Who She Is

~11~

Alyx's POV

Amaya gets up off the couch right after they leave and walks over to a stereo. She turns the music on a low volume. It sounds like some rock song I don't think I've heard before. She comes back and sits even closer to me than she was before. Her knee is touching mine now. Why is she sitting so close?! We have even more room now. I look down at her legs. They look so soft and smooth. Quit staring, Alyx. It'll be embarrassing to get caught ogling her legs.

She plays on her phone for a minute before she says, "They'll be back in like thirty minutes. They're going to pick me up something." She flips her hair over her shoulder and scrolls on her phone.

"W-what are they going for?" I can't help but ask. She looks at me and smiles.

"Alcohol. I've had a shitty week. I really want to get drunk," she says and leans her head back against the couch.

"Oh. That's cool," is all I say. Of course she's drank before. It just seems weird. I don't know why. I'm like the only high schooler who hasn't been drunk. I never really had the chance, nor have I wanted to. I must look uncomfortable because Amaya is staring at me, skeptically.

"Wait a minute. Alyx," she says with a strange look on her face. "Have you never drank before?"

"W-what makes you think that?"

"You're just strongly giving off the vibe."

My face turns a slight pink. Wow. I've never been ashamed about not drinking. I look down and answer her, "Um... Well, no. I haven't."

"Okay, that's fine. So, you haven't drank before. Do you want to? You can with me if you want. I'll take care of you if you get sick." She kind of looks like she wants me to. And why did I really like her saying she'd take care of me? "No peer pressure, though!" she laughs. "And if you don't want to be around it at all, I can take you home right now. I don't want you to feel awkward or forced or anything. I should've asked you before I dragged you out here. Sorry. I can be kind of impulsive."

"No, it's okay. Uh, I don't think I really want to today, though. My mom is supposed to be off tonight." That would be a disaster.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to get hammered, so you can take care of me instead." I'm totally fine with that. "You want anything from the store? I can text them," she asks.

"Uh, a bottle of water, please." I wonder how she knows these people. What the hell? I'll just ask. "So, how did you meet Ronnie? He seems older than us." She looks up at me after sending him a message.

"Through a friend." That's all she says about meeting him. "And he is. He's twenty-four," she says with a laugh. "He doesn't drink anymore, either. That's why I asked you if you wanted to. I wanted someone to drink with me."

"Does Vanessa not drink, too?" I ask.

She lets a laugh out. "Yeah, right. She gets wasted all the time. She's just no fun," she says, looking irritated. "She always runs off to go have sex with Ronnie like ten minutes after getting drunk." She rolls her eyes. Wow. Vanessa looks a lot younger than Ronnie. "Don't get me wrong. I like her, and she's fun until she's way too gone." she says about her friend. She looks away from me. "That's really why I brought you along. I didn't want to be left alone," she says, sounding a little sad.

"Why didn't Jason or any of your friends come with you?" I ask.

She huffs and crosses her arms. "Because I didn't want them to."

"Why not?"

"I just don't always want to be around them," she snaps. "Jace doesn't even like Ronnie, so this is another thing you don't need to share. Not that I really care but he'll just give me a bunch of hell for it because he has beef with Ronnie."