One Chance (11 page)

“Not that I’m in love with him, that’s for sure.”

“Then what?”

“I told him it was a bet.”

“That you slept with
him on a bet?” she asks with a nervous look.

“I didn’t know what else to say.”

“Oh Haley, so he thinks you lied because of a bet, that’s pretty bad sweetie.  Maybe you should have just told him the truth.”

“I can’t do that,” I say through fresh tears.

“At least we only have two weeks left; maybe a break will be good for you.”

“Great, now how am I supposed to get home?”

“We’ll figure something out.”

For the next two weeks Quinn and I pack up and start to move things into our bedroom at the sorority house.  No point in dragging it home
, when we can move it into an empty bedroom.  Finals suck, but they are almost over. 

I have done as
Liam asked, I’ve stayed away and anytime he’s come within any distance of me, I leave.  No point in causing any more trouble.

“How many more boxes do you have to take over to the house?” Quinn yells from the kitchen.

“Two.”

“Okay, let’s take them over then come back and hang out.”

“Sounds good,” I say as I grab my boxes to put in her car, “Remind me when we get back that I need to book a flight home.”

“Will do.  Are you sure he won’t take you home?” she asks with a concerned look.

“You didn’t see him that night, he was pissed.  Plus, sitting in a car with him for ten to eleven hours wouldn’t pan out well.  This is best,” I say as I load the last two boxes in her car.  She shoves a few more in and we hop in to drop the rest of these off at the sorority house.

We head inside carrying the last of the boxes into our new room. “Do you want to unbox them now?”

“No, we can do that when we come back.  It will give us something to do for a day or so.”

“True, sounds good,” she says as we walk out into the hall to head back to the dorm.

“There you are, I was wondering if was going to see you today,” Meg says cheerfully.

“Hey what’s up?  We’re getting ready to head back over to the dorm,” I tell her kindly.

“We are leaving on Saturday around 6:00 a.m., can you be ready by then?” she asks.

“What?” I ask confused.

“I’m going home with you and Liam.  I’m staying for a week, so he had said when I saw you to mention that we’d be leaving at 6:00 a.m.  Can you be ready by then?”

“Umm
, yeah that’s fine,” I say completely shocked by this news.

“Perfect, I’ll let him know,” she says before walking away.  I walk out the door with Quinn on my tail.

“Well that won’t be awkward at all,” she says giggling.  All I can do is give her a death glare.  “So don’t go home with him, get your flight and fly home.”

“And explain to everyone why I’m on a flight and not in the car, no thank you,” I say pissed off.

“Then make sure you have your iPod and your Kindle charged,” she says laughing.

“I’m going to stay up all night
, so I can sleep most of the way.”

“That sounds like an awesome idea.”

The rest of the week is finished with finals that I’m sure I failed a few and packing the rest of my things to go home.

“You ready to leave tomorrow?”

“I’m ready to go home, just not looking forward to the ride,” I admit.

“You can text me,” she says happily.

“No, I can’t, you have to worry about driving.  I just need to stay awake all night tonight, so I can sleep tomorrow on the way home.”

I’ll stay up with you as long as possible.”

“Thanks Quinn.  I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, but we are going to talk and text and who knows, I may even come visit you.”

“That would be great.”

Quinn ends up
falling asleep around 2:00 a.m., leaving me here to try to stay awake for as long as I can.  I end up falling asleep around 3:30 a.m., not able to keep my eyes open any longer.  Before I know it, my alarm is going off waking me up at 5:30 a.m.  I turn it off wanting nothing more than to fall back to sleep, but can’t, knowing that Liam and Meg will be here soon.

I grab a quick shower and throw on some yoga pants, a tee shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt before throwing the rest of my stuff in a bag ready for them when they get here.  At exactly 6:00 a.m.
, I look out the window and watch Liam’s mustang pull in.

“You planning on leaving and not saying by
e?” Quinn asks from her bed.

“I wasn’t going to wake you up,” I admit.

“Bitch, I told you last night to make sure I got up to say bye,” she says as she throws on a sweatshirt.

“I’m going to miss the hell out of you,” I tell her as I pull her in for a hug.

“I’ll miss you too.  Let me know when you get home and how the car ride goes,” she says with a slight laugh.

“Will do.  They’re here,” I say pulling back so I can grab a bag.

“I’ll help you carry your stuff out.”

“Thanks,” I say as she grabs a bag.  We walk down to the parking lot, towards Liam’s car.

“You’ll have to put that in the back seat, Meg has the trunk full,” he says as he leans his seat up so I can throw my three bags in, leaving even less room for me in the already small backseat.

“That’s fine,” I say as I throw my bags in behind the passenger side seat. “Thanks for helping Quinn, I’ll see you soon,” I say before giving her one more hug goodbye.  I climb into the back of the car wanting nothing more than to fall asleep.

