Page 7 of She Used to Be Nice
The lights above the bar blurred in Avery’s eyes, making her head hurt. “I don’twantwater.”
Pete rubbed her arm. “Water is good for you, Avery. I’d like to get you some.”
Rage thrummed like an engine under Avery’s skin. Who did this guy think he was, telling her whathe’dlike her to do? Men were so selfish, concerned with onlytheirneeds, and it looked like their selfishness continued beyond college as well. She thought of Noah letting Viraj Gupta say he saw Avery Russo fucking his roommate Ronald the rando the night of his party senior year.Fuckinghim! Like they’d hadsex! Did Noah forget that Avery had tried resisting him, that it was notfuckingso much as it wascommitting a fucking crime?She might have been too drunk to communicate her desire clearly, but her attempt alone, however sloppy, should’ve been enough for him to stop. But he didn’t, and she couldn’t make him, so she was forced to resign lest he do something worse, though she could not fathom what could possibly be worse.
Avery hadn’t even known it was Ronald’s room that Noah had taken her to that night. Nobody ever paid attention to Ronald’s comings and goings. Months later she heard that Ronald moved back home with his parents after graduating early, but who knew why his room was empty that weekend? All she knew was that he wasn’t around to confirm or deny what happened, so she just let the rest of their friends believe what Viraj said. Even though Viraj was an idiot for thinking Noah was Ronald. Sure, they had the same dirty blond hair, and yes, it was Ronald’s bedroom, but comeon.Viraj probably only looked through that door crack for a millisecond before coming to a conclusion about what was going on. That meant Noah got away with it completely unscathed. Triumphant. The prick.
“You don’tknowme,” Avery snapped now to Pete. “You don’t know shit about what’sgoodfor me.”
Pete put his hands up in surrender, but it was too late. Avery was officially furious. Would men always get exactly what they wanted the precise moment they wanted it, no matter the cost? She wished they didn’t live in such a world. Maybe then she would still be someone she recognized instead of this sloppy, insecure coward who couldn’t tell anyone the truth about what happened at that party.
She threw a wad of cash on the bar and rose from her stool, feeling Pete’s eyes follow her as she wobbled away.
“Hold on!” he called out. “Where are you going?”
“I amnotlistening to a fuc—”Hiccup. “A fuckingman.”
Avery’s vision blurred in and out as she teetered out of the bar and whirled her head around, scanning the area for a landmark or a subway line or anything she recognized. But the outlines of the buildings were too fuzzy and the lights were too bright and everything was spinning …
“Let me at least help you get a cab,” Pete said, holding Avery’s arm to stabilize her. She jerked away from his touch.
“I can do itmyself,” she said, or maybe she only thought she said it, because soon her eyes were rolling to the back of her head and her knees were wobbling and everything was fading to black.
3
BEEPBEEP.BEEPBEEP.BEEPBEEP.THEhigh-pitched sounds pierced Avery’s throbbing skull. A light shone in her face, the heat scorching her eyelids. It felt like she was propped up on a bed with her back against a pillow.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“She’s awake.”
Three people in white scrubs hovered over her and scratched notes on clipboards. An IV drip was attached to her arm, limiting her mobility. Everything around her was bright yellow, sterile.
“Where am—” Her voice came out hoarse. The inside of her mouth tasted like burnt gasoline. “Where am I?”
“The hospital,” one of the people in scrubs said.
She looked around wildly. “I’mwhere?” The scent of rubbing alcohol tickled her nostrils, making her cough. She blinked rapidly. Mascara flaked off her eyelashes and fell onto her cheeks. She felt simultaneously panicked and like her brain had turned to oatmeal.
“NewYork-Presbyterian. You were experiencing the effects of alcohol poisoning,” Scrubs continued, all business. “And you took a fall, but you’re all right now. This young man called an ambulance and brought you here.”
He pointed in the direction of a guy slumped in a blue plastic chair in the corner. Avery remembered him from last night. Or tonight? What time was it?
She wiped the smudged mascara off her face, pulling at her eyes. She felt the ridges of a wound scabbing over on her temple. Bruises blossomed on her left arm, purpling her skin and leaving her sore. The beeps from the various monitors connected to her body did not let up.
“I’m so sorry about this, uh …” She hesitated. She knew she’d met him at some point after she left Morgan at Doc Holliday’s. It was at another bar. Somewhere Irish. O’Something. McSomething.
Oh no,she thought. She’d drunk too much. She’d been with a guy. Her cleavage was out. There were some holes in her memory.Please not again.
“W—what happened?” she asked, her heart racing.
“You passed out,” the guy said. “Outside the bar. And I couldn’t wake you up so I called an ambulance. Here.” He handed Avery her wallet, meeting her eye. “They needed your ID and insurance card.”
Avery blew her stringy hair out of her face as she took her things, relieved. “Thanks.”
“Don’t sweat it.” He glanced away, seemingly to hide a blush spreading across his cheeks. Had she beenflirtingwith this guy last night? The beer goggles must have been strong, because that fleece vest was hideous. It was an ugly slate gray, and the name of some financial firm was embroidered on the chest. But the man wearing it was handsome, with wavy brown hair, light blue eyes, and lean arms poking out of the rolled-up sleeves of his button-down. And at least he’d been nice enough to take her here. If he’d been someone else, someone like Noah, this night could’ve ended way differently, terrifyingly so. The thought made her shiver.
The door suddenly swung open, hitting the cinder block wall with a deafeningbang.Morgan burst into the room and threw her purse on an empty chair.
