Act 3 | Chapter 6

Over the course of a week, we had gone around the entirety of New York City. We went to Coney Island and spent about a day there, we saw the statue of liberty, the empire state building. We even went to a couple of other museums, though not all of them were about art. Towards the end of our trip, we even stopped at the 9/11 memorial. It certainly was odd to be standing there, where something so horrible took place. Nothing exciting really happened on our trip. We just spent a lot of time together, and it was nice. Being alone, and traveling with Riley felt great. Plus, over the course of our trip, that small fear I had of being around so many people started to fade, and soon I got used to it.

However, despite all of this, on the last night we would be staying in New York, Riley had one last idea for the two of us to do. She walked alongside me, holding my hand and leading me down the street not too far from where we were staying. It was a small convenience store that Riley had led me too, and when we got there, she looked at me with a grin.

"Hey, let's have a drink."

It took me a minute to understand what she stood, and I even tilted my head in confusion, but then as hard as a rock, it hit me.

"You mean... a drink?"

"Yeah, Like some beer or something."

"I can't drink though. You technically can't either."

"Nothing a mature face, and a fake ID can't handle." Riley reached for her pocket.

"Oh my god, you seriously have one?" I found a bit and looked at her in a disapproving way, "That still isn't a good idea." I went quiet and thought about it some more. If Riley has gotten away with this before, would she be able to again? Technically, we didn't have any parents around to tell us what to do either. "It... It just doesn't seem safe, Riley."

"Don't worry about it! It'll be fine!"

"I mean for me."

"Hey, I'm technically an adult." she shook her fake ID in front of me. Glancing at it briefly, it did look pretty real. A part of me wanted to know just where she had gotten that, and what it had cost for her to have it. "You'll be fine." She stated and told me to wait outside. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. There was no point in stopping her. It was Riley's vacation too, and I'm sure a small drink wouldn't hurt. Just something small, nothing too big. About five minutes passed, and I started to wonder if Riley had gotten busted or something, but eventually, she walked out of the store with a cocky smirk on her face and a bunch of canned beers in a small bag.

"It worked?" I tilted my head to some surprise.

"You bet." She took one of the cans out and walked down the nearest alleyway with me. It was kinda dark out, with it almost being midnight that is. The light from nearby windows above us gave just enough light for the two of us to see. I opened the can just like I would any other can of soda and took a whiff of the scent. It practically burned my nostrils, and I quickly held the can out and away from my nose.

"Come on, it's not that bad!"

I looked at her and frowned a bit, before bringing the can to my mouth. "Might as well get this over with." I took one quick, small sip, and immediately felt the burning taste in the back of my throat. I couched, and felt like trying to spit some of it out but tried holding it in. It was hard not to cringe at the bitter taste, though after a moment, the after taste kicked in and it became... sour. Suddenly, it didn't taste as bad. Riley stood over me and giggled all the while she took a sip from her own can. I let out a nervous chuckle and hesitantly went to take another sip. Again, the flavor of it was absolutely dreadful, but after a moment, it got better.

"This... isn't too bad?" I shrugged my shoulders and looked at just what kind of alcohol Riley had gotten. Though... I couldn't remember it. The last thing I do remember from that night is taking another sip and my vision going dark.

Suddenly, I sat up in bed quickly, I let out a loud gasp as my head started to crack open. It was an unbearable feeling like my head had its brains being scrambled and burned all while it poured out of my ears. I quickly brought both hands to my head and pressed them hard against it, letting out pained groans. That's when I noticed something off. My right-hand was bandaged up. Dark red stains were outlining the palm of my hand and it too was even stinging.

"W- What?" I looked around, completely and utterly confused. Riley was in bed beside me, and just waking up herself. She looked up at me and had a frown on her face

"M- Morning," she said quietly, sitting up properly and looking down.

"Fuck... M- Morning." I couldn't shake the aching pain my head felt. "Why... the fuck is it burning so much!" I asked Riley, with a loud groan.

"You were Drunk. That usually happens after being drunk." She replied in a low, flat tone.

"God! What do you do to make it stop!" My head started to sound like someone was whaling at it with a large mallet or a hammer of some kind.

"Warm water... rest." Riley looked away from me. I gave Riley a nod and stood out of bed. My legs felt wobbly and shaky like they were made of jelly or some kind of playdoh. I limped over to the bathroom and stumbled towards the sink. I cupped my hand under the faucet and started gulping down as much water as I could, though the splitting feeling still lingered. My eyes darted back down to my bandaged hand, and I started to wonder what had happened to it. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom, trying to remember the night before. It didn't happen until I was sitting down on the shower floor and drenching my head in warm water. The feeling of water hitting my bare skin was relaxing, but not enough to distract me from the aching feeling that I felt. Even then, I could only remember a few things from the night before. Riley and I laughed, my head already spinning and...someone else was there. Someone else, but I couldn't exactly remember the there face. Who?