{118}✔️

Dahlia's POV

************

"I love her just as much as anyone else, but funerals cost a shit ton so we really need to think about just burning the bitch." It was Caden's voice.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! That's how you'd treat someone who's been your best friend for years?!" Cadence.

"Well, if you think that's bad then I guess you don't wanna hear about what I have planned to do to you when you die." Caden.

"When I die?! Bitch, you eat, like, fifty thousand calories a day! You're gonna die first from eating too much gravy or something!" Cadence.

"Guys, now isn't the time to be arguing, okay? And Caden, I'd rather bury her body myself than have her fucking burned!" Cora.

"That could work. That's probably cheaper than cremation." Caden.

"You're such a fucking cheapskate, you should be ashamed of yourself! I can't believe you'd rather burn your friend than pay a little money to have her buried!" Cadence.

"You're acting like I'm trying to have her burned at the fucking stake! I'm just saying, we could have her tossed in one of those ovens or whatever they use to burn bitches when bitches be dyin', and it wouldn't take but, like, a few minutes at the most for her to turn into ashes, and then we could put her ass in an urn and carry on with our day! It'd be nice too, cause we could take turns carrying her around!" Caden.

"Billie, what do you think?" Cora.

"I don't want my girlfriend to die!" Billie cried loudly, the sound of her sobs filling the room.

"Well, she ain't no damn help. Hell, I'd rather bury a friend than burn a friend, but then again, if her granddaddy died I'd burn his ass in a second." Is that my fucking Nana? Am I dreaming?

Bro, I wonder what's going on. I wonder if I'm like...A ghost witnessing all this shit and they can't even see me. They don't even know I'm here! Just like Patrick Swayze in ghost! Oh, he was really sexy in that...

...No, cause I feel something soft under me and I'm not staring at them from the corner of the room or something. I'm on a bed.

Aw fuck. I bet I'm in a coma. It's weird but I always wanted to be in one. I always thought that if I ended up in a coma it'd be a great opportunity for me to get tea from people and roast them about it later.

I bet somebody would confess to murdering somebody to someone in a coma! I would.

But then that'd be stupid because there's always a chance they'd wake up. It's kinda like playing Russian Roulette, but, like...With comas!

Yeah, just confess shit to people and see who wakes up and who doesn't. What a rush!

"She's too young to die!" Billie screamed.

"Honey, you are hysterical!" Nana coughed and I could already smell her cigarette smoke. "That girl ain't dead. Course, if she was, you wouldn't be able to tell it. She's already pale as a ghost."

"Ma'am, I've asked you not to smoke in here." A nurse? So I'm in the hospital.

"And I've asked you to get me some whiskey, but my throats still dry and my panties are still on so I guess you didn't." Nana coughed again.

"She'll be okay, Billie. You're spazzing over nothing." New York? Am I in New York? Oh...No, it's Kit! Kit is here? I wonder if I look good.

Damn, I bet I look like Princess Fiona when she was laying in bed waiting for Shrek to rescue her. Kit is my Shrek...Except she's hot as fuck and not green.

"I'm so worried about her!" I heard Billie sniffle. "Hold me?"

That damn bitch.

"Nah, Nah, Nah. Hold ya girl, shorty." I heard footsteps and I guess it was Kit walking Billie over to me because I felt her hand holding mine after a few seconds.

"But the bitch is dead! She fucking dead!" Billie howled before sniffling loudly.

I wonder if I should try to open my eyes. I haven't tried that shit yet. How can I know if I'm in a coma if I don't even try to open my eyes? But then...Do I really wanna risk me not being in a coma and actually being able to open them?

If I keep them closed and make everyone think I'm in a coma I could probably stay in this bed for a few more days. No school, no working, no worries. Spongebob's playing on the TV and I can't see it but at least I can hear it. This is lowkey the good life. I think I should just keep my eyes shut and—

"Well, Hell, we've got time to kill while sleeping beauty's still knocked out. Let me finish telling y'all about what me and Mr. Harmon got up to last weekend. I'll tell you what! Rosemary Harmon ain't never did nothing like that to him! He was screaming the whole time like he was scared! Shit, he might've been. I—"

I changed my mind I'm opening my eyes. I hope to God I'm not actually in a coma.

I opened my eyes slowly and then closed them once again. The light was bright as fuck and it made me wish I was in Billie's room, under the red light instead.

I opened them again after a few more moments and looked over at Billie who was crying as she clung to my hand.

"Well, damn bitch I know I'm ugly but you really don't have to cry about it."

She jumped and backed away from me, letting out a small shriek. "D-Dahlia?! Oh my god, thank god you're okay! I kept thinking you were dead, but really, you were in a fucking coma!"

"She literally wasn't. Dahlia, you were knocked out for like...An hour. You fainted." Cadence explained as she came over to me.

"Yeah, and don't do that shit again because your girl's a pussy." Kit snickered.

