The Calling Of Quinn Taylor

Chapter Six

Brandon and Riley have disappeared into the crowd of people, probably trying to get away from the so called murderers. 
              With the music pounding in my ears, I search around the shoulder-to-shoulder people, panicking. 
              Keller. I need to find Keller. I can't-- I can't leave him alone. He can't be trusted. Once the alcohol clouds his judgement, he'll be vulnerable to anything… do whatever he's told to.
      Keller can not be alone. 
              Suddenly, a body is slamming into mine and I go toppling onto the cold, hard file. My heart races at the sound of a man's voice yelling nonsense.
             The people around me file out, screaming and shuddering in fear.
              "Woah!" The man struggling to get up says, somehow still holding his drink. That's him-- the one who carelessly threw himself at me. "Shouldn't you, like, be studying?"
              When I look up, I see Jessie McFall standing in front of me, drunkenly trying to hold his posture. Of course. Of course it was him. 
              "God, Jessie!" A girl yells from behind him. When she yanks the cup from him, her entire body is shown. 
              Mia stands before him, telling him he's had too much to drink… someone actually understands. 
              Still, I'm frozen. The crowd around me just keeps pushing closer and closer until the air becomes groggy and my vision blurs, leaving me helpless.
              "Come on!" Mia yells over the thundering music as she throws out her hand. 
              Mia… Mia Gulinski, number one on my suspect list, is helping me up. She isn't avoiding me, isn't pushing me away, she's… helping me.
               Surprisingly, I clinch on to her hand and she pulls me up. 
             "You don't look so good!" she yells, grabbing my wrist. "Come with me!" 
               Barely knowing what's going on, I allow her to lead me somewhere and eventually, the music fades to a soft thunder. 
      I glance around, finding to be in a kitchen with nearly ten other people, talking and sharing drinks with each other. 
    The only thing that can make this night better is vodka-- and a bottle is sitting on the kitchen island.
    Do I dare? It’ll take the stress-- the worries constantly surrounding me-- it’ll all go away. Maybe I’ll feel better… maybe I’ll finally act like a normal highschooler.
    Not allowing myself to second guess, I grab the bottle and down it, letting the alcohol burn through my esophagus. The liquid scorches my insides as I feel it make its way to my stomach. 
    That’s when I gag and Mia’s hand starts patting my back.
    “You okay? That stuff’s hard,” she says. “Maybe you shouldn’t-”
    She stops talking when I bring the bottle back up to my lips and tilt it, chugging the rest of the bottle. Already, my stomach feels as if it’s about to burst. 
    I turn around, half expecting to be stared at in fear, but everyone continues minding their own business. 
    “Maybe you shouldn’t-” she begins, but I cut here off.
    “Maybe you shouldn’t look at me like I’m a freak!” And with that, I storm out of the room in pure anger as my insides boil with sickness.

