All
I Ever Wanted
8:34 PM
“We have to wait half an hour before
taking another one!”
“Screw
it—I declare it to be half an hour right now!”
It
is the summer of 2015, and my parent’s living room is filled with whoops and
hollers. Nobody refutes Jaxie’s rebellious break to the rule we all set a
couple hours ago. We outta take it slow.
We’ll take shots every 30 minutes and mixed drinks in between, with minimal
vodka or rum—your choice.
I
trail right behind my best friend Ashley’s heels, my cheeks flushed with the
warmth spreading throughout my body, which isn’t only coming from the drink
held loosely in my hand. It’s also coming from you holding my other hand, and
not once do I let go. I catch myself glancing over my shoulder occasionally, as
it to check for myself that you are still indeed there.
“Take
it slow my ass,” Trevor mumbles across the kitchen as everyone piles around the
granite island counter, where Jaxie messily pours everyone a generous shot. I
reluctantly release your hand as I set my mixed drink down and pick up the warm
glass of peach-flavored vodka. I look at all the faces around me, and I feel
myself beaming. I love all these people. And I’m so happy that you’re here with
us, to share memories that we’ll hopefully never forget.
It's
been way too long since we’ve all gotten together again. It reminds me of high
school. Being a sophomore in college, that time seems ages ago. Each time I
look in the mirror, I’m reminded of how much I’ve physically changed since
then. I’m over my semi-gothic phase: the heavy eyeliner, the dark clothing
24/7, the countless trips to Hot Topic. I’ve also lost a significant amount of
weight my Freshmen year in college, so I’m no longer that girl who’s incredibly
self-conscious of her body. I’ve still got curves, of course, and my thunder
thighs, but as Meghan Trainor said, it’s
all about that bass! And of course, whoever said high school is the best
part of your life is debatable. So far, I like college immensely more than I
did high school.
My
eyes catch your dark brown ones as I swivel down the vodka. Around me, everyone
whoops and hollers again, breaking off into warm-hearted laughter. Trevor makes
his way back outside, turning the music back on with his phone. I hear the
familiar thumping pop tune of Primadonna by
Marina and the Diamonds through the thin walls of my parent’s house. Without
them, this place seems so quiet. Or maybe it’s because we’re so loud. It
doesn’t matter that we are; nobody can hear us since my parents living in the
middle of nowhere. They’ve gone to their cabin in Colorado for vacation for a
week, so I’ve got this entire house to myself. I fully intend on making full
use of my time here.
You
hold my hand again, and I immediately move closer, remembering how just over a
year ago, you asked me to be your girlfriend in this very same room. The
butterflies I feel fluttering in my stomach are nowhere near as intense as they
were that day when you kissed my forehead, but that’s how I prefer it to be.
All I ever wanted was the world
I can't help but I need it all
The primadonna life, the rise and
fall
9:25 PM
I
have a new friend. It’s a bug, and I think it’s a he, although I’m not too
sure. I’m also not sure what kind of bug he is, and although I’m not a huge fan
of bugs, I’m not afraid or repulsed by them, either.
I’m
crouching on the cold tile, vaguely hearing loud voices come from the backyard,
where the pool is. But the bug stays there, right in the middle of the lines
from the tile. Is he staring at me, too? Or is he too scared to move? I wonder
what it’s like, to be that tiny in such a gigantic world. What do I look like
to him?
“I’m
not going to hurt you, little fella,” I murmur gently. “Would you like to go
outside? Being inside isn’t all that great. Besides, the party’s moved out
there!”
Fetching
a piece of paper towel, I gently ease the bug onto the top and curl it like a
small canoe. Then, I gingerly walk to the back porch and open the glass door. A
naked Jaxie runs by me, and Ashley laughs from her place on the bench. We’re
most likely both thinking the same thing.
How much you wanna bet Jaxie won’t
actually do it?
Yet,
she climbs into the hot tub stark naked, where Trevor and Sam wait inside. As I
set down my new friend, I wonder where you are until I remember you went to get
us pizza because when I’m buzzed, pizza is the best thing in the entire world,
and except for Trevor, you’re the only one fit to drive anywhere because you
refuse to drink.
“Hey,”
Ashley’s voice sounds closer than I realize. When I straighten up, I see that
she’s stripping out of her shirt. “You coming or what?”
“You
know it,” I say with a crooked grin, already tugging on the hem of my purple shirt
that I got once at a Renaissance Festival in Michigan with the words Damsel during the day, a wench at night!
written in bold cursive over the front. As I manage to pull it off, I hear a
low crunch where my feet are. Confused, I peer down to see the twisted remains
of my friend.
“Sarah!”
Sam’s voice carries from the hot tub. “C’mon. We’re playing truth or dare!”
