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Chapter 7
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" my alarm sounded.
I quickly shut the alarm off and jumped off the bed. I had never been clubbing
before, so this would be a new experience.
After going into Stacie and Deb’s rooms and waking them up I dashed
for the bathroom to beat them to the shower.
******45 MINUTES LATER******
We reassembled in the living room at 9pm ready to go, which was really
surprising. Stacie had only taken an hour to take a shower AND get dressed
AND do her makeup. Stacie must really like clubbing because at home she takes
2-3 hours to get ready!
I looked around at the three of us. Deb was wearing a short, about two or
three inches above her knees, spaghetti strap, blue dress that had thin white
pinstripes, and white platform sandals, probably to make herself look taller.
Stacie was wearing tight black skirts that fell to her knees, a black and
silver spaghetti strap top with silver platform sandals. I was wearing a
fairly loose black skirt that was about two inches above my knees, a red
V-neck tank top, and flat black sandals (I can’t sand platforms and
I only wear heals minimally).
There were some definite differences in our style. Deb dressed to impress,
Stacie dressed according to the latest trends, and I threw together what
I was comfortable in.
Actually, I think Deb wore the short, BLUE dress because she hoped to run
into Brian Littrell (little did she know I had). She had told me once that
if she were ever in Orlando she would always dress as if she was going to
meet Brian.
After quickly checking our purses to make sure we had everything we were
ready to leave the apartment. As I stood up Deb and Stacie noticed that I
had gotten considerably shorter because they were wearing platforms. I saw
Stacie eyeing me. Uh oh, here it comes, I thought. Suddenly Stacie and Deb
both began singing. "We welcome you to Munchkin Land, la la la
la…….." they sang in high squeaky voices.
I promptly punched them both in the arm. "Owww…." Stacie whined, "that
hurt!"
"Good!" I shot back. Then we all began laughing.
We finally left the apartment and got into the car with Deb in the driver’s
seat, and set out for our destination. I still didn’t know exactly where
we were going.
****** MINUTES LATER******
We pulled up across the street from a club called "The Stardust." Deb parked
across the street and we all got out of the car and walked up to the front
door together.
The bouncer was obviously Deb’s "contact." All she had to do was flirt
with him for about five seconds and he let us in. Inside The Stardust it
was very loud and bright. The music was blasting and there was a glare from
all the lights.
The three of us walked over to an empty table and sat down. "You want drinks?"
Deb loudly asked Stacie and I.
"I’ll have a beer," Stacie replied calmly while I just looked at them
both strangely.
"They never check ID," Deb said. "Once you’re in they assume you’re
over 21." Well, why not, I thought to myself.
"Berry wine cooler," I said knowing that they didn’t have much alcohol
in them so as long as I only had one there wouldn’t be a problem. I’d
been drinking those since I was 14.
About five minutes later Deb returned with the drinks: 2 giant beers, one
for her and one for Stacie, and my wine cooler. We probably sat at the table
for about an hour, maybe a little longer, talking and drinking.
During this time period Stacie had finished off the one giant beer, while
Deb had finished off two. Obviously, two was Deb’s limit. She was
practically hiccuping herself off the chair! Stacie had been wired before
the beer, and now, well……….
" ‘C mon, let’s dance!" Stacie shouted.
Both of my friends rose unsteadily to their feet. "Hold up!" I said. "Deb
give me the keys first. Then we’ll have fun." Deb handed over the keys.
It looked like I’d be driving home considering neither of them could
walk a straight line.
We all headed straight, well as straight as we could, for the dance floor
and into the center of the jostling crowd. As we danced, I noticed a man
staring at me. He was probably in his late twenties, tall, and had sandy
hair. I tried to ignore his stares. When I couldn’t take it anymore
I moved to the other side of the dance floor, dragging Stacie and Deb with
me.
We danced for what seemed like minutes, but were really hours, enjoying ourselves
thoroughly. Then I happened to look up at Stacie. She looked a little pale
to me. I think the beer was finally beginning to take effect. I brought Stacie
back to the table and made Deb, who was still hiccuping, sit with her. I
went to the bar in search of water.
"Two waters, please," I ordered. I then turned to find the same man staring
at me again. This time he approached me.
"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.
"No, thank you," I replied coldly. Just then the waters were placed in front
of me. I picked them up and walked away.
The man followed me, persisting. There was something about him that made
me very nervous. Finally, I turned around and shouted, "Leave me alone!"
and cut through a large group of people, losing him.
I reached the table where Stacie and Deb had been waiting. I set the drinks
down in front of them and sat down. Stacie was getting a little color back,
and Deb’s hiccuping had subsided, but I think they were both feeling
the down side of drinking.
I looked up again to see the sandy haired man staring at me from the next
table. Why was he following me? How did he know where our table was and who
my friends were? Had he been watching me all night?
The strange man rose and approached me once again, but this time making comments
about "going back to his place." Once more I screamed at him to leave me
alone and this time I also slapped him, hard, on the face. He got up, his
face reddening and stormed off. This time I hoped he had left for good.
It was too hot in the club and the roar of the music and the crowd was deafening.
I needed some air. I told Stacie and Deb to rest for a few more minutes while
I stepped outside, and then we would all leave.
As I opened the front door of the club a welcome rush of cool night air hit
me. I leaned up against the brick side of the club and closed my eyes. Suddenly,
the door of the club flew open and the sandy haired man staggered out. He
turned and saw me resting against the wall. The look in his eyes frightened
me. I quickly reached for the door handle to get back inside the club.
"Oh no you don’t," he snarled slapping my hand away. "You’re coming
with me." With that he grabbed me roughly by the arm and began pulling me
towards the darkened alley on the side of the club.
My mind and heart raced. "Someone help me!" I silently prayed struggling
to get away.
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