by Joyner, GP
“What’s up, baby?” she asked. It sounded like Mike was driving from the mixed sounds of traffic and low music.
“I’m gettin’ ready for tomorrow night, gonna pick up some drinks. What do you want?”
The next night was a huge bash for the whole senior class, a sort of “we’re halfway there” celebration. It was one of the school’s longest non-official traditions; and it was the sort of party that you weren’t supposed to remember the day after. Sally generally shied away from raucous events, and from binge drinking, but this event wasn’t really negotiable. If she didn’t go, she’d be ridiculed by her friends and scorned by Mike as being no fun.
“Oh, you know me, babe, I’ll drink whatever as long as it doesn’t taste like booze,” she said amiably enough.
“Really? ‘Cause I was thinking of getting some whiskey…real drinking, you know?”
Sally bit her lip. She knew Mike was hoping to get Sally drunk enough to maybe take things a step further than making out. She trusted him not to take advantage of her, but she also knew how much her prudish nature drove him crazy. They’d been together two years and she’d only ever let him feel her up on his birthday or special occasions.
“Um, well, whiskey is kinda…intense. I mean, you’d have to take care of me all night when I got sick…can’t you just get like, vodka or something? Or just, like, Mike’s Hard…”
“I’ll get vodka,” Mike said, buoyant. “Mike’s Hard makes you fat with all that sugar.”
Sally rolled her eyes, happy Mike couldn’t see her. As a wrestler, Mike was always worried about making weight, and even though Sally’s full schedule and cheer practices kept her slim, his anxiety about weight sometimes made him say things like that to her.
“Sounds good,” she said. “What time are you going to pick me up tomorrow?”
“Well, everyone’s meeting up at Jess’ house beforehand to pre-game, so, like, six?”
“Can’t wait,” Sally lied, not really looking forward to taking care of her sloppy friends all night, especially if everyone was going to start drinking so early. Sally always ended up being the group Mom, forcing girls to throw up and handing out bottles of water and pretzels. As Mike started to reply, she cut him off, her view out the window suddenly becoming very, very interesting. The girl Geon had been with that afternoon was just leaving, and with a sinking sensation Sally realized just who it was.
“Hold on, Mike…oh my God, that freaking asshole!”
“Uh…what? What’s…” Mike started to say.
“I gotta go, Mike, I’ll call you later, love you,” Sally said, not waiting for him to reply before hanging up. She rose, leaning forward to get a better look and confirm what she already knew to be true. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in her mind who that girl was – and in a blind rage, she flew down the hallway, banging her fists against Geon’s door.
“Get out here, Geon, you stupid piece of…”
Her fist landed on thin air when Geon opened the door, his face a mingled expression of confusion and amusement.
“What?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest. Sally tried to speak but found her words catching in her throat, her chest heaving with angry breaths.
“You…you…you…bastard!” she finally screamed, hands balling into fists once more. His smug look only made her angrier. “How could you!”
“How could I what, Tinkerbell?” Geon asked, his smirk growing. You know exactly what I’m pissed about, Sally thought above the noise of rage in her mind.
“Cassie? Cassie? Of all the girls in the world…CASSIE?”
Geon shrugged.
“She came to me. Heard about my skills and wanted a taste. What can I say? I’m a hard man to resist.”
Sally fumed. Cassie was one of her oldest friends; one of their oldest friends. Before Geon had gone off the deep end, he’d spent as much time playing with Cassie as Sally had. It wasn’t just that Cassie and Sally were close enough to be cousins; it was the fact that everyone in school knew Cassie was a mess after being dumped by her boyfriend, Brian. They’d dated since freshman year, and he’d cheated on her. Ever since then, Cassie had been as fragile as a baby bird.
“Yeah right! You know damn well Cassie’s hurting, and you’re just taking advantage of that to add another notch to your bedpost! How could you? You used to play on the slide with her, for chrissakes! She’s practically family!”
He shrugged again, the smirk fading from his face.
“I haven’t hung out with Cassie since 9th grade. She wanted to get laid, I was more than happy to provide my services.”
