“Do you want a drink?” Missy asked as she dragged me toward the kitchen. The way she yanked me around wasunsettling. A strong pain shot through my leg, but I didn’t try to slow down. I didn’t want to stand out too much. All I wanted to do was blend in again. To be normal.
“I, uh, I...” I stumbled over my words. Did I want a drink? I had a feeling she wasn’t talking about Coca-Cola. “I’m OK.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s just booze,” Missy said as she reached the countertop that was scattered with half-full bottles of alcohol. She grabbed two red Solo cups, lifted a bottle of whiskey, and poured a shot into each cup. She handed one to me. “Karla... I want you to fit in again. So you have to do things to fit in, OK? Just be normal.”
Normal.
Conforming to a standard.
Usual.
Typical.
Expected.
Average.
“Bottom’s up!” Missy sang before she downed hers.
I downed mine next—and almost threw up.
Missy laughed. “Good girl. Now stay here. I’ll be back.”
She left me standing there in a crowded room, but I felt embarrassingly alone. People were looking at me as if I didn’t belong, which in turn made me hyperaware that I didn’t belong. There was nothing about me that read “high school parties.” If anything, I felt like a circus performer who was being laughed at by those who looked my way.
“What the fuck happened to your face?” a stranger said as he walked past me, laughing as he went to get a drink. “You look like Scarface,” he chuckled. He poured a shot into a cup and downed it as if it didn’t taste like rubbing alcohol.
Then he headed off as if he didn’t just belittle me.
I wrapped my arms around my body and moved my hairin front of my face more as I tried to make myself smaller. I poured myself another shot, too. It was just as bad as the other one, but I wanted it to help ease my nerves.
Missy didn’t come back. I stayed in the kitchen, near the alcohol, as people kept making small remarks toward me. I wanted to go home. I wanted to cry. I wanted Ash.
I would’ve had more fun with him that night. I always had fun with him.
“Karla?” a voice said. I looked up to see Brian standing in front of me. He seemed baffled to see me there.
My heart started racing faster when I saw him. A friend. Good. Sure, he was a secret friend, but still a friend, nonetheless. I didn’t have room to be picky about my friendships. Anyone who showed me the slightest amount of attention was good enough to me.
I waved at him. “Hey, Brian. I’m so happy you’re—”
“What are you doing here?” he whisper-shouted as he came closer. “Geez, Missy said you were coming, but I didn’t think...” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You should get out of here, Karla.”
“What?”
“I overheard a few people talking. Colton invited you as a joke. I figured you wouldn’t actually show up, but he’s planning—”
“All right, everyone! Gather ’round,” Colton said, interrupting Brian’s conversation with me. The moment others came into the kitchen space, Brian took a few giant steps away from me, as if he was embarrassed to be seen so close.
Ouch.
“It’s time for the entertainment of the night. I give to you, the Hunchback of Notre Dame!” Colton gestured toward me.Everyone came into the room, hooting and hollering as they laughed and pointed at me. Missy stood next to Colton with a heartbroken expression on her face.
“Colton, what are you doing?” Missy whispered. She looked pale.
She had no clue what was about to happen.
“I can’t believe the freak actually showed up,” someone said. I wasn’t sure who said it, but there were a lot of people. It could’ve been anyone. But they were talking about me—I was the freak. And I was on public display.
