Chapter 4

Molly dropped the three boys off in the school parking lot next to Rattle's car. She had a concerned look on her face. "You guys sure you wanna skip out?" she asked. Rattles and Slink began laughing. "C'mon, Molly, just be a good girl and go back to class," heckled Rattles. Molly shook her head and went to go find a parking spot. Rattles turned to Slink and Binky.

"Alrighty, men, let's go tear some shit up!" he said excitedly. They hopped into Rattle's car and drove off. "Yo, where we going first?" asked Slink. Rattles began to grin. "We're gonna stop by my place and grab some alcohol. My parents are both working so we don't have to worry about them," he replied.

Binky quietly sat in the backseat. He wasn't feeling the hype his two buddies were feeling, but he knew that anywhere was better than being stuck in class. He pulled up his sleeve and looked at his wrist. The cut from last night was beginning to scab over. Thank goodness. A bandage wouldn't be necessary.

The sight of his scars instantly reminded him of Sue Ellen's scars. Binky tried not to think about what Sue Ellen showed him, but he couldn't help it. Sue Ellen was the last person he's consider that self-harmed. She was so outgoing, confident, and popular. All the guys wanted to date her, and all the girls liked hanging out with her. Why'd she cut? It just seemed out of character for her. As Rattles turned on some punk rock, Binky tried to focus on that to clear his head. Forget Sue Ellen. She's crazy. She's not worth thinking about anyways.

The guys pulled up to Rattles' house after a few minutes. "I'll just be a minute," Rattles said as he hopped out of the car. Slink and Binky sat there in silence, listening to the music. Binky looked at the radio clock. By now, afternoon classes had started. He imagined his history teacher taking attendance and wondering why Binky hadn't showed up. The thought made Binky grin. Screw history class. Heck, screw class in general. All of his teachers made him feel so stupid all the time, so they didn't need his presence. It was that simple.

Rattles ran back to the car with a small cardboard box. "What did you get?" asked Slink with a laugh. Rattles opened the backseat door and placed the box on the seat. "Dude, I got several bottles of whiskey and some beers," replied Rattles. Binky glanced at the contents in the box. Rattles expected they would drink all of this? It was enough alcohol for a dozen people. Oh well, time to get wasted on a school day.

"Off to the eastside bridge!" called Rattles rather obnoxiously. He and Slink fist-bumped each other, and off they went to their drinking destination. It took about fifteen minutes, but eventually the guys arrived at the scene. They got out and looked around. The eastside bridge was not near any neighborhoods, which was good, because that meant no one could catch some teens drinking alcohol. The only people around here were the blue collar workers who worked in the nearby factories and homeless people. The boys assumed neither of those groups would care if some teenagers were partying underneath the bridge.

They set up camp under the bridge, meaning just placing a picnic blanket on the hard concrete. Rattles opened up a bottle and took several big gulps. "Whoo! That's what I'm talking about!" he said loudly. He passed the bottle to Slink, who also took several big gulps. Slink passed the bottle to Binky. Binky felt the hard glass bottle in his hands. The whiskey was a dark amber color, and he could smell the strong scent of alcohol oozing from the mouth of the bottle. "C'mon, Bink, take a swig!" encouraged Slink. Binky shrugged his shoulders, then drank a big mouthful of the liquid. The burning sensation made him cough. Rattles and Slink started laughing.

"Man, Bink, we gotta build up your tolerance!" joked Rattles, as Binky handed him the bottle. For the next hour, the three teens took turns drinking the whiskey. They played music on Rattles phone and talked about everything from girls to skateboarding. They could hear when cars drove above their heads on the bridge. By hour two, the three teens were far more relaxed and loud.

"So then, I see this chick, and I mean, she had the best rack I've ever seen. I walked up to her and tried hitting on her," explained Rattles. Slink was swaying back and forth as he sat on the blanket. "She had a boyfriend right?" he asked with a big, toothy grin. Rattles took another drink. "Yeah. Stupid bitch," he chuckled. Slink busted out laughing. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" he yelled. "Yo, shut the hell up, man," whispered Rattles. Slink winked at him. "Aye, captain!" he responded sarcastically.

Binky wasn't sure how much more alcohol he could handle. After losing so much weight over the past year or two, his tolerance was nowhere near what it used to be. He felt extremely dizzy, yet he felt great too. He didn't feel the anxiety that he normally felt. Right now, he felt like nothing in the world mattered. Nothing could bother him. That was a great feeling, much better than being stuck in class all afternoon.

Rattles cracked open a beer. "Bink, got any poon lately?" he asked with a laugh. Binky shook his head but didn't say anything. Rattles and Slink, who were by this point a little too drunk, took this as a sign that Binky was hiding something.

"C'mon, dude, who's the lucky girl?" said Slink as he slapped Binky's back. Binky looked at the ground. Did these idiots really want to talk about him? Since when did they ever give a crap what was going on his life? It was like Sue Ellen all over again – people asking just to ask, not because they cared.

"No one. I've been single," replied Binky, trying to sound as casual as possible. Slink turned to Rattles. "He's lying to us, man," he said to his intoxicated buddy. Rattles began to chuckle. "Oh, Bink," Rattles began, "We both know you are slaying all those freshmen girls!" Slink started laughing so hard he was holding his belly. Binky didn't say anything. Maybe he should just head home now? If they wanted to talk about him, then he wasn't interested.

"Nah, just been me, that's all," Binky said quietly. Rattles and Slink looked like they were surprised by Binky's lack of humor. "Dude, we're just messing with ya," commented Slink. "Yeah, we're just dickin' around," chimed in Rattles. The two friends looked at Binky, who was staring at the ground. Binky felt their eyes piercing him, but he didn't care. If he just stayed quiet about himself, then they would stop talking about him. Rattles then leaned over and put his hand in the box of goodies.

"I got some cigarettes in here too, boys!" he heckled with excitement. He passed around the smokes and a lighter. Binky felt relieved. Okay, so they were done talking about him. Now they can all just smoke, drink, and have a good time talking about other stuff. Slink laid down on the blanket. "Oh shit, man, I need to chill out for a minute," he said dramatically. Rattles took a drink of his beer. "Haha, what a whimp!" he said as he threw a small rock at Slink. Slink just flipped him off. "Yo, not cool, man, I'm trying to take a nap," exclaimed Slink. Rattles then leaned up against the concrete wall and closed his eyes. Binky watched his two friends as they drifted off to sleep.

After a few minutes, both Rattles and Slink were snoring rather obnoxiously. Binky took this as his chance. He stood up, which instantly made him felt lightheaded, then started heading up to the road. He was done socializing for a day. He just wanted to be alone now. He walked for a few minutes, until he reached a bus stop. He waited there and wondered if his mom would notice the stench of alcohol on his breath when he got home.