Chapter 8:

                I was denied a glass of whiskey and that made me superbly pissed off. As if I wasn’t having a hard enough time already, with David being a jerk and all, without having to watch all my alcohol be poured down the drain. I wouldn’t have thought that would be the best time to put me through that, but the rest thought otherwise. One after the other, the tops were unscrewed and my liquid gold was sent down, down, down- screwing me over with each slosh in the sink.

                “Just one shot?” I pleaded, “Just one last one? I swear that will be it. Please? Guys, come on! That’s mine, you can’t do that.”

                I moved to stand up from the kitchen chair, but Jeff pushed me back. My head was throbbing and all I wanted was to feel the comforting buzz of alcohol.

                “Please, just one? My head really hurts. Please?” I looked up at Chuck, hoping he’d give in. He didn’t, dropping some more aspirins on the table.

                Seb finished another bottle, placing it next to the collection on the side counter. There were a lot there, but I still couldn’t believe I had a problem. I didn’t want to count them, but Seb took the liberty to for me.

                “Thirteen bottles,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Are there any more hidden anywhere?”

                I shook my head, knowing perfectly well there was a bottle of vodka and a case of beer under my bed.

                “I think you forgot some,” David came in with his hands full. I’d nearly forgotten about that other bottle of scotch, but there it was with the rest in his arms. He had a stupid grin plastered on his face, like he felt good for what he was doing to me. First the invasion of my laptop, then those pictures, and my head, and now taking away my booze. How could a friend do all that? I couldn’t believe one person could be such a jerk.

                Seb took the bottles, dumping first the beer and then the vodka. He was about to reach for the scotch, when David stopped him.

                “Wait,” he said. Hope passed through me, maybe David would give me a last glass after all. “I’d like to pour that one out.”

                I tried to get up again, fists clenched so tight, my knuckles flared white. This time Chuck stood in my way.

                “Calm down, Pierre!” he put a hand on my shoulder, trying his best to calm me down.

                “I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so bad. This is just too much,” I looked past Chuck at David smiling at me from the sink. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Just move, let me by. Just this once. I want to pay him back for everything.”

                “Pi, let’s go for a walk or something,” Chuck grabbed my hand and tugged me away, “Ignore him. He’s a pain, sure, but fighting wont solve anything.”

                I glared at David one more time before letting Chuck drag me from the room. David smirked, waving goodbye and shaking the last drop out of the scotch bottle.

                I shuffled along the sidewalk, shoes skidding the pavement and kicking up gravel. It was bright outside, too bright for my throbbing head, so I’d had to turn back for my sun glasses. It took everything in me not to tackle David when I went through the door. Seb would have told me that my anger was from the lack of alcohol in my system, but I knew that it was more than that. Chuck walked beside me, hands deep in the pockets of his skate shorts.

                “What did he do this time?” Chuck broke the silence.

                “Acted like an idiot,” I answered.

                “Other than that,” he sighed. I didn’t really know what to tell him. How could I explain the photos? David would probably show them to him and tell him it was my idea. What would I do then?

                “Did a few things.” Was all I could think up.

                “Pierre, I can’t kick his ass when no one’s watching if you don’t tell me what he did wrong!” Chuck’s eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance.

                “You look really cute like that,” I laughed, passing my fingers over his forehead. “But don’t worry about David. I’ll take care of him.”

                Chuck sighed, shaking his head slightly. “You’re not going to tell me, then?”

                “I’ll take care of it,” I pushed his shoulder and he bumped me back. “Just trust me, ‘kay?”

                “Fine,” he said, “Though, you need to promise me you’ll come to me if anything gets out of hand. You two can’t be beating each other up all the time, it’s not a great image for us.”

                “Alright, I promise,” I smiled at him, letting my hand fall discreetly close to his. Chuck took my hint and grasped it firmly in his fingers. His touch sent a tingling feeling through me that I loved so much.

                “What do you want to do tonight?” he asked, rubbing his thumb along my knuckles.

                “I was thinking we could spend some time together, just you and me,”