Now is a Scary Word

Chapter 6

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were a complete and utter blur. Jodie's mind was so caught up with the apparent drug use her friend was involved in that the only things she could remember from those three days was the dress Katherine lent her and her friends' endlessly pestering her to go and ask some guy to the party, which was never achieved.

Jodie clumsily strode though the front gates on Friday morning. Her brain was so exhausted from her internal ordeal she hardly recognised her own named being called from Katherine's mouth.

"Hey Jodie! Hurry up!" Katherine's voice rattled throughout Jodie's skull, yanking her weary brows up from her eyes. She could detect an abnormal enthusiasm in her voice. Katherine was an excitable person, however she could not shake the feeling that something was not as usual, but Jodie now took every gesture, word and tone Katherine exemplified with a huge grain of salt anyway. She forced her creaky neck to the left and was greeted by the sight of Katherine waving gleefully and motioning her closer. Jodie begrudgingly began to take steps towards the girls at the table.

"Oh my god Jodie!! I am so damn excited right now!!" squeaked Katherine as Jodie neared. She simultaneously removed her bag from her shoulder and plopped herself onto the edge of the bench, scooching along to get into a more comfortable position. Katherine flung her arm over Jodie's neck before returning to speaking.

"I cannot wait for this party tonight! It's going to get crazy!!" she slightly tightened her grip around her neck with her arm, causing Jodie to wiggle herself free from the supposed "friendly" headlock. Within moments, the words sunk through to Jodie's mind and her breaths began to shorten. She had completely forgotten the party was tonight. She could sense her muscles starting to twitch in response to the horrifying realisation. Her lips parted as her mouth slowly dropped, her jaw quivering.

"Jo.. are you ok?" Jodie couldn't comprehend who, but the sheer sound of a voice snapped her out of her mental breakdown just long enough for her to respond.

"Uhh.. yeah, yeah 'course I am," she replied in the most convincing voice she could muster, "just remembered.. I have to.. do the dishes when I get home that's all. Just uh, really wanted to get ready for that party!" She released a clearly fake chuckle in an attempt to sell her excuse. She quickly flicked her head down and gritted her teeth in anxiety. In no stretch of the imagination was she excited for the party anymore. She honestly did not feel the same around Katherine, which to be fair wasn't an uncommon symptom of someone in the presence of a drug user. She could no longer predict what Katherine would do next. One moment she is her best friend, and the next she's venting about how annoying she is. She had seemingly set up Katherine as a sort of shield, or security blanket. She would know how to act at the party and would gladly accept Jodie under her wing. But now, her feathers were tightly pressed against her body, and Jodie's one safety net had been demolished.

No one was paying attention in class. The teacher furrowed his already wrinkled brows at the deafening buzz reverberating about the room. He eventually resided to his desk in defeat and frustration. Jodie sat, spinning her pen through her fingers while trying to calm her ravenous heart rate. She peered down at her chest and noticed her shirt, visibly rippling due to the strength of the beats. Katherine rocked back on the seat next to her. She reached her arms backwards to grab the attention and begin talking to the boys who had moved in behind them. As soon as word of the party slipped past Katherine's lips, Jodie's head gravitated towards the desk; bringing her arms up and cradling them around the edges of her face to shield any light from entering. Her friend caught a glimpse of this out of the corner of her eye, and returned to her normal position.

"Joooooooodie," Katherine cooed, "What's wrong?"

In response, Jodie lifted her head from the table, simultaneously shaking it and stroking her fingers over her temple. She let out an indistinguishable mumble.

"There's something wrong Jo, I'm not blind-" Katherine suddenly cut of her speech. She looked at Jodie, and a huge smile grew across her face. "Its the party, isn't it? Yes, yes it totally is! Oh, I am a genius, I tell you!"

Jodie managed to cough up a partially sarcastic nod.

"So, you are coming home with me and then we will get you all dolled up, then jump in my car and off to Jaye Langford's house. God he is soooo good looking. Maybe I should've decided to go with him. He's really popular too; head of the soccer team and hangs out behind the demountables when he wags. Seth and I have tons of fun together though."

Jodie had to hold herself back from lunging forward and shaking Katherine silly, screaming in her face that what she was doing was wrong. She truely wanted to help Katherine. She was the type to forgive a person no matter what they had done, and attempt to move past it. However, it was getting awfully hard for Jodie to continually try to control herself from confronting her friend.

The day stretched on. Some lessons appeared to be done just as Jodie sat down, while others dragged on for seemingly hours at a time. The usual relief Jodie felt when the final bell sounded was replaced by the feeling of being drop kicked in her lower abdomen. She made her way down the halls and to the front of the school as efficiently as she could, however the non-stop buckling of her knees made it rather challenging. She saw Katherine in her line of sight, waving violently and mouthing 'Hi!' all with a smile so large it almost appeared painful. With the deepest breath she could muster sucked into her lungs, Jodie joined Katherine and the two began the walk back to her friend's house.