Oh, Calamity!

“A-are you okay? What are you doing here?” Robin questioned.
“I’m fine, I just...need a drink...if you don’t mind,” I said.
She gave me a friendly, awkward sort of smile. “Not at all.”
I avoided talking to Robin most of the night, unless if I was ordering another drink. I was mostly focused on drowning out my feelings in shitty tasting liquid, so it wasn’t necessarily anything against her. My phone was almost constantly ringing until I finally silenced it, not bothering to answer Will, Cassadee, or Rian’s phone calls.
After awhile, I got used to the taste of a beer and downed them even quicker than I thought was possible. I loosened up a little, focusing my attention on the jukebox in the corner. I danced to every song it played, singing and pretending I was some famous person instead of little old Nora Adams, the girl with more problems than most people could count. All the other people at the bar seemed to enjoy my company, cheering me on even though I probably looked like a complete idiot. I had only had a few beers, but I was too buzzed to care.
Soon, people were buying me drinks, just so I would keep making a fool of myself. Who would’ve guessed that I would become the floor show in a shitty bar? I began to lose track of how many I had had. Was it 6? 7? Maybe 12? I couldn’t remember, but instead relied on my bar friends to catch me if I fell. So far, I was keeping pretty good balance.
Before I knew it, I was using the tables as a stage, serenading random strangers with classic rock songs while hiccupping and laughing. If I had been sober, I would have been wanting to punch myself in the face, but that was the beauty of alcohol: it made me fearless, unafraid of what people would think if the typically good girl wasn’t so proper for once. I wasn’t Nora anymore; I was a rockstar, with a 30 person audience cheering her on. That is, until I was pulled off of the table.
“Hey, what the fuck?” I yelled, turning around to see who had ruined my performance.
“Settle down, Nora. I’m taking you home,” Jack said, looking a little displeased with me.
“What’re you doin’ here?” I asked.
“Well, since you ran off from Rian, he got us all into your own personal search party and I was out looking for you. Thankfully, Robin called and told me you were here, so now I get to take your hammered ass home,” he explained.
I blinked at him, giving him a blank look. “But...I’m having fun...”
He sighed, like he was talking to a child. “I get that, trust me, but you need to get home. I’ll call Rian and the others and tell them you’re safe, and you’ll just get some sleep, okay?”
He led me out of the bar, waving goodbye to Robin and escorting me to his car, carefully helping me into the passenger seat. I broke out into a grin. “You’re wearing your glasses.”
“Yeah. I often do that when I’m home relaxing,” he mentioned, starting his car.
“You’ve always looked so cute in your glasses,” I commented.
“Nevermind that now. What were you doing at a bar? You hate drinking,” he said, abruptly changing the subject.
“Correction: I used to hate drinking. I learned tonight that that shit is fun,” I laughed.
He tried to hide a smile at my drunken antics, but to no avail. “Okay, fair enough...but what brought you there in the first place?”
I shrugged. “Just some stuff on my mind.”
“But you were having dinner with Cass, Rian, and Will. What made you want to leave?” he asked.
“I got bored,” I replied. Technically, I wasn’t lying. Will had been quite boring.
“Rian said that you two had a conversation that probably set you off. Do you remember what it was?” he questioned.
Before I could even answer, I lost control and vomited onto my own legs and the floor of Jack’s car. If I had been sober, I would be horrified. “Whoops...”
Jack got really quiet for a moment before hitting the steering wheel. “Goddammit! Nora, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“My stomach acid hurts,” I slurred, groaning and clutching my stomach. It didn’t make any sense, but I said it nonetheless.
Another sigh from Jack. “It’s gonna take a lot of cleaner to get that out.”
“Are you mad at me?” I asked, cringing slightly.
“Hell yeah I am, but not for power puking in my car. I’m mad because you ran off and made all of us worry about you for almost 2 hours. Thank God you found Robin,” he stated.
I rolled my eyes, hoping he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, lucky me.”
“I just..,” Jack started, grip tightening on the steering wheel. “I feel like I don’t know you anymore.”
“You remembered I liked horror movies...” I pointed out.
“No, I mean...I used to be able to just look at you and know almost exactly what was going on in your head, but now, I’m lost. The only person you tell anything to anymore is Luna. You won’t even talk to Rian,” he said.
“Luna didn’t abandon me,” I replied. Being drunk sure made me brave.
“None of us abandoned you, Nora,” he added.
“Yes, you did!” I shouted. “Luna called me every week and she told me all that you guys were doing, but none of you picked up the goddamned phone, or even asked to talk to me. For 7 fucking years, she was the only one who actually gave a shit while the rest of you were off being rock stars.”
Jack got really quiet for a second, his eyes focused on the road. “Is that why you’ve been acting so cold since we got back? To give us a taste of our own medicine?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“Nora, we’ve never stopped caring about you, okay? It sounds like we all need to work on getting back into the groove of being normal friends, and we can try harder...but you have to try too,” he explained.
Tears were streaming down my face at this point, thinking of the hell that had been the past 7 years. Even if they were ever home for a break, I never saw the people I called my best friends, and it hurt. I guess I sort of resented them for leaving me. “O...okay.”
“Shit, are you crying?” Jack wondered, glancing at me.
“No...” I said, my voice cracking.
“Which part of that made you unhappy?” he asked.
“I was so lonely, Jack. You dumped me, and you all left me here by myself and it was the worst thing you could’ve done to me. The only people I had were my dad and eventually Will, and now that you guys are back...I don’t feel a part of your life anymore. I feel like I’ve cast out like some unimportant waste,” I bawled.
Jack pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building, putting the car in park and looking at me. “Stop that right now. I know I speak for the others when I say that you are one of the most important people in my life, and I would do almost anything to make you happy. But you need to let us all back in, Nora. You can’t keep pushing us away.”
“But you’re just going to leave again,” I said.
“Yeah, but maybe next time you could come with us. We’ll talk about it when it gets close to that, okay?” he replied.
I got out of the car and he helped me to my apartment, making sure I didn’t stumble and fall. He unlocked the door for me and laid me down on the couch, covering me with a blanket. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I laid down, and then it was a struggle to stay awake. Jack was just getting ready to leave when my drunken self decided to be brave yet again. “I love you.”
I heard the door to my apartment close, but then I was out like a light. In the morning would come regret, but at that moment, I was in bliss.

Notes