Fortitude

Chapter 8: Humiliation and Betrayal

Song that inspired me to write this chapter:

Way Down We Go - Kaleo

Valerie's POV

5 years ago...

The party inside was raging, music blaring, Juniors and Seniors getting wasted, and even a few Freshmen like me.

Everyone was having a good time, laughing and dancing, more like grinding against each other repeatedly, but oh well.

Everyone but me.

What about me? Well, I just caught my boyfriend shamelessly cheating on me with some Senior whore. You know, regular Saturday night.

How could he do this to me? In front of half the school? How could he humiliate me like that? I was falling for him, and I thought he felt the same way. I was even gonna have my first time tonight, with him. Good thing I haven't. Turned out he was a piece of crap, like every single person in that frat house.

I couldn't help the tears falling down my cheeks, I was a mess.

Stop it, Valerie. Get your shit together. He didn't deserve you, and he shouldn't make you feel that way.

Pathetic.

Humiliated.

An idiot.

Go in, walk past him, flip your hair, and show him what he's lost.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

Walking back in, with all the stares and the whispers around me, I barely made it to the kitchen before crying again.

I couldn't take it anymore. I needed something to make me forget all about tonight, all about him.

Tony and his small group of friends were watching me, and I felt a shiver running down my spine.

They'd always creeped me out, with all the drugs and being psycho rumors.

One of them - his name was Jake - approached me, offering me his half empty bottle of vodka.

"You look like you need this." he said, pushing the bottle against my hand.

I wasn't thinking straight, I was angry, and upset, and ashamed of myself.

So I took it and drank what was left of it.

Tony's group started whistling and laughing, as Jake grinned down at me.

"Damn. That was fast,"

My palms were sweating, my throat burned.
My head was starting to hurt really bad.

I've never been one to drink at parties, my friends even used to make fun of me and call me 'Zero Tolerance' sometimes.