Dabbling In Sweetness

Chapter 35

The night of our freshman camping trip that took place at the beginning of December, everyone gathered around to celebrate our high school years. The room was filled with laughter as everyone played games. We had all snuck out while the counselors were sound asleep and were now on the top floor with a view. Lynett handed me a drink and I took it. The weather outside was getting colder during the night but no one minded. It was part of what made the trip fun.

As the night went on, and after a couple of more drinks that tasted like cherry Kool-Aid, I start seeing the blurry figures of everyone.

"You feeling, okay?" Lynett asks as she giggles at nothing in front of her. I could tell she was out just like me.

"Lynett?" I mumble, "what was in this?" I look at my cup and put it to my nose. The smell of alcohol was strong. I laugh at my own ignorance. I shrug and finish the drink, it was already in my hands and would be a waste. "They say ignorance is bliss," I tell her but she's no longer there. I can't help but laugh at the revolving room but blink repeatedly. I needed to get up and find her. I'm not sure why but the urgency was here. I took another cup and drank it quickly, this only made my anxiety worse.

I stumbled across the people until I saw the door to the open floor. No one seemed to notice but I realized the windows were one-sided. I could see them but they couldn't see me, only making me feel more isolated. I walk a bit to the edge and look down. To think, the pain could be gone if I just let myself go. I close my eyes, the tilting sensation is there but that's when I hear the voice that seems to feel my pain.

"I'm in my bed

And you're not here

And there's no one to blame but the drink in my wandering hands

Forget what I said"

I turn to find the voice singing Harry Styles's "Falling," but he's blocked by Sienna who stares in disbelief at the song he chose to sing. As he continues, I can see her face go from disbelief to sadness in seconds as she grabs the bottle of whiskey and drinks like that would solve all her problems. I didn't blame her because even though I unknowingly got drunk, I felt on top of the world right now.

"What am I now? What am I now?

What if I'm someone I don't want around?

I'm falling again, I'm falling again, I'm falling."

I can feel my own tears falling along with his, as we share the same pain, then I hear a hard slap emanate from them. I wince but find myself laughing.

"Why are you crying alone outside?" the new voice says behind me. He outstretches a bottle of alcohol and I take it. I take a sip and laugh as I lay my head on the railing and close my eyes. "Strawberry."

"Excuse me?" I can hear his confusion.

"It tastes like strawberries," I clarify. "I like Strawberries, they're so sweet, you know." I gasp and look up in alarm before laughing at his panic-stricken face. "I should be the queen of the strawberries. Everyone will call me Strawberry." I bump his shoulder, "try it out."

He chuckles, "How much have you had to drink?"

I'm tight-lipped, trying to do the math before I shrug. "Don-no." I grab his face and smush it between my hands as I look at the red mark on it. "You're the guy who sang." I gasp, "Why did she hit you?"

He pushes my hands from him and looks out into the balcony. "I dedicated that song to her. I put her through so much just to cheat."

"Why'd you do it then?"