Bury a Friend | Hemlock Grove |

Chapter 14 | Crooked Nature |

With the end of the semester here, it only makes sense to celebrate over a wide array of drugs and alcohol. Emma has full intentions of indulging. After her experience last weekend she knows it would be wise to stay away, but she wants to drink away that memory for a night. After all, "I'm never drinking again" is just a lie no one means.

Once she hears the front door lock and her mom drive away, she begins layering on foundation. Her skin is still a disaster but she's become more accustomed to it. She had always been lucky to have pretty good skin, but her reflection is just grey and dull. Luckily, she has makeup and will use as much as she needs to look a little alive.

She and a few of the girls from her friend group meet up at Kim's to pregame beforehand. She sits on Kim's bed in an absurdly large bedroom as the other girls dance around and take shots. She can hear them giggling about something, but she's fixated on her beer and by a small bruise she just noticed on her leg.

"Em? Em?" She hears someone call.

"Huh?" She looks up to see Kim approaching.

"You good?" She asks. "You look kind of sick. Are you sure you're okay to go?"

"Yeah," Emma nods quickly. There's no way she's missing tonight. "I'm fine, probably just tired." Kim nods and turns away but she still looks concerned. Truth be told Emma is just nervous about who may and may not be there tonight. Her suspensions of gossip had only been proven as the week progressed.

She's a small-town teenage girl, so she's used to people talking about her. The thing is- those were always just lies. The truer they were the more they hurt. And here lately they were true more often than false.

By the time the girls finally finish with their hairspray and lipgloss and finally make their way to the party it's pretty crowded and she keeps losing people. She uses this opportunity to dodge her way out of the crowd and into a smaller space with fewer people. It's too cold outside to sit at her favorite place on the porch so she joins a group of junior guys on the couch in the sunroom. They're all kind of goofy, and definitely drunk, but they're interested in her.

They ask her all sorts of questions and laugh at all of her drunkenly bad jokes. It feels good. One of them keeps placing his hand on her leg and covering the bruise. She keeps pushing it away but after a few more tries she allows it to linger. After a little while, she grows bored with the superficial conversation and excuses herself. She sees from the corner of her eye a lone figure on the back deck.

"You mind if I join you?" She asks, opening the door.

Scotty motions to beside him. "Need a light?"

"Please," he obliges.

"How do you like the party so far?"

"It's good, as always," she takes a drag. "You're always a great host."

"What can I say? Being the child of the always-absent parents has its benefits."

"You're lucky they go out of town on the weekends. My mom is only gone at nights."

"Yeah," he agrees. "It's pretty sick I guess." They stand in silence smoking for a few minutes. Emma puts out her only halfway finished cigarette and returns the leftover to its place in the carton. She taps her fingers on the railing and sucks on her bottom lip. "You glad the semesters over?"

"Yeah," she nods. "It's been rough. You?"

"Eh," he exhales. "I'm not sure. I think I might have peaked."

"If you peaked, I peaked," they laugh before resuming silence. Typically the two of them aren't left alone, and when they are it's never been this awkward. Emma's mind races through ways to excuse herself from his presence.