Warning. This may be triggering.<\/p>\n
Nathan<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI love you two. I want you both to come to Northwestern.\u201d Juliette throws out her arms and nearly smacks Nick in the face. He ducks, still holding her tight against his chest.<\/p>\n \u201cI can make plays for you right here, sweetheart.\u201d He winks at her.<\/p>\n She rolls her eyes slightly but doesn’t make any move to get Nick to release her.\u00a0\u201cIt’s because you won can you say those things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can both be winning in about five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n “You\u2019re too young to be this smooth.\u201d She runs a hand down his chest clearly enjoying being held up in the air and being pelted with bad lines.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot to learn. If only there were someone willing to teach me.\u201d He adopts a pitiful air and dips his head slightly so she can run her fingers through the bottom strands of his hair.<\/p>\n Juliette giggles. \u201cI\u2019ve been known to give some private lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n He whispers something to her that makes her flush and her eyelids slide to half mast. He doesn\u2019t need lessons, at least not the kind that she\u2019s able to teach but whatever he\u2019s said has Juliette ready to abandon her party. She points upstairs and he strides off to find some privacy for them both.<\/p>\n After the two leave, someone brings me another drink and there\u2019s a steady stream of North Prep kids along with some others who come out to give me a high five. Nick and Juliette are gone for a long time. Long enough for the clothes to start coming off and the pool lights to dim. There are couples in different stages of undress and coupling all along the pool\u2019s edge and in the water itself.<\/p>\n Jason Milhouse has Stephanie Stanton pinned to his chest and from the way she\u2019s rhythmically bobbing up and down it doesn\u2019t take much to guess exactly what\u2019s going on. Another guy on the basketball team is leaning against the pool\u2019s edge and his girlfriend is eating his face off. In the hot tub that\u2019s below me and to the left, there are two big chested girls who I don\u2019t recognize double teaming this year\u2019s homecoming king.\u00a0\u00a0One is kissing him and the other has her hand down under the water. His face isn\u2019t visible but it\u2019s hard to imagine he\u2019s unhappy.<\/p>\n On a night like tonight riding high from excess adrenaline, with a little too much alcohol, and enough pheromones in the air to make a virgin spread her legs, I\u2019m feeling Charlotte\u2019s absence keenly.<\/p>\n My dick is getting hard at watching the soft core porn taking place around me. In a couple of hours it will probably be triple x rated if Juliette has anything to say about it. The couples won\u2019t be going at it under the water. No, they\u2019ll have moved inside and be making out and out right fucking in her media room. It\u2019s happened before and tonight has all the hallmarks of another debauchery.<\/p>\n Abruptly, I sit up. I should go. It\u2019s not that I\u2019d cheat on Charlotte but being here, feeling aroused and alone doesn\u2019t make for a good situation.<\/p>\n Nick can stay here and I\u2019ll pick him up in the morning. If he\u2019s not entertained by Juliette all night, there\u2019ll be someone else that will occupy his time. I text him that I\u2019m heading out.<\/p>\n \u201cHey man, good fight.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the college guy that I knocked out\u2014the one who was vying for Juliette\u2019s favor and lost. I look at him warily but he\u2019s got a guileless look on his face. Maybe he isn\u2019t a bad sort. I shake the hand that he\u2019s holding out.<\/p>\n \u201cYou too.\u201d<\/p>\n He knocks the side of his forehead. \u201cGot me good here with a roundhouse. Nice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks.\u201d I throw him a bone. \u201cMy ribs are pretty sore.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo hard feelings,\u201d he says and offers me a drink.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks but I\u2019m heading out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t leave now or I will be offended. Come and have a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n He gestures toward the living room. I see his crew sitting with\u2026oh fuck, is that Greta? It is. She\u2019s sitting on the lap of the guy that Nick dropped and looking pretty friendly. His hand is up her shirt and she\u2019s looking pretty happy. I don\u2019t like her much but I can\u2019t leave without making sure that she\u2019s there because she wants to be not because she\u2019s too drunk to be able to say no. With a sigh, I take the drink. \u201cLead on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBuck Morrison. Sophomore at Northwestern.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNate Jackson. Senior, North Prep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou planning on fighting professionally?\u201d Buck asks as we drop down into chairs next to Greta and her new friend.