Damaged

Five

5

"Where were you this morning, Lett?" Aaron asked when I found him and the other guys at school.

"I slept in the park last night and my phone died," I explained, taking Aaron's spliff and breathing deeply.

Aaron frowned. "I thought you were staying at JC and Kai's."

I shrugged and looked away from him. I didn't want him to know that I'd chickened out and slept in the park because my friend had drunkenly made a move on me. I was supposed to be stronger than that. If only they knew.

The bell trilled, signalling the beginning of what I would come to know as my day of Hell. It started out alright, with Daniel absent from my first two classes. I wondered vaguely where he might be considering he seemed perfectly fine this morning, but I dismissed my thoughts when I saw Mason with a basketball, heading around the back of the main building.

With a smile, I followed him and found the guys blowing smoke rings out their noses. I laughed. "Are you gunna give me some of that?" I asked JC, who still had most of what looked like a joint. We passed it back and forth for the entirety of our break until the bell rang and we had to go back into class.

During physics, in which I was attentively drooling on my desk at how hot Mr James was, Aaron leaned back in his chair and whispered, "Want to come out to a party tonight, Lettie?"

Despite the fact that it was only Tuesday and we all had school, I agreed. It wasn't uncommon for us to go to parties through the week. It stemmed from a lack of caring about our futures. I didn't know who and I didn't much care, but it was apparently someone's birthday today, hence the party with free grog and – most likely – trashy music.

The school day ended with still no sighting of Daniel so I rode home to change clothes with a smile and a lightness in my chest. Until I saw that he was still there. With a heavy sigh, the elation evacuated from my chest and left me feeling bitter and angry. Storming inside and slamming the front door, I quickly changed clothes, noting even in my rage that I hadn't seen either of my parents yet.

When I walked out of my room and found mum's door closed, I realised exactly where both of them were. Ew. I screwed up my face and threw my leather jacket back on as I stepped outside, mounting my bike, and speeding off to Aaron's house.

It didn't take long, he lived in the same area of the city as me, the not so wealthy one. Mason was there, a beer in his hand as he watched Aaron play a racing game, cheering him on. "Lettie's here!" he exclaimed as I let myself in.

I couldn't help smiling. There was a reason these guys were my lifeline. They could all manage to make my existence that bit more bearable when it felt impossible. With a grin, I ran up and launched myself onto Mase's back, wrapping my legs around his middle. "Giddy-up, Mason horsey!" I commanded and pointed down the hallway, shrieking when Mason gripped my legs and took off.

"Don't break anything, you two!" I heard Aaron yell and I laughed in response. Eventually, Mason put me down and the twins showed up, so we could finally leave for the party.

The birthday girl was a 'friend' of Aaron's and the two disappeared shortly after we arrived at her house. I headed off with the other guys to find something to drink and de-stress. God knew I needed to loosen up a little and forget some things. I downed a couple of shots of whiskey, put my hair up in a messy bun, and started dancing to the thumping music that my heart had started to beat in time with.

!#!

I didn't know how long I'd been there, but the party was getting boring. I was drunk, tired, and bored. It may not make much sense to you that I was both drunk and bored, but when you spend a lot of time in such a state, it becomes fairly common.

I was sitting in a soft armchair, admiring the red flower embroidery when a body blocked out the light, sending me and the armchair into darkness. "Hey arsehole!" I yelled, looking upwards but not able to see the guy's face, "Get out of the light and let me see the red pretties!"

"Red pretties? What drugs are you on?" the annoyingly familiar voice of Daniel the yo-yo guy asked. I frowned and tried to ignore him, focusing again on the chair. The dickhead bent over and put his face next to mine. "I think you're pissed, Lettie," he said in a condescending tone.

I glared at him. "Only my friends call me Lettie. You don't get to, Yo-Yo."

Daniel stood up with a confused expression. "Yo-Yo? What the fuck?" Running a hand through his black hair, he sighed. "Let's go, Scarlett." With that, he grabbed my arm and dragged me through the house and out the front door. "Do you want to do something fun?" he asked.

In my intoxicated state, I didn't realise that leaving my friends, while drunk, in a part of the city I didn't know well, with a person I didn't know well probably wasn't smart. But then again, even when my mind was sound, my decisions weren't always that smart anyway. With a smile, I nodded. "Let's go, Yo-Yo. I'm bored!"

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