by Linda Nelson
“Isn't that the top you got from the mall a couple of weeks ago?” Maggie asked. “The one you almost got caught with?”
Karla knew she would feel funny wearing such a top, knowing now that most likely it was stolen, but she put it on anyway. Wanting to please her new found friends, she admired it in the mirror.
“Oh.... So. What do you care,” Carol snipped back, “Like you would be able to fit in it. Look. See. It fits Karla perfectly…”
Carol put on a racy outfit too, and checked herself in her mirror. She appeared to be happy with how it fit. She then moved back over to where Karla stood, and began assisting her with the make-up when she needed help.
“You think he’s gonna like this,” Karla asked while checking herself out in the mirror.
“Oh, yeah, he's gonna love it,” answered Darcy with a smile. She knew—just like Carol and Maggie knew—what kind of reaction Karla would get from Gerry by wearing such an outfit.
Carol opened her closet and began rummaging in the bottom of it. She found the bottle she had stashed under her dirty clothes. Taking plastic disposable cups, she poured everyone a drink. She dropped something in each of the cups before handing them out.
Karla peered into her cup. She could not see what the item was. The soda was dark and fizzed. She put the cup to her lips and sipped. It seemed to taste tolerable. The liquid seemed to burn the back of her throat a bit.
“It's just a little something to help you relax,” Carol reassured her. “Let's toast to a fun-filled evening.”
Carol held up her glass for everyone to click.
Karla touched her cup against Carol's with the other girls. She felt reluctant to drink the liquid, but it was what everyone else was doing. With the cup pressed to her lips, she tried to drink the liquid as fast as she could, the liquid burning the back of her throat as it went down.
Karla then found a place to sit. She sat on the bed and waited, listening while the girls began to talk about the volleyball meet coming up next week.
Pushing a pile of blankets up onto the pillows against the wall the bed was against, Carol took a spot on the bed behind Karla.
“I'm gonna fix your hair for you.”
Carol took her brush and hair bands and changed Karla's hairstyle. When she was done, she held up a mirror for Karla's approval.
“Wow. That style looks great on you, Karla,” Maggie giggled. Her eyes had a glassy appearance to them.
“Yeah, Carol. You really should be a hair dresser,” Darcy agreed.
“I like it. Thanks Carol,” Karla said while she looked at it in a hand held mirror. She felt like her head was beginning to swim, but she did notice she also felt relaxed now. Maybe she was just making something out of nothing when she thought they were going to ditch her earlier.
“Are we gonna go, or what?” Darcy impatiently asked.
Carol looked at the alarm clock.
“We are waiting a bit. We have to wait until 8:00—that is when Ian said to wait until. He wants to make sure his dad leaves first.”
Chapter ~ 25
“Well, it is almost time…,” Darcy giggled. “We can walk slow, I just want to get going. I can't wait to see Darren.”
“Yeah, we all know why you can't wait to see Darren,” Maggie teased her. “We all know what you’re gonna be doing with him.”
“Sh… You don't have to tell the world,” Darcy laughed.
“You guys gonna get married when you are done with school,” Carol asked.
“Who knows? Maybe sooner,” Darcy bragged.
“Why would you do that,” Karla asked. She felt a bit more confident, even though her head felt foggy. The room seemed to move in the opposite direction she moved in. God. I feel weird. I wonder if this is how mom feels when she drinks stuff like this. She fought to keep her focus on Darcy after she realized her mind was wandering.
“Oh…I might be…you know…,” Darcy giggled.
“And you're going to a party,” Karla asked.
“Oh, it is only gonna be this one time,” Darcy giggled. “And I can't be that far along, so it can't do too much damage.”
“I think we can go now,” announced Carol and she led them out of the bedroom.
Karla was a little worried about leaving her bag behind, but she did leave it. She left her cell phone too. She was afraid she would lose it at the party. She was sure it would be safe there.
They passed Carol's parents sitting in the living room.
“You be home by midnight,” Carol's dad called out from behind his newspaper. He had a can of beer on the table beside him.
Carol's mom was asleep on the coach. She did not even stir. Beer cans line the coffee table in front of her.
“Okay, Dad,” she replied giggling. Carol shut the front door behind them as they made their way off the porch and on to the party.
“I thought Gerry was picking us up,” Karla said to Carol. Never ever having had any alcohol before, she did not know what a fizz-maker was but it sure made her feel good. Even her feet didn’t hurt her anymore. Karla stifled a giggle.
“We can walk. I saw him right after school, and he said he would meet us there…said he had some stuff to do first.”
“Oh…,” Karla said. She felt light as a feather now. She wondered if they were almost there yet. She was having a hard time focusing her eyes. Everything seemed blurry.
Loud music came from a building up ahead of them. Karla stumbled a bit, and Carol grabbed her arm, steadying her. Both girls began to giggle.
The girls walked up the steps to Ian's house. A two story single family house, it was five houses down on a side street off of the Main Street. A bunch of cars were parked along the sidewalk and in the driveway.
Gerry and his buddies were standing on the steps smoking, waiting for the girls. Darkness caused the streetlights to come on. The porch light was on. Karla stopped at Gerry's side and took the bottle he offered to her, drinking a swig. The liquid burned the back of her throat again.
