7: The Girl with the Pills

"Well, look what we have here." The gorgeous girl moved closer to me, observing my body and outfit, "Mmm, I see. You don't look dressed for a party, not one like this. Your clothes look like you just thought you were going out to McDonalds."

AHK! What's this girl's problem? We have never met before and the first thing she says to me after I find her doing drugs is that I look like your average fast food enthusiast?!

I made a scornful face and took a sigh, "That's rich coming from the girl popping pills in the bathroom." I looked smug away from her direction as if I was talking to an audience or something.

"HEY! I am not doing drugs, okay? I have to take these, or I'll end up playin' frog."

After she said that I looked at her with softer eyes, realizing how rude I had been and I felt bad for how I initially came on. "Erm… Sorry."

"Lighten up, Man! I was just joking; this isn't something to lose sleep over."

"AHK! Ho–How could you joke about something like that!"

"Hahahaha! I got you again! How did you fall for my joke twice?" As she said this, I was utterly lost and looked at her with the blankest face I'm sure anyone has ever made. "Hey, I'm sorry man. Anyway, now that we've had a laugh, wanna get acquainted? The name's Emma, what's yours?"

"My name?"

"I thought to myself if I should give this untrustworthy girl my name, but eventually I told her that my name was…"

"HEY! Why are you pretending to read my thoughts like this is a book or something"

"Well… I don't know, you seem like one athose–– urm–– space case types, like you live life in your head, y'know?"

I groaned, "Y'know you're incredibly frustrating."

" Why thank you! But jeez hoodie, you gonna tell me your name?"

I thought to myself, this girl seemed like a lot of trouble and I didn't really feel like getting too involved with her just yet. After mulling it over I decided to lie about my name. "My name is Nate."

"Well, Nate, I look forward to talking to you more. Next time, hopefully, not in a bathroom."

"Yeah, thanks… Emma– right? Alright I'll keep that in my mind for when we meet again."

She left the room and closed it behind herself. She seemed happy, she hopped while she walked and it left the impression in your head that she didn't have a care in the world. That type of person is incredibly draining. Man, what a pain.

' * * * '

Hi! The names Emma. I'm 17. I was born on December 25th 2004. Alright, enough with the formalities. Mkay, so basically the thing with me is that I'm not really a normal person. I mean, for the most part I act normal, do normal things, hang out with normal people, but sometimes, everything around me disappears. Faded to black and closed off from reality my mind moves out of my body and my surroundings are gone. Everytime this happens I wake up to a ceiling that I am all too familiar with now. I always get told off for "not taking care of myself" or "not being careful" but I can't help it if I want to live. I want to live my life how I want to live it. Not held back by some rulebook a guy in a white coat gives me. I'd much rather live a short and happy life than a long boring one. Y'know if you really wanted to know about my past you could basically wrap it up by summarizing my life as being incredibly boring.

From the ages 0-9 I was under the watchful eye of my parents. Then one day when I was 10, my mom and dad got in a really big fight and dad left. I haven't seen him since. I really loved my dad. He was tall, and really handsome. He always wore really nice clothes even though we didn't have much money growing up. I always had the feeling that the reason dad left might've been me. I mean, my mom is gorgeous! But, after she had me she gained weight from having a child and was never able to lose it because she always had to care for me. She spent all her time caring for me while dad worked and he never seemed to be happy when he came home from his job. He would usually just open a beer, eat with us, and then we would all watch TV until I had to sleep. He always got home real late. Maybe 7 or 8. He left for work before I went to school, so I know he was always busy. I feel like they would've been better off if I wasn't around. I ruined the best years of their lives. Anyways!

When I was 10, I met this girl named Veronica. I really liked her. I mean she was so elegant, she came from a really well off family. Both of her parents had cars and their fridge was always full, her house was like paradise. I remember one day me and her were playing and we climbed a tree but stupid Roni fell and broke her arm. That's another thing about her, while she may be loaded, she wasn't loaded in the mind department, that's for sure.

