A Little Danger Never Hurts

Chapter Nineteen: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody...

A/N: Massive sorry for the wait! If there are any spelling/grammar mistakes, I apologize. The italics represent past memories. 

The beat of the music drowns out all of my thoughts. I feel someone grinding against me from behind but I ignore it and listen more to the music. After leaving Luke's apartment I headed straight to one of the clubs that I use to go to sometimes with Josie and Macy. I don't really like clubbing but right now all I want to do is dance.

When I found out about my mother and Eric and Chad, something inside me broke. I felt it, as if a piece of me gave out from all the pressure and all the many times people have hit me with their words and actions. Something inside me could no longer take it. I can't take being protected all the time. I'm not a little girl. I'm not weak. I can handle whatever it is they throw at me; however, they clearly don't think that.

I twirl around and see an unfamiliar face smiling at me. He grabs my hips but I quickly push him back. Chad's face quickly rushes through my mind and as mad at I am at him, I won't cheat on him.

After a few more songs I head to one of the tables. A girl who I use to go to school with is sitting at a table and we end up talking. She hands me a pill and I take it without even asking what it is. I down it with a sip from my drink. Once I'm done with that I take someone else's drink from the table and finish it within seconds.

"Let's get more shots!" The girl, whose name is Maria, says.

I nod my head and follow her to the bar. We order a few shots and down them all. When we are done we head back to the dance floor and dance around like idiots. We were never really friends when we went to the same school but she's the only person I know that ended up being here tonight.

About an hour later I take another pill, again not asking what it is. I'm being stupid and dramatic but I honestly don't care anymore. I'm sick of always being protected. I'm sick of always not knowing things. I'm sick of people thinking I'm weak because I'm not.

It's about four in the morning when I finally decide to leave the club. I walk over to a bench on the street and sit down. My head is fuzzy and everything around me is spinning. My make-up is smudged and I can feel that my cheeks are tear stained. My phone died about an hour ago but I don't really care. I ignored everyone's constant calling anyway.

I take my phone and slam it on the ground. The screen cracks and a few pieces fly out. I stare at the broken phone and can't help but think of how it resembles my life. Just pieces, nothing else.

.....

"Thanks for letting me crash here last night," I tell Maria.

"No problem. You're a lot cooler than you were when we went to school together. We should hang out more. I'm going out again tonight. You can stay a few days if you need," she says.

I nod my head, "Thanks. I'll only stay one more night and then I'll head back home."

"Cool. You can borrow some of my clothes. I'm heading out to work. I'll be back later and we can go out."

I nod my head and sit up on her couch. Maria is a year ahead of me and already graduated. She's currently living in a two bedroom apartment with her sister who apparently sleeps mostly at her boyfriend's house. The apartment is in Queens and isn't the nicest of them all but is good enough for me. All I need is a place to sleep and I'm happy.

I look around her apartment and find the closet that is full of towels. She said I could take a shower and I am definitely going to take her up on that offer. I have absolutely no idea what happened last night but I feel like the sweat is stuck to me all over my body. I can tell that my make-up is smeared. I take a long, hot shower and make sure to scrub everything off my body.