“You’re just going to make it worse! She’s gonna get all attached and you’re just gonna break her heart all over again! You’re a jerk, and you know it! I can’t believe you. This is a whole new low, Geon,” Sally said, on the verge of tears but not wanting to appear weak.
“It’s none of your business what I do in my room, or what Cassie does in my room. Which was a lot, by the way,” he said, offering her a cruel smile. “If anything, I helped her out, got her to realize that she needed a real man after playing around with that little boy for so long.”
“Oh, and you’re a real man now?” Sally said, crossing her own arms across her chest. “I just…”
“Listen, sis, maybe you should just go back to your room and think about why you’re so mad. Seems to me that you don’t like me entertaining any girls, not just Cassie. This just gives you a good excuse to make a big deal about it.”
Sally opened her mouth, speechless. Of course, he was kind of right. She didn’t like the way Geon herded girls in and out of his room like a parade. But that was because…well, it didn’t matter why she didn’t like it. She wasn’t obligated to explain anything to him, was she?
“Just because your man won’t ever show you as good a time as I show my lady friends doesn’t mean I’m going to stop,” he said, straightening out and making ready to shut the door in her face. “Maybe if you got laid once in a while, you’d get that damn stick out of your ass.”
With that, Sally was left facing the closed door. The sound of music played too loud filtered into the hallway. Sally finally let those tears roll down her cheeks as she stalked back to her own room, slamming the door behind her. As she sat down, trying to calm herself down, she thought of her friend.
Poor Cassie, she thought. I should call her…
And say what? “I know you and my stepbrother slept together and I think it’s awful”?
If Cassie wanted to talk about it, she could come to Sally to do so…
In the meantime, Sally could fume about the nasty things Geon had said, and wonder why they made her so mad…and confused.
***
“Shots, shots, shots!” Jess screamed, shoving her plastic cup in the air. The crowd hooted around her. Sally was trying to listen to what her friend Tanya was saying, some drama about so-and-so and so-and-so fighting over so-and-so. The conversation was swept away in the hubbub as more plastic cups appeared and were handed out, each holding a generous sip of clear liquor. Sally sighed. She’d already had a drink and a half, and she hated doing shots.
Why am I even friends with these crazy people, she wondered, not for the first time. But judging from the look Mike was shooting her, it wasn’t the right time to refuse the drink. As the group raised their cups to the air, a cheers offered up to the Party Gods, Sally held her nose and downed the drink.
To her surprise, it stung like alcohol but also had a distinctly…different taste to it. Looking around, she wondered if anyone else had the same experience, but conversation had resumed as soon as the empty cups were slammed into the table. She did, however, notice a strange look passing between Mike, Jess, Gary, and Lisa, a sort of quiet smirk that didn’t sit well on Sally’s stomach. Or maybe it was just the booze…
“What time is it?” someone screeched, and at the announcement that it was eight, the group began a frenzied rush to gather coats and bags and head to the pa
rty. It was going to be held in an old barn within a mile from Jess’ house, which was why they’d all met there. No one had to worry about driving drunk, and Jess’ parents were on a pretty much permanent vacation in Majorca. They could easily have held the party at Jess’ house, but it was much more fun sneaking onto the abandoned property. At least, fun for everyone else. Not so much for Sally.
The bottle of vodka passed from hand to hand on the walk, and Sally easily avoided the scrutiny of her friends by passing it as soon as it got to her hand, the confusion making it impossible to figure out who was and wasn’t drinking their share. Mike and two of his wrestling friends brought up the rear, Sally lost in the middle of the horde, flanked by two of her similarly modest friends.
“Man, I feel kinda weird,” Sally said out of nowhere, speaking before she even realized she was doing so. It was true; she did feel a little strange. A little more buzzed than she should have been. Kind of lightheaded. Slightly…excited. Like a knot of tension in her stomach was building, not entirely unpleasant but also strange enough to scare her.
“Did you eat anything today?” Jenna asked.
“Yeah, plenty,” Sally said. She’d been sure to overeat before going out, knowing that alcohol and an empty stomach didn’t mix well.
