sympathy ~ e.d.

XXII

'I'm heading to some friends, I'll see you in a minute', Ethan shouts in my ear over the loud music. Great. I know no-one here. I just see some familiar faces of people who probably attend my school. I look around and my eye falls upon a girl. She is looking really mad while yelling and tries to hit the guy in front of her but he stops her. 

Then she stomps down the stairs and into the kitchen. I know I shouldn't be looking at her, but she captured my eye. I shake my head and start walking. I'll see where I end up, this place doesn't seem to big. 

I end up outside. The music is way less loud here and there are fewer people. I shouldn't have let myself get persuaded to go to this party. Well, I can say I'm an experience richer. It isn't what I would consider fun, nor a 'small get-together' as Ethan had claimed. It's also really annoying that he just left, but I understand it. 

I look over to my left and see two girls making out on full display. I quickly turn my head the other way and see even more drunk people kissing. This was not why I headed outside. I wanted some quiet or something resembling quietness. 

I finally spot someone sitting alone by a tree and reluctantly head over there. The tree is rather close to the end of the garden, so I'll hopefully be more alone. Except for that person then. 

When I come closer, I realize it's the girl from before. She is holding a bottle to her lips. Her mascara is running down her cheeks and her curls are a complete mess, covering a big part of her forehead. She takes a huge gulp from the liquid, which appears to be really strong, and leans her head back against the tree. 

All of a sudden, she lets out a scream. I jump up, slightly startled. She notices me jumping and just looks at me. She is not looking too well, it seems like she needs help. Since no-one appears to be around, I decide to ask her. 

'Are you alright?' 'Do I look alright? My fucking dick of a boyfriend cheated on me. And that pathetic sociopath told all my friends he was the one who broke it off with me because I was unfaithful. Those bitches believed the fucking fucker as well. I feel like fucking shit, so why not drink my problems away for a second?' She holds the bottle up to me as if she were to toast, but downs some more of it. 

That is probably the most times I've heard 'fuck' in somewhat under a minute. I lower myself onto the grass next to her. I should get that bottle away from her. She looks pretty wasted already and nowhere near stopping. 

'Well, that fucker was a white bitch anyway. His parents were such racists! They like almost had a fucking shrine for the fucking KKK or something. When I left their house, I could hear them ask him why he chose a black girl. Those fuckers! I'm going to fuck up their perfect little lawn with those motherfucking white gnomes!' I can't help but let out a small chuckle at her frustrated statement. 

She simply looks in front of her and takes another sip. 'Can I have some?' I ask her. 'Why not?' She hands me the bottle and looks in front of her again. I place it down on the other side of me, out of her sight. 

'What's your name?' 'Oh we're starting that bullshit, aren't we? Well, I'm Des. Technically Desiree but no. What's with the cast on your arm? You are really pretty by the way', she is smiling at me and pets my cheek a few times. I smile somewhat uncomfortably at her. 'Thank you, I'm Zera. And I broke my arm.' 'Oh, that's too bad. I've heard of you, though, I think. My friends, well those snitches that claim they're my friends said you were a veeerry, um, ugly overdramatic slut. But you're so pretty.'

Well, that stung just a bit, knowing what others think of me. I ignore it and I see that Des seems to be a bit more content now. She had laid her head down on my shoulder, her curls tickling my cheek. She then started playing with her hands. Her eyes were really focused on the little game she was doing. She was tapping all the fingers of her right hand with her left pointer finger, occasionally missing a finger. I watched her do that for a while.

All of a sudden she stops. 'You are so nice. And pretty. And I love your outfit. Can you please take me to the party again so I can hit my ex? I really want to punch him.' She stands up. Her balance is not really good, she nearly falls over. Her heels are still sitting against the tree. She apparently took them off when she sat down.  While she is wobbling back towards the party, I quickly grab those. 

The second Desiree makes her way into the house, it seems like the volume of the music had been turned lower. People are noticing her and some are even shouting offensive stuff. I feel bad for the girl, she didn't do anything wrong. She seemingly doesn't let it get to her, she walks on with her head held high, barefoot through the crowd. 

'Hey Des! How was the little adventure you just had? Want one with me too?' 'Hey, you hoe! Call me when you want a piece of this.' 'Hey, you little slut. So glad your boyfriend left you. He didn't deserve you anyway', a girl says to her with a mean look in her eye.

I make my way through the crowd. Their attention had worn off a bit and most were back to what they were doing before Des walked in. 

I hook my arm into the girl's and lead her to the front door. I sit her down on the porch step. 

'You are really fucking nice', she mumbles. A small smile creeps up my lips. I am glad I decided to help her. 'You need to get home. How did you get here?' She mumbles something I can barely understand but I think she said she drove here with friends. 

She falls asleep on my shoulder, but her head leans forward too much and falls off. I gently grab her head and place it on my lap, debating what to do now. Des seems fast asleep and I have no clue how to deal with this situation. I grab my phone and dial Ethan's number, hoping I'm not bothering him. 

He picks up, but can't understand a word of what I'm saying. At least, that's what he is screaming into the phone over the loud music. He hangs up on me. Then I receive a text from him. 'Where are you?' 'Front porch step', I reply and turn my phone off again when I feel Des moving. 

A few minutes later, Ethan arrives. 'Hey, you alright? I was looking for you but I couldn't find you anywhere, I'm so sorry I left you, wait, is that Desiree?' 

'Yeah. She passed out after a bit too many drinks. Do you know what to do now?' 'Well, we can't just leave her here. Um, we can take her back to mine, I guess.' He walks over in front of me and picks up Desiree from my lap like it's nothing. 'You little weird Ray', I swear I hear him mumble.