It Goes On

by Ashley Claudy

  One, with shoulder length hair pulled into a low ponytail, tossed the little white ball into the opposing team’s cup. “Drink up Asshole,” he ordered. Then his gaze swiped across me to Lexi, and he wrapped one long arm around her as he said, “Well, hello Ms. Ortiz, are you my reward when I win this game?”

  She pushed him away, laughing, and then patted his chest. “I think I require more work than winning a beer pong game.”

  “Don’t I know it?” He said and then looked towards me. “What about your friend?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “She’s way too good for you.”

  A guy from the other end of the table interrupted, “Pauly, drink up you douche.”

  Pauly flipped him the bird as he picked up his cup and chugged. He went back to the end of the table to watch his teammate toss the ball successfully into one of the remaining two cups at the end of the table. “You girls want to play next?”

  “Seems a little unfair to play against basketball players,” Lexi responded.

  Pauly turned to his teammate. “We can team up with them and play each other? Can you play?” He directed the last question at me.

  “Douche, you have to win to call the table. And you haven’t won yet,” the guy on the other side of the table said. His teammate tossed the ball back, and it spun on the top of one of the cups.

  Pauly leaned down and blew the ball out before it could settle in. He easily caught it as it popped out of the top. “Well, we’re about to win this bitch now.” He tossed the ball into the last cup at the end of the table.

  Pauly’s teammate turned to me. “So can you play? We know Lex can hang, but what about you?”

  I smiled. “I’ve been known to win a time or two, but I’m no basketball player.”

  “Well, Pauly plays D, so he’s nothing great. I, on the other hand, am amazing. What’s your name?” He was taller than Paul and had short buzzed dark hair.

  “Kate, and you?”

  “You don’t know? I’m Fucking Tristan Rush” He raised his voice and stretched his long arms over his head as he announced his name.

  Paul shook his head. “Fucking Tristan, let’s fill up the cups.”

  “All right, Kate, you’re with me. Come on, sweetheart.” He grabbed the two empty pitchers to fill with beer.

  It was awkward standing next to Tristan at first. He was much taller than me and would randomly rest his arm on my head to highlight this point. As we got into the game, I was able to relax and enjoy myself. Tristan and Paul were funny, and their competitive banter kept me laughing.

  Tristan stood behind me and massaged my shoulders as he leaned into my ear to encourage me, “You got this babe, just relax, no pressure. If you don’t get it, we’ll still win ‘cause I’ll get it next. But you got this.”

  He stepped back as I aimed and launched the ball. It hit the edge of the cup and fell in.

  “Yes.” I raised my arms up in triumph.

  “Hell Yeah, we win.” Tristan picked me up and spun me around. When he set me down, he kept his hands on my waist as he questioned the crowd in the backyard, “Who want’s next? Who thinks they can beat us? We’re the undefeated champions.”

  I stepped out of his hold. “I think that’s a little premature; we’ve only played one game.”

  He grabbed my hip with one hand and whispered in my ear. “Baby, there’s nothing premature about me, and you’ll find that out soon enough.”

  I pushed my nervousness down at his words and laughed it off.

  Lexi pulled my hand to get my attention. “I saw Chase.” She nodded to the yard. “I’m going to talk to him. Stay and rock the table, I’ll find you later?”

  I squeezed her hand in assurance. “Sure, good luck.”

  Another team had stepped up to play us and Tristan sent them away to fill up the cups.

  “Drake, bring that bottle over here,” Tristan ordered someone in the crowd.

  Drake brought a glass bottle filled with dark liquor to Tristan. He grabbed two plastic cups and poured the liquid a quarter of the way up. “Here you go, sweetheart. We might as well start celebrating our domination now.”

  I cautiously took the cup and watched as Tristan downed his. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to drink heavily with strangers, but the party buzzed with people getting drunk and having fun. I drank the contents of the cup, chasing it with beer to remove the left over burn from my mouth and throat.

  “Good girl.” Tristan poured more liquor into our cups as I tried to signal enough.

