"Mary Anne?"
Dawn's voice broke into Mary Anne's dreams to rouse her from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes. She lifted up her head, and saw that she had been sleeping on her biology notebook with an uncapped pink highlighter in her hand. She must have fallen asleep studying for her test. She knew that she wasn't the most exciting person in the world, but normally even she did something more interesting on a Saturday night.
"What time is it?" She asked Dawn groggily.
"It's just after seven. Now wake up. I'm going to make up for ditching you yesterday. We're going to spend the whole night together. And this time Kristy Thomas isn't going to be here to ruin the fun before it begins."
Mary Anne rubbed her eyes, still in the process of waking up. "What are we doing?" she asked.
"You and I are going out. Come on, get up. We need to go upstairs and find something for you to wear," Dawn said.
Begrudgingly, Mary Anne followed Dawn upstairs to her room. She watched Dawn open up her tidy closet and inspect every article of clothing that she owned.
"Too baggy, too old, too long, too dark." Dawn turned to Mary Anne. "Everything that you own is so Connecticut. We need something that makes you look hot, but isn't too showy at the same time. Something California Casual. Come on, let's go take a look in my closet."
Dawn walked swiftly through the bathroom that connected their rooms. She opened her closet, and began rifling through the piles of clothes that were on the floor. She finally emerged with a pair of black pants and a sea green halter top.
"This will be perfect," Dawn announced.
Mary Anne looked at the top hesitantly. "Are you sure? There's practically no back on this."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "You're fifteen Mary Anne. It's about time you started dressing like it. Now go change- Abby's going to be here in half an hour, and we still need to do your make-up."
"Where are we even going?"
"A party," Dawn replied, "Abby has it all planned out. Go make yourself pretty!"
Mary Anne walked back to her room and began to change into the clothes that Dawn had given her. They were a little tight, as Dawn was thinner than she used to be, but they worked for the most part. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about the reflection that was starting back at her. It definitely was unlike any other outfit that she had worn before, but at the same time she kind of liked what she saw. She felt kind of cool and grown up. Like she could handle whatever came her way. She liked that feeling.
Mary Anne spent the next half hour running between her room and Dawn's trying to figure out accessories and make up. That wasn't really her thing, but she tried her best anyway. She had no idea what this night would entail, and she found herself becoming rather excited. She never went out like this on the weekends. For once, she appreciated the fact that her dad and Sharon didn't exactly play theie parental roles.
As she was applying some of Dawn's glitter lip gloss, she heard a car honk twice in the driveway. Looking out the window, she was Abby waving at her, grinning. She turned to look at Dawn. "Abby has a car?" She asked, confused.
"Cary Retlin has a car," Dawn corrected. "Not him actually, but his parents. They're out of town for the weekend, so he's borrowing it. He's the one who is bringing us to the party at Erica's."
The amount of friends and connections that Dawn had made in her short time back at Stoneybrook High made Mary Anne's head spin. Something like hesitation came over her, and she didn't immediately follow Dawn as she bounded down the stairs.
"Come on Mary Anne!" shouted Dawn.
Ignoring her slight misgivings about the situation, Mary Anne picked up her purse and headed downstairs to join Dawn. Making sure the front door was locked behind her, she joined Abby and Dawn, who were hugging like they had been separated for years instead of hours in the driveway. The three of them climbed into the back seat of the SUV. Mary Anne was surprised to see Alan Gray in the front seat, along with Cary. Basically, she was in the car with her sister and three people that she hadn't talked to since eighth grade. She took a deep breath.
About ten minutes later, Cary pulled over about a block away from Erica Blumberg's house. Cars were lined up on both sides of the streets. This was somewhat confusing to Mary Anne, as hardly any one in the sophomore class could drive, and it was unlikely that everyone had 'borrowed' their parents cars like Cary. Her stomach turned at the idea of going to a party with upperclassmen.
A few houses away, Mary Anne could hear the bass from the music playing at Erica's. Cary lead everyone around the house and walked in the back door. Stepping into the kitchen, Mary Anne saw that the house was packed with at least half the sophomore class present, along with many juniors and seniors. Most people were standing around talking in small groups, but she saw Pete Black, Sheila McGregor, Shawna Riverson, and Robert Brewster playing twister in the corner of the living room. After a few moments of soaking up the atmosphere of the party, Mary Anne realized that almost everyone was holding a red plastic cup in their hand. Just as she was turning this thought around in her head, Cary and Alan returned to the group with drinks for everyone. Mary Anne looked at hers hesitantly, while everyone else took small drinks and began to carry on a conversation.
"What is it?" Mary Anne asked Dawn and Abby. She had to shout to be heard above the music.
"Wop," Abby replied, "it's really good, try it."
As if to affirm this, Dawn drank a few more sips of the drink, then raised her head to drain the glass.
