The Inceptive Flame⎪✓

❨28❩

♀︎

Stepping into the house with the booming music I try not to be annoyed at my best friend and her sheepish smile, "Dani! You promised me we wouldn't be partying."

"This is not a party, Kota! And after our visit to your father he ordered me to get you out more, how can I say no to Zach?" She rhetorically asks it's not even worth questioning her on whether it's true or not because something like that is so typical of my dad. 

This is a full-on party at Tyler Avick's house and I can't deal with more of these jocks, their auras are irritating as shit. I've been skipping school too much these past weeks, but that doesn't mean that I'm slacking, Dani and Relly bring me all my homework and return it to the school. Their help is incredible and I do not know how to thank them, maybe I should have fun with them tonight for once. It's not fair that their senior year is tainted because of my dramatic life. 

"You know what? Fine, you asked for it. Tonight we're partying," I state with a smile as Dani squeals and pulls me into the kitchen. She grabs two beers for us and I consider declining, the thoughts of alcohol in my family appear and I shiver. Shaking my head to myself, my mom can't have this grip on my life and future though. It's perfectly okay to drink responsibly every once in a while. 

Accepting this, I open the beer bottle and take a swig of it. A lot of people don't like the taste of beer, it doesn't make sense to me, beer is a comfortable drink when you feel like chilling and I feel like everyone can get used to the taste. 

"Will you play some games today, Kota?" Relly asks as she comes up from behind us, smiling at her I nod. 

"Do you have something specific in mind?"

Relly beams and pulls me and Dani with her outside, there is a group of guys playing some sort of baseball. All of them are very drunk and the rational part of me wonders if a bat is the best choice right now. Silencing my negative thoughts, both Dani and I down our drinks completely, then we decide to join them. 

It's cold as shit out here, but the beer helps in that department and my veins are currently buzzing by the alcohol. Relly yells that we are joining them and only then do I realize that it's Alec and his group, the bad group of our school. It's kind of shocking how Tyler allows them into his home after their fight at school. Not that I've been showing up at school since that day, so they could have sorted things out without my knowledge. 

Rocco's huge frame steps forward as he hands a bottle of vodka to Relly, "If you want to join then take four gulps, we're not playing against sober minds."

She does as he says and hands it to me, stopping myself from groaning I take five gulps from the bottle before Dani grabs it from me. After we have done our part of the deal, I walk towards Joshua at the homemade home plate. He smirks at me and ruffles his blonde hair, "You here to show what you've got, princess?"

Easily grabbing the bat from his hands, I smile at him, "Sure am, now give me space or I might hit you."

"Feisty," He smirks and I roll my eyes. 

Looking towards the pitcher, Lewis and Alec are discussing their plan to throw me a curve ball. Their obvious pointing lets me in on their secret, and I know where they'll aim even before he throws. 

"Are you done?" I yell at them, finally gaining their attention. 

Lewis doesn't waste a second after my comment to throw the ball, it flies exactly as I envisioned and I hit it with little to no struggle. Not seeing where it lands, my body runs at full speed, after the last base Alec finally catches the ball and throws it to Joshua. I give it my all and slide onto the home plate before Alec calls it. 

Rocco steps into my line of sight and pulls me up from the ground, my denim mom jeans and tight white shirt are fine, the shirt is backless so it didn't get colored from the grass. He hands me the vodka bottle, "You are too sober, Dakota. As I said before-"

"Yeah, you don't play against sober minds," I nod and accept the bottle from him, after a few gulps the stinging in my throat is too much. Placing it on the ground he smirks at me in accept, it's ridiculous that they're scared to play against sober people, like come on.  

Dani steps up to grab the bat and manages a home-run just like me, the playing field is ridiculously small so it's easy to run them out. Rocco orders her to drink, too. Relly grabs the bat from a smirking Joshua and after five flat tries, not even grazing the ball once, she throws it to me by my feet. 

"They're laughing at me, now show them what you can do," She whispers to me and I shrug my shoulders, grabbing the bat. 

Lewis doesn't brief anything with Alec this time and it surprises me, it's annoying really, them talking was my advantage last time. He winks at me and prepares to pitch, raising the bat over my right shoulder I bend slightly in the knees. The alcohol makes me sway more than usual, but I can do this, easily. 

Suddenly two hands grab my waist roughly, a 'boo' sounding from behind me. My first instinct is to turn around and me having the bat in my hand doesn't even cross my mind. The force of my turn and the bat raised in the air forces the culprit to duck into safety not even a second before I would've hit him in the head. 

When my senses return I scowl down at a shocked Tyler Avick, he stands to his full height again, "Were you trying to kill me?"

"I don't even know you, what the hell are you doing coming here and scaring me like that?" I gasp out, he has never talked to me before so it makes no sense our first encounter is him acting like an ass and grabbing me like that. From what I have gathered he tattled to Caspar about my father's sickness, after his dad gave mine a ride home from the hospital that day. The annoyance of him telling on me overshadows the need to yell at him for scaring the life out of me. 

Pushing the bat roughly into his chest, he makes an 'oomph' sound by the blow. Giving him a fake smile, I tilt my head mockingly to the side, "It's not illegal for me to hope that you would've received that blow to the head, really a shame that you have reflexes."

He stands still and I leave him, rushing away from the group into the house. Not only am I partying right now, but I'm partying under the roof of the boy who told my family secrets to his friends. It wasn't my choice of party, but it still feels wrong.