"Hey," he said with a goofy smile.
"Hey," I mimicked as I giggled from the awkward situation.
He turned on the car, dialed the radio up a bit, and pulled out of my driveway.
"Are you ready, Alice?"
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and allowing the sound of the rain to take over for just a minute.
"Yes. I'm ready."
Zack and I have been friends since 8th grade. We started high school together, and tonight, we're finishing it together, too. I knew more about him than I knew about myself, and vice versa. We hung out almost every single day, and barely with anyone else. We were each other's best friends, more like brother and sister, and were always there for each other no matter what the circumstances. I loved him, and he loved me, but nothing more than friendship. Tonight, Zack was taking me to my first real high school party as his friend Sean's house. I have drank before, but not at a house party and not with more than... well... Zack.
We walked up to the front door of the huge white house when Zack grabbed me by the arm.
"Ali, you don't need to do this if you're not comfortable. I don't want to seem like I'm forcing you to-" I cut him off, "Stop, Zack. I want to be here. I want to celebrate the end of high school with a bang."
He smiled, "But you always say-" I cut him off yet again, "Not with a bang but with a whimper, I know. But this is different."
He giggled, probably at my ability to spout out any one of my favorite quotes on command. "You and your literature."
I touched his cheek as it raised into a smile, and I looked at him with one in return. I opened the door and entered the party.
"Hey, Alice!"
"Hey, Ali!"
"Ali, you came!"
"Alice! Yeaaaah!"
I heard my name being shouted from all sides of the crowded room, and responded with half-interested smiles as Zack guided me to the kitchen by holding my shoulders and basically plowing me through everyone. We finally caught sight of Sean, and Zack walked a few steps to give him what they call, a "bro hug." Even though he stepped away, he didn't let go of my arm. It was as though he was afraid of losing me in the wave of people surrounding me.
"Sean, are you sure this party is safe for Alice?" Zack asked as if I wasn't standing right next to him.
"Zack, this party isn't safe for anyone. Just have some fun." He slapped Z's butt and walked into the mob of people in the adjacent room.
"Listen, Zack, you don't need to treat me like a five-year-old. I'm okay. Lucy's here, go talk to her. I'll find myself some fun." He looked worried, as though he didn't believe me and was hesitant to believe me.
"Are you sure, Ali?"
"Yes, go have fun."
He grabbed my hand, which sent a weird shiver down my spine, and proceeded to look for Lucy. Although I know he was concerned for my well-being, as he walked away it looked as though he couldn't get away from me fast enough. I stood by the kitchen counter, and grabbed the first open drink I could find. I started sipping. The quick consumption kinda took me by surprise and I began to get dizzy. After I started to calm down, I took the drinking a bit easier, and noticed that Frank Demartin was approaching me.
"Hey, Alison," he said with a brutal slurring in his voice.
"Hey, Frank, it's Alice, but whatever," I replied with little excitement in my voice.
"Hey, I have an idea, how about we go into Sean's bedroom and... and... make out."
Such a simple sentence took him minutes to complete.
"No, thanks, Frank."
"I said, let's go to the bedroom," he demanded as he grabbed my arm violently, his voice much less shaky than before.
I didn't know what to do nor what was happening. I was still a bit tipsy, and before I knew it, Frank was dragging me into the nearest bedroom. I couldn't stop him or ask for help because I wasn't myself. I expected someone to see and stop him, but everyone was preoccupied with their own hookups, drinks and music. I stumbled into the bedroom as Frank pushed me towards the bed and locked the door. It was becoming much more apparent that Frank's clumsy exterior was just an act to fit in, and he wasn't really tipsy at all.
"We're gonna have fun now, Alison."
All I could focus on was the fact that he wasn't getting my name right. Everything was blurry, and I couldn't move. I felt him grab me and slide his hands all throughout my body, breathing heavier and heavier as he continued.
"Stop," I managed to utter, but not nearly loud enough for anyone outside of the room to hear me, and it wasn't like that was going to end what was about to begin.
I knew what was happening. I couldn't stop it, but I knew. Things got blurrier as time progressed. It felt like I had been in that room for hours now, when it was probably only minutes. I suddenly heard loud banging on the door, and what I thought was a voice, but was too muffled for me to make out properly.
Before I knew it, the door broke open and Frank threw me onto the floor. I fell with such a crash that I think it knocked the drunk out of me. I cried out in pain because of the way I landed on my ankle, it felt like I snapped it. I looked up, vision much clearer, and saw Zack raging with anger.
"What the fuck is this, Frank? What the fuck are you doing?"
"Listen bro," Frank argued, voice much more slurred than I remember, "she asked me to hookup, I was just giving her what she asked for." Zack looked away from Frank for a moment to check and see if I was okay, but quickly returned his glance to Frank.
"Shut the fuck up, Frank, I know you dragged her in here and I know you drugged her drink. What was it, huh?" He slammed Frank up against the way by his neck, I had never seen Zack so angry before. "What was it, Frank, roofies? Fucking tell me before I beat you to death."
Frank sobered up real quick at this point, trying to escape Zack's powerful grip.
"It was just a simple roofie man, that's it. Calm down, let me down!"
Zack dropped him to the floor, and ran over to me. He picked me up as if he were carrying me inside from our honeymoon and placed me gently on the bed next to us. He turned his attention back to Frank, and proceeded to punch him square in the nose, sending him flying back into the wall.
"Ali, Ali, are you okay?"
I looked at him, there were a few different ones so I didn't quite know which one was right, but I suddenly felt him picking me up and carrying me somewhere.
"Don't worry, Ali, you're okay. It's Zack, you're with me."
I cradled my heavy head into his neck, and seemingly fell asleep.
"Ali, you okay?"
I picked up my head and felt like the world was spinning. As my vision cleared, I noticed that I was in Zack's bed, in his t-shirt, with him leaning over me.
"Zack," is all I could choke out before I felt him pressing his lips against mine.
We were kissing... passionately for a good minute or two. He grabbed the back of my neck and ran his other fingers through my hair while he pressed his body against mine. When he finally released me from his grasp, I opened my eyes widely and breathed in as though to say something, but he said it before I could.
"I was worried you weren't going to wake up. And I didn't know what I would have done without you. When you woke up, I was so happy I couldn't contain myself, so I just-" This time, I cut him off... with another kiss.
After our second embrace ended, I spoke softly.
"I've been waiting for that since 8th grade."
He giggled with a goofy smile as always, and I saw in him the same love and compassion I always had, but finally had the guts to act on it.
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