Stranger With All My Secrets

CHAPTER 1

Zac Adler

"Wake up, baby." A voice says.

I force my eyes open just to see the bright sun, gleaming from out behind the blinds. Blinds I don't recognise. I shut my eyes and try to remember what happened last night and where I've ended up.

"Come on... I made you breakfast." Says the same voice from behind me, softly shaking my shoulder.

"I'm up," I groan.

I turn my head and study her face.

She has long blonde hair, making her face look even paler than it is. She has big blue eyes which, other than being slightly scary, are pretty.

My eyes move down to the two big hickeys which lay upon her neck; The hickeys I assume I've made. She's wearing a grey shirt with no bra, only just covering her black thong.

"Want to go for a round two?" She challenges me.

"I've got to leave in ten minutes," I really don't, "Will it be quick?"

She stares into my eyes for a few seconds, before pulling down her panties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lift my phone up to my left ear, waiting for him to pick up. I'm walking away from the blondes' house and towards a bus stop. It took over ten minutes for us both to finish; it was less comfortable than last night since we are both hung over.

"Hey," Jake says through the phone.

"Jake. Got any plans tonight?" I ask, reaching the bus stop.

"Tonight? It's a Sunday, man. I've got work tomorrow."

"I don't give a fuck," I say. "My brother died exactly six months ago today. I want to go out and forget, and you can come. You will come."

Six months ago, my brother Tatum Adler was found dead in the driver's seat of his car. I don't know what went through his mind at the time; he had never driven drunk before.

"Oh, shit. I haven't even looked at the date." Jake says.

I jerk my head to the left and realise the bus has arrived. I climb on whilst still listening to Jake.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the bar tonight. Do know that I've got a girlfriend now, so I won't be hooking up with anyone."

"Good to know. See you," I say, hanging up the phone.

Jake knows not to show his empathy for me; I've told him before I don't like people feeling bad for me. It makes me feel weak; not that I'm very strong.

I sit down on a seat close to the back of the bus and take out the tin on mints in my pocket. I chew on one, looking over to the entrance of the bus.

The vehicle slowly comes to a halt before the doors slide open, revealing two girls waiting outside. They both look around the age of twenty and seem slightly drunk. One of them has dark skin and braids, whilst the other has dyed red hair. I recognise the one with red hair but don't know where from.

They stumble to the seats behind me and the girl with red hair looks at me. I turn away quickly.

"Hey, I know you. We fucked not too long ago." She says loudly.

"This is the one?" Her friend asks.

I hope she's got the wrong guy. It's always awkward when I forget girls' names.

"Yeah... It was Isaac, wasn't it?" She says.

I turn my head back around, and see her grinning widely at me.

"Zac." I correct her.

"Right. Why didn't you call me?" Her friend giggles as the girl says this.

"Why didn't you call me? I gave you my number." I lie.

"Huh. I forgot about that." She says, looking over my shoulder. She looks back at me. "Well, could I get your number again?"

"No, sorry. I don't want to get my hopes up again." I look down to the floor.

Her friend with braids laughs loudly and whispers something in the girls ear. Her eyes open wide as if she is both embarrassed and shocked at the same time.

I take this as my que to turn away.

The next stop coming up is where I get off, so I stand up.

"Bye ladies." I say from over my shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a taking the bus, I took a train to the town I live in. From there I've started walking a twenty minute walk home.

My head is aching as a consequence of all those drinks last night. I don't usually sleep with over two girls in a week, but this week is an exception. Tonight will be the third girl I go home with this weekend; counting Friday night.

I light a cigarette I've found in my pocket. After a long puff and inhale, the head spin hits me. The small amount of time it lasts for takes a heavy weight off of my shoulders. It helps me forget how a simple mistake six months ago fucked over my life. The head spin makes me feel a good amount of dizzy, a dizzy I want again. So, I take another few hits.

I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, bringing me back to reality. I tug it out of my shorts' pocket and answer the call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hey, Zac. How are you doing?" I recognise the weak voice as my mothers.

If someone asked me who I think my brothers death had the greatest impact on, the first person to come to mind would be my mother. For the first few weeks, she could barely even bring herself to eat. Her life was quickly falling apart. Since my father has never been in the picture, I decided to move back in with her. That way we both wouldn't be suffering alone.

"I'm fine. I'm walking back home from the train station just now," I say softly. "How are you?"

"I don't know. Just trying to get through the day, I guess." There's a moment of silence. "Anyway, I was just calling to check in." She says.

"Yep. See you soon. I love you."

"I love you too." My mother replies, before hanging up the phone.