Sunny's Self-Destructive Choice
WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS REFERENCES TO ALCOHOL. READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
One day, Sunny was driving into town in the Glam Van to pick up lunch for herself and her friends. She soon pulled up in front of a Wendy's restaurant and went inside.
"Welcome to Wendy's." the cashier greeted. "How may I help you?"
"I need four $5 Biggie Bags, please." said Sunny. "Two with Double Stacks and two with Crispy Chicken BLTs. All with All-Natural Lemonade."
"Anything else?" asked the cashier.
"Yes." nodded Sunny. "Two chocolate chunk cookies and two sugar cookies, please. And that will be all, thank you."
"Gotcha." replied the cashier. "Will that be for here or to go?"
"To go, please." replied Sunny.
"Alright." nodded the cashier. "Your order will be ready shortly."
Sunny paid the cashier and went to have a seat. In no time, her order was ready, and she collected her order and was on her way back to the salon. She soon arrived back and everyone got their food. As they were finishing up, they heard the sound of someone coming into the salon. They looked and saw a boy in his late teens with dark brown shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, and wearing a Bon Jovi t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, a denim vest, navy blue ripped jeans, and black converse sneakers. The boy immediately plopped himself into a chair.
"I'll be with you in a minute, sir!" Sunny called to him.
The boy just nodded. Soon, after Sunny and her friends finished their food, she went over to her new customer and put the cape around him.
"What are we after today?" she asked.
"Just trim it up around the edges." the boy replied.
Sunny nodded, got her scissors, and got to work. When she was finished, she handed the boy a mirror so he could see how it looked.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Looks good." said the boy. "Say, I don't think I got your name."
"Sunny." Sunny replied, "Sunny Day."
"Nice to meet you." the boy said. "I'm Alec."
Suddenly, Alec thought of something.
"Say, how would you and your friends like to come to a party?" he asked.
"A party?" Sunny asked. "Where at?"
"At Friendly Falls University." Alec replied.
Sunny was unsure whether to accept Alec's invite or not. Suddenly, a miniature version of her with white streaks in her hair and dressed in angel attire appeared on her right shoulder.
"I wouldn't do it, if I were you." Angel Sunny said. "Your parents wouldn't be too happy if you did."
Almost immediately, another miniature version of Sunny appeared on her left shoulder. This one had red streaks in her hair and was dressed in devil attire.
"Oh, come on." said Devil Sunny. "What's the harm? He sounds like a nice guy. Besides, if it gets too much for you, you can just sneak your way back home before your parents can even suspect you're gone. Also, this may be a good opportunity for you to get to know someone older than you. Who cares about the age difference?"
Sunny thought about this for a minute, then looked up at Alec.
"Sure, I'll be there." she said. "When is it?"
"Friday night at 7 PM." Alec replied. "I'll see you there."
"You too." nodded Sunny.
"Atta girl!" grinned Devil Sunny.
Angel Sunny face-palmed.
"This is so not going to end well." she said as she and Devil Sunny disappeared.
Alec then left the salon, and Sunny went back to her friends, who had seen everything, and were not too pleased about it.
"What were you thinking, Sunny?" asked Rox. "Don't you know what you're getting yourself into?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Sunny. "It's just a harmless party. What could go wrong?"
"All sorts of things." Blair replied. "My parents say that college parties can get pretty rowdy."
"I should know that more than you guys." added Rox. "My dad went to one of these parties when he was in college, and during said party, things got way out of hand. Drunken brawls were breaking out left and right and the music was way too loud, so loud that hardly anyone got any sleep that night. In fact, things got so crazy that the police were called. So believe me when I say you're making one of the worst mistakes you could possibly make."
"But that was probably years ago." said Sunny. "Besides, who says this one won't be different? Also, I know what I'm doing."
"Sure you do." said Doodle with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh, and he did invite you guys to come as well." Sunny then said.
"Count me out." denied Rox.
"Yeah, no thanks." agreed Blair.
"I'm not taking any chances." added Timmy.
"Neither am I." finished Doodle. "Besides, think about how Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad might say."
"Hey, come on, I'll be back before they even notice I'm gone." said Sunny. "No questions asked."
"Whatever you say." shrugged Doodle.
Soon, Friday night arrived, and Sunny's mother, Paula, was getting ready to go out for the evening with her husband (and Sunny's father), Bruce.
