Skate Through My Heart

30; Do Kill The Messenger

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡
Jacin POV

"Jacin, brother! My guy!" Cole wraps me in a hug as I walk into the garage, going as far as giving me a kiss on the cheek. I grimace at the stench of alcohol and pat his back.

"What's up, party animal?" I ask and step away from his embrace.

"Bro, at least I dressed up for the party." Cole looks pointedly at my regular outfit.

Willie walks up behind me and slaps my butt. I smack his hand away. "Why would you show up as Jacin Forbes? You're Jacin every day. You could have put on your hockey uniform and been a hockey player for one more night."

I frown as I try to decipher if that was a dig at my choices from this past year, or if he was trying to be nice. "What's wrong with being Jacin? I think he's a cool dude."

"Jacin! There you are!" Darika prances over, holding a hamburger victoriously, the coins and beads on her pirate costume clinging together. "We were wondering when you would show up. I thought you were going to make me a liar. I told Clarity you'd be here tonight because I heard from Nick who heard from Tracy who heard from Archie—"

"Clarity's here?" I lift my head and scan the heads that are filling the garage. I spot Annabelle standing alone near the back, putting condiments on her own burger. If Annabelle is here, Clarity usually isn't far behind.

"Yeah. She was." Cole turns and squints at the clock on the wall. "Where did she go?"

"To the bathroom." Willie sips his drink. "Twenty minutes ago."

For a moment, I'm standing in the gym at homecoming, useless on stage as I watch Cole and Annabelle race outside. The desk is solid underneath me as I stare at my phone in despair, wondering how that video could've been taken, and why no one was with Clarity to stop it. The music and people talking around me seemingly goes quiet as I step closer to Willie. "Wait, has anyone checked on her?"

He and Cole share a look. Shrug. Darika chews on her hamburger.

"Don't worry, guys," I say sarcastically, venom dripping down my words. "I'll do it. It's fine."

"Alright." Willie raises his cup. "To the hamburgers!"

I roll my eyes as Cole and Willie prove my point, swaggering over to the food table like the dumb animals that they are right now. Darika follows them, leaving me alone to enter Nicks house.

My breathing is quick as I shut the door behind me and spot white boots on the foyer floor. Leave it to Clarity to be hospitable, even after having a few drinks. I want to believe that she's fine, maybe even crashed out on the couch, but my gut is spurring me to hurry.

Unfortunately, it's more likely that she's passed out on the toilet. Or near it. The odds are even better that she's sick out of her mind as I'm running up the stairs. I can't get the sound of her being sick out of my head.

I turn the corner into the dark hallway, running my fingertips over the entry to the bathroom so I don't accidentally run straight into the door. My hands falls against thin air. The bathroom is empty, the door wide open.

"Clarity?" I whisper and shuffle down to the next doorway, Nick's room. His door is cracked open. I push it open further and stick my head in, wrinkling my nose at the smell. Empty. Kind of. Not if I'm counting the hurricane-sized mess and the smell of sweat that is so bad it nearly rivals the mess.