I looked around, feeling a little bit sober. “Beth and Hannah are cousins too.”

“Who?”

I couldn’t see them. “They were here. I think they were fighting someone.”

A guy was walking past, but he turned and pointed down the street. “Your friends took off. That one f**ked Robbie. No way Kari was going to let her get away with that.”

Who was Robbie and who was Kari?

I sighed, and turned to Marissa. “What are you doing here?”

She heaved a deep breath, frowning at me. “You’re a mess, aren’t you?”

I nodded. It wasn’t a big secret. “Angie would not approve of my new friends.”

She gave me a sad smile. “No. No, she probably wouldn’t.”

A girl came over, annoyed. “She’s not here. That bitch. She probably took off with her friends already.” Then she frowned at me. “Alex?”

Oh hell. Sarah Shastaine. Anger, jealousy, and other emotions swirled up inside of me. Then I frowned to myself. I was drunk. I wasn’t supposed to feel. That made me not like Jesse’s exgirlfriend even more. I scowled at her. “You took my friend from me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk, drunk girl.”

I muttered to Marissa, “She’s not very original.”

Patting me on the arm, she said to Sarah, “Let’s go to the party.”

“Not with her.”

“Yes, with her. She’s drunk. We’re not leaving her.”

Sarah pressed her lips together.

Marissa corrected, snapping at her, “I’m not leaving without her.”

“Whatever! We can’t even get to the party. My cousin knew how to get there.”

“Sarah.”

“This sucks!” She threw her hands in the air. “My cousin is going to die. I bet she went ahead without us on purpose. She’s such a bitch.”

Marissa’s arm tightened around me. Her chest rose and she rubbed a hand over her face. “Alex probably knows where Cord lives.”

Sarah’s gaze snapped to me. “Do you?”

I was stuck. I did. I didn’t want them to know. “No.”

I could see the disappointment.

“This sucks!” Sarah yelled again. “We drove an hour for nothing. My cousin won’t pick up her phone. Hussy.”

“Well, whatever,” Marissa lashed out at her. “I didn’t come just for the party. I wanted to see Alex anyway.”

“Congrats. She’s wasted and can barely stand up.”

“I know, which is why we’re taking her home. Alex, where do you live? We’ll give you a ride back.”

“At the college.”

A small grin graced her features before she patted my arm again. “Okay, you give us directions and we’ll take you there.” We turned and began to walk down the street.

As we went to a car and drove away, I wondered if I should tell Marissa about Chandra. I kept quiet. Something told me she wouldn’t care. She had never cared before about cheating, she definitely wouldn’t care about a maybe-girlfriend that Cord had now. And I didn’t even want to think about why Sarah Shastaine was there. More bad feelings would overwhelm me and in my state, I knew I’d say or do something that I couldn’t take back.

She’d just better stay away from Jesse.

But then I closed my eyes. I’d wake up the next morning and all of this would be a dream. Marissa being here didn’t make any sense. She’d left me like Angie, like my parents. They all left me.

CHAPTER TEN

When I woke, I was a hungover mess. Stumbling to the bathroom, showering, dry heaving, and trying to dress was a two hour process. There were lots of breaks and a few of those where I had to rest my head on a cool countertop. Beth ran into me as I was going back to my room and asked where I had disappeared to from the party. They’d returned to search for me. This information was welcomed. I hadn’t liked the feeling that they had abandoned me since they were the only two people I spent time with. Beth also gave my bag back. I’d left it in Hannah’s car. When I went inside, I checked my phone.

Zap me twice and kick me in the arse.

I hadn’t imagined Marissa’s presence the night before. She called and left me two messages, along with a text saying she was heading to town. She wanted to meet up for coffee or a drink.

I erased the text. There was no way I wanted to have that awkward conversation, especially after she saw my wasted state the night before. I didn’t regret getting so drunk, but I wasn’t signing up for another round in the near future.

Then I scrolled through the rest.

Jesse called a bunch of times and left six text messages.

Where are you?

Can we talk?

I’d like to talk. I’m sorry.

The last three had the same sentiments except he said they were having a party and he’d like me to come.

I thumbed a response back, feeling my ego get a little boost. Crazy night, didn’t have my phone. Did you know Marissa and your exgf are in town?

I didn’t wait long. My phone buzzed back right away. Yeah, M called the house phone. We moved houses, but same number. Want to meet for lunch?

I checked the time. It was 11:45. Sure.

Will pick you up in twenty.

K.

Instead of waiting in my room, I finished dressing and grabbed my book bag. I wasn’t sure what Jesse had planned so I brought my laptop and enough homework that would last me the entire weekend. Then I went downstairs and parked my bottom on the curb. Before he showed, the back stairwell door opened behind me.