<\/p>\n \u201cDoubtful,\u201d interjects Greta pulling her lips away. Her man starts mouthing her neck but Greta appears uninterested and, more importantly, not very drunk. \u201cHis dad owns a huge hedge fund. Don\u2019t you plan on taking over?\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a snideness to her voice, almost an accusation that I have too much. I don\u2019t know where it comes from given that her family is well off. Maybe not as well off as my parents, but they aren\u2019t hurting.<\/p>\n \u201cNot right now,\u201d I say but I\u2019m not interested in talking about my future with this girl. I haven\u2019t even had that talk yet with Charlotte.<\/p>\n \u201cNice.\u201d Buck nods his head. \u201cDaddy Warbucks paving your way.\u201d<\/p>\n I bristle at this statement. I\u2019m not interested in people measuring the size of my dick based on who my dad is. \u00a0It\u2019s exactly why I\u2019m going to join the military but I\u2019m not going to share that with these fools.\u00a0\u201cSure,\u201d I respond impatiently.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou okay Greta? I didn\u2019t know you knew any guys at Northwestern.\u201d<\/p>\n She rolls her eyes. \u201cNot everyone\u2019s interested in fighting.\u201d Her friend squeezes her boob and Greta releases a fake moan. At least it sounds fake to me but Buck grins like it\u2019s a hot sound.<\/p>\n \u201cDrink up man. You can\u2019t knock me out and then not share a drink together after. That\u2019d be bad sport.\u201d He knocks his cup against mine.<\/p>\n The dark liquid appears to be some cola mixed with rum. He\u2019s right. Dad would think poorly of me if I just walked out but that\u2019d mean I\u2019d have to wait another hour to make sure I\u2019m okay to drive. I guess after this I\u2019d head upstairs and find Nick and Juliette. There\u2019s got to be a small room in this place where I can chill out by myself.<\/p>\n I swallow half the glass. It\u2019s a really shitty drink mix. Greta\u2019s watching me avidly as if I\u2019m the most interesting creature she\u2019s ever seen. Her man is mauling her now, hand between her legs, another up the back of her shirt, but he could be caressing a stone for all the response he\u2019s generating. No, it\u2019s me she\u2019s fixated on in some weird way.<\/p>\n I down the rest of my cup to show Buck that I\u2019m a good sport, barely able to conceal the wince as the last of the bitter contents drains down my throat. Greta leans forward, satisfaction thick in her voice and evident on her face.\u00a0\u201cRemember this. You\u2019re only getting what you deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Her face is chilling. I swing my gaze to Buck and he too looks smug but I\u2019m no\u00a0lightweight. I stand up and head immediately\u00a0for the bathroom. I\u2019m going to stick my finger down my throat until it all comes out. But before I can make it, Buck grabs me from behind and places an arm around my neck. I struggle but the effects the alcohol and the drug are hitting me. The arm at my windpipe is making my vision fog.<\/p>\n I stumble and careen into a hallway wall. Buck grunts behind me as he takes the brunt of the hit. Thrusting my head backward, I try to knock him out. There\u2019s a curse and then a prick at my waste. Greta is there and she\u2019s holding something long and metallic. And then\u2026it\u2019s all a blur. My head is heavier than an anvil. My ears are blocked and I can\u2019t open my eyes but I sense movement. I try to lift my head up to see where I\u2019m going but it\u2019s too heavy and my eyes are glued shut.<\/p>\n At one point I\u2019m on the cusp of awareness. I can hear noises around me like the rustling of clothes. There\u2019s a tug at my waist and then the denim of my jeans gives way. Am I home? I try to roll my head to the side but there\u2019s a hand preventing me from moving. It must be a really powerful hand because my entire body feels\u00a0immobile. Struggling against the bonds does me no good. A\u00a0coolness hits my groin and chest, as if both are bare. The voices in the room sound tinny and far away.<\/p>\n \u201cGod, he\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n “Shit and he\u2019s not even erect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s wasted on that girlfriend of his. She probably only knows how to do it missionary style.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d let him take me anyway he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet on with it.\u201d That voice sounds like Buck, the guy I beat up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a dead man,\u201d I say but it comes out slurred. In the small recesses of my brain, I figure it out. He\u2019s drugged me.\u00a0They\u2019ve<\/em>\u00a0drugged me. Him and Greta. I don\u2019t know who else is involved. I hold on to one\u00a0thought. No matter what happens to me, I\u2019ll make them pay. It won\u2019t end well for any of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Warning. This may be triggering. Nathan \u201cI love you two. I want you both to come to Northwestern.\u201d Juliette throws…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-charlotte-chronicles","charlotte-chronicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}