A Better Life

A Party

"Come on Jany, no one's gonna know".

"You better hope not. Miss Rachel has become more and more suspicious and it's become increasingly difficult to sneak in and out without being caught" I grind my teeth, but nevertheless get into Macy's car.

We've decided to sneak out again tonight– what do they say: old habits, die hard. We've being doing so since Macy got her driver's licence and fell into some addicting habits – drinking, smoking, drugs, you name it. Well, I've only ever drunk alcohol since it's the only addiction I didn't lose somebody to. Mom? Died of lung cancer when I was 10. The cause? Smoking. Dad? Died of a drug overdose when I was 15 – that was last year. And since then, I've been living in foster care.

Miss Rachel is an unmarried, unhappy woman and I think the only reason she fosters is because of the money the state pays her – none of the money comes to us, she uses it to fuel her addictions.

"Ah, cheer up. There will be plenty of attractive guys there".

"I'm not interested Macy. I'm only drinking a few beers and then I'm going home – either you drive me, or I walk".

"Alright, alright, sheesh, cheer up, will you? At least look like you're not being forced to drink the few beers" Macy laughs.

"How sure are you I'm not being forced to drink beer?

The car falls silent after that, until we arrive at the party. The music is already at the highest volume, a few red solo cups are strewn around the front yard and there are already a few people making out. We've barely parked, but I've already lost Macy.

I sigh heavily and make my way into the house, immediately searching for the alcoholic beverages. I've never really been the social type – I struggle to start a conversation or to keep it going. Without alcohol in my system, I'm basically the most awkward person you'll ever meet, and it doesn't just take a few beers to get me talking, it takes me a decent amount too.

The night drags on rather slow but I finally start to feel myself loosen up a little. Well, a little too late.

"We're going home. My mom just called to ask me where I am, and I told her on a midnight snack run with you. So, you kinda have to come home with me now".

"Macy, I just started enjoying the party" I whine out.

"Tough luck. Do you want me to be grounded?"

"You can just sneak out again, what's the big deal" I continue sipping on my fifth beer. Unfortunately, it gets grabbed out of my hand and then I'm being dragged out of the house and into Macy's car.

"How much did you drink? Are you even allowed to drive us home? What if your mom smells the alcohol on our breaths?" I start freaking out, feeling a little dizzy and disoriented.

"Chillax, I've got us covered. Here, " she starts digging around in the glove compartment, looking at the road every now and then, and hands me a packet of gum "chew like 4 of those before we get home and then I have some deodorant here somewhere..."

She digs around some more, before slamming the glove compartment closed and continuing her search for the deodorant, twisting her body to look behind my seat.

"Macy!"

But it's too late. We're spinning. Flipping. Spinning. And flipping some more. It feels like forever before the car stops and then I can't distinguish whether we are upside down or right side up.