“Good morning,” Meg says all chipper.

“Morning,” I say yawning.

“You look like hell,” Meg says not holding back.

“Yeah, I feel like it too,” I say as I push my bags to my liking, putting my pillow behind my head
, so I can hopefully fall asleep.

“Did you go out last night?” Meg asks.

“No, just stayed in and hung out with Quinn.”

“Oh, well maybe you should try to get some sleep.”

“I think I’ll do that,” I say laying my head back on my pillow.

“You aren’t going to puke are you?” Liam says sounding annoyed already.

“No,” is all I say as I turn on my iPod to some soft music, put my headphones in and close my eyes.  It doesn’t take long for me to succumb to sleep.

I’m not sure how many times we stop
, but neither Liam nor Meg wake me up to see if I want anything or need to use the bathroom.  I’m fine with it; I rather just sleep and wake up when I’m at home.

When I finally do wake up I can see we aren’t far from home, maybe twenty minutes or so.  I can’t believe I slept that long, but I’m thankful for it.  “Finally, damn girl
, I thought you were going to sleep the entire way,” Meg says.

“She practically did,” Liam says throwing his snarky comments in.

“Guess I needed the sleep,” I say stretching out a bit.

“
Are you glad to be home?” Meg asks.

“Yes I am.  I need a break.”

“Me too.  I’m hoping I can persuade this one to come home with me,” she says all excitedly.

“I told you we would see,” he snaps back.

“Wow, why so grouchy all of a sudden?” Meg asks.

“I’m not, just ready to get out of the damn car.”  Usually I would throw a witty comment out, but I decide to hold my tongue instead.

“Do you have any plans tonight Haley?”

“No, not tonight.”

“You should come over and hang out then,” she says like it’s a brilliant idea.  I can see Liam’s shoulders tense, obviously him not liking his girlfriend’s idea.

“Maybe another day.  I’m probably just
gonna catch up with Kenzie and my parents,” I say quickly.  I can see Liam’s shoulders relax instantly.

“Okay, another time then,” she says.

Thankfully, we pull up into Liam’s driveway and I can’t wait to get out and stretch.  Ten, hell eleven hours, I have no idea how long it took, but my legs and body hurt all over.  Liam hops out and pulls the lever for me to get out, I get out as fast as I can and stretch before reaching back into the car to fetch my bags.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say as I throw all my bags over my shoulders along with my pillow before I start walking across the street.  Liam doesn’t acknowledge my comment and just continues to pull bag after bag out of his trunk.

“You’re home,” Kenzie says as soon as I walk through the front door.  I drop my bags immediately and hug her then mom and dad.  Kenzie helps me throw my bags in my room before we come back downstairs and hang out in the living room with mom and dad, telling them about the rest of what happened at school.

We end up spending the rest of the night at home hanging out as a family, laughing and joking about the good
ol’ days too.  I miss this, this family time.

Chapter Eight

For the rest of the week, I avoid Liam’s house.  I know he’s there with Meg and I don’t need to piss him off any more than he already is.  I know she’s leaving soon and I haven’t heard whether Liam is going with her or not.  Part of me wishes he would.  I guess time will tell.

“What are you doing?” Kenzie asks me.

“I’m going to go lay out.  It’s pretty nice out today.”

“The water in the pool is still cold.”

“That’s fine; I’m probably not going to get in anyway.”

“Okay, well
I’m heading out shopping, so I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun,” I say to Kenzie as she heads towards the front door and I head towards the back door to the pool.

It’s a super nice day out, the sun’s shining and it’s only going on 11:00 a.m.  I lay down on the chair already having lotion on; I enjoy the hot rays beating on me.  I put my headphones on and soak in the sun.

About a half hour later
, I feel a shadow, I cover my eyes and look up seeing Brody standing over me. “What’s up?”

“Do you mind if we swim?” he asks.

“No, go for it.  Kenzie said it’s cold though.”

“That’s fine, we aren’t worried about it.  Do you want to swim with us?” he asks kindly.

“No, I’m good, but thanks,” I say putting my headphones back in.  I glance and see Meg and Liam at the other side of the pool putting towels down.  Damn he looks hot in only swim trunks.  I quickly shut my eyes not wanting to think about his body or how it felt on top of mine.  Damn it.

I can hear Meg scream over my iPod, which I’m assuming is from her getting into the cold water.  No way do I want in that.  I no sooner hear Meg scream again and my phone starts ringing.  I pull out my headphones and grab my phone to see Ken
zie calling me. “Hey what’s up?  What? I can’t hear you?” I practically yell into the phone.

“I need you to not repeat this out loud, but I need you to come and get me,” she says softly into the phone.

