Different But The Same | Grand Army

THREE

       When we finally got evacuated I began walking home. I lived in the suburbs, in a tiny house that was practically falling apart, but I couldn't afford any better. 

       When I got home I quickly ate a stale bagel and cleaned up the house a bit, it was such a mess. I left some food out in case Lee came home or dad woke up. Then I got changed into running gear and ran to my favorite spot, an old, abandoned gym. 

       I loved to go there, when I was little Lee used to take me all the time to get away from dad. Once there I put on my boxing gloves and punched and practiced. I used practice for hours, I loved it. Nothing else mattered when I was there, it was only me in the ring practicing. 

       I was so focused on boxing I almost jumped out of my skin in fright when Tamika beeped the horn, she was the only one of us who had a car. Quickly, I pulled off the gloves and ran to the car, getting in. Off we went to Tamika's to get ready for the party.

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       When I got to the party I wanted to do one thing, and one thing only, get hammered. A couple hours into the night I decided I wanted another drink, I stumbled into the kitchen, picking up a bottle of vodka almost dropping it. 

       'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' George came up to me 'I think you drunk a bit too much already.' 'Pfft, I only drunk a small bit,' I slurred back at him, giving him a goofy smile. 'Alright, but don't come crying to me when you have an awful hangover in the morning,' he added. I just smiled and nodded my head, reaching for the bottle of vodka. 

       It was about an hour later and I decided I needed to sober up, so I sloppily filled myself a glass of water and headed outside, sitting down on the grass. I don't know how long I sat there, lost in my own thoughts.

       'So you finally decided to sober up,' I heard beside me. I continued to stare at the stars, knowing it was Luke 'yeah, I didn't want to do anything too stupid,' I replied. 'I'm surprised you're not drunk off your head,' I continued, turning to face him. 'Yeah, I'm a bit surprised myself as well,' he smiled. 

       We sat in silence for a few minutes 'how's everything at home?' he asked. 'Fine,' I replied curtly. Luke knew my home life wasn't the best, we had been good friends when we were younger, we just grew apart when we got to high school. 'Sorry,' he apologized. 'No you're fine, it's just not great,' I replied, not giving away too much. 'It'll all be ok, you know that,' he said bringing me into a hug. 'I hope so,' I answered into his shoulder. 

I crashed at Sonia's that night, her parents didn't mind. I sighed as I lay in bed, hoping I hadn't done anything too bad, I tended to go a but wild when I was drunk.