When I reached middle school – I had to have been 13 or so– I met this one boy who I really fancied, but asked my friend and she said that he had a girlfriend. Later, I found out that he didn't and he actually liked me. Apparently, that friend of mine had told him I hated his guts, and he never talked to me again. That was my first crush.

When I reached high school, my mom started going out with this guy named Toni, he was a real asshat. I mean a real assbackword sorta guy. I mean, this dude would–– instead of working–– do all these odd jobs, not for money, but for things. I don't know what my mom saw in him. The sex must've been good though, because she stayed with him for 3 months before she got fed up with him, much longer than all the guys before who barely got past the first date. I think my mom must've been a very specific sorta lady. The sort of woman that men howl at on the street and slow their car down just to be shrugged off and turned away from while they ogle at her ass or something.

Remember I said my mom wasn't able to lose all of that baby weight? Yeah, well after dad left, she hit the gym and lost it in no time and was a real hot shot. She was a smoking gun, that hot. But no matter how hot the man she went out with or how rich, she couldn't find herself happy with any man. That was until I turned 15 and she met this new guy named Ryan. I hated Ryan. I mean, he was the worst. He always acted like he was my dad or something. He always told me when to be home, what I could and couldn't do. I mean, the nerve of this man, walking into my life and thinking that he can control me just because he's some old man? Ugh! He pisses me off. Sorry, I didn't mean to get so annoyed. Anyways, basically this guy and my mom tied the knot really fast and by the time I was 16, I was the flower girl at my mom's wedding. Within a year, she had basically replaced my dad. While I never knew my mom's feelings toward my dad, I can't imagine that she never loved him. I mean, he is the father of her daughter. She spent almost 15 years with him. She spent 9 years raising him with me. After she married Ryan, my mom really changed. She started to act like more of a grown up. I wasn't allowed to cuss anymore cause it's unladylike. I wasn't allowed to hang out with boys. I wasn't able to drive on my own. I wasn't even allowed to get a job where I might interact with men. I had to work at this women's clothing store, and my mom instructed my boss to never serve a male customer. They were SO overprotective.

Coming up to this year, I was finally given a little bit of freedom. I took this medicine to help handle my seizures and fainting, and it seems to help keep them under control. Since I haven't had one in a while, Ryan and Mom even let me go out by myself, without Roni. The other week I went to the mall, shopped, and even got hit on by like 5 guys.

Y'know, I didn't really say this, but I'm kinda hot. I'm not nearly as attractive as my mom, but I've got a nice figure and a really pretty face. Whenever guys try to talk to me, they always talk about how I have such a pretty face. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's a compliment either way so I take it.

Now, I finally made it to today. I came to this party today because Roni invited me. She said that it might be a good chance for me to get to know some guys and maybe get a boyfriend. While I did say I had a first crush, I never said anything about how I've never felt attracted to anyone since then. I mean, there have been the occasional hunks you see in movies, but when it comes to real life, there have been no guys that really lit me up like a christmas tree. Earlier, I felt a little light headed, so I decided to go to the bathroom to take my meds since I brought them with me. When I got around to taking my pills, someone rudely barged into the room and accused me of being a druggie. He was average. He was tall, not a twig but not chubby. Just average. He had a nice face but it wasn't great. He didn't seem to be too muscular but he wasn't weak. Like I said, just average. He was funny though. As we talked, I could feel myself being friends with this guy. His voice made me feel warm inside. No one has ever been that blunt to me. He told me straight up exactly what he thought of me, regardless of how I looked. Usually someone would assume they were in the wrong for coming into the bathroom, but this dude assumed I was in the wrong for leaving the door open. I'd be lying if I said he didn't have some good qualities. He was tall which was a plus, I mean, he wasn't too tall, but he was a little taller than me. He had a little twinkle in his eye, I don't know if he noticed it, but when he talked to me, it seemed like he was oddly happy. I wonder if I will ever get to meet that guy again. His name… his name… oh right. Nate.

' * * * '

"Hey!" Marc Yelled, "Open up!"

Apparently it had been 30 minutes since I slipped away from him and Carly and met that Emma girl. I had passed out in the bathroom, surprising for someone who hasn't even drunk anything, but apparently when I woke up I was feverish.

