After the End

The rest of the week seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was walking out of school with Julia into the hot summer day. I had worn the cutest outfits I owned this week just to piss off Trevor, and it worked. Every time he had seen me this week he turned red and gave me a death glare but I just flipped my hair and moved on. I was already over him and I felt now what it truly means to be a sassy single lady. And I loved it.

“This is so great.” Julia began “Two sassy single ladies taking on the world.” She said adding way more drama than was necessary, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Fighting bad hair days, stupid boys, and the forces of evil!” We were both dying of laughter when I remembered.

“Oh, by the way my parents said I could go to your party tomorrow night.” she squealed with delight and grabbed my arm.

“This is going to be so fun! I’ve invited all of the cutest guys in our grade. There’s going to be punch, soda, chips, everything. I’m sparing no expense. Oh and we’re going to have a big bonfire in the backyard once it gets dark out.”

We both smiled and laughed until we had to go our separate ways to our houses. I walked in my door and was greeted by Loki, jumping up on my legs and smiling. “Hi Loki, do you have to go potty? Huh, you have to go potty outside?” He jumped and barked and me and ran to the back door. I hooked him onto his tie out leash and let him do his thing while I checked my phone. It was time to delete Trevor and Marie from my contacts list. As soon as I did it I felt wonderful. I let Loki back in and cuddled with him until my parents got home.
When my mom got home I ran up to her and hugged her. “What are you so happy about?” she asked. “I thought you and Trevor just broke up.”

“We did but I’ve never felt better! I’m so happy now mom.” I smiled at her and we waited for dad to get home. Once he did I gave him a hug too and watched some TV while he made dinner. He was making grilled pizzas.

David sat down on the couch next to me and we talked for a little bit about the show we were watching, I loved being so close with my brother. It was like having a friend you knew would never abandon you. It also gave you someone to argue with and tease, but also protect. I could tease David all I wanted but if anyone else were to tease him I would probably attack them. That’s just how it worked, in my family at least.

At the dinner table we both told our parents funny stories from our last week of school, and I finally told them why I had really broken up with Trevor. But only because they asked.

“Honey” my mom began “I still don’t understand why you broke up with Trevor. He seemed so nice, and handsome.” We both laughed and I tried to brush it off, but she still looked keen on knowing why we had separated.

“Actually it was because he cheated on me…” I just trailed off and my whole family looked at me quietly. “I’m okay now though, I promise.” I smiled and we all went on eating, but the cold truth of that sentence seemed to hang in the air above us like a dark cloud.

My mom then spoke up again “Well that's a really awful thing for him to do, but I'm proud of you for having the courage to leave him and move on.”

“Thanks mom.” I smiled and we all enjoyed the rest of our dinner. Afterwards I went upstairs to my room and began planning my outfit for the party. I wanted to be comfortable but also still look fabulous. Tearing through my closet and dresser I must have tried on at least five different outfits. Finally I settled on a black and blue t-shirt dress over black leggings. To complete the badass look I added a black belt and black ankle boots. Once I had all of it figured out I laid the clothes on my dresser, changed into my pyjamas, and put in a movie. I tried texting Julia but she was already probably asleep. The soft tunes of the television sung me to sleep and I dreamt of wild, uncharted places.

The next day I went over to Julia's house a little early so we could do our makeup together and set everything up for the party. She helped me with my makeup, seeing as I never wear it usually. We filled bowls upon bowls of punch and snacks and finally around 7 everything was ready. People started filing in shortly afterwards, some who had been invited, others who hadn't. Julia set up a Pandora station and the music started blasting. I was chatting with a few girls from my French class when I saw Trevor walk in, Marie hanging on his arm. Sneering with disgust I went over to get more punch. There were so many people, it suddenly started to feel crowded. Trevor seemed to be talking to a lot of people, flitting around like a hummingbird. Suddenly a boy from my English class, Justin I think his name was, came up to me.

“Hey Daisy, how have you been?” He seemed a little off but I answered anyways.

“I've been okay, how about you?”

“Pretty good. I know you and Trevor broke up earlier this week, you doing okay with that?”

Jesus, I thought, does everyone know? “Yeah actually I'm pretty much over it now.”

He smiled and laughed a little. “Well I'm glad to hear that. I think Julia is starting up the bonfire. See you later!” And with that he ran out to the backyard. I followed and sat down on the ground by Julia. We all sat around and sang random songs together. Some of the more popular people made jokes and we all laughed. One thing I noticed though was the some people kept giving me weird looks, occasionally followed by a whisper to the person next to them. At the time I pushed it away and decided that I was just starting to get tired, so I must have been misinterpreting things.

