Troy awoke a few hours later in the same position he had drifted off in. In fact, there was nothing in the room that would indicate hours had passed; bar the ugly raw sore that took up his whole arm. In his absent-minded state, Troy had scratched all his skin off, enjoying the sensation of knowing he deserved the pain, but couldn't feel it. He checked his phone: it was almost 8pm. Fuck. He was gunna be late. That was all he needed to arouse suspicion, that he was gunna miss the first few hours of the party.
He crawled into his bathroom and threw up the last few hours' activities. He crawled into a cold shower and sat on the floor underneath it, letting the water wash over him, bring him back to full consciousness. Hw didn't know how long he was in there but he slowly climbed out.
He got dressed and grabbed a few things: his mobile, keys, wallet and a 2nd hit, just in case.
By the time he finally got to Chad's it was almost 10pm. The house was full of intoxicated teens grinding up against each other in not very much clothing.
"Hey playmaker, took your time!" yelled Chad across the room.
The room grew louder in cheers as people acknowledged Troy's entrance.
Troy slinked through the crowd over to the make-do bar. He was already feeling tired, uneasy and sick so he hoped a beer might ease his mind. People were bombarding him about why he was late and his 'plans' for the night, so he just continued sculling beers until he could count at least 7 in 20 minutes. He felt really strange. Maybe it was the beer mixing with the other substances previously in his system, but whatever it was put him on edge. Chad wouldn't leave him alone and it was starting to REALLY push his buttons. He pulled Troy up by force and pushed him into the crowded dance floor, not realising Troy was about to snap.
Then he saw it. Through the moving couples on the dance floor he caught site of Gabriella. Up against a wall. Passionately kissing a guy named Jake from his basketball team. Troy felt his heart rip through his chest; it was going to explode and tear with the most excruciating agony. He hated the sight but he couldn't look away as the guy's hands began to feel up under Gabriella's shirt. Troy wanted to scream and cry and scream louder again. He was overcome with fury and hurt and he didn't want to exist anymore he just couldn't stand the pain.
As Troy stood, dumbstruck, and in a painful awe, he became aware of Chad forcing girls onto his and pestering him. He hated it. He turned to face Chad, pushing him forcefully against the wall. Although Troy was drunk, he had the element of surprise, and before Chad had realised what was going on, Troy had swung at him and knocked him unconscious. He looked around him, everyone had stopped dancing, the music was off and the lights were on. Troy saw Gabriella: the look in her eye was his last straw, and he knew she hated him, and both angry and disappointed in him.
So he did the only thing he could think to do: he ran. He rain out of the house, down the street and all the way to the park across town.
He sat under a tree and took off his jacket. He twisted his sleeve tightly around and took out his hit. He let out a long breath as he injected sanity into his veins, trying hard to keep himself steady. He didn't remember anything after that, it all went black, but that was what he wanted.