Chapter 40: Girls Night Out
Nina
“Fancy seeing you here,” Justin said with an oddly warm smile. “Can I sit with you?” I bit my lip and glanced around quickly, half expecting Lisa or someone else to be snickering nearby as if this was all a prank — but there was no one else. It seemed as though he came alone. Why was he acting so different all of a sudden and dressed like Enzo? It all felt a bit weird and I didn’t really want to stick around to see what would come of it.
“I was actually just leaving,” I said, shutting my laptop and standing as I slipped my things into my bag. Justin looked immediately saddened, but what could I do? He was my ex and I had made it clear, multiple times, that I wouldn’t be open to any sort of friendship or relationship with him after I found him cheating on me with Lisa in my own bed!
“Oh,” Justin said with a sad frown, his shoulders drooping. “Well, see you around, then.” I managed a pitiful smile before turning on my heel and practically running out of the coffee shop. What was all that about?
Jessica and Lori were waiting for me when I got home. Jessica was sitting on the floor with a little handheld mirror as she did her makeup, and Lori was texting on the couch when I entered. “You’re going out with us tonight,’ Jessica said matter-of-factly, not looking up from the mirror..
I stopped in the kitchen and cocked my head. “Oh?” I replied, a bit annoyed that it seemed that my roommates had decided for me already. “And where are we going?” “Some new club in town,” Lori replied. “It’s their grand opening. Free drinks.”
I sighed, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get out of this if both Lori and Jessica had already made up their minds. I loved them, but they were both extremely stubborn. “Alright,” I said, tossing my bag down on the counter and heading to my room to shower and get changed.
“How was your date?” Jessica asked, looking over her shoulder at me with a smirk. I paused at my door, not wanting to think about Justin randomly showing up like a clone of Enzo.
“It wasn’t a date,” I replied. “We were just studying. And… It was nice.” Jessica grinned and returned to her makeup. A few hours later, Jessica, Lori and I were standing in line outside the club, waiting to get in.
“I told you to bring a coat,” I said to Jessica, who was shivering and rubbing her arms. She was wearing nothing but a skimpy, sparkly pink dress with heels while Lori and I were both comfortable in the cold with our jackets on over our outfits. “It’s too much trouble,” Jessica replied. “I hate having to deal with coat check.”
Lori and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. “Next,” the bouncer said, waving us forward. He let us through without so much as checking our ID’s, which he had been doing with all of the girls so far. It seemed that they just wanted as many college girls as possible inside, which was a somewhat gross practice in my opinion.
Once we were inside and handed our coats over to the attendant, Jessica grabbed both Lori’s and my hands and dragged us straight toward the bar, where she immediately ordered three shots of some alcohol that I couldn’t hear her pronounce over the loud club music. The bartender filled three shot glasses and handed them to us.
“Let’s get wrecked!” Jessica shouted over the music, clinking her shot glass with us and downing it like a ditsy sorority girl. Lori and I gave each other another look at our friend’s goofy behavior and took our shots.
Next, we grabbed some drinks that we could actually sip and not have to drink all at once, then headed for the packed dance floor. The sweaty mob of horny college students swayed and bounced as one big unit to the music, the flashing lights making them look like they were moving almost robotically. Jessica, of course, wanted to be right in the center of the group and wriggled her way in with Lori and I on her heels. I took a big swig of my drink and scanned the crowd, happy to see that neither Enzo nor Justin were around; or at least, I couldn’t see them anywhere, which was a win for me at this point. Out of sight, out of mind.
The shot we took at the bar started to hit, and soon I was dancing along with my friends. It felt good just to let loose without having to deal with any drama just us three girls. I was glad that I had been paired up with them as roommates in our first year of college.
Soon enough, I finished my drink and decided to head back to the bar for another they were free, after all. I squeezed my way through the dance floor and walked over to the bar, leaning on it and letting my sore feet rest for a little bit. The bartender leaned toward me and cupped his hand around his ear to take my order.
“Vodka cranberry,” I shouted over the music. He nodded in response while I looked over my shoulder, smirking as I saw Jessica’s blonde ponytail bouncing above the crowd. She was pretty tall for a girl, and her heels and high ponytail only added to it.
“Vodka cran kinda girl, huh?” a male voice shouted over the music. I turned around to see a handsome man leaning on the bar next to me and smiling at me. He looked a bit older and had a businessman look about him. The bartender had already placed down my drink and the guy next to me had his own drink in his hand. I shrugged and picked up my drink, raising my cup a bit to him before drinking. “Come here alone?” the guy asked, leaning closer. He smelled like cologne and in my tipsy state, it was tantalizing.
“I came with my friends,” I said, pointing toward the crowd. The man only nodded slowly, almost seeming uninterested despite the fact that he was the one who asked me a question, and took another sip of his drink.
I followed suit and took another sip of my drink before turning to head back to the dance floor. Just as I turned around, however, everything started to spin. I suddenly felt nauseous and started to stumble, but a strong arm wrapped itself around me.
“Gonna throw up?” the man said. It looked like there were two of him standing above me. I nodded, trying to hold down my vomit. “C’mon,” he said with a smirk. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Inside my mind, I knew that this was getting dangerous. I knew that this man did something to me, and that he had bad intentions, but I couldn’t fight back. My body felt limp and useless as he half-carried me to the bathroom with an evil grin on his face. The room spun around me as the effect of the drugs became stronger, making me feel so sick I couldn’t even speak or call for help.
He carried me down the hallway to the bathrooms, but kept going past the bathroom and into a broom closet. He shoved me inside, making me stumble and fall on the floor, and looked around for a second to make sure no one was watching before coming in after me and closing the door behind himself. I watched in horror as he propped something heavy up against the door to keep anyone from getting in, then started to unbuckle his belt. I immediately vomited.
“Ugh,” he said, unzipping his pants. You’re pathetic.”
I could only groan and lay on the floor as he crouched down and flipped me over roughly, yanking up my skirt so he could have his way with me. I wanted to scream, to kick and scratch and bite, but I couldn’t. I felt like a prisoner in my own body and could only close my eyes and wait for it to be over.
“Hey! What the-” he yelled all of a sudden, jumping up. I heard the sound of a struggle. A shelf toppled over, sending buckets and brooms sliding across the floor..
The last thing I saw before the drugs knocked me out was a familiar skull leaning over me and scooping me up off the ground.
