. He noticed her fingers were gripping a music box, a carousel fixed on top of it.

He handed her a cupcake and she accepted it, biting into it and closed her eyes, satisfaction written all over her face as she savoured the taste.

"It's been so long since I had something this good," she opened her eyes and turned to him. "This was so thoughtful of you, thanks."

"You're welcome," he said and gave her another one which she gladly accepted.

They ate the cupcakes in a comfortable silence, just basking in each other's presence. Hoshi watched Adina rub her hands together and adjust her hoodie. Her fingers moved around the music box and she turned it on, a slow sombre music filling the air and the carousel started to spin.

"I never really knew my dad," she began. "There are just pieces and bits of memories here and there but they're slowly fading away. I can't remember his face and I don't have a picture of him so that sucks."

Adina let out a bitter laugh and tightened her grip around the music box. "My grandmother was against my parents' marriage," she continued. "She wanted my mom to get married to some rich man's son, but my mom refused and ran off with my dad and got married."

"They had me and we were swimming in poverty," she shrugged. "Honestly, at that point in my life I didn't know the difference between rich and poor, I was comfortable and I had my parents with me. My dad died when I was around five. He was murdered."

Hoshi's eyes rose up to look at Adina. She was staring forward, the wind blowing her hair in different directions.

"I knew he was murdered," her voice carried on. "I found his dead body coated in blood. I forced myself to forget about it and my mom became a ghost. We were practically homeless and my mom began to do illegal stuff. I honestly don't know what she actually did, but I knew it had to do with trafficking because I found some documents about it."

"I loved my mom and she did what she had to do to provide for me. I hated the fact that I never really got to see her. I felt so alone and school was the only place where I could forget about my problems even just for a few hours."

"My mom suddenly got sick, my grandmother refused to pay for her medical bills and I decided to take on odd jobs," a tired sigh escaped her lips. "Turns out my mom was deep in debt and I had to work extra hard to pay for the bills and her debt. But nothing I did was enough. I got sexually assaulted by some of her debtors."

Adina's lower lips trembled and Hoshi took her hand in his, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"I started taking drugs to keep myself afloat," she went on. "And then she died a few weeks ago. The same day she died, I found out Brad had been screwing Corey behind my back ever since we started dating. And then the rumours came and my grandmother forced me to entertain grown men. I've tried to run away countless times, but she has eyes and ears everywhere, so she always finds me."

A lone tear slid down her face and she wiped it away furiously. "I hate staying sober, Hoshi," she muttered. "I get to feel all the pain and I get reminded about my worthless life. Do you know the funniest part?"

Hoshi watched her as more tears slid down her eyes, her nails pressing painfully into his skin and his heart broke for her.

"The funniest part," she breathed out. "Is that the drugs aren't even helping anymore. Even when I'm high, I still feel all the pain. The drugs are meant to numb all the pain but now, they don't, I still feel all the pain."

She turned to him and broke down, crying heavily, her body shook and she flung herself at him. Hoshi instantly wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. She clutched his shirt as the tears ran.

"I'm so fucking tried, Hoshi," she mumbled out, through the tears. "So fucking tired."

Hoshi brought her face up to his and used the pad of his thumbs to wipe her tears away.

"You're gonna be okay, Adina," he whispered. "You're gonna be okay."

But she was never going to be okay.