10:55 PM
I
feel hot despite the gusting winds of South Texas and me being waist-deep in
pool water. I take a messy sip of vodka straight from the bottle before passing
it to Sam, who takes several gulps.
You’re
sitting next to me, but for once, I’m barely aware of your presence. The hot
tub’s water is ironically cool and refreshing. My family hasn’t gotten it to
work for the 10 years we’ve lived here. Maybe one day, it will. Or maybe not.
Only
time can tell.
Someone
winds up dropping the bottle, the pool water tainting the alcohol. But it’s the
same color, so we continue passing it around. The world dips and spins, and I
cannot stop smiling. Vaguely, in the background, I hear Trevor’s low music
playing on his phone—the same song from earlier.
You say that I'm kinda difficult
But it's always someone else's fault
Got you wrapped around my finger,
babe
You can count on me to misbehave
11: 25 PM
The
world dips and spins, but not in a cool way. I can’t walk straight. My knees
are banged and bruised from having the brilliant decision of jumping in and out
of the pool. You’re holding my hand again, leading me down the hallway. We walk
into the room I grew up in, and I instinctively glance over, expecting to find
20 pairs of eyes from One Direction posters peering back at me. But I only see
a plain, white wall.
I
remember how it was here, in this very room, where you said something so
beautiful to me that it rendered me speechless. Or the time you gave me the
handwritten note with countless ways to describe how you felt about me. We pass
by my full-length mirror; I still recognize myself—my hazel eyes, flushed
cheeks, and your tall stature. I’ve always loved your height. I felt like we
matched like two puzzle pieces. That’s something that hasn’t changed.
You
and I hold so many memories together. So many special moments. I want to make
more, but not like those. Not as serious. I want us to be happy and carefree.
As we lay on my twin-sized bed with your arms encased around me, I think to
myself can you hold me?
The
world dips and spins, but not in a cool way.
Side-to-side,
up-and-down.
I
can’t feel my lips, so I can’t feel you kissing me.
I’m
suddenly so very tired.
And I'm sad to the core, core, core
Every day is a chore, chore, chore
When you feel of a whole more more
I wanna be adored
11: 45 PM
You’re
not holding my hand. You’re holding my wrists above my head. Your hands are no
longer warm but cold. Your touch is no longer gentle but demanding. Your smile
is no longer friendly but malicious. I’m no longer giddy but scared.
I
don’t know what’s happening.
I’m
quickly reminded of the time you grabbed my forearm and drug me out of the
theatre during One Act Play practice and into the empty dressing room, where
you shoved me against the wall and pinned me to it. I remembered how tight your
grasp was—my skin bruised later from it. Then you demanded to know why I was
giving you the cold shoulder. I didn’t say, but I had been avoiding you because
we were done and you wouldn’t leave me be. You were like a constant shadow,
following my heel wherever I went. It creeped me out. But I’ve never heard your
voice like that before, or seen the darkness in your eyes until that very
moment. What happened to the sweet guy I rode the Ferris wheel with at the Jim
Wells County Fair? For the first time, I felt afraid of you. Trevor, Ashley,
and my other friend Jasmine banged loudly on the door, calling my name. Your
lips moved rapidly. I couldn’t move. How did I forget that weeks later? You say
sweet nothings, though your actions speak otherwise. And that’s all they are:
sweet words with no authenticity.
And
here, I can’t move. Not only because of what you’ve done to my wrists, but
because my body is rendered incapable of moving properly. My head swims.
Everything is numb and cold, so unlike before. My lips move, but I don’t know
what I’m saying. Whatever it is, you have no reaction. You continue doing what
you do.
I
know why you refuse to drink. You told me years ago. So why are you doing this?
Why do you find me in this state arousing?
Why
aren’t you just holding me?
I
don’t want this—I want my arms to be free—I want you off me—I feel like I can’t
breathe—I don’t want you touching me. Not like this. Not as I am.
Primadonna girl fill the void, up
with Celluloid
Take a picture, I'm with the boys
Get what I want 'cause I ask for it
Not because I'm really that
deserving of it
12:35 AM
As
I watch your truck disappear from the caliche road, I’m reminded of that
day—the week after high school graduation, when you walked through that front
door and left. But I feel nothing. You never did walk through the front door
after that, until earlier this evening.
There is no in-between, I think to myself as I trudge back
to the pool, seeing Sam and Trevor sitting on the side, deep in a conversation,
and Ashley and Jaxie laughing about something. There are no transitions. This
is all going by so fast…am I crying?
1:30 AM
I’m
sitting in my parent’s bathtub with my knees pulled to my chest, sobbing.
Beside me, Sam is telling me the story of Harry Styles and his pet chicken,
which of course isn’t real. Normally the story makes me feel better when I’m
drunk. But not this time.
