In Pursuit Of ✔

Abducted

Henley Johnson had had just a bit too much to drink. She wasn't the only one, of course, and she was not the most intoxicated person in the room by far. But still, as she wobbled around the room, Henley felt the floor lurch under her feet and she had the sudden need to go outside for some fresh air.

Henley and several other 22-year-old former students were celebrating. The UC Berkeley graduation ceremony had been held earlier in the day. Henley had been bursting with pride at the ceremony as she received her diploma and listened to the commencement speakers, but spending a last few moments with the friends she had made over the last four years were what really made this day special.

"Henley!" Henley had been making her way to the entrance of the apartment, desperate for just a couple of moments of the cool, night air. At the sound of her friend's voice, however, Henley turned back around.

Alyssa Sanchez, the girl who Henley was paired to room with in their freshman year and who quickly became Henley's best friend, bounded up to her. For those who didn't know Alyssa, she would have appeared wildly drunk with her loud voice and constant bouncing to the music. Henley's close relationship with Alyssa, however, meant she knew how much energy Alyssa had on a regular basis without a single drop of alcohol in her system. In fact, Henley could tell that Alyssa hadn't had that much to drink tonight at all.

"Where are you going?" Alyssa half-shouted over the music that she was still dancing to.

"Just outside for a bit," Henley made herself heard through all the noise. "I just want a little bit of air. It's hot in here."

"Sounds perfect!"

Grinning at her friend, Henley took Alyssa's arm and the two girls exited the crowded room and reveled in the fresh, late night air. "Do you want to walk a little bit?" Henley asked the other girl.

Alyssa nodded, and the pair began to walk up the street. The street itself was fairly deserted, but Henley could see lights, sometimes flashing, in almost every apartment as their inhabitants celebrated graduation and the end of the school year.

"I can't believe we're going to be so far apart next year," Alyssa pouted.

"It's only half a state," Henley reminded her.

"It's a big state!"

Henley was planning on staying in the Bay Area; she had a job working as an assistant in a book editing and publishing agency. It was a job she had coveted ever since she had decided to major in English with a creative writing minor three years prior. She spent her entire senior year bugging Berkeley English faculty to gain contacts in different editing and publishing agencies across the Bay Area. Henley was pleased at how well it worked out, and beyond excited to start her position there.

Alyssa, on the other hand, had spent a large portion of her senior year working on medical school applications and studying for the MCAT. After moving out from her Berkeley apartment, Alyssa would be moving back home to Los Angeles and attending medical school at UCLA in the fall.

"Well, you'll be much closer to Disneyland," Henley reasoned. "Which just gives me more motivation to drag myself all the way down there to come visit you. So I'm sure I'll be down as frequently as my job allows it."

"It would be fun to do a grad trip there," Alyssa said.

"Remember when we went down for spring break a couple years ago?"

As they continued to wander the residential streets of what was mostly university student occupied apartments, the two girls spent time reminiscing about their time at Berkeley and the travels, mostly to Disneyland, Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe, that they had done on breaks and long weekends. Henley was beginning to feel more clearheaded as the alcohol passed through her system, and while not entirely sober, she could think straight and was not in any danger of throwing it all up. She was grateful that she hadn't had more to drink than she did; Henley hated throwing up.