6 FIRSTS

It was Friday. The party was tonight, but I had put off telling my mom about the party until last night. She was so excited that I was going on my first date. She wanted me to go all out, to dress up, do my hair and wear makeup. I knew it wasn’t that type of party. Oh, I could have dressed up. I’m sure some girls there would be. But I didn’t want to be associated with them.

She had gone through my closet and pulled out everything she thought looked nice. I kept rejecting everything. I finally agreed to wear a loose dark gray A-line skirt, which was one of my favorites, though I didn’t wear it very much. I usually dressed in pants. They were so much more comfortable. She chose a light blue flowered blouse to go with it.

For jewelry, I wore my favorite gold earrings and a gold necklace with an aquamarine pendant, which is my birthstone. I had practiced with makeup only a few times, since I never wore any, so Mom had to help me. She put on a little eyeliner and mascara, a little blush on my cheeks and lip gloss for my lips. We finished off my look with a gold barrette to tie up one side of my hair.

When the doorbell rang, Mom answered the door. Mom had said it was always best for the girl to make an entrance. I could hear her talking to him for a minute before I came down the stairs. They stopped talking when I came in.

“Whoa, you look ho… ah, good,” he said.

“Thanks.” I smiled at him. I hadn't really had a lot of hope for this date, knowing who would be there, but it was still my first date. My stomach was all tied in knots.

Brad wasn't dressed up much at all. Maybe he was wearing a different shirt, but I couldn't tell for sure. Mom was beaming at me. She looked like she wanted to say something to me, but she didn't.

However, as we left she said to Brad, “Make sure to have her home by 11.”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied.

We went over to his car, which was in our driveway. It looked like it had been nice at one time, but that was a long time ago. The paint was splotchy, the doors were dinged up, and I could see rust holes along the bottom.

I noticed that he didn't open the door for me, but really I hadn't expected that. Dad never opened the door for Mom, that I ever noticed. But I know it's a thing in some romances.

I could smell some exhaust coming in from somewhere, once he got the noisy engine going. Thankfully, we didn't have to go too far. We were both quiet on the way to Macie’s. So I finally decided to speak up. “So, what do you like to do?”

“Oh, um… I play basketball. I'm on the school team. Have you been to any of our games?”

“No, sorry. My dad watches a lot of basketball and football, but I just never got into it.”

“You should come to our next game. We're playing Sunday night. It's really exciting, especially when we are winning. You can cheer for me.”

“Um… I'll think about it.”

It got quiet again. He didn't ask about me at all. Thankfully, we soon arrived. The house was big, with lights on all over. There were many cars parked tightly, on both sides of the street. We had to park and walk from a block away. I could hear music playing loudly before we were halfway there.

When we entered we found the house packed with kids, though some looked older than high school. Looking around, I didn't see any adults. Everyone was yelling, because the music was so loud. In other words, you couldn't hear yourself think. In the big living area some kids were dancing, but most of them were standing in groups, trying to talk over the music.

Brad grabbed my hand and dragged me to the kitchen area. There were a bunch of kids there too, but we also found food and drinks. There were all kinds of chips, dips, cheeses and other finger foods. For drinks, there were many cans of beer and a punch bowl that people were refilling with juice, and what looked like a bottle of alcohol.

I decided right then that I wouldn't drink anything, except water. I knew what alcohol did to people, because I had seen what it did to my family, not just my father. My brother and sister both drank a lot, and I had even seen my mom drink sometimes. Brad started loading up a plate with food and grabbed a can of beer. I decided to get a few things on a plate, but there were too many people around the sink and fridge, so I couldn't get anything to drink.

I had watched Brad go back toward the living room with his food, so I headed that way and found him talking to some other boys. When I got there, they were talking about sports. I just decided to stand close by, assuming he would only be a minute, and started working on my plate of food.

After I finished my plate, Brad was still ignoring me for his friends, so I found an unoccupied chair nearby and sat down. I had only sat for a minute when Macie, Ashlie and Keisha came up to me.

“So, where's your date?” Keisha asked.

“Brad is over there, with his buddies.”

“Did you get anything to drink?” Keisha asked. When I shook my head, she handed me a cup of the punch.

“No, thank you.”

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“Oh, you've got to try this. It's so good.” She handed it to me again, more forcefully. I took it from her this time, mostly because I didn't want her to spill it on me. I could see they were all a little wobbly.

Macie walked over to Brad and pulled his arm. “Brad, you are ignoring your date. Don't be so rude.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, guys. I have a date.” He chuckled and the others laughed, but then some whistled and began to cheer him on.

What was that about?

