down my shoulders if I wasn’t careful, but otherwise I looked pretty good.
Once dressed, I sat on the edge of my bed and waited. Who would have thought a date with one of the cutest guys in school would feel like a death sentence?
Derrick had said 8:00, but his car pulled into the driveway at 7:30, horn blaring. I ran down the stairs and hopped into the car.
A slow smile spread across Derrick’s lips as he scrutinized me head to toe. “This is how you should always dress when you’re with me,” he said.
He leaned out of his seat until our noses were inches away from touching. “Are you ready to be a good girl tonight?” His dead eyes were enough to terrify me, but the stench of liquor overpowered his breath mint and my breath caught in my throat. There was no stopping him tonight. He grasped my shoulders hard. “Answer me. Are you going to be a good girl tonight and do what I want you to?”
I couldn’t hold his gaze and looked down at my hands. “Yes, Derrick.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” he said with a smile and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me backwards into his lap. His hands went up under my shirt and he buried his face in my hair.
“I’m going to wear you out tonight,” he growled into my ear. A shiver rocked through my body and he chuckled. “You like this, don’t you? Little slut.”
With that he pushed me back into my seat and started the car. “Soon enough, baby. Just a little party and then your ass is mine.”
***
I don’t think I said more than two words the entire night. Actually, I said exactly three. “I. Don’t. Drink.” Derrick punched a nice hole in the wall after hearing that.
“I told you to do what I fucking ask you to do. I want you to drink, so you’ll drink!” he screamed into my face.
I held firm and didn’t say another word all night. Derrick dragged me around behind him wherever he went, drinking whatever was available from shots to beer. After a few hours he pulled me to the back of the house and my pulse raced, afraid he was taking me to a bedroom.
When he opened a door and dragged me in I began to cough uncontrollably. The room was absolutely filled with smoke and only after a couple of seconds could I see the group of guys passing a bong. When they saw us come in a few of the guys yelled “Bambi!” and my knees locked up. Those creeps from the bathroom! Derrick high-fived several of them, and they cleared off the bed and settled onto the floor. Derrick grabbed my elbow and made me sit on the bed beside him.
I think we must have been in there for hours. The smoke and loud thumping music were disorienting and I spent most of the time leaning back against the headboard with my eyes closed, trying to ignore the boys’ conversations which centered mostly around football and “hot chicks.”
Suddenly I heard Neil’s name mentioned. I immediately tuned in, without moving or opening my eyes to alert them that I was listening or that I was interested in what they were saying.
“Yeah, fucking up his car was fun last time, but I want to do something better this time,” Derrick said.
There were grunts of agreement around the room.
“He never replaced the car though, and he doesn’t really have anything else to destroy,” another guy said. “So what can we do?”
“We’ll have to do something else. Something different. I say we do something and blame him. Like steal something or spray paint the school or something,” Derrick said.
There were lots of hoots and laughter at that. “Yeah, or plant drugs in his locker!” someone added.
“Or steal the mayor’s cat and plant her in Neil’s house.”
“Or KILL the mayor’s cat and plant the body in Neil’s locker!”
“Or kill the MAYOR and plant evidence that shows Neil did it!” They all died laughing and the ideas kept coming.
After awhile the conversation dwindled down and I
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