He pulled the bottle away from her, laughing. “Hey, girl, slow down. You don't have to drink it so fast.”
Karla handed the bottle back to Gerry, while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Here, you want some more,” Karla let out a giggle—she could not help it.
“Na…I'm gonna get another one. You can have that one.”
Karla took another sip of the bottle. “What is this stuff, anyway,” She held out the bottle, trying to get a better look at the label.
“Mark's Lemonade,” Gerry replied, “…Thought you might like it.”
“It tastes good.”
Karla moved closer to Gerry.
“Nice outfit. I like it.”
He seemed to tilt his head a bit.
Karla giggled again, “Thanks. I'm glad you like it.”
Gerry moved closer to Karla. The music was loud. She could barely hear him when he spoke.
“Let's go somewhere where we can be alone, and maybe talk.”
He offered his hand to her.
Karla accepted it. She let him lead her into the house. He stopped to greet his friends and pick up another bottle.
Maggie spied them as they came close to the table where the drinks were setting out for those to take. She made sure she uncapped the bottle first before she handed it to Gerry to take. Her hand casually passed over the open top of the bottle.
“Wow. She looks great,” Heath said giving his approval.
“We are going up stairs for a bit,” Gerry announced.
Karla giggled. The guys were all staring at her. She was not used to being the center of attention. God, look at the way they are looking at me. I must really look “great.” She thought to herself.
She let Gerry lead her up the stairs. He motioned her to enter a large bedroom with a big bed. Karla stepped into the room. Gerry quickly closed the door behind them.
“There, that's better.”
Gerry smiled. The door blocked out the blaring music from the floor below.
Karla started to look around the room. She began to wonder who this bedroom belonged to. She noticed a dresser with a lot of stuff on it. A small electric burner stood in the mess on the dresser. She thought it was weird; they seemed to cook food in their room. Karla giggled.
“Karla, come sit over here with me.”
Gerry motioned to a spot next to him on the bed.
Karla sat down on the bed. She thought how good it felt to sit down—the room seemed to spin every time she moved.
“Are you done with your drink,” Gerry asked.
Karla did not remember finishing the drink. She shook the bottle to find it was empty.
“I guess so.”
“Here, I got you another one,” Gerry handed her the one he had taken from Maggie. It was almost full.
“What are you gonna drink,” Karla asked.
He pulled a beer from a cooler hidden under the bed.
“See? I'm all set.”
Karla giggled.
“I guess you are. How many do you have in there?”
“Enough for now,” Gerry popped the top off the beer can.
“Wanna try some of this?”
He offered the can to her.
Karla took a sip.
“Yuck. I'll stick with the lemonade.”
She handed the can back to him.
Gerry laughed.
“I thought so. Most girls don't like it.”
Karla took a long drink of her lemonade. She needed to get rid of the bitter taste of the beer. The lemonade went down smoother. She no longer noticed the burning sensation in the back of her throat.
Gerry reached out and gently took the bottle from her, setting it down on the night stand next to the bed.
“God, you look so good. Can I kiss you?”
Karla could not help but giggle.
“Of course you can, silly.”
She let him pull her into his arms. Oh my God. She thought. This is my first kiss. I hope I do this right.
His lips felt smooth against hers. She felt him pull her closer. His tongue entered her mouth—this startled her.
He slowly, gently directed her to lie down on the bed. This excited her. She could not resist. The room spun once again from the sudden movement.
Karla felt nervous. She had never been with a guy before. Feeling his lips move to her neck, she giggled. It felt funny, but good. The good feeling excited her.
Gerry began to explore her body with his hands.
Karla liked the way his hands felt on her body. She gasped when he untied the strings of her top, sliding it down to her stomach, exposing her breasts.
She was not sure where this was all going. Something nagged the back of her mind. It must have been something she had read or heard before. Karla wanted to tell Gerry to stop, but she did not want him to stop. She wondered what he was doing to her.
Her head began to swim even more. She thought she heard a humming sound in her ears. The room was beginning to seem weird.
Gerry began to kiss her some more, making his way further down her body with his lips and slowly undressing her. Karla felt helpless. She began to wonder how she could get him to stop. Did she really want him to stop? Not really. She really loved what he was doing to her. It felt so right.
Karla felt her breathing become heavy. He shifted his body on top of hers, pushing her legs apart, and his groin pushed into her pelvis. Her excitement grew even more. She could not resist. She could not believe what he was doing to her. She wondered, God why do I feel so weird?
She tried to move her arm. It seemed too heavy to lift. Karla tried to push Gerry off her, but she could not find the strength. She tried to tell him, “No,” but the word would not come from her lips. Her breathing was very heavy, and she felt hot, like it was a hundred degrees in the room. Why was it so hot, she wondered?
Karla let out a gasp. She felt him slip himself inside her. She wanted to scream No. She struggled under him weakly. Her self-control was completely gone.
She felt excited and confused. She wondered why she was letting him do this to her. It was only their first date. But she loved it, it felt so good. And, why was she suddenly so thirsty?