“Sorry, Keyva,” he said to me. “Let's go find a quiet place to hang out.” He reached out, so I took his hand. We worked our way through the crowd to the grand staircase and went upstairs. As we passed a small tree in a large planter, I quickly poured my drink out, hoping no one noticed.

He had to check a number of rooms, before he found an unoccupied one. It was a nice large bedroom, probably the master, because of the king size bed and attached bathroom. He sat on the bed and had me sit next to him. I was already worried before this point, but now I was getting ready to run. I just had to figure out the right moment, and decide which direction.

“So how do you like the party, so far?” he asked. Actually, I hated everything about it, but I knew this wasn't what he wanted me to say. I decided to be a little honest.

“Not really my kind of party. We haven't done anything fun yet.” Oops, that was the wrong thing to say.

He smiled, but not in a good way. “Let's take care of that right now.” He looked at my eyes, then at my lips, and started to reach for me.

“You know what, I need to use the restroom.” I quickly stood up and went into the bathroom since it was much closer than the bedroom door. After closing the door, I locked it and stood with my back leaning against it. What do I do now? I may be a little dense and naive, but I now had a good idea of what he wanted. If I tried to run away from him, he would only catch me. I didn't think I would make it out of the house by myself.

Pawg, can I choose some of my augments now, and save some points for later?

[Yes, you may. Would you like to see the list again?]

Yes, please.

The list appeared in front of me. Reviewing it, I tried to find things that would help me out of this situation.

Pawg, for physical, I choose agility, flexibility, and might.

[You have chosen to augment Agility, Flexibility and Might, for one point each. Is this correct?]

Yes.

There was a quick flash in my vision and I heard a short whooshing sound. I was certain something had happened, but I didn’t feel much different yet. Looking at the mental list, I made a quick decision.

For mental, I choose only one point for confidence, for now.

[You have chosen to augment Confidence, for one point. Is this correct?]

Yes.

There was another flash and sound. Yes, I definitely felt more confident after that. There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there?” Brad asked. He was right by the door! How long have I been in here? I needed to hurry.

[You have been in this room for approximately six and a half minutes.]

“Yes, hang on. I’ll be out in a couple minutes.”

Thank you, Pawg. Quickly scanning the list of skills, I remembered that I wouldn’t gain the skills immediately, but I hoped that even a knack could be helpful. I needed things that would help me get away, even if I was forced to fight my way out of the house.

For skills, I choose only defense and strategy, for now.

[You have chosen to augment Defense and Strategy, for one point each. Is this correct?]

Yes.

After the flash and sound this time, I didn’t feel any different, but I was done choosing augments, so I swiped the interface to dismiss it. I tried to think of how I might get out of this situation. Surprise would give me the best chance of escape, but that didn't seem likely. If I had to fight, I remembered we had a police officer visit our PE class last year. He had shown us a few different techniques we could use to get away from a stronger assailant. And he had us each practice them a few times. I clearly remembered what I was taught, but I also thought of a few more ideas.

It was time to face him.

I opened the door and saw him standing by the bed, using his phone. He turned to look when he heard the door open. “Hey babe. I hope you are cool now. Why don’t you come here so we can pick up where we left off?”

“You know what, Brad. I’m not interested any more. In fact, why don’t we go down and join the party?”

He looked at me funny, with his head tilted to the side. “Hold on.” He was raising his voice now, along with one of his hands. “I only agreed to do this because she said you would be great entertainment.”

She did, huh? I’ll bet she did.

He started moving toward me. I backed up until I was back in the bathroom, but he grabbed the door before I could close it again.

“This doesn’t have to get ugly. I can be sweet when you are.”

Time for action. I tried to dash past him out the bathroom door. But, when I did, he easily grabbed one of my arms. So, with my other hand I grabbed his hand and held it tight, then I swung my arms in a big circle. This caused his arm to twist around behind his back, where I now had control. He hissed.

“But you had to make it ugly, didn’t you?” I said, turning us around so that he was facing the bathroom, but now I was closer to the bedroom door. He struggled hard, so I had to twist his arm further.

“Stop, you’re breaking my arm!” he yelled.

“Listen up, Braaad!” I stressed his name, to get his attention. “I’m going to walk out of here. If you try to stop me, you’ll only end up getting seriously hurt. It’s your choice.” I shoved him hard into the bathroom, turned around and quickly headed to the bedroom door.

I opened the door, but before I could exit he had run back and grabbed me from behind, with his arms around my upper chest. So, I grabbed his arms, held them tight and squatted lower, making him lean over me. Then I stepped to the side and back, placing my left knee behind his right. Leaning backwards, it was an easy matter of picking up his knees and throwing him to the ground. His head smacked the floor with a loud thump. I rammed my elbow into his stomach, for good measure.

Then I stood up, walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door.