troubled || jj maybank

- six - *

six. dancing on my own

Danika's tan legs peered out from under her lilac t-shirt, the girl wearing nothing but her underwear other wise.

She held a bottle of vodka that she had stolen from her father's liquor cabinet. Her hair was dampened from the shower she had taken upon waking up, partially due to the griminess she felt. It was also due to the fact that she was puking her brains up.

It didn't take long for her to hit the bottle again. She had not eaten or drunk anything vital to the body in the last thirty-some hours, but it didn't faze her in the slightest.

Alcohol could make her problems disappear for a little while, and bottled water and carrot sticks didn't quite have that same effect. The more Dani drank, the less everything else seemed to go on around her.

She was snapped out of this by a sharp knock at her door. Being in a half sober state, she walked to the front door with the bottle of vodka clenched in her left hand at her hip.

Upon opening it, she was greeted by Sarah Cameron with a mildly concerned look on her face. Dani squinted at the brightness coming in from outside. She glanced up from the girl's ankles and up to her disheveled hair. Her eyes only rested on the clear bottle for a few moments. "Seriously?" was the only thing that came from her lips.

The preppy girl dressed in a lemon patterned tank-top and denim shorts pushed her way into the home. Dani blinked, shutting the door behind her. She turned, following the girl blindly into the kitchen.

"What the hell happened, Danika?" Sarah questioned, her arms falling across her chest. Dani was almost entirely sure that Kelce had sent Sarah there to check up on her. From what Kelce had said, she wasn't exactly expecting Dani to be this much of a wreck.

Dani swallowed, bringing the bottle to the table and resting it there instead of at her side. "I fell." She averted her glance from Sarah.

"That's all you can come up with?" Sarah questioned in slight annoyance at the lack of a better lie. If she was going to lie, at least make it sort of believable. "You got beat up so now you're going to drink yourself to death?" She could tell from the apparent bruises and markings on her face and wrists.

Dani swallowed, biting the inside of her cheek. Sarah had no idea. "Go home, Sarah."

"It's either tell someone about it and get even," Sarah reasoned, "Or move on. You have to choose, Dani. Come on, let's go slash their tires. Right now."

"Sarah-"

Sarah sighed. "You don't want to get revenge. I don't know why. But clearly, you don't. Since you're so forgiving, it's time to forget." She pursed her lips.

Danika felt frustration and anger at this girl's lack of understanding, but she wasn't doing anything to help her understand. Even if she wanted to confide in someone, which she didn't, how would she tell Sarah it was her older brother? She inhaled deeply, letting out a shaky breath. Her hands found the back of her neck, her t-shirt lifting to expose more of her thighs. "I just need some time."

Sarah let out a laugh, her arms remaining crossed. "Some time to do what, Danika?" she challenged. "Some time to sulk? Some time to drink and get high? I'm at Danika Beckett's house, right? Last time I checked, you didn't feel sorry for yourself."

"Shut the fuck up, Sarah," Danika begged in a low tone, her words pointed. Sarah looked taken aback by Dani's reply. She couldn't continue to listen to the girl condemn her behavior. Danika's actions were founded in the only way she knew how to cope, and that was drugs. Sarah had no idea.

Sarah let out a disappointed huff. "Get yourself together. We're all going out for lunch tomorrow, we'll pick you up at one."

Sarah didn't say another word, allowing her hands to fall from her chest. Her keys jingled in her hand as she walked out of the home the way she came, the door slamming behind her.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Danika was currently taking her second shower of the day. She sat against the tiling dressed in nothing, her back pressed to the wall furthest from the shower head.

The swelling in her face had gone due to the ice she had applied, but the liquor she had consumed sort of numbed her body to the overall soreness. The disgust was still there.

She allowed the water to run on her as she kept her legs pulled to her chest and her head rested on her arms she had folded across. She liked the temperature uncomfortably warm.

As she sat in the stream, she didn't really feel anything at all. She wasn't thinking, her mind wasn't racing like it had been the previous day. All she could hear was the sound of the liquid hitting the tile and flowing over her.

She was drunk, and while it wasn't exactly peace, it was the quietest her brain had been in the last twenty-four hours.

She was pulled from her trance-like state by a knock on her bathroom door. She couldn't bring herself to even lift her head, but waited again to hear.

The door cracked open in order to make themselves heard. "Dani, honey?" her father called out from the entrance of the restroom. "It's getting late and I was wondering if you wanted some dinner."

Her stomach rolled at her father's kind voice. A sad smile came to her lips. "I'm not hungry," she replied as quietly as she could while still being heard over the running water.

"Are you sure?" he pressed further, his head barely inside the restroom.

She nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, Dad." She could feel tears brim at her eyes and she wasn't entirely sure why. She was afraid that if she began crying, she wouldn't stop.

"I love you, Sweetheart."

"Love you, too," she answered hurriedly. He took a quick inhale, knowing something was wrong. He shut the door to the restroom, departing from the room. In Chris Beckett expressing his love for his daughter, it had sent her over the edge. For some reason, this ritual of telling her that he loved her before bed had been what invoked emotions.

She allowed her head to fall back in between her legs, the tears beginning to fall. They blended seamlessly with the water that was dripping over her face and shoulders, the temporary moment of clarity gone.

What she would give to forget.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───