“So, what are you being?” Rachel asked the girls, changing the subject away from her.
“I’m a sexy nurse,” Taryn said.
“I’m a slutty cop,” Jen said, holding up her almost non-existent costume.
“I’m a witch!” Liv said, as she put her fake witch teeth in and her long pointy nose.
“I’m a vampire!” Rachel said, feeling a sudden pang of truth in her words.
“Ohhh…love it!” the girls said back. “Freaky!”
As the girls put their finishing touches on their costumes they all danced around the Rihanna music that blared over the radio and started singing. Feeling completely pumped up and ready for a fun night, Rachel took a shot of vodka with the girls. She figured she didn’t have any parents to go home to, and she might as well. She knew no matter how strong her morals were, if she had been getting in so much trouble for being good she might as well be bad, at least for one night.
With that, the girls all filed out of the house and into Taryn's car. The back seat was jammed full, but Rachel sat there, feeling tipsy, happily singing to the music on the radio. She couldn’t wait to get to the bowling alley and to see what this Halloween Ball was all about.
Chapter Fifteen
As the girls hopped out of Taryn’s car, Rachel could feel the alcohol leaving her body. She no longer felt tipsy anymore, and she was glad about that. She knew she’d made a mistake to take the shot in the first place, but with all the pressure from her friends, she found it hard to resist. She made an internal promise to herself that she wouldn’t take another shot, smoke or have a drink because of peer pressure. She knew she could rise above this and go back to being more strong willed.
Feeling clear-headed, she walked into the Halloween Ball. The bowling alley was decked out in orange and black balloons. As they entered they walked through a canopy of woven balloons; there must have been thousands of balloons on the ceiling. She turned to her right to see the buffet station and the large fruit punch tower that was cascading into a large bowl at the bottom. She had never seen an event this beautiful in her entire life. Now she knew why the girls said this was the event of the year and that she couldn’t skip out on it.
The girls changed into their bowling shoes for a round of bowling before the DJ started. Within minutes of the game starting, Rachel felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly turned around to see Arielle and a few of her friends looking pissed off, standing behind her. Rachel stood there; not knowing what this was all about. She remembered the warning Arielle had given her, but she didn’t talk to Rob or see him, so she didn’t know why they’d all be so pissed at her.
“I can’t believe you!” Arielle said, looking at Rachel meanly.
“What?” Rachel asked, confused.
“Don’t play dumb with me. You know what you did,” Arielle grunted.
Rachel waited, with a blank look on her face, not knowing what to say next.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear about what happened today at practice, when your ugly little friend showed up,” Arielle said. “I nearly got killed.”
“What are you talking about, Arielle. Get a grip, would you?” Rachel said, trying to defend herself.
“Actually, Rachel, this isn’t about me. It’s about Rob,” Arielle said, angrily.
Rachel stepped back as Arielle got closer to her face. She felt like she was about to be attacked. She had no idea what Arielle was talking about, but was curious about what happened to Rob. Her heart felt heavy thinking about it. She hoped nothing bad happened to him.
“What do you mean Rob?” Rachel asked.
“He’s gone crazy!” Arielle said. “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Rachel yelled back. “Stop accusing me of things I didn’t do. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Stop lying and tell me what you did to him. He’s not the same person. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like he’s gone mad,” Arielle said, looking around the room, trying to spot Rob to point him out.
“Gone mad?” Rachel questioned.
“Ugh! Would you stop repeating everything I say. You are such a freak, Rachel,” Arielle said. “Ever since you came things have gone so down hill. It’s like you caused this whole mess. Not to mention you tore us apart. We probably would have gotten married had it not been for you, you little freak.”
“Stop calling me a freak!” Rachel yelled. “You’re completely delusional. He never liked you to begin with. None of this was my fault.”
Rachel watched as Arielle’s face turned bright red and she could tell she was fuming with rage.
“You asked for it!” Arielle said as she quickly turned around and ran off towards the buffet station and picked up a large glass bottle of punch and then, without warning, chucked it across the room, directly towards Rachel.
The bottle flew through the air, one end over the other so quickly, that Rachel knew she was about to get smacked in the face. Then, without much trouble, she stared at the bottle as it came directly between her eyes; she halted the bottle just milliseconds before it was about to smash into her. The bottle stopped dead in its tracks and hung in mid air for a few seconds and then fell to the ground, spinning at Rachel’s feet.
Her friends looked at her in awe, as if she had some supernatural powers. Arielle couldn’t believe her eyes and ran over to her, with her cohort behind her, screaming, “Freak! Freak!”
Rachel felt increasingly uncomfortable as all eyes started focusing on her. She quickly ran off, down the halls of the bowling alley, to find Rob. She had to see what Arielle was talking about and she wanted to make sure he was ok.
At first, she couldn’t find him, then she heard screams and wails coming from inside a dark room, and she went in, and turned on the lights.
“Turn those off!” Rob yelled in pain. “My eyes!”
“Oh sorry!” Rachel said, not realizing what was going on. “Are you ok?”
“My head, my head,” Rob said, clutching his skull. “It’s throbbing.”
“What happened? Tell me, I’ll help you!” Rachel said in as worried tone.
“Ouch. My veins. It’s like they’re on fire. HELP!” Rob cried out.
Rachel was worried; she didn’t know what he was saying or what he was going through. She didn’t know how she could help him but so desperately wanted to. She looked around the dim lit room and saw a first aid kit hanging from the wall. She opened it up and grabbed out an ice pack and twisted it until it became cold. She walked over to Rob and put it on his arm where he was clutching himself in pain. As she applied the ice, she could see steam coming off his skin as the ice quickly melted into warm water.