𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 • steven conklin

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

after changing into shorts and a long-sleeved off-the-shoulder top and fixing her makeup, eden and jeremiah left for the party.

as soon as they got there, eden began drinking which was a bad idea because she hadn't eaten all day.

nonetheless, she sucked down drink after drink.

normally eden didn't drink, but ever since that party last summer when shayla told her it was okay to drink and she wouldn't screw anything up like she did at the party before that, eden was more comfortable with drinking.

that night, though, wasn't a good night for eden to drink.

she downed shot after shot, then drank cup after cup of spiked punch. she honestly lost count after the first three shots and first two cups of punch.

after drinking for a while, she stumbled around, trying to find jace.

she didn't know why she wanted to find jace, but for some reason she needed to.

"jace. jace, where are you?" she called when she got upstairs.

and then, there he was. exiting the bathroom.

"hey, edes, i'm right here." he said.

"how could you hear me?" she questioned.

"you were right outside of the door and you weren't exactly quiet." he replied.

"mm. mm. where's--where's conrad?" she asked.

"uh, i'm not sure. can--can i see that cup for a minute? i want to sip it to see if i want my own." he lied.

"sure!"

she held it out to him and he took it from her.

"one sec."

he quickly went back into the bathroom and dumped it down the toilet.

"oh shit! i'm so sorry, eden. i dropped it."

she gasped. "what the fuck? why would you do that!"

"it was an accident. i'm so, so sorry."

obviously it wasn't an accident, he just didn't want the girl to drink anymore than she already has.

"no, you're not fucking sorry, you're an asshole!" she exclaimed.

"okay, eden, that's enough. come here."

he grabbed her wrist and she winced. "ow!"

"what? did i grab you too hard?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

he didn't think he had grabbed her that hard, but maybe he did by accident.

"yeah. too hard." she lied.

usually people spill their guts when they're drunk (which would happen soon, but not in the way that it is meant here) but eden couldn't tell the truth about this. not to anyone. except for maybe conrad and...him, but they weren't in contact anymore. well, she could contact him if she wanted to, but she shouldn't.

jace released her. "okay, i'm sorry. why don't we have you lay down for a while."

"no, no. i don't want to lay, steven, i want--."

jace shook his head. "i'm not steven."

"shit. jace, i mean jace." she corrected.

jace shook his head. "unbelievable. i'm here trying to take care of you and i'm still second to him. second to a guy who isn't even in your life anymore!"

"you'll always be second to steven." she muttered.

jace scoffed. "whatever, eden. you're always screwing me over."