Give Me Hope || {twd} ➳ book two of the hope series.

Chapter Fifteen.

*******
Joelle's pov;
*******
"joey, wake up. we have to get ready." i look up to see promise, kicking me in the side.
"ready for what?" i moan, pulling my sleeping bag up and over my head.
"for the party."
I partly pull down the sleeping bag, just below my eyes.
"what party?"
"the one tonight. at Deanna's place. everyone will be there."
"and why do i have to be there?"
"joelle."
"fine fine. but why do we have to get ready?"
"Deanna says there is a rack of dresses in the attic nextdoor. meet us there." Promise turns on her heel, walking out the door.
*******
"alright. im here. now what?" i sauntered into the attic, seeing kaia, michaela, promise, rain, snow, and tyler.
"time to get dresses." tyler says, pulling out a large rack of short, and long dresses.
"this isn't a fifties musical, its not like we're dress shopping for prom." i said, rolling my eyes.
"just try on some dresses." rain says, grabbing a medium length, dark blue dress of the rack, and ducking into the closet.
"joelle, try on this one." snow says, pulling a light pink dress off of the rack, and shoving it into my arms.
"hell no." i say, dropping the dress in disgust.
"fine, try this one." she says, handing me a short black dress.
i nod and take it, stepping into the next room to change.
i come back and looked in the mirror, at the mid-thigh length dress.
it was sleeveless, black, with a sweetheart neckline, and it sort of puffed out at the end.
there was a strip of fishnet along the skirt.
i honestly loved it, but i was never going to admit it.
"oh my gosh!" kaia screeches, running towards me.
"you look stunning!" rain agrees, appearing by my side.
soon everyone was around me, gocking about how beautiful i looked.
"maybe you'll even catch carl's eyes." promise giggles.
"thanks guys." i say, and promise hands me a pair of black flats.
"no. i think i'll just wear my boots." i grab my combat boots, slipping on a pair of dark gray, frilly knee high socks before slipping on my boots.
*******
i tucked my knife into my boot, damn am i glad i chose to wear these and not flats. i cant stick a knife into flats without anyone noticing.
we all left the house together, walking down the street in the dark.
we turned to the left at Deanna's house, and i was the last to walk up the steps.
snow knocked on the door, and soon enough Deanna's husband opened it.
"girls! come on in." he said, holding the door, and stepping inside for us to walk in.
"wait. joelle." i stopped and rolled my eyes, facing the man.
"what?"
"give me the knife."
"knife? i have nooo idea what you are talking about." i crossed my arms, looking out the door.
"just give me it." he held his hand out, palm up, waiting patiently for my knife.
i sighed, bending over and reaching into my white boots, and pulled out my knife, dropping it into his hand.
he held the handle tightly, and closed the door, allowing me to walk away.
i moved around the house for a while, weaving in and out of the room of people that were a lot taller then me.
this place was so crowded, no matter what i did, no one would notice.
"hey! you dont have a stamp!" a little boy approaches me, pointing to my hand.
"stamp?"
"here! give me your hand." i stretch out my arm, and he stamps a large, red 'A' onto my hand.
"uh- thanks kid." i say, turning to walk away.
"wait!"
"huh?"
"im sam."
"joelle." i give him a small smile, before he jogs off into the other room, and i walk into the kitchen.
i grab a small pile of cheese and crackers from the platter, along with a few grapes.
i sit down in the dirty looking, white stool, and eat some of the food.
i listen to the soft music playing in the background, while i watched everyone at this large party, walk around from room to room.
i finish the food and stand up, tucking away the stool, before walking into the other room.
******
"there's too many people here." promise complains to me, sighing.
we opened a window, and were leaning out it for fresh air.
"i want to get out of here." promise says, closing the window.
"wanna know what i want?" i ask, playing with the ends of my hair.
"what?"
"a drink."
"like water?"
"nope."
"oh. you wanna sneak some?"
"yes ma'am."
"alright. lets do it."
******
we rallied up our friends, and they were waiting in the attic.
"alright. lets get over there, and steal three bottles of whatever we can get." i say, approaching the alcohol table.
"what if we get caught?"
"just- dont."
i wait till no ones watching, and reach for the table, grabbing a large red bottle, and a jar.
promise grabs one bottle, and we immediately make our way through the crowd, and up into the attic.
******
i examine the three bottles of what we got, a bottle of red wine, some tequila, and a jar of moonshine.
promise pops the cork on the wine, and clenches her jaw.
"you sure this is okay?" tyler says, biting her lip.
"nope." i reply.
"alright, promise. you first." i say, nodding to promise.
she reluctantly raises the bottle to her lips, and with hesitation, takes a large sip of the wine.
she squeezes her eyes shut, and swallows.
"that's disgusting!" i chuckle, taking the bottle from her hand, and swallowing a large mouthful.
the substance burns as it trickles down my throat.
"ugh. shes right." i say, handing the bottle to Michaela.
we passed the bottle around for a while, until it was nearly empty.
"wanna open the next one?" snow asks, and promise nods, twisting open the tequila cap.
after about ten minutes, that bottle was down, and my vision was extremely blurry.
alright i think we better
"i think we better go downstairs." my voice was echoing through my ears, and i nearly fell over when i stood up.
wait what if
"what if we get caught?" i basically say the counter argument to my first statement as we move down the stairs.
my feet hit the floor with a thud, and i move through the swaying crowd.
I ricocheted through all the people, whom were giving me confused looks.
excuse me.
"excuse me."
sorry.
"sorry."
i held the mason jar of moonshine tightly in my arms, as i fell to the right, slamming against a cabinet.
woah. im alright. im alright.
"im sorry. im alright. im just gonna go."
"joelle?" rick grabs me by the arm, holding me steady. "are you drunk?"
"maybe." i chuckle out, looking at his face. he looked funny.
"let me go!" i say, pulling out of his grasp, making my way outside.
"joelle, stop!" i hear a voice yell, and i turn to see deanna.
"what are you gonna do? get ridda me?" i say, walking onto the grass.
"if you dont get back over here i will." she demands.
"yeah yeah." i mock her tone, unscrewing the cap of the mason jar.
i chugged down some of the moonshine, and wiped my mouth.
now this stuff really burns.
"Joelle stop." ricks voice bounces around in my head, as the world around me continues to spin.
there was now a half circle crowd formed around me, some with familiar faces, some my best friends, and others strangers.
"joelle, why are you doing this?" i look to see carl, his mouth wide.
"w-why am i doing this? why are you doing this?" i take another sip from the jar, then drop it to the floor, the glass shattering in all different directions.
"why am i doing what?" he asks, confusedly.
"you know."
"no, Joelle. i really dont." his tone was now soft, and i bit my lip.
"going out with that... whore!" i yell, slamming my boot down on the glass.
"what does it matter, Joelle? you were the one that fucking broke up with me! can i not be happy? do you want me to be fucking miserable for the rest of my life, or whats left of it?" he screams out also, making large motions with his arms.
"you dumbass! can you not see?" i say, the tears now starting to fall down my face.
"see what?" there was anger in his voice.
the crowd was silent, and i looked at everyones surprised, scared, and astonished expressions.
"cant you see, that I'm still in love with you, carl? i want you back! that's all that i fucking want!"
the world is now spinning at a fast pace, and my head throbs and pounds.
i see everything tilt to the right, and i feel a strong pain in my side, before everything went black.