CHAPTER 26

XAVIER'S POV

"So, why are we here again?"

The loud music, cheap booze, and sweaty bodies wasn't something I was a fan of. Ophelia kept dragging me around her friend's mansion. I don't think she had a single clue about where she was going after her third drink.

"To spend time together. That's what friends do, don't they?"

Friends?

Really Ophelia!?

One second you kiss me on my rooftop and the next you call us friends.

"So now we are friends, Ophelia?"

Her head turned towards me at lightening's speed. It was a shock that she didn't crack her neck.

She opened her mouth to say something when an unfamiliar guy, who looked like the definition of a rich kid, approached her.

"Hey, Lia! Long time, no see. How have you been?"

The shock on Ophelia's face quickly morphed into a bright smile. With his baby blue eyes and the cockiness audible in his tone, he was definitely a player.

"I'm great, Jake. How are you? How's private school treating you? This is Xavier, by the way. He's a friend of mine."

Private school; that defined the unfamiliarity.

The blondie's eyes were all over Ophelia's body. How I wish I could knock this pervert out, right this moment.

"Oh hey, Xavier! Didn't even see you there. How are you, buddy? Private school's great but I miss our times together."

Didn't even see me here, huh? This guy really had some guts. Ophelia's face resembled a strawberry. It was blushing red.

She probably liked this guy. I mean, they would be a pretty couple together.

But, even the thought of Ophelia with him made my blood boil with an anger I hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I'm great 'buddy'. I'm gonna go grab another drink, Ophelia."

I had to get out of there. If I had stood there for even a second longer, my fist would have definitely connected to Jake's nose.

It took me some time to find the kitchen because even I didn't know where I was. I threw away the empty cup in my hand and grabbed a new one. I quickly drank the contents in that cup, ignoring the burn in my chest. I could feel the heat, starting a fire that warmed up my insides when the next two cups got empty.

I didn't like drinking. Alcohol was the reason my dad turned out the way he was in his last few years. But, I was worse than him.

At least, he wasn't a murderer.

I was probably on my sixth glass when I saw a slightly blurred figure approaching me.

Please don't be Ophelia.

I didn't want her to find me like this.

Please don't be Ophelia.

Please don't be Ophelia.

Please don't be Ophe-

"So much for being desperate, Mr. I'm going to judge everyone but do the same."

Ugh! I wish for one thing but I don't even get that thing. She had her hands on her hips and looked like a mother scolding her kid for his wrongdoings.

"How did your reconnection with your long lost love go?"

At least, I wasn't slurring.

Was I slurring?

Why was my head spinning out of nowhere? Ophelia started laughing like I'd just told a joke.

There was something really wrong with her head.

I sipped onto my seventh cup as she started defending her little crush on that blondie.

"First, Jake's a friend and second he- would you stop drinking, Xavier? I brought you here to enjoy this party. Not for you to win some beer drinking competition. If you want to say something to me, then just say. Are you this miserable with me, that you have to drink so desperately?"

That was the irony. I wasn't miserable with her.

I was miserable with myself. It gets tiring, sometimes, living with all these voices in your head. If only I could tell this to Ophelia without scaring her away.

The thing with wanting to die was the fear. Fear of not succeeding.

Fear of the afterlife.

Fear that the pain wouldn't end.

And carrying all this gets me really tired, some days.