  “No more for me,” I declined as he handed me back the cup.

  “It’ll relax you and make you a better player,” he encouraged.

  I caved to the pressure and chugged it down, shivering at the nasty taste it left.

  He rubbed my back. “You’re a champ. Now let’s kick some ass.”

  Throughout the game, he kept touching me. He’d rub my shoulders or squeeze my sides. I tried to ride the line of being nice but clear that I wasn’t interested. I stepped away from his touches, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  We won our second game but gave up the table. I was recruited into playing flip cup by a girl who had played against us in beer pong, Tara.

  Tristan went off with his friends as Tara and I practiced flipping the cups prior to the game.

  As I flipped my cup over three times in a row, I felt confident I wouldn’t let my team down. I eyed Tara’s clumsy skills at flipping and tried to coach her. “Just lift the cup with the tip of your fingers; it’ll flip without much force.”

  We arranged our relay team, and I fulfilled my position nicely with only one messed up flip on both relays, but our team still lost.

  “I have to use the girl’s room, come with.” Tara pulled on me and I followed her. She had short bleach blonde hair and a tight mini skirt on. I noticed the way she swayed her hips as she walked. Many of the boys we passed did too.

  When she saw the long line for the bathroom, she pulled on my hand. “I know where the upstairs bathroom is. We can use that one.”

  I trailed behind her as we climbed the narrow stairs to the dark hallway. “It’s either the second door on the right or the left…” She wavered and then pushed on the door to the left.

  Tristan and two other guys sat on a couch with lines of white powder spread on magazines in front of them. One of the guys lowered his magazine as Tara opened the door, sniffing and pressing on either side of his nose.

  “Want to join?” Tristan offered with a broad smile. “We could dominate more than beer pong.” He raised his arms up in a wide V. “With this, we could dominate the world.”

  The group laughed at his proclamation.

  Tara stepped into the room as she raked her long nails through her short hair. “Sure boys, stay right there.” She turned back to me with a smile. “We’ll be right back.” She pulled me into the room across the hall, the bathroom we originally had looked for.

  “O-M-G this party just got ten times better.” She squealed as she slid her panties down and peed on the toilet.

  I turned towards the mirror to give her some privacy and pretended to inspect my makeup and hair.

  “Can you believe our luck? My friends will shit bricks when I tell them about this.” She stood up and joined me at the sink. “Do you want me to wait for you?”

  “That’s okay.” I stepped to the toilet to pee. “I’m just going to go back downstairs. That’s not really my thing.”

  “Really?” Her jaw dropped as she turned to dry her hands on a towel hanging up behind the door. “Well then, I’ll see you later, maybe.” She walked out.

  After I washed and dried my hands, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check my texts, hoping for some word from Lexi. I hadn’t seen her downstairs since she left to talk to Chase. I had one new message from Ethan, not Lexi.

  Still want to take me to the concert, friend?

  I smiled, relief making me feel lighter. He was still talking to me and wasn’t ‘done’ as he had said in the lobby. I
texted back quickly:

  Yes. I’m looking forward to it.

  My spirits buoyed as I opened the door to go back to the party. I jumped back to keep myself from bumping into Tristan. His large body blocked the doorway. His hands grabbed each corner of the door frame, a huge smile stretched across his face, and his once brown eyes were dilated black. He stepped into the bathroom, forcing me to take another step back. My heart pounded, crashing into my rib cage.

  “I knew we’d end up alone at some point tonight. We make a great team,” his voice was smooth.

  I tried to step around him into the hallway, but his arm shot out and wrapped around my hip. “Hey, not so fast, we need to celebrate our wins.”

  He leaned towards me and I pushed his chest as hard as I could.

  “This isn’t going to happen,” I said as I tried to escape through the opening I created when I pushed him.

  With a laugh, he grabbed my arms and whipped me around, slamming me into the wall.