“Maybe it was the shot,” Becky said from her other side. “Went right to your head.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Sally said, remembering the strange taste. Maybe the cup had been dirty and she’d accidentally drank some grime with her vodka. She tried to push the growing anxiety from her mind as the barn loomed closer.
They started to cut through the dense woods surrounding it; already, the sound of the party was overwhelming their own loud chatter. Soon, almost too soon for Sally’s mind, she was in the thick of it. Christmas lights hooked up to a generator decorated the space. Three kegs were set up, with some of the boys acting as bartender in the corner, doling out huge ladlefuls of a bright blue drink.
Sally scanned the room looking for Cassie; she’d hoped her friend would be there, but it seemed the girl had opted out. To Sally’s disdain, however, Geon and his gang had not opted out, and she saw them loitering around in another corner, watching the party with unmistakable bad-boy leers on their faces. Groaning, Sally waited for Mike to find her near the entrance.
She was starting to feel stranger and stranger with each passing second. Her face felt like it was burning up, and her limbs felt tingly and light. The crowd around her seemed to be moving too quickly, then too slowly, time stretching and condensing rhythmically. When Mike appeared before her, holding out a foaming cup of beer, she almost stumbled into him trying to take it.
“Mike, I don’t feel…oh, I think I’m…I think I’m sick,” Sally said, the words coming from her mouth thick. She suddenly felt deathly thirsty, and though what she really wanted was water, the beer seemed a necessary evil to combat the thirst.
“Oh?” Mike said, sipping his own beer, a strange smile coming over his face. “Well…uh, don’t worry, you’re not.”
“What?” Sally asked, leaning into him closer, suddenly very interested in the color of his flannel jacket. Reaching out, she stroked it, surprised to feel that it was buttery soft. She felt a sudden urge to rub her cheek against it.
“You’re not sick, baby, you’re rolling,” Mike said with an even wider smile, draping his arm around her shoulder. Sally felt like her body was an ocean, fluid and malleable, waves of feeling rolling through her like the surf. But below it all, that knot of tension was growing and growing, anxiety giving every sensation in her body a sharp edge.
“I’m what?” she asked, confused.
“I scored some Molly from Jess’ boyfriend and gave you some. It’s a special night so…”
The anxiety rose in jagged shards in Sally’s brain. Those sensations that had felt good suddenly turned awful. The realization crashed around her.
“You drugged me?!” she cried out, pushing herself off her boyfriend in horror. The plastic cup she’d been holding – which, she only now realized was empty – clattered to the ground.
“Well, when you say it like that,” Mike said, frowning and trying to move closer to him again while she backed away. “Baby, calm down. It’s gonna feel really good, you’re gonna love it. Just relax and…”
“You fucking drugged me! Oh my God, I’m going to die! I’m going to die, Mike! Oh my God, oh my God,” Sally repeated, her life seeming to flash in front of her eyes. Her heart was beating out of her chest, her mouth dry again, her fingers shaking as she brought them to her eyes in horror. Streaks of color followed everything around her. Time was dilating again, then speeding up. Mike said something that she didn’t hear, reached forward to grab her wrist. She yanked it away, fear spiking in her mind.
“You need to take me home…to a hospital…oh, my God, Mike, how could you…”
“Calm the fuck down, Sally,” Mike said, angry now. “This is good shit. Don’t waste it freaking out for no reason. I just wanted to relax you a little bit. You’re such a freaking tight ass, you need to just relax and enjoy yourself for once…”
Sally’s mouth opened in a scream but no sound escaped. Mike advanced on her again, this time encircling him in his arms, pressing his body against hers, trying to kiss her. She could feel something stiff in his pants and struggled to get away, her breath coming in ragged breaths, her heart hurting from beating so fast.
“Get away from me,” she moaned, losing her strength and her mind at the same time. With a final Herculean effort, she wrenched herself away from Mike’s grip, only to fall backwards – and hit someone else. Someone big and hard. Panic fluttered around her mind again, knees and legs shaking. Turning, she nearly sobbed when she saw Geon’s face above her, his eyes fixed in a deadly glare on Mike.
