"Who the hell invited Meg Griffin?"

I should've known I would run into Connie D'Amico. No high school party is complete without "the Connie D'Amico."

"Connie, don't start," Kent says to Connie annoyed.

"No, seriously, why is she here?" Connie says as she stumbles over towards me.

"Why are you here?" Beth asks Connie aggressively as she blocks her path toward me.

"And who the hell are you?" Connie demands from Beth.

"She's my cousin," Kent explains to Connie, luring her away from Beth.

"And Meg Griffin is my friend," Beth says.

"Psh, why?" Connie snickers as she locks eyes with me and snatches a beer off the counter. "She's a fucking loser." Connie chugs the beer back and then throws the can at my head.

"Why are you acting like you are still in high school?" Kent asks Connie as he grabs her from falling over after throwing the now empty beer can at my head.

"A few hours ago we were in high school, asshole," Connie says as she belches in Kent's face.

"I think it's time you leave," Beth tells Connie.

"I think it's time you stay out of my business." Connie walks over to a counter that has a six-pack and cracks open another beer. "Now, can someone please answer my question? Why the hell is Meg Griffin here?"

"You do realize I'm in the same room as you." Wait, did I just say that?

"And who gave you permission to speak to me?"

"Like Kent said, we're not in high school anymore. I have no idea why I wanted to be your friend in high school. I have no idea why I even wanted you to look my way in high school, but I know that I'm getting fed up with how people treat me."

"Aww," Connie says sarcastically, bending down to get in my face. "And what are you going to do, shoot up the school and then kill yourself?" Connie takes a swig of beer and caresses my face with damp, cool hands. "Why don't you just spare the innocent and just kill yourself?"

"CONNIE!" Kent yells and pulls her away from me. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Slowly, a crowd begins to form inside of the kitchen and continues to form outside of the archway to see what's going on.

"WHY!" Connie yells, pushing Kent away from her. "NOBODY WANTS HER HERE!"

I look over at the crowd and instantly feel sick. Some of them, mainly Connie's usual friends, begin to snicker.

"I WANT HER HERE!" Beth yells back at Connie.

"NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT!" Connie yells back at Beth and attempts to throw a half-empty beer can at her before Kent snatches it from her.

"She's a waste of space. Nobody likes her, including her own family."

"Connie, come on, let us take you home." Connie's best friend Gina attempts to reason with her as she tries to grab her hand.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Connie snaps at Gina as she snatches her hand away from her and turns her attention back to me. "Seriously, do the world a favor and just die?"

Before I know it, I am fighting through the crowd and walking outside as the tears begin to form. Why did I come here?

"MEG! WAIT UP!" I hear Beth's voice from a distance, but I continue to walk. I'm too embarrassed to face anyone right now.

"MEG!"

Shit, Beth is gaining on me. I quickly speed up my pace and try to figure out how to lose her. I quickly turn the corner and hide behind an old oak tree.

"MEG!"

I slowly peek around the tree to see Beth looking around franticly for me. Poor Beth, she seems so scared. As much as I would love to stop hiding from my friend, I can't bring myself to walk over to her. All I want to do is crawl into my bed and mentally block out what happened.

"Meg, where are you?"

Beth sounds defeated. Judging by the look on her face, she looks like she is about to give up any minute now. She sighs heavily and turns to walk away, but she stops suddenly. Beth turns, facing the direction of where I am hiding, and begins sniffing the air.

"What the hell is she doing," I quietly say.

"Meg?" Beth continues to stare in my direction.

I remain still and try not to make any noise.

"Meg, I smell buffalo sauce, and Bath & Body Works. I know you are around here somewhere."

I try to back away quietly, out of sight, but I end up stumbling backward.

"Meg," Beth says as she walks towards me and sits before me. "Are you okay?"

"No. What happened back there was just the tip of the iceberg of what I go through every day in this stupid town. Minding my own business doesn't help me, nor those being a good student, friend, sister, or daughter.

"Awe, Meg."

The sympathetic tone in her voice makes it hard to tell if she feels sorry for me or shares the same beliefs about me as Connie.

"All I want to do is go home, lay in my bed, and try to block out what happened back there mentally." I wipe my eyes as I look up at Beth, who looks like she is trying to think of the right words to say to me. At this point, what would be the right words to say to someone who is constantly verbally and sometimes physically abused everywhere they go?

"Can you please take me back home?"

"Okay," Beth tells me and immediately hugs me. Neither of us says anything as we let Beth's hug offer the emotional support I need.

"GIRL ON GIRL ACTION!" We hear someone yell.

Beth and I pulled apart and looked to find who had yelled that. We look over to see Quagmire, Joe, Cleveland, and my dad watching us from my dad's car window.

"DAD, IT'S ME!" I shout at them.

"LOSE THE SHIRT!" Quagmire yells back at us as the rest of the group incites cheers.

"Let's get out of here," I tell Beth as we walk back to Kent's house.

The party is still going on when we get back to Kent's house. I try not to look over to the house to avoid the risk of someone spotting me. We walk over to Beth's car, and I keep my head down.

"Damn, I think I left my keys inside," Beth tells me. "Want to go in with me?"

"I'll just wait out here," I tell Beth.

"I'll be right back."

Deep breaths, Meg. Beth will be any minute, and you'll soon be back home in the safety of your own bed. I pull out my phone and see that it's only eleven o'clock. Hopefully, my family will be asleep by the time I get home. The last thing I need tonight is my dad laughing at me when I come home.

"Hey Meg, " a feminine voice says from behind me. I turned around to see who spoke to me.

Why the hell is Gina speaking to me? Gina was Connie's best friend and usually her shadow. Wherever Connie went, Gina went. The only thing I can do is stare at Gina with a puzzled look on my face.

"You don't have to stare at me like that."

I still don't respond to Gina because I'm still trying to process why she's speaking to me.

"Seriously Meg, it's kind of freaking me out," Gina says as she folds her arms over her chest.

"Why are you speaking to me?"

"Because I wanted to check on you."

"Why?"

"Because that was fucked up what Connie said to you back there."

"Out of all of the things that Connie and YOU have said and done to me over the years, you finally get a conscience."

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you. You didn't deserve it."

"Wow," is all I can manage to say. I never expected an apology from one of Connie's friends.

"Wow?"

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"You could say apology accepted," Gina nervously laughs.

"I can tell your apology is sincere, but it's hard for me to accept it."

"I can understand that. Take care of yourself, Meg."

I nod my head at Gina as she walks back towards the house. Well, that was unexpected.

"Ready to go?" Beth walks up towards me with her keys in hand.

"Yeah."

After telling Beth goodnight, I walk inside my house to see all the lights off. I assume that everyone is sleeping. I go up to my room and see a piece of paper taped to my door. I take the paper off the door and read what it says.

"Eviction Notice."

Author Note

Happy New Year everyone, I hope all of you are able to accomplish your 2025 goals.

I hope you continue to read. Let me know your thoughts.