Other Worlds - The Wilds

Chapter 5

  They heard the party before they saw it. It was truly astonishing that the cops hadn't been called out. When they did pull up though it was was clear that Andrew was rich. Like, Fatin's family rich.

  Martha, and Leah were waiting outside of Andrew's house, drinks in hand. There were people milling around in the front garden holding bottles and plastic cups. One boy was attempting a handstand, probably in a bid to impress the girl who was holding his beer. She was obviously very drunk because she actually seemed impressed at his flawed gymnastic competence. It was a perfect example of the intoxicated teenage brain.

  "Marty!" Toni exclaimed, wrapping her friend up in a tight hug that was more for her than for Martha. "Where's Nora?"

  Martha pulled back slightly and gave Toni a brief sceptical look at the seemingly unwarranted affection. "She is helping Rachel study for a test."

  "You know that's a lie, right? She hates parties," Fatin jumped in.

  If you told Martha that Michael Jackson had been resurrected and was performing at Radio City Music Hall and she would probably still believe you. "What? No!" She retorted.

  "Right, you can all continue this riveting conversation," Toni interrupted loudly, gesticulating languidly in their direction. She grabbed one of the plastic cups from Martha's hand and took a big sip. "But I'm going in."

  With that, the girls abandoned their debate with a cheer and made their way into the packed house.

  The music was loud from the outside, but from the inside, it was deafening. This was definitely not a party that encouraged conversation. That worked perfectly for Toni. She downed the drink in her hand, which she identified as beer, and made her way to the kitchen to get another. The shorter period of time she spent sober this evening, the better.

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  It took her a few hours but Toni had finally reached a level of inebriation that ensured she wouldn't remember the evening. In addition, she was drunk enough that she could dance without pain.

  After downing a shot of God knows what, Toni ran towards towards the only person she recognised within her view. She grasped Fatin's hands, swinging them to and fro in an incredibly uncoordinated manner.

  "Wow," Fatin exclaimed, drawing the word out. "You are very drunk."

  "I am n-." Toni stepped back an attempted to collect her very jumbled thoughts. "Okay just a little. Dance with me!" she moaned.

  "Toni, it's nearly 2, I've got to head back soon and I'm sure the other girls do too."

  Toni pouted her lips. "You're no fun," She whined. How boring, she thought as she stumbled away to find a new dance partner

  She stumbled right into the arms of someone familiar that Toni couldn't quite place.

  "Hey, are you okay?" The girl said, holding Toni's full body weight.

  "M' good," Toni mumbled, reaching for the mystery girl's cup. "What is this? Vodka?" She didn't wait for an answer before tipping the cup and swallowing the strong beverage. It was not only strong, it was in fact a shot of straight tequila.

  The girl snatched the cup back a little too late. "Ohhh Toni, you're going to regret that in the morning." Toni could hardly meet the other girls eyes as she spoke, "Come with me, lets get you some water."

  "Nooo!" Toni shouted almost desperately. "I wanna..." She trailed off, unable to voice her thought.

  With a light slap to the cheek the other girl queried, "You want to what?"

  "Dance," Toni groaned, hardly able to remain conscious but still rocking in place as a poor attempt at said dancing. "Who are you?" she asked glaring at the blonde girl's blurry face.

  "Okay," The blonde laughed, getting a better grip on the drunk girl in an attempt to keep her upright. "Let's find you a room; hopefully no one is occupying the spare bedroom."

  At that, Toni smirked at looked up at the other girl, "Oh, you taking me to bed then?"

  Suddenly a male voice interrupted their conversation, "Shelbs, babe! what are you doing with that basketball girl? Come dance!"

  Shelby? She was flirting with Shelby Goodkind? The realisation hardly mattered to Toni; she was too drunk to even care. Above all, she was mostly annoyed at the interruption of her flirting. On second thought, all she really wanted was to sleep at this point.

  "Just a minute Andrew!" She was drawn out of her thoughts at the sound of Shelby shouting back to her cheating boyfriend. Toni felt Shelby's eyes on her, "Come with me, alright?"

  Toni initially attempted to walk but eventually gave in to being dragged up the stairs. All the while Shelby was rambling on about something to do with pageants but Toni absorbed hardly any of it.

  Eventually, the two girls made their way into a room which was unexpectedly, yet, thankfully empty.

  Toni was enjoying the drunken tingling feeling flowing through her body until now, The pleasant hum of intoxication under her skin rapidly turned to nausea once she distanced herself from the loud music and ever-present alcohol. "Wait, wait wait," She stuttered, groaning the last word.

  Shelby pulled back, almost dropping Toni as she loosened her grip. "What is it?" Toni gagged slightly. "Oh, oh, okay. You're okay." A small amount of panic was evident in Shelby's voice as she made a U-Turn and dragged Toni to the bathroom.

  As they rounded the corner to the bathroom, Fatin appeared at the top of he stairs. "What are you doing Goodkind?" She blurted a bit aggressively.

  In the short moment that Shelby stopped to listen to Fatin, Toni was overtaken by her nausea and threw up on the quality hardwood floor. "I'm so sorry," she managed to breathe between retches. Shelby gave her a very awkward pat on the back before Fatin swapped in, brushing her hair with her fingers and whispering comforting words in her ear.

  A conversation took place that Toni almost completely missed in her drunkenness and nausea. Whatever it was, it lead to Fatin giving her a goodbye kiss on the forehead and Shelby guiding her to the bathroom to rinse her mouth and before directing her back to the spare bedroom.

  Once in the bedroom, Toni mindlessly began her nighttime routine by stripping off. "Toni, Toni, stop!" Shelby shouted, just preventing Toni from of taking off her pants. She had already, however, taken off her top; exposing her abs, and, in her current situation, most notably, her injuries. She didn't care though. All she wanted was to be asleep.

  "Dear Lord, this is too much." Toni was sure the blonde girl was praying but she couldn't be certain. "What happened to you?" She could feel warm fingertips softly tracing her bruises. It felt nice. She fell back onto the double bed behind her. Not bothering to get underneath the covers. She only then recognised how drunk she was and felt a bit embarrassed about needing to be put to bed.

  "It's okay," she heard Shelby say, as though she was reading her mind. She took off Toni's shoes and helped her under the covers. "I'm right next door okay I'm staying with Andrew tonight. I know you won't remember any of this tomorrow but I'm here for you. I don't hate you."

  Toni felt Shelby's hand squeeze her own before the contact ceased and the gentle thump of the door closing indicated that Shelby was gone.

  Toni only had one more thought before drifting off to sleep, I am gonna be so hungover tomorrow.