Chapter 14

“Oh gosh, this was a bad idea,” Natalie said as they walked through the doors to Bridger’s house, seeing everything was already well underway. “…I’m going to regret coming here, aren’t I?” She asked skeptically, glancing around.

“Well if you worry too much about it, then yeah,” Savannah said, putting a hand on her shoulder to make her feel better. “Just don’t think about it and enjoy yourself.”

“He’s going to kill me when he finds out.”

“You mean if he finds out,” Savannah pointed out, raising an eyebrow towards her direction, handing her a drink.

“Ah who am I kidding? It’s not like it matters anyways,” Natalie said with a shrug. “He overreacted about this in the first place…”

“Exactly,” Savannah said, not sounding like she was really engaged in the conversation. “Now if you’re going to piss him off by doing this, you better have fun while you’re here.”

—

Natalie looked forwards as she walked behind Savannah, weaving through a couple of people in the living room. She tried her best to keep a straight line in front of her, her eyes deceiving her as they failed to keep focus on anything for more than two seconds.

“Oh woah, Sav,” She said, stopping completely. “Everything’s spinning,” she added, widening her eyes, trying to keep them on Savannah’s face as she turned around.

Savannah simply laughed putting her hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to go home like this,” Natalie said after a moment, still staring blankly in front of her.

“You’re staying at my house, remember?” Savannah asked, raising her eyebrow curiously at Natalie. “My parents will be asleep by midnight anyways so we’re good.”

Natalie shook her head slightly, closing her eyes for a moment.” Oh God, that totally slipped my mind,” she said, feeling dizzy. “But oh shit, I’ve really got to pee,” she quickly added, turning from Savannah to go to the bathroom.

After she got out of the bathroom, Natalie began walking back in the general direction to where Savannah was until she heard a voice call out her name. “Hey, Nat!” she heard a guy’s voice, causing her to turn around.

She saw one of her classmates, Tate, sitting on a couch near one of his friends. Oh Tate, she thought, smiling suddenly.

“Hey!” She said, walking over to him. Since there was no more room left on the couch due to others sitting, Natalie flopped down on his lap sideways, laughing as she did so. “I haven’t seen you all summer!”

“Yeah,” he replied with a small smile, readjusting his hands when after she had sat down. “Where’ve you been? Narnia?” he asked, shaking his head with a laugh.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders with a small eye roll. “Apparently,” she said, putting her arm around his neck to hold herself sitting up better. “So how have you and Kelsey been?!” she slurred, wriggling her eyebrows at him as she gently tapped his chest.

He slumped his shoulders slightly, shaking his head. “We broke up a week ago,” he said with a small laugh towards Natalie’s question.

“Well shit,” Natalie said, widening her eyes. “I had no idea.”

Tate laughed as he shook his head again. “Nah, it’s fine,” he said as he glanced up at her. “Say, I didn’t know you were dating Bruno!”

Natalie shrugged her shoulders again, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “Yeah…wait, who told you that?!”

Tate shook his head, glancing down for a second. “Oh you know, God just came down one day and whispered it in my ear…”

“Yeah, yeah, bullshit,” Natalie responded, tapping him on the chest again, rolling her eyes.

“Nah, Ryan just told me.”

“Ryan? Wait, he’s here?!” Natalie suddenly asked in an excited tone, glancing behind her to see if she could see him.

Tate laughed at her reaction, shaking his head. “You were just talking to him ten minutes ago,” he said, giving her a questioning look.

“Shit, he probably talks to Bruno…” Natalie pondered, looking down at her lap in thought.

“Well I would assume so, being as they’re friends,” Tate replied with a laugh, causing her to look up at him, confused.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to be here,” she slurred with a small giggle, looking back up at him. “Maybe I should call him. Do you have a phone?” She asked in a sudden voice.

“Yeah,” Tate replied as he shifted his body beneath her, reaching down to take his cell phone from his pocket to hand it to her. “Here.”

I should really invest in one of these, Natalie thought as took the phone, dialing Bruno’s number. It rang several times before picking up their voicemail. She hung up, looking down at the cell phone, confused. Maybe I should try calling again…

Bruno walked into his house just as the phone began to ring. “Hey Bru,” he heard Tiara call out, walking over towards him as she held the phone. “Do you know whose number this is? They’ve called three times now…”

Bruno took the phone, not recognizing the number. “I don’t know,” he said slightly irritated. “But maybe if you actually answered it, you’d know.” He clicked the green button of the phone, bringing it up to his ear.

“I’m sorryyy,” Natalie cooed into the receiver as Bruno answered, glancing around her.

“Natalie?” Bruno asked in a confused voice.

“Just don’t tell anyone, okay?” she asked, her voice speaking before her mind could make up what it wanted to say.

“Don’t tell anyone what?” he asked in the same questioning tone, confused at what she was saying. “What are you talking about, Nat?”

“Just promise you won’t say anything?” Natalie asked skeptically, her head beginning to spin once more.

“Natalie, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bruno flatly stated. “And whereare you?”

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m with Tate!” She said in a chirping voice, smiling over to Tate.

“Tate?” He asked in a dull tone, feeling himself beginning to get annoyed. “Are you at Bridger’s?”

“I’m at homeee,” she said with a small giggle and a hiccup.

Bruno took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Great, she’s drunk. “No, Nat,” he said, closing his eyes as he tried to focus over the loud noises coming from her end of the receiver. “You’re not. I thought you said you weren’t going?”

“I told youuu,” she replied, not noticing the tone in his voice. “Don’t say anything.”

She has got to be shitting me. Bruno took one more deep breath, shaking his head. “You know what, Nat?” He asked in a clear tone. “Just call me in the morning,” he said in an obviously annoyed voice, knowing it would be pointless arguing with her while she was drunk. “We can just talk tomorrow.”