Jealousy smells like vodka

"Why are you here?" I asked Dani while I sketched. She has been coming to my spot since I caught her at the hotel. She usually comes to eat her lunch here; sometimes, she simply chats her time away.

She draws her eyes away from her phone and gazes at me. I wonder if I should return back to the old chemistry lab to hide. The lab had been slightly far from the school, but then Chloe won't be able to reach me if she wanted to. But lately, this other place had been assessable to unwanted people.

"Because it's the government's property, I am free to stay wherever I want?"

I stopped sketching and gave Dani an infuriating look. She simply laughed.

"Relax, AJ. Here is just better than most places in this wretched school, and if you didn't notice, I don't have any friends."

I picked up my phone when I got a text from Cleo. So I halt my discussion with Dani.

Cleo had stated that she was finished with her class.

I texted her that I was on my way so we could go home.

"It's my personal space. I like my personal space." I stood up when I said that.

"Come on, we can share the space." She said while she tapped the place I had been sitting before.

"you can stay" I won't be here.

I leave her.

The following days I stayed in the old chemistry lab, in my own world. I heard the continuous tapping on the window. I stretched to see Dani waving at me. How did she find me? I leaned backward to ignore her.

"Hurry, unless you want the principal to discover your spot cos he is coming"

I hastened out to open the door. I looked outside, but I saw no one. Instead, she entered the lab with a grin.

"Gotcha!"

"Fuck it! Dani" Dani lifts herself up to sit at the table. I moved to her and dragged her down with force until we both crouched.

"Ouch," she squints

"They could see you from the window,"

"Sorry," she puckered her lips.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, obviously" she looked at her ankle to see if it attracted any bruises.

"What happened to your other friends? Like Tessa and Ashley"

"Well, they are all in college, and it gets lonely here," she mumbled.

She had a sad expression. I return back to my sketchpad to draw.

"Hey, you could come with me to a party just a few towns away," Dani speaks after the long silence between us.

"No," I gave a definite answer.

"come on"

"No"

"I will pick you up." She insisted.

"No," she caused a tantrum, after which she stayed silent and resumed to start her daily activities.

I dropped my bag on the dining chair as soon as I got home. I lay down on the couch and took out my phone to send a message to Axel.

Wow, she messaged me first_ Axel.

Missing me that much, Cookie_ Axel.

I sent a rolling eyes emoji

You wished _Me.

How did you know your friends _Me.

Well, Theo and I have always been friends since kindergarten. We met Jasper when we were Junior _Axel.

The girls just came after. Ashley was Jasper's twin sister, and Tessa became Jasper's girlfriend _Axel.

What of Dani? _Axel.

She is Tessa's best friend. Somehow she always tagged along when we all when out. She was pretty cool that how she became one of us _Axel.

We talked about random things afterward. Then, finally, I fell asleep on the couch.

I spring myself from the shock of hearing the constant honking of a car. I cleaned my eyes before moving behind the curtain to see who it was.

"AJ, pop in," Dani screamed from her deadbeat car.

"No!" I screamed back.

"Come on, it going to be fun," she whined.

"Were you always a persistent bitch?" she thought about my question for a second before smiling and nodding her head.

"I don't go to parties, ever."

"Please!!!!"

Fuck it, it was just one party. Nothing bad could ever happen again, right.

I go back inside to change into tight jeans and a crop top. I wear my hoodie on top of the shirt. Just in case, I thought.

"How do you look good in everything?" Dani complimented me on my simple outfit.

"Just drive"

She grinned and started the car. She put on one of my favorite songs, and by the end of the ride, we were all singing and shouting at the top of our lungs.

The sound of loud music, the smell of cheap beer, and the deep scent of weed never changed at a party. Everything was different except the people. I observed the little flirting by the floor bed or the gross make-out section in front of the porch as Dani pulled me into the house.

"Stop kissing, Lambert. You look gross!" Dani says, expressing her disdain for the guy on the porch.

He pulled away from the girl and twisted toward her; he smiled when he saw her.

"HEY, PEOPLE, DANI IS BACK!!" he screamed with excitement to the people inside the house. Everyone inside the house screamed with excitement.

She smiled and continued slipping through the crowd. She heard her name being chanted as she continued walking. She stopped and said.

"if you don't let me through. I won't do the trick again."

It had worked like a charm. I see Jasper and Tessa on the couch. Her hands caress his cheeks while she giggles at his jokes.

"is Axel around?" I asked in expectancy.

She snuffed, "you wish. But, unfortunately, Theo, Ashley, and Axel don't go to community college."

"Oh."

"I thought you knew that."

I didn't respond. I watched Dani meeting up with Tessa and Jasper.

"Hey, Tessa!" Dani jumped on Tessa's body. Tessa glared at me before smiling at Dani. So much for a mood swing.

"your hair looks good," she said, touching the curls of Dani's hair.

"I know, and I have always hated curly hair. Look at me for a change."

Jasper kissed Tessa on the cheeks and whispered to her

"Later, babe"

"where are you going?!"

"To see my friends and get high as fuck" he said while Tessa pouted. Before leaving the room, Dani mumbled the word dick.

I take a seat where Jasper has been sitting.

"Why are you sitting there?"

"Because, obviously, he left?" I replied.

"What a high school girl doing at a college party?" she looked at me, irritated by my presence.

"You do know that that statement is directed to both her and me, right," Dani chipped in.

"I am sorry" though she apologized, she still gave me a demeaning look.

I stood up as well; I was getting uncomfortable in her presence.

"I am coming; I need to get some beer," I told Dani. I passed through the crowd. I have been here before, not the house. The scenery, of a bunch of boys standing and talking, the feeling of being confined to a small space. I was hyperventilating. I stopped moving, and the music became mute in my head. I hated parties; why did I come here if it would only cause me pain.

The sound of someone screaming jolts me back to reality. When I looked around, I noticed a girl standing close to Jasper, who was soaked in vodka. Next, I see a pissed-off Tessa with an empty cup in her hand. Again, jealousy smells like vodka, and someone was soaking in it.

Tessa leaves the place, bumping into me along the way.

"What are you looking at?" she asked before stumbling off. I could swear I saw the glitter in her eyes.

Dani takes me back home after the events,

"I can say that was a bust," she chuckled.

"Yeah, totally" I had agreed with her, and I was still not over my fears.

I hear her phone ringing from the back seat. She stretches to pick up the phone and looks at the caller.

"Why is Axel calling me?" she muttered as she answered.

"What the fuck Dani!!! You took Avery to a party" I watch her freeze from Axel's voice.

"How did you know that?"

"Because I saw her face on Lambert's post. Still fuck! You should have asked me."

"I didn't __ know I was not supposed to take her to a party," she trembled.

I took the phone from her.

"Hey Axel," he stayed silent when he heard my voice.

"I told her I wanted to come."

"Hey Cookie," he finished talking after he had regained his composure.

"I didn't know you were still with Dani."

"So you could shout at her more," I corrected him.

"You fucking know you are not supposed to be at the party. I don't want to have this conversation with you when Dani is here."

"fine. we will talk later."

I ended the call that night, the only thing I knew was how mad I was at Axel, and I would be for generations to come.