Point Me Towards Tomorrow
All the good girls go to heaven?
That night I lost something important to me. I lost everything I had been protected from. I lost everything that my parents told me to keep forever.
***
The next week passed as slowly as frozen molasses through a straw. Estelle was secretly excited about the party, but also didn't know what to expect. She tried her best to pay attention in her classes on Friday, but her mind kept playing what might happen, both the good things and the bad things. Queen wasn't there to distract her, and she only had P.E. with Holly. Study hall was her last class, and Estelle couldn't do anything but draw little doodles all over her notebook.
When the bell rang, she ran to her locker and gathered her things up quickly. She was riding her bus home, which was very rare on a Friday afternoon. When she stepped outside to wait for the bus to come, she looked around at her bus-mates. She looked around to see if she could find her only good friend on the whole bus.
"Estelle, hi!" Came a deep male voice from behind her. She turned around and saw her neighbor, Aaron, running up to her.
"Hey Aaron! Long time, no see," she replied jokingly. They sat together on the bus every day that she rode and she was glad he was there. She really didn't like sitting alone. They got onto the bus and talked the whole ride home.
***
The two got off at the same stop and they parted ways at their front doors. Estelle stepped into her mother's house. She waved to her step father and ran up to her room. She changed into a tight-fitting striped dress and started to pace her room. To get to the party, she was to take a bus to a stop near the heart of the city and then walk to an abandoned park near Teddy's home. He would be there to meet her.
After an hour of lounging around and nervously pacing, Estelle left to go and get some food to eat. Her mother's house was near a small street filled with little shops and boutiques. She was to meet Teddy at seven, and she had three hours to spend before that.
***
Estelle got off her bus and saw the old park quickly. She jogged to the center of the small field and saw Teddy standing there. He was in head-to-toe black and his hair was pulled into a ponytail. Estelle ran up to him and the two linked arms without much talk. He led her down the street and into a small building.
The whole bottom of the building was empty, and she got a slight chill as they stepped inside. Music was already thumping from somewhere above, and the two went up a set of shaky spiral stairs. He lifted up a heavy oak trapdoor to reveal several people already dancing to a Linkin Park song and led her up through it. A sweet, musky smell filled her lungs, and from what she'd been able to tell from how her friends described it, the room smelled like pot. The room was almost entirely black and had little light, save for what was coming in from the windows. It was already twilight, so the room had an eerie reddish glow which was highlighted by the deep, blood red stripes painted on the wall.
Teddy dropped the trapdoor as Estelle stepped through it and a deep rumble came from it as he did. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her around, introducing her to many people at once. After a while of this, the two stood together and started dancing as Master of Puppets came on. She sang along and bounced around with the rest of the party-goers.
***
Estelle had been at the party for a couple of hours and had been dancing for almost all of it. Teddy took her hand gently after a while and led her to a sofa sitting against a wall. She sat down gratefully and he went off to go get her a drink. She was exhausted, but would stay for a few more hours.
Teddy came back holding two plain, red Dixie cups filled with who-knows-what. He sat down next to her and gave her one of the cups. She sniffed it questioningly. It smelled deeply of alcohol. She started to put it down when he stopped her.
"Do you not trust me to get you a drink?" He asked her. This made her feel guilty, so she closed her eyes and took a small sip.
***
Starting with that one drink, Estelle could only remember Teddy going to get her more and more of the Dixie cups. She was surrounded by people she had met who were all just as plastered as she was. She noticed that all the other people who had been dancing were all gone, and there were only about five other people there, including Teddy.
One of the girls who had been with Estelle drinking God-knows-what left for a moment to go to the one other, small room of the building. She came out a few moments later with a sandwich bag filled with white powder. She looked around with a mischievous grin on her face as she poured the bag's contents into small lines on the table.
Teddy had rolled up a few dollar bills and handed one to each person. When Estelle took hold of one, she realized what they were about to do, and felt a twinge of conscience telling her to leave. She shook the though off and joined the rest of the group as they all picked a line of the powder to put the bill up to. She put the roll up into one nostril and plugged the other. Her eyes automatically closed as she took a whiff of the powder.