“Where are you?”

“Along R
oute 1 towards the outlets.”

“I thought you were shopping,” I say confused.

“I didn’t check the gas gauge and I’m out of gas Haley.  Can you please come get me?”

I can’t help the laugh that escapes me, “Sure, I’ll be right there,” I say still laughing.

“Seriously Haley, stop laughing and don’t tell anyone.  This is so embarrassing.”

“It’s also funny as
shit.  Where exactly are you?” I ask trying to control my laughter.

“Right before all the outlets, you can’t freaking miss me.  Just hurry up,” she snaps at me.

“Fine, I’ll be right there,” I say hopping up and throwing my swimsuit cover on.

“Everything okay?” Brody a
sks.  Liam and Meg wait on me to answer.

“Oh yeah, everything’s fine.  I’ll be back, you guys have fun,” I say grabbing my stuff and heading inside.

I grab the spare gas can out of the garage and place it in my trunk before jumping in to go after Kenzie.

It takes about twenty-five minutes to get to Kenzie’s car.  I get out and pop the trunk to get the gas can.  I also grab my phone to take a picture.

“Here you go,” I say handing her the gas can.

“Oh my G
od, thank you so much,” she says as she dumps the gas into the car. I snap a few pictures without her noticing too.

“Anything else?” I ask laughing again.

“No, now would you stop laughing at me?”

“Sorry, this is just so you,” I say laughing again.

“Ugh, shut up.  I never did this before.”

“I know, but you can’t say that anymore.”

“Stop it,” she says as she tosses the gas can in her trunk.

“Are you going shopping now?”

“Yeah, do you want to come with me since you’re here?”

“Do I look like I want to go shopping?” I ask pointing to my outfit.

“I guess not.  How was lying out?”

“Fine.  Brody, Liam, and Meg came over, they’re swimming.”

“Seriously in that water?” she asks like I’m crazy for saying it.

“Yep.”

“They’re all nuts.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Well, thank you.  I guess I’ll see you when I get home.”

“
Sure thing.  Have fun,” I say as I get into my car.  I take the next exit so I can turn around and head home.  It takes another twenty-five minutes to get back home.  I park and head inside to drop my keys off. I decide I don’t want to lie out any longer; so I head upstairs to grab a shower.

I throw on a pair of denim shorts and a Michigan tee shirt and toss my hair up into a ponytail before heading downstairs.  I can hear them still in the pool and decide to do something else, anything else than to go outside with them.

My phone chimes and I see a message from Hanna, “Hey bitch, what are you doing?”

So I respond back, “Nothing, being bored, what’s going on?”

“Come over and hang out.”

“Leaving now.”  I run upstairs and grab my purse before heading back downstairs.

“Hey sweetie where are you going?” Mom asks.

“I’m heading over to
Hanna’s.  I’ll be back later.”

“Okay, be careful,” she says as I head out the door.

I get to Hanna’s and see a bunch of cars in the driveway.  I park and head inside, surprised to see a party going on in the middle of the afternoon.

“Hey, you’re here,” she says excitedly.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” I ask looking around at a bunch of people I don’t know.

“A small party, do you want a drink?”

“Yeah sure,” I say as I take a seat on the empty chair.  It doesn’t take her long to bring me a beer; I open it and take a drink.  “Hanna, who are all these people?” I ask, noticing I don’t know any of them.

“Oh just some friends,” she says like it’s no big deal.

“Do you know them?”

“Some of them.”

“Where’s your mom?”

“Where she always is,” she says annoyed.

“A new boyfriend again?”

“Isn’t there always a new boyfriend?”

“Sorry,” I say apologetically.  Hanna always throws parties and I think it’s more for getting attention from her mom, but her mom doesn’t ever seem to care.

“Do you want to smoke?” she asks

“No, I’m good.”

“Oh come on Haley, lighten up,” she says as a guy passes her a blunt.

“No, I don’t want any, it always puts me to sleep.  You have fun though,” I say taking another drink of my beer.

“Fine, more for me then,” she snickers before taking a few hits.

For the next few hours, I have a few more beers and continue to watch all the craziness in front of me.  I’ve watched more blunts being passed around than I’ve ever seen, I saw a couple girls snorting coke in the kitchen when I went to get a beer, and I’ve seen a couple having sex in the bathroom.  Definitely not what I was planning to see today.  Deciding it’s probably best to stop drinking so I can leave seems like a smart plan.

I sit in the chair still watching these people interact with each other.  They all seem to be having a great time in their altered states.  My phone starts
vibrating; I pull it out to see its Kenzie calling.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Where are you?” she asks with an attitude.

“At
Hanna’s.”

“Why?” she asks nervously.

“Hanging out.”

