Is it too early for spiked punch?

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Mackenzie had done her best to not care about the homecoming dance. It caused her blood to boil in a way that she rarely ever experienced, even when Kate got on her case. Out of anger, and sadness at Tatum's constant rejection, she had opted to stay in that night. All she really needed was her Xbox 360, Modern Warfare 3 and a bottle of 151 rum anyway, right? Stupid things like dances were for saps like Hunter and Michi, people who despite all the worlds difficulties, worked together. Mackenzie knew that deep down she wasn't one of those people, she wasn't meant to be in a steady relationship. It was just how the world worked for her, and she kept telling herself that as long as she had a warm body under her, everything was okay. Her life could go according to plan, her plan anyway. Graduate school, work as an auror and travel the world. Getting tied up in something like love would only hold her back, and she took another drink of the 151 in her hand. She could barely feel the burn of the alcohol now, and she worried slightly at how much of the bottle she had consumed.

It wasn't like her to get this drunk, even at parties she usually knew her limit. 151 wasn't a normal proof of alcohol either, and she had been drinking it straight from the bottle ever since the evening started. Her controller lay on the floor where it had dropped earlier, she couldn't quite remember exactly why she had dropped the controller. The kill screen on her tv had been playing for longer than she could remember too, and she snorted in drunken laughter. She vaguely remembered screaming at some punk ass kid over the headset before getting sniped by one of his friends. Stupid kid.

When her phone buzzed across the room, she started, not expecting anyone to really bother with finding out where she was. Hunter knew she had refused to go to the dance, and she was sure that the taller girl had passed the message on to Sera and Michi as well. Other than that, no one really gave a rats ass about her where abouts. Falling off the bed onto her face in her attempt to get up, she laughed manically, and dragged herself over to her desk. It took her several tries to get the phone off the desk, and the small hard object hit her squarely in the face as it fell to the ground. She let out a string of several well chosen words before managing to get the screen in front of her face. Surprisingly, it was from Hunter, and it took Mackenzie a few moments to understand exactly what the taller girl's message was saying.

"Ur gurl won queen! LOL Looks like shes gonna shit herself. ;)"

Swearing again, Mackenzie threw her phone across the room and rolled onto her stomach to try and get herself standing. She didn't know why she felt the immediate urge to storm over to the homecoming dance, but she was stumbling out the door and before she knew it was standing in front of the doors to King's Hall. If the blonde had been in a normal state of mind, she would have stopped herself at this point. She was only angry because she was hurt by Tatum's constant rejection. She had come to some kind of peace with the fact that she seemed to be in love with the younger girl, and while the feeling scared her to death, she had been able to keep her anxiety under control. In her current state of mind though, she was blind with fury. She should have been at that dance with Tatum, not Sam. Tatum should have been her queen. Kicking the doors open with a growl of anger, Mack burst into the hall like a bat out of hell.

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The first thing that her eyes landed on was the homecoming court dancing in the center of the room, more specifically, how Sam was looking at Tatum with that sappy smile of his. Mack stood motionless for a few moments watching them dance, it was like the world was falling out from under her. The way that they were looking at each other was enough to make her sick right there, and she couldn't even begin to think about the way that he was holding her. Letting out a territorial growl, she gripped the bottle tighter and kept watching, her anger building up inside of her until she couldn't take it anymore. That was the girl that she loved out there, the girl that she had decided that she would do anything for, the one that she brought flowers to and would call back after the first date. The one that she would actually date, and not just sleep with and then disappear from.

Bottle still clenched tightly in her fist, she walked right up to where the couples were dancing and pushed her way through the crowd. "Well, well, well," She slurred loudly, crossing her arms in front of her and swaying slightly. It was taking a lot of her concentration to just stay upright at this point. She stumbled slightly, holding her long arms out to steady herself before continuing. "Y'all just look so fuckin' cozy, I bet daddy would be so proud right now. Y-you, you got your little boy toy and everything! Just the fucking picture of heterosexual perfection!" She took another swig from her bottle, spilling some of the amber liquid on her arm. She took a stumbling step forward and gave Sam a small shove away from Tatum, glaring daggers at him. "Is this what ya wanted T? Is this what makes you happy?" She yelled, pointing at Sam with her hand that still held the rum bottle.

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Tatum had been pretty oblivious to everything going on, quite content to just keep her face against Sam's shoulder, occasionally lifting it to crack a little joke or say something softly. It was just one dance, but it had been still hard to avoid thinking about all of the eyes on them, on the whole homecoming court. She never would have ever imagined herself up on that stage, or out on the floor, but there she was. She wasn't sure how it had all happened, but she just kept reminding herself that her parents would be pleased.

In the end, that was what mattered. Whether she felt embarrassed enough to die, whether she felt bad about anything going on in her life right then, at least they'd be happy. It would be a good distraction to get them off of her back for a while, she had gone to homecoming with her boyfriend, and not only that, but they had won king and queen. What more could they ask for?

