Chapter Fourteen

Don't Think, Just Drink

Savannah woke up the next day, feeling like she never really fell asleep.

She was unsure whether or not to tell someone about what she had seen, she saw no point in adding fuel to the fire.

She contemplated taking matters into her own hands and confronting Ben herself, one-on-one so he doesn't feel attacked or like the culprit in an intervention.

That morning she got dressed absentmindedly, rehearsing the speech she was going to give Ben.

Just as she was about to make her way out of her room to find Ben, he burst into her room carefully shutting the door behind him.

Savannah was startled, searching her mind to figure out what to say, but she seemed incapable of forming together the right words.

"Savannah I need to talk to you," said Ben carefully, before Savannah could speak, "I know you saw me last night... after dinner..." he said.

Savannah didn't want to deny it or act oblivious so she carefully nodded her head, her eyes locked with his.

Ben came closer and it wasn't until now that Savannah had realised that Ben had quite the growth spurt.

She was looking up at him instead of looking at him directly in the eyes. Where did the time go?

When did her little brother turn into the young man before her?

Ben looked well rested but still as if something was bothering him, obviously something was.

The only thing that always remained consistent was his curly brown hair draping down his face and dangling down his forehead.

Savannah hadn't noticed until now how much her and Ben looked alike, she saw more of herself in him than she saw in Michael.

"Savannah I don't want you to worry, I'm not getting bullied or beaten or anything of that nature so please don't worry..."

"I can't tell you what this is about... just yet... but I'm just going to need you to trust me on this..." he said before Savannah could speak.

"Ben, if you seriously think I'm not going to worry about you being battered and bruised just because you told me so, you're highly mistaken!" spoke Savannah defensively.

"Shhhh!" exclaimed Ben before looking around, why was he being so secretive?

Savannah stared at him questioningly.

"Don't worry, I've already spoken to Dad and he's helping me with it..."

Savannah breathed a sigh f relief,

"but Savan, I'm sorry I just can't tell you what it is, I'm not ready for everyone to know just yet... Dad knowing alone feels like too much... but trust that I'm okay and in time everything else will be..."

Savannah was quiet trying to form an opinion as Ben stared at her begging with his eyes. She tried to form an argument but she couldn't.

The truth was, knowing that Ben was okay was the only thing she needed, and she got that.

She didn't understand what was going on but she understood that it meant a great deal to Ben to keep it quiet for now.

She let out a defeated sigh, "knowing that you're okay Ben is all I need... but just take it easy yeah?"

"Oh, I always do," smiled Ben.

Just before he left Savannah's bedroom her turned back around,

"Savannah... thank you for standing up for me and not laughing... at my crying," he laughed awkwardly,

"anytime lil bro," smiled Savannah,

"remind me to never get on your bad side, you put Mike to shame!" he said in a loud whisper as he tried to stifle his snickering.

The two walked down to breakfast and were greeted with a very sombre looking father.

He sat at the empty breakfast table with his fingers interlocked above the dining table.

He didn't look up when Ben and Savannah entered the room.

"I need to talk to the both of you," he said in a tone so serious it made the hairs on the back of Savannah's neck stand.

She looked at Ben and the look of horror on Savannah's face was reflected on his.

She searched her mind to figure out what she might've done wrong, there was no doubt Ben was doing the same.

They sat in unison, waiting for the wrath of their father who was eerily calm.

"Last night your mother received a phone call from her mother, your grandmother. I'm sad to say that your Aunt Nadine has passed away."

Savannah's heart sank. She hadn't seen her aunt in over a decade, she didn't have any clear memories of her, but having a family member pass away, no matter how distant, is always saddening.

"Your mother took a plane to Sydney to be with her family, she'll be gone for about a month but possibly longer... as much time she needs."

Savannah kept her mother in her thoughts, the sadness Savannah was feeling, no doubt was nothing compared to what her mother was going through.

Savannah made a mental note, to be strong for her parents, especially her mother.

