Eventually that night had ended with Candie and Tansy passing out in Tansy's bed only to wake up with rough hangovers and the painful realization that they'd both lost the only guys they'd ever let themselves love. They tried to pretend they were okay, but it was hard. Candie couldn't stop thinking about Reed or kicking herself for fucking up so badly, and she knew Donnie wasn't leaving Tansy's head anytime soon either.
They hadn't had a ton of time to wallow though. Eventually, Kaleb came home, Collin in tow and Tansy left her with Kaleb because he claimed he wanted to "talk" to her. Mostly what had happened was him sitting next to her, fingers running lightly over her skin, grazing her neck, thigh, arm, the neckline of her top, while he told said things in her ear she really wasn't even listening to. She just sat there, numb to his touch and comforting whispers, trying not to cry.
She knew not a single word coming out of Kaleb's mouth meant anything. He really didn't even like her. He wouldn't touch her or kiss her in public and he'd called her a bitch and a slut on numerous occasions. She was nothing to Kaleb but sex. He told her all the time, when they were finished fucking that he loved Nena and she knew he did, but he kept talking her out of her clothes because, like the rest of them, he was fucked up. That, and Nena wasn't any good in bed.
Still, despite knowing that Kaleb was only using her, at that moment, Candie was weak from everything that had happened with Reed, so she gave in and they ended up showering together. When it was over, he didn't say anything to her. Just got out of the shower, got dressed, and went downstairs, leaving her there alone.
Finally, Candie fell apart, and after a good hour of sitting on the shower floor crying, she managed to get dressed and leave. On her way out, she spotted Nena and Kaleb together on the living room couch, Nena wrapped in Kaleb's arms while they watched a movie. Apparently, Nena had forgiven Kaleb and suddenly, they were a couple again, leaving Candie to, once again, play the part of his "fuck buddy."
Now that she didn't have Reed anymore, Candie was on her own. She didn't want to live at home, where Craig could terrorize her and her mother could antagonize her, but she really had no other choice. Sure, she could ask to live with Tansy and she knew her friend would probably let her, but the thought of living in the same house as Kaleb scared her. Not that she thought he'd hurt her, Kaleb was a lot of things, but he wasn't her father or Craig. The thing that scared her was that, unlike assholes like Craig, Kaleb didn't have to force her. He was just scary good at talking her into it.
So, in the end, to avoid her family all together, including Donnie, Candie had gotten herself a job. It wasn't anything glamorous or wonderful. She was a waitress at a shitty little diner where half the customers blatantly hit on her and the other half crudely grabbed her ass as she walked by. Still, if she put up with it and even flirted a little like it didn't bother, the tips were good and she was able to rent herself an apartment even smaller than hers and Reed's had been.
Outside of work, Candie had forced herself to go back to school, but that wasn't really because she wanted to. It was more because she'd hoped to catch a glimpse of Reed. Half the time, she showed up high or drunk, the other half, she only stayed for a few classes before ditching. School held nothing for her anymore. Her reputation had only gotten worse, going from slut to crack whore and those four months she'd spent ditching school altogether had pretty much fucked her over as far as grades went. She didn't see the point of school anymore. She didn't feel like she'd ever amount to anything. She'd most likely end up a stripper or a prostitute at some point because sex was really all she knew. A stripper didn't need an extensive knowledge of chemistry to pay her rent.
Their group was a mess. Donnie and Lauren seemed sprung on each other, though Candie knew differently, while Collin and Tansy got back together as well as Nena and Kaleb. Kaleb was fucking her on the side, and she'd seen Reed so little, anything she knew about him came from Dimitri. She hadn't stopped fucking Dimitri, but now, instead of boredom, it was because she needed drugs. Her habits were expensive, but he was willing to fuel them if she'd fuck him so she was pretty much bending to his every will, knowing, the second she refused him or pissed him off, he'd cut her off and she'd be forced to face the reality of her shitty life.
Dimitri liked to torture her, telling her things about Reed and some young blond, Lea, that she'd rather not hear. He'd tell her how loud they were at night or talk about how hot Lea was, just to drive her crazy, knowing that, the crazier he made her, the more she needed his drugs to feel sane, and the more control he had over her.
