How to Fall Apart

Chapter Twenty-Three

Back at Alissa's she opened the carton of chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks, chocolate cookies and fudge swirl. She grabbed two spoons from the drawer, we sat at the island and dug in. Alissa tried to play counselor but it was hard to take her seriously in that sweatshirt with her hair sticking up.

"Where are your parents?" I inquired. She gestured to a note on the end of the counter. Avery had pretty penmanship. In the note she said something about a timeshare in Hawaii and that they'd be back next weekend. My eyes widened and I looked up at Alissa in surprise. She was busy with the ice cream. She had just gotten out of JSC five days before and they were already leaving her home for a week by herself. And even worse, to just leave a note. I was feeling a little less justified in being angry at my mom.

We put a serious dent in the carton of ice cream before I put down my spoon and groaned. "Feel any better?" She burped loudly.

"Not really," I pouted.

"Time for something stronger." Alissa wriggled her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me and reached for the freezer.

"I cannot eat anymore ice cream, Alissa, I'm chocolate wasted." I rubbed my stomach. Alissa turned slowly, revealing a frosty bottle of liquor. She held it up like it was a prize and she was one of those models on The Price is Right. The label read Gran Patron Platinum.

"It's tequila," she squealed happily. I had never had tequila before. "Specifically my dad's very expensive tequila. We'll only have a little, he won't even notice," She added at my skeptical look.

"Alissa, you haven't even been out of juvie for a week!" I exclaimed. She pondered this for a minute while she poured us each a shot.

"I only got caught because I was driving. I won't drink and drive anymore. Scout's honor." She winked. I didn't look convinced so she grabbed her keys and told me to go hide them. The first shot was horrible, it burned the whole way down. The fact that it was expensive did not make it any easier to swallow than the cheap rum.

"Gross!" I hissed after swallowing it. And then we took another shot, it burned a trail to my stomach and it gurgled in protest. "Uh, Alissa, ice cream and tequila are not friends!"

"You're right." She made a face and clutched her stomach. "That stuff is too expensive to throw up. We need something real to eat." She dug around in the fridge and then the cupboard and came up empty. "Nothing looks good. Let's go somewhere." I reminded her about her loss of driving privileges so she called James to come get us.

When he pulled up, Alissa panicked a little and ran downstairs to change. "I can't believe you were going to let me go out like this!" She squealed.

"It's grown on me." I followed behind her as she tried to simultaneously run down the stairs and pull off her leggings. She managed to piece something together and fix her hair into something that looked more like a hair style and less like the top of a pineapple before James even rang the bell. I was impressed.

"Hey gorgeous." With the way he looked at her I was pretty sure she could be wearing anything and he would have said the same thing. I almost felt like I was interrupting a moment.

"We're starving!" Alissa pouted and threw her arms around his neck dramatically. He smiled at me over her shoulder and I wondered if she knew how absolutely, head over heels in love with her he was. They argued like a married couple as soon as we got into the car about where to eat and we ended up at the Fire House. Alissa requested a table upstairs and as soon as we were served our drinks I saw why. She pulled out a big sparkly flask that said "girls with class don't need a glass" and poured a generous amount of amber colored liquid into her drink and then mine. Then for good measure she took a swig off of it. She proceeded to suck down half of her drink while I was still trying to figure out where she had been hiding the flask. She didn't have a purse and her clothes were not that baggy.