"Here they come!" Staci nudged Jamie excitedly as the red Toyota pulled up into the driveway. They both squealed and jumped up and down.

"You girls have fun!" Lori called from the kitchen as they dashed out to the car.

"Any problem getting your parents to let you go?" asked Brianna, who was driving.

"Nah, they pretty much let me do whatever I want," Staci replied.

"I told my Mom I was spending the night with Staci," said Jamie.

"Good deal!" Brianna enthused. "So are you guys ready to par-tay?"

"Yeah!" Staci and Jamie shouted.

A few minutes later, the car pulled up in front of Delaney's large brick house. It's sure a lot nicer than our house, Jamie thought. Brianna parked the car, and the girls walked to the porch and rang the doorbell. Delaney appeared a moment later, dressed in tight leopard skin pants and a big shapeless sweater. She was eating a slice of pizza. "Come on in," she said. "Everybody's downstairs."

Brianna, Staci and Jamie followed her downstairs. Her parents had turned the basement into a rec room featuring a pool table and exercise equipment. There were also a couple of sagging sofas, upon which several couples sat necking, and a few chairs. Someone was passing a joint around.

"Come on in and make yourselves comfortable," Delaney told her guests, then disappeared into a knot of college-aged kids. Jamie took a soft drink from the selection on the folding table and sat down. She looked around to see if she knew any of the kids there and found that she didn't. Hip-hop music blared loudly from a stereo. A shaggy-looking boy who was at least a couple of years older than her sidled up to her.

"Hey, wanna dance?"

She shrugged and joined him on the floor, where a group of tipsy teens were dancing, or attempting to, at least. "I'm Jamie," she offered.

"Spike." He grinned. "Cool party, huh?"

"I guess so. I just got here."

"So how old are you? About sixteen?"

"I was on my last birthday," she lied.

"All right!" His eyes looked her up and down in appreciation. "You look real good. Say, would you like a drink?"

"I've got a Pepsi..."

He snorted his derision. "Aw, come on, cutie. I mean a real drink." He walked to the bar and returned about five minutes later. "Here ya go, darlin'. Drink up!"

She raised the glass to her lips, but before she could take a single swallow, it was snatched from her. "Come on. I'm takin' you home," said Earl as he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the stairway.

"Hey! How did you get in here?" she demanded. He didn't respond as he led her back up the stairs and then out of the house. "This isn't exactly cool, y'know," she complained. "What's Mom gonna say? She thinks I'm spending the night with Staci!"

"You'll just have to talk that over with her," he replied. "The important thing is that we need to get out of here right now."

"But why? I was having fun!"

He didn't respond until they were in the car and on the way home. "That drink had Rohypnol in it."

"What the heck is that?"

"Something you would have deeply regretted drinking."

"I don't believe you. That guy seemed perfectly nice to me."

"That's why it's such a good thing I showed up when I did."

A moment later, they were pulling up in front of the Norman home. The teenager sulked as she plodded along behind Earl. Jo met them at the door, dressed in her pajamas. "Oh my God, what happened?"

"I just saved your daughter from making a huge mistake," Earl told her before vanishing.

Jo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What was going on at Staci's?"

"I wasn't at Staci's." Jamie was too startled and traumatized to think of a believable lie. "I...Staci and I went to a party at Delaney's."

"And why wasn't I told about this party?" Jo's eyes blazed with anger.

Jamie stared at the floor, shuffling her feet. "Her parents were out of town," she mumbled.

"So you lied to me."

Jamie nodded, still staring at the floor.

Jo was so angry she didn't know what to do. "You're grounded for a month," she hissed through her teeth. "That means straight home from school every day, no laptop, no cell phone, and no television. You can do your homework and read. I'll discuss this with your father and see whether he thinks that's enough or if more should be done."

"For a whole month?" Jamie couldn't believe her ears.

"That's right. We trusted you to be truthful with us, and you violated that trust. I think you need to spend some time just thinking about how serious that is."

Jamie sank to the bed in dismay. "My life is over!" she groaned.