Page 106 of The Young & the Sinner

We left my car at the party and took Sam’s car home. He drove us, and Lizzie sat in the back with me.

I must’ve drifted off a little, because the next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by someone.

“Do you want me to help carry her in?” Sam asked, his voice sounding too far away.

“No, it’s alright. I think I can manage from here. Thanks for making sure we got home safely.”

“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, baby?”

She nodded and leaned toward his open window and kissed him. I made gagging noises and Lizzie pulled away, laughing.

“Yes, that is if Max doesn’t end up locking her away,” Lizzie said, loudly.

I shushed her. Max might hear her if she kept this up.

Lizzie helped me out the car, and I liked the cool breeze of the night hitting my face.

“Come on,” Lizzie said, half carrying, half dragging me to the front door. She used my keys to open the door and we walked into the darkened living room. Thank God Max wasn’t around.

“Shh,” I said. “We don’t want to wake Max up.” And then I giggled, and Lizzie placed a hand over my mouth.

“Dude, shut up,” she whispered, which only made me laugh harder.

We stumbled to the wall, and I took most of the impact. I groaned.

“Sorry,” she said.

“You don’t sound sorry.”

Even in the dark, I could tell she rolled her eyes at me, and we continued to walk inside the house. We passed the kitchen on our way to the stairwell, and in my drunken state, I didn’t give much thought to the shadow of a huge man sitting in the kitchen, but Lizzie did. She let out a squeal, pushed me back and turned on the light. I squinted against the sudden intrusion of the lights, my eyeballs feeling like they were bleeding internally.

I groaned, closed my eyes and shushed Lizzie again. “Do you want to wake Max up?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because he’s already awake,” another voice answered and it wasn’t Lizzie’s. It wasn’t Max’s, either, but I could see that he was the shadow that startled Lizzie. He didn’t look happy. I looked out to the family room and found Mason sitting there.

“Oh, no, I’m in trouble,” I stage whispered to Lizzie.

Our eyes met, and it was as if all the tension evaporated, because Lizzie and I burst out laughing at the same time.

Mason and Max were not amused.

“I’m not going to ask. Not when you’re like this,” Max said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow morning. Both of you, go to bed.”

I pouted. “But I’m not sleepy.”

Max frowned harshly. I didn’t like the look on his face then, and I told him so. His left eyelid twitched.

Then he let out a sigh. “How drunk are you, Olivia?”

I was offended for drunk people everywhere. I didn’t know why I was offended, only that I was. Holding out a finger in front of my face, I ignored the fact that it shook slightly and said in my most posh voice. “Not drunk at all.”

Lizzie laughed beside me, and Max turned his attention to her. His eyes darkened a little when he took her in. “And you?”

“I didn’t have a drop of alcohol.”

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