Where did I go?

I wake up from my nap to someone knocking on the bedroom door. "Come in." I mumble, sitting up and rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes.

Mike enters the room. He has that hurt look in his eyes again. "I, um, just wanted to apologize for earlier, Val. It's just been a lot of stress.. But to make it up to you I was thinking of having a little party tonight? There's some people who really want to see you."

I smile at the thought. Maybe if I see some familiar faces it will spark something. "Yea that would be great."

Mike smiles and leaves the room. I hear him calling some people in the living room. I make my way to the bathroom and make an attempt at my bed head. I end up just giving up and sweeping it into a ponytail. I apply a little bit of makeup, just enough to hide the few scars on my face. Already I hear someone coming in the front door. They must have been really eager to come over.

I head to the living room where I am attacked by a Mexican. "Victor! Holy shit, look at you all growed up!"

Vic beams. "You don't know how good it is to see you!" He hugs me again. More people come into the room.

"Jaime! You're different too!" Jaime smiles and blushes a little bit. A girl with brown hair and green eyes is following behind him. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"Hey Val, I'm Annie. We've known each other for almost a year now, but it's okay no hard feelings," the mystery girl explains.

I blush. "Sorry. I'm sure we are really good friends though?"

Annie laughs. "It started off a bit rocky, but yea we're good now."

Tony and one more girl are the last to arrive. Tony's still as shy as ever. He has so many tattoos. "And who's your date?" I ask him.

The girl laughs. "Oh no, we aren't dating. I just bummed a ride." She grabs my hand and shakes it. "Cara Neekin, we met in college sophomore year and have been besties ever since."

My cheeks get warm again. I strain to remember anything from college, but it's all blank. Ugh. College is supposed to be this special time of your life that really changes you or whatever and I can't even remember where I went.

I try to just enjoy the company and the party. Mikey passes around some beers. I stick with water, everything is already hazy enough. Cara plugs her phone in and starts a playlist, which is slightly amazing to me. We all sit in a circle, me on the couch sandwiched between Mike and Cara. Everyone starts telling stories involving me, each one more embarrassing than the last.

"My favorite," Jaime starts, "was when we all got high after graduation and climbed up to the roof of my parent's house. We all just kinda looked up at the stars and talked until the sun rose. That was like one of the last times we had together before the band and college and life."

Apparently everyone lost contact the summer after senior year. The boys started to get more and more serious with the band. I headed out of state for college. Everyone just went their own ways.

"I have a question." I've been dying to ask this all night actually. "What happened to Drew? Mikey never explained. We were dating for a while and you guys were good friends with him, so what happened?"

Suddenly the room is dead silent. Shit. I probably should've asked at a different time, but I want to know.

Vic clears his throat. "It was Mike's birthday party. Just a few weeks before graduation. We were having a party of course. Drew, uh... He had too much drink. You two headed to bedroom and he tried pushing it too far. Mike and I had you screaming and came running. We stopped it before things got too crazy. But you kinda kicked him to the curb the day after."

"You're version is a little different." Mike takes a swig of beer. "Your clothes were ripped, Val. You were bawling. I beat the shit out of that little bitch..."

Fuck. I definitely should not have brought him up. "S-sorry for asking about him."

Mike drains his beer and heads to the kitchen for more. Vic half smiles at me. "Don't be sorry. You didn't know. Let's change the subject, who has another horror story about Val?"

Slowly the atmosphere lightens up. Everyone starts laughing again except Mike. He just sits there looking distant. His expression makes me shiver. It's hard to believe Drew would do something like that to me. He was perfect. Every time I had a bad day he would bring me food or flowers. We would take random midnight adventures to the park or the beach. How could someone so sweet be such a monster? I shiver again and focus back in on the conversation.

"Wait, wait, wait. How has no one brought this one up yet?" Cara has this devilish grin. "We were celebrating something Pierce the Veil. Album release or something. Anyways, Valerie got totally shit faced. She ends up cornering Vic, thinking he's Mike. She kisses Vic and he, of course, pushes her off of him. Then, oh my fuck I'm struggling to say this without peeing my pants, Valerie tells Vic, 'Geeze Mikey, what happened? You're a really shitty kisser.' and then she proceeds to vomit all over Vic's shoes." Cara by this time is losing it. So is everyone else, even Mike has a little smile. Vic, who has a little red in his cheeks, flips her off. She blows him a kiss.

Tony begins a story of how I attempted to be navigator once on a trip to Las Vegas and we ended up in Utah. Even though I'm completely embarrassed, it feels good to be getting some of my life back. Kinda like fitting together puzzle pieces. My head starts to thrum and I feel dizzy. I give everyone a hug and then head to bed. I fall asleep listening to the sounds of laughter and bottles opening and wild stories.

Notes

how are you guys liking the story so far? should I continue?