"There's some money on the counter in the kitchen so you can order a pizza." said Paula. "If there are any problems, just text me or your father."
"You got it, Mom." said Sunny with a nod.
Just then, Bruce came into the room.
"We should get going now, dear." he said to his wife. "Our reservation's at six."
"Right you are." nodded Paula, who then kissed Sunny on the head. "Have a nice night, dear. Stay safe!"
"I will, Mom." smiled sunny. "Enjoy your evening!"
Sunny's parents soon drove away from the Day residence, and Sunny settled in to do some reading on her bed. Soon after, at 6:30, her alarm clock, which had been set for that time, went off, startling Doodle, who had been taking a nap at the time.
"Sunny, what gives?!" gasped Doodle. "Why did you set your alarm for this time?"
"To make sure I make it to the party on time." said Sunny as she jumped down from her bed and slipped her shoes on. "Promise me you won't tell anyone, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, okay." Doodle said reluctantly. "But mark my words, Sunny, this will end badly."
"Hey, Mom said to text her if there were any problems." said Sunny as she got a jacket out of her closet. "But she didn't say anything about where."
"I guess so." shrugged Doodle. "But she still probably meant problems here at home."
Sunny pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Look, here's what I'm going to do." she sighed. "I'm going to go to the party, and if anything goes wrong, I'll come right back here. I'll probably be back before Mom and Dad do."
It was at this moment Doodle decided there was no longer any use in arguing.
"Fine." he said. "Just go."
"Alright, I will." huffed Sunny.
Sunny then grabbed her keys to the Glam Van and drove it to Friendly Falls University, using the Google Maps app on her phone for the directions. She soon arrived, and found Alec waiting for her.
"I was wondering when you were gonna show up." he said.
"Hey, Alec." said Sunny. "I'm not too late, am I?"
"Nope." said Alec. "You're just in time. Where are your friends?"
"They couldn't come." said Sunny.
"Oh, well, at least you're here." shrugged Alec. "Come on."
Alec then took Sunny over to his fraternity house, where lots of other students had gathered. A radio on a table was on a station that played hard rock and heavy metal. The current song playing was "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" by Van Halen, and was quite loud.
"Gee, that's loud!" Sunny winced as she covered her ears.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." said Alec. "Say, why don't you have some pizza? It's right over there."
Alec pointed to a table that had some boxes of pizza and other snacks.
"Okay." nodded Sunny.
Sunny then got a paper plate and got herself two slices of pepperoni pizza, then sat down on a couch to eat them. One of the other students attending the party noticed something.
"Why didn't you grab a drink?" he asked.
"I don't know." said Sunny. "I guess I'm not thirsty."
"Then let's fix that." the student said.
He then got up and fetched Sunny a can of Henrys Hard Orange Soda, which he then placed in front of her.
"Go ahead." he said. "Have a sip."
"I don't know." said Sunny. "I've never had this stuff, and I'm too young."
"So what?" asked the student. "There's a first time for everything, isn't there?"
"I guess so." shrugged Sunny.
Sunny then opened the can and took a small sip of the drink, and smacked her lips when she tasted it.
"Hmm, not bad." she said. "Not quite what I'm used to, but it's pretty good."
Sunny then proceeded to eat her pizza while finishing her drink, and she soon was finished. Alec then came over to her.
"How was your first drink?" he asked.
"It was okay." said Sunny.
"That hard soda was just a teaser before the good stuff." said Alec. "And here it is right here."
Alec then placed a sixteen-ounce can of Bud Light on the table.
"Wow." gasped Sunny. "That much?"
"Sure." nodded Alec. "Go on, you know you wanna try it."
"Yeah." a female student chimed in. "Come on!"
"Try it!" added a second male student.
Other students began telling Sunny yo try the beer over and over again, until finally, Sunny gave in.
"Alright, I'll try it." she said.
Sunny then oipen the can and took a sip, but she gagged at the taste.
"That's disgusting!" she coughed.
"It's okay." said Alec. "Ypu'll get used to it. Go on, have a few more sips."
Sunny had one sip after another of the beer, and it wasn't long before she had finished it as the others began to cheer loudly.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." said Sunny.
But then, Sunny started to feel funny, and she started to sway from side to side.
"Wha...what's happening?" she gasped.
