I wanted to join her at the bonfire more than anything. I also knew I wanted to get to know her genuinely. She seemed too good to be true.
“I’ve got to talk to a few more people real fast. But meet me on the back patio in ten?” she asked with a smile, her green eyes the color of dark emeralds.
I stuttered, “Yes. In ten minutes.”
The downstairs powder room had a line, so I made my way up the two flights of stairs, hoping to find an accessible toilet away from a crowd. I was opening doors, trying to sort out where the bathroom was when I opened a door and found Danny Danger. It was like he was waiting for me.
“Red. I knew you’d find me soon. I was giving you another five minutes before trying to find you.”
His voice sent shivers down my neck, tightening my spine, and my stomach clenched. There was a menacing undercurrent to his words.
Danny pulled me into the room, closing the door before I could protest. My limbs felt heavy, unfamiliar like they weren’t mine. I couldn’t lift my arms much, and my legs struggled in an imaginary quicksand.
“Oh, baby girl, you’re going down fast. I gave you the minimum dosage. I need to move now. I don’t like them completely zombied out. Let me get you to the bed.”
My hands wouldn’t cooperate as I tried to flex my fingers.Danny moved fast, taking my red sleeveless sundress and panties off, my bralette hanging in pieces from being ripped.
He moved closer, spreading my legs and examining me with his large hands. I could feel my hot tears, streaking down my face, and I moaned a low cry as best as I could.
He rolled me onto my stomach, perhaps to begin working from behind. Danny had my hair, my face pinned to the side where he could watch me. His harsh labored breathing echoed in the large room as he touched me. I could barely hear the music downstairs, muffled up in his tower. Then, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the adjoining bathroom door clicked open, and a tall guy with short mousy brown hair streaked with blonde stepped into the room, his brown eyes narrowed.
“She was easy enough, huh?” he said to Danny.
Danny laughed, “The poor ones always are easy. She is ready to be shared, Johnny. Get over here, man.”
Johnny dropped his pants, revealing his erection. It marked me as he approached me. With every step he took, my chest tightened. All the alcohol in my system threatened to upheave from my stomach.
A loud crash sounded behind me when the tip of Johnny’s dick was nearing my clamped lips. Danny crumpled to the floor. I could only see from his shoulders up to his face. His eyes closed, with blood coloring his temple.
“I will cut your fucking dick off if you don’t get the hell away from my friend right now!” Charlotte howled.
Her hand still clutched a large piece of broken mirror.
Johnny didn’t hesitate to run from the room naked.
Charlotte dropped the glass after he left. She helped clean me up, dressing me again.
“You’re coming home with me tonight, babe. No guy is going to hurt you again while I am with you,” she said gently.
“How?” I managed to ask, my voice slurring as drool trickled out the corner of my mouth.
“You must have gotten lucky with the dosage of whatever he gave you. Talking is a good sign, no matter how little. Anyway, it’s been longer than ten minutes. I was worried about you and started searching for you in the house. I heard these two Neanderthals from the hall. I’m so glad I didn’t just leave you here alone.”
Charlotte took me home with her. She made hot chocolate and helped me bathe once the drugs eased out of my system. Finally, Charlie helped me into her bed to sleep for the night. She even left the bathroom light on so I wouldn’t be scared in the dark that night.
Before turning off the bedside lamp, she turned to me and said, “I know this night started shitty. But who knows? This night could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” she half-joked.
I laughed a deep, warm chuckle that filled my belly as I hoped with all my heart it would be true.
I didn't realize that I liked girls because I still liked and wanted to fuck guys. I thought you could only like one or the other. I didn’t know that you could enjoy both.
After what happened to me back home with Jerry and Old Greg, and then later with Danny Danger, I could never trust men. You have one shitty experience on top of another, getting broken repeatedly. They ruin you completely. A few bad apples must mean the rest of the apples are rotten. Which makes you want to move on to an entirely different fruit.
I always found girls pretty. I wanted to be like the pretty ones. I wanted attention, needed a friend, and longed to be loved more than anything. I felt like I finally found that with Charlotte. So yeah, I am a little crazy about her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Whenever anything goes to shit, which has been my entire life, Charlotte is the only good part. But, the night she saved me, she became more than just Charlotte. She became my savior, my everything.
She's always there when I need her. She has never asked for anything in return.
I wish with all my half-rotten heart that I was as brave as I pretend to be so I could tell her how I feel because I’m slowly going insane. Maybe I should give up the ghost and try to move on to someone new. But until someone else stirs me the way Charlotte does, I’m stuck.