"I'm so happy you're awake, Dahlia." Cora sighed, smiling fakely at me. "Now I guess Kit doesn't have to come home and tuck me into bed and cuddle me until I fall asleep like you usually do...Every night..." She gritted out.

This bitch.

"She can come home with me instead," Nana smiled up at her. "Darling, you smell like weed. You got some? These fuckers won't give me no whiskey."

"I'm all out. Sorry, Nana." Kit shrugged, smiling.

"No, no, no, sweetheart. You call me Justine! It's weird to have a potential love interest call me Nana. Except for Mr. Harmon cause that's just the kind of thing he likes—"

"Nana, What are you doing here?!" I questioned quickly.

"Aw, shit," She drew it out before letting out a cough and lighting another cigarette. "I was coming down here to spy on your daddy. I spoke to him the other day and he told me that he and Josephine had another date coming up and I wanted to see what they both wore and make sure they had some protection. I bought a couple packs of condoms if any of you need some, by the way. I couldn't find no lesbian condoms though."

"That's...That's okay." I mumbled.

"Can I, uh, get one or two?" Caden muttered, sliding closer to Nana. "Money's been tight you know, seeing as I don't have a job. I'm fighting with my manager—I think it's just cause she likes me. She fired me but I'm sure she'll rehire me."

"You got fired from the music lounge?!" I tried to sit up but Billie pushed me back down quickly. "No, no, you keep laying down!"

"Just temporarily!" He answered quickly. He'd been working at the music lounge for ages. I hope it's only temporary."Thanks." He nodded at Nana as she handed him a few.

"If you don't use them, give them back!" She told him. "I've been a busy lady these days and these things are more expensive than they used to be." She winked.

"Yo, I love her." Kit chuckled, pointing her thumb in Nana's direction.

"Oh, honey, I love you too!" Nana smiled.

"Back off old lady!" Cora hissed, running to stand between them. Nana held her hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm sorry sweetheart. That girl don't want no young buck like you who don't know what she's doing! She wants an older woman."

"An older woman would be a twenty-year-old," Cora glared. "Not a hundred-year-old."

"I never did like you all that much, Christy." Nana glared right back before grinning again. "But I do love you a whole bunch!"

"Nana, why're you here? I mean, I'm glad you are! But—"

"I pulled into your driveway and the first thing I saw was Binky—"

"Billie."

"Mhm, that's what I said. First thing I saw was her running around in circles holding her head and screaming for God to do something. I thought that either she'd gone senile or I had. So anyway, then I got out of my car—The nice corvette that I got after my second divorce, you know?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mhm and the second I got out she was running up to me, hugging me and begging me to help her. I thought she killed you, the way she was acting, and I was a little ticked off about it cause you know you're my favorite grandbaby, but Bishop is—"

"Billie—"

"Mhm. She's a pretty girl, and nice too, so I offered to help her hide your body and get her a ticket to Dubai, but she said you just passed out on your own. I knew she wasn't lying when she didn't take me up on my offer to just throw you in the trunk and let the Corvette roll on off a bridge somewhere, so then I drove you to the hospital and now here we are. You know they don't serve whiskey here? I don't like to complain too much but I'm gonna have to talk to customer service."

I stared at everyone in the room blankly and they all stared right back at me. I turned to look at Nana again after a moment. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack! What kind of establishment doesn't serve whiskey—"

"I have a bottle of Hennessy in my car if you want some." Kit offered.

"Oh no, honey, Hennessy makes me horn—"

"Alright, where's the nurse that was in here before?" I questioned.

"I know she ain't getting my damn whiskey like I asked her to." Nana huffed before standing up and grabbing her purse. "Alright, you gone ahead and rip that IV out and let's go. I need to catch your daddy and Josephine and see how their date was. It must've been pretty tame since they had it on a Monday. Who the hell has a date on a Monday?"

"Nana, She can't just leave! We've gotta wait until the nurse comes back to tell her what's going on." Cora sighed.

"Well, Hell, we know what's going on! Bilsky—"

"Billie."

"Mhm. She told me Dahlia's been using drugs."

"You told my grandmother that I was on drugs?!"

"Oh, baby, that's okay! Back in my day, I used to be pretty wild myself. Crack was popular back when I was coming up, but I never did none of that. I don't know why. It seemed like a fun enough after-school activity." Nana sighed.

"I've gotta be dreaming." I muttered.

"The nurse said she'd be back in a few." Kit told me.

Nana grinned at her. "Kit, you sure are a lovely girl!"

"Why do you know her name?! You've known me longer than her!" Billie huffed.

"Yeah, and you've known me way longer than either of them!" Cora grumbled.

"Well, y'all are sweet kids, but I don't need to know y'all's names. I don't care to know the name of anybody I don't want in my bed." Nana cackled.

Billie's mouth flew open. "Excuse me? Why don't you want me in your bed?! I'm hot! I'm a catch!"