"Mary Anne took a small sip. It wasn't so bad- it kind of tasted like kool-aid, actually. She took another drink, then another.
"Not bad," she said.
"I told you," Abby said, "next time you doubt me, remember this moment, okay?"
Dawn grinned. "All hail to Abby, queen of illegal substances."
"That's me," Abby replied, a smile on her face. "Come on, let's go play flippy cup."
"Only if we can get a refill first." Dawn turned to Mary Anne. "Drink up."
Mary Anne did as she was told, and handed her cup to Abby for a refill. She felt fine, so she saw no reason to turn it down. She drank down half of her newly refilled cup. Dawn and Abby were suddenly no where to be found, so she started walking around. After observing the party for about half an hour, and drinking two more glasses of wop, she found herself walking towards Erica, who was talking to Katie Shea.
"This is a great party Erica!" Mary Anne exclaimed, spilling a bit of the liquid that was in her cup.
"Thanks Mary Anne," Erica said, grinning. "Can I get you something else to drink?"
"Sure!"
Erica laughed and filled up Mary Anne's cup. "Do you want to try something else?"
"Only if it tastes good," Mary Anne replied.
"Is there someone here to take care of you? Who did you come with?"
"Dawn and Abby."
Erica turned to Katie. "Dawn's responsible, right?"
Katie shrugged. "She used to always talk about recycling and saving the rain forest."
'That counts," Erica decided. "Here you go Mary Anne!"
Mary Anne looked at the shot glass Erica handed her. Before she could think about it, she drank it all in one gulp. "Thanks!" she yelled over her shoulders. She wanted to go find Dawn and Abby.
"I can't believe I just saw Mary Anne Spier take a shot," Erica said, laughing as she walked away.
Mary Anne was still on her quest to find Abby, but stopped when she saw Howie Johnson and Alan Gray playing pool in Erica's game room.
"Howie!" she exclaimed. "Your essay that I read was amazing!"
"Wow. Um, thanks Mary Anne," he said, catching her as she stumbled a bit.
Mary Anne felt dizzy, so she stayed in Howie's arms to steady herself. She felt very safe. The room was starting to spin a little bit. Howie was being really nice.
She looked around the room. Howie and Alan were talking to each other and laughing, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She wanted to find Dawn and Abby, but she wasn't sure where they were, and even if she knew, she wasn't sure if she could get there.
Mary Anne looked up at Howie's face. He was so nice. She stood on her tiptoes to look into his eyes, because suddenly felt the need to know exactly what color they were.
Mary Anne then felt Howie's lips touch hers. Well she didn't exactly feel them, because everything felt fuzzy, but she knew what was happening. She hadn't kissed a boy since she had been dating Logan. She kind of missed it. She kissed him back.
"Mary Anne!" Dawn exclaimed "What are you doing?"
"Mamma Mia!" shouted Abby.
"I don't feel so good," Mary Anne muttered. She tore herself away from Howie, and fell into Dawn's arms. "Where does Erica keep her bathroom?"
"This way honey," Dawn said, leading her to the hallway. She turned to Abby. "How much did she drink?"
Abby shrugged her shoulders. "I've got no clue. I guess she's a lightweight."
Dawn led her into the bathroom, walking past Miranda Shillabar who was stumbling about, apparently looking for Logan.
Mary Anne knelt by the toilet. She felt Dawn pull her hair back, and then she threw up into the toilet. When she lifted her head, she let Abby give her some water and paper to wipe her mouth.
"I think it's time to go home now," Mary Anne said, trying to focus on her surroundings.
"I'll go find Cary," Abby offered.
"Don't worry Mary Anne, I'll take care of you," Dawn said soothingly.
A few minutes later Abby showed up in the bathroom, pulling Cary in with her.
"She puked?" he asked.
"Yeah." Dawn replied.
"Figures."
Mary Anne shot him a dirty look. What did he know?
Come on kid, let's get you home," Cary said.
Dawn and Abby helped walk her to the car, and they laid her down in the back seat. Cary gave her his sweater to use as a pillow, making her promise that she wouldn't throw up in the car.
In what seemed like no more than a minute, the car stopped and Dawn and Abby piled out. Cary said good bye. He was going back to the party.
"I want to go to bed," Mary Anne said definitively.
"We're getting you there, don't worry."
Dawn and Abby helped her out of the car, into the house, and up to her room and into her pajamas. She laid down in her bed. Abby set a glass of water on her night stand, and a trash can on the side of her bed.
"Are you going to be okay?" Dawn asked.
Mary Anne nodded. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
"Okay, good night then."
"Night Mary Anne," said Abby.
As Mary Anne nestled into her pillow she could hear Abby and Dawn talking and laughing in the next room. She tried to think about everything that had happened that night, but it didn't really work. She closed her eyes, and was asleep within moments.