hide n seek | g.d

chapter two | grayson

the car ride was quiet, besides the music on the radio.
I look over at ethan, his hand was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. I wonder what's on his mind.
"you scare me." he says, as if he heard what I was thinking.
I made weird face and looked at him. "why?"
he glared at me for a moment then turned his attention back to the road. "you just tried to get behind the wheel intoxicated. what the fuck do you mean 'why'?" he sighs. I turn my head and look out the window. "sorry." I mumbled.
"you shouldn't be drinking."
I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything.
he glanced over at me a few times but I refused to look over. I know he has good intentions. he's always been the better person, and clearly the stable one.
-
we finally got to the beach and ethan parked his truck in the sand beside our old friend sam.
sam used to come to the house and try to be there for me during my break up but I tried to completely shut him out. I couldn't stand to be around him, it just hurt me more.
did I mention he's vivian's brother?
he knew she was planning on leaving and didn't feel the need to run it across me. he knows where she is.
will he ever tell me? probably not.
I sighed as ethan opened his door and shut it, walking over to the passenger side waiting for me to get out.
I grabbed my bottle out of the cup holder and hopped out, my nerves settling in the bottom of my stomach.
we made our way towards a crowd of people and ethan stayed glued to my side.
"there's my favorite twins!" I heard someone say behind me. I turned and saw my friend calvin jogging up to us.
I gave him a closed smile and gave him a hug. "hey man."
calvin used to be my best friend. we've known each other ever since I move to cali, but it felt like I've known him my whole life. I haven't saw him in months, I've missed him.
"y'all want something to drink?" calvin said. "we've got beer for days." he laughed.
I looked over at ethan, he was contemplating whether or not to drink. he soon said yes and told me he'd be back, leaving me and calvin.
"are you doing okay? I've tried calling and texting you but it gets sent straight to voicemail." he puts his hand over his chest, pretending he's hurt. I laughed at his actions and opened my water bottle, taking a long drink. "I cut my phone off a couple months ago, my therapist said it could help." he nodded at my response and tilted his head. "has it?"
I thought for a moment and shrugged. I don't wake up every morning with a pit of hope in my stomach thinking she'll call. "a little."
he smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "you're a strong person, gray." I smiled at his words and looked around. "wanna do shots?" he said with a smirk.
I snapped my head back towards him and nodded immediately. "hell yeah."
he grinned and started walking towards a small hut, so I followed him.
"we have vodka and fireball." he started, grabbing both bottles. "which do you-"
"vodka." I cut him off. I have a bad problem for doing that.
"alrighty. how many?"
I thought for a moment. "just stop pouring them when I black out."
he slightly widened his eyes and looked at me, but I kept my eyes on the liquor. he thought for a moment but shook his head, grabbing shot glasses and pouring the clear liquid. "let's fucking do it."
-
after about eight shots in, we were laughing so hard we were crying talking about god knows what. I didn't realize how much I missed having a social life until now.
"oh my god, I can't breathe." he said, holding onto the side of the hut for support. I cupped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing, but I couldn't. I was so fucked up.
"come on, we have to go find ethan." I said, finally getting a hold of myself. he stood up straight and we started walking back towards a swarm of people.
me and calv looked around for ethan but I didn't see him anywhere. he must've went night swimming. I shrugged and turned towards the ocean, squinting my eyes and scanning the horizon. I was suddenly knocked out of focus when someone fell into me. My eyes went wide and I attempted to grab their waist and balance us both, but I ended up falling in the sand, and they fell on me.
I let out a small grunt and closed my eyes because of the impact, but I was too drunk to feel anything.
"shit, I'm so sorry." a girls voice said.
I opened and averted my eyes to a small figure on my lap, shooting a glare at her friends who were laughing and quickly standing up brushing the sand off her clothes. she reached her hand out to try to help me stand up, but as soon as I pulled down on her arm, she fell again.
on top of me.
"fuck." I mumbled. "sorry."
she laughed and looked down at me. "it's okay. what's your name?"
I looked up at her and studied her face. she was pretty, gorgeous even. she had striking blue eyes and long black hair. she stared back at me waiting for a response. I felt something in the bottom of my stomach but I ignored it and looked away.
"grayson."
she nodded and stood up, and I felt calvin lifted me up from behind.
"you good, man?" he said with a worrisome tone. I nodded but that feeling in my stomach came back.
I held my stomach with my hand and quickly scurried away from the crowd. I soon fell to the ground and threw up. I sat there for a few minutes with my head in my hands. my head was pounding.
perks of getting hammered: having fun for 30 minutes
nothing else
I heard footsteps behind me but didn't turn around, thinking it was just calvin.
"here, look at me."
I turned around and it was that girl again. she had medicine in one hand and a water bottle in the other. who brings ibuprofen with them to a party?
"I don't drink, I keep it in my car for my friends." she said. I looked at her confused, but then I realized I said what I was thinking out loud. I reluctantly took the small pills out of her hand and took them, chugging the water right after.
"feel better?" she said softly, bending down so that she was eye level with me.
I nodded.
"I'm alexandria, but you can call me alex. saves you time and energy."
I looked over at her and gave a small smile. "thanks for the medicine, alex."
she smiled back at me. "how much did you drink?"
I let a huff and looked straight ahead. "not enough." I could feel her still staring at me so I turned back to look at her after a few seconds.
"why don't you drink?"
her eyes flickered from her hands back to me. "I'm not legal."
I let out a laugh and shook my head. "neither is anyone at this party but look at them."
she laughed with me and scanned over at the crowd of people dancing and playing beer pong under a tent a few yards away from us.
we talked for a while after that about everything under the sun, until I saw a figure running towards us and my name being called.
"yes?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
the figure got closer and I could finally make out the face.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," ethan said out of breath, his eyes glancing over at alex and then back to me. "am I interrupting?"
I shook my head and introduced alex to him. he swiftly bent down and shook her hand and then looked back to me.
"we need to leave," he started. "meet me at the truck in five." before I could even respond, he turned his back and starting jogging towards his truck, looking towards the crowd a few times before disappearing. what's the rush?
I rubbed the back of my neck and stood up, turning to look down at alex's small body.
"it's been nice meeting you, grayson." she said with a small smile. "I hope you feel better tomorrow morning."
I smiled back at her and gave a small wave. as she began to walk away, a part of me screamed that I should get her number. that gives me an excuse to get my phone turned back on. but another part of me told me it was too soon to move on.
I sighed and let her be. she probably wouldn't have given it to me anyways.
I dragged my feet towards ethan's truck and felt regret wash over me and I shook my head at myself.
damn it, grayson.
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hmmmmmm fuck