When the slow song that had been playing died away, replaced by something more upbeat, Tatum felt a rush of relief. Other people were coming back to the dance floor, all of the fuss over with, and she was sure that the relief was showing on her face now as she looked up at Sam. "I love t-this song," she informed him quietly.

Before she could say anymore, Mack had suddenly appeared, and Tatum gaped at her as she saw the blonde shoving through the crowd over Sam's shoulder. She was drunk, that much went without saying, as if the bottle clutched in her hand and the way she could barely stand did any good to help her deny it. She was definitely plastered. "W-What are you--" she got out, before the blonde was slurring, going off. She didn't realize she had begun shaking until she realized her hands were trembling, gripping the front of Sam's shirt tightly.

She didn't even know what to say, just shrinking further and further as the blonde got louder and louder. When Mack shoved Sam, the redhead squeaked slightly, feeling her eyes swelling up with tears. People were looking again, but for an entirely different reason now. "What are y-you doing!" she managed to get out again, rather shrilly.

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Sam was taken aback when Mackenzie shoved him out of the way. He stared at her dumbfounded for a minute as she hollered and slurred at Tatum. He positioned himself so that she couldn't get any close to Tatum without giving him another shove first. In a calm voice he tried to talk her down. "Come on now Mackenzie, this aint no way to act," he said gently.

"Why don't y'all come outside for some fresh air 'fore ya get in any trouble with the staff. They don't take to kindly to folk drinkin' at school events," he said, his eyes flicking around and watching the bottle in her hand carefully.

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Mackenzie was thrown off by the redhead's shrill question, and it silenced her for a small moment as she looked at the tears threatening to spill over the girls eyes. This was going all wrong, in the blonde's muddled mind this hadn't been at all how she had anticipated things going. Not to say that she really had any idea how things were supposed to go, she had been acting impulsively up until this point of the evening. She was about to back down when Sam stepped in between the two of them and started talking at her like she was broken.

The blonde's anger instantly boiled up again, and she once again found herself glaring at the boy who she had grown to see as her arch-nemesis. Giving him another shove, she stumbled closer to him, getting right in his face. "Look asshole," She slurred angrily, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. "You should stay out of my goddamn business, got it? Don't step in here a-actin' like y'all know what this is about! T-tell me what to do again, and I'll pound your fuckin' face in!"

She attempted to side step the slightly taller boy at this point, tripping over her feet and dropping the glass bottle. It shattered on the floor, and the blonde girl swore violently as she worked to stay standing. "You got this chump fighting your battles now?" She asked Tatum once she had righted herself, her eyes were fixed on the small redhead again. A wave of mixed emotions flickered across the blondes face as she swayed on the spot. She was angry yes, but she also felt a wave of despair hit her as she looked between the two of them. "Is this what makes you happy?" she repeated again, slight desperation making its way into her voice. "What the fuck does he have that I don't Tatum?" She asked, getting steadily louder again. "Tell me! What the fuck is it? Is it because of daddy D? Huh?"

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Tatum only became more and more rigid with terror as Mack kept going, progressively becoming louder, shoving Sam yet again. She fought hard to keep herself from making any of the whining noises she so desperately wanted to let out. Her lower lip was trembling slightly, and she bit down hard on it, trying to fight back the tears. If she really just let herself go, let herself cry like she wanted to, then even more people were going to look.

Even more eyes had already begun to turn in their direction, especially after the bottle broke, making the redhead jump and grab the back of Sam's shirt tightly in one fist. She was staying sort of ducked behind him as soon as he got between the two girls, as if avoiding looking at Mack would make her stop, make her go away. This wasn't how things were supposed to be, or how this night was supposed to go. Sam, especially, wasn't supposed to be dragged into any of this.

She felt terrible, but she also felt powerless to stop it, just hiding behind him and trembling slightly as the blonde ranted on. "L-Leave him alone, j-just leave him alone, h-he didn't do anything!" she finally blurted out, that same desperately weep tone, her voice cracking slightly. She didn't know what else to say, how to answer any of the older girl's accusations. Especially not in front of other people. "You're d-drunk," she murmured weakly, sniffling.

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Sam held his chin high even as the blonde berated his girlfriend. He knew he had to be sensitive about the whole situation. He had been pretty positive that Mack had a crush on Tatum ever since they had started talking about it but he had no idea how far the whole thing had gone.

He was carefully to put his arms out when Mack stumbled, lest she fall and hurt herself. "I don't mean to be tellin' ya to do anythin' but if y'all are gonna be yellin' at Tate like that I gotta step in. She aint deservin' this treatment."

He could feel Tatum trembling and clutching his shirt. He reached back with one hand and took one of her hands in his, trying his best to calm her down with the simple action.

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"He didn't do anything?" She yelled, throwing her hands in the air and laughing. "What the hell? He's just another chump T. Just another excuse to hide behind!" The whole room was starting to spin unpleasantly at this point, and it was all Mackenzie could do to continue to focus on what was happening in front of her. She was livid with Sam because the small functioning part of her inebriated mind was telling her that he was right. She hated when she was wrong, especially when it came to things like this. What really slowed the blonde down though was Tatum's reaction to everything that was happening. It would have been better if the smaller girl had just screamed back at her, but instead she was hiding behind Sam. The desperate tone of the younger girl's voice had cut through anger that had been egging her on for the last few minutes and she felt herself deflating slightly.

