Retaliation ✔

Chapter 31 - Booze

*three days later* 

I'd skipped school on Monday and Tuesday, but not with Corey. I felt too horrible for that. 

It wasn't the same as when Ashton had died. It was more fury than sadness, and I just wanted to throw something or beat someone up. I had thanked Corey endlessly after he threw my father down the steps on my front porch. But I had still been so angry at the man that didn't deserve to be called my dad that I returned back to somewhat addictive coping mechanisms. 

Instead of cigarettes, though, I drank. A shit ton. 

Tuesday afternoon, I arrived at the Beckett house, for once without the intention of hanging out with Corey. I rang the doorbell several times, because who knew how long it would take to get Celery's high ass off the couch. I could clearly see him sitting on it. 

At the fifth ring, the 22 year old slowly rose from his comfortable position and stumbled to the door. He opened it and greeted me with a tired, "The fuck are you?" I opened my mouth to reply when he interrupted, "Oh, right. You're Corey's newest skank. I'm surprised you've lasted so long. Anyway, he's not here." 

And with that, Celery slammed the door in my face. I rolled my tired eyes, which had darker bags than usual. Pounding my fist onto the door, I yelled, "I need you to get me into a bar! I have cash!" And suddenly he was back, door open and eyebrows raised. 

"How much?" 

"Uh..." I dug through my pockets and pulled out a twenty. Celery contemplated for a total of two seconds before snatching the money. He quickly slipped on a pair of random shoes and exited his house. Celery began walking down the street without any other acknowledgment to my existence. 

I sighed and followed his quick pace as we traveled on foot. Only ten minutes later, and we were standing outside a random bar that I'd never seen before. Celery handed me an ID and then entered, leaving me alone. My eyebrows scrunched up at his rudeness, but went inside the place anyway. 

I took a seat on the stool next to Celery, mentioning the ID. "Isabella Gregory? You think I can pass for 23?" He looked over at me annoyed before nodding. 

"You got tits, that's all they need around here. That Samantha girl, she's your friend, right? They had a tough time believing that she was Isabella." 

"Is this an actual person?" I questioned observing the picture of a random blonde. 

"Yeah, snatched the ID from her purse. Now are you gonna get a drink or not?" 

"Right," I muttered before calling out to the bartender. "Hey, you! Get a girl a beer!" 

€£€£€£€

*one day later* 

The next day, fifteen minutes after my school was supposed to end, I heard  knock on my front door. My mother was upstairs taking care of Asher, so obviously I was disposing of the rest of my father's significantly large collection of booze. I took one last swig before stomping to my front door and opening to it see Corey. 

My anger-filled stature softened in the slightest and I moved to let him in. "What do you ne-"

"I brought you all the assignments from the classes we have together, told the school board that you've been sick, and made sure everyone in the group except for Ryder knew about your current situation. You really need to stop missing school if you want to graduate, however," Corey said in one breath, successfully cutting me off. He slapped a small stack of papers onto my kitchen counter and sent me a tentative smile. 

I thanked him under my breath and picked up all my homework, flicking through pages and pages of bullshit. With a sigh I dropped it back on the table and took a long sip of my beer. "Aye, put that thing down, your lungs are already damaged, don't need liver failure too," He instructed, yanking the bottle from my grip.