Alcoholic Past continued (Photo by Marie Otero) (Patreon)

Before I ever drank, I was addicted to video games. It was the one thing that I could do with my new step-brothers that made me feel accepted by them. They were “cool” and knew normal stuff about the outside world that my sisters and I were completely sheltered from. 

     Before video games… I was just a totally sheltered pre-t33n with no social skills or fashion sense. I was made fun of in school (private christian school at that…) for being overly obsessed with cats. I had a couple friends in m!ddle sch00l who were nerdy too, which was nice. But after the 8th grade, I couldn’t stand the strictness of the christian school, so I transferred to public… where I was completely outcast. I ate lunch alone and made ZERO new friends there. 

     I discovered alcohol when I was 15. When I got dr\/nk, my nervousness to speak disappeared. People talked to me, and I responded with liquid confidence. I was no longer outcast or crippled by shyness or insecurity. Euphoria filled me and I felt I could connect with people “out in the real world” finally.