“I’ll be there in five.” Before I even had a chance to protest he hung up. Today I was going home for Thanksgiving break. I was nowhere near being ready. Since we had no class today, Amanda and I went kind of crazy last night. We’ve been known to get a little wild. We knew how to have a good time. We just didn’t care what other people thought of us. If we wanted to dance on top of bars, we did. If we wanted to dance in the middle of the street, we did. If we wanted to funnel five beers and then take five shots, we did… well we tried and usually blacked out after. The point is we did whatever we wanted to do and no one could stop us, except for our parents or you know, the law.
One time Amanda and I were almost arrested for public intoxication. It was right before graduation. It was during senior week and we got a little insane during some of the activities. We may or may not have decided to go swimming in the school fountain. Security found us and I did the only thing I could think of in my intoxicated state. I called Niall. I couldn’t call my parents or Louis because they would freak out. He came to my rescue and talked the security guard out of calling the police. He told them he would make sure we got home safely and that we would never behave that way on school property again. I never heard him sound so authoritative and it was hot. However he was pissed. He drove Amanda home and made sure she got inside okay then he proceeded to lecture me about how I needed to grow up.
He drove us back to his house since I was supposed to sleep at Amanda’s that night. I was excited because I thought he wanted to do something. Nope. We went up to his room and talked. He ruined my buzz at that point.
Niall was being such a hypocrite. I knew all the trouble he used to get into. A few times the cops would bring them home for doing something stupid like spray-painting the town sign or trespassing on private property. The cops always brought them to house because they knew my dad wouldn’t let them get away with it but that would never stop them. Then I heard stories from Louis about the trouble Niall would get in away at college. He wasn’t pleased when I rolled my eyes and huffed at him for what he was lecturing me about.
Niall was my savior though. When I couldn’t turn to Louis I would run to Niall. He was older and sometimes wiser. I could count on him for anything and everything. For example, last night Amanda and I have been trying our best to avoid going to places my brother was going to be at. One problem though, her and Liam were an item now and she always wanted to be where he was. The nights I stole her away we tend to drink too much to make up for the lost time. There was this party outside of town that I dragged her to. A few guys that lived across the hall from us were raving about it. It was a fun time but some of the guys were too handsy and I wasn’t into anyone. After a while it was too uncomfortable so I started drinking more to have a good time. This one guy had me pinned against the wall, grinding his hips into me. I texted Niall to come pick us up. He stormed in about ten minutes later yanking my arm out of the house. Amanda quickly followed behind as Niall screamed at me.
I knew we were in a bad part of town and the people we were hanging out with weren’t exactly safe.
“Do you want to get yourself killed?” Niall screamed in my face once we were in his car driving away. I slammed my body against the back of the seat and folded my arms across my chest. “Do you even know who’s house you were at?” I shook my head no. He slammed his palm on the steering wheel of the car. “That was Dan Sanchez’s house.”
“So?”
“He’s the leader of L-7, the most dangerous gang around here. God Lauren how could you be so stupid?”
“I was just trying to have a good time. I can’t go anywhere without you guys ruining it for me. I had to find somewhere you wouldn’t be.”
“If I catch you there again I will-”
