Chapter 8

Raven

"Valerie! Turn that music down, young lady. I don't want the neighbors filing another noise complaint!" I roll my eyes "Whatever mom! I'll just put on my headphones!"

I unplug my phone from the speaker and connect my headphones instead. The music is still loud enough to drown out my mother's voice. All night she's been complaining about everything that I do.

'Valerie, get up, you've been laying around since you got home.'

'Valerie, you can't leave the house it's almost time for dinner.'

'No Valerie, you can't eat in your room. We are going to eat as a family.'

'What family?' I had said to her, that one got me a two-month grounding and a sentence of cleaning my room until it was spotless. She doesn't like my friends, my music, my attitude, my clothing style, my grades and now she wants me to clean my entire room without loud music? And for god's sake can the woman just stop calling me Valerie? I've hated that name since I was 10 and I've asked her so many times to stop using it. It just doesn't fit me. No matter how big a disappointment that is to my parents. I sigh and look around my disastrous room, I've been cleaning for an hour, and I still can't see my floor. There's dust piling up on my bookshelf, my dresser, my TV. There are clothes strung out all over the floor from my scavenger hunt to find my fishnet leggings and green crop-top as well as the discarded outfits from a week ago. There's trash on my floor, my bed, and in all my drawers. My bed is unmade and over halfway pulled off of the frame. Wow, I'm gross. Now, it's starting to bug even me. I also have an empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the ground somewhere, except it's broken so instead of somewhere, it's kinda everywhere, and I can't take off my shoes because I'll probably step on glass.

I put my hair into a ponytail, turn up my music as loud as it can go without making me deaf, and grab my laundry hamper. Let's start with the clothes. I crouch down on the floor and grab armfuls of clothing. "Ow!" I exclaim, found part of the Jack Daniels bottle, great, now my hand is bleeding. Bandages aren't attractive on girls, and the only guys who disagree are creeps, or perverts, sometimes both. Whatever. I run to the bathroom and rinse off my hand. I am not putting on a band-aid. I hope that the cold water stops the bleeding and go back into my filthy room. Amora has straightened up my bed and is currently searching for my stash of alcohol.

"I had to move it." I say, "My mom came way too close while snooping. It's in the giant stuffed bear that has Velcro keeping it shut."

Without a word she grabs the bear and rips it open, she hasn't turned to face me yet, but I'm pretty sure I hear sniffling.

"Amora? What happened? Who am I poisoning now?"

I move to sit beside her as I hear the shadow of a laugh come out of her mouth.

"My mother."

She says while turning around, she's definitely crying. In a quieter voice, she says,

"My lovely betrothed."

"Your what!? You're getting married?"

More tears spring to her eyes as she nods,

"Unless I die before eighteen, yes."

She has pulled out a bottle of my good vodka and is scarfing it down like water.

"Woah, Okay."

I take the bottle from her

"Last time you got drunk you almost got arrested for jumping off the roof into a pool on private property that wasn't yours. Let's not relive that, K?" She sighs,

"You're right. It's just, maybe my mom will disown me if I go home drunk in the middle of her classy dinner."

I wrap my arms around her,

"Amora, you know that's not going to work, your mother already did disown you, and now you just need to be there at her every beck and call. That won't change by getting even more disowned, you'll only make your life at home worse."

Another sigh, she hangs her head

"I know" tears fall onto my arm. I hold her tighter "I know why you're actually home right now Raven."

"Oh really?"

she nods and lifts her head, tears aren't falling down her cheeks anymore, but I know she desperately needs to cry.

"You're grounded, aren't you?"

"yep."

"And you were about to sneak out to meet with that AJ character. Weren't you?"

How did she know?

"What! No! He was a jerk, and annoying, and perverted, oh excuse me 'Promiscuous' as he so annoyingly put it earlier. And don't even get me started on that smirk of his."

"Raven."

Amora said, cutting me off,

"What?"

She has a knowing smile dancing across her lips.

"You're blushing."

I self-consciously cover up my cheeks with my hands

"Am I?"

"Definitely, just admit it, you thought he was hot, and you're going to meet with him tonight to show him just how annoying he is."

I try to defend myself

"He is hot, he's also extremely annoying and cocky. It's not like it's going to be a thing, just a one-night stand. He agrees that we should have nothing to do with each other afterward because I'll murder him. Plus, I'm keeping him off-limits to me."

Amora gives me a confused look, "Why?"

I smile "For you, Duh."

I scratch behind her cat ears, it makes her purr, every time. She forgets about what I just said momentarily and then

"Wait, What?"

I start laughing "You heard me."

"I don't even like him!"

"But you will trust me. It's my best friend soul-mate radar, it's tingling."

She rolls her eyes at me

"Since when is it safe to trust you?"

I stand up and head towards my mirror to touch up my eyeliner.

"Oh, sweetie. It's not"

I fluff up my hair to make it look sexier. I go to my window and fling it open, throw one leg over the windowsill and look back at Amora

"Are you coming?"

Amora crosses her arms

"Coming with you while you go get laid? No thanks."

"ugh, fine just come with. I'll text him to bring Ren and call for a rain check on the hook-up. Good enough for you?"

another sigh from Amora "I guess."

"Good"

I jump out the window and grab onto the vines crawling up my house to slide down onto the ground without messing up my makeup. Amora is not far behind me, the only difference is, she doesn't even touch the vines and quietly lands on her feet.

"Cat woman"

I tease "Shut up." We walk into the woods surrounding my house.