Imperfect

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Nell

The sound of shattering glass made me wince but I forced myself to ignore it as I went over my Spanish homework.

Someone yelled “Opa!” just before more glass broke and I gripped the arms of the chair I was sitting on to keep from going down there.

My parents were out of town. Naturally to Paige, that translated to party.

Even though they were only gone for one night, considering how many people had piled in the front door in the past few hours, the clean up was going to be atrocious.

Shaking my head, I forced myself to concentrate on the notebook in front of me. I was finally able to drown out the sound of whatever top forty hit that was playing when there was a knock on my door.

I squeezed my eyes shut in irritation and pushed myself up from my desk, fully expecting to find a horny couple looking for a bed on the other side of my door.

What I wasn’t expecting to find was my sister, alone aside from a bottle of tequila and two red solo cups.

“You coming to party, Nellie?” she asked, pushing past me without waiting for my answer.

I winced as she flopped onto my bed.

Her brow quirked as she bent her elbow and propped her head on her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I wrinkle the sheets?” she asked, her words a little slurred.

I didn’t reply because that was exactly why I’d winced and she really didn’t need more ammunition against me.

She laughed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and planting the bottle on my nightstand before separating the two cups and placing them in front of the bottle. “Want a drink?” she asked, already adding tequila to both glasses.

“I think you’ve had enough,” I said, noting that she’d doled out the liquor with a heavy hand.

She snorted, leaning back against the headboard. “You’re such a party pooper, Nell.” She took a swig from her cup, smacking her lips together when she was done. “C’mon,” she said, reaching for the other cup and holding it out to me.

I took it, holding it with both hands to make sure it didn’t spill. When she looked at me expectantly, I sent a frown towards the golden liquid before bringing it to my lips and taking a tiny sip.

“That’s disgusting,” I gasped when the liquor hit my tongue and burned its way down my throat.

“Yup,” she said in reply, taking another swig, her eyes shifting back to my nightstand, coming to rest on the framed picture I had there.

Her mouth pinched tighter and her eyes narrowed as she reached towards it and picked the frame up, examining the picture like she’d never seen it before.

It was the two of us a few years ago. I was fourteen and she was thirteen when it was taken. We’d spent the day at an amusement park, just the two of us and had asked someone to take a photo of us. Both of our noses were a little burnt from the sun but our smiles were wide and genuine. Our arms were linked and we were leaning towards each other, almost against each other like the one couldn’t stand without the other.

It was my favourite picture of the two of us.

“When did everything get so fucked up?” Paige said in a quiet voice laced with pain.

My eyes widened and I took a step towards her. “Paige―”

She shook her head, slamming the picture onto the nightstand, facedown. “Drink with me, Nell,” she said, any emotion in her voice gone now.