Page 34 of Before We're More Than Friends
She faced me with pain in her eyes, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “One of my law school friends is in town for her birthday and invited me for drinks.”
“And you accepted the invite?”
Mom knew to avoid temptations for her addiction at all costs, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t pass them up. She always convinced herself she’d only have a few sips, knowing it would quickly become more.
It was a game we were all tired of playing, but she was too far gone to end it.
She sighed. “She doesn’t know that I’ve fallen back to my old habits, and I didn’t have it in me to say no. I ended up getting a few shots.”
We clearly had different definitions of a few. “Mom, whywould you do this when we had everything planned for this evening?”
“Raina, leave your mother alone,” Dad warned, his footsteps trailing behind me. I turned around to see him standing in the small hallway, sweat dripping down his forehead from his morning workout.
Tears stung behind my eyes. “But what about our date night?”
“Maybe I’ll feel better by then,” Mom said, but her weak tone suggested anything but.
I knew I was being selfish, but it was even more selfish of her to get wasted the day before our special date night. Given how sick she looked, she’d be in bed until Monday morning. It wasn’t even like she was trying to be better for us. For herself.
Mom gagged and stuck her head in the toilet again. Loose strands fell from her messy bun. Any other time, I would’ve put her bun back together as she threw up. But this time, I ran past Dad and into the kitchen to grab a granola bar. I scurried back upstairs, my stomach heavy as if I’d throw up myself.
“Raina!” Arielle said as I stormed into my room, but I slammed the door. She flung it open anyway. “What happened?”
“Mom is hungover and probably won’t be able to go on our date,” I muttered as I collapsed on my chair.
“What!” Fury lit up her face. “Why would she do that? Where did she even go?”
“To get drinks with an old friend.”
“Mom!” Arielle yelled, turning around to go downstairs.
I grabbed her arm. “Don’t.”
“But she keeps ruining things!” She yanked my grip off her. “When is she going to try to get help again?”
I fought the tears that threatened to surface. “I don’t think she wants help.”
“But our family is going down the drain!”
“Girls, stop it!” Dad shouted from downstairs. Despite how huge our house was, sound traveled at the speed of light.
“But this is important!” Arielle shouted back.
“I’ll take your phone away!”
“Of course that’s the first thing you think about!” Arielle stormed out of my room and slammed my door hard enough for the walls to shake.
She kept yelling at Dad, but I put my earbuds in to drown out the noise. I had jewelry orders that needed to be completed. Penrose sat at my feet to give me comfort, and I rubbed her fur before working on my first bracelet.
I couldn’t let my dysfunctional family keep getting in the way.
CHAPTER 9
Dallas
If I had known how crowded this Saturn Frenzy thing would be, I would’ve stayed at home.
Seriously, the whole freaking city had come here. While most of the crowd was full of high schoolers, some families and college students roamed around. There weren’t that many places that didn’t have swarms of people around it.
