Somebody Else ✔

That escalated quickly.

Sam.

Edited.

I didn't remember a lot from the night before, but I knew Corey was meant to be here soon.

Izzy? Fuck.

She'd turn up eventually. Which boy was she with last night? Joel? If she's drunk and trying to call Joel again, I swear I'll punch the bitch so hard. . . Puppy dog eyes? Blondie? Frenchie? One of them.

I wrestled with these thoughts like the sheets of my bed, dragging them over my head to stem the agonizing light my room had been inundated with. I silently dragged my fingers over my matted hair underneath my buffer, curling my knees up against my chest and crying over the severe pounding in my head. Yeah, this is my fault but I wasn't used to this level of masochism. I slid my head from the cushioning warm pillow and placed it on the cool surface of the smooth white sheet.

"Hey, Sam? Oh - shit. You good?" A low, masculine flowed through my stagnate room. Cole. I felt the edges of my lips tug up, and he stepped into my room, his shoes ruffling against my carpet. I heard his knees crack as he knelt by my bed, and the mattress shift under the gentle weight of his elbow. I squeezed my eyes tighter, and saw ribbons of lilac and turquoise fall across the darkness.

"Water, shit get me some goddamn water, some coffee, pain killers and please just shush." I brought my finger up against my cracking and peeling lips, letting it dangle, the weight dragging down my bottom lip until the tip rested against the soft, wet, warm flesh. Drafts pushed the stench of tequila toward me in waves and I bowed under their pressure.

"Um- where? - Um. Yeah, okay sure. Give us a sec, love." I curled my fingers into my hair, falling in and out of consciousness. I was tied to the bed, and struggled to move from beneath the blankets. I could feel my heart beating against the bed, the blood pumping through my veins in an unsettling manor. I wriggled until I couldn't feel it anymore. With a humming in my ears, I felt my limbs liquidize, and I breathed out.

**

I jolted upward, kicking my legs out, thrashing until I had pushed the sheets onto the floor, until I could breathe. For a brief moment, I was convinced someone else was in the room for me. I pushed it out of my mind and thought, it was only Rebecca or Justine - the names the girls and I had given to the 'ghosts' that my mother claimed haunted our house.

I rubbed my eyes, thinking, how long had I been asleep for? I cussed and wrapped myself back under the sheets. Not long after, there was a tapping at my door. I hesitantly opened my eyes from beneath the blankets, harshly expecting the light to radiate into me like phosphorescent. I saw shadows on the other side of the sheet I was laying underneath. Oh, fuck.

"So, like I didn't know where your coffee and stuff was, so I went to 'Maccas and then to mine to get some pain killers, sorry I took so long, oh shit, am I being too loud?" His cautious hands peeled back my cacoon. I huffed and rolled to face him, teetering on my side before finally falling in close proximity to his nose. "Hey Sam."

His brown downward tilted eyes shone jubilantly into mine. He had pulled down the curtain, and took me up in the safety of his broad shoulders, helping me up against the headboard of my queen bed. He held my hand in his and guided the pills and black liquor into my mouth. He was awkwardly perched on the brink of my mattress, rubbing my arm.

"What?"

"I'm Alex Jaxon, my mate lives across the road from you. . . Jace?" Jace? I didn't remember a Jace. I knew Alex and Cole, by reputation. "Right yeah, why am I in your room? I left something in here the night of your party - hey, are you alright? Love, you're not looking to good? Do you need to have a shower? A bucket?"

"Vodka?"

"Normally I'd agree, but girl - you look messy."

"Izzy and Corey would let me have a Bloody Mary."

"Well, they don't sound like good influences now do they?" He quipped, amused. "We don't go to school together, do we?"

"Me, Izzy and Corey go to York Catholic College."

"I go to Eastwood High." I wrinkled my nose as I looked him up and down. I thought it'd be best not to mention I already knew that, and he and his friends were common gossip.

"Ew." I bristled. Eastwood had a reputation as a tough school. He shrugged in agreement. "What'dya leave here?" He waved the wallet he held in his hands. "How the hell did that get in my room?" God, I wasn't that drunk was I? Actually.

"Your friend Izzy took me in here. She said she wanted to change shoes or some shit, I don't know I wasn't really paying attention." He chuckled, looking at the floor in guilt. That wasn't unusual with Izzy. Boys tended to get distracted by her figure. "Hey, are you going to Ava Henriques party tonight?" He tried to keep his voice indifferent. I forced my lips into a line to keep from smiling. Ava was a girl who went to York with us.

"It depends. Will you make me a Bloody Mary?"

"If you come to the party, I promise I'll make you a Bloody Mary. On Sunday." It wasn't the brightest idea. I knew it was going to be an ineffective Saturday already, and having spent Friday night inebriated I should be at least spending Sunday doing assignment, not hungover. Alex, however, had an air of childlike wonderment and fascination. He bought me coffee.

"I'll see if I can convince the girls."

"I'm sure Jace could take you or whatever, if you needed a lift?"

"Nah, it's okay. Best if we drive ourselves, just incase we need a quick getaway." With a weight pushing on my bladder, I was impatient for Alex to leave. "C'mon, if I'm going out tonight, I need some sleep. I'll show you out."

I placed the takeaway cardboard coffee cup on my beside table, making room in between the discarded jewelry and half finished book. I lead him out of the house through the lesser used back path, which travels the laundry and guest bathroom and bedroom. It opened, through a sliding door, to the car port, where mine, my fathers and mothers cars rested. There was discarded boxes and old junk no one knew what to do with in the corner and what seemed like petrol. The electronic door was open and I could see an exhausted Corey exiting her red Beetle.

"Cya Sam."

"Bye Alex." As he left, Corey entered. They waved at each other, and Corey tried hard to keep her eyes from betraying her amusement.

We both stood in the carport and watched him disappear down the driveway. "Alex Jaxon." She whistled, before turning to me, "Wasn't Cole one of Joel's friends?" Her keys jangled as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Yeah." I led her back into the house, with her landing a swift slap on my butt. I squealed. "Wanna go to a party tonight?"

**

A/N:

Photo of Cole above! Don't forget to vote and/or comment ;)

-boloves