About a week ago, Nena had found out that Kaleb had been cheating all over again and their breakup had been pretty ugly. Still, Kaleb kept coming back to her and she liked to think that maybe it was because she meant something to him, but she knew that was bullshit. She'd asked him once, while he was pulling his jeans on and getting ready to leave, if he could ever love her instead of Nena.
She knew the answer, but she'd been high so she'd asked anyway, pretending it didn't hurt when he turned and slapped her before grabbing her chin and looking her in the eye as he told her he didn't even like her. After that, she didn't talk about Nena around him anymore. It was obvious he didn't want her talking about his girlfriend because, somewhere inside, he felt like shit for cheating on her and Candie bringing it up only made it worse.
The prom was that night and she hadn't seen Kaleb all day. Candie knew why. He was spending his day trying to win Nena over so they could go together. Meanwhile, she was at work, pouring coffee for sleazy assholes who's eyes lingered too long, trying to avoid her boss, who was twice her age and a liked to stand way too close and touch her anytime he could. She had no plans to go to the dance. She'd have no one to go with. The only guys in her life weren't interested in her for her dancing. She had a dress hanging in her closet that she'd bought at the beginning of the year with Tansy, but it wouldn't get worn.
After getting her ass grabbed for the third time that night alone, Candie, starting to get irritated, tossed the coffee carafe down in the maker hard, pushing through the kitchen and into the storage room to be alone and cool off for a second. She tried to breathe deeply and relax before she flipped on someone completely before pulling out her bag of coke, wincing when she saw she only had enough left for a few lines, meaning she'd have to go back to Dimitri soon.
No sooner had she snorted it, than someone slipped into the room behind her and grabbed her arm, whirling her around. At first, she'd thought it was probably her boss coming to yell at her, but the person kissed her hard and fisted a hand in her hair and she smirked against his lips, knowing it was Kaleb. "I think it's your break time." He breathed against her lips as he pushed the blue dress she wore as a uniform up and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.
They fucked back there for a good two hours before they finally stopped and he zipped his jeans back up while she pulled her panties back on and fixed her dress. It wasn't until then that he told her why he was there. He wanted her to go to the dance with him. Candie knew it was only to piss Nena off and make her jealous, but in the end she'd agreed and they'd gone to her apartment so they could get ready before heading to the school.
The next month was awful without Tansy. Every single day was a chore. He woke up each morning and had to force himself to forget her all over again because she was always on his mind. He could never quite get away from her and it didn't help at all that he knew she was with Collin now.
That night at the party, he'd ended up in Lauren's bed and woke up feeling like shit. Of course, he didn't let her know that and still had yet to. As far as everyone around them knew, Donnie and Lauren were officially a "thing" and happy together, but that was complete bullshit. Sure, she thought they were happy and she was half right, she was happy. He, on the other hand, was miserable and only Candie knew.
He hid it well, but he'd been drinking a lot. He carried a small bottle of whiskey around on him at all times and the first thing he did every morning was wake up and get buzzed. Just enough that he was reasonably drunk, but not enough that anyone around him would be able to tell. When he was alone, he got completely wasted and that was when things got bad. He got violent and dangerously angry.
The only reason Candie knew about his problem was because she'd walked in on him in a drunken rage once and had accidentally ended up the target of his anger. He still couldn't really remember what he'd done and she wouldn't tell him, but all he knew was that, in the morning, she had a fat lip and black eye.
At the moment, he was sitting on Lauren's bed, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom while he drank some whiskey, not at all excited for the dance. When she finally did, she was dressed in a glittering bright blue dress, hair curled around her face and he smiled. She looked beautiful, but, even as he looked at her, he couldn't help but wish it was Tansy's beauty he was admiring.
He sighed and stood, walking over to her and kissing her cheek. "You look stunning babe." He breathed as he took her arm and slipped a corsage onto her wrist before hooking her arm in his and leading her down the drive, out to the car. Honestly, if he could, he'd have skipped the dance altogether, but Candie had been ignoring him so he hoped maybe she'd be there and he could corner her about what had happened that night.