III. Lights
"I am so glad your parents agreed to let us go." Danielle breathed out as we made our way out of a casino. The only reason they agreed was because Adam said he would stay with us - which he has. He'd been trailing behind us most of the time, just following wherever we went. Danielle and I had picked up some fake ID's last year when Adam had first met her and invited us to go to the bar with him and a few friends.
"I'm glad my brother isn't a jackass." I laughed and glanced behind us, giving him a big grin that he just returned, laughing in agreement. My brother knew it was stupid to try to mess with me, anyway, so I think we both had agreed at a young age to just get along and make life easy. We were like a dynamic duo trained in the art of fucking shit up.
"I love you guys." Danielle laughed out loud, probably drunk off of her ass. Adam came up next on the other side of Danielle and she stumbled over, dropping her arms around both of our necks. Adam shot me a look and I nodded, knowing he was telling me we needed to get her back to the hotel.
"Love you, too. We're going back to the hotel now, Elle." I rubbed her lower back, urging her to turn around and we started walking back to the parking lot that we had parked in. Adam had offered to be the designated driver tonight as long as I drove back tomorrow afternoon. Obviously, I had agreed.
The walk back was fairly quiet and I appreciated the silence for once. My head had started to pound from the bright lights and alcohol. I decided to take a shower and head straight to bed once we got back. I glanced at my phone and discovered it was already well past three in the morning. I was going to be exhausted.
***
"Get inside, quick!" Adam yelled, grabbing his bag and booking it into the house. Driving into town, the rain clouds had gathered and it began pouring down hard. Each of us had managed to grab our belongings and get inside without becoming too horribly drenched, but we weren't exactly dry, either.
"Shit! I didn't know it was going to rain today." I mumbled under my breath, sliding my sweater off of my cold arms. My mom shot me a look for my language, but I just rolled my eyes. She left the area, probably heading towards the kitchen to start heating up some food for her freezing kids and her favorite friend of ours.
I had never understood why my mother loved Danielle so much at first, but after I walked in on them talking, I got it. Danielle had a way with words and knew the exact key points to flatter a woman such as my mother right out of her pants. Not literally, but she made my mom love her- probably - more than she loved me.
"Let's go get changed." Danielle grabbed my hand, dragging me up the stairs and into my room. Despite her smaller frame, the girl had a death grip that nearly left bruises on my wrist. She slammed my door shut and gestured me towards the bed. By the time we had gotten home, it was about eight at night and my mom had agreed to let Danielle spend the night.
"Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid last night. Especially anything involving Adam." She glanced at me with pleading eyes as she stripped down to her under garments. I shook my head, stifling a yawn as I pulled on my sweats.
"No, you fell asleep before we reached the car." I shrugged on my favorite big t-shirt and took my best friend's hand and directed her to the kitchen. Just as I suspected, my mother had made three cups of hot cocoa and a tray of warm peanut butter cookies. My eyes rolled back at the delicious smell and I hurried to my place at the table, ready to devour the entire plate.
"Share." Such a simple word, yet held so much devastation for me. I groaned in protest, but placed an even amount of cookies on each of the three plates and sadly munched on a cookie. The room was quiet as Danielle sipped on her mug and I chewed on the soft cookies. It was a good ten minutes before Adam came downstairs and I watched him intently as he found his seat. There was something different about him but I couldn't figure out what it was.
Danielle looked between my brother and me, obviously uncomfortable with being seated between the two of us. She dropped her head and gazed down at her lap, not speaking nor reaching for the treat sitting before her. I slowed my own chewing and looked sideways at my best friend.
Within a moment, my brother got up and left the room, leaving his own plate behind on the table. I looked at the place where he turned the corner, my brows furrowed.
"What the hell.." I muttered before turning back to my best friend and watching as she brought her mug back to her lips and began sipping again. I just shook my head and sighed, taking my brothers cookies and finishing up my own.
***
School is a bitch.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but sometimes I really do hate school. I can't stand being around so many people. It's a wonder how I manage to have fun in Las Vegas. The place is packed so tight, I'm surprised there was enough oxygen for all of us to live. I think I only live because of the alcohol.
My fourth period was probably the worst hell of all. It would have been fine had I not been late to class, but I got a bit caught up in something..
"Um, excuse me? Do you mind if I, uh, use my locker really quick?" A soft voice mumbled from my left side. I glanced over to find a purple haired girl looking at me awkwardly. One of her hands was slightly angled to point at the locker just below mine. I sighed and stepped to the side, motioning for her to do as she pleased. She gave me a small smile and rushed to do so. I scowled at the back of her head, irritated that I was now sharing a locker space with someone I didn't know.
"Thanks." She stepped back, a single notebook, school book, and a pencil pouch in her arms. I narrowed my eyes at her before stepping back up to my locker, grabbing my own belongings and slamming the door shut.
"Yeah." I spoke in a clipped tone, the icy sound running clear through the single word. She flinched and gave me a foul look, her entire demeanor flipping in an instant.
"Quit giving me dirty looks. I don't know what crawled up your ass and died but it gives you no right to be rude to someone you don't know so knock it off." She snapped, her soft honey eyes sparking and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn there was a flash of light that shot through them.
My own eyes widened at her reaction and I blinked at her, incapable of responding to her. She rolled her eyes and stormed off, leaving me watching after her in confusion. Who the hell was that?
I barely managed to make it to 4th period which ended in me getting an afterschool detention. Which would be exactly where I am at the moment. Kind of. I've been standing outside the doorway for about five minutes, mumbling to myself about how pissed off I was about staying at this goddamn school for another hour.
When I finally managed to drag myself into the room, I groaned audibly. Sitting directly in the center of the room was the exact reason why I was here. I don't even know her name and I'm pretty sure I already hate her.
Lucky for me, Danielle had managed to catch herself a detention in her last class so I wouldn't be alone. She told me that I didn't want to know what she had to do. I would probably hear about it by tomorrow morning, though.
"There's the little bitch that got me detention." I grumbled under my breath to Danielle as I took my seat in the far back corner of the room. I figured it would be easiest if I stayed away from her and just doodled until the time was up.
About halfway through detention, the teacher (whose name I am unaware of) left to use the bathroom and almost instantly, the girl whipped her head around, sharp green eyes glaring at me. Green? Weren't they a honey brown color before? I furrowed my eyebrows at her. She opened her mouth to speak just as the teacher returned.
Thank god.
