Hailsmith Academy

Chapter 15: Whiskey

Fuck everything.

Nothing makes sense anymore. Life doesn't make sense anymore. Why the hell would a person want to do such a horrible thing?

I can't believe what I'd just witnessed. It felt like someone had ripped out my heart and chopped it into a million pieces. I wanted to pull out my own skin just to stop myself from feeling this pain. This horrible, nullifying, excruciating pain.

Jackie was the one person I trusted with every bone in my body, and she does this. With my brother no less? What the actual fuck? I cannot believe that Jason would do that to me. Sure, he hated me, but at least as my brother, I thought there were some boundaries that would never be crossed. Guess I was wrong.

I wandered around in a stupor, with absolutely no sense of where I was going. Before I knew it, I found myself back at the warehouse, where the party was still going on in full swing.

I walked inside, pushing my way past all the dancing bodies to reach the drinks table. Yes, this is exactly what I wanted to do right now.

I grabbed the nearest bottle (which turned out to be whiskey), and emptied whatever was left into more than half a cup. I poured some water in it as well so that it would lighten the taste.

I took a swig, sputtering and coughing as the amber liquid burned down my throat. Holy shit, how do people have this stuff?

The burning sensation reached my chest, and I had to blink my eyes a few times to regain control of myself. After a few more seconds, the burning subsided to a somewhat warm feeling.

I steeled myself, forcing my body to drink some more. I took another huge gulp, feeling the same burning in my chest. Although, this time I didn't cough or anything.

After a few minutes, I started to feel... nice. It was only a few fleeting moments, but shit it felt damn good.

I drank some more, finishing three quarters of the cup in one go. I looked around at the dancing around me; the people laughing and screaming in jubilation. The sounds all started to blend together, my vision suddenly everywhere. I felt a grin creep across my face for no reason, laughing as I danced among the crowd.

This felt amazing. I felt amazing. Now I finally understand why people drink. If I could feel this way all the time, why would I not want to?

I don't know how, but I ultimately ended up outside, my cup nearly empty in my hand. I started to sway from side to side, giggling to myself as I did so. This was so fun.

I stumbled my way through the woods, miraculously finding my way out in two minutes. Huh, where the heck were all my friends? I totally wanted to show them how plastered I was. I'm not goody two shoes Luke anymore!

I staggered across the lawn, tripping over my own feet as I went. I laughed, twirling around in circles, feeling the night wind in my hair. Awesome.

I managed to reach the lacrosse field, snickering at the goal post as I sat down on the grass. Those things look so weird. Like a white rectangle with a bunch of tiny net squares? That's so random.

"Luke?"

I turned my head in circles, trying to find the sound of the voice. I couldn't see anyone.

"Invisible man?" I asked.

"Uh, no."

A person finally came into focus in front of me, blurred lines merging to form the face of Jeremiah Evans. He was decked out in gym clothes, his hair completely messy, with sweat across his forehead. He must have been working out.

I grinned, taking another huge gulp from my cup and draining it. I threw it at Evans' face, giggling again when it hit him.

He frowned. "Are you drunk?"