  My head bounced off the wall behind me. An explosion of white blinding pain radiating from the back of my skull was all there was. Everything else disappeared. I struggled to regain my vision and awareness of the situation.

  I don’t know if seconds or minutes had passed, but I was pinned to the wall by Tristan’s body. His lips were on my neck, biting and licking as they traveled down, and he had my shirt and bra lifted as one hand covered my breast, rolling my nipple with his rough grasp. His other hand was down the back of my pants.

  I tried to kick him or step on his toes but his knees were jammed into my thighs and my legs had no room to move. The feel of his rigid penis grinding on my hip made me sick, and a surge of panic hit me.

  “Tristan, dude?” A male voice spoke from across the hall. The bathroom door wasn’t closed, but I was blocked from view by the bathroom wall. Some of Tristan could probably be seen.

  He lifted his head, loosening his grip on me, “What the hell? I’m busy.”

  I took advantage of the distraction and pushed away while simultaneously pulling down my shirt. Tristan grabbed my arm with a grin.

  “We’re waiting, man. The skirts waiting, and she’s ready to party if you know what I mean.”

  While he spoke, I was able to move out of the bathroom, but Tristan followed. The guy looked from Tristan to me and then settled his gaze on Tristan’s grip on my arm.

  “I’m coming in a second,” Tristan told his friend.

  I jerked my arm out of his grasp and took a step towards the stairs. Tristan seized both of my shoulders and pulled me back towards him, whispering in my ear, “I’ll find you later.”

  I picked up my foot and slammed it on top of his. His grip released in surprise, and I took off down the stairs. I thought I heard Tristan laugh as I escaped, but didn’t pause to turn around. I ran out the front of the house to the street and made it to the corner before I allowed myself to sit on the curb and catch my breath. Tears stung my eyes as they tried to escape, and I took a few deep breaths to quell the panic rising in me. But my mind was screaming.

  Why had I been so stupid? Why hadn’t I yelled? Why had I taken those shots with him? Why had I led him on? What was wrong with me? Where was Lexi?

  I took a few more breaths and tried to focus on the questions that mattered, the ones that I could do something about now.

  I pulled out my phone and tried to call Lexi, but it went straight to voicemail without ringing. Crap, that probably meant it was dead, but I texted her anyway. I looked to the road and found where she had parked her car. It was still there, so she hadn’t left. I dreaded going back to the party and looking for her. I reviewed my most recent texts to make sure I hadn’t missed Lexi’s, and Ethan’s name was at the top. Without hesitating, I called him.

  He picked up on the first ring. “Kate?”

  “Hi, I’m sorry for calling, but I’m at a party and don’t know where Lexi is. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know anyone here. I haven’t seen Lexi in close to three—”

  “Calm down,” Ethan interrupted my ramble. “Where are you? I’ll come to you.” In the middle of speaking the background sound around him quieted. It was only then that I realized it had been noisy, and he had been yelling into the phone. He must have stepped away from the crowd.

  “I know they mentioned Rancho Park...” I looked around and read the two street signs to him.

  “Stay there. I’ll be there in about five.” He hung up the phone.

  I sat back on the curb and breathed a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn’t be alone soon, and I felt better knowing Ethan would be with me.

  Then reality hit me. What was my plan? What was I going to tell him? I had to explain my panic, but I didn’t want to tell him how stupid I’d been. Ugh, now a part of me regretted calling him. I should have just gone into the house and found Lexi. As long as I stayed around people, it should be okay.

  But I stayed seated. It felt right that I’d called Ethan.

  My thoughts trailed back to earlier events. My stomach clenched, turning inside out. How had I let it get that far? A part of me knew this thinking was pointless and stupid, but I couldn’t help it. I’d broken every stay safe rule I knew. It had been my entire, stupid, fault.

  I hadn’t even yelled.

  I tried to assure myself that if that guy hadn’t shown up, my next step was to yell. I’d just been too rocked by the blow to my head. I touched the offended spot now. My head was still sore, but now I noticed that my arm was too. I lifted my shirt sleeve, and the pale street lights glow revealed the red marks where he grabbed me.

