Swim like Hell

° .• chapter eleven° .•

Alec's POV:

Somehow, we all ended up in the basement once again playing drinking games. Elijah ended up appearing, but I'd avoided him the whole night. Right now, Lucy and Nova had become a team in beer pong against Theo and Sam. The rest of us were in a circle playing truth or truth.

Essentially, it was truth or dare without the dare. Pretty shit if you ask me.

"Uhm, Michael, truth or truth," A Girl from volleyball asked.

"Hard one, truth," Michael replied jokingly, awaiting her question.

"Is it true you slept with both the twins on the cheerleading team at the same time?"

"Yeah, unintentionally," Michael answered sheepishly earning a laugh from us all.

I'd started feeling a buzz not too long ago. I'd assumed it was the placebo effect in full swing but the more I drank the more drunk I felt. Glancing down at my bottle, I read the label. This was my third beer with the first two having non-alcoholic written below the logo. However, on this bottle, which was now almost empty, it didn't have it.

"Fuck," I muttered, earning a few glances.

"You good Alec?" Theo called over to me.

"Uh yeah!" I replied, trying not to slur, "I'm drunk."

"Placebo effect getting you that quickly?" Lucy chimed in with a laugh.

"Uh no," I deadpanned, "This beer isn't non-alcoholic and with the pain meds I'm on, my tolerance is shit."

"Shit, is mixing alcohol and your meds really bad?" Theo asked me, pausing their beer pong.

"Guess we will find out," I laughed off before deciding to try and sober up, "I'm going to go splash my face with cold water."

No one really responded other than a few nods in acknowledgement. I got up, trying not to stagger and made my way out of the basement. I almost tripped on the stairs a few times, but I managed in the end. I weaved my way through the crowd dancing around Sam's house and headed to the upstairs bathroom. I assumed the ensuite in Sam's room would be empty which I was right about when I reached Sam's room.

To put it lightly, I looked like utter shit as I met my gaze in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were rimmed red, and I looked like I hadn't slept in weeks. My hair was an absolute mess, sticking out in a million different directions. It was not a look.

"There you are," I heard Elijah say as he closed the bathroom door behind us and turned to face me, "You had to choose the last bathroom I checked."

"It was empty," I replied emotionlessly, shrugging my shoulders.

"Are you ok? You seem really drunk for one drink; do you want me to take you home?" Elijah asked.

"No! No. I'm fine. My house is empty," I slurred out, fucking me over with the whole 'I'm fine' speech.

"Right, I forgot. If you want, I'll take you to mine, let you sleep it off. My mum is working anyway," Elijah offered. Wow, he must be feeling really guilty to put up this nice front.

Then I registered he said 'forgot'. So, he at least remembered about my hatred of being home alone. I was about to decline and tell him to leave me alone when a haze of dizziness hit me, causing me to catch myself on the wall. Fucking meds. I wouldn't be able to get myself home so relying on the dickhead it is.

I nodded stiffly and let him support me, so I didn't stagger into anything and hurt my ribs more. By the time we made it outside, my head was spinning, and I was about to throw up. I think Elijah could tell because he quickly led me over to some bushes and let me throw up in them. It hurt my ribs so bad, but it felt good to get it all out my system.