"Yes, you are, honey." I rubbed her hand, trying to comfort her. "Kit, didn't you mention that you had a date? Why are you here?"

"Billie told me to come so I could hold her while she was worrying about you." Kit snickered. I glared at Billie and she shrugged.

"Well, I didn't know if you were dead or not! But I did know that if you were you'd want me to move on." She smiled innocently. I snatched my hand out of hers and sat up straight despite her arguments.

"This is too much." I shook my head as I ripped the tape off my arm, trying to get my IV out. Everybody in the room besides Nana began shouting, all jilting forward, trying to keep me from getting up. "I wanna go home!" I groaned in annoyance as I was pushed to lay back down again.

The nurse walked in a few moments later and I stopped struggling to get up as she rushed over to me.

"Can I go now?" I questioned quickly.

"Miss Doe, you're free to go after I get done talking to you." She said sternly, hurriedly wiping my arm to get rid of the blood that'd splattered on me after I'd ripped out my IV. I looked away quickly, feeling queasy.

"You're here because you fainted." She told me.

"Yeah, they told me."

"You fainted due to stress. Your blood pressure was way lower than it should've been! What you had is called a vasovagal attack. While it's pretty common and not usually that serious, it can be. If the attack was prolonged then it could've caused a seizure. You really need to take care of yourself and take a step back from any stressors." She explained.

"Take a step back from stressors?" I smiled politely, trying to hide my mocking tone. "I didn't think of that."

She shook her head at me and rubbed my arm. "I know, I know. Easier said than done. Just try. The IV we gave you had a small dose of alprazolam in it, so your nerves should be settled for at least a few hours." She patted me one more time before saying her goodbyes and leaving.

We all piled out of the room and headed for our cars, and I sighed as Billie grabbed my hand and gave it a small kiss.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." I whispered.

"That's okay. I'm sorry you fainted."

"That's okay." I smiled.

I just have to try not to stress too much from here on out and I should be fine.

***

"Do you want to explain to us why these pills were in your room?" Dad questioned angrily as he stood in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest. Denny was standing right next to him in the same pose, and they both looked pissed.

I sighed as I brought my palms up to my eyes and rubbed them. I guess that trying not to stress too much from here on out thing is gonna have to wait until tomorrow. Nana, Cora, and I had just gotten back from dropping Billie off at her house, and the second I walked into the house, Denny and dad cornered me.

"You guys went into my room?" I raised a brow, annoyed.

"Yeah, and we found drugs." Denny held out his hand and I rolled my eyes as I saw that he was holding two pills. "Explain."

"I got them from a kid at school because I was in pain from what happened with Bowl cunt. I didn't wanna take a trip to the hospital and get actual medicine because I didn't wanna worry you guys, so I just got the pills from him, but those are my last ones and you can throw them out if you want because I don't need them. I'm not taking anymore, I'm not doing this again, and I'm sorry for being an idiot." I explained monotonously.

I'd already been lectured enough today, I really did not wanna deal with yet another one.

"I can't believe this," Dad shook his head. "I never thought that I had to worry about you turning to drugs—"

"Oh my god, no, let's not be dramatic!" I huffed. "I wasn't 'turning to drugs' and I'm not addicted to them or whatever! This is not a big deal!"

"It's a huge deal!" He spat.

"Well, at least it wasn't heroin." Was Nana's contribution. She went over to sit on her favorite chair and sneakily lit a cigarette. Dad was too busy glaring at me to notice

"I want to know who you got the pills from." He stated sternly. I raised a brow and shook my head. "Dad, I don't—"

"I know exactly who she got them from." Denny interrupted. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Bud out!" I hissed.

"This is all my fault," Dad shook his head. "I haven't been paying enough attention to you guys. I never have. I've always just been working and working and working and I'm missing out on everything."

"No, you're not." I mumbled.

"Yes, I am! You got your nude photo leaked, you got jumped by a group of girls, you almost got raped by some bowl cut bitch, now you're sneaking and taking drugs not prescribed to you! And there's no telling what else has happened that I don't even know about! I should be watching you closer to make sure you're not getting into this kind of trouble! None of this would've happened if I'd been around more." He sighed.

"Dad—"

"Things are going to change around here, Dahlia." He mumbled. "Get rid of those pills."

We all watched as he walked out, going into the backyard, and slammed the door closed behind him.

"I thought I told you to stay away from that guy." Denny growled, looking at me once again. I scoffed and pushed past him to head up the stairs. "Get back down here!" He demanded.

"You're not my fucking dad, Denver. Get over yourself." I huffed before stomping up the stairs and then into my room. I slammed the door shut behind me and let out a long sigh as I plopped down on my bed.

Everybody's so fucking dramatic. It's not even that deep and they're acting like I did crystal meth!

Whatever. It's all over now and at least I can just move past this.