Chapter11-Baked and Burned

February 13th, 2012

 Justin was in the bathroom, washing off his bloodied face. Then he saw in the mirror Bailey entering. She had concern written all over her face. He turned around, and asked, “Bailey, what is it?”

 She asked him, “Justin, what’s going on with you?”

 “What do you mean? I’m fine.”

 “I mean, this isn’t you. You dyed your hair black just so you can be ‘better’ than Andrew? And you said that you were never friends with him? Andrew has been nothing but a good, loyal friend to you, and he’s not a very trusting person. You broke his trust but turning your back on him.”

 Justin smirked as he said, “I meant what I said. Andrew means nothing to me. It’s his problem if he has trouble trusting other people. He shouldn’t anyway. He’ll just get himself broken. You know he’s prone to that.”

 “Justin, how can you say these things? You’re not even making sense.”

 “I always make sense. You know I do.”

 With that, Justin left the bathroom. Bailey stood there, thinking. Then she realized something. She went out of the bathroom to find Justin. She found him at the mini-fridge. She approached him, and asked bluntly, “Are you taking drugs?”

 Justin turned, and faced Bailey. He asked her coldly, “What makes you say that?”

 “You’re not yourself. You’re a heartless douchebag. You don’t care that you broke Andrew’s trust; that you cheated on Brandon; that you went gay just so you could avoid me.”

 Justin dropped his water bottle, and glared at Bailey. He told her sternly, “I’m not anything, Bailey. All those things you mentioned are all me. I’ve done those things, not some fucking substance. So, why don’t you go back to rehab, and get yourself fixed? Apparently, you’re on drugs since you accused me of taking such shit.”

 Justin then picked up his water bottle, and went to his room. Bailey, once again, stood there. Now she was angry at her ex-boyfriend. She knew he wasn’t in his right mind. In fact, she noticed that he’s been erratic lately. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she knew he needed help, even if he doesn’t want it.

 It was now after midnight. Justin was out, posing as Andrew once again. The other members were asleep, except for Bailey. She kept herself awake. She wanted to go into Justin’s room to see if was on any drug. She didn’t tell the members, as things were still intense between Andrew and Justin.

 Once she saw that everyone was asleep, she went into Justin’s room. She decided to look into his luggage. She dug through his clothes, and found packets. She looked into the zipped up pockets, and found even more packets. She also saw prescription bottles.

 She read the labels. The prescription medication were for schizophrenia, bipolar, and sleep deprivation. Then she saw the other drugs were ecstasy and meth. She also saw a packet of green substance. It was weed.

 She put the two together. Justin’s sudden erratic behavior was due to him taking all these drugs. She couldn’t figure out why he was doing this to himself. 7th Anthem had a great year, but they were very busy with everything. She guessed maybe it was due to her partying, or Andrew’s bisexual scandal. But whatever the cause, Bailey had to get Justin help, fast.

 It was morning. 7A were having a day off from their tour. Bailey went inside Justin’s room, who was trying to sleep off his hangover. She knew he was awake, so she approached him.

 She asked quietly, “Justin, we need to talk.”

 Justin looked up at Bailey, and asked, “Can we talk later? I’m trying to sleep.”

 Then she changed her tone from soft to firm, saying, “No, we need to talk now.”

 Justin then sat up, and asked, “What is it?”

 Bailey took out the drugs from her purse. The night before, she stuffed the substances into her purse, and made sure no one saw the purse. She wasn’t the one who need to go to rehab, Justin did.

 Justin immediately recognized the packets and the bottles. He abruptly got up, and asked angrily, “You went through my luggage?!”

 She told him, “Justin, you need help. I don’t know when and why this happened, but it did. Now you need to go to rehab or the hospital?”

 “Why the hospital?”

 “You’re taking prescription medication for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and sleep deprivation. If there’s something going on in your head, then you need to go to the hospital. You might have a mental disorder.”

 “I don’t have a mental disorder!” Justin growled. “I don’t need to go to rehab, and I most certainly don’t need to go to a fucking hospital! Especially the psych ward! I’m fucking fine!”

 “No, you’re not! You’re not in your right mind, and you’ve been behaving erratically. You need help, and you need to get away from the 7th Anthem members.”

 “Don’t tell me what to do! I can live my own life!”

 “You’re not yourself, Justin!”

 “Don’t call me Justin!”

 “What are you? Andrew? You’re not Andrew; you’re Justin.”

 “I don’t have time for your shit, or anyone else’s. Just…get out of my room! Now!”

 Bailey stood there, shaking her head. Then she walked out of his room. Justin changed into his clothes, and stormed out of his room. He then got a rental car, and started driving.

 He was mad at Bailey. He was mad at everyone. They don’t know his life. They don’t know what he was going through, and they shouldn’t know. That’s how he was thinking. He went to convenience store, and bought a vodka bottle. He then parked the car in the back of a building.

 He went on his Twitter app on his iPhone to make a rant. He saw he got an update from one of the members. It was Andrew. He went on Andrew’s page, and read his latest Tweet. It said, “How about you get your own fucking life, and stop living mine?”

 Justin knew this was directed at him. Why else would Andrew would post this outburst? Justin was even more agitated. It didn’t help his head was pounding. So he opened his vodka bottle. He took a few pills for schizophrenia, and bipolar. He wanted something to stop the pain in his head, and forget the day. He took a big gulp of the vodka.

 He didn’t care he was mixing medication with alcohol. He was tired of his messed up life. In his mind, no one knew, and no one cared to know. Bailey seemed to care, but he didn’t care about what she said. He felt his life was spiraling downward. He felt like there was no one to save him. So he took a few more pills, and drank more vodka. Then he started driving.

 His vision was getting blurry. He was speeding and driving erratically. Yet, he didn’t care. He wanted everything to stop. He wanted his problems to end. He didn’t care if he left a huge gap in 7th Anthem. That band was his life, his identity. Now? He felt like he wasn't needed anymore. He turned his back on Andrew, who was his best friend. He backstabbed Bailey, the love of his life. He turned away from the band. He felt like they didn’t deserve him. They were all mad at him, anyway. They took Andrew’s side, so why should they need Justin?

 Justin had enough of everything. He sped even more, and got on a freeway. He was driving in the wrong lane, and he didn’t care. All the other cars had to either stop or swerve to get out of the way. Then he sped even more, over 100 miles per hour.

 Then his car drove off the expressway bridge. The car took a nosedive onto the pavement. It rolled over several times until it hit a telephone pole.

 Justin opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure where he was. He saw he had tubes going inside of him. He saw a doctor standing over him. He asked, “Where am I?”

 The doctor told him, “You’re in the hospital…and you’re under mental evaluation.”

 That shocked Justin. He asked, “You mean…I’m in the psych ward?”

 “I’m afraid so.”

 Justin stared at the doctor in horror.