How to Fall Apart

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Bella found me sitting there trying to read a text from Nate but I was seeing double.

    "Veda!" She squealed. "Come dance with me!" When she pulled me to my feet she realized just how drunk I was and took me into the kitchen for some water instead. I finished the rum while she rinsed out a cup and filled it with water. "Drink." She urged, replacing the bottle with a cup. I spilled down my shirt and onto the floor on the way to my mouth but managed to drink most of it.

    Bella grabbed a paper towel and bent to wipe up my spill. I found it a little funny, the whole house was trashed, beer and and dirty footprints tracked across the kitchen and she was worried about a little water. I was giggling to myself when Kenny materialized next to me. Even in my drunken state I could tell he was pretty wasted, himself. He hooked his arm around me, one hand resting on my hip and tried to pull me out of the kitchen. I made a weak effort to shoo him away but just swayed and slumped against him.

    "Kenny, don't! I..." His lips landed sloppily on mine and while I didn't possess the coordination to push him away, I also didn't kiss him back. The whole thing must have looked as awkward as it felt because when Kenny finally stopped assaulting me with his mouth, Bella tried to remove me from his grasp. She yanked on one arm while he held tight to the other. I felt like a rag doll being pulled in opposite directions.

    "Oh, hey." Kenny squinted at Bella. "If it isn't Belly Fat! Looks more like Belly Flat now!" He leaned over me and leered at Bella appreciatively. Carly had told me that once upon a time Bella had been rather chubby and with a name like Bella Frat the other kids had come up with the mean nickname. I winced and Bella looked like she was about to tell him off when something behind us caught her attention.

    "Stay right here," she told me. "I'll be right back."

    "No, Bella don't leave me..." with him. I didn't finish and she couldn't hear me anyway. I managed to block Kenny's next attempt at kissing me. I'd never seen him that drunk before. I turned my head and his lips landed near my ear. "Kenny stop!" I put my hands on my head, feeling hot and dizzy. "I'm not feeling good," I whined.

    "Okay, I'll take you somewhere you can lay down," he said suggestively and began leading me down the hallway in the opposite direction of where everyone was dancing.

    "No," I tried to plant my feet but a little pull from him and I was stumbling forward. "I need to wait for Bella. I don't want to go anywhere with you." I closed my eyes and pressed a hand against the wall, trying to stop the hallway from spinning.

    "Come on, Veda." Kenny's mouth was on my neck, leaving a wet trail that did nothing but gross me out. "We've got some unfinished business to attend to."

    I opened my eyes to see Erica standing in front of us. "Erica!" I was especially happy to see her as I realized that I was otherwise alone with Kenny. The music shook the walls and voices echoed down the hallway but it was just the three of us there.

    "Everything okay?" She asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

    "Good God, Erica." Kenny nearly shouted. "You are like the human equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard... so annoying. Go away, I don't want you." I had never realized how mean he was but Erica didn't even look phased.

    "Veda, you good?" She raised a perfectly plucked (or maybe waxed?) auburn eyebrow at me.

    "She's fine," Kenny snapped and pushed past her. I tried to spin around to call out to her but the hallway spun instead and before I knew it Kenny had lead me into a room. He shut the door behind us and I leaned against the wall and looked around. There was a treadmill in the corner that didn't appear to get much use. A few boxes were stacked haphazardly on top of it. Against the opposite wall was a futon with a blanket folded neatly over the back. Kenny cajoled me away from the wall and was kissing me before we even sat down on the futon. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I gagged.