June 20, 1988. 10:35 PM.
It was a day like any other day. A muggy, summer night in the town of West Point, Kentucky. In a run down, dilapidated house near the center of town. Here, sixteen year old Grace Harvey sat atop a shoddy couch. The cushions stained and torn with age; a typical, 80s television blaring a re-run of Full House. Beside her sat her fifteen year old girlfriend: Maxine Rutherford. The girl's right arm was lazily slung over Grace's shoulders, in a rather casual manner, whilst her left hand hung over the arm of the couch, grasping a beer bottle which just so happened to be half empty. This was how most of Grace's evenings were spent. Of course, she could be merrily prancing around outside, spending time with more of the… Put-together, kids of the town. Though, it's not as if she had much of a choice in the matter. Whether Grace liked it or not, her girlfriend quite literally was in complete control of her entire social life, leaving it an endless cycle of lazy nights at Max's house, and the occasional party.
As the show faded out with the stereotypical replay of a laugh track, and a commercial began to flash across the screen, Max adjusted her position and leaned over Grace, briefly closing the distance between the two to plant a rather casual kiss on her lips. This, of course, left Grace unfazed. This was a normal occurrence - these spontaneous kisses from Max.
"Grace, baby…" Max began, her face still lingering inches from Grace's. "The show's over, and all that's on afterwards is those bullshit infomercials... "
Even from just that simple, albeit somewhat humorous sentence, Grace clearly knew where this was going. It was obvious. She released a hushed chuckle, her gaze slightly breaking from Max's.
"Y'know, we could do it right here, on the couch, real quick… It ain't like anyone could interrupt us; Frank's out at the Drake, or who the hell knows where... "
Grace pursed her lips, her eyes slowly trailing down to Max's hand which had found its way onto her thigh, and quietly uttered, "Max…"
Max was having none of Grace's complaints, however, and slightly boosted herself up to straddle Grace's hips before exclaiming, "Baby, come on… Don't be so stingy…"
"But I don't want to do anything today, y'know how I get..."
Clearly, any rebuttal Grace may have had on her mind would be futile against Max, as the girl leaned in to, yet again, place a kiss atop her lips, though in a far more forceful and adamant manner than before. Upon coming to this conclusion, Grace simply gave in, wrapping her arms around Max's waist.
Though, the two only got as far as barely unbuttoning Grace's shirt, before the phone rang from inside the kitchen. Although this clearly displeased Max, she scooted off of Grace and padded over to the phone, grumbling all the while.
As unhappy as Max may have been with the outcome, Grace, on the other hand, was incredibly relieved. For once, something had stopped Max's advances. She zoned out as Max chattered away to whomever may be on the phone, staring blankly at the infomercial displayed over the television screen.
Grace was broken out of her trance after a short while by Max's utterly unmistakable screech. She blinked a few times, then stared up at her girlfriend whom was standing directly in front of her, exclaiming, "Baby, have I got news for you! We won't have 'ta sit 'round this shithole all night, 'cause Justin's got somethin' big goin' on!"
"Something big…?" She asked, a questioning tone present in her voice. Even from such a vague statement, it was all too obvious what she meant.
"Fuck yeah! A party, 'fcourse!" Max answered, a wide grin plastered onto her face. "Get up, button up 'yer shirt, and let's get goin! We're gonna be late!"
Grace simply sighed. Glancing over at the clock on the wall, she added, "But, Max, it's nearly eleven already…" A futile statement from the start, of course.
"Psssh, the night's just gettin' started! Try 'ta live a little more, babe!"
And that was that. Yet again, Grace was getting sucked into another night of Max's endless partying. Partying meant alcohol, and alcohol meant her girlfriend getting blackout drunk, leaving her flat-out downed somewhere in whatever house this party was taking place in. It was just bound to be a fun night.
Despite Grace's entire social life revolving around her girlfriend, she had never once met Justin Rockford, much less seen his house. Though, even if Max would have been aware whether the party was taking place at his home or not, she didn't seem to care one bit, and simply went on about 'what a radical time' the two would have as they walked through the dimly lit streets of the town to their destination.
...Nevertheless, whoever's house it was clearly was nothing to write home about. It had to be just as shoddy as Max's, if not worse - and that was saying a lot. It's not as if Grace could complain, however. That was completely out of the question when it came to spending time with Max. From one look at the front yard, Grace couldn't seem to hide the look of utter disgust on her face. Max, on the other hand, walked right on up and rapped the back of her fist against the door a few times, until a boy answered - Justin. He couldn't have been much older than the two, perhaps only a year or two older than Grace. He was adorned in a simple dress shirt and slacks, his tie clearly sloppily put on.
"Yo, Maxamundo!" He exclaimed with a smile the moment he swung open the door, his eyes scanning over the two. "Great to see you, as always. And who's the lovely lady you've taken the liberty of bringing with you today?" Justin shot a snide grin at Grace, as if he were eyeing her up. In return, she glanced away, directing her attention onto a poorly cut bush beside the patio. Luckily, however, Max came to her rescue, for once.
