"Izzy! Izzy!" The pounding on the door was almost as loud as the pounding in her head. "Izzy get out of the damn bathroom, I have to pee!" Her friend's shrieking brought Izzy to consciousness. The girl threw one last hit at the wooden door and stomped away.

Izzy could barely process what was happening. Sounds were covered up by the static in her ears. Her vision was fuzzy. Her body felt too hot. Slowly coming to her senses, Izzy noticed where she was. Her legs were collapsed under her body in a painful position. The tiny shower didn't allow her to fall backward or forward so her body simply fell down, folding itself under gravity when she lost consciousness. The shower was still running, now cold. It seemed that her body would never stop shaking. There was a certain level of terror that came with waking up naked, wet, and not remembering where you were.

Latching on to the shower curtain, Izzy hauled herself upright on wobbly legs. Drawing a breath into her burning lungs, she shut off the water. There was no sense staying in there any longer; Cassie might kill her if she did. She grabbed a towel and dried herself with trembling arms.

She took a look at the clothes that Cassie had given her. Sighing, Izzy pulled on the white tank top and the slightly too tight jeans. Izzy grabbed the turquoise jacket from the sink counter and pried open the bathroom door. She tugged down on the tank top, hoping to cover the sliver of her stomach that was left exposed. However, pulling down the bottom took the neckline along with it, exposing part of her bra. Izzy quickly tugged the fabric back up, face burning. 'Exposed' was not her style. But she didn't have any other options at the moment.

She walked slowly down the hall, keeping a hand on the wall to steady herself. But the wall didn't help much when a blur of brunette rammed into her, nearly sending Izzy to the floor. "Oh my god, finally! You've been in there for like two hours, what the hell kind of shower takes that long?" Cassie practically shouts as she pushed Izzy aside and slammed the bathroom door shut. Izzy let out a sigh. Her last dose hadn't even worn off yet but the shaky feeling was growing again.

She needed a hit.

Jae was now awake, sitting up on the couch. Izzy slowly eased into the room, watching as he pulled a plastic baggie out of his discarded jeans pocket. He dropped the bag on the coffee table, white pills rattled against the wood. Izzy shuffled on her feet and he finally looked up.

"You look like crap," charming as ever. It's easy to see why Cassie was dating him. With bags under his eyes and oily hair he was a total catch.

"Here, come meet my friend Dimitri." Jae dumped the pills out on the table, offering them to Izzy. She hesitated.

"What is that stuff anyway?" The hoarseness of her voice wasn't pleasant to hear. Her throat was sore; it felt like she had coughed up a lung.

"Does it really matter?" That's the same thing Cassie said, and that trip didn't end too well. Jae saw her immobile body, she didn't want to take more unless she knew what it was. As if knowing the name of it would help her avoid the pitfalls of the drug.

He sighed and rolled his reddened eyes, "It's DMT."

"What does it do?" Izzy's nails raked over the bend of her elbow. Blood began to seep through the scratches. Jae's eyes flashed down to her bleeding skin, no emotion in them.

"You want your problems to go away? You want to forget? This is what's gonna do it." With the tips of his fingers he pushed two while pills across the table.

The pills looked harmless enough. And Izzy wanted to get rid of her problems. She wanted to forget, even if it was just for a little while. On wobbly legs she walked over to the coffee table and plucked up the pills. She swallowed them dry.

Jae smirked up at her. "Good girl. You know, I don't normally let people take free hits from my supply," Izzy flopped down on the ground, waiting for the pills to kick in while Jae just kept talking.

"But I'll make an exception for you," he leaned across the table, closer to her. His bare torso was on full display and he sat in nothing but his boxers. Now Izzy was no prude but sitting in someone else's apartment with their shirtless boyfriend was a tad uncomfortable.

He kept staring at Izzy, his eyes not moving from her body. She fidgeted under his heavy gaze. Her breathing felt labored. Her clothes felt too tight, probably because they were. Then his beady eyes narrowed in on the jacket that lay across her legs.

"Where'd you get that jacket?" His question threw Izzy for a second.

"I-uh found it when I was wandering around," her lips formed the lie before her mind had a chance to catch up. She didn't understand why she did it but something in her didn't want Jae prying any further into her life. Jae kept his narrowed eyes on her, not looking very convinced.

"Um," she tried and failed to swallow the lump in her throat. "I'm gonna go out," Izzy stumbled getting to her feet. Jae caught her elbow just as she was about to fall. His fingers were cold on her skin. He clutched her arm too tightly for it to be comfortable.

"Uh thanks. I'm gonna go," she pried her arm out of his clammy hand and rushed to the door. Her legs felt like jello and she could barely see straight but all she could think about was getting out of that apartment. Izzy grabbed her jacket and yanked the door open, letting it slam behind her as she ran out.

Heart pounding, Izzy leaned against the wall, trying to breathe normally. At first she thought Jae was just being nice. But maybe he had something else on his mind. She shuddered at the thought.

Izzy shook her head, trying to clear it of the fog that was seeping in. Her body felt too hot, but knowing that it would be cold outside she pulled on the turquoise leather, leaving it unzipped. The jacket was way too big for her but it was warm and it smelled nice. It gave her a sense of comfort. And she liked it.

Hissing in a breath and pushing off from the wall she wobbled down the rickety stairs and out the building door. The wind was a cold whip against her face but Izzy ignored it. Pulling the jacket tighter around herself she started aimlessly down the sidewalk. Her fingers dug into the leather-lined pockets, trying to retain some of their warmth.

She didn't know where she was going but she sure as hell knew that she didn't want to be back at Cassie's apartment. Izzy began to feel hotter as she walked. Her breathing increased. The clothes on her body felt restricting. She could feel every thread and fiber as they rubbed against her skin. It was uncomfortable. And yet she felt strangely relaxed. The freezing wind didn't bother her. Neither did the much too bright sun. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her every vein. It was an oddly calm feeling.

Letting her head hang back, Izzy just walked. She didn't know how much time had passed. It could have been twenty minutes or two days; it was all the same to her distorted mind. All she knew was the slapping of her boots against the pavement.

Izzy let out a rushing breath and peeled her eyes open. She finally recognized the route she was walking. The little convenience store she stood in front of was around the corner from her old apartment. Her ex-boyfriends apartment. Her breathing sped up again, coming in and out in angry vapors that floated through the cold air. The longer she stood there the angrier she got.

Nearly two years. Two years of her life wasted on him. She had given him everything. And what did she get in return? Dumped. She got dumped and cheated on.

Izzy was angry. And she wanted to do something about it.

She started down the sidewalk with vigor, boots pounding harshly against the cement. Her ears picked up the fuzzy sound of murmuring voices somewhere close to her. She could just barely make out pieces of a conversation happening across the street.

"But anyways, why did you guys tell us not to meet at the railway a couple days ago?" The voice was deep. It was the kind of voice that made you listen. Perhaps that's why Izzy was now actively eavesdropping as she continued down the street, walking parallel to these voices.

"I told you, I lost my jacket and it was cold outside. I didn't want to just sit there and freeze," smooth as velvet, a second voice defended itself.

"Whatever, can we shut up about this already and just go get food like we planned to?" A third voice chimed in. How many people were there?

Buildings and sidewalks were swirling together, Izzy couldn't see straight. But she continued to walk, determined to get to her old apartment. She had no idea what she was going to do or say but she had to do something. Izzy couldn't just sit around and play the role of damsel in distress for her entire life, it was time to do something

Just as she thought the people across the street had finished their conversation more voices drifted through the air towards her. It seems their conversation wasn't finished.

"Hey Jimin, isn't that your jacket?"