No one knew what that meant. Gracie didn’t even know what that meant. She clutched her beer and stared off into the distance.
“Please come with me,” Cadence begged.
“Go away.”
“No.”
“Go away, you bitch.”
“Um, I think she wants you to leave,” the blond-haired boy said.
“Fine. I don’t care what happens to you,” Cadence said. She turned on her heel and stumbled back to the couch. She sank into the cushion and stared as Gracie flirted with the three football players. She assumed they were football players for as large as they were.
Cadence drank more beers throughout the evening until she saw five of everything. In fact, she saw five Gracies following fifteen boys to the back of the house. Something didn’t sit right with her about it, and she concentrated hard to form the words.
“Michael, Gracie went in the back with those boys,” Cadence said, nudging her friend. He was busy making out.
“Huh?”
“Gracie’s in the back with three guys. Go get her!”
“Let her do her thing. She went back there with them. She made the choice.”
Cadence looked horrified. Her mind spun. There was no choice here. There was alcohol and bad judgment, but no choice.
She staggered to the back of the house and threw open the back bedroom door.
“Get out!” Gracie screamed.
Cadence pushed past the shirtless boys and grabbed Gracie’s shoulders.
“You’re drunk. You shouldn’t be in this room.”
“Hey now. Wait a minute . . .”
“Shut up!” Cadence shouted to the boys. “Look at me, Grace.”
“Don’t call me that. I hate that name.” She thought for a moment. “Remember we talked about it?”
“Yeah,” Cadence said. She thought she could win this one if she said the right things. “It was too grown up.”
Gracie giggled and nodded.
“Come with me, Gracie. You don’t want to be in here.”
“I’m grown up now,” Gracie said. She couldn’t hold Cadence’s gaze. She was too far gone.
Cadence watched the blond-haired boy wrap his arms around Gracie’s stomach from behind.
“Get off her,” she demanded.
“Okay girly,” the redhead said. He pulled on Cadence’s arm and dragged her to the door. “Time to go.”
“Get off me!” Cadence screamed. “Gracie!” She yanked hard on her arm, but she was no match for the boy. He tossed her out the door and shut it. She pounded on it then turned the knob, only to find it was locked. “Somebody help me! Help me!!”
“What the fuck, Cadence?” Michael grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway. Cadence dug in her heels.
“Gracie’s in there! They’re doing stuff to her!”
“You’re, like, totally wasted,” Michael replied. “Let’s go.”
“No!!” Cadence yelled. “Help her!!”
“Get that bitch outta here,” someone said.
“I know, man. I’m sorry,” Michael replied. He dragged Cadence down the hall, kicking and screaming, all the way out to the front lawn.
“I’m not leaving!” Cadence screamed. “Gracie! GRACIE!!”
She collapsed on the ground, clutching the grass as she spun on a merry-go-round that turned too fast.
“Stop moving,” she hissed and promptly threw up.
“Damnit,” Michael groaned. “Get your shit together, Cadence.”
She vomited again then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
She wouldn’t talk to Michael as they waited for Carrie to pick them up. She wouldn’t talk to him in the car. She didn’t say goodnight to him when they exited the elevator for their dorm rooms. Michael didn’t mind. He knew Cadence was drunk off her ass and wouldn’t remember anything in the morning. Cadence was convinced she would.
The morning came. And she remembered. The details were a little fuzzy, but she recalled trying to stop a girl from making a huge mistake. She failed, though. Was thrown out of the room. Was forced to stand in the hallway and imagine all of the horrible things that were happening on the other side of the door. And she couldn’t understand why she was the only one who cared.
***
“I got drunk at a party!” Cadence blurted over breakfast.
Mark said nothing. He drank the last of his coffee instead.
“I just thought you should know,” she went on. “I got wasted and threw up in the front yard.”
“I hope Carrie took care of you,” Mark said.
“She did. Well, in the beginning of the night. She was DD. She said she’d watch over me, but then she left us to go check up on her roommate who got food poisoning or something.”
“Who’s ‘us’?”
“Me and Michael.”
Mark scowled. “Did Michael get wasted?”
“Not really. I mean, I think so.” Cadence screwed up her face in thought. “I don’t know.”
“You were supposed to spend the night with Carrie.” Mark looked at her expectantly.
Cadence nodded. “She came back for us.”
Mark walked to the kitchen to refill his mug.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“What happened at the party?” he replied, returning to the table.
Cadence thought for a moment. How much was she willing to share?
“I saw Gracie.”
“Gracie at a frat party?”
Cadence shrugged. “Weird, right?”
Mark eyed her carefully. “Did you talk to her?”
Cadence nodded.