Just for This Year

Chapter Fourteen

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.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

September 12
Friday

49 Days Before

And it was one hell of a party.

Music was blasting from speakers around the house. Clouds of smoke filled the air along with the stench of body odor. People from every social circle were there, playing drinking games and getting hammered together. Some people had made their own dance floor, a mosh pit of teenagers happily dancing around. It was something special that social restraints were almost nonexistent at their town parties.

Nobody cared who anybody was, if someone wanted to party, they were going to party. The only rule was to not mess around with anyone. If someone did, they wouldn't like what happened next. This was the time to be free and have a good time. Usually, that was the type of energy that Sam thrived on. He loved the concept of meeting anybody and everybody. He got a rush from these things.

"Jesus," Charlie breathed out. "They don't play around with the first game of the season, do they?"

"Apparently not."

Unfortunately, Sam wasn't really in the party mood. He could tell a bit of a cloud was over his head. It wasn't for any particular reason that he could think of, but he just felt cloudy. The party didn't feel liberating, it felt suffocating. He could feel himself getting more frantic, and he just wanted to leave.

He turned to ask Charlie if he wanted to head out, hoping they were in the same page, but he was already going in someone's direction. "Hey, I'm gonna go say hi to Elle, I'll be back in a minute!"

But Sam didn't want Charlie talking to Elle, he wanted Charlie to talk to him. They talked enough during play practice. He wanted Charlie for himself. "Wait—"

"Sam!" He turned around to see his twin fling herself into his arms. He stumbled back, letting out a startled laugh. Glancing behind her, he saw a group of guys in their football jerseys. Some were chugging drinks of their own while some were beckoning Lila to return.

"Yo, eight! Have you had enough yet?" the dark-skinned boy asked, and Sam recognized him as Teddy, one of the players on the team.

Lila grinned at him. "Not even a little bit."

"'Eight'?" Sam asked, holding her steady.

"My football number!" she told him excitedly. He frowned slightly, noticing the glazed look in her eyes and how her words slurred slightly as she spoke.

"What's going on?" Sam questioned, eyeing the players suspiciously.

"Initiation," Teddy told him, lifting his beer bottle up. "Rookies play a bit of a drinking game after the first win of the season."

"That reminds me," Lila gasped out as she turned around. "I'm up!"

"Lila—" Sam tried as he attempted to grab her arm, but she just went back to the table. The guys around her let out a series of cheers as she got back to the game. Sam huffed out in frustration, exclaiming, "Lila!"

"She's fine, don't worry." Sam turned around to see, of all people, Ashton Westbrook. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, glowering at the crowd of loud teenagers. He had a plastic cup in his hands, holding it lazily. "I'll make sure she gets home."

Sam frowned, nodding at the cup in his hands. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Ashton scoffed, tilting the cup to show the contents inside— water. "I'm not even drinking, all right?"