I was beginning to second guess my choice right around the same time they brought out the alcohol.
Don't get me wrong, I actually really love parties. But when alcohol is brought into play, I suddenly "get sick", if you know what I mean. There was was no scapegoat this time, however. Don was at the State of the Union address and would not be disturbed. I had no money to get a cab and my driver's license was suspended for another month.
So here I was, trying to get a very drunk Student Body President off me, while trying to tune out the pounding music. The suspicious smell was beginning to make my head spin.
"Heeyyy, don't be like that," I had to strain my ears to hear what he was saying. "You can trust me."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, "Thanks, but no thanks."
I finally shoved him of me and got up to go get a drink of water. I weaved in and out of seniors who were getting a little too intimate on the dance floor. It was pretty accurate to say the festivities were veering off course. It was supposed to be a nice half-way-through-the-year senior party, but instead it was this hormonal, alcohol-induced insanity.
"And where do you think you're going?"
I cringed, I thought I had a straight shot out of here, but I had forgotten one key variable, my best friend, Vanessa. As I turned around, I noticed her breath smelled strongly of booze and was staggering a bit as she walked over to where I was standing. She slung her arm around my shoulder, putting nearly all her weight on me, "Stay at the party!" She shouted directly in my ear. "It'll be fun!"
I grimaced as I gently unraveled my way out of her grasp, "Look, I'm not feeling super great..."
"Bull!" She shrieked. "I call BULL! You're just trying to leave!" She turned away to puke on the floor, "Fine, fine, that's totally fine."
This girl is drunk.
"I need another beer!" She announced. It's not like anyone was paying attention, but hey, let the drunk girl have her moment.
She staggered her way off to find Parker, the alcohol supplier. It dawned on me that I probably her only ride home that won't get her ticketed, jailed, or killed. I ran my hand over my face, this was going to be the longest night of my life, and it wasn't even nine o'clock yet.
I figured I might as well make myself comfortable as I could in this dump. Somebody's stepdad owned a really old warehouse and let us use it for this party. It definitely was a fixer-upper, but everyone claimed it was better than our school's newly renovated gym (though I suspected it was only better because they could get drunk). Some people tried to fix it up a bit by adding a few couches and sweeping, but the couches looked out of place and you could still find the occasional rusty nail. It got me a little worried for the kids who decided that shoes were unnecessary.
I eventually made my way to a corner where I could have some peace. I could kill a few hours by starting my essay portion for my application to Harvard. I whipped out my phone and looked at the essay prompt.
Name 5 problems facing the U.S. government and how would you fix them. No more than 2500 words.
I could think of at least twenty things off the top of my head, but with solutions? Well, no one said this would be easy. I began a rough draft.
Don would be hearing all about this right now. The State of the Union address was actually pretty cool and I would've love to stay, but Vanessa insisted that I needed more human interaction.
~
"Come on! It'll be fun!" Vanessa sounded desperate, "I don't want to be alone and besides Sebastian might be there."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Vee, for the last time, I do not have a crush on Sebastian."
"Yes, you totally do! What about that one time you saw a movie together?"
"We're just friends. And besides, it was a horror movie, it was hardly romantic."
"You saw a horror movie with him?!" She screamed, making my ear bleed, "Why was I not aware of this?"
Don called up to me from downstairs, "Jen! Dinner's ready!"
"Hey, I gotta go. Dinner's ready."
"Peterson! We are not done--"
I hung up and threw my phone on my bed. Time for another burnt dinner that would probably lead to ordering Chinese again.
~
I shook my head. Now was not the time for reminiscing. I returned to my essay.
"Are you Jen Peterson?"
I looked up, half expecting to see the drunk Student Body President again, but I was delightfully surprised. He was a face I had never seen before. I was very unfortunate to have never been blessed by this brown haired, blue eyed young man before. And he wasn't drunk! Bonus!
"I am. And who might you be?"
He shook his head, "Unimportant. What is important is you need to leave the building now."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Just leave, now. And if you ever meet a woman by the name of Sharon Greene, don't trust her."
"What are you talking about?" This guy was getting less and less attractive each time he opened his mouth. Ms. Greene was a woman my dad respected and trusted a lot. Some strange boy's opinion wasn't going to change all of that.
"And one more thing, there's a secret room--"
The world went completely dark. There was a loud, high-pitched ringing in my ear. At first I thought one of the speakers had blown out because of a power outage or something, but that didn't sit well with my brain. I slowly cracked open my eyes. From the few glimpses I got, I knew immediately that something wasn't right. All I could see was the sky. I panicked and shot up. Unfortunately, my body did not like that response and I passed out again. When I came to, some ash had settled on my face and I saw out of my peripheral that debris surrounded me as well. There was an aroma of singed hair, which made me unload my modest dinner onto the floor.
I could only glance down at my body. What I saw wasn't good. I was covered in blood and ash. I attempted to slowly sit up this time, but my ribs screamed or maybe that was me. At any rate, I knew there was probably more injuries. Faint sirens blared in background and I knew an ambulance would be here soon.
Nothing made sense. I faintly remembered what happened before the first time I blacked out, but my head was pound and I couldn't think straight. And besides what did happen? Did the speakers really blow out? Or was it something far worse?
I felt hands grab my arms and hoist me up, much to my body's disapproval. I was carried over somewhere and put in a sleek black car. I thought they were going to take me to a hospital in the ambulance, but my wounds must not have been as bad as I thought.
"Ma'am, I'm Agent Wilson and this is Agent Carter and we're going to escort you to the White House."
"The White House?" My voice sounded hoarse, "What for? Is Don okay?"
The silence fell like a heavy blanket. I watched as cars and people whirred past us. By the time we pulled up to the front doors, the agents hadn't said a word.
The next few minutes went by in a blur. The agents yanked me out of the car and rushed me into the White House. Everyone inside were like a swarm of bees, rushing back and forth, running up and down stairs, delivering documents, answering phone calls, it was overwhelming.
Even through all of the bustle, people stopped to take a look at me as I was ushered past them. They huddled in little groups talking in hushed tones that allowed me to only hear a few phrases.
"...capitol building..."
"...all of them..."
"...the girl...our new president..."
New president? What happened? Did the capital get bombed? Was Don the new president?
The thought made me stop in my tracks. Don was going to be the new president. Or maybe he already was. I wasn't entirely sure. One thing for sure is that our lives were going to be a whole lot different from now on.
