(3rd Person POV)
Michelle can hardly stand the sight before her.
"Chasity, don't. You could get sick!"
The tiny shot glass in Chasity's hands is so full of vodka that some of it dribbles over the sides, landing on the countertop.
"I don't care, Michelle." Chasity's entire face contorts with disgust as she throws her head back, downing the shot.
The party is lively, the girls only having been there for less than an hour. People mill about the kitchen around them, the rest of the house packed with teenagers. Billy's band plays on their run-down instruments in the living room, before a jumping crowd.
That's where Michelle wishes she currently was. Watching the guy of her dreams. Instead, she's babysitting her best friend.
"Okay. That's enough. You've already had a beer." Michelle holds out her hands, as if Chasity will just hand over her new vice as quickly as she's taken it up.
Fat chance.
But really, Chas does consider it. Just for a split second, as the sound of Michael McKagan's voice fills her head, over the fuzziness of the alcohol.
"Chasity, I'm so disappointed in you. . ."
It's his fault though, Chas counters her subconscious. Maybe if he didn't drink so much in front of us, I wouldn't know that vodka is what you drink when you want to get really drunk.
She cradles the heavy, cheap bottle to her chest, making Michelle scowl. Chasity doesn't pay any mind. On she goes, pouring another shot.
"I hate him, Michelle." Chasity pouts, her pink lips turning down in a frown. "All he does is make me so, so sad. And I-I-I just wish he would go away forever!"
Michelle only nods, believing Chasity's mood has taken a turn for the worse because of the boy causing her trouble at school.
Wrong.
It's the man making her question her whole existence that's got her so upset.
Chasity chokes down her second shot like it's the vile medicine of her childhood. The mint flavored one used to treat her frequent ear aches. It's been years since she's had a dose, but she'll always remember it.
Just the same as how she'll never be rid of Axl. Maybe in body, but not in soul. Never in her mind.
He's already plaguing her, and nothing has even happened yet.
Poor girl, Michelle tells herself. I should find Billy. We can't be here. Not when she's like this.
Michelle sighs as she looks at Chasity, who's now staring at the wooden cabinets directly in her line of sight, as if they hold all the answers she's longing for. The tears are already pooling up, and Michelle knows it won't be long until they start to fall.
"I'll be right back, okay? Just. . . Stay here. Don't drink anymore."
Chasity only nods.
The second Michelle is gone, Chas begins to nurse her heartache for the third time.
Everything reminds her of Axl, and how hopeless she's managed to feel about her situation. Billy's band, the rock music loud. Happy couples running by, hands interlocked. The same girl and guy that have been making out in the doorway of the dining room for the last ten minutes. The cigarette smoke wafting in from the open sliding glass door leading to the backyard and in-ground pool. Even the kitchen counters that look identical to Michelle's. . . The same ones she dreamt of Axl pushing her up onto.
