High School Homecoming Dance and Senior Prom are rites of passage for most teenagers but not for Gram. While her friends and relatives were able to participate in the high school scene, she was being homeschooled and babysitting her best friend, George's niece. She didn't mind so much missing out on attending school as she enjoyed the freedom that came with homeschooling, but part of her yearned to participate in the dances. She believed there was a certain level of romance associated with them that she wanted to experience.
At sixteen years of age, she had spent the last year filling in the role of 'mother' to Tristan's daughter Melissa while he worked two jobs. Leaving her very little time for a social life. During the homecoming season of her junior year, rather than going to the school dance, her friend George opted to stay home with her and Melissa to watch rom-com movies while her parents chaperoned the dance at the school.
This was the type of friendship they shared. He often sacrificed his social life to accompany her and his niece while she always included him in her plans. He'd help her take care of the baby and she helped him study for his tests and research papers. They spoke about everything they were feeling, facing or thinking without limits. He'd talk about the guys on his sports team and the girls he was attracted to and she would discuss her period, moods and lusts of the flesh. If either of them was having a bad day, they would go to the other for support. When they were having a good day, they would celebrate with the other. They were two peas in a pod.
Her parents would often jest with her about marrying him one day to which she would just scoff and reply with an 'as if.' She adored George, of course. They had been best friends since kindergarten, virtually inseparable during the time they had together. He was the same height as her, which made her feel less awkward about being tall. He had light colored hair and blue eyes which made him devilishly handsome and quite the catch at school. The rumor mill insisted they were dating because he never dated anyone else, and they spent so much time together. Yes, she was the envy of the high school girls, but she didn't pay it no mind.
Truth was, she was too smitten with his older brother, Tristan. The dark haired, dark eyed, beautiful father of her favorite two-year-old with the same looks. While George may have been gorgeous, Tristan was ruggedly handsome, hard bodied and spoke with a deep and sexy voice. He was a few inches shorter than her but never made her feel inferior or awkward because of it. He was hard-working and extremely loving towards his daughter. All these traits made Gram become more and more enamored with him.
During the holiday break, she and George were invited to a New Year's party being held at Johnny's house. Johnny was Hilda's boyfriend and the captain of the football team that George was on. He was also the drummer at her dad's church. He was a tall boy with blonde hair and blue eyes and a big ego. Though he could be considered good-looking, Gram never cared much for him because of his arrogance. "Why do you wanna go to that jerk's house?" she whined to George.
"Jerk? Oh, please. I know you have a crush on him."
"Whatever." She scoffed trying to hide her blush. "Dream on." Although she couldn't argue the fact that Johnny was drop dead gorgeous, she refused to entertain any romantic thoughts towards him as he was not only a bit of a player, but also her cousin's boyfriend.
"Fine. I'll pretend for now. But I still really want you to go with me." He begged.
"How about another time." She suggested while down her unexplainable nervousness.
"Oh, c'mon, Gram. It'll be fun. You haven't been out in ages."
"So?"
"So, Tristan is off work for once, so no Melissa. AND I already got permission from your parents." He beamed with a toothy grin.
She frowned, "I don't know. Hilda has never really been that nice to me over the years. I don't think she'd appreciate it if I showed up at her boyfriend's house."
"Oh, that's right! You don't know."
"Know what?"
"They broke up. Last week."
"Again? Don't they break up like every other month?" She rolled her eyes.
He laughed. "For real, this time. Normally, they break up because he cheated but this time, he caught her with Ryan Nichols in the locker room."
"Still…" she tried to argue. News of the breakup just made her nervousness shoot up a notch.
"Still, nothing. You need a night out with your peers. I'll stay close to you. I promise. No one will bully you." He batted his eyes at her while slightly protruding his lower lip in a mock pout.
She giggled at his childishness. "Fine. But the first sign of stupidity and I'm out. Got it?" She poked her finger into his chest to make point.
He raised his hand in pledge. "Got it."
"And no drinking either!"
"Cross my heart." He smiled while making the X sign across his chest.
"By the way," she added when a thought crossed her mind. "What girl are you interested in that I have to meet?" She crossed her arms over her chest with a raised eyebrow.
"What do mean?" Feigning innocence.
