When I Die [Wattys 2016]

Chapter 17: Party Fouls

Hi everyone! This chapter is a bit long... I also want to note that several months have passed in this story. It is well noted in the text, but wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page to avoid confusion. Please enjoy, vote and comment! :)

I staggered forward, into the living room. I watched them, her, smiling into his neck. Him, kissing her, whispering into her ear.
The most recent shots were warming up my body and starting to take effect.
"Hey!" I shouted, but they didn't stop. They didn't look up. "Hey, stop!" I yelled again. Reid was begging me to come back into the kitchen, and I heard him very vaguely. I ignored him, and it was easy.
Danny was on top of her now, and they were kissing and kissing more, hands moving all over and I hobbled forward, using all the control I had left. I grabbed the hood of his hoodie, and pulled, but I was weak. I couldn't grab him. I wanted to throw him down, maybe even just pull him off of her, but I couldn't even do that.
"Hey, man, what the fuck?" He said, turning around. His eyes were bleary, as if his body was full of liquor and you could see it measured up to his eyeballs, like the side of a 7-11 cup. He didn't register who I was at first. I'd changed. I expected him to hit me, and I braced for impact.
May fixed her shirt which was pulled up a little, exposing her belly button. Her hair was disheveled, but she was beautiful. She looked absolutely mortified.
I looked back at Danny. Someone cut the music, and I took a breath before starting the diatribe I'd been preparing for so long,
"How can you do this? Okay? I... Really I don't get it..."
Whew. Words were hard. I tried again. "You... We were together, and I loved you. I loved you so much. And you are with him, and you're here, and you were in that truck. I saw you in that truck, May..."
May's eyes were wide. That secret was good to let go of, it felt good to pass it from me to her. I wanted to share that bad feeling with her.
"I saw you... And you..." I turned to Danny then, "You knew she was my girlfriend." I tried my best to keep my voice steady. Everyone was watching, with eyes wide and mouths open, they were murmuring.
"And fuck you, okay? With your stupid fucking band, and your stupid fucking clothes. With your stupid fucking money..." The alcohol was really making thoughts difficult. I had so much I wanted to say and none of the ability to say it.
I screamed then, "Fuck you!"
Danny got mad then, his face muscles tensed up. His fists were clenched, and that's when I remembered his anger problem. He threw her books down, he fought with her at school, he could probably kill me.
I turned my attention back to her, then, "I don't even understand why you're with this guy! I never threw your fucking books down. I never hurt you. I never did any of that stuff! You told me I wasn't adventurous or exciting! Is this adventurous and exciting? Throwing your books?"
Her mouth was open, like she was choking on words, but she was speechless. She had tears in her eyes, or maybe that was the alcohol.
Danny said, "Hey shut the fuck up, dude," to me, and then jumped forward, I saw his fist coming for me. I flinched, but there was no impact.
When I opened my eyes, Reid was standing there, he had his hands on Danny's chest, stopping him from moving forward.
I assessed the situation to the best of my ability, which wasn't much.
Danny's face was twisted up in anger, he was furious.
"Get out of the way, Miller," he said through clenched teeth.
Reid stood there, valiant, brave, his face didn't even look angry.
"C'mon, Dan, just leave," he said, calmly.
I stepped backwards. Alcohol was impairing me a lot, like, a lot a lot. I was dizzy, so dizzy.
That's when Danny backed up away from Reid, straightened his hoodie back out, as if he wasn't threatened.
"Whatever," he said, "I can't fight him anyway, I mean, what's under that hat, Hendricks?"
Oof. I'd almost forgotten.
Reid bucked back up at Danny then, and sent a swift punch across Danny's cheek.
"No! Don't hit him! Stop!" May shouted, hysterical. Typical. She was sitting forward on the couch now, getting up.
Danny stuck a hand up to his cheek, and for a second, was about to fight back. That's when Alan stepped forward, coming in from the backyard, and I imagine he'd heard the whole thing, or at least had been caught up.
He said, "Hey, Dan, it's time to leave, I want you to go." Danny held a hand over his jaw, and laughed darkly, "Keep an eye out, Hendricks. When that hair sprouts back, I'll have no problem finishing you," he threatened, turning and grabbing his coat from the couch, he laughed and said, "if the cancer doesn't finish you first."
I wish I could say his words didn't get to me, but they did.
He turned and walked towards the front door, parting an awe-stricken audience. May gave Reid, Alan and I a dirty look, following behind him like a scared puppy.
Alan stepped into the middle of the room after the door closed behind them, and turned the music back on, he smiled, trying to break the tension.
"C'mon guys what's a party without a little drama? Everyone! Shots!"
Shots were the solution to everyone's problems, all the problems, but they couldn't fix mine.
The party resumed, everyone started talking and dancing and drinking again. A large group of them followed Alan to the kitchen where he poured up more shots, and passed them around.
Reid turned to me, "man, you okay?" I blinked. I didn't know what to say. I didn't get to say anything I wanted to say. He didn't want to fight me because I'm weak. I am weak, I thought. I'm so weak. And I knew my face told him I wasn't okay.
"C'mon, man, it's okay. Don't worry about it," he assured me. I nodded. Okay. This is okay.
My whole body was so hot. I felt like I was radiating heat. I felt like I was panting. Reid convinced me to step outside in the back with him for a breath of fresh air. I knew it was cold, my body had goosebumps all over, and I'd left my coat inside, but I felt warm still. There were a few people outside, talking. We found Eno and Rudy, taking sips out of a bottle by a large hedge. We walked over to them, and I sat down on a retaining wall that divided the yard from the giant hill in the back.
"You good man?" Reid asked.
"Mm-hmm," I managed. I wasn't doing great, actually. There was a lot of whiskey in me and the weed was making the ground blend together. I was really dizzy, and really really sad. Something I learned about alcohol is that, it can either be very very good or very very bad. When my mood was great, so was I, and alcohol was fun. But when things went south, they went way, way south, thanks to alcohol. And weed. And alcohol and weed were great together at first, but not now. I wanted it to be over now.
I laid my head in my hands, trying in vain to stop the world from spinning around me while I sat still.
Eno laughed, "tough night, eh?"
Reid laughed too. "Yeah, things got a little tense," and then Rudy chuckled,
"Yeah, man we saw. You were like a friggin' super hero, bro," I heard him pat Reid's back. They were bonding. They kept talking and I zoned them out. I couldn't believe May left with him. I was so mad at her. He wasn't the one that broke our relationship, he wasn't even in our relationship. She was. And she's the one who made a promise to me. And she is the one who broke it. I sighed.
"Why? Why didn't she love me? I loved her. Why?" I whined, and Reid looked at me with apologetic eyes.