CHAPTER ONE
DON’T LOSE YOUR MIND
TARYN
Hemlock Beach College Campus, SC.
Ascream pierces the silence of the early morning.
The frat house was dead quiet after last night’s rager, and everyone must have been asleep.
Another scream, louder than the previous one, echoes in the unfamiliar bedroom and my fingers close around my own throat. The scream is coming from me.
Is this blood? There is blood everywhere. The bedsheets tangled around my legs are soaked, and these aren’t my clothes.
I feel down my body with my own hands as my eyes slam shut. I’m completely naked beneath the worn cotton of the oversized t-shirt I’m in and I’m sore in a few places but I don’t think I’m bleeding.
Memories of last night come rushing through the foggy grogginess of my mind, and I exhale, willing my pulse to slow down.
I came to the Gamma Delta Tau party with my best friend Jodie after acing the last exam of my final semester.
We wanted to let loose and celebrate our impending graduation, but we also had a plan. This frat party would be the perfect place to find a hookup and take care of my last goal before we leave the campus that has been our home for four years. I would find someone to hook up with so I could leave my virginity behind.
I remember talking to a cute guy. We had a drink. One drink only for liquid courage. I’m not a big drinker and I wanted to have enough to lose my inhibitions but not so much that I would lose my nerve.
The cute guy and I danced for a while, and then he invited me to his room.
The space between my legs is sore and uncomfortable, so I think we had sex. I can’t really remember much of it. It mustn’t have been very good, or I would remember it, right?
I was nervous, so I downed the drink I had been nursing for most of the night when he sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him on the mattress, inviting me to join him.
The sudden memory of his weight on me elicits a fresh wave of nausea, and I heave, covering my mouth with my hands.
My head is pounding as if I had indulged in way more than one single drink.
Think, Taryn, think.
We had sex and then we both passed out. Blackout drunk.
It was late by the time we came to his room, but he didn’t sound drunk either when he invited me upstairs.
I shift a little, trying to sit up, but a wave of nausea makes me give up. I have to do this slowly. Aside from this killer hangover, the cloying, tinny smell that permeates the room isn’t helping my situation.
But the real question is, can this be my blood? From losing my virginity? I force one of my eyes open and sit up on my knees,sinking into the memory foam of the mattress. There’s blood everywhere; these bedsheets are going to be ruined.
God, how embarrassing, is this from losing my virginity? How in the world am I going to face… what’s his name? Shit, I can’t even remember the name of the guy I slept with. I can’t even look at him, so I keep my eyes trained on the bloody sheets.
Why is my mind so foggy? I squeeze my eyes shut again, straining to remember the name of my hookup.
Was it Tom? No, that doesn’t sound right. But it started with a T. Tim, it was Tim.
What do I do? Do I wake him and apologize for ruining his sheets or just slip out before he wakes? A walk of shame right now sounds way less shameful than having an awkward conversation in a bloody bed.
There’s way too much blood, though. My nursing training kicks into gear despite how confused I feel. Not everyone bleeds their first time, and definitely not to this extent. Unless I got my period? Maybe that’s why I feel so nauseous?
I open my eyes again and look down at the soaked sheets. No, this is too much blood even for my heaviest period.
If this doesn’t come from me, it can only come from the other person in this bed.