After a couple hours we all got tired of keeping the fire going and went back inside. It was late now, maybe 11 or so. Everyone was swaying with fatigue but nobody wanted to leave. People sat on the couches and laid on the floor, quietly talking amongst their groups. The music had changed from roaring pop to slow, melodic hums. I was leaning up against the wall by the stairs, talking with a friend when Justin came up to me again.

“Hey Daisy, you want some more punch? I was just gonna get more for myself anyways.” He seemed to sway a little bit but I didn’t think anything of it.

“Yeah, sure.” I handed my empty cup to him. When he returned my friend left to go visit other people, leaving me and Justin relatively alone.

“So what are your plans for this summer?” he asked as he handed me my cup.

“I'm not sure, I might look for a job.” I paused to sip my punch. “I'm probably gonna go to my cousin's graduation in California too. What about you? Any exciting plans?”

“Not really. Just gonna keep working, hanging out with friends. The usual stuff.” His words seemed to slur together but again I attributed it to my fatigue.

“That's cool.” I vaguely responded. We stood there for a minute, awkwardly waiting for the other person to say something more. The room began to waver a bit, I felt like I was off balance. Dehydration I thought I just need a drink. With that in mind I drank the rest of my punch in a few large swallows. Justin took the opportunity to start talking again.

“So are you mad that Trevor and Marie are together now?” I scoffed scornfully, what a stupid question. Of course I was mad. My heart rate increased slightly and I could feel my blood pounding in my ears. I put my hand to my forehead, trying to steady myself but it didn't work. Justin looked at me with concern “Hey are you okay?”
At precisely that moment my vision started to get blurry, I found it hard to keep my eyes open. “N-no, no I'm not...” Not two seconds later I swayed on the spot and fell onto the stairs. I felt Justin pick me up abd start walking.

“Don't worry,” he said “I'll bring you upstairs so you can rest.” I nodded a little and saw us turn the corner. He carefully nudged a door open and we were in Julia's bedroom. After laying me down on the bed he walked over and closed the door.

“What are you doing?” I whispered sleepily. My head was still spinning, I felt nauseous.

“Just making sure that nobody bothers you.” As he spoke he stalked closer. “Mind if I sit down?” He gestured to the edge of the bed near me. I nodded and he sat down, I felt the bed move down under his weight. Closing my eyes I sighed.

“This is crazy, I don't know what happened.” I trailed off, my eyes still closed. My words slurred together. “I just...I don't understand.” I felt a shift in the bed, when I opened my eyes Justin was hovering over me. “What are you doing?”

“Just relax.” was all he said. Suddenly he crushed his lips against mine. I squealed and tried to push him away but I wasn't strong enough. He nudged my legs apart slightly with his, I knew now what he had been planning. Oh God...he must have drugged me… I began to panic. I had to do something, I had lost enough this week already, I couldn’t bare the thought of losing my dignity too. My thoughts raced to figure a way out.

Wait I paused. Justins lips had moved down to my neck. I know exactly what to do. And I screamed as loud as I could. He broke away immediately and I took the opportunity to run. My hands shook as I struggled with the doorknob but I finally got it open and ran downstairs, stumbling as I went. Julia saw me and caught me before I could fall.

“Oh my god, Daisy what happened?” She asked frantically.

“Justin…” I slurred “Justin drugged me...he was gonna…” she shushed me and hugged me close. Justin came downstairs into the living room. All eyes were on us now. Julia was in a rage, her eyes blazed as she stared at Justin. “How dare you!” she practically screamed. “How fucking dare you!” His response was swift and pulsing with anger.

“Oh please!” he yelled. “We all know that she cheated on Trevor tons of times. What difference does one more guy make?” We all stood there in silence. Then Julia took the words right out of my mouth.

“Who told you that?”

He looked astonished. “Trevor did, obviously. That’s why he dumped her.” I shook with rage. How could I have been so foolish as to believe that he would be nice afterwards. Masculinity can be such a fragile thing, I guess me leaving him shattered it. I felt myself start to cry, hot tears burned my eyes as they fell. But Justin kept talking.
“She's such a slut anyways. She's probably so loose that she wouldn't even feel it.”

I sobbed and felt my stomach wrench. How dare he say that, he has no idea what I've been through. I started to scream, Julia still supporting me in her arms. “How dare you!” I shrieked. “You have no idea how much it hurt to leave him! He cheated on me with that bitch Marie! He lied! He's a liar!” My voice cracked and I threw up. I had been so enraged that I made myself sick. The disgust and anger and fear had all caught up to me. I ran out of the house, barely staying upright. It was a cool summer night as I stumbled across the sidewalk. My vision was fading in and out, the street lights were blinding. I began to heave as I cried, gasping for air. Occasionally tripping over my own feet I wandered aimlessly, desperate to hide from what had just happened. Suddenly bright lights and the sound of screeching tires jolted me out of my stupor, but before I could move, everything went black.