"Bring my sister? And have her see me drunk like this?", he laughed, some of his words coming out slurred. Nadine wasn't wrong - the best part of the night was already over for him; it was all downhill from here. 
"And 16 is a little early for college parties if I have anything to say about it."

Mary... Sweet, innocent little Mary. A lot of big brothers and parents liked to imagine their sisters and daughters to be virtue personified but his sister really was something else. He had spent his fair share of time around girls of every kind, from those who would go down on somebody after a couple of drinks to those that were caring, smart and even romantic, but he had never met anyone as fragile and friendly as his sister; she seemed just a little too good for this world, always honest, always cheerful. Their parents' deteriorating marriage had been painful to watch for him but it must have been hell for her. For all the emotional damage it did to them, they ended up being very close for siblings which didn't make moving away for college easier. But this divorce had brought out the worst in his parents and even though they had seen it coming, it still was kind of a shock. He had spent his first few days back home - which really meant his mother's house now - in Mary's room, trying to get her to come outside with him. It took weeks but by the time he left, she seemed almost back to normal.

All of that came rushing back to his memory when he heard Nadine ask about his disappearance as he handed her a cup of booze. Gabriel knew that he probably should have stopped drinking for the night but these thoughts made him notice the taste of bile and a hint of the smell and there wasn't anything else to wash it down with, so he did and gave his female company a hint of a smile.

"Well, I had to go take care of some things at home. Remember what I told you about my parents splitting?"
He shrugged and took another sip.
"Anyway, I lost my phone back there and I couldn't remember your cell number. Shit, I couldn't remember [b]anybody's[/b] number. It took me a week to just run into somebody who could help me with that. I've been to just about any place we used to hang out at but I just didn't run into you."

Back then, he had been aching to talk to her. Sure, he had some older than friends than her but he had never talked to them about really personal, difficult stuff. The first time they met, they ended up walking around town until the early morning hours, talking about this and that as their highs mellowed out and the alcohol wore off. There was so much to catch up about but now that he saw her again, he wasn't sure where to begin. 

God only knew what brought his mind to think of that particular shared experience but it made him grin and ask:
"Hey, remember Dr. Price's course? Are you still into that voodoo magic stuff?"