Bad Enough for You (Currently Editing)

Sexcapades...Duty Calls

That's Aiden to the right. 

The only moments in which I forgot the anger that bubbled beneath the surface at all of the outside forces trying to control my life was when I was drunk. I craved the feeling of a bottle in my hand, the rather nauseating smell of alcohol lingering about me, seductively coaxing me into a rebellious stage where the bottle was my best friend and everything and everyone outside of the apartment no longer existed.

That didn’t mean that I didn’t think about my father and his ultimatum. I most certainly didn’t forget the argument that I had had with Blaine about the future, either. In those moments after the world had stopped spinning and I could somewhat recall the events of the former night, all I could think about was what was happening in the life I no longer seemed to live. Thoughts of Blaine dealing with all of the lies that I had been feeding him, the obvious divide that the argument had created between us was more often the reason that I reached for the wastebasket than the awful hangover I was dealing with.

I knew that as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t spend all of my time with the people at the apartments. I had friends out there in the real world, ones who didn’t try to convince me to make some of the worst decisions ever. I knew that I had been neglecting them and whereas at one point, I was always present in their lives, I was practically nonexistent. Part of me was waiting for them to call me up, to ask me what was going on, where I had been lately.

However, their lives were far more complicated than mine. Though we lived in the same zip code, our lives were on separate planets. Cecilia and Milo had the television world to deal with, jobs that required their full concentration and utmost dedication. Sawyer was about to start city-hopping, for his tour was about to take off. Chantal would probably be jetting off to a new exotic location for a magazine photo shoot. Blaine, on the other hand, was making it almost too easy to get away with my new lifestyle.

As I followed Izzy through the throng of tourists that clogged the pathways between the tables, I tried to ignore the fact that I had Eli’s file tucked away in my bag. Angeline had given it to me earlier in the morning when I had left the apartment. She hadn’t said a word about it, just shoved it into my hands as I was gathering my things to go. The smile on her face, though, told me that she had already read it.

I was itching to know the secrets behind Eli and his ways, but I had another issue to deal with. It actually wasn’t an issue. It was more of a project that I had promised to take on months earlier when the person behind the ordeal had pinned me in the school hallways, a look upon their face that told me they meant business.

Once Izzy and I had muscled our way through the slightly confused-looking vacationers, she showed me to the booth at the very far corner. Facing away from me with a menu propped open before them, one forearm resting against the table with their iPhone in hand, I could only see the back of their head. Glancing at Izzy, I gave her a smile before we parted ways, me heading to the empty bench across from the person and her to the bar where Aiden was standing, looking particularly bored with a mug in one hand a rag in the other.

“It’s about time,” The voice teased as I slid onto the bench, one hand sliding across the back of my high-low skirt to keep it from tangling about my legs. Plopping my bag on the hardwood beside me, I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and looked at the boy across from me.

“Sorry, I had some things to do.” I shrugged as I pulled one of the menus from the rack and flipped it open on the table. Resting my arm against the table, I flushed beneath their gaze.

“What happened to your arm?” Milo asked, putting his phone away to lean against the lip of the table, his eyebrows furrowing into a V as he looked at my arm.