Following Me (10 page)

Devon heard the restroom door
swing open.  She slid her shoulder purse over her head as she listened to the
girls on the other side of the wall.

“You want to?” one girl asked.

Devon scrunched her brows.  She
wasn’t typically an eavesdropper, but they weren’t being secretive.

“Yeah, I only do it every once in
a while,” a second girl responded.

That sounded even stranger. 
Devon swung open her stall door and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. 
The two girls were huddled in the corner with a third girl hidden behind them. 
Devon washed and dried her hands, and then took one last glance at the odd
group of girls loitering in the corner of the restroom.

She watched one girl bend over
and sniff loudly, and then she straightened and brushed under her nose.  Devon
froze. 
Holy shit!  Were they seriously doing cocaine in the restroom?  Just
out in the open like that
?

Devon couldn’t believe it.  She
stayed rooted to the ground, staring in shock at the girls in front of her. 
Then, she paid more attention, something she hadn’t been doing since she had
arrived in Chicago.  Those girls looked familiar.  The two with their backs to
her had been sitting with Hadley.  They must have worked with her.

As her eyes shifted to the girl
hidden behind the other two, she saw a rush of blonde hair nearly the same
color as her own.  Devon’s mouth dropped open. 
No way!

DEVON STUMBLED OUT of the restroom. 
Her mouth was hanging on the floor as she rushed away from the scene behind
her. 
What the hell had just happened?

She was more in shock than
surprised over the whole thing.  It had come out of nowhere.  Hadley had always
been driven and ambitious, going after the things she wanted with zeal.  Couple
that with her spontaneity and the enormity of a big city, and Devon was sure
recreational drug use was more likely than unlikely.  Classmates who grew up
here had told her that Chicago in particular was a cesspool for drug use. 
Young professionals from all over the Midwest would flood the city and get
caught up in a lifestyle befitting their wealth.  It was a status symbol, a
social norm of sorts.

Devon found it disgusting.  She
knew she wasn’t exactly one to talk about being an upstanding member of
society, but she had grown up around musicians.  Devon knew all about the
lifestyle
.

How many parties had she come
home to where things had gotten out of hand?
  Her parents didn’t have to be
in the spotlight, and it still affected them.  The industry was out of control,
and anyone touched was sucked into it like a tornado.  Even Devon, as far on
the outskirts as she could get, had smoked pot in high school.  She had given
it up when she moved out, and she had become more vocal to her parents about
her distaste.

But Hadley…

Oh, Hadley.

Hadley had never even smoked pot
in college.  People had made fun of her for never trying anything.  She was so
carefree.  She had said she didn’t need drugs to alter her mood because she was
so awesome without them.

Now, she’s snorting coke in
public?

Devon couldn’t fathom it. 
How
had she lost so much of her best friend in just one semester?  Then again, who
was she to judge?
  Devon had lost all of herself in that amount of time. 
Or
had it been happening longer, and she had just finally opened her eyes?

She sank down into her chair and
stared out across the Chicago skyline.  She probably should have left right
away.  She didn’t know how to deal, and the more she thought about it, the more
pissed she became.  Hadley was just being irresponsible doing that shit
somewhere she could get caught. 
How often was she using?  Did Garrett
know?  Was he also on drugs?

Devon had so many questions.  But
if she asked Hadley to open up, would Hadley require her to do it in turn?

“Hey, Belle.  You alright?”
Brennan asked, sliding back into the chair next to her.

“Stop calling me that,” she spat.

“Huh,” he said.

“Stop that, too!”

“Stop what?”  He stared at her
blankly.

She looked away.  “Oh, nothing.”

“You need a shot?”  He offered
her the tequila in his hand.

“No.  Shots don’t fix
everything,” she said, turning to glare at him.

It was enough that her life was a
mess.  Hadley wasn’t supposed to be fucked up, too.  Hadley was supposed to be
the well-grounded, smart, and successful one.  She was supposed to have the
world at her feet.

“Suit yourself.”  Brennan tipped
back the drink.

“What’s your deal?” she asked,
her despair getting the best of her.

Brennan shrugged.  “What’s your
deal?”

He was looking directly into her
eyes now.  It made her uncomfortable, so she looked away.  She really just
wanted to say that she had asked first, but in the interest of not sounding
like a toddler, she held it back.

“I just don’t get you.”

“Sorry,” he said
unapologetically.

Sorry?  Like that explains
everything away,
she thought bitterly.

“Are you always this talkative?”
she asked dryly.

“Well, I thought you were quiet,”
he said with a shrug.

She was certain that he was
purposely evading her questions now.  Considering how little she was telling
anyone, his nonanswers were downright infuriating.

“Whatever,” she finally
consented.  “I think I’m going to leave.  I need to talk to Hadley about…some
shit, but I think she’ll be more articulate tomorrow.”

“Why? Is she wasted?” he asked,
looking up at Devon where she now stood over him.

