She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

8

I wasn't much of an alcohol person. I got into Dad's liquor cabinet when I was younger and found vodka. I thought I was big and bad and could take whatever adult drink I wanted. It was nice for vodka to be my first alcoholic drink, and it damn near killed me. I haven't touched much of any alcohol since then. I've tried a beer with Terry before, taking small sips since I heard it wasn't very strong, but it was still gross.

However, since the conversation we had earlier, I had grabbed a beer from the cooler without the group noticing. I walked over towards the other side of the pond and told them I was going to pee.

I got behind the tree line just enough to where they were out of sight. I sighed and opened the can. I took a sip of it, and I instantly gagged at the gross taste of it. But I'd drink it anyway. Since drinking helps with any kind of bad feeling. Or so I keep hearing.

I sat on the ground, the leaves and twigs under me crunching. I lay against a tree, the beer in my hand. I took another small sip and started to contemplate my situation.

Here I was, in the middle of the woods, drinking a beer that God knows I hate with a passion. All over a girl. Why was I so hurt about this? Did I get my hopes up this much? I knew for a fact that I couldn't be loved in that sort of way. No girl could. I was alone and it would be that way for a good while. Probably forever.

I never was the romantic type. Sure, I had crushes throughout middle and high school. They always seemed repulsed by me though. Not because of my looks. In fact, some girls considered me cute. It's just my style of living and the friends I have. One who's gay, one who's antisocial and is thought to be involved in witchcraft, one who offends too many people with his jokes, and now, a rough girl who is more intimidating than most guys. I was in a group of outcasts.

Other times I was rejected because of the way I lived. I was always putting my schoolwork in front of me and running track afterwards. Not to mention I can be shy at times, but also because of my brother, who is right beside me in school and drives them away from me by talking very badly about me and even exaggerating on some stuff.

So I've always kept to myself when it came to feelings for a girl. I always kept myself in check and made it clear to myself that I couldn't be in a relationship. That I would just be wasting my time trying. But then Tera came along and had to break that barrier I built, and I was paying the price for it.

"Drinking doesn't suit you." I heard a voice say before looking beside me to see Tera leaning against the same tree. She slid down, sitting beside me. "It won't help anything."

I shrugged. "Don't know what you're talking about." I took another sip. "There's nothing that needs to be helped."

She sighed, reaching over to grab the drink from my hand. "Yes there is, and this," she took a sip herself, closing her eyes and looking repulsed. "this is just a bandage on an open wound deep enough to need stitches." She poured the liquid out, the fizz just building up on the ground beside her. "It's not enough. If you really want to drink the pain away, hard liquor is the key."

I laughed, not meaning to. "I have a bad history with hard liquor."

She looked at me. "You have more than a bad history with just liquor." I looked at her, her yellow eyes reading mine, causing me to quickly look away and not let her see how hurt I was. "I didn't mean it in the way you think."

I leaned my head back against the tree and looked up at the setting sun through the trees. "The point is, you meant it in the same way that everyone else has, just in a different manner." I banged my head against the tree just hard enough for it to give me a small ache. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."

I heard her sigh. "You're right, I most likely did do it in a different manner than the others. But I meant what I said. You don't want someone like me." I looked at her, and she was looking at the ground. "I'm not who you think I am."