Finding Andre

I knew I would never drink alcohol because I knew exactly what it did to people. I watched my family break, then heal, only to break into pieces again. Which why it was so confusing for me to find Andre. Andre was the first person I met the first day I walked onto my college campus. My parents hadn’t pushed college on me or even really had any intentions of me leaving home. They thought I was going to stay in my childhood bedroom forever and never leave them. Where they got this idea, I had no idea. I was never going to stay home and was never going to live with them for the rest of my life. 

The two of them had never left home themselves and never understood why anyone would. They had only gone as far as an hour outside of town, had never been out of the country, much less the state of Tennessee. They had the same schedule, went to the same church they did as children, and their was no excitement in their lives. Maybe this is and would always be their life of perfection, but it never seemed to work for me. I needed excitement and adventure and could never handle having a schedule. Especially a schedule that was exactly the same every single day. 

Which was why meeting Andre was such a shock for me. He was literally everything I wanted and more. He was outgoing, liked being labeled as a rebel, he wore whatever clothes he wanted and did whatever he wanted. The very night I got to campus, I went to my first ever party. And had my first ever beer. Part of me was hooked while the other part of me hated being out of control. From then on, I became an actress. I never knew I could act as well as I as I did at all the parties I went to. I loved parties and staying out late, but didn’t love drinking so I became adept at pretending like I was drinking. It all came to a head when my parents showed up at my dorm. Even then, I knew what I had to do.