Alec and his friends had witnessed this too.
"She's gonna spew!" one of them gasped.
Right at that moment, Sunny vomited on the floor, then collapsed and blacked out.
"Call 9-1-1!" shouted Alec.
Meanwhile, Paula and Bruce had come home, and were surprised to find that Sunny wasn't home, hinted by the absence of the Glam Van.
"Sunny?" Bruce called. "Where are you?"
"I'll tell you where she is." a voice said.
At that moment, Doodle strolled over to Mr. and Mrs. Day, and he wasted no time telling them where their daughter had gone. It should go without saying that they were not happy at all when they heard this.
"I can't believe this!" Bruce growled. "I can't believe my own daughter would do something as stupid and dangerous as this! She knows she's not supposed to leave the house at night by herself without permission! I'm gonna go get her and bring her home right now!"
"I'm coming with you." said Paula. "She's my daughter too."
"Right you are, honey." nodded Bruce. "Let's go."
With that, Bruce grabbed his keys again, and soon, he and Pauls were on their way to Friendly Falls University. When they arrived, they went over to the frat house, using lights from a Campus Police segway and an ambulance as a guide. They soon found the EMTs and a female Campus Police officer responding to the call on the scene.
"Good evening, folks." the officer greeted Mr. and Mrs. Day. "I'm Lieutenant Torres with the FFU Police Department. Can I help you?"
"Where's my daughter?" asked Bruce. "My wife and I heard she was attending a party here."
"She's over there." Lieutenant Torres replied.
Lieutenant Torres gestured her thumb at the EMTs, who were tending to Sunny.
"Thank you." nodded Bruce. "We came to take her home."
"I'm afraid that might have to wait." said Lieutenant Torres. "She needs to go to the hospital to be checked out."
"Sounds fair." agreed Paula.
"Now, where's the nut who invited my daughter here?" Bruce then asked angrily. "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind."
"My partner is questioning him and his friends right now." said Lieutenant Torres. "Even so, please don't interfere. We'll handle this."
"Very well." Bruce sighed. "Still, I do not like this one bit."
"I understand." said Lieutenant Torres. "But you can follow th eambulance, though, since you two are her parents."
"Good enough." said Paula. "Thank you."
Later, when Sunny came to her senses, she found herself in a hospital bed at Friendly Falls Hospital with an IV in her right arm. She then noticed the shapes of her parents next to the bed.
"Mom? Dad?" she asked. "What's going on? Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, dear." replied Paula.
"And in trouble." Bruce added as he crossed his arms.
"Oh, so I guess you heard about what happened?" Sunny asked.
"Indeed we did." said Paula. "And we're very disappointed in you, Sunny Minerva Day. You know you're much too young to be out this late at night by yourself."
"Not to mention you're too young to drink alcohol." said Bruce. "You should be lucky you're still aliv.e the doctor says that you only have mild alcohol poisoning."
"I know..." sighed Sunny. "I'm very sorry...I shouldn't have gone. If you feel like punishing me, go ahead. I know I deserve it."
Paula and Bruce looked at each other for a moment, then exchanged a nod and looked back at Sunny.
"Actually, Sunny, we think what you're going through right now is punishment enough." said Paula.
"That's right." agreed Bruce. "Just make sure this never happens again, okay?"
"Okay." nodded Sunny.
Just then, a nurse came in.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to go now." he said. "We'll update you by phone in the morning."
Bruce and Paula agreed, and after bidding Sunny goodnight, they left. About one week later, Sunny had made a full recovery from her illness and was soon discharged. When she returned to work at the salon, she found her friends waiting for her.
"Okay, guys, first of all, I'm sorry for not listening to you guys." she said. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"Hey, that's alright." said Blair. "We're just happy you learned your lesson."
"Plus, you know I can never stay mad at you for too long." added Timmy.
"That's right." finished Rox.
"Thanks, guys." smiled Sunny. "You're the best. Especially you, Timmy."
"Aw, shucks..." Timmy blushed.
"Well, there's one thing we can all agree on here." said Sunny. "And that is I'll be staying away from alcohol for quite a while."
Nobody could have agreed more about what Sunny had said, and as the day went on, Sunny felt pleased to have not only learned her lesson about the dangers of minors drinking alcohol, but also about the dangers of peer pressure.
The End
