petrichor - w.clark

IV

BODIES SWARMED THE morris household. loud pop music played over the speakers, almost everyone had a red solo cup in their hands and were dressed up in outfits.

amaris walked through the swarm of people, her eyes darting all around hoping to find danielle somewhere in the crowd.

being around drunk and partially drunk people made her feel sick to her stomach. it reminded her of her father being drunk on the couch or coming home late, wasted. she hated every bit of the situation she had been in. in the moment, she felt like she should've gone home, but her heart told her to stay incase anything bad happened to anyone she knew.

she held the ends of her slightly oversized sweater in the palms of her hands, carefully making her way through the crowded rooms of the large home. once she'd found danielle, a sense of relief washed over her.

"dani! hey!" amaris said as she approached the slightly taller girl who held a red solo cup in her hand, chatting with some others who amaris didn't know.

"marsie oh my gosh! you made it! i'm so glad you decided on coming, and your outfit is so cute. cmon let's get you a drink in your hand." danielle said with a bright smile. her cheeks were a tinted pink color and she'd clearly been down a few drinks. 

her facial expression dropped from happiness to gloom within a matter of milliseconds. danielle knew about her family and the drinking problems, it felt like a stab to her heart almost, in a way, that she'd said those words. "i'm good, thanks though." she said flatly. she looked around before back over at danielle. "glad i ended up coming. i guess my high school experience wouldn't have been complete without going to at least one party." she shrugged.

"you sure? it'll help you relax. you need to relax sometimes." the brunette hummed, taking a sip of her cold mixed drink. she wasn't thinking clearly, that was for sure. amaris knew that, she knew danielle like she knew herself. danielle tended to often drink, but she never did around amaris, she never even asked her once to have a drink.

amaris nodded, "mhm! i'm good. i think i'm gonna walk around a little more, see if i can find anyone else. i'll see you later though." she said with a small smile before walking in the direction she'd been heading in the entire time.

why was she going to a party knowing there would be alcohol highly likely involved? she had no idea. she just wanted to feel included in something, anything, for once. she wanted to get whatever she could do in her senior year done so she didn't seem like a total loser when she went to college.

"amaris, hey, you came!" james exclaimed, empty handed. james never drank, nor did he plan on it. he knew how it effected people, his uncle in particular.

her blue eyes looked to the front of her rather than the side where she'd been looking. to be met with someone else who was familiar made her feel good. "oh thank god, finally someone without a god damn red solo cup and shit faced!" she sighed in relief.

he nodded, "yeah you know how uncle mike got. plus your own family stuff. i think it'd be kind of stupid of me especially if you showed up, i knew it would've probably made you hate me. or something... or like... maybe want me in a ditch on the side of the road. plus, drinking is so not cool when you're underaged. i don't know what i'm even saying anymore. i'm just rambling at this point and i should definitely shut up." he laughed nervously.

she let out a laugh, "you always ramble. i'm not surprised you ended up rambling. i wouldn't hate you if you were. i'd just be extremely disappointed." she let him know, hoping that would've saved his nerves.

he nodded, that was true. "yeah i know you would. hey, you wanna ditch? it's not gonna be long before i know i'll find you on a couch awkwardly sitting next to some couple who fell next to you making out." he said, laughing at the thought.

she let out a laugh and nodded, why not reconnect a little bit with an old friend? "fuck it, sure."

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authors note :

so sorry for a shorter chapter! i've been so busy the past few days but i'm about to write a few chapters so i can publish them accordingly :)

hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! thank you so much for all the reads!