***
The next week passed as slowly as frozen molasses through a straw. Estelle was secretly excited about the party, but also didn't know what to expect. She tried her best to pay attention in her classes on Friday, but her mind kept playing what might happen, both the good things and the bad things. Queen wasn't there to distract her, and she only had P.E. with Holly. Study hall was her last class, and Estelle couldn't do anything but draw little doodles all over her notebook.
When the bell rang, she ran to her locker and gathered her things up quickly. She was riding her bus home, which was very rare on a Friday afternoon. When she stepped outside to wait for the bus to come, she looked around at her bus-mates. She looked around to see if she could find her only good friend on the whole bus.
"Estelle, hi!" Came a deep male voice from behind her. She turned around and saw her neighbor, Aaron, running up to her.
"Hey Aaron! Long time, no see," she replied jokingly. They sat together on the bus every day that she rode and she was glad he was there. She really didn't like sitting alone. They got onto the bus and talked the whole ride home.
***
The two got off at the same stop and they parted ways at their front doors. Estelle stepped into her mother's house. She waved to her step father and ran up to her room. She changed into a tight-fitting striped dress and started to pace her room. To get to the party, she was to take a bus to a stop near the heart of the city and then walk to an abandoned park near Teddy's home. He would be there to meet her.
After an hour of lounging around and nervously pacing, Estelle left to go and get some food to eat. Her mother's house was near a small street filled with little shops and boutiques. She was to meet Teddy at seven, and she had three hours to spend before that.
***
Estelle got off her bus and saw the old park quickly. She jogged to the center of the small field and saw Teddy standing there. He was in head-to-toe black and his hair was pulled into a ponytail. Estelle ran up to him and the two linked arms without much talk. He led her down the street and into a small building.
The whole bottom of the building was empty, and she got a slight chill as they stepped inside. Music was already thumping from somewhere above, and the two went up a set of shaky spiral stairs. He lifted up a heavy oak trapdoor to reveal several people already dancing to a Linkin Park song and led her up through it. A sweet, musky smell filled her lungs, and from what she'd been able to tell from how her friends described it, the room smelled like pot. The room was almost entirely black and had little light, save for what was coming in from the windows. It was already twilight, so the room had an eerie reddish glow which was highlighted by the deep, blood red stripes painted on the wall.
Teddy dropped the trapdoor as Estelle stepped through it and a deep rumble came from it as he did. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her around, introducing her to many people at once. After a while of this, the two stood together and started dancing as Master of Puppets came on. She sang along and bounced around with the rest of the party-goers.
***
Estelle had been at the party for a couple of hours and had been dancing for almost all of it. Teddy took her hand gently after a while and led her to a sofa sitting against a wall. She sat down gratefully and he went off to go get her a drink. She was exhausted, but would stay for a few more hours.
Teddy came back holding two plain, red Dixie cups filled with who-knows-what. He sat down next to her and gave her one of the cups. She sniffed it questioningly. It smelled deeply of alcohol. She started to put it down when he stopped her.
"Do you not trust me to get you a drink?" He asked her. This made her feel guilty, so she closed her eyes and took a small sip.
***
Starting with that one drink, Estelle could only remember Teddy going to get her more and more of the Dixie cups. She was surrounded by people she had met who were all just as plastered as she was. She noticed that all the other people who had been dancing were all gone, and there were only about five other people there, including Teddy.
One of the girls who had been with Estelle drinking God-knows-what left for a moment to go to the one other, small room of the building. She came out a few moments later with a sandwich bag filled with white powder. She looked around with a mischievous grin on her face as she poured the bag's contents into small lines on the table.
Teddy had rolled up a few dollar bills and handed one to each person. When Estelle took hold of one, she realized what they were about to do, and felt a twinge of conscience telling her to leave. She shook the though off and joined the rest of the group as they all picked a line of the powder to put the bill up to. She put the roll up into one nostril and plugged the other. Her eyes automatically closed as she took a whiff of the powder.