“Oh, you’re up,” his mother remarked when he reached the end of the staircase which was right in front of the living room.
Asa frowned. “What are you talking about? I was never asleep.”
She shrugged. “You’ve been in there ever since you came from school. I thought you were taking a nap.”
“No,” he muttered. “No nap.”
His mother just nodded, looking at him wearily as if she wanted to say something more but then seemed to decide against it.
“Where’s pa?” Asa asked, looking around the room curiously.
“He went to grab dinner. Friday night is takeout night, remember?”
“Right,” he mumbled, hating his one-word responses but feeling restless and uneasy to hold up a proper conversation. Maybe he should take a nap. Better yet, maybe he should just call it a night and deal with the world tomorrow onwards.
He sighed deeply and turned towards his mother. “You know what, ma, I think I’ll just go—”
A loud knock interrupted him and both of them turned to stare at the door with confusion.
“Are you expecting someone?” he inquired.
She shook her head. “No, and your father wouldn’t need to knock.” She paused, thinking for a minute. “Unless he forgot his keys like usual.”
The person on the other side of the door knocked again, but this time it didn’t stop. The knocking only grew louder and yet, it didn’t seem urgent. In fact, it seemed almost…sloppy?
Asa frowned and when he noticed her about to get up from the couch, gestured for his mum to sit, deciding to check who it was for himself.
Whoever the idiot was behind the door seemed to have been placing their entire weight on it because the instant Asa opened it, they crashed into Asa and sent him flying to the floor with a painful groan. Seconds later, he felt a body collapse right on top of him, an elbow hitting him right in the ribs and making him see black dots in his vision.
Asa swore, a string of colourful Spanish words leaving his mouth in an angry fit. For the first time, his mother didn’t reprimand him for it. He turned towards her for help, but she seemed to be frozen in her seat, her jaw dropped wide open at the scene that had just unfolded before her.
“Ma? Hello? Yeah, less seeing and more helping, por favor?”
He heard the sound of a familiar giggle, and his eyes widened when he realised who had just turned up at his place during this hour of the night.
“Isla?” he asked in bewilderment, lifting his head off the ground only to meet her messy blonde head. “Isla, what the heck are you doing?”
“You’re so adorable when you speak in Spanish.” She giggled again, and Asa swore some more, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back on the floor.
She was drunk. Good God, she was completely drunk.
He pushed her body off him gently and stood up before reaching down and grabbing a hold of her arms, lifting her to her feet.
“Isla.” He frowned, worry and concern washing over him as he examined her for any injuries. “Where have you been?”
“You’re upset.” Isla pouted, noticing his anxious expression. “I’m always making you upset, aren’t I?”
Asa sighed and dared to glance at his mother. He wished he hadn’t done that though, because her dark eyes were narrowed into slits, and her face was twisted into a grimace.
Instead of saying anything to his mother, he directed his attention back to the drunk girl that he was struggling to keep from collapsing to the floor. “Isla, please just listen to me, okay?” He shook her shoulders, trying to get her to focus. “How did you end up here? How—”
The beach party, he suddenly realised. Hadn’t Isla mentioned in school that there was a bonfire at the beach tonight? The one that he had to skip out on because he was supposed to be driving through the neighbourhood with Willa and Carmen, before everything went to hell and he’d had to come home instead.
“The beach is pretty far away, Isles,” he muttered, just wishing she’d find enough sense in her drunken state to respond to him. “You couldn’t have walked here—Holy shit, did you drive here?” His voice grew in volume as the panic took control of him. “Did you just drive drunk?!”
“Shh! The neighbours are going to hear you!” his mother hissed.
“Ma, can you please check if there’s a dark blue car parked outside?” he asked frantically, tightening his hold on his best friend. Or, at least, someone who used to be his best friend. He wasn’t too sure about a lot of things anymore.
He heard footsteps approach him as his mother walked back into the house. He looked up just in time to see her shake her head.
“No.” She shot Isla a quick glance, but kept her face unreadable. “No car. Someone must have dropped her off.”
“I had a ride,” Isla mumbled, her words beginning to slur as she tried to stand still. “Hunter dropped me off.”
Asa’s jaw clenched and he wished more than ever that he was some class-A douchebag so that he could just tell Isla to get out of his house. But Asa wasn’t a class-A douchebag and despite his growing rage and annoyance, he couldn’t abandon her. Not when she was in such a vulnerable state.
“I can’t believe this.” His mother scoffed, throwing her hands into the air. “All this girl ever does is hit you below the belt every time!”
“What do you want me to do, ma?” he snapped, losing his patience and taking his frustration out on her instead. “Leave her like this?”
“Of course not!” she exclaimed, looking so angry that Asa had to swallow and blink twice. “I just don’t know why you keep hanging around someone who brings you
