Lionblaze Lost the Lightning

Chapter 8: Drunk and High

Hollyleaf stared at the memo on the wall, feeling terribly nervous as she read the glittery red and green words. Christmas party Friday. Semi formal, one guest per person.

I completely forgot there would be a Christmas party! She thought to herself, feeling nauseous at the thought of being in the same room as Ashfur dressed semi-formal. Do I even HAVE anything semi formal? Ugh, I so don't. And who am I gonna bring, Lionblaze or Jayfeather? I should just bring Firestar to avoid them arguing about it.

"You going?"

Hollyleaf turned around, jumping in surprise as she saw Squirrelflight standing behind her. Her eyes were cool and expressionless, and she stared at Hollyleaf with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, sure," Hollyleaf stammered, her mind racing with paranioa. Does she know I text her husband? "Are you?"

"Obviously," Squirrelflight laughed as if that were a joke. Hollyleaf felt self-conscious, and she adjusted her cook's hat even though it was already in place. Squirrelflights laugh sounded as if it were made of bells. Mine sounds like a retarded animal trying to sing a song.

"I'm sure my husband will be very pleased that you will be attending," Squirrelflight said suddenly. Her words made Hollyleaf want to sink into the floor. "He's very fond of you, you know."

"Oh," Hollyleaf forced herself to say calmly. "Well that's good to hear."

"Sure is," Squirrelflight gave her a sly smile before turning away. "See you later."

"Bye," Hollyleaf breathed, feeling as though she was gonna have a panic attack. Oh my god. If I knew this job would bring all this anxiety shit, I wouldn't have applied in the first place.

She turned away from the memo, forcing herself not to stress out about it as she walked to the front of the restaurant where the tills were. She noticed her hands were shaking as she typed her password in and clocked out, hoping that no one else was watching her pathetic display of nerves.

"Done your shift?" Sol asked from beside her. He was printing off labels, and Hollyleaf mentally kicked herself. Dammit, I was supposed to make the labels and I forgot!

"Yeah I'm done," Hollyleaf replied. "I started at eleven, it's been a long day."

"Tell me about it," Sol smirked. "I'm here for another hour, and I already have enough work to do but now I gotta print these labels out."

"I'm sorry," Hollyleaf sighed, walking away before she could get a lecture about it. Sometimes I feel like the only person that likes me in this establishment is Ashfur.

She hung her hat and apron up on the hook, grabbing her red coat. I guess this day wasn't a total loss, she thought. I barely burned anything!

She reached for her phone in her pocket, not surprised to see a notification for a text message. It's probably Lionblaze asking me to pick up dinner.

Txt from: Firestar

Surprised, Hollyleaf clicked open. What does he want?

Can you pick me up?

Confused, Hollyleaf typed back a quick response. Where's your car?

He responded in the same minute, sending three separate texts instead of writing it all in the same one.

I can't drive dude

I'm messed up

Pleasee

Hollyleaf sighed, not wanting to pick him up but realizing she might have to for his own safety. If I don't, he'll probably get picked up by the cops and get arrested. Again.

Sure, she wrote. Just tell me where you are.

"I thought Hollyleaf was gonna be home an hour ago," Lionblaze grumbled as he grabbed a loaf of bread out of the cupboard. "Now I'm gonna have to make my own grilled cheese!"

"You're perfectly capable of doing it yourself," Jayfeather rolled his eyes as he watched his brother grab nearly half the slices out of the bag. "And stop smoking, you're getting ashes in the frying pan."

"Oh," Lionblaze ignored him, flicking his cigarette butt. Ash fell off and landed in the middle of the frying pan. Jayfeather sighed loudly.

"I'm not eating any of those now," he snapped. "Frikin cancer sandwiches, no thanks."

"Good," Lionblaze snickered. "I wasn't making you any anyway."

"Then why the hell do you need that much bread?" Jayfeather cried. Lionblaze held up the bread slices defensively, staring at his brother like he was shocked he'd say such a thing.

"I NEED THESE!" He cried, counting them. "ALL… NINE OF THEM."

"Nine," Jayfeather snorted. "What, are you gonna make four and a half sandwiches?"

