Nowhere Girl

Trouble's Call

Author's Note: I have changed my main character's name from Syra to Nora, and this is what she will be referred to throughout the story now. Sorry for the confusion!

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It was precisely ten o' clock that Saturday night when Nora's phone rang. At the time, she was thoroughly immersed in the book she had been reading, snuggled in blankets piled high over the bed.

She had finished her study targets today, and had even made time to read some chapters in advance. If she was consistent with this sort of discipline, she thought, she might even have a chance to compete with the school's top achievers this year. Lana Morris, Jodie Tan, Timothy Zhang and Elliot Lee...there were too many in this school to count. Queen Mary's International School was known as a highly selective institution for a reason, and competition was through the roof. Still, despite the odds, her mind raced at the thought of being amongst those ranks. She would make it someday.

Someday soon. This was her year to shine.

But it would take work. That was why she cursed when her phone rang and she was forced to cut short what little time she had to actually relax. Her phone screen lit up; it was a call from Evie.

"Hello?" Nora asked, her voice half asleep.

"Nora?" Evie began. "Are you busy?"

"It's ten PM. What do you think?"

"Right." Evie responded gruffly. "We need your help."

Nora paused for a second before asking her next question.

"How?"

"Ash just passed out. I don't even remember how many drinks she's had, but she's out cold. Me and Celeste want to bring her home, but neither of our rides will be here this early."

"So," Nora finished for her. "You want me to pick you guys up?"

"That's exactly what we want." Evie said. She thought she heard a giggle from the back, and she frowned.

"If Ash is passed out, maybe I should call the hospital."

"What? No!" Evie said abruptly. "People usually pass out when they drink too much in one go. She's fine- she just needs to go home."

Nora bit her lip. Ash had never struck her as the type to binge-drink in the way that Evie was implying, but if she had been- Nora was worried for her.

"I'm on my way." she said, and cut the call.

Nora sighed, leaving her cocoon of blankets. She slipped into the dark living room to find her mother asleep with the television on, and her brother on the opposite sofa, thoroughly engrossed in a game of Minecraft. Their father was away on business, and had been for the past week. There was an upturned pill bottle on the coffee table in front of her mother's sleeping form. Its contents were spilling out, stark white against the dark surface. Nora noted this with dismay. She hesitated a moment before shaking her mother awake.

"Mum, Ash is in trouble." she began. "Remember that party I told you about? She's there, and apparently she's had too much to drink."

"Too much what?" her mother replied in a doze.

"Too much to drink."

"Juice?"

"No, mama." she replied crossly. "Too much...alcohol." she said hesitantly. She knew her mother did not approve of keeping company that indulged in, as she termed it, underage debauchery.

"Told you those girls were no good." she muttered absentmindedly. "No good, no good..."

"But she needs help." she said. "Can I drive there and pick her up?"

"Hmmm," her mother said, nodding and then settling back on the sofa.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes," she confirmed. Nora breathed a sigh of relief. In her panic, she had already told Evie she would be there without even asking for her parent's permission. She was lucky that her mother was feeling lenient tonight- and that she was heavily sedated.

She ran into her room to change out of her clothes- she was wearing pyjamas and a Star Trek t-shirt. She pulled on some jeans, but the t-shirt remained. She wasn't actually going to the party- she'd be in and out with Ash in moments.

She grabbed her car keys from the counter, but stopped before she made it out of the door. Had her mother really allowed her to go out at this time of night, alone? After all, she wasn't exactly in the right state of mind at present. Nora felt herself hesitate for a bit. She shook the thought away as quickly as it came, though guilt still blanketed her. Her best friend needed her, and she had already given Evie her word. All she was doing was helping a friend out.

"You'll be fine on your own?" she asked Zack, who was still glued to his iPad screen. At eleven, he was four years younger than her. She squeezed his shoulder, only to be shoved away violently.

"Don't breathe near me." he glared, and turned his attention back to the screen.

"Zack, I'm just asking you a question."

"Yeah! I'm not a baby!" he replied, fuming in a way that did make him look like a baby. "Now will you just go away?"

Nora rolled her eyes. It wasn't enough for the universe to give her an infuriating step brother- her real brother had to be just as vexatious.

"Alright," she said, walking towards the door. "I won't be long."

And with that, she left.