Fly Until You Crash

After Slade expressed his dislike of Justin, which Addie still couldn’t figure out how he felt “bad vibes” from him, she stopped talking about it. She only quickly mentioned that they were hanging out on Wednesday, to which Slade again warned her about watching out for herself. Addie didn’t know if guys had different perceptions of people than girls did, but she had no idea why Slade didn’t like Justin. She asked the rest of her friends what they thought about him, and they all said that he seemed like a cool guy, but maybe not the type of person Addie needed, meaning they felt the same way that Slade did, but were being nicer in telling her.

When Wednesday night rolled around, Addie quickly changed from a tee shirt to a nice tank top to get ready for her date. She continued to think about why her friends didn’t like Justin, but still couldn’t come up with a reason. He was just like them. Maybe they were thinking that because she was more of a goody-goody than they were that she couldn’t hold her own with he and his friends. She was determined to prove them wrong.
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During their dinner date, Addie asked if Justin was going to any parties that weekend. He laughed and replied that some of his friends in Phoenix were throwing a house party, but there wouldn’t be anything there that Addie would be interested in. Without telling him about what her friends had said, she informed Justin that she wanted to get out and experience more things that she had blocked herself from in the past. She really just wanted to see Justin’s world and report back to everybody that he was just like them.

“I really think it’s a bad idea for you to go to this party with me,” Justin protested. “There’s one around here next week that would be a lot more fun for you. You’d know more people there.”

“I wanna get away from people I know though, and I wanna meet who you hang around with,” Addie insisted, using her best pouty face and voice.

“These aren’t my friends, though, they’re people my cousin talks to. Trust me, you have no idea what goes on at these things,” he continued, shaking his head.

“Which is exactly why I want to go,” she simply stated.

“Fine, you can come. You’re going to hate it though,” Justin said, throwing his hands up in mock defeat. Addie smiled, triumphantly. She wasn’t going to tell Slade about her outing the upcoming weekend, knowing he’d flip a shit and sit at her house to make sure she didn’t go. She’d wait until Monday to tell the story, letting him know that she could handle Justin.
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Justin picked Addie up at eight on Saturday night, as there was an hour drive to get to Phoenix. She’d told her mom that she was staying at Slade’s that night having a movie marathon, knowing that she wouldn’t question the lie.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Justin asked, still skeptical, as she slid into the front seat.

“Absolutely, now drive,” she demanded. Justin lectured her on the “bad” things that would be happening, warning her to not leave his side for fear of being drugged and ending up as someone’s plaything for the night. Addie laughed at this comment, not realizing until they pulled up to the house at how serious he was being. “This…isn’t what I was expecting.”

“I tried telling you. Now come on, you wanted to see my world,” he said, leading her into the house. Addie had never seen anything like this before, at least not for herself. The scene looked like it came from a movie; people already passed out on couches and floors, the usual red cups accompanied by other, smaller, blue cups that seemed to hold a “special” liquid in them, random couples sprawled on the staircase and along the walls, doing unsightly things. She swore that she witnessed a drug deal go down in the kitchen, but didn’t want to ask. “Let’s go meet my cousin and his girlfriend.” They walked to the basement, an apparent cloud of smoke as soon as the door opened. Addie clung tighter to Justin, scared at what she had gotten herself into. As they descended the stairs, a skinny, sickly looking guy waved the two over.

“Justin! Good to see you again! This must be your girl, Addie, right?” the guy said, pulling Addie into a hug. He stunk of stale beer and body odor, along with something else Addie couldn’t identify. “I’m Lyle, this kid’s favorite relative. I made him everything he is today, don’t let him tell you otherwise. Oh I forgot, this is my girl, Catie.” He motioned to an equally sickly looking blonde on the couch. She gave a half-hearted wave before laying her head on the armrest. “She hasn’t had her fix in a few hours, waiting for her hookup to get here. I got off that shit, it’s no good for you.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet the both of you,” Addie finally responded, unsure of what else would be appropriate to say. After Justin and his cousin exchanged a few more words, the two left the basement and headed back to the kitchen. “Please get me something to drink.”

“Sure thing, sweetie,” Justin said with a laugh. “This is the reason I don’t see my cousin that often, only three or so times a year. He scares the shit outta me.” Addie sighed with relief that this wasn’t the exact environment Justin spent most of his time. He handed her a beer, before warning her not accept any drinks, especially the blue cups, and only drink straight out of the keg, any other alcohol might’ve been spiked with something. The two walked into the backyard, greeted by another cloud of smoke. “We don’t have to go out here if you don’t want, I know you don’t like the smoke.”

“Actually, I was thinking that I should indulge tonight,” Addie surprised herself by saying. Justin, also looking surprised, shrugged and led her to a back shed where three girls and a guy were sitting in a circle, passing a joint.

“You sure about this?” he asked again, Addie quickly nodded her head, reassuring both her date and herself that she wanted to do this. It was the only way she could prove to herself, especially, that she could keep up.