"If I have to," Lionblaze huffed, placing cheese slices on the bread. "Dammit there's only enough cheese for two."

"This is the biggest fail I've ever seen," Jayfeather shook his head and walked towards the door. "I'm gonna order take out."

"Count me in for that," Lionblaze said at once, chucking everything on the counter in a pile. "Can you clean this up? I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Clean it up yourself!" Jayfeather cried. "I'm not cleaning up that crap."

"Hollyleaf can do it when she gets home then," Lionblaze shrugged, leaving the room. "I can't do it anyway, my shows on."

"Thought you were going to the bathroom," Jayfeather muttered.

"WOW," Lionblaze sighed dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air. "Get off my case!"

"Nah," Jayfeather smiled. "It's way too easy to pick on you, you know."

"Whatever," Lionblaze pulled out another cigarette from the pack that was on the coffee table, flopping down on the couch and lighting it at the same time.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," Jayfeather said suddenly, sitting on the recliner next to the couch. "How'd it go the other day, meeting Dovewings mom?"

Lionblaze took a long drag off the cigarette, closing his eyes and grimacing.

"What?" Jayfeather asked. "Did it go bad or something?"

"Honestly, and I don't say this lightly," Lionblaze sighed. "It was probably worse than world war five."

"What?" Jayfeather scoffed. "And that doesn't make sense; there hasn't even been a world war four-"

"Dovewings mom is straight evil," Lionblaze cut him off, not wanting to hear a big speech about it. "You should have seen her, man. She looked like a human version of a Barbie doll. I'm not saying she's super pretty or anything, but like in the totally fake and plastic way. Her hair didn't even move!"

"Weird," Jayfeather replied, narrowing his eyes. "I would have thought she'd be nice, given how awesome Dovewing and her dad are."

"That's what I thought too," Lionblaze agreed, shaking his head slowly. He threw his cigarette butt in a coffee mug on the table.

"There was still coffee in that!" Jayfeather cried.

"It's still good," Lionblaze said quickly, not listening. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Go ahead," Jayfeather mumbled, pushing the ruined coffee to the side.

"I don't know what to do," Lionblaze said after a long moment. Jayfeather stared at him, not understanding what he was getting at.

"I'm in way over my head," Lionblaze continued quietly when Jayfeather didn't say anything. "There's just too much for me to handle. The baby, Dovewings mom… getting a job, finding a place to live- it's just too much."

"Too much or not," Jayfeather said slowly. "It is what it is. You can't back out now."

"I know," Lionblaze said, staring at his brother with sad eyes. "Don't tell anyone what I'm telling you, okay? It's just," he broke off again, staring at the ground. "Sometimes I wish I could."

Hollyleaf pulled into the driveway, sighing as she realized there was a full blown party going on inside the house. I must be at the right place, she thought to herself, getting out of the car. She locked the car behind her, feeling annoyed that Firestar made her responsible for picking him up. I'm not a frikin taxi service.

"Hey baby," someone she didn't know slurred as she walked up the front steps. Hollyleaf didn't reply, taking note that he was smoking something out of a pipe that sure didn't smell like weed. Holding her breath, she banged on the door.

"Just go in," the guy called up at her, winking. "Sandstorm won't mind, she's chill. And hey, find me later and we'll hang out."

"Absolutely," Hollyleaf replied in a fake cheerful voice. "Not."

She opened the door, the smell of weed and alcohol nearly knocking her off her feet. The house was packed. Hollyleaf had to nearly push people aside to get through, which resulted in someone spilling their beer all over her.

"Hey!" Hollyleaf cried, glaring at the girl who spilled it. "Can you watch it?"

"Chill out, bitch," the girl smirked, standing in front of her and crossing her arms. "You don't want to make me mad."

"Fuck off," Hollyleaf hissed, shoving past her. I don't have time for this! Why the hell is Firestar even here? This place is super skeezy.

Hollyleafs heart beat painfully as realized that Firestar himself was skeezy as well. Why does this even surprise me?

And why am I getting upset about it?

She spotted Firestar after a few minutes of searching, pulling off her beer soaked jacket. If the cops pull me over and smell that, I'd get my license taken away for sure.

"Hey!" Firestars entire face lit up as he saw her, and Hollyleaf forgot her anger for a second. Stupid Firestar and his cuteness.