    Hours pass by and Keller still hasn’t shown his face. With every minute, another drink enters my system and soon, the room around me starts to spin.
    Girls from class somehow dance to the music with me and new people spend the night with me, enjoying the effects of drinking and making new friends. 
    Another drink, another guy I kiss.
    Another drink, another girl I scream songs with.
    Another drink, another inch away I get from finding Keller. 
    “Quinn!” someone yells. I turn around, finding the beautiful and amazing Mia Gulinski standing in front of me. 
    “Oh, Mia!” I scream. “How I wish I was you.”
    My fingers trail through her long, dark hair. It’s stunning-- absolutely stunning. Her dark, hooded eyes are coated in eyeliner that flicks out to a precise point… almost impossible. How can one look this perfect?
             “I’ve been looking for you since you left me!” she yells over the music dancing through the house.
    “I’ll take care of her!” an all-too-familiar voice says from behind me. 
A hand caresses my shoulder, forcing my curiosity to turn around and see who it is.  
Oh, Brandon. He looks so handsome, standing there with his messy hair. I could kiss him all night.
“Brandon,” Mia says. “Do not let her leave tonight-- she isn’t safe like this.” 
Mia… protecting me. She’s just the best. I wish she was my friend; she’s so sweet.
She pivots around and disappears into the crowd. 
“Baby,” I say, stroking my hands throughout Brandon’s hair. “You found me.”
I don’t leave a second to spare.
I pull him in and press my lips against his and forget about everything but him.
***
The next morning, I’m awoken by my stomach racing to the nearest bathroom. 
Puke pours out as I grip onto the toilet.
What happened last night? 
Shit. 
Finals. I pull out my phone-- 6:24 A.M and one text from my mom.
Okay. Study hard, I love you.
Looking around, I realize I don’t even know where I am. I’m in the bathroom of some room-- whose room? Whose house am I at?
My brain aches with pain as I try to think.
Jessie-- Jessie McFall’s house. 
The bathroom I’m in leads to a bedroom with white walls and a bed with purple sheets. 
“Quinn?” a voice says, shooting pain to every part of my aching head. 
Mia appears in the doorway with a glass of some sort of green liquid. 
“Best cure for hangovers,” she says.
Wait-- Mia? Gulinski? Why is she talking to me? 
What the hell happened?
“Can I ask you something?” she says, sitting next to me on the cold tile floor of the bathroom. 
I take the glass from her and start sipping. I’ll do anything to feel better right now.
I nod, giving her permission to continue.
“Were you acting like that… drinking a lot, I mean, because of what people say?” 
    Last night… I acted insane; I know that much. I don’t remember her. Mia would never talk to me like this. 
    And what she’s asking me… it’s a little too personal. She’s acting like a friend, like she cares. But no one cares about me.
    “Because I don’t think you did it-- that day in the office, they were all talking about how Wesley and you had to of done it but then I got to thinking and I remembered  prom night and how that pink haired girl threw her punch on Maeve’s dress… her spiked punch and yelled at her, called her nasty, cruel things; told her she’d kill her if she shows her face around her ag-”
    “Skye?” I say, stopping her rant. “Skye Richards?” 
            She was here, I remember it. 
            Her image flashes through my mind of her saying my name when I walked in with Keller.
            Keller-- where's Keller? I lost him last night when everything took a spiraling turn and now… now he's nowhere to be found.
"Keller," I say, stumbling to get up. "Where's… where's Keller?"
            "Your boyfriend? Wait… you came with Brandon," she says, rushing in front of me. 
            "He's-- he's not… where is he?" My feet fumble around until I grip the doorway, stabling myself. 
           Wait-- Brandon. I kissed him; I remember that too. 
               Oh God-- did I? No. No, I couldn't have.
               I need to leave-- now.
               I take my phone out of my pocket and find his name.
              Please pick up, please pick up. 
             Nothing.
              "I-I need to change… will you take me to school? Keller, he's-"
              "No worries," she says, placing her hands on my shoulders. "I'm sure he'll be at school. And-and we'll get some clothes out of his sister's closet. I'll take you to school and you'll be fine."
              Why is she being so nice to me? 
              If only she knew where she stood on my suspect list. 
              "What size are you? Two?" she says, rummaging around the closet. 
              Keller, please be at school.
             "Four," I say as she pulls out a plain white tee and a pair of jeans. She tosses them at me, but my reflexes aren't fast enough due to the underlying pain of my insides. 
            "She's got a six and a belt," she says, yanking the belt off the closet door. "Have at it." 
            Groaning in pain, I push myself up from the bed and take the clothes.
            I'm doing this for Keller; he better be at school. 
           If my mother saw me, she'd be so disappointed… there's a gut-wrenching feeling sinking in my stomach and it's not because of the hangover. 
          Taking another sip of the green drink sitting on the side table, I wince as the sour taste drizzles down my throat. 
           "So," she says as I slide off my alcohol stained dress. "I didn't know you and Brandon were-"
           "God," I say, slipping the shirt on. "We're not together."  
          "It sure seemed like it last night," she says. 
          I slide on the jeans and buckle them, followed by the belt.
          My heart stops and the thought comes creeping back up.
"Did I-" I try, but freeze up on the second part. I can't say it. Something about it makes me shudder. 
          "I don't-" she stutters, catching on. "Brandon wouldn't… he may be a dick sometimes, but-" she stops herself and turns around, suddenly quiet. "He'd never hurt someone." 
          You so sure about that, Mia?
          I find my shoes at the end of the bed and lace them up to my ankles. 
          "Let's just go, okay?" I say. "I need to get to Keller." 
          When we get in her car, I'm overwhelmed with the aroma of vanilla… but my brain is overwhelmed with the worry of everything again. 
          Keller disappearing, me waking up with no memory of what happened with Brandon, leaving Wesley all alone… lying to my own mother. 
         This isn't me.