The Sweetest Berry

Chapter Three - Bella

I'm supposed to be at college. But I could care less. I'm not the genius in the family and I never will be. I went to homeroom but I gave up continuing the lectures. Everyone in my class was giving me dirty looks and snarked at me whenever I would ask a question. I can't be here anymore. I just won't... I can't go to college. The mood circulating that place gets more and more depressing each day. I know that Donna told me I should go today. I guess I'm meeting my best friend, Andrew, at Anchor's Bar, a bar located just a couple miles away from Sunrise Beach. Yeah, the legal age for drinking here is actually 16, because the town needs more money. Anyways, I've been friends with Andrew ever since I was four. He's always been there for me. I consider him my brother.

I'm pretty sure that this was also the bar that was on the back page of the paper this morning, but I'm not really sure because I skimmed that page. It would be pretty scary if it was. I think the bar's name was Angel's Bar, or something.

I'm wearing a black cap and oversized sunglasses with a form-fitting lace hem shirt. I don't expect anyone to recognize me. I went to pick Donna up from this bar 3 times last week and I saw Andrew's brother outside drinking. It's actually really ironic how my genius, smart, and incredibly nerdy sister drinks more in a week than how much I did in the last two years. I'm kind of like the party animal. I sneak past a familiar-looking figure, hoping they don't realize who I am, who turns out to be one of my classmates, Alex Hendler. We dated for a couple of months but it didn't really work out. I freeze when I see my math teacher, Ms. Douglass, sitting outside in a khaki-brown outfit. She can't see me, but still. I'm out of school because of the flu. I take extra precautions to try not to divert her gaze to me.

I slip through the door to see Andrew already sitting on a cobalt-blue bar stool while looking at the menu, he doesn't look up at me though. I sit on the seat next to him and nudge his leg with my foot. He's surprised to see me and grins. I guess he didn't think I would come, since I don't usually drink, but I really needed a distraction. I desperately needed a distraction.

"Hey Bee.", Kendall says, trying to annoy me with the nickname..

"Hey. How was homeroom?", I reply in a monotonous voice, acting bored so that he can cheer me up.

"I had PE. I became 'sick' when Alisha Prescott whacked me in the face with her hockey stick."

I let a giggle escape, followed by a snort. Now I'm just laughing and snorting when I realize that there's a faint red-orange mark on the side of his face.

"Actually? She's never even done sports", I snickered.

"Which is why I got whacked in the face.", he responds, annoyed. He exaggerates each word. "What was your homeroom again? I forgot."

"Mrs. Keller, English."

"Ugh. I have her for my fourth period."

"She's so annoying."

"I know right."

Andrew seems bored talking to me while flipping through the pages of the menu.

"Gimme that.", I say, trying to put some interest into the conversation.

"No. I need to order", he ignores my effort, moving the menu away from my hands that were trying to snatch it.

"Did you do the homework?", I ask a question that I know the obvious answer to.

"You think I did? Did you?"

"I haven't been to college for a month. Yeah, sure, I finished all the homework."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"I'm so tired. And annoyed.", I groan, resting my head on the hard, wet countertop. I lifted my head up quickly, but not after I got a real nice and long sniff of the bitter alcohol. I shake my head, hoping the foul odor escapes my nose, letting me breath.

"Really? You look well-rested, drama queen.", Andrew snapped, sarcastically. I scoff.

Even Andrew's gotten on my nerves today. You know what, actually everyone has gotten on my nerves today.

"I'm tired of college and annoyed because of Mom.", I still attempt to drop a hint.

"Really? What'd she do?"

"She fell down the stairs and made a whole commotion. Not to mention I've stooped so low that I'm jealous of a bottle of beer."

Andrew doesn't even respond. I roll my eyes.

Today's been a really weird morning, almost as if the universe is hinting something bad will happen today. I don't want to spend my day mourning and thinking about my dead friends and family, but that would be my top choice because I don't have anywhere to go or anything to do. I ordered a beer without thinking twice.

Andrew ordered a fruit-flavored drink and his drink came before mine. It smelled, you guessed it, like alcohol and a vague odor of rotten, moldy fruit. It looked pretty, it was like a violet-lavender purple. He took a long sip and said it was so good and that it tasted like heaven. After one quick sip, I understood that beer was not the drink for me. I coughed so bad, I had to ask for water, which is pretty embarrassing at a bar. After Andrew's third glass, he seemed too drunk. I was scared because I didn't want to lose another friend because of an alcohol overdose, especially not Andrew. After his third drink, I begged him to stop and told him that we should get back to college now. Was this an addiction?

When he ordered his fourth drink, I snatched it and threw it to the ground. The mug swiveled for a long second, the drink spilling out on all sides. The bartender was staring at us, and the entire bar, too, obviously waiting to find out what would happen next. Well guess what? So was I. I was surprised by my actions, and Andrew probably was, too. The next part was like a nightmare I wish I had never seen. You could see the fire in his eyes and his expression was . I felt like I did the wrong thing. He raised his hand and a second later there was a burning pain on my face. I was crying and my face was flaring red. I was sad, but so furious. All the anger that I had shown before was nothing compared to this. My entire life went down in one second. I felt like a failure. I should've listened to Donna. I should've gone to college. This would've never happened if I was at college. Andrew is no one to me.

"Go die in a hole, Andrew!", I scream as I leave the bar. My life is starting to fall apart, I have no more friends anymore. They're all dead,

I can't believe I thought that traitor was my best friend. I rush to my car, hoping Andrew doesn't come after me, begging for forgiveness. I don't remember much after because I was going into my car when I saw an ambulance arrive, I realized something was so wrong. I wasn't sure of what had happened, but people crowded around my car when I was about to exit the parking lot. The mob vaguely explained to me that Andrew was unconscious and that I should go with the paramedics. Later, I was told that Andrew fell unconsciously off the bar stool. I went with the paramedics when they took Andrew on a stretcher. We arrived quickly at the hospital and they took him to the ICU. This was the worst feeling I ever had, but I can't curse at Andrew. I stood there waiting for about twenty minutes or something like half an hour until a doctor came out.

"What is your relation to Andrew Thomas?", he said in the most monotonous voice ever, like he's done this several times and he couldn't care less.

"He's my best friend.", I replied, ignoring the tears streaming down my face. I'm scared because I feel like I know what's going to happen next. I hope it's not what I was thinking. Please be wrong, please be wrong,

"He's all good ma'am. Andrew will have to stay in the ICU for another 3 days, but he'll be fine. We just got him off the ventilator", the doctor says as he gives me a small grin. "It was just some food poisoning.". I exhale slowly to keep my heart from jumping. I'm so glad that I didn't lose him, like how I lost my only other friends. I swear I didn't mean it when I said 'Go die in a hole, Andrew.

I quickly snapped myself out of my hallucination, to listen to what the doctor was saying.

The doctor speaks slowly enough for me to process the information being thrown at me, "Ma'am. He passed away approximately 5 minutes ago from an unknown cause."