“What the hell is going on,” Geon asked, voice serious as the grave. Mike pulled himself up to full height but still seemed like a shadow in comparison to Geon’s size.
“Nothing, man, it’s none of your business. Your sister’s just freaking out for no reason,” Mike said, puffing his chest out. Instinctively, Sally curled herself against Geon’s chest. She felt like she was burning up, sure that she’d been poisoned, reality shattering more and more as she tried to make sense of the sensations in her body.
Geon seemed warm and welcoming in that moment, though she hadn’t felt that way about him in years. To her dismay, he pushed her to the side slightly. Looking down at her, he took in her dilated pupils and shaking hands before his jaw snapped back towards Mike.
“What did she take? Did you give her something, you little punk?”
“Just some Molly, man, it’s good shit, she’s fine, she just needs to…”
“Molly? Why the hell would she take that? She doesn’t even like drinking,” Geon said, and looking back down at Sally he grabbed her chin, drawing her eyes to his. Sally felt the sea of emotion calming slightly as his steady gaze captured her. “Did you take Molly, Sally?”
“I…I…I didn’t know he…he put it in…he put it in my drink,” she said, stuttering, ending with a sob. Geon’s eyes sparked angrily and he released her, advancing on Mike.
“You son of a bitch,” Geon muttered, hands closing into fists. “What the hell is wrong with you? Need to drug girls to get them to want you? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Man, this isn’t any of your business,” Mike responded, but Sally could see fear working its way into his eyes. “You know your sister’s so uptight, I just thought…”
He never finished his sentence. A sickening crack seemed to fill the air as his face whipped around to the side, bright red blood dripping from his nose. Geon held his fist in one hand, massaging the knuckles.
“Sick son of a bitch,” Geon muttered, then grabbed Sally’s hand and led her away, pulling her through the crowd. She looked back; Mike was holding his nose in both hands, yelling something that she couldn’t hear over the noise.
When she hit the fresh air, she immediately started to feel a litt
le better. The confusion in her mind cleared, the anxiety starting to mellow, her tingling limbs steady at her sides. Geon dragged her along to the side of the barn, where couples leaned against the wood siding making out or smoking. He sat her down, crouching beside her.
“How do you feel?” he asked, the genuine concern in his voice surprising her. She felt that same radiant warmth she’d felt earlier, the strangely pleasant sensation she’d been experiencing returning in a slow wave.
“Uh,” she said, still trying to find a way to make her thoughts into words. “Weird. Okay. Weird.”
“Yeah, that’s normal,” Geon said with a sigh. “Man, that prick…”
As though the dream she’d been living in for the past half hour suddenly became reality, she thought of Mike’s face whipping to the side.
“Did you break his nose?” she asked in a small voice, curling her knees up to her chin.
“I hope so,” Geon said, his own voice low and angry.
“Oh,” Sally squeaked, trying to tamp down the restlessness growing in her limbs.
“Do you want to go home?” Geon asked, reaching out to hold her shoulder in a gesture that was surprisingly tender. When he touched her, Sally felt a sudden bloom of emotion in her chest. She tried to will it away, afraid of it. She nodded, then shook her head.
“I don’t…I don’t know…” she said. Geon nodded and sat down beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, spreading that strange warmth she’d felt. Sally sighed, and found the experience so pleasurable that she did it again.
“Do you remember that time when we were ten and wanted a dog? And we knew Todd and Jillae would never get us one, so we decided we’d ‘find’ one and have it follow us home?”
Sally giggled, the memory vivid.
“That poor terrier…”
“Well, I mean, it was outside, and it didn’t seem to belong to anyone…”
“We made it sick feeding it hot dogs trying to lure it home!”
“And threw the collar away!”
“Oh, we were such little jerks,” Sally said with a laugh. The laughter felt good. All the anxiety and fear were being swallowed up by other feelings. Good ones. When was the last time she and Geon had talked like this without fighting? It seemed to be forever…