Toni awoke in complete darkness.
She sat bolt upright in a panic as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Eyes darting around the room she took in the surroundings which were gradually becoming familiar. How people managed to fall asleep in the day and not wake up entirely disoriented was a wonder. It felt like six in the morning but the small digital clock on her bedside told her otherwise; the little red numbers displaying 7:45pm. She switched on her bedroom lamp and rubbed her tired eyes.
Obnoxious, raucous laugher reached her, echoing through the house. Great, Carol had guests. This meant one of two things based on past experience; she would either be locked in her room until they left or she would be called out to be at their beck and call. The latter was arguably worse than the former, especially with the amount of homework she had.
Heavy, uneven footsteps pounded down the hallway rapidly approaching Toni's door. Her heart leapt up to her throat and she held her breath. She desperately wished that her door had a lock, but that was not how Carol ran her house. The door swung open, the doorknob cracking against her the wall, probably adding to the massive hole that was there before she arrived.
Toni blindly grabbed for the book on her bedside table and opened it to the middle. Hopefully Carol was drunk enough to think it was a school book and that she was studying. Though, it was very unlikely that schoolwork was going to deter her from using Toni as her personal lackey.
"This isn't the bathroom," a deep, gruff and quite evidently drunk voice said.
Trying to hide her fear Toni replied, "No, it's not." She kept her head buried in the book hoping he would see that she was not interested in any interaction.
"Maybe you could come show me where it is then."
Luck was so rarely on her side.
She glanced up then. The man standing in her doorway could only only be described as greasy. His thin ginger hair was slicked back with what she could only assume was sweat based on the glistening film of grease coating his face. He looked like the male version of Carol, even down to the the wispy hairs above his lip.
Looking at his predatory smile made Toni feel very trapped. She couldn't say that she ever felt safe in this house but she had never felt as defenceless as she did now. So she did the only thing that she thought might erase that feeling.
The man's smile grew, exposing more tainted teeth as she got off of her bed and walked up to him. She clearly had the element of surprise considering the man blatantly thought this was going in a different direction, based on the way his eyes scanned her body.
"Damn," he grunted, "I thought I'd have to convince-"
She cut him off with a swift punch to his jaw.
He collapsed against the doorframe. Toni quickly grabbed her coat and backpack before he had the chance to recover. She pushed past him, breaking into a run as she fled the house, taking the back door to avoid Carol and her disgusting friends.
She ran for a few minutes with her bag in one hand and her coat in the other. Miraculously, she didn't fall over despite the icy pavements. She slowed to a walk once her mind cleared enough to register that Carol was hardly going to chase after her in the dark after a few drinks.
It was still snowing but the impromptu exercise had warmed Toni up. She put her coat on anyway and her hands in her pocket feeling the small ring her mother had left in there back when it was her coat. She was pretty sure that the ring was an engagement ring or a family heirloom. She didn't want to think that the only things left of her family was an old oversized coat and some piece of crap ring. She would rather think she was left with something special.
The ring brought her comfort but it wasn't magic. She had no where to go and was now at risk of being sent away as soon as she showed her face at Carol's again.
She suddenly thought of a foolproof solution to the first issue that would hide the events of her traumatic encounter from her friends while also taking her mind off of the second issue.
She knew just who to text.
Toni: Where are the parties tonight?
Fatin was pretty much on her phone all the time so she knew it would only be a matter of moments before she responded.
Fatin: You know how much I love a party but it is a week day, I have a curfew.
Toni: What? Since when?
Fatin: Since I bombed my cello recital before summer break.
Toni was a bit desperate at this point.
Toni: Sneak out. What are they going to do, check your room?
Fatin: Yes. Absolutely. That is what they do.
Toni sighed, this was clearly a lost cause. She was going to have to go alone. After a moment of wallowing her phone dinged again.
Fatin: Fine. You've convinced me. Dot is always up for a party if Mateo takes the night shift. Meet at mine, I'll call Marty, Leah and Nora. We're going out!!!
Her friend's complete inability to turn down a night out made Toni chuckle. Despite her evening she was actually feeling pretty buzzed for a party now. It was, however, a pretty long walk to Fatin's. Fortunately she had already been walking in the right direction.
After a moment of walking her phone started ringing.
"Dot!" She answered having seen the caller id, "You coming?"
"Yeah, Mateo just showed up." There was a long pause. "Has this spontaneous urge to party got something to do with what you told me today?"
"This is why I didn't want to tell anyone!" Toni felt her anger start to slip beyond her control. She managed to reel it back in before upsetting anyone. "Please don't make a thing out of this. I'm just hyped for a party. It's not that deep."
"Alright then!" Dot exclaimed, seemingly moving past the Carol situation. "I'm on my way to your place. I'll pick you up."
"Carry on further though because I've started walking already. Just honk when you see me."
"Alright see you in a few."
It was clear that Dot was trying to be casual about Toni's admission but she could hear suspicion in every one of her friend's sentences. There wasn't much she could do about it though. If Dot was going to worry than she was going to worry.
--------
"Fuck Dorothy, it's freezing out here." Toni was shivering violently when Dot finally pulled up 20 minutes later.
Dot leant over the passenger seat and opened the door for her. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was a taxi service."
Toni laughed and crawled into the seat. "Well if you were you'd have been on time so you've pretty much sidestepped that assumption."
The car was moving again before Toni had even fully closed the door. Why were all of her friends such reckless drivers?
"I've got something for you. And don't bite my head off for bringing it up." Dot didn't even look over at Toni as brandished a small bag of pills from her coat pocket.
"What is-"
"Oxy." Dot said, cutting Toni off. She took a deep breath and glanced over at Toni. "Look, I know your family has a history. Just, be responsible don't take it unless you desperately need it. If you're actually gonna stay with this psychopath for 2 more years than I've got your back. I wish you'd let me help in a better way but since you won't, this is the best I can offer."
Once Toni was sure Dot's monologue was over she sighed, "You didn't have to-"
"Just take it. Or better yet, don't. With any luck it will sit in the bottom of your junk draw until you move out and you'll never need it. I'm just saying if she breaks another one of your ribs, you've got something."
"I don't think they're broken," Toni replied, but still took the bag out of Dot's hands.
"That's not really the takeaway here. Broken or not you can hardly move."
This was not the conversation she wanted to be having. Just as she opened her mouth to to scold her for lingering on the topic, Dot, knowing her friend very well, continued, "That's it, don't start spiralling. Thats the end of my Carol talk." The car slowed and stopped outside of Fatin's gorgeous house. "Also we're here."
Relieved that the conversation was over, but also thankful for her friend's concern, Toni gave Dot's hand an affectionate squeeze before exiting the car. Just as they had both closed their doors, Fatin came running down her long driveway, heels in hand.
"Let's go party people!" The glamorous brunette squealed.
"Wait I thought we were getting ready at yours?" Toni said, looking down at her own drab attire of old sneakers, jogging bottoms and the hoodie she had worn for the past two days.
"No, not at all. I just said that so I'd have a lift." Fatin gave Dot and Toni a once over. "Dot, you're fine, Toni..." She paused, clearly disgruntled by the other girl's appearance, "Take this and pray that, by the time we get there, everyone is drunk enough to look past everything else." With that, Fatin handed Toni her jacket and swung herself into the passenger seat.
The other two followed suit. "So where to?" Toni asked Fatin. Still having had received no details about the night ahead.
"Andrew's"
"Which Andrew?"
Toni didn't even need to hear the answer to Dot's question. Based on her luck she knew exactly which house they were going to.