I met up with Haeun and Seoung-Eun the next afternoon; we ended up going to a movie that night. After a half day of incessant giggling, combined with soda and candy, my teeth hurt from all the sugar. I could only take the two of them in small doses, and I'd OD'd today.

I had barely taken off my jacket when my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket to see mom lit on the screen. 

'Hi,' I answered.

'Is this SooJi?' a deep voice asked. Not answering, I looked at the phone again to make sure I'd read it correctly.It had my mother's phone number as the caller. I put the phone back to my ear. my stomach clenched. 

'Hello?' he bellowed over the voices and music clashing in the background. 

'Yes,' I replied, my heart picking up its pace. 'This is SooJi.'

My brain flashed through a thousand different images of what might've happened to her, inciting a panic.

'You need to come pick up your mother. I can't let her drive home.'

'Um, okay,' I responded with a heavy heart. I should have been relieved that she was okay, but then again, she really wasn't. 'Where is she?'

'Get drunk, a club down town.'

'All right. I'll be there soon.' I sank onto the steps with my phone in my hands, bowing my head in dread. I shouldn't have been surprised that she was drunk once again. It was what I'd become accustomed to as a child, but I'd hope I wouldn't have to deal with it this time around. 

My entire body hollewed