My stomach aches and churns. I can’t get your face out of my
mind. My wrists ache from your belt. I’m so tired. I don’t want to get sick.
“I
promise you won’t throw up,” Sam tells me.
“Don’t
promise her that,” Trevor says, crouching next to me with a towel in his hands.
“She’ll feel better if she does, anyhow. C’mon, Sarah. It’s time for bed.”
The
next day, everyone leaves by the afternoon, leaving me and Ashley to my
parent’s house that is in the state of a disaster—the empty vodka bottles lying
around on the counters, the peach-flavored one outside by the hot tub, empty
pizza boxes littering the tables, and empty plastic cups discarded everywhere I
look. I’m thankful my parents will be gone for another four days because it’ll
take a while to clean this up. We’re quiet this morning, each exhausted and
speechless from what happened last night.
Jaxie
had thrown up this morning outside by the pool. When my mother called to ask
whether I was feeding the dogs, I glanced out the window, saw one of them
lapping at Jaxie’s remains of pizza, and calmly replied, “They’re eating
great.”
For
lunch, we drive into town to get some Dairy Queen. As Ashley pulls into the
drive-thru, I send you a text.
Why?
I
gaze out the window with hardened eyes as Ashley recites my order. It’s been a
long time since I’ve sat in this drive-thru. And just as I’ve remembered, this
Dairy Queen takes forever, despite us being the only ones here.
Each
time I close my eyes, I see one scene and one scene only despite all the other
muddled ones. You and I, in my childhood room.
From
my lap, my phone vibrates.
Why what?
Why’d you do that when I was that
drunk?
I told you to stop drinking. It’s
not my fault you wouldn’t stop.
“I’ve
got to hand it to Trevor,” Ashley mumbles when the familiar pop song comes on
the radio. She leans forward to turn up the volume. “This song is catchy as
hell.”
'Cause I'm a primadonna girl, yeah
All I ever wanted was the world
I can't help that I need it all
I’m
suddenly furious, my neck starting to turn red as well as my ears—my Irish
blood boiling. My hands curl into fists. I want to throw my phone out the
window. I want the images to be erased. I want to take back the night before. I
want to never see you again.
As
the drive-thru opens with the employee handing out our drinks, I’m looking up
the Texas state laws regarding legal consent.
The Issue
of Consent under Texas Law: Even when no force or threat of force is used, the
defendant knows the alleged victim has not consented and is unconscious or
physically unable to resist.
He probably doesn’t know, I think to
myself. That if someone is intoxicated,
especially to the point where I was, they cannot give consent...but ignorance
doesn’t excuse anyone from the law.
As
I take my first bite of the crispy, warm French fry, I remember a memory with
my grandfather on my mother’s side of the family. I don’t remember what led to
this conversation, but I’ll never forget his words. I always thought he was
being paranoid and had an attitude about people. But the older I get, the more
I realize how wise he truly is.
“As
a Pacific,” he told me, referring to my mother’s maiden name that was passed
along his Italian mother’s side, “trust nobody except family or yourself.
People will steal from you. Cheat you. Some people will knock you outta the way
to get what they want, no matter how nice they may seem. So don’t give ‘em a
chance to do it, you hear?”
Ashley
and I are driving back to my parent’s house, with a red Chevy truck going 55
miles an hour in front of us—25 below the legal speed limit. Typical rural
Texas driving behavior. Ashley’s hands tighten around the wheel, her knuckles
going pale from the tension. I look at the text again.
Was it my fault? Did I have too much to
drink? I can’t remember what I said in my bedroom. I know how I felt, but did I
properly vocalize that? I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but then we all went
skinny dipping. Was that an open invitation for him to do what he wanted? Was I
asking for it?
Is it my fault?
I
never did text you back. And you never did text me back, of which I’m thankful
for. It’s taken me years to come to this understanding, and it’s one that, like
the memory, I will never forget. No matter what a woman is wearing, she never
deserves being sexually invaded without proper consent. No matter what a woman
says, it is not proper consent to touch her how you want when she’s intoxicated
with alcohol. With a woman being in that kind of state, you are taking
advantage of her. To this day, it boggles my mind how you even wanted that when
I couldn’t even speak coherent sentences. It’s
cowardice, I’ve told myself. And
total lack of respect. Unfortunately, as a society we teach people not to
wear certain clothes or not to drink too much, and instead we put the blame on
the victims. We don’t spend enough time telling people to respect one another
and treat each other the way you’d want to be treated. I did not ask for what
you did to me. You were completely sober, and I was utterly drunk. You knew
exactly what you were doing.
And
as a Pacific, I will give nobody the chance to do that to me ever again. I hear
you, Grandpa. Loud and clear.
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