Chapter 1

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24 Hours Earlier

 

I ran downstairs and found Mum in the kitchen- no surprises there- making some weird Italian dish that smelt like gin. She barely looked up when I came into the room.

“Jesus, what’re you making?” I gasped.

“Your dinner,” Mum grinned, waving the dish in my face.

“Nu-uh, I’m going to a thing tonight,” I said. “Thank god.”

“A thing? What kind of thing?”

“I don’t know, just some big get-together. Angela’s invited a ton of people,” I told her, pulling up a stool and sitting down. From my pocket, my phone blasted out the theme from The Incredibles, that cartoon movie with all the random superheroes. My friend had changed my ringtone a few days before as a joke and I couldn’t be bothered to change it back.

“Wow, classy, Jake,” Mum laughed as I ignored the phone. I tried my best not to talk to people over the phone wherever possible, because it was always just so… awkward. “So this thing,” Mum continued. “Promise me you’ll be home by twelve?”

“Sure, whatever. Just do me a favour and don’t burn the house down while I’m out?”

“Huh. You, the kid, tell me that you’re going to a thing tonight, without even bothering to ask me, the parent, and now you’re asking for a favour from me?”

“Well I figure if it’s a favour that prevents you from being burnt to a crisp, then it’s ok.”

“You know the sun could explode at any moment and burn us all to a crisp.”

“Wow, why do I even bother to watch Suicide Attempts Exposed and Mass Murder On the Rise when I have you to depress me?”

“You watch Suicide Attempts Exposed?!”  

“Oh forget it,” I laughed, standing up again. “I’ll start getting ready for the party.”

“What do you need to do, reapply your eyeliner?” asked Mum, with a perfectly straight face.

“Yes, Mum, I’d better go do that. I guess I forgot to mention that the thing tonight is my coming out party,” I retorted, voice thick with sarcasm.

“You’re funny,” she said, chuckling to herself. “So you won’t stay out after twelve?”

“Would I ever?” I said innocently.

“Yes, you would. That “I didn’t do anything please don’t kill me” face might work on your teachers, and you might think it works on me, but you’re forgetting one thing: I’m your mother, Jake. I know you.”

 

I got to the party around eight. There were people everywhere, and it was already pretty crazy. I grabbed a beer from a nearby table and sought out Eddi among the dozens of faces. She wasn’t hard to find.

“Hey Ed,” I grinned, giving her a quick kiss. She looked stunning, with her crazy red curls smoothed down with gel and her deep blue dress matching her eyes. The top of her head just brushed my chin due to the heels she was wearing.

“Jake! You made it,” Eddi said.

“Ok, I’m going to get lost before you two start getting all mushy,” said Samuel, the guy she had been talking to.

“Just because you’ve never had a girlfriend,” I muttered. “You wanna bring me another beer?”

“Get it yourself, jerk,” Samuel replied, giving me the finger.

I exclaimed in mock horror, “Preposterous! Simply outrageous! My God, the youth of today…”

“Calm down, grandma,” Eddi laughed. Samuel walked away, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “How was your day?”

“Alright,” I said. “Not much to tell, really. I’m going to get another beer, you want one?”

 

An hour later, I was sitting alone at a table, totally smashed. Empty beer bottles littered the floor around me and I just kept drinking. Samuel passed by once or twice and flicked me in the head, but I hardly noticed. Then Angela sat down opposite me.

“Hi Jacob, I take it you’re enjoying the party?” she asked, taking in all the empty bottles in one glance.

“What? Yeah… Cool party, Angela,” I slurred, giving her a lopsided grin. “I like the… beer.” She laughed.

“Yes, I can see that.” All of a sudden I lurched to my feet and Angela rushed forward to grab me before I fell. I put an arm around her shoulders and she dragged me into a dark corridor around the back.

“Where’d all the lights go?” I said, waving my arm around in front of me like an elephant. “I think I might’ve drank a little… too much.”

“I think you might be right,” agreed Angela. “There’s a bathroom just down here, I might have some mouthwash or something.”

“Mouth? What mouth?”

“You reek of alcohol, Jacob.” I grabbed her and kissed her, taking her by surprise. She pulled back, shocked. “Jake, what are you doing? Where’s Eddi?”

“Don’t know. She’s such a… such a tight-a*s… You’re…” I kissed her again, and this time she let me. I was totally drunk and I hardly knew what I was doing, but it felt good. That was, until Eddi walked in.

 

She took one glance at me and Angela and turned on her heel to storm away. But Eddi was a born klutz and she tripped over her own feet, ending up sprawled on the floor and somewhat ruining the ‘storming away’ effect. I ran over to her to make sure she was okay, but the sudden movement made me dizzy and instead I threw up, narrowly missing my girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend. I wasn’t so sure anymore. Angela looked from Eddi to me, then back again. Eddi was trying to gather her feet under her to stand up again. When she finally did, I lunged after her, grabbing the hem of her dress and unbalancing her. She fell a second time, and the icy glare she gave me as she got back up could’ve killed. This time she perfected the storming away. It took me a while to notice, but Angela was glaring at me too.

“Clean that up,” was all she said, before marching off after Eddi. God, I was such a mess. Why did I have to drink so much? None of it would’ve happened if I had been sober. Or would it? I liked to think I was an alright guy, and that I wouldn’t cheat on my girlfriend, but maybe I would. I don’t know. Mum was going to kill me. She could smell alcohol a mile away and she forbid me to drink it. When I came in smelling like a beer bong, I would be grounded for life.

 

I opened the front door and was shocked to see Mum standing right in front of me with her hands on her hips. I knew her nose was good, but wow.

“You’re drunk, Jacob,” she said, grinding her teeth together. She was more angry than I’d ever seen her before.

“I’m sorry, Mum, I-”

“Look, I’m pretty easy on you,” Mum interrupted. “I don’t have a lot of rules. I let you go to parties. I let you have a girlfriend. Basically, I let you do whatever the hell you want. But I thought we had an understanding, Jacob!” I flinched. If she was calling me Jacob, there was going to be throwing of things. “No alcohol, no drugs, and nothing else illegal. I thought I’d raised you better than this! You have no idea what alcohol does to people. It’s so dangerous, I can’t believe this… You’re only sixteen, Jacob! You’re a kid. You know nothing about the world. And you should not be drinking!”

“I’m so sorry, Mum, I don’t even know why I-”

“Well, I’m giving you all night to figure it out!” With that, she slammed the door in my face and I heard the lock click into place. I looked around. I could climb in through my bedroom window, but somehow I didn’t think that would help my case. If this was my punishment, then so be it. I deserved a lot more than being stuck outside in the cold for a night. I sat down in the porch chair and texted Eddi for about the hundredth time.