Devon sighed in frustration. 
“You could say that,” she huffed.

“Hey,” Brennan said, catching
Devon’s arm before she walked away, “you’re not going home alone, are you?”

He slowly stood up, wavering a
bit on his feet.  If anyone was wasted, it was Brennan.  Devon was feeling
surprisingly sober after her rendezvous in the restroom.

“Yes,” she said, looking down at
his arm, “I’m going home alone.”

“No way.”  He shook his head. 
“The city isn’t safe at this hour.”

“And you’re going to do what?”
she asked, looking him up and down.  “You can barely walk.”

He blinked a few times and then
straightened.  He was clearly trying to make himself look more stable, but
Devon wasn’t fooled.  She had been drunk enough before to know that look in his
eye was far from sobriety.  And she wasn’t going to have some drunk guy she had
only known for a week help her home.  That offer didn’t sound like it promised
anything but mayhem.

“Seriously, I’ll be fine,” she
told him.

Though, to be honest, the thought
of going out in the city by herself was daunting.  As it was, her nightmares
left her running through unfamiliar dark streets.  She didn’t want to live her
nightmares in real life.

“No, you won’t.  Not in Chicago,
Belle,” he said, slurring her nickname.

“Brennan, you’re drunk.  Pretty
much wasted.  You’re going to be
no
help on the streets tonight,” Devon
said.

“Plan on getting on a train
tomorrow?  Well, you walk around Chicago by yourself, and you won’t be,” he
told her.

Devon swallowed hard.  She didn’t
want to be on a train tomorrow.  In fact, she wanted nothing less than to not
return to St. Louis.  She just hadn’t figured out how to stay.

“What do you suggest then?” she
demanded, wanting to get out of here.

He smiled lazily.  “My place is
just around the corner.  You can crash there.”

Devon flushed.  “I think I’ll
just find a cab or something.”

“Hey, guys!” Hadley cried,
crashing back into the party.  “Let’s do some shots!”

“I think I’m going to go back,”
Devon said, crossing her arms.

“What?  No, you just got here,
and you’re leaving tomorrow,” Hadley said.

Devon didn’t want to make a scene
in the middle of the bar, but she was becoming more and more irritated because
Hadley was treating her like an idiot.  Devon was far from an idiot.

“I just think it’s time to
leave,” she said.

“Nope, nope,” Hadley said,
hanging on Devon’s arm and leaning on her shoulder.  “This is your party. 
You’re staying.”

Devon pulled Hadley out of
earshot.  “It stopped being my party when you and your friends went into the
restroom to snort cocaine.  Hadley, what the fuck?”

Devon wasn’t going to ask.  She
had never thought that it would happen, but she was worried about her friend. 
Ironic, to say the least, but the last thing she wanted was for Hadley to get
addicted to drugs and give up everything she had been working toward.

Hadley’s face paled.  “What?”

“You heard me.  I was there.”

“I didn’t—”

“Hadley, please,” Devon said,
holding up her hand.

“It’s only been once or twice,
Devon,” she said, realizing she wasn’t getting out of it.

“I don’t care.  It’s addictive
for a reason.  It could ruin your life.”

“It’s not going to ruin my life,”
Hadley said, rolling her eyes.  “We’re just having a good time.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Devon
said.

“So, what?  You’re leaving
because you’re judging me and my friends?” Hadley asked.

Devon watched Hadley’s pupils
visibly dilate before her eyes. 
Yeah, as if she hadn’t taken cocaine.

“I don’t care about your
friends.  I care about you.”

“Well, don’t worry about me,”
Hadley said with a shrug.  “Will I see you later at the apartment?”

It was a dismissal.  She was
riding into her high, and likely, she wouldn’t care about much.

“No,” Devon said with a shake of
her head.  “I’m leaving with Brennan.”

“Ohhh,” Hadley said, raising her
eyebrows.  “Now, who is the rebel?  Does he know about Reid?  I say fuck him
anyway.  Brennan’s gorgeous.”

Devon rolled her eyes.  In the
morning, Hadley would realize that Devon wasn’t there, and that would do enough
to freak her out.  She was too far-gone for Devon to reach anything logical.

“Bye, Hadley.  Get home safe,”
Devon said sadly.

Maybe she should have waited with
Hadley or should have said something more to get her to go home.  Maybe she
should have done more in general.  But Devon felt completely defeated.
  If
Hadley was this messed up, then what did it say about her?

Devon walked away from Hadley and
back to where she had left Brennan.

“I’m going to find Garrett.  Just
give me a minute, and then we’ll go,” she told Brennan.

He seemed to find this
acceptable.  She left him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. 
Garrett’s bulky form was easy to locate in the crowd.  He was talking with the
husbands and fiancés of Hadley’s friends.  Devon couldn’t even begin to
remember their names.

Garrett smiled as she
approached.  “Hey, Dev.  Are you enjoying your party?”

“I’m getting tired actually,” she
said, yawning.  “Going to call it an early night.”