Isla

17.5.

1 7 . 5 | bonus chapter

EVERETT'S POV

ISLA'S ARM WAS HEAVY AROUND MY SHOULDER. Her shoes dragged against the pavement and I slipped my arm around her waist, taking the brunt of her weight. She giggled, smelling like alcohol and sand as she leaned against me, slouching over.

I warmed, feeling her body press against mine, and fought the urge to pull away. In front of us, River and Connor drunkenly stumbled, shouting and laughing as they walked.

"River!" Connor shouted, his lips slurring on the name. He waved a drunken hand at River, who stood smiling beside him. "River, I thought of a really good joke!"

"What is it?" he replied, raising his brows.

"What is what?"

"What was the joke?"

"Oh," Connor blinked, pursing his lips in thought. After a moment, a wide grin split across his face again. "River! Look, the moon!"

A high-pitched giggle came from beside me and I released a tight breath, remembering the drunken girl half-bent beside me. I rolled my eyes, heaving Isla back up and glancing at her face. She watched me with half-lidded eyes and a drunken grin.

"Ev," she said, her fingers reaching up for my face. They hovered for a moment and her eyes narrowed further in confusion before her hand fell back to her side. "I don't feel so good."

I swallowed thickly at the nickname, shoving out the memory of a blonde-haired girl that used to call me that back home.

"You just had to go and get fucking drunk, didn't you?" I grumbled, mostly to myself.

"Oh, please," Isla slurred. "I'm not drunk. Just – Just a little tipsy. I think."

"Right. And how much did you have to drink?"

"Like... one?"

"One what?"

"Two?"

I sighed. This was getting nowhere. My grip around her waist tightened and I tried to speed up. There was no way I'd be able to get this group to their houses without at least one of them trying to run in front of a car. Clemente House was the only option.

We had been at the party for the better part of two hours. Isla had had drink after drink until suddenly she was swaying, and her eyes were slowly falling shut. I scolded myself. I should've been paying more attention. I should've kept a better eye on her and made sure she was topping her drinks up with more soda.

I hadn't expected this group of idiots to have such a low alcohol tolerance.

We reached the top of the hill and Clemente House came into view. I only hoped that my grandma wasn't awake. This was a small town and I didn't want Isla's reputation to get ruined after one night of fun.

Besides, it was all that asshole's fault.

Austin Wright, Shellside Bay's resident asshole.

He had left Isla at the party for the bitch with black hair. Some best friend he was. I didn't understand how Isla could possibly still be so infatuated with him. The entire time I'd been here, I hadn't seen him do one nice thing for her.

I mean, shouldn't he be the one here with his drunk friends, taking them home after a party? Why was this suddenly my job?

I scowled, dragging Isla up the porch steps.

"Come on," I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. Her eyes were shut, and she had a dreamy smile on her lips. I sighed, tugging her up against me. "Isla come on. Stay awake just a bit longer. Then you can sleep, okay?"