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Zoe
Though she still had nowhere to go, Zoe slipped out of school before the last period started, just so she could have the satisfaction of ditching school. Then, even though it was chilly out, she took her time walking home. She didn’t want to get there too early and make Gramma suspicious, although when she told Gramma why she was upset, she didn’t think she’d be too hard on her.
Then she saw Derek sitting on the front steps of the church, and she had an idea. Slowly, she approached. She was feeling self-destructive and didn’t care if Derek murdered her, but she was still nervous about talking to him.
He stopped singing and gave her a broad smile. “Hey, Chloe, how’s it going?”
Her name wasn’t Chloe, but she let that slide. “Hey. If I give you some money, will you go get me a bottle of vodka at Irving?” She pointed her chin toward the gas station.
The smile slid off his face. “No.”
She snickered. “Are you serious? I’ll give you enough so you can get a bottle too.”
He studied her, and for a minute he looked almost sane. “Does your grandmother know you’re asking me this?”
Of course not. “Look, I’ll give you twenty bucks, enough for two bottles. You can keep one. Do you want the twenty bucks or not?”
It took him a long time to answer. “I would be happy to take your twenty bucks, but I’m not going to go buy you booze.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Enjoy your high horse.” She walked away, keeping her chin up even though it weighed a ton. She didn’t need him. She’d stolen booze before and she could do it again.
She passed her grandmother’s building and kept walking, heading for the gas station. It was really busy. Good. She went inside and made a beeline for the bathroom because it was right beside the liquor section.
When she came out, she casually grabbed a pint of vodka and slipped it into her backpack. If anyone looked closely at security tapes, they’d probably be able to see what she’d done, but she didn’t think anyone would look.
With her bag zipped up, she headed toward the warm two-liter soda bottles. She preferred her mixers cold, but warm was so much cheaper. She grabbed a bottle of Mountain Dew and then headed for the coffee. She didn’t want coffee, but she’d learned long ago that buying cups and Mountain Dew made people suspicious. She filled the biggest cup with coffee and then headed toward the checkout.
“Wow, you need some caffeine?” It was the same creepy clerk who’d given her directions to the Cove.
“Yeah.” She didn’t look at him. “Got a lot of studying to do.”
He hesitated. “On a Friday night?”
Oops. “Yeah. All weekend long.” Just sell me the stupid soda already. What do you care?
He took her money, and then she was out in the world. Free.
But where was she going to go? It was too cold to drink outside.
The church. It was weird how happy the idea made her. Yes, the church. It felt safe and familiar. She liked the basement.
She didn’t want to get caught by Derek, though, so she slipped around the back of the building. When she crept around the front of the church, she couldn’t see Derek’s legs. She stopped and listened. She didn’t hear singing. He must have left. Good. She looked both ways to make sure no one was watching, and then she slipped in through the broken window. If anybody ever fixed this window, she was going to have a much harder time at life.
Once inside the dim light of the basement, a weird contented peace filled her. She didn’t know why she felt so at home here, but she’d take it. She went to the bathroom, dumped the coffee down the sink, and then found a chair. She sat down and opened the soda. She poured an inch of vodka into the coffee cup and then added a good dose of Mountain Dew. She drank the first half of the drink in one long guzzle.
Then she tipped her head back and waited for the relaxation to hit.
It didn’t take long. She hadn’t eaten anything all day, and the calmness flooded through her like a welcome shot of novocaine. Alone in the darkness, she grinned.
Jason might never love her, but Zoe could take care of herself. She didn’t need anyone else. She was content to hang out in a dark basement with her cheap vodka. She took another drink, wishing she had some ice. Oh well, soon she wouldn’t be able to taste it anyway.
Something banged upstairs, and she quickly polished off her drink and then looked around for a place to hide. Too bad that they’d done such a thorough job of cleaning the basement out.
A long folding table was set up against the wall, and chairs were stacked up in front of it. It wouldn’t provide complete cover, but she couldn’t think of any other ideas. She heard footsteps. She hurried to the table and slid under it. This was ridiculous. Only a third of her body was covered. This hiding spot would only work if no one came downstairs.
She heard footsteps on the stairs. She peeked out around the chairs, holding her breath. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if she got caught in here. It wasn’t like she was going to get away with this little bender anyway, but she didn’t want to get caught yet. She wasn’t even drunk yet. She was still in a lot of pain. She didn’t want to get caught until the pain was gone.
She saw feet. And they were unmistakably her grandmother’s feet. She squeezed her eyes shut, and it occurred to her to pray that she wouldn’t be found, but she stopped herself just short of that absurdity. God, if he was real, probably wouldn’t be on her side with this.
She opened her eyes. The feet held perfectly still. What was Gramma doing? Zoe’s lungs were starting to hurt. She would need to exhale soon, and she thought Gramma would probably hear that.
The white sneakers at the bottom of the stairs turned and started back up. Zoe counted steps, one, two, three ... six and then exhaled.
A door clicked shut. More footsteps. It sounded as though her grandmother was alone up there. But why was she there at all? It’s not like she would be worried that Zoe hadn’t gotten home from school yet. She wasn’t even late yet. Close, but not yet. Maybe Gramma had come into the church for some other reason. Maybe it had nothing to do with Zoe. Yes, that was probably it. And then she’d heard something in the basement and come to investigate. Zoe relaxed. This was a good theory. But she had to hurry up and drink her vodka before she was late getting home and her grandmother did start looking for her.
She wanted to get drunk, but she didn’t want to torture her grandmother.
She slid out from under the table, but then she didn’t even bother to get up. She mixed another drink right there on the floor and started drinking. Then she took out her phone and looked up Jason’s social media profile. Yep. “In a relationship.” She brought the cup to her lips. Down the hatch.
