Playing Games

Chapter 1

SAVANNAH POV

"Are you sure you can't come to this party with me?"

One of the qualities that people tend to praise yet curse me for is my ability to convince people into participating in activities with me that they know they probably shouldn't do. My best friends, Alex and Xiu, know this quality all too well. We all took our first shot of alcohol together because I managed to lure them to my house when my parents were out of town for their anniversary, and there was some alcohol conveniently there for us to try.

What was supposed to be just one shot turned into multiple, and our first time being intoxicated definitely went awry. Nonetheless, it was definitely memorable, the parts that weren't blurred by the tequila, anyway.

"Not when I have Rosie to look after." Alex, my best friend exclaims, and I sigh.

Why do I even bother anymore?

I hang up the phone, mentally kicking myself. I should've known that she wouldn't say yes to me, she's extremely busy at home, and although she normally would definitely come to hang out with me, her responsibilities are too monumental too just put off until later.

"Savannah, you're such a fucking idiot. Why would your friend who has a baby come to a party with you?" I angrily whisper to myself, and I groan.

I try calling my other friend, Xiu, more than ten times, but she didn't answer.

What the hell could she be doing?

She has nothing else to do because I know she's not in school.

I try to wonder exactly what it is that she's doing that has her so busy, but then I remember that she's probably spending some much needed time with her parents or she's probably in the middle of work right now.

"Fine, I'll just go by myself." I grumble, and I walk to my bedroom.

I stop by the mirror on the wall, just taking a brief look at myself. My green eyes are wide and alert, but the rest of myself isn't. The rest of me is slumped, dragged down by my fatigue.

There's nothing really special about me. Just your average teenage girl who really has no idea what to do with my life now that I've been out of high school for a while. I definitely know that I'm not alone and that so many other teenagers tend to fall into this stage after high school ends, but for some reason it feels like I'm completely by myself in this situation.

My life has just lost the sparkle it had when I was in school. I seemed so much more vivacious and lively, but now I'm just living an incredibly dull life. High school was supposed to be the part that I dreaded, but it's my life now that is this way.

That's so backwards.

When I graduated, it felt like finally getting released from jail after twelve years. But it wasn't long before I had to return to it, now stuck in an almost identical cycle.

Now I just work, watch television, sleep. It's the same cycle on repeat now, and I'm fucking sick of it. I just wish that my life was actually going somewhere, but currently, it's on a continuous loop, and I can't seem to find a way to make it continue on without any other glitches or bumps.

Both of my best friends, or the only people that I can tolerate because everyone else gets on my nerves are always busy now. We still get together, but it's clear who's the one who's stuck behind in the race to success.