99 Steps

Step 25: Don't Hurt Anyone

One night Jack was letting the rain clean out his fresh cuts, the next he was sneaking out.

He didn't really why for sure; he thought maybe there would be a party somewhere. This was a camp to get better in, not one you throw parties at and over dose on all kinds of stuff. Jack just knew he was out of alcohol and wanted to get hammered. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but sure enough, a few miles down the road there was a bunch of drunk teens dancing around a feild.

Jack had on his usual clothing, and his phone in his pocket, even though he wasn't going to try contacting anyone.

"Newby?" A girl, who looked like she stepped straight off a tumblr fashion blog, called out and raised a plastic cup. "I saw you before, at the check in, right?" Jack didn't recognize her, but he didn't pay much attention to anyone else other than Mark at that place, so he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe, I don't know." He looked around, there was a table that had plenty of bottles on it, and cars and trucks blocked the crowd from the road. The doors were all open, the same radio station coming from each machine. It was a smart idea, Jack had to give them credit for that.

"You're paired up with that Mark guy. Has he tried fucking you yet?" Jack was slightly taken back by her comment, but he quickly remembered the day at the fair when he had a panic attack. Afterwards in the car, Mark seemed pretty set on kissing. Jack just shook his head.

"I'm shocked." Jack wanted to ask more, but he also just wanted to drink. As much as possible as fast as possible.

Not trying to be rude, Jack looked over at the table and let the girl figure it out for herself. "Well, I'm Zoey." Jack stopped following her to the table, his brows knitted together.

"Sorry?" He asked once the blonde turned to face him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

"I said, 'I'm Kloee.' Is that okay?" She had more sass filling her tone, but she didn't seem to mad.

"Sorry, I misheard you, that's all. I'm Jack." The two kept going to the white table, pushing by a few people.

"Well, Jack. I take it you're just here to drink?" He nodded, although having it spoke out loud was kind of like a stab to the chest. He knew Mark would be so upset with him, angry even, but it was a risk he was acting upon. Thinking of Mark reminded him of what Kloee said; she was shocked they hadn't fucked yet. Jack wasn't much for moving fast in relationships, or even physically for that matter.

"You-hoo? Jack?" Kloee was snapping her fingers in his face. "Are you really going to be like this all night?"

"No, sorry. Just thinking."

"Have this, to start off," She handed him a small shot glass, "Then this." Kloee waited for him, with the red solo cup in her hand. He slammed the shot, missing the burning sensation of alcohol. Quickly, he grabbed the cup and started drinking that too, until a warm hand was pulling it away from his face.

"Slow down there, bucko. Save some for the next five minutes, yeah?" She smiled, leading him into the crowd, introducing him to a few people - which for the most part wasn't from the same place. They just lived around here.

Soon enough, Jack was hammered and everything was spinning. That's the way he liked it. Kloee was twirling around in front of him, occasionally getting a tad too touchy, but she didn't mind, and drunk Jack didn't have the heart to push the sweet girl away.

Mark woke up, feeling slightly dizzy. He checked the time to see it was about 8:45. Jack wouldn't be up yet, he would sleep until about 2 in the afternoon if he could. Mark usually woke him up at 9 or so, though. He got dressed and decided to make breakfast for the two of them.