To be as unproblematic and reliable as she ever could in their time of need, her time to grieve the loss of her aunt was not now.

The rest of August went by in a blur, the two weeks that Anita was gone, the house felt empty and incomplete.

Ben seemed happier, but was coming home with new bruises, Savannah contemplated spying on him but was afraid she'd lose his trust which is never easy to gain back.

Mike was nearly never home; he had matches every week which only her father now attends.

Her in Leon despite the increase in the workload, spent as much time together, they had their regular lunch together with Mitchell, he went to her to work at the library and often studied together at either one's house.

The closer they got to September 10th the more Leon talked about his 19th birthday party he was throwing.

It was Friday September 9th, a day day before the night of Leon's party.

Mitchell and Savannah were helping Leon decorate his house which in twenty-four hours time is going to be trashed.

"So you're coming? 100%?" Leon asked Savannah for the one-hundredth time that month.

Savannah had never been to a party of this proportion, with over 100 guests.

Leon had often shied away from throwing parties to celebrate his birthdays, for the sake of Savannah.

But for the first time, Savannah decided to swallow her pride and give Leon her blessing to throw a full blown bonanza.

She was hopeful that if she was able to stand up to Mike who'd she'd feared for so long, she could overcome her social anxiety and general awkwardness around people.

"Yes! I'm coming, I promise, even ask Mitchell. I've got an outfit prepared and everything," said Savannah, "It's true," added Mitchell as Leon looked at the both of them in surprise.

"How's your mother Sav?" asked Leon out of nowhere as he stepped down the ladder,

"I could only hope she's okay, I've spoken to her twice in the past two weeks and both times I could tell she was trying to cover up the sadness in her voice...

"But don't worry I've sent her your families well wishes," replied Savannah handing Mitchell the end of a banner.

"Okay guys, I think we might call it a night," announced Leon "thanks for your help" he said wrapping his arms around Savannah's and Mitchells necks,

he pulled them in tightly as they struggled to release themselves from his grip.

"See ya tomorrow Lee," waved Savannah as her and Mitchell made their ways to the front of the house.

Mitchell gave Savannah a ride home and they discussed their joint and individual birthday presents they had for Leon.

Savannah and Mitchell understood how much Leon loved seashell necklaces, he practically had one for each day of the week.

Mitchell discovered a rare black seashell which they both pitched in to purchase and have custom made by a jeweller.

Savannah wrote Leon a poem, she felt a little rusty getting back to something she was so passionate about.

She fell in love with writing poems all over again, she wanted the first poem she ever wrote in four years to be a gift to Leon who she knew would strongly appreciate it.

Mitchell's personal present to Leon was an aesthetic painting made out of dead tree leaves.

It was remarkably beautiful; Savannah had never known Mitchell's artistic gift until he unveiled it to her.

It was the night of Leon's birthday and Savannah was waiting to be picked up by Mitchell.

She was wearing a black halter-top skater dress with a denim jacket and a pair of low-heeled boots. She put her hair in four cornrows to protect it from the wind.

She'd only spoken to Leon once that day but didn't blame him, the stress involved with party planning is sickening.

Mitchell showed up. Savannah ran downstairs and out the front door to greet him.

She smiled at him as he stared back in utter bewilderment.

Mitchell was looking at Savannah like she was the moon.

She suspected that he was sleep deprived, he was behaving so unusually, staring at her wordlessly as if she was from another planet.

She was terrified that he'd already had a drink because he was her ride to Leon's party and back.

Mitchell the confident, witty guy was all of a sudden lost for words and seemed incapable of thinking.

"Are you alright?" Savannah asked after his silence and staring become to distracting.

"I-I, Yeah! You look great..." he said awkwardly, Savannah smiled and thanked him as they made their way into his blue Prius.

Savannah was feeling okay until they were about a block away from Leon's house and she could hear the bass of the music.

