Well, it could’ve been worse, if we’re being technical. Going to bed early wasn’t something that actually bothered me like it did Ben. When we were sent to bed after we finished dinner, Mom was still there, being more obstinate than normal with Dad getting her to eat. As we got up from the table, he and I met eyes. No comments were made.

I walked away to my room and locked the door. Another big no-no in the house, but I was already grounded, so what were they going to do? Ground me harder? Sounds weird, but go crazy I guess.

I strolled over to my window and examined it. And just, wow, someone actually nailed down my window so I couldn’t open it. I’m guessing it was Mom since it was just insane enough that Dad probably wouldn’t go through with it. Threaten it? Maybe. Actually do it? Nah, he’s not enough of a man. Wasn’t about to stop me though, not if I could help it.

I searched around my room for things to take those nails out with that didn’t include my bare hands. I really wished I kept a hammer in my room now, but I found what I could, which included a metal ruler, a plastic protractor, a pair of pliers, and my fork and knife from the kitchen. Yeah, it wasn’t a fun time, and I spent a good hour and a half going at it before I got all of the five nails out. Mom’s mistake was not just handcuffing me to the bed.

It was about 11:30 at night, and I could go out to meet up with the girls again. I needed some time to blow off steam, and a hang-out with the girls would give me a nice outlet to just let loose for a bit. What harm could it really do?

I climbed out the window and dashed across the lawn, seeing the lights still on in the kitchen. I guess Mom and Dad were still going at it with dinner. Thank you Mom for being so stubborn tonight. Perfect distraction to let me get away. We were meeting up at Maria’s house today, which was pretty close to my house, so I didn’t have to run too far. 

“Hey, guys, I’m here.” I said, running into Maria’s backyard.

Cadence and Megan, like usual, were chatting when I arrived. Maria was waiting at the gate for me and gave me a large hug. Brittany stared down at me from her spot sitting atop the fence, and smirked.

“Sophs, you left your little bro behind?” she asked. “The little guy was growing on me.”

“The night life wasn’t for him,” I shrugged.

“Sophie,” Maria asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Hm?” I didn’t expect her to ask anything like that. How did she know something was wrong? “What do you mean?”

“You look upset about something,” she said. “You can tell anything.”

“Nothing’s wrong with her,” Cadence said. “Now let’s leave.”

Cadence swaggered out, and Megan followed. Brittany jumped down from the other side of the fence and also followed behind her. Maria grabbed my arm and walked with me. She seemed awfully clingy and concerned for me tonight. We walked at a small distance behind the group.

“Is something up with you?” I chuckled, watching her cling to me. “My left arm isn’t mine anymore.”

“They’re scary,” Maria said. “I’d rather be back here with you.”

“Oh well…” I wasn’t expecting that one. “Well, you’re fine then.” That put a smile on her face as she held my arm a bit closer.

When we made our first stop behind the drugstore, Cadence seemed more excited than usual to get her fix of beer or whatever cheap alcohol she could get her hands on. Today, she got a lot of stuff, and I mean a lot. I mean they handed her two backpacks full of clinking bottles and she handed them fifty bucks. That’s how sketchy this whole thing was.

“Woah girl, what do you need that many drinks for?” Brittany asked nervously.

“You’ll see,” smiled Cadence wildly. I shuddered, and I felt Maria do the same on my arm.

“You ok, Mars?” I whispered.

“Cadence is scaring me,” she said. “Something doesn’t feel right tonight.”

“Don’t worry,” I reassured. “You’ll be alright. I promise.”

“If you promise…”

“What’s the worst that could happen? Cadence gets a bit drunk like usual, she vomits down the children’s slide, and Meg and Britt drag her back home.”

Maria still looked worried, but didn’t voice any more concerns. If we were being honest, I also felt like something was different about tonight, but I ignored it. Tonight was the night to let loose and forget about my problems. 

We all followed Cadence to the playground where we normally hung out, which was deserted in the nightfall. When we all sat down on various pieces of playground equipment, Cadence began taking drinks out of the backpacks. They didn’t even have proper labels on them, just white stickers with handwritten words. Ok, now I was getting nervous.