"Ready to go home?" Hollyleaf asked at once, walking quickly over. She tried to ignore the way the rest of the guys on the couch were staring at her.

"Can we stay a bit longer?" Firestar asked, eyes wide as if he had just asked her to marry her. "PLEASE! It's so fun!"

"Then why did you ask me to pick you up?" Hollyleaf asked, sitting down next to him. At once, Firestar leaned into her, their legs touching. A weird feeling that reminded Hollyleaf of heartburn suddenly made an appearance in her heart.

"Maybe I just wanted to see you," Firestar whispered in her ear, his alcohol laced breath making her turn away.

"You're just drunk," Hollyleaf mumbled.

"Drunk AND high," Firestar laughed, putting his arm around her. The heartburn like feeling grew at once.

"Are you…" Hollyleaf didn't know the right word to use. "Okay?"

"I'm great!" Firestar cried out, sounding if he genuinely meant it despite how drunk he was. He turned to the guy on the other couch, who was still staring at Hollyleaf like a dog would look at a steak.

"Hey buddy," Firestar said to him. "Pass my girlfriend a beer, would ya?"

GIRLFRIEND?!

Hollyleafs eyes flew open as he said that word, feeling her heart beat so fast it felt like she was on drugs. She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. The guy shrugged and pulled a beer out of a cooler beside him, handing it to Hollyleaf as if Firestars words didn't come as a surprise.

"So," Hollyleaf said awkwardly, opening the beer and taking three long sips before continuing. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Firestar said, smiling and not stopping. He held up his own drink, which was a strange orange and pink color. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Hollyleaf whispered, clinking the drinks together. Firestar started talking about sports suddenly to the guy who gave Hollyleaf the drink, so she used that time to finish hers as fast as she could. She set it down after nearly five minutes, feeling slightly dizzy from drinking it so fast.

"Woah, girlie," the guy broke off the sports conversation to turn and smile at Hollyleaf. "Pace yourself. Hey, she drinks just like you, Firestar."

She drinks like you, Firestar

Just like Firestar

The words rang in Hollyleafs mind, and a startling realization came over her. Wow, she thought. I think we're more alike than I give him credit for.

"Want another?" Firestar asked, turning to look at her. Hollyleaf locked eyes with him, really looking at him. His green eyes were shiny and a little bloodshot, but they were beautiful. His white skin was clear and his cheeks were a little red, but that only made him cuter. When she didn't look away, Firestar smiled again.

"Sorry," Hollyleaf mumbled, jerking her eyes away. Wow, way to be weird. WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO GET SO WEIRD!

"Here you go," the guy said, handing her another can before she could even answer the question on if she wanted one or not. "Drink up, you gotta lot of catching up to do. How many have you had now, Firestar? A hundred?"

"A hundred and FOUR," Firestar giggled, drinking the last of what was in his cup in one go. Hollyleaf opened her beer, all annoyance from earlier gone. I guess one more won't hurt

It's funny how I came here to get him, but now I'm partying with him! I shouldn't even be surprised at this point. Besides, I can still drive after two beers.

As Firestar talked to his friend, he placed his hand over Hollyleafs. Hollyleaf didn't push him away, feeling nerves tingling under her skin.

"More drinks," Firestar said suddenly, cutting the guy off in the middle of his sentence. Hollyleaf was starting to get the feeling he wasn't even listening to him at all. He stood to his feet, still holding Hollyleafs hand.

"Need another?" Firestar asked as he led her through the crowd. Hollyleaf, holding her now empty beer can, shrugged. "Well I'm out, so I guess so."

"That's right," Firestar grinned at her. Hollyleaf smiled back, dimly aware that a lot of people were staring at them.

"Are they going out?" she heard one of them say.

"Is that is girlfriend?" she heard another girl whisper. "Wow, she's way too pretty to be dating Firestar. He's like, a total loser!"

Hollyleaf held Firestars hand tighter, holding her head high. For once in her life, she didn't care what people thought.

He's probably not gonna remember this tomorrow morning, Hollyleaf thought to herself as Firestar mixed her a drink that was nearly half and half with vodka.

And by the looks of things, neither will I