Mitchell pulled up to Leon's house, the lights from both the first and second floor were lit as three people at a time entered the house.

Savannah took a deep breath, "It'll be alright Sav... Savannah..." Mitchell had never called Savannah anything but her full name, she found it endearing and adorable.

They walked into the house, side by side, Savannah didn't want to separated from Mitchell at least until she found Leon.

They searched the house for about twenty minutes and there was no sign of Leon.

They went outside where there were people jumping into the pool in the right and people sitting around a bonfire to the left.

Savannah spotted Heather and Natalie surrounded by the likes of Ethan, Caleb and other meatheads.

Natalie stared at her hatefully while Heather acted like Savannah wasn't standing directly opposite to them.

"Hey!" shouted Leon loudly as he jumped on Savannah and Mitchell from behind.

They greeted him and as they did Savannah could tell that Leon was already intoxicated, all glassy eyed and lazy faced.

Savannah could see how happy and excited Leon was and decided instead of criticising him on his bad party habit, to let him enjoy the first night of being 19.

In doing so, she promised herself to drink nothing but soda, who Mitchell, the designated driver, appreciated.

Leon led Mitchell and Savannah inside where they danced, ate and had friendly games of Ping-Pong.

Savannah let go and decided to worry less, enjoy this moment with her best friend Leon and her good friend Mitchell.

The amount of people they were surrounded by didn't bother Savannah once, she was beyond proud of herself for surviving in an environment that would've made her rip her own hair out a few months before.

After her, Mitchell and Leon spent the night dancing away, Savannah went to the kitchen to grab another can of cola.

"Do you want us to come with you!?" shouted Mitchell over the music,

"nah it's fine, I'll be back in a second!" Savannah shouted back.

She walked into the kitchen and was confronted by Heather, Ethan and Caleb. She instantly regretted turning down Mitchell's offer to come with her.

She took a deep breath, minding her own business and acted as if she wasn't bothered by their presence which she so incredibly was.

"Hey Brownie," said Ethan condescendingly, the fact that she was alone with these three made her feel incredible uneasy, she begged for someone to walk in.

Despite how nervous she was, and 100% certain that something was about to happen, she was not going to show them just how scared she was.

She completely ignored him and walked past the three.

She opened the fridge door and grabbed a soda, she opened it and turned around to walk away when Caleb deliberately ran into her, causing her to spill her drink on her jacket.

She grunted in frustrated but to her surprise Heather wasn't wickedly laughing at Savannah like she always did, she was on her phone, taking no notice of anything.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," said Caleb condescendingly, he looked at Ethan who looked back at him in approval.

Something bad was going to happen, Savannah could feel it.

She set her drink on the counter top and made her way to the sink to wash herself off.

When she turned back around she saw both Ethan's and Caleb's eyes on her, what were they up to?

Savannah picked up her drink and made her way out of there as quick as possible with her heart in her mouth.

She made her way to where Leon and Mitchell were, in the dance-floor, which was usually the living room.

They weren't there. Savannah took a sip of her drink and made her way upstairs to Leon's room, at least if Leon wasn't in there, Savannah could sit and have a moment or two, to herself.

The soda tasted funny, she tried to recall what she had earlier that made it taste so unusual, she walked up the stairs, feeling incredibly light-headed.

She definitely needed to lie down.

She didn't know what was wrong with her, she thought the adrenaline rush she experienced tonight was the reason she felt so woozy and weak.

When she got to the top step her knees were trembling, she felt as if she was slowly losing control of her body, Leon's room never looked so far away.

She felt as if she were going to collapsed any moment and didn't have the brain power to think straight, she tried to scream out Leon's name, or Mitchell's name but before she could her legs gave in.

Her body felt numb and her vision went blurry.

Her eyes rolled back as her body roughly collided with the floor in a loud thud.

Screams echoed in the background, she was unaware what was music and what was real.

She was swept into a whirl of dizziness as darkness swallowed her whole and her mind and body were no longer in the same place.