Chapter 2

Feelings of resentment aside, my childhood was pretty much picture perfect. Well...except for Kelly's devil of an older brother. I have very few memories that are Ken-free. Everywhere I went, he seemed to always be just one step behind me either pulling my hair, making fun of my clothes, or calling me names. He was the first person I ever truly hated. My mom always used to tell me that hate was a very strong word, but my feelings towards Ken were, indeed, very strong - so it was appropriate for the situation. Though, as I grew older and gained the ability to view the world objectively, I realized that we were just kids and kids could really stink sometimes. Though, that didn't excuse his bully-tactics. Elementary-school-me was still holding a grudge to this day. I was jolted from my reverie when Kelly suddenly jumped onto my bed, landing right smack dab on top of me. I let out a grunt of pain before pushing her off of me. "Kelly, what have I told you about pouncing on me first thing in the morning?" I scolded with a groan of annoyance. "That it's an invasion of your personal space blah blah blah I have a stick up my ass and I don't know how to-" "Remind me why I'm friends with you again?" I teased her, flinching away from her playful slap. "Because I'm not just your friend I'm your BEST friend because we just get each other. Now, you remember Susan Ralston from our home-ec class, right? Well, her older sister is a Tri Delt and they're having a crazy party tonight. Susan invited me to come and you're going as my plus one," she stated matter-of-factly. "I don't know, Kelly. It's quite rude to just invite myself to a party I wasn't originally wanted at in the first place," I mumbled, biting my lip nervously. "Nonsense! We're a package deal, PP; if they want me, they'll want you too. Besides, it'll be a great opportunity for us to get our schmooze on and even possibly get a leg up on bids!" she squealed excitedly. How in the world was I supposed to tell her no when she was already bouncing up and down with glee before anything even happened? I let out an exasperated sigh and nodded in agreement while saying a series of I knows as she babbled on and on about how I'm the greatest friend ever and so forth. ... I awkwardly transferred my weight back and forth between my feet as I milked the Sierra Mist I was sipping on, observing the lively crowd from my spot on the couch in the living room of the party house. I hadn't seen Kelly since she found her "soulmate" at the beer keg and eventually crawled her way upstairs with the guy. That was over an hour ago. I had been doing my best to dodge the advances of all the random guys who'd tried to chat me up all night. I figured my outfit of overall shorts and a plain white t-shirt would've made my attitude of "I was dragged here somewhat against my will and I'm really not in the mood to party" quite obvious, but I guess not. "I haven't seen you around here before, are you new?" a decently cute redhead asked me after plopping down on the couch next to me. The movement jostled my body and caused me to slosh my pop all over my hand, only making my annoyance grow further. "Uh, I guess you could say that. I'll be a freshman this year," I answered with disinterest. I felt bad about completely blowing the guy off, but I just really wasn't in the mood for pointless small talk. If I'm being completely honest, his aura didn't really scream I'm looking to settle down with the right girl! Just as he was about to reply, I saw Kelly slightly stumble down the remaining three steps of the stairs. I was incredibly grateful for her lack of control when it came to alcohol at that very moment. I rushed over to her side and swung her arm around my shoulders before leading her out of the house. On my way across the front yard, I heard two guys arguing animatedly. "No dude! I'm not screwing with you! That crazy motherfucker really is back! And from what I've heard from all the rumors, he's back for good, too." I shrugged off the weird nature of the conversation and the feeling it gave me in the pit of my stomach, refocusing my attention on my drunken future-roommate's protests about the night still being young. I somehow managed to drag her back to my car - well, actually, my dad's car that he'd let me borrow for the night. My heart had been pounding the entire ride home, my gaze switching back and forth between the road and the backseat where Kelly had been rolling around, spread eagle, without a single care in the world. Despite my numerous pleads for her to sit up and put her seatbelt back on, she continued to flail around and ignore me. I'd just pulled to a slow stop at the last stoplight before the turn into my neighborhood when I heard a splashing noise in the back seat followed by the horrible stench of vomit. "Kelly, no!" I shouted, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I smacked my head lightly against the steering wheel before a honk coming from behind me pulled me back to reality. Blowing a puff of frustrated air out from between my lips, I eased my foot off the break and began the final trek to my house.