Aaron Cyrus March 6th,20XX

I marked the fifth day of irresponsibility with another cup of alcohol and hissed as it burned my throat and the inner lining of my stomach. I should have eaten something before coming out again.

"Aaron, shouldn't you slow down?"

"Are you kidding? Its Aaron! It's been a while, but you should have seen the guy back in high school. He could toss back an entire keg and not even stumble as he walked!"

That was a gross exaggeration, but it wasn't entirely false.

I groggily brought up memories of my brief but impactful rebellious stage back in high school. I'd had a ridiculously high tolerance for alcohol back then and had used it to impress the older guys in my friend group. Looking back now, it was ridiculous; what exactly was I trying to prove back then?

That I could ruin my liver the fastest? Or that I could make the worst decisions in the shortest amount of time?

Ah no, that's not why I'm here.

I grabbed the offered drink out of Sam's hand and chugged it down. It was strong, really strong, but I pushed past it and enjoyed the buzz it gave me.

"Ah, I'm going to get another. Do you guys have any plans for tonight?"

They were two ex-friends from Junior high and the first year of high school. I'd transferred to North high in the middle of my first year and had met Joyce then. Since then, I hadn't really talked to them, but thankfully they hadn't seemed too upset when I called them up.

Sam slung his arm around Filip's shoulder and gave a smug smile.

"Lucky for you, I got into contact with some others from middle school that wanted to see you again. We're going underwater cave exploring!"

What sort of a cursed idea was that?

But wait. No.

This week was my week off from being a good person.

No thinking about repercussions, no making wise choices and no responsibility. Just for this week, I was going to let myself go.

The first day had been tough. I'd just stayed at home and played video games all day. They weren't as fun as I remembered them being, but they were a great way to take my mind off of all the other, more efficient things I could have been doing.

I'd called these guys up two days ago and had asked them to take me around town, and they had more than risen to the occasion. At first, I'd worried that they had grown up from our middle school days and wouldn't want to go clubbing with me, but thankfully, or should I say, unfortunately, they were just as wild as ever. Well, Sam was as wild as ever. Filip had gone wild the first night but had just come along as a drunk-sitter after that. He still knocked back a few, but he didn't drink enough to compromise himself. Maybe it was because he was a dad now? He was a far cry away from the psycho he'd been back then.

The first night had been rough. I'd avoided drinking at all and had basically spent the night as a babysitter for these drunkards. The second night had been… significantly more fun.

"An underwater cave? What are you guys mermaids, and you never told me?"

Sam burst into a gut-busting laugh, and I could tell he was already drunk, despite only being on his second glass. I didn't remember him being that much of a lightweight, but maybe it had been a while for him too.

"HA! That was a good one. But no, the tides are low this time of year, remember? We used to hang around those caves all the time! I figured it would be a great reunion spot before you have to go back to the big city."

I laughed along with him; despite not finding anything he said funny and clicked my glass against Fillips' before tossing it back. This time I'd gone for a weaker drink since I knew we were going somewhere else after this.

At some point, I'd expected to feel repulsed by myself and had prepared to beat the self-importance back, but somehow it never came. On a level, I'd known it would turn out like this. I wasn't a naturally nice guy and had worked hard to get where I currently was.

In fact, now that I was here. Why had I tried so hard?

It wasn't like people didn't like me before I turned over a new leaf. In fact, I'd had a lot more friends before I'd went to the city to play at being a nice guy.

A specific face drifted into my mind, but I pushed it away. At least for this week, I wouldn't take her opinion into mind too much.

Sam handed the bartender my card while I put my hat and mask back on, and we left the private room. While I could afford this week of indulgence, I'd definitely have to be more careful with my money in the future.

We made a ruckus in the street as we walked to the next location. I'd insisted on us leaving our cars at home, so we'd have to bus or walk wherever we wanted. That wasn't quite irresponsibility, but there was no way I was letting any of these guys drive in their states, and I hadn't planned on leaving myself in any sort of state to drive a vehicle either.

Ahh, my head was starting to feel fuzzy.

The drinks kicked in like a storm, and the nausea came in waves.

I swung an arm across Filip's shoulders and used his body as a stand while I caught my balance.

Ah, hell.

"Are you okay?"

He spoke for what felt like the first time that night. Unlike Sam, who glowed and constantly made plans, Filip rarely looked like he was having fun. He kept to himself most of the night and would often turn in early.

"Huh?! Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine!"

My voice felt loud to my ears, and I could see him grow nervous. I had a pretty loud voice, but yelling shouldn't have scared him this much.

"Woah! You absolute tank! I can't believe it took this long!"

I heard Sam's voice from a distance, despite my eyes registering that he was right beside me. His voice was as loud and active as ever, but somehow, I got a bad feeling.

"S-Samm?"

My voice slurred as I called out his name, and I could feel my body's reaction time get slower and slower.

"Sam. What did you do?"

Filip's cold voice cut through the haze I was in. So Sam had done something to me.

"Oh? Nothing?! I'm just… helping a few friends of mine out and getting back at a certain someone at the same time!"

Filip slung my arm over his shoulders and pulled me up to my feet. I wasn't a small guy, and it had likely been years since Filip last worked out. I could hear his heavy panting as he tried his best to pull me away.

"Woah! Where are you going, Filip?"

I heard a soft thud before I felt my body falling to the ground. It shouldn't have been that far of a fall, but it felt like it went on forever.

"Ah, don't take this too personally, Aaron. Despite all this, I'm still glad you called me up after so long. Made me feel all special-like."