"Yo, what happened?" Marc inquired, "I mean, your face is red as hell"

When he asked me what happened, I told him about how I met this gorgeous girl named Emma, and I told him about how the last thing I remembered was sitting, not on the toilet, but the toilet lid fully clothed and sitting down. It felt like I completely shut down. For some reason, that interaction with that girl had completely drained me of all energy. When I looked at it that way, there was a clear explanation for why I would suddenly fall asleep and take a nap in the bathroom. On the other hand, it was alarming for me to think that one girl could somehow leave me completely defenseless and empty. No matter how much time passed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was like a sweets addiction, something that until quenched, would constantly leave me thirsting for more. I walked around the party with Marc, as he seemed to know a lot of the people here and know his way around. He tried to introduce me to a bunch of people, girls and boys alike, but it was so overwhelming. The blaring music, house party lights, shouting, dancing. Everything was so intense, it made it feel like everything was closing in on me, swelling, squeezing me, like a tube of toothpaste. Closer and closer everything moved in, it felt like I was a sardine in a can.

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"Ahh"

"AAhh"

"Pfff… Phh.."

"Hey buddy," Marc tapped on my back, "You okay?"

My eyes recentered and I felt the room expand.

"Yeah… yeah I'm okay…"

My breathing regulated and my heartbeat went down.

"Hey Marc… I've got a question."

"Have you seen a girl… the one I was talking about earlier… that Emma chick."

"Yeah, what about her?"

"I wanna know more about her."

When I said that, Marc looked at me with a grin. As if saying, "So you've finally taken an interest in a girl, old buddy?"

"I'd be glad to tell you…"

Marc looked at me with a smile and didn't say anything.

"Well?"

"Oh, I didn't know you meant right now. Well, I can't really tell you all too much about her right now. I mean, I only know so much, but after this party is over, I'm sure I can pull something up on her."

"Okay… Do you at least know what school she goes to?"

" Yeah, YWP– Yorkwork Private."

"So she's fairly local huh… wonder why I've never seen her."

"Well, they say that she's moved around a lot, she actually went to school with us when we were little–– back in elementary."

"Wait seriously?!"

"Yep, then when she was around 10, she randomly got transferred to some school across town. Then when she moved onto middle school, she went to some school outside of town called Gales school for Girls."

"Gales? Isn't that a live–in hospital?"

"Well that's what I thought too–– I had a friend who once broke his leg and it wasn't healing and they sent him there so he could stop missing school."

Marc pulled out his phone and showed me the hospital on the internet.

"Ah, I see… it is a hospital." When I said that, Marc shook his head, almost saying yes, "So… got anything else?"

"Nope, like I said, I'd need to make the rounds to get any information."

"Alright good luck, I'm gonna enjoy the rest of the party." In reality I was just going to go around the party drinking a coke and hoping to see Carly or Emma. As it had been 5 p.m. now, I decided I was going to take a walk and think about some things. All of a sudden, I saw someone throw a football and hit someone in the head. That reminded me of my dad, Ol Frank Weathers. I really like my dad. He was this real nice fella that you'd see in the movies, the built type whose tall and muscular, but not egotistical like most guys in real life are. He was humble and modest. He liked to play football with me on Sundays after church and we'd always spend hours throwing the skin back and forth across our yard. Sometimes kids from the neighborhood would join in. I don't go to church anymore though. When I was around 10, my dad got really sick, they said he had cancer from smoking. He seemed to be getting better, so we went out and threw the skin around a little. He collapsed and they had to put him in the hospital. He's dead now.

Y'know, I didn't see her for a while. By 8pm I had gotten bored. I didn't find Emma, nor had I really seen Marc and Carly for a while, so I figured I'd walk to the convenience store down the street. For a party, they didn't really have many snacks–– I was really hungry.

When I got to the convenience store, I decided to go in and grab a chocolate milk and a bag of chips, not like I was going to finish it. I just felt so depressed for some reason. I felt like I had failed myself for not finding her. As I thought that, I looked up ahead of me and under the lamp post there she was.

"You're Nate!"

Speak of the devil.