Right Here (Chase Atlantic)

CHAPTER SEVEN

The night continues on, yet I'm still frightened from what Christian had said to me before. His strange behaviour put me on edge, and I wasn't sure if I'm meant to be keeping an eye on Mitchel or Christian.

I never suspected any tension between the two when we were standing around talking. Mitchel never noticed the way Christian started acting towards him, and if he did it certainly didn't bother him, not even the slightest.

"I'm so excited for the next tour!" Jesse exclaims loudly into Christian's and I's ears. We both wince at the volume of his voice. Not too long after Christian turned, Jesse had decided to plant his overly drunk self in between us on the small couch. He had been rambling on about how happy he was in life, how much he loved taking his dog to the beach and just how much he loved his dog in general. At one point he even started crying about how cute his dog is, which resulted in me laughing so hard I nearly choked multiple times.

"That's nice, so am I." Christian responds as he pats Jesse's back softly. He had been responding and keeping the conversation flowing with Jesse while I sat here bursting out in fits of laughter. Christian seems so experienced with how to handle drunk people, and I surely wasn't.

Surprisingly Christian seems interested in all the conversations he has is having with drunk Jesse, and I wasn't sure if it's because Jesse never voices his thoughts like this when he's sober or just because Christian is bored. However, when watching the two of them you couldn't miss the strong admiration in each other's eyes when they look at each other. They must have been stuck together for awhile to be so close.

I decide to turn my attention elsewhere as Jesse and Christian spoke about the things they were to do on tour. I notice Mitchel sitting across the room with a group of guys. He definitely is pushing his boundaries by the amount he is drinking. I watch as he stumbles around just while sitting. The group of guys were basically on the same page as him with how drunk they were.

I ignore the two mumbling next to me as I stare at Mitchel and the group. Something suspicious is definitely going on between all of them because they had gone from yelling to talk to each other, as if they were across the room to small, low whispers into each other's ears. Mitchel is among them, and I could even see the mysterious looks on their faces as if they are up to something. I faintly hear Christian mutter 'here we go.'

"I'll be right back." I turn my head to say to Jesse and Christian however I don't take my eyes off Mitchel.

"Olivia, I don't think you should–" Christian rushes but before he finishes I get up and walk quickly towards the group. Once I get there I stand behind where Mitchel is sitting. He doesn't turn around but I know that he realises I'm behind him.

"Oh hey there!" One of the guys shout next to Mitchel. I nod at him and he grins, displaying his yellow teeth. "You come for a sneaky one haven't you?" He asks as he laughs while everyone around him join in. However, Mitchel stays silent yet he is still tipsy in his seat.

"Excuse me?" I frown and tilt my head, making some of the people around laugh even harder.

"Now, now, no need to act shy. We're all here for the same reason." I feel the lines on my forehead and between my eyebrows crease even further as I frown harder. I'm so confused, I thought everyone was here for an after party?

"Bring it out already!" Another voice yells out from the group. The man grins wickedly and pulls out quite a large packet of white powder. I gasp softly and realise it's cocaine. Excited whoops from the group erupt as they push and shove to rip it apart.

"Oi, come down! One at a time!" The man shouts as he opens the packet and passes out small pinches of the powder along the table. I watch as they don't bother to turn form it into straight lines. They're all so eager to have the drug fill their veins to take them away. My heart sinks as I watch them frantically try to grasp more. The pinch is put in front of Mitchel but I can't seem to stop myself. I place a hand on his shoulder as he to moves towards the powerful drug excitedly.

"You don't have to." I whisper to him, making sure he can hear while everyone else has gone back to their conversations. "Don't be silly, Mitchel. Make a good decision." Mitchel is still as a statue under my touch as I try to rub his shoulder reassuringly, to show that I'm here.

"Let the man do what he wants to do." The same man from before says, irritation starting to fill his voice. "You have no control over him."

I turn around angrily to face the man. "And you do?" I spit out and all the conversations around us go silent, while all the eyes stare at the commotion between the man and I.

"Of course I do, we've been doing this for ages. Why else do you think I'm here? Why do you think we're all here?" He laughs wickedly as everyone around us nods. I huff in disbelief, in fact I'm a little frightened since I've never been involved in a situation like this before. Sure I had been involved in situations with weed, but nothing stronger. Nothing as powerful as cocaine. "You can't just waltz your little ass in here, flashing your backstage photographer pass around and act like you belong here. You don't, and I wonder who had so much sympathy and pity for you that they invited you here."

Tears form my eyes at how strong his words bite and sting. "Mitchel, please." A small sob escapes my lips as I clench his shirt in my hands.

"Don't listen to her mate, the poor girl is begging. But don't they all?" He asks and everyone once again erupts into overly loud laughter.

"Please, Olivia. Don't." He mutters angrily before shoving his hand off of his shoulder. His back still is facing me and he hadn't bothered to turn around and look me in the eye. "You don't even know me, you're just a photographer." He spat it out like venom before dashing towards the cocaine. He sniffs it up and sighs as he leans back against the couch happily and relaxed.

I sniffles and look across the room and see Jesse passed out and Christian sitting there watching with a sad and tired look on his face. He knows what his friend is going through, yet he hasn't even tried to stop it.

My heart sank even more before it all became too much. I felt so much pity for these people, and those words that had come out of not only the old man's mouth stung, but somehow Mitchel's stung a lot harder.

I run out the room while I cover my mouth from sobbing as tears roll down my cheeks.

I knew I didn't fit there, so why do I bother trying?