Somebody Else ✔

Pretty Little Liars.

Sam.

Edited.

My Mama's had my siblings and I held onto that thought, as a cold calm washed over me, and goosebumps appeared on my skin.

I wandered aimlessly into my house, shadowed by Corey at every turn, until I knelt down on the kitchen floor and began to clear the shattered glass. I folded it in newspaper and trying not to touch the bits with blood streaked over them.

From the lounge room, I could hear the TV playing. The news was on. Michael Rose's conviction had been overturned. I cocked my head to the side and watched the man who first sold my dad heroin swagger on the screen.

I sat amongst the glass, head in my hands and squinted at his figure, smiling wildly like Landon would.

"I'm gonna shower her."

I felt someone's arms wrap around my waist and haul me up, the glass cracking underneath our feet as she led me away.

"Corey," I said, my head spinning and a smile of disbelief etched onto my face.

She swallowed and gritted her teeth. "It's gonna be fine."

Fine? My Dad collapsed in the kitchen half an hour before, and when he did he shattered the glass he was holding and cut himself accidentally - and now I was covered in - oh God, I was covered in - it was Dads blood.

Corey brought me into the bathroom, where I gripped onto the door frame and dug my nails into the metal. My breathing was so quick and so shallow I could feel my lungs shrinking and throat closing.

Corey, she picked me up from behind and yanked me into the bathroom. "Alright, take a deep breath, breathe deep."

She pushed me up on the bathroom counter top, sending my collected makeup and skin care products sprawling into the sink.

Corey tugged at my clothes and put them in a pile, careful not to let them touch the white walls. I tucked my knees up underneath my chin and caught the time on her phone as she placed it down beside me.

It was past midnight.

"Its my birthday tomorrow," I laughed.

Corey nodded and smiled, tying up my hair. "It is, and we're gonna go to the city, have some dinner, get you drunk legally, it's gonna be fun."

"I'm gonna spend it in a hospital."

Corey stepped back from me, her tongue poking her lip. She rubbed her nose and glanced at the ceiling. She stayed silent, but grabbed my clothes and ran out for a moment. Through the door I thought she told Alex to burn them.

Corey left me only for a moment, and I stood, naked, in the bathroom. My head hummed and I pressed my fingers against my lips to stop them from trembling, as I began to cry.

I sunk down to the ground, and laid my face flat against the cold tiles. "This isn't my fault," I began to mumble to myself, my vision tilting. "This isn't my fault," I said and my hands shook.

Corey came back in, and gasped at the sight of me. She helped me into the shower, her hands washing the blood from my skin as the water ran warm over my body.

I managed to dress myself, with Corey holding me steady the whole time. She wrapped me in a dressing robe and a blanket, to try and stop my shivering, and led me back out into the lounge room.

Jace was in my house, talking to Alex, his hands on his shoulders. Alex was chewing on his lip and Jace shook his head.

"Hi Jacey! You missed all the fun!" I threw my hands in the air, and Jace cast a glance to Alex.

"Shit Sammy, you okay?" He asked me, pulling me into an embrace. "I wanna kick someone's ass on your behalf."

"I'm okay." I poked him in the cheek and got him to smile. "What happened to the party?"

"Oh, it got shut down," he said, glancing at Corey. "Finch chewed a hole in his cheek, blood just fell out of his mouth."

"He good now?"

I didn't hear the answer, instead I walked back to my bed room. I pressed and pressed my nails into my palms as I frowned, my mouth open, thinking of Finchy Rogers chewing holes into his cheek, and it just made my head spin harder.

I crawled into my bed, the low hum the fan above me was giving off was enough to cause me to grit my teeth.

Corey took my laptop, she put on Pretty Little Liars. I was taken back to long summer nights curled up on a blanket in my backyard, underneath the stars, watching the show. It reminded me of when we used to think we were invincible, walking around York Catholic College and running it how we saw fit.

Now I sat, squinting at my laptop screen. My face was numb. "Is my dad gonna be okay?"

"Let's call Izzy."

"Did she smell like smoke before?"

"Oh, totally." Corey shook her head and chewed on her cheek. The phone rang for a moment and Corey placed it on speaker phone once Izzy picked up. "Bub, what's going on?"

I heard Izzy sniff. "Um, so they gave him an adrenaline shot. And he's gonna be okay. He's currently out to it, on a drip. They think he's gonna be okay though. Sammy? He'll be okay."

I was crying again, in Corey's arms. She soothed me, handing me a cup of water and rubbing my hand.

"That's good news," she said, trying to get me to smile.

"Your mum says she's gonna stay the night here, with him."

"I don't want her to be alone."

"Cole and I will stay," Izzy said and I leaned harder onto Corey, rubbing my head with my palm.

"How's Cole? With his dad?"

"Oh, fucked. He won't talk about it." She stopped to draw a breath and lower her voice. "Michael Rose is gonna be released."

"Oh, I heard."

"He's invited me over for tea?" Izzy said, breathlessly, laughing.

I fell back against the headboard of my bed and covered my face with a pillow, screaming into it.