California

Chapter Three

I woke up kind of hungover, as I usually do when I ingest so much as a single drop of alcohol. I didn't mind drinking, and it was never something I just had to do in order to have fun, but I also didn't want to fall behind. Kids my age began drinking a few years back when we were all sophomores and some find ways of outdrinking themselves every single party. I always thought of myself as a more self-conscious person: when I drink too much my voice gets pitchy and I act way over the top.

So I just don't drink much. No pressure.

That's because I still remember the day I decided to dial down the booze. Sarah, Emma and I went to James Bale's birthday party a year ago and some guys snuck in a couple of vodka bottles. Since we didn't really know much about alcohol we ended up having too much of it in our systems by the end of the night. I threw up on James' front porch as we were leaving and Emma's mom, who picked us up, was furious at the sight of the three of us stumbling around like dorks.

She took us home and my mom was decidedly not happy to hear all about it from Emma's mom the next day. I was grounded for two entire weeks.

We all laugh about it now, but in recollection, it wasn't fun. At least we learned our lesson.

I stretched my arms out wide and drank from the cup of water I left on the nightstand. Looking out the half-open window I realized it was cloudy, but no rain had fallen yet. A little chilly, though. I slid it down and put on a hoodie.

I came out of my room slowly, still trying to figure out if I had a headache or if it was just my eyes adjusting to the lighting. It was a little before noon and my mom was going crazy over the stove. I had always loved the fact that my house was so loud and busy all the time - it never felt lonely, I guess. Ever since my sister left for college last year it felt like my mom made an extra effort to avoid feeling her absence. Of course she felt it anyway.

It's not like Haley had disappeared, though. She came over every holiday and stayed as long as she could. She had moved to New York to study Law at Columbia, even though I still believed her true dream was studying music. Now she spent most of her time as a very promising hotshot intern at a big East Coast firm and going on these amazing trips with her boyfriend, Benjamin. Mom said Benjamin was very handsome and nice when he came over to visit last month and seemed very happy. It was Haley I wasn't so sure about. I knew she loved Benjamin and all, but something in her eyes told me something was up. I ended up letting it go. Maybe she was just homesick.

"Olivia, you're finally up!" Cried out my mom as soon as she saw me. "Quickly, help me out with the onions. I simply can't manage everything at once."

I walked over morosely, sort of tired.

"Where is dad? Why isn't he helping you?"

"He forgot to buy the chicken, of course." She half-smiled, both mad and amused by my dad being such an airhead.

"That does sound like dad." I took the knife and started parting the onions. Somehow, they never made my eyes water as it did to most people. "But wait, what is all of this for?"

The TV was on, connected to her phone's Spotify playlist. I introduced her to the app a while ago and now she had finally figured out how to create her own selection of songs. It was a bunch of old, 80's hits and I couldn't begin to imagine her dancing to that with my dad back in the day. They were kinda groovy, though.

"Nana is coming over for lunch. Didn't we tell you?"

"Not really."

"Well, you have been out a lot lately."

"I gotta enjoy it while I can, mom."

"Oh, come on, honey. Los Angeles won't be that bad. Haven't you seen all the movies?"