intoxicated- rafe cameron

twelve

I groan at the light when it glows through my big windows. I turn to rest on the other side of my bed, but it's even brighter over there. Groaning, I decide to just get up. I had to get ready for golfing, anyway.

The second I get up, all the blood rushes from my head to my feet. My legs are numb and the world goes black. "Oh shit-" I say, lifting a hand to my head. I needed some medicine for my hangover, and I needed it now. My hangovers are worse than normal, I think, but it's worth it.

I manage to stumble my way down the stairs without falling and piercing an organ on the fancy, metal railing of our spiral staircase. I flounder into the kitchen, catching myself on the counter. 

Hank is sitting on a barstool at the island, his glasses sliding off his nose. He's reading the paper with a hot cup of black coffee and he appears to be deep in thought. 

I try to sneak around him so I wouldn't get caught being hungover, but I fail when I run into the corner of the quartz countertop. "OW!" I say, rubbing my side.

My sudden comment makes him jump. When he looks up and sees that it was me, he laughs. "Are you dying?"

"Only on the inside," I sarcastically add. "Where do you keep the Aspirin... Or Ibuprofen? Tylenol? Tums?"

He raises an eyebrow as he brings his mug to his mouth. "Why?"

"Oh, I just have a migraine. I don't think I'm used to the heat and humidity here, and I haven't really drank much water recently." I sure as well got good to lying since I moved here.

He chuckles. "It's in the cupboard above the fruit bowl," he informs, nudging his head in its direction.

"Thanks."

I walk over to the cabinet and begin to shuffle through the products. I find some Asprin and Naproxen. I throw a quick glance behind me to make sure Hank isn't paying attention to me and...

He's buried his nose in the paper.

I wonder what was going on that was so captivating. I shrug the thought off and pop four of each pill into my mouth. 

If I was planning on having a fun day, I had to let loose and relax. Drugs were the best way to do it. I'm just glad that I have friends here that agree with me on that. It feels nice to finally be understood and have things in common with other people.

I hear some footsteps walking into the kitchen. I swallow my pills and turn to see that it's Brian. He kisses my dad on the forehead before taking a seat next to him. "Good morning, dear."

Hank offers him a smile and takes a sip of his coffee.

Brian turns to me and makes eye contact. "Do you have any fun plans for the day?"

I nod, pulling a strawberry Pop-Tart out of the cupboard. "Yeah. I'm going golfing with some friends."

"That'll be fun," Hank agrees. "Who's all going?"

I pretend to think. "Uh... Tess, Topper, and Rafe."

Both of their heads perk up in unison. "Rafe Cameron?"

I give them one hard nod of my head.

Hank sighs, gently placing his mug and the newspaper down. "Look, I'm really glad that you're making friends," he pauses, looking up at me. "But Rafe isn't really the best person to be around."

"Thank you for looking out for me, really..." I start.

Hank scoffs. "Here we go."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Can't I be friends with whoever I want?" I fire back. I'm trying to stay calm, but he's making it very difficult.