No Way (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 9

Ella

The rich kids lead me to a dark room deep inside the mansion. Zach shoves me in first and I stumble. The light flickers on and the room is illumined in purple and green. My eyes widen as I take it in. A big couch is pushed up against one wall. Bean bags are on either side of it and in front of it there's a mini fridge,coffee table, and flat screen TV.

In one corner is a photo booth and in another is a small bed. A bar is on the last wall. The room is painted black and red with a staircase in between the bed and photo booth. I look up and see it leads to a loft with another bed and couch. A smaller TV is up there, too.

After taking it all in, the only word that comes out of my mouth is,"Woah."

I hear Shauna mutter "wow" under her breath as she steps in besides me. "Do you like it?" Antonio whispers into my ear. I look over at him, my eyes still wide.

"I hate you rich kids." I breathe as I walk over to the couch and sit down, gently, when really I just want to kick the shit out of it. It's annoying and frustrating and upsetting that while they get everything they want and are going to parties, I'm running from the police and barely able to buy groceries.

"Are you okay, Ella? You look upset." Ana says, genuinely concerned. Screw that rich bitch for being so nice. I take deep breaths and glare at the rich snobs gathered in the doorway.

"I'm fine." I snap. Shauna seems to understand why I'm upset because she rests a hand on my shoulder and gives me a sympathetic look. I can see pain in her eyes too, though. She has barely anything too and she's just as jealous as me.

"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Caine asks as he falls onto the couch next to me. I stand up, not really wanting to sit by people. Especially not rich people. 

"What does Ella and Shauna wanna do?" Gabriel says, nicely as he looks over at us. Damn it. They're making it really hard for me to be angry.

"Um, I dunno. Do you have alcohol?" Shauna replies. I mentally face palm myself as Shauna pulls out her pack of cigarettes. I grab them and shove them into my hoodie's pocket with a fierce glare. Her eyes widen and she ducks her head down in realization.

"Yeah. We got alcohol. What do you want?" Zach answers smoothly.

"I'll have some beer." Claudia says as she snuggles into one of the bean bags.

"Bud light for me." Ana sits in the bean bag next to Claudia.

"Vodka for me, please." Caine tells Zach.

"Amurilla." Gabriel keeps it short and simple.

"The usual." Antonio sits next to Caine on the couch.

"Girls?" Zach looks over at us as he pours the drinks for the others.

"Whiskey for both of us." Shauna answers before I can. She grins and falls backwards onto the bed in the corner. I roll my eyes and huff in annoyance, crossing my arms. She ignores me and wraps herself up in the blankets. Well, she obviously likes that bed.

"Hey, Ella! Come sit by us!" Gabriel pats the spot in between him and Antonio. I really don't want to sit by them but decide it would be rude if I didn't. I sigh and sit down. Zach hands out drinks and instead of a glass, he hands me a bottle. I look up at him, surprised. He winks and grins at me.

"I think you can use it, sweetheart." He says. I grin back and tilt my head back, taking a swig. I'm not going to argue if he's letting me have the good kind of whiskey.

"Guys, let's dance!" Claudia whines, a half hour later. Her beer is half empty and she's devouring a bag of sour gummy worms. I'm working my way through a bag of Kit Kat's. We're all drinking and eating candy. The candy was Gabriel's idea.