She wanted to protest, to tell Tatum that she wasn't drunk, but the way that she was starting to loose focus only attested to the redhead's statement. She stumbled again, nearly bowling into Sam accidentally, and reached out, catching Tatum's shoulder gently to steady herself. She kept her hand there, waiting for the room to stop spinning before looking at the younger girl. What she saw broke her heart, and she immediately felt any residual anger leave her, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

"No...'m not drunk." She protested, still swaying as she gripped the other girl's shoulder to keep herself steady. "I'm not! I just...I'm...y-you fucking with my head T! You keep stringin' me along, and then you go an' date this asshole! What am I s'posed to think about that huh?" She lurched back up suddenly, taking a step backwards to square off with Sam again, as if she had just remembered that he was there.

"You ain't shit kid!" She slurred, throwing him the middle finger as she glared at him. "I'll fucking fight you, you rat bastard!"

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It was hard to miss the commotion that was going on the dance floor, and Rath had looked over a few times to see what was happening, but with the people gathering around, it was hard to see what exactly was going on. He figured it was just another fight that was none of his business, and instead had been focusing on having a good time himself.

However, as soon as he heard a bottle break, he turned around to look and caught a glimpse of the stricken look on his sister’s face. Without a second thought, he headed over, long legs carrying him to the scene quickly, and he caught the tail end of the argument. Truthfully, he was a bit surprised that Mack had even come here, though not at her outburst. It’d been brewing for a while, even if perhaps no one else wanted to admit it. As much as he loved his sister, he knew she could be a bit difficult, and there was only so much stringing along a person could take before they exploded. And Mack had a pretty impressive temper.

He put a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder when he got close enough, glancing over at Sam. “Can you get her out of here?” He asked him, because Tatum looked horrible and he didn’t want her here for another minute. He moved in front of her to shield her too.

“You’re in no condition to fight anyone, Mackenzie.” He said calmly, wondering where Hunter was to come collect her friend. He had no problem throwing her over his shoulder and taking her out of here if that’s what it took. “You should go back to your room and sober up.”

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Everything seemed to be happening at once, between everything Mack was ranting about and the hushed giggles as people looked over at them. The lanky blonde was quite a sight, unsteadily wobbling in front of them, making the redhead flinch every time she said something particularly harsh. "H-He's not an asshole," she argued back weakly, squeezing Sam's hand back and immediately feeling horrible.

Not only had she pushed Mack this far, but she was letting Sam get grabbed in. When Mack's hand grabbed her shoulder, she immediately began to try to duck away from it. She didn't even have an argument back; intentional or not, she had strung Mackenzie along a little, for her own selfish experimentation, and now here they were. She backed up a bit, and almost backed right into Rath as he arrived on the scene.

She felt a little better, particularly with both boys now in front of her, but she could still see Mack from behind them, over their shoulders. She still looked drunk, and still heart-broken. "I-I need air," the redhead finally blurted out, letting go of her grip in Sam's shirt and ducking around him, moving to shove past Mack and leave the hall. She felt like she was on the verge of either a full blown panic attack, or a full blown break down. Her eyes were still swelled up with tears, only a few daring to fall down her cheeks, leaving little mascara trails in their wake.

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Sam made sure to keep his free hand neutral as Mack stumbled closer. "I'm not going to fight you Mack," he said easily, trying to keep himself between the two girls. He didn't know the whole story but he knew that neither one of them needed this anymore.

He nodded to Rath when he asked if he could take care of Tatum. That part was easy enough. It was getting away from the blonde that would be tricky but Tatum made the move. He tracked her through the crowd, only over allowing himself to be one step behind her. "Tate," he said. "Just breathe."

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Rath's sudden appearance threw the blonde off, and she was left for a few moments standing there staring at the trio that stood in front of her. It wasn't until Rath suggested that she head back to her room and sober up that she stumbled back into action that she remembered what exactly was happening. Suddenly everything seemed to happen at once, both boys still stood in front of her but Tatum had made a move from behind Sam. Mackenzie barely caught her arm as she moved into the crowd of people that had gathered to watch.

"Wait!" She said frantically, suddenly sounding a lot more sober than she had the entire evening. The tall girl was still having trouble standing but she locked eyes with the redhead and held onto her hand securely. "T...look, I'm sorry, okay? I only said those things because I'm angry, and I'm only angry because I'm scared of all of these feelings I have for you. I love you. Don't go."

She kept a loose grip on Tatum's hand that the smaller girl could pull out of if she really tried. She felt desperate to get her point across before Sam took Tatum away from the hall. Somewhere in her blurred mind, she knew that it was now or never. Whipping her head around, she searched for Rath, the only person she felt like the little redhead would listen to.

"Tell her!" She demanded, looking at him with desperation. "Tell your sister I love her Rath, you know it's true! Tell her!"

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