  The rumble of a motorcycle grew louder as it zipped down the roads until the silver and black bike was on this street, slowing down till it idled in front of me.

  I stood up, and the biker pulled off his helmet.

  Ethan.

  He parked the bike between two cars and then I walked towards him as he walked towards me. He hugged me tightly, and I relaxed in his arms, feeling secure and almost in tears with relief.

  Leaning back to look at me, he kept his arms around me as he asked, “Are you all right? You sounded a little freaked out on the phone.”

  I tried to laugh it off, but it sounded hollow. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just can’t find Lexi anywhere, and I don’t know anyone in there.” I gestured toward the house three yards over where music and people spilled from the doorways. “Sorry for calling you, I was being stupid,” I apologized into his shirt as I clung to him for one last moment, soaking up the comfort of his embrace.

  “It’s all right; call me anytime. You kind of saved me anyways,” he said with a crooked smile.

  “Nice bike.” I stepped out of his arms and gestured to the motorcycle; Triumph was scripted into the side.

  He crossed his arms over his black t-shirt. “Yeah, I like it. That’s the main reason I don’t have a car. I don’t want to trade it in yet.”

  “Oh.” I raised my eyebrows. I’d assumed the bike was someone else’s.

  “So, do you want to go into the party or leave? I have an extra helmet.”

  “I want to go, but I need to find Lexi first. Her phone is turned off.”

  “All right, well let’s go find her.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and walked me to the house.

  “When’s the last time you saw her?” He asked as we went through the front door.

  “A few hours ago. She went to go talk to Chase, and I haven’t seen her since.”

  He looked around the crowded room before directing his attention to me. “You’ve been alone that long? You should have called me sooner. You shouldn’t be alone at a party, it’s not safe.”

  My stomach tightened at the truth in his statement. I had known it but had assumed these were Lexi’s friends, college students, and I’d be okay.

  “I’ll try Chase’s phone,” Ethan said as he took his out of his pocket.

  I looked around and saw Paul, the guy who had played beer pong with Lexi. He was laughing at something being said in the circle of girls aro
und him. Another was attempting to sing along to the song playing, but the words were too fast for them to stay in unison.

  Everyone seemed to be having fun. Everyone seemed so normal.

  I didn’t see Lexi anywhere, but I didn’t see Tristan anywhere either. I kept a wary eye on the steps, assuming he was still upstairs.

  Ethan spoke into his phone, “Chase, are you with Lexi? Kate and I were looking for her.” He paused, watching me, then said, “All right, we’re downstairs. We’ll be out front. Meet us there when you’re done.” He hung up the phone and grabbed my hand, leading me out front.

  On the porch, he grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. I flinched at the sudden movement and he dropped his hold.

  “What’s going on Kate? You were white as a ghost in there. What are you not telling me?”

  I shook my head and stared at the cracks in the wood porch, avoiding his eyes. “I just got nervous, that’s all.”

  “Nervous about?”

  I shifted from foot to foot. “There was a guy who was a little too flirty earlier.” I minimalized the incident. Shrugging, I added, “He made me nervous.”

  Ethan waited till I met his eyes. “You should have called me earlier. Who’s the guy?”

  My heart began thumping at the edge in his voice. I didn’t want Ethan doing anything, especially when Tristan had friends here at the party.

  “I’m not sure. He’s some basketball player. But nothing happened.” That was the truth, nothing had happened I assured myself.

  “If you see him, let me know. He better not fucking try to touch you again,” he said in a low, heated voice. His eyes burning into me.

  I leaned on the railing and shrugged. “He’s probably off doing more lines of coke.”

  “He’s a basketball player?” He asked.

  I nodded.

  “What an idiot. If he gets caught, he’s off the team.” He leaned on the railing beside me. “Did you use any?” He asked with a strange tone.

  “No. Do you do that?”

  “No, but I know plenty of people that do,” his tone was dark.