Alcohol by Hanna Sun

                      “I’ve got beer, red wine, apple cider, Baileys, whiskey…” Glass bottles piled up on the kitchen counter, and everyone at the party gathered around like a swarm of hungry hornets. I turned to my best friend, wanting to leave, but realized she was gone- she had joined the bees.

                         Come back, come back! I wanted to scream, don’t do it, don’t do it! Don’t do this to me! But this was a party, and I had agreed- out of courtesy, and not because I supported their deeds. This is so fun! they said, come try! Be free! But I didn’t want their fun. I didn’t want their “free”. When I see them holding their cups of whiskey, only one thing comes to mind: that night, that party…

                           He was drunk. I don’t know how drunk, but drunk. I watched him stumble into the kitchen; I watched him pull open the refrigerator door; I watched him chug down another bottle of beer, and drop the glass to the floor. That pissed me off. This isn’t even his house. Those aren’t his drinks. Did he even ask the host for permission? I doubt it. What an asshole. What a prick. Why am I even dating him? Stop drinking! I yelled, and he looked at me. He lumbered over, and before I could speak, he fell on top of me- his weight crushing my lungs and preventing me from breathing. I couldn’t move. A hundred and sixty pounds on top of me. Alcoholic breath- revolting. Disgusting. I tried to shift my head. Please, please, please, stop breathing. I don’t want to smell the beer, the cider, or the whiskey. I wanted him to stop breathing, to shut his mouth, to get away from me. But maybe if I stopped breathing, if I got away from him, then I would be free. My lungs were contracting. I was wheezing, wheezing, wheezing. I couldn’t even scream. This was the end of me.

                        … A cup was shoved into my hands, and I dropped it instinctively. Icy wet alcohol soaked into my socks, and someone pushed me. “That was our last cup of Macallan 18! You know how much that costs?”

                          The alcohol smelled, and I couldn’t breathe. Tears brimmed my eyes as I pushed through the crowd, out the door and away from them all.