"That's my girlfriend, asshole. Grace, remember? I told ya 'bout her." She explained, glaring at the boy. "Don'tcha' go hittin' on her, or I swear I'll go choppin' all three inches offa' ya with a plastic spork, ya hear me?"
Justin held his hands up in front of himself as a sign of surrender, and stepped aside to allow the two inside. "Yeesh, Max, alright. I hear ya."
Seemingly satisfied, Max huffed her chest up victoriously, grabbed Grace's hand, and strutted inside.
The party itself was nearly exactly like most other Max had dragged Grace out to; a dimly lit house filled with teenagers and young adults mulling around downing who-knows-what from their Solo cups, the air thick with smoke from the endless cigarettes strewn around the rooms. Though, was Grace really any different from these party goers? Sure, she had downed quite a few drinks in the past year of dating Max, and even smoked a cigarette or two, though she felt… Disgusted, comparing herself to a room full of hooligans. Then again, that would make Max a hooligan, which wouldn't have exactly been wrong to say.
Speaking of which, as soon as she came out of her own thoughts, there Max was, standing before her with two cups in hand, one held out to her. Grace reluctantly took it, staring down inside to view the contents, which were barely visible with the lighting, before taking a sip. It was flat beer; typical.
For the next hour or so, the two stood huddled up in a corner, refilling their cups every now and then whilst they casually spoke. As much as Grace disliked the idea of parties, it was times like these when their was no stress between her and Max that she could truly relax. Maybe it was just the alcohol, or maybe they were genuinely getting along with no conflict, for once. She wished that this time could have gone on forever, however, all good things must come to an end. -Or be interrupted. By Justin. And that is just what happened.
The boy decided to interrupt at a rather inconvenient time, whilst the two were in the midst of a rather heated exchange, Max's arms slung around Grace's waist with Grace pushed up against the wall. In fact, this is the second time Justin had interrupted the two today, in a sense, leaving Max quite miffed.
The two spoke for a few minutes, with Justin whispering something into Max's ear which brought a rather surprised look to her face. She then turned back to Grace, who was attempting to readjust her shirt, her face flushed, and said something incoherent amongst the blaring music before walking off into the hazy distance. And there Grace was, left alone at a house party.
The amount of time that passed before Max returned was a blur to Grace. The alcohol had begun to truly take its toll on the girl, and she was left to fend for herself, slumped over on the couch, attempting to ward off every flirtatious boy that dared to approach her. When her girlfriend did finally return, however, she seemed rather… Off. It was different from the typical effects of downing an entire six pack of beer. Max was ecstatic - far too bubbly, if anything. Even her entire body was warm to the touch. In fact, Max seemed to be outright forcing herself onto Grace, which was rather unusual.
Pushing her away for a moment, Grace questioned, "Max, what happened to you…?"
It took Max a few moments to answer, as if she hadn't comprehended Grace's words. This definitely was not typical.
"Babe, I'm fine… Better than ever, in fact. Don't you go worryin' one bit…" She responded with a relaxed smile, going in for yet another kiss.
But Grace was having none of that. She shoved Max off of her, sitting up on the couch with a frown.
"Max," she began, her voice firm. "What the fuck did Justin give to you?"
"That ain't important, Grace. Come on. Why're ya bein' so fuckin' stuck up today?"
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, I don't want to have sex with you right now, Max?"
This was new for Grace. Before then, she had never thought to stick up for herself - she never truly took her own happiness into account when it came to Max. But, clearly, something was off with her girlfriend. She had to do something.
...But, just then, the entire reason as to why she had never stuck up for herself in the past hit her directly in the face. Quite literally. In the form of Max's palm. She reeled back at the force of the strike, staring at Max with utter disbelief.
"Goddammit, Grace! Just shut the fuck up!" Max retorted, her face contorting with a look of rage.
"No, Max. I don't know what that asshole gave to you, but I do not like it."
Despite her cheek still stinging from the blow, Grace had gained a new determination to fight back against Max, in some sense. It was as if her self-esteem had skyrocketed - for a few minutes, that is. All she cared about in that moment was Max's well-being. She clearly wasn't acting like herself. The Max she knew would never be this forceful, much less slap her. This was not the Max she had fallen in love with.
Just then, as if she had been thrown into a fit of seething rage, Max threw a punch at race which made contact directly in her gut, which caused her to sputter in pain. It wasn't long until a few of the partygoers standing nearby noticed this ordeal unfolding, and it took about four of them to even be able to hold Max back and end her assault.
About three hours later, Max was left hunched over a toilet, hurling out all of the alcohol and whatever else she had consumed that night, and it was another hour until she was well enough for Grace to walk her home, at four am.
As time went on, Max's physical abuse only became worse and worse, with the girl becoming enraged over the smallest of things. Soon enough, Grace learned that this was due to the fact that Justin had introduced Max to a drug by the name of heroin, which had gained a strong popularity among teenagers at the time. This sent Max's impulse control out of whack, and utterly damaged their relationship as a whole. Even as determined as Grace was to help her girlfriend put an end to both her alcohol and drug abuse, there was no telling what each day would bring.
There is only so much that one person can endure over so much time, and even Grace would one day reach her breaking point.