Wonderland

Ch. 5

I could not believe what I was looking at. There was Justin with his fists balled up and panting glaring down at a boy who was obviously knocked unconscious. Stephanie was standing being him trying to hold him back from beating the dude who laid on the floor motionless to a bloody pulp. The cup that was in my hand fell through my grasp and splattered on neighboring party goers. I rushed in front of Justine, to separate him from his victim, and looked him in the eyes while grabbing his face. The boiling blood made his skin warm to the touch, so much that it started to make my hand feel sweaty just from touching him. Peering into his eyes I could see he didn't have any acknowledgement of me being there. Calling his name and asking what had happened did nothing to sooth him. I began making "shh" sounds and telling him to relax and things were going to be ok if he just calmed down. I looked around quickly and noticed that everyone had made a circle around the commotion. They stood silently as close to the walls and as far away from Justine as they could. Turning back to the raging boy I realized I could not think of them right now or the stupid kid on the floor right now. All I kept telling myself was to calm Justine down before he knocked another person out.

I looked deep into his brown eyes and started repeating "Justine" over and over. As I got quieter with every word he came back to his senses. Eventually I was quietly holding Justine's face, then he just gave me a look as if he just woke up from a strange dream. He turned from me to Steph and gave her a tight embrace. She welcomed the hug and let out a slight sigh, popping one foot out. While the two took their moment I began to try and get the boy off the ground. He was heavier than I had expected, I wrestled with his limp body for a second or two till Owen helped me. He slid under one arm and wrapped his right arm around the boy's back. I copied Owen's actions because they seemed to work better then what ever I was attempting to do. Once situated we dragged the unconscious boy through the on looking crowd who still remained paralyzed. Making our way through I could hear snippets of peoples conversations. "All that just because he bumped in to her?" If that was truly the reason why Justine beat the living day lights out of this kid, then Justine needed some serious counseling.

Owen and I managed to get the boy out on the patio so he could get some fresh air. He started to come to and started to feel the aftermath of Justine's brutal punches. The boy's left eye was closed shut from the swelling and his nose had a tail of blood dripping down his jaw. If I didn't know better I would say the kids head had deflated on one side. He began to moan and sway back and forth as if it would alleviatethe pain. "Your friend has quite the temper," Owen said as he slid his hands into his pockets. "He's an angry drunk," I said trying to find an excuse for his irrational behavior. The boy's moans got louder as he became more conscience. "Here this should help numb you out," said Owen crouching down to the sitting boy. He grabbed his leather cuff and twisted the emblem at one end of the oval. The crest that I assumed was just decoration was actually a small container. Inside were small white circular tablets piled one on top of another. Owen took one an put into the guys mouth. "Now just let it kick in and hey, welcome to Wonderland," Owen said with a hint of pleasure. The boy closed his only remaining good eye and let his head rest against the light brown building.

"What was that you gave him?" I asked puzzled. "Its nothing you need to worry about yet," said Owen as he stood up. The boy had stopped moaning and seemed to have fallen asleep. "What do you mean? What was that?" I said looking at the boy who seemed to be no longer in pain. "I'll tell you later, you should get yourself cleaned up. You have stuff all over you," Owen said calmly. Looking down at my clothes I noticed that my drink had splattered all over me when it fell. I looked back at Owen who gave me an "its ok, I can handle this" look and I went back inside. The house was up and lively as if nothing had happened. No one seemed fazed by what Justine had done. They just continued to drink, smoke, and make out like they had been doing before the fiasco erupted. I pushed my way through the intoxicated crowd to the bathroom. Finding it, I flipped on the light switch and closed the door behind me. As I looked in the mirror I could see I had spots of my drink on my face an all down the front of my shirt and jeans. I turned on the faucet and dampened my face to clean off the gunk. It felt good to splash my face with water. It calmed me down and gave me a second to catch my breath. Then I got the hand towel that hung on a silver hoop and tried to dry the spots on my jeans and shirt. Getting the majority of them out I left the bathroom.

This huge group was surrounding a table in the middle of the living room where a guy was chugging down his cup and fist pumping. The crowd was enticing him to chug faster and faster. I walked up to the group and with a loud "Whoo!" I realized the guy chugging was the stupid kid who got punched in the face. He threw down his plastic red cup and leaped off the table and ran into the next room. It was like he had never even been injured. We followed the guy into the next room where he had somehow got a bottle of booze and started shouting that he was gonna get fucking wasted. The bottle that he began to drink was empty in a matter of seconds which was followed by a scream of accomplishment.

"Its like he's a new man." I jumped and turned around to face Owen who had startled me. "What the heck happened to him?" I asked. "I'm guessing it kicked in," Owen said as he leaned in so I could hear him. "That pill you gave him? That's why he is like that?" Owen chuckled and pointed in the beaten kids direction. Turning around, I watched as he stared to undress himself and throw his clothes at random people. "Thank you guy who I don't know your name," the boy said reaching his hand out to Owen. "I feel great. How about another round?" The crowd cheered and passed around bottles of different liquids.

"Where are your friends?" Owen asked with a light smile on his face. "I don't even know," I said in reply as I looked around, lost. I had no clue what just happened. One minute the dumb ass kid is a bloody pulp, the next he is the fucking life of the party. The next hour or so I spent with Owen wondering amongst the drunken teenagers from room to room. Strangers and some people I knew came up to us and held small talk about what Owen had done for the kid with the jacked up face. By 10:50p.m. Owen had become big news and everyone wanted to know him. Guys and girls mingled with us to find out who this mysterious guy with the magic pills was. "Do you want to get out of here?" Owen whispered in my ear. I bet he could tell I was getting annoyed by the party goers. "Please!" I said with a stern face. Owen showed off his white teeth and put one hand on my back as to escort me out of the loud house.

Walking back to his car, I remained quiet. "Hey um, do you want to hang out tomorrow? So I can explain what happened tonight." Owen said as we got to his car. I gave him a look of annoyance and uncertainty, because I could not see why he could not have told me tonight. "Sure why not," I said after a little pause. "Cool," said Owen and we got in the car. The ride to my house was quiet and kind of awkward. I just wanted to get home as fast a possible. As we pulled up to my house I saw my parents car was in the driveway. I got out and thanked Owen for taking me and he said it was nothing and not to forget about tomorrow. How could I? I was so lost and confused about what went down, I just wanted answers. After closing his car, I walked to my front door. Opening it, Owen backed out of the driveway and went up the street. My parents greeted me and I responded with a "hey." They asked how the party was and I told them crazy and that I just wanted to get to bed. They said ok and gave me a goodnight hug. I walked up to my room, got undressed to my underwear and slid into my cold bed. I laid there in silence waiting to loose consciousness and to forget the crazy party I had just left.