"You and I both that the only time you insist this hard for me to go somewhere with you, it's meet whatever girl you like and get my opinion."
He grinned like a kid that got caught trying to steal a candy bar from the store. "Don't worry. I'll introduce her."
*
Johnny's house was in the upper-class neighborhood north of town. Most of the houses in that area would be considered mansions in Gram's mind. They all had multiple stories and huge manicured yards behind ornate iron fences. Johnny's was one of the largest in the neighborhood that sat on its own little hillside. It had an indoor horse arena in the rear of the place and a large pool on the west side. It was three-story with marble looking pillars in the front that had been wrapped with lighted evergreen garland. The driveway circled a large water fountain in the front of the house. The yard was littered with a plethora of lighted Christmas decorations. It was picture perfect to Gram, something you would only see in movies.
This wasn't her first time visiting this house as she had come with her parents to a few dinner engagements involving the church staff. This visit, however, did not involve anyone from the church hierarchy, nor would Johnny's parents be present as they were out of town for the holiday. Gram wasn't comfortable knowing there wouldn't be any adults to supervise but George kept insisting it would fine and that he would keep a close watch on her. While she longed to have fun with her friends, she couldn't shake the feeling something bad was bound to happen. Unsupervised teenagers having a party where alcohol is served? What could go wrong, right?
*
Gram woke up suddenly to the sound of the curtains being aggressively opened. The sunlight stabbed her eyes causing her to bury her face in the pillow with a groan. Her head throbbed and every inch of her body was sore.
"What the hell, Gram?!" A familiar voice bellowed.
She squeezed the pillow tighter to muffle the loudness of his voice. "Not so loud, George." She whined.
He yanked the pillow from her grasp and looked at her in disbelief and pity. "You got drunk?"
"No!" she argued a little louder than she wanted sending a new wave of pain through her brain. "Maybe… I don't…" she sat up with her head in her hand and her eyes closed. "Where are we?"
"Seriously?" She heard him breathe out an exasperated sigh. "Get dressed." The shirt he tossed landed on her face.
She gripped the clothing in confusion. 'What is going on?' She looked down and realized she was sitting on the bed facing her friend completely naked. "Oh my god! Turn around!" she yelled as she slipped her shirt on. "What happened?!" she demanded as she reached for her underwear on the floor.
"Ask him." George snarled as he pointed to the man in the bed next to her.
She turned and paled as she saw Johnny passed out in the same bed. Naked. "F*ck, George. How could you let this happen?"
"ME?! You blame me for this?"
"Well, where were you?"
"Looking for you…" They glared at each for a long moment. "Let's go before lover boy wakes up. We can talk about this on the way home."
She chose not to argue for the moment and rose to follow him out. He had to help her down the stairs so she wouldn't fall as she seemed to still be a bit intoxicated. Just as they cleared the front steps, she vomited the previous day's intake. "I don't remember drinking." She muttered. "I just had a glass of water."
"Water?" he raised an eyebrow at her. "What's the last thing you remember, Gram?"
She plopped down in his car and rolled the window down just in case she'd have throw up again on the way home. "I was looking for you and Sheila. I thought you were dancing but I didn't see you anywhere. Johnny told me you two went upstairs to be alone."
"We never went upstairs. We never left."
"I didn't see you." She repeated. "When he said you went upstairs, I decided to wait for you on the couch. I asked Johnny for water which he went and got for me. He was telling about the problems he was having with Hilda and…" Her head pounded again in pain as she tried to remember. "That's it… I can't remember anything after that. Well, at least not until you came in."
"I spent most of the night looking for you. Do you know how big that house is?"
"Why didn't you find me sooner then?"
"Nick told me you went home. So, I went home. I went to your house before breakfast and found out you hadn't come home so I came back here only to find you in bed with Johnny. I thought you didn't do stuff like that Gram. I thought you said you were waiting."
"I don't! I was! I didn't… Did I?"
"You seriously don't remember anything?"
She shook her head. "I don't."
"What does your body say? Are you hurt? You know, down there?"
She concentrated on her body for a second only to find it was indeed sore. "It is. A little. My head hurts worse though. You think maybe he drugged the water?"
"Damn that guy! I'm gonna kill him!"