HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE (LGBTQ+)

15

When I left the party a few hours later, Star was outside, sitting alone. She must've sent her friends home. Her face was calm and she was obviously not totally wasted anymore. Possibly a bit tipsy, but calm.

I had left the party early, at 2 am. Usually I stayed at parties until the early morning hours, but this time I wasn't feeling it at all. By the time I left, Locke and Jazz had retreated to their room anyway, and I could hear them through the wall, fucking. Everyone else, Sterling included, were drunk or high off their asses, making out in the corners or lying on the floor and couches.

I was drunk. I'd had many more shots after Star was gone, and I was stumbling as I left. Locke had expected me to stay the night, I realized. I'd forgotten that I hadn't driven there. He'd sent someone to pick me up from my house, like I was some kind of movie star.

I laughed at the thought, stumbling down the sidewalk, in the opposite direction of Star.

"Hey, wait, you idiot," she called after me, her voice gentle but laced with annoyance.

"No," I said, throwing my hand out, using the chain link fence lining the sidewalk to keep myself upright as I stumbled along. The world was tilting, and I was grinning like a maniac. God, I loved alcohol.

She grabbed my arm, yanking me to a stop. My eyes widened as I fell back, but she caught me and lowered me to the ground. I was too heavy for her to keep upright. She was too small. I chuckled at the thought.

"Oi, Asa, are you out here?" a voice called out from Locke's house.

"Yeah," I drawled, placing my hand down on the sidewalk, my other hand grasping at the chain link fence like it was a lifeline as the world spun.

"I've got her, she's fine," Star called back.

"Alright," Sterling called back, and the sound of the door shutting reached our ears.

He was too drunk to check who was with me, but I was fine. I didn't need to be babysat. I could take care of myself.

Besides, it was just Star.

"Why are you stalking me?" I asked, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the fence. "Your brother said he'd kill me if I touched you again, you know."

"He won't. He doesn't even like hurting people," Star said, her fingers combing through my hair. "Especially people I care about."

I smirked, remembering how hard he hit me at the street fighting event. "Yeah, right."

"Do you have a ride home?" Star asked, her hands touching my arms and shoulders.

"Yes," I lied, lifting a hand to rub at my eyes.

Star definitely saw through me. "I'll take you home."

"NO," I said. I didn't want her to know where I lived. No one did, except for my closest friends and family members. If Star knew where I lived, she would become a major stalker.

"To my home."

I looked down at her, her head leaning on my arm, eyes focused on mine, her gaze adoring and hopeful and...desperate.

Percy will kill me if I go with her.

I blinked. "Alright, take me."

Star's face brightened, and she stood up, dragging me with her. Soon enough, I was in her car, in and out of reality as I dozed, my eyes rolling into the back of my head and then my head snapping up as I regained consciousness, over and over, until we finally parked and her hand was on my thigh, shaking me out of it and back into the car.