BREAK POINT - chris sturniolo

CHAPTER 4

"Go! Go! Go!" Nick chanted as I threw a ball into the last cup, winning our game of beer pong.

"Yes!" He cries, jumping and giving me a high five. The two stereotypical blonde surfer boys on the other end of the table admit defeat and walk away.

I turn around to look back at the bustling party, spotting Chris and a girl exit the house and make their way down to the backyard. 

"Those guys were cute huh?" Nick said. 

"Hmm?" I say, watching him guide her with his hand on her back. "Oh, yeah." I nod, not totally remembering what he just said. 

"You need another drink?" He asks, looking down at my empty cup. In reality, I definitely don't need another one, but I tell him yes anyway. 

While he's gone, I meander up to Charlotte, who's stood by the dance floor talking to Matt, Chris, and the girl Chris is with. 

I sling my arm around Charlotte and Matt, giving them a tight squeeze. "My best friends." I mumble. 

"Okay," Matt laughs, taking my arm off my shoulder and letting it drop to my side. 

I eye the girl that Chris is standing with. She's in a tight leather outfit with heavy makeup. I'm trying to be a girls-girl but she's sticking out like a sore thumb out here. 

"You're a bad friend for letting her get this shit faced." Chris laughs, looking at Charlotte.

"Hey! I'm just having a good time" I point at him. 

"Right, I'm so sure you're having a good time while avoiding all your problems." He says

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm just having fun, something you clearly don't know how to do."

"Maybe I'm too busy cleaning up after you. Clearly someone has to." He whispers, getting closer to me now. 

"Oh please, Chris. I'm fine. No one asked you to be the hero." I say, surely slurring my words. 

"Someone's gotta, since you seem determined to wreck yourself. But hey, if you aren't interested in my help the tennis court is not too far. Be my guest and get out of here." He says coldly. 

Nick appears with a beer in hand, handing it to me before he notices the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. 

"Woah, woah woah, definitely not." Matt says, pushing the beer away from my grasp. Chris reaches for it next. 

"Nope, not you either," Matt says, taking it and placing it on the ledge behind him. 

He whispers something quickly to Charlotte, who guides me to the front porch of the house. 

The music drifting up from the backyard is sporadically cut by the sound of a car whipping by. Crickets chirp loudly and the mugginess of the mid-September heat against my skin is now all I can focus on. 

I don't know how long I've been crying for, but it feels like I can't remember a time I wasn't crying. Charlotte wordlessly sits beside me and rubs my back. 

"Charlotte, here." A voice says from the front door, and a cup of water appears in front of me. 

I glup the whole thing down in a few seconds, my sobs being reduced to sniffles. 

"You ready to talk now?" She asks in a gentle voice. I nod and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. 

"So... I mean I don't even know where to start. What the fuck was that?" She asks.

"I don't know," I shrug, completely defeated. 

"You don't know? So this just came out of nowhere? I thought you two seemed okay at the first match this year." She asks.