The door burst open with no warning. Heath, Justin, Kyle, and Mitch flooded into the room, laughing.
“All right, man. Time's up. Our turn,” Justin laughed. “Hope you saved some for us.”
Karla wanted to scream. Gerry removed himself from her. She wanted to scream, really, really scream. God. No. Help. Something was preventing Karla from calling out. She did not know if it was the alcohol, or what was wrong with her. The panic began to build in her when the four boys approached her as she lay helpless on the bed.
The room went dark.
Chapter ~ 26
“God, can you believe those guys,” Devin sipped his beer. He took a toke of the joint and passed it on to the next person.
“Yeah, man. They're gonna get their asses caught one of these days,” Sean accepted the joint. He took a toke of it too and passed it on.
Carol overheard them talking. The smell of the pot had floated across the room to her. She wanted a hit of it. Moving across the room through the crowd, she found a place in the group next to Sean. She was just in time for a turn for a hit.
“That girl is probably gonna be a mess in the morning.”
Devin lifted his can to his lips again.
“What girl,” Carol squeaked.
“The girl Gerry took upstairs,” Ian piped in. He accepted the joint from Carol.
“I think she is one of your new friends.”
Sean held out his hand, waiting for Devin to pass the joint to him.
“What did he do to her,” Maggie brought Carol another cooler and sat down on the floor beside Carol. She really wanted to know if that knew girl was going to get what was coming to her. Take her man from her; no one takes her man from her.
Maggie reached into her pocket to pull out another joint. Lighting it, she took a hit and passed it to Carol.
“Um, maybe you shouldn't know,” replied Sean as he lifted his can to his lips.
“Now I want to know.”
Carol glared at Sean.
“Carol, don't tell me you don't know the type of guy Gerry is. You have known him for how many years,” Ian said while took a hit off the joint.
“That don't mean anything,” Carol said. “What did he do that is so bad? Why did you say she would probably be messed up in the morning? He's just screwing her. Right?”
“Well, put it this way: What happens when a guy puts some G in your drink,” Ian asked.
“Yeah,” Sean said, “And the four of them went up to help Gerry finish. They said he had been up there too long, and he had to share the fun.” He took another hit of the joint.
“What four? Oh my God, you don't mean Heath too?”
This was bull, there was no way Carol was going to listen to anyone say stuff like that about her guy. But then what was this talk about the G?
Carol asked, “You said he gave her G?”
Four guys jogged down the stairs each one laughing. Heath was in the middle of the pack. Carol ran to the foot of the stairs and caught Heath by the arm. Drawing her arm back, she smacked Heath across the face.
“Where's Karla,” she screamed at him.
“She fell asleep on Gerry,” Heath snickered. He rubbed the side of his face, “What the hell was that for?”
Carol shoved Heath out of her way. “The plan was that only Gerry was going to mess with her, not the rest of you. You bastards.”
She stormed up the stairs to check on her friend. She found her out cold, and hot to touch. Grabbing Karla's arms, she dragged her to the shower. “Oh my God, Karla…,” she whispered, “I'm so sorry…I didn't know he was gonna give you G.”
Carol feared the worst as she struggled with Karla's limp body. It was just too limp to get her into the shower.
The front door slammed. Carol could hear yelling outside the house. The voices were muffled. S
he could not make out what they were saying.
“Help, somebody,” she screamed, “Help me get her into the shower.”
Ian ran up the stairs to Carol's aid. “What's some' matter?”
“I think she OD'ed on ecstasy, help me,” Carol screamed frantically, trying to drag her friend to the shower.
Ian helped Carol put Karla into the shower, turning the cold water on her. Karla did not respond.
“What are we gonna do?” Carol asked. She didn’t know what she was freakin’ gonna do if she couldn’t get Karla to come around.
“We have to think of something,” Ian tried smacking Karla several times on her cheek—no response.
“We have to get help, or she will die,” Carol screamed.
The yelling outdoors grew louder. Carol heard someone yell, “Pigs.”
A car started up, loudly revving its motor. The car doors slammed. It took off with screeching tires.
Police cars pulled up out front with blue lights flashing. The light flashed the walls with color from the upstairs window. One of the neighbors must have called the cops on them for playing the music too loud.
Carol and Ian knew they could not run like the rest of their friends had when the blue lights drove down the street. They stayed with Karla as the cops entered the house. The front door had been left open when the last kid sprinted away down the street, leaving Carol, Ian, and Karla alone in the house.
Carol did not care about what was about to happen. They could arrest her if they wanted. She was more afraid of what was happening to Karla, fearing Karla was about to die—if she had not already.
“Help, please help us. Up here. Quick. Help. My friend is going to die…Help.”
The officers responded quickly to find them upstairs with Karla in the shower. She was still not responding.
“This is K6149; we need medical assistance at 49 Breen Crest Drive. We have a possible drug overdose.”
The officer addressed Carol: “I'm Officer James. What is your friend's name?”
He quickly snapped on the hallway light.
“Her name is Karla, Karla Centon.”
“What is your name?”
Carol tried to see over the officer's shoulder while another officer checked to see if Karla still had a pulse.