Rules of Rain by Leah Scheier

Author:Leah Scheier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2017-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

My stomach is kicking me. It’s the first thing I feel before my eyes open, before I have any idea where I am—there’s a twisting wrench of nausea and an awful searing pain beneath my ribs. For a moment I can’t breathe, and my eyes snap open. I gasp loudly, my lungs contract. And then it comes, a belch of air, a retching sound, and then a gush, a stinking volume of punch and puke. It pours from me like spit up from a baby, and the only thing I feel is relief that my stomach has stopped tearing itself to pieces.

When it’s over, I sit up weakly and look around me. I’m completely disoriented; the first thing I see is a steering wheel covered in reddish vomit and the glint of moonlight on the windshield. I have no idea how I’ve gotten there. There was a party, I remember. I was supposed to be at a party tonight. Liam was waiting for me. And Ethan—where was Ethan? I shift forward and my arm presses into something soft—someone soft that moves and groans beneath me. My breath catches as I glance down. Oh, God, I’ve been lying on top of Liam this whole time. I’d just elbowed him in the gut. He doesn’t wake, just mutters something under his breath and then turns over with a sigh.

Why am I here? And what is that awful smell? I scramble off the seat, push open the car door, and look around. The house at the end of the drive has gone quiet; the night around us is completely still. The lawn, which had been crowded with cars, now only has two remaining.

A gust of wind whips my damp hair back and makes me shiver; I realize suddenly that the front of my dress is soaked through with vomit. And Liam—he’s still stretched out sound asleep across the seat, his head resting against a soggy steering wheel. It’s hard to see clearly by the light of the moon, but I can tell his clothes are wet and rumpled. I’m disgusted at myself. There’s no way I can clean this up. When he wakes up he’ll realize I threw up all over him. I don’t remember much about our night; I can’t remember if it was fun or crazy or romantic. But none of that matters now. I puked all over him and his car. I don’t know how I’m going to face him.

And Ethan. What am I going to tell Ethan? Where did he go? Hope’s car is parked near the porch. Maybe they’re still here together.

I stumble across the lawn and toward the house. My head is swimming, my stomach is empty and churning, my throat is raw, my tongue like gritty sandpaper. I don’t remember eating anything at the party. I have no idea what could have made me so sick. I hadn’t drunk that much, had I? Could party punch make you this nauseated? There’s a weird soreness between my legs too, a twinge that makes me wince as I climb the stairs.

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