“Hey Cady,” Brittany said nervously. “What are those?”

“These are drinks that gods could only dream of,” she said dreamily, holding one of them up to her face.

“They look more like some unmarked strong stuff.”

“No, they’re clearly marked,” she assured, holding the bottle up enough for us to see that it read Hard Stuff in magic marker.

“Is it safe?” I asked.

“Come on Sophs, live a little,” she smirked, holding the bottle out to me.

“No thanks,” I said, pushing it away. “I think I’ll live better without it.”

“More for me.” 

Cadence tilted the bottle up and took a big sip. When she took it back down, she shook her head strongly and squeezed her eyes tight before laughing. Oh yeah, I could tell by the way she reacted that the label wasn’t just for show.

“Want a sip, Mars?” she asked, holding the bottle out to Maria. She took a step backwards, looking a bit afraid.

“She’s fine,” I butted in. “Mia doesn’t need your trash.”

“Mia?” Cadence asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

“Mars,” I corrected, turning a bit red. I don’t know where that nickname came from. “Mars doesn’t need your trash.”

“Ugh, killjoy babysitter.” she groaned.

She walked over and offered a drink to Megan, who reluctantly took it. When she took a sip, Cadence tilted her bottle farther up and she chugged down half the bottle in one go. Megan was coughing and spitting, and Cadence was bellowing out laughter. That real bitchy kind that let you know she was enjoying your pain. Megan was trying to force out laughter too, even with the tears I could see welling in her eyes.

“You want one too, Britt?”

“I’ll take the other half of Meg’s bottle and that’s it,” she said. “I still gotta walk you and her back home then get back to my house.”

“Suit yourself,” she said, snatching the bottle from Megan’s hands and putting it into Brittany’s. Unlike Meg and Cadence, she sipped the bottle slowly and thought about the taste. I guess she had a bit more class.

About half an hour later, Cadence had been downing the drinks, and had urged Megan along too. Soon enough, the two of them were completely wasted. At least as wasted as teens could get. Megan was just straight passed out, head poking out the base of the tube slide. Brittany was sitting on the swings, blowing a tune into her empty bottle. Cadence was waving around a bottle and spouting bullshit left and right. It was fun getting her to do stupid shit at first, but it got boring, and Maria started getting anxious.

“You look anxious, Mars,” Cadence slurred, red-faced. “Take a sip, you’ll feel better-”

“I already told you she’s not taking anything from you,” I said sternly.

“You would,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Cadence began prancing around the playground like an idiot. “Look at me, I’m Ms. Hutcherson. Angel to your eye and can do no wrong!”

“Shut it,” I said. “You put the ‘dense’ in Cadence.” I could say whatever I wanted to her at this point. She was too far gone to remember. She continued mocking me though.

“Oh no, Mar-Mar! Don’t take one sip from that bottle of poison! Come, hide inside my sweatshirt so you can’t have fun!”

“I said shut it!” I said, getting off my feet and walking up to her. My face was bright red now, and Brittany stopped blowing her tune and paid some attention. 

“What’s wrong, Sophia? Does it hurt knowing that you’re incapable of living?” she asked, waving around her freshly-opened bottle. She was pushing me to the edge now. “Does it hurt knowing you can’t have fun? That you gotta play babysitter? That you can never let loose and just-”

Pissed at her tirade, I yanked the bottle out of her hand. For just a split second I thought if what I was about to do was a bad idea, and if I should just put the bottle down and go back to Maria. But then I saw Cadence’s smug face again. I thought about Ben, and Mom, and Dad, and every problem I possibly could have in that moment, and I’d had enough. I shut my eyes tight and started drinking. I drank, and drank, and drank, until the bottle was empty. Then in anger, I threw it at the jungle gym and watched the bottle shatter into a bunch of shards. Then I felt kinda funny, and like my chest was a bit lighter. I giggled for a second, just like Cadence.

“Do you have another one of those?” I asked. Cadence’s smile drunkenly grew.