Careless, Reckless Decisions | ONC 2021

Chapter Two

As we spent the day getting ready, I was finally satisfied with how I looked. I should have known that Kia would be right.

"See?! I told you that you would look fabulous!" She nudged me with her elbow and continued to apply mascara to her long lashes. "I'm always right."

I rolled my eyes and was just about to give a snarky reply when my phone buzzed with a startling beep.

"Ugh, who is it now?" I trudged over to my phone and picked it up. When I saw who texted me, I was so shocked I screamed. "Oh my gosh, Kia, John just texted me!"

Turning her head around slowly, she squealed and snatched my phone out of my hands, "No. Freaking. Way."

"I can't look at it, tell me what he said." I wailed, fiddling with my fingers, and pretending to faint.

"You aren't gonna believe this Jenna." She stared at me with awe.

"What is it?!" I jumped up and down waiting for her to answer me.

She sent me her award-winning grin and said, "He's coming to the party and wants you to be his date tonight!"

My jaw instantly dropped to the floor.

John had never, ever, texted me unless he wanted to know what we had for homework in Bio-class.

"I can't believe this!" I matched Kia's squeal and peered over her shoulder to see the text with my own eyes. "What should I send back?"

Kia gave me a dead-pan expression, "Yes, of course!"

After texting John a huge yes, I immediately got a boost of confidence and excitement as I helped Kia straighten her long locks of hair.

My parents were gone for the day, having a long 'romantic' evening to themselves. I felt like we were in one of those crappy Hollywood movies where all of the teenagers would throw huge parties while their parents were away, and everyone would get plastered drunk.

With one last glance in the mirror, Kia took my arm and guided us to the door.

"Jarred! We're going out, so don't wait for us!" I called up the stairs, almost tripping over my tight black heels that Kia had somehow found in my closet.

I barely heard his muffled response before I was dragged out the door, and into Kia's old rusting Honda Civic.

"John said he would meet me at the front door!" I squawked, barely able to contain my excitement.

This would be my chance to actually talk to John. We've never gotten the chance to have a full conversation, even though we've known each other for the past 2 years.

"That's great!" Kia gave me a reassuring smile, but I could tell something was wrong.

It was silent as she started the ignition and backed out of the driveway. The headlights on that old car always turned on and off by themselves. Creepy.

To keep our conversation going I said, "Where even is this place?"

"Around the country-side area. It's at Justin's house." She shrugged but seemed lost in thought.

I nodded, pretending to know who Justin was, and peered out of the window, trying to think of a reason why Kia would feel gloomy but came up with nothing.

Glancing at her, I came to the decision that I would just let her be. Kia was extremely moody, and when we get to the party, I'm sure she would start feeling upbeat again.

. . .

As we both shimmied out of Kia's car, I instantly took in the loud pumping music and the mysterious fog that seemed to be following us everywhere.

I was definitely not a country girl.

"Yes!" Kia threw her fists into the air and exchanged nods with a group of people that were at the door. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Hey, Jenna!" I heard someone calling my name, and swiftly turned my head in the direction of the voice.

When I saw John, I could feel my entire face light up, and I rushed over to meet him, waving goodbye to Kia.

"Hey, John." I smiled warmly up at him, and let him lead me into the house.

As we walked in, there were people everywhere, some were mingling, others were taking shots. I was especially disturbed as we passed a couple who were sharing saliva as if their lives depended on it. Sweat dripped down my forehead the further we got in. Of course, a country area would have no AC.

Shivering at the unreal site around me, John brought me towards his friends who were surrounding the bar area.

"You want something to drink?!" He practically screamed at me, trying to raise his voice over the immense crowd and blasting music.

To answer his question, I shook my head and glanced at his friends who were staring me down. Out of his group, John had always had the reputation of being the nice boy. All of his friends were known to be troublemakers, and I never understood why John still hung out with them. He was nothing like them.

"Cmon, just one drink, Jenna?" He looked at me hopefully, holding out a drink in a red cup.

I peeked a look inside the cup, and smelt some kind of beer. I hated alcohol with a passion, but when I glimpsed up at John, I couldn't refuse. His puppy eyes were the kind that could make anyone listen to him.

To show John that I wasn't a joke, I snatched the cup out of his hand and downed it in one gulp, the sour taste still lingering in my throat.

All of his friends whooped and hollered, their disapproving masks slipping off.

I smiled triumphantly, and let John lead me to the back of the house, where this 'Justin' guy seemed to have a sunroom.

As we stepped in, there was a group of people in a circle playing truth or dare.

I instantly spotted Kia sitting next to Danielle and talking animatedly with her.

"Let's play with them!" I tugged on John's arm, and sat next to Kia, with John on the other side of me.

"Hey, don't mind if we join, guys?" John asked around the circle, nobody disagreeing.

"Oh, there you are Jenna!" Kia was talking so fast, I barely understood anything she was saying. "Danielle, this is Jenna Bradley, my best friend. And Jenna, this is Danielle Jacobs...my other friend."

Kia sent me an SOS smile, and I immediately pretended as if I've never seen or heard of Danielle in my entire life, "Hi, nice to meet you."

We shook hands, and then the game began.

A couple of people I didn't know kept asking around the circle, and finally, it was Kia's turn to ask someone. That, someone, turned out to be me.

Little did we know, it would change our lives for the worst.