“
You do realize all people do at her house is drugs now right?” Kenzie says sounding irritated.

“Yep, I found that out a few hours ago actually,” I say laughing.

“Are you high?” she asks in a shrieking voice.  I can hear whoever is with her in the background ask questions, but I can’t make out what they are saying.

“No
, I’m not high Kenzie.  I had a couple beers.  Relax,” I snap.

“We’re coming to get you, stay put,” she says harshly.

“No,” I yell into the phone.  I walk outside so I don’t have an audience while I’m on the phone, “I’m fine, I only had three beers and I plan on leaving soon anyway.”

“Are you sure no one slipped you anything?” she asks worriedly.

“I opened my cans, I’m fine.  I may take a walk on the beach and then I’ll be home.  I’ll see you a little later okay?”

“Okay, just be careful and if you need me call me.”

“Will do, thanks,” I say before disconnecting the call.  Deciding the walk on the beach sounds nice, so I take off my flip-flops and make my way down the beach.  The air is a little cooler, but it feels good against the hot sun.

The further I walk down the beach the sleepier I get.  Thinking it’s wise to take a little break I sit down on the sand resting my head on my knees.  I watch the waves for a while before deciding to take a little nap.

“Haley, Haley wake up,” I hear someone yell at me.  I try to blink my eyes but they’re too heavy, I just want to sleep.

“What the fuck’s wrong with her?” someone else says.

“She looks like she’s been drugged,” a girl says.

I feel cold water hit my face and my eyes open immediately, “What the hell,” I try to yell but it sounds slurred.

“Haley what happened?” Kenzie asks all up in my face.

“I don’t know. I went for a walk and got tired so I sat down, I must have fallen asleep,” I say trying to recall what I did.

“Do you feel okay?” Brody asks.

“Just tired,” I admit.

“You shouldn’t be tired, it’s only 4:00 p.m.” Kenzie snaps.

“Can you stand up?” Liam asks
looking worried.  I look around and see Kenzie, Brody, Liam, and Meg all looking worriedly at me.

“Yeah,” I say like it’s not a big deal.  I try to stand but can barely keep my balance; Liam catches me before I fall.

“Did you take anything?” he asks looking pissed.

“No, I had a few drinks
.”

“How many?” Meg asks.

“I don’t know two or three at most,” I say trying to remember how many drinks I had.

“She’s not drunk,” Kenzie points out.

“How do you know?” Liam asks looking angry.

“We’ve all seen her drunk before and she’s never been this way.  Haley did someone give you something?” Kenzie asks softly.

“No, they asked if I wanted to smoke, but I didn’t.  Can we go home?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Kenzie says cutting Liam off before he can say anything else.  Kenzie wraps her arm around my waist to keep me steady.  I put my arm over her shoulders for better balance as we start to make our way back to where I’m parked.

“How did you find me?”

“The app on your phone, it tells me exactly where you are.  Best app ever,” she says laughing.

“Do you think we should take her to the hospital?” Brody asks.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Liam states.

“No, I want to go home,” I snap.

“But if you were drugged we should find out,” Meg says kindly.

“I’m fine, just tired.  I just want to go home,” I say, looking and pleading to Kenzie to take me home.

“Home it is then,” she says shutting everyone else up.
  We finally get to my car and Kenzie takes my keys to drive us home.

“How are you going to get her into the house?  She could barely walk to the car,” Brody says.

“Shit, I don’t know, we’ll figure it out,” Kenzie says as she opens the back door.  I climb in lying across the seat, wanting nothing more than to get more sleep.

“Christ look at her,” Liam shouts, “She needs to go to the hospital.”

“She doesn’t want to.  So we’ll let her sleep it off,” Kenzie snaps back.

“Then we’ll sneak her into our house,” Brody says, “She can sleep down in the game room.  This way we can take turns keeping an eye on her.”

“That sounds like a great idea, thanks babe,” Kenzie says as she gets into the driver side of the car.

“I’ll go with Kenzie, since you need to get to the airport,” Brody says to Liam and Meg.

“Shit, I didn’t even realize the time,” Liam says frustrated.

“Me either, but babe we need to go, they can take care of Haley,” Meg says.

“If things get worse keep us posted,” Liam says before heading towards Brody’s car.

“Will do,” Brody says before getting into the passenger side.  Kenzie leaves driving us home.

I don’t even know how I got into bed, but I can hear people talking, I just can’t make out what they are saying.

“Haley, can you hear you me?” Liam says softly.

“Yeah,” I whisper, trying to sit up, but having slight difficulty.  He sits on the edge of the bed and helps me sit up, “Thanks,” I say blinking trying to figure out exactly where I am.

“You’re in the game room on the spare bed,” he says answering my unspoken question. “Can you try to drink some water?”