It's not just complicated, it's a disaster

Disaster (Chapter Five)

Chapter Five

I hated lying. Anyone who knew me knew that. Yet, now I had to lie to Blake but something much bigger than anything else I had been associated with. I did not want to lie to Blake about this, but it was Tara’s wishes and I respected her wishes. She wasn’t going to tell me about the abortion though. I think she literally one day was just going to disappear and then come back not pregnant anymore.

“What are you doing tonight?” Blake asked, while I searched for some math notes in my locker.

“Nothing you need to worry about, why?” I asked him.

“We still need to study,” he reminded.

“Tomorrow,” I muttered.

“Why?” he frowned.

“I have plans tonight,” I shrugged.

“With who?” he asked slightly annoyed.

“Buff,” I answered.

Blake groaned and gave me a look.

“Buff is bad news,” Blake said.

“To you, he’s nice to me,” I said.

“He’s the reason you get drunk all the time!” Blake practically yelled at me.

Okay, that sounds weird, but it’s basically as he says it. Buff (that’s just a nickname, his real name is Chase) is an old friend of Claire’s. He’s kind of part of the old Claire, and the old Claire is the one who went out partied, drank and slept with random guys. I’m not like that... completely anyway, I only do the drinking part.

“I drink on my own choice, he just supplies the alcohol,” I shrugged.

“Why are you going tonight? What’s going on with you?” Blake asked.

Blake knew that when things got too hard for me or I was under too much stress that I’d usually end up drinking.

“It’s just Zeke and everything. I rather forget,” I shrugged.

Blake rolled his eyes. “I swear...if you’re at school tomorrow wearing sunglasses and claiming you don’t have a hangover.”

“I just won’t talk to you tomorrow then,” I said plainly.

Blake rolled his eyes again.

Harriet’s P.O.V

“What compelled you to buy this car?” Zeke asked me.

I smiled. “It’s a classic.”

“According to who?” Zeke frowned.

“Kane,” I said sneakily.

Zeke rolled his eyes at me, and snuck down in his car. “So you two are good?”

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” I shrugged, “but every couple does… just like-.”

“Don’t you say like Alex and me,” Zeke interrupted me. “I think I might kill you.”

“This has really got to you, hasn’t it?” I guessed.

“Just a bit,” he muttered. “I mean… I just want to understand; it didn't make any sense, any of it. One minute she was there with me in Australia, happier than ever, and then she’s crying and breaking up with me. It wasn’t her, I don’t understand.”

“There’s a lot you don’t understand,” I muttered.

“What is that- Whoa, wait, is that Alex?” Zeke asked, sitting up straight.

I immediately put my foot on the brake and stopped the car. Zeke had his seatbelt off and was out of the car before I could say a word. I quickly moved the car to side of the road, turned it off and ran after him. Zeke had stopped about five steps away from Alex who was sitting on a swing at the park we had stopped at. She almost looked asleep, but her eyes were both now watching us. It was late, almost dark… I’m sure Zeke was wondering why she was out alone… he didn't know the whole story anyway.

“Alex,” I whispered, stepping forward.

She groaned slightly and she crunched my nose slightly as I smelt the strong smell of alcohol radiate off her.

“Alex, tell me you haven’t been with Buff, tell me you haven’t been drinking,” I almost begged her.

She shook her head slightly, but stopped because she looked like she might throw up.

I groaned and put my hand on her knee. “I thought it was going to stop.”

“What’s wrong?” Zeke asked, finally snapping out of his trance.

I swallowed before I turned around to face him. “She’s drunk. Very… drunk. We need to get her home.”

“She’s drunk?!” Zeke practically yelled at me. 

“Yes, Zeke... I’ll explain this all later, but right now she needs to get home,” I said as calmly as I could manage.

Zeke listened to me, thank God and we both lifted her off the swing. I don’t think she was completely aware of what was going on because she let her head slightly flop onto Zeke as we walked her to the car. Zeke put her in the back and sat with her. She now lay across two of the chairs and then had her head resting against Zeke but she was sitting on her side.

I drove her home, occasionally glancing into my rear-view mirror. Each time I looked I saw Zeke either staring at her, or playing with her hair or stroking her cheek or something. She had fallen asleep, well I think she might have, I’m not sure, but even if she hadn’t I was sure she wasn’t going to remember anything from here on in.

“You still love her, even after what she did and everything else, you still love her,” I said.

I heard Zeke sigh. “Of course I do. I can’t help it anymore... and I tried to get over her, I did, but I couldn’t.”

“Are you going to try and fix it? You and Alex, I mean,” I added quickly.

He didn’t answer me immediately and when I looked in the mirror I saw him just staring at her once again.

“Honestly, right now, I have no idea what I’m going to do,” he answered eventually.

I pulled up at her house and rushed over to Zeke’s side and he woke Alex up and forced her out of the car. She tried to protest and failed any times and trying to push us away and Claire was at the front in no time once I had knocked.

“Oh, God,” she muttered. “Quickly, get here in here.”

He pulled her up the one step as Claire shut the door behind us.

“What’s going on here?” Tara asked, descending the stairs. “Oh, crap.”

She ran over to us and moved Zeke out of the way and then helped me with Alex.

“Get her upstairs, into the bathroom, you know where everything is, try to keep her awake,” Claire ordered.

Tara and I nodded and started to walk towards the stairs, but I stopped. Zeke was still standing there, watching the girl he loved drunk out of her mind, in a horrible state.

“I think you should explain everything to Zeke,” I whispered to Claire.

She looked at me then Zeke then back to me. “Okay,” she muttered softly. “I don’t know if it’s the best idea, it might just make him upset.”

“He needs to know, he needs to understand what he can,” I said.

Claire nodded and sighed. I knew that she didn’t like the fact that she had been dumped with the job of telling Zeke, but someone had to and now seemed like the right time.