SHOW ME HOW

Chapter 12

⚠️Trigger warning: Mention of drug use

Lorenzo's Pov

"Hey, Renzo, ease up on that blow man" Casey warned for what felt like the hundredth time tonight as I bent over in front of the small table with lines of coke decked out on it. Yet, I was in no mood to take advice from him nor anyone for that matter, as I leaned in and I snorted two more lines, chasing that fleeting high.

The more I use, the more I need the next time to feel a pleasurable height.

Leaning back against the couch, I watched through hazy eyes as bodies moved rhythmically across the makeshift dance floor in the centre of someone's living room, completely consumed by the wave of euphoria washing over me.

This feeling is the only thing that gives me even a fleeting illusion of satisfaction—a momentary sense that I'm in control of my life. I know the crash is coming, that I'll feel wrecked both physically and mentally once it fades. But right now? I couldn't care less. Actually—scratch that—I don't give a damn.

Speaking of distractions... where's Lola? I need to take her to the beach house, clear my head a bit. There's no way I can go home like this, and she's exactly the kind of escape I need right now.

My dad would kill me if he found out what I was up to. He would know I used again, just by glancing at me. I messaged my mom earlier, letting her know that I won't be home for dinner or breakfast.

"Bro, here smoke some green so you can come down from that high. You are starting to freak me the fuck out" Mitchell said, handing me a joint. I knew I was fidgety and restless, that's why he gave it to me.

"Where is Lola?" I asked Mitchel as I took two drags, before handing it back to him.

"Lola is on the dancefloor with her two friends. Don't tell me you will be hooking up with that tonight after being fully aware of how much trouble she is. She has already been asking everyone about Devin, and we all know to what extent she will go if you give her an ounce of attention. You are making Devin a target by giving the hopeless, hope. She's just bad news Renzo and you know it".

"Maybe I'll care tomorrow—but tonight, that's not on the schedule," I said flatly.

"Is this still about Devin leaving with Jessie?" Ryan asked, directing the question to Casey instead of me.

"Don't say her name," I snapped, irritation flaring. "I warned her about Butera, and she still chose to walk off with him."

I shot to my feet and headed toward the dance floor, leaving them to carry on the conversation without me.

Lola was already moving to the rhythm, her body swaying in time with the music. The moment she spotted me, her movements shifted—deliberate, inviting—drawing me in like a magnet.

I came to a stop in front of her, taking her hand and locking eyes with her for a moment—those eyes full of mischief. I stood there, trying to collect my scattered thoughts and force my blurred vision to see the person actually in front of me, not the one my mind kept drifting to—Devin.

She'd been lodged in my thoughts ever since the new term began. The history project only made it worse, giving me excuses to be around her... and more than a few visits to her house.

She has this magnetic, almost unexplainable warmth that draws people in—like gravity. I feel like a moth pulled helplessly toward a flame.

I don't know when it started, but these possessive, protective, and strangely tender feelings I have for her... they need to go. I can't afford them.

And yet, here I was—staring into the eyes of someone I knew was pure poison and not caring in the slightest. We left for my dad's beach house without another word.