It was officially Monday. Gee golly, we love Monday's.

I groaned as I turned off my phone alarm, practically steaming because I was woken up. I turned on my lamp, the softness of the light making me wake up gently. I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

I'm a senior. One more semester and then I can leave. To college. College was really stressing me out. Thats such a long time though. Damn it, adulting is not for me.

I stretched, my back popping loudly, and cracked my neck. I walked to my closet, grabbing a black tank-top, black leggings, and a flannel to make my outfit 'school appropriate'. I quickly put product in my hair to keep my curls poppin', and wearing those black converse that lace up all the way up your calf. I love those things.

I did the rest of my routine, and got some cinnamon toast. I put my phone in my pocket and popped in some AirPods, walking out with my belongings to my van. I bobbed my head to the EDM music. It made the the day brighter and more enthralling. It was the only thing that kept me going through the day. Classes were boring, but my long hair hid the earbud I had in at a low volume, so everything worked out.

Eventually, no, finally, lunch came. I grabbed my food from the cafeteria, and was about to walk out when I saw Uji. He sat at the edge of a table with three people on the other side. I looked down the hallway where my friends waited for me. I gestured for them to hold on and I sprung over to where Uji was.

"Hey, would you want to join my friends and me?" I asked. He glanced up at me, a small smile growing.

"They're okay with it?"

"Tch. All of them are extroverts, they're fine with it. C'mon!" I seized his wrist. He paused, looking at where I held my firm grip.

"Okay." He said, and I hurried out to my friends.

"Hear ye, hear ye, Uji is joining us." I announced, puffing out my chest and then bowing. Snickers broke out in my friend group.

"Hi!" Amyah said, adjusting her jacket. The others greeted him. I sat on the ground, and ate some apple slices and yoghurt. My music played through my earbuds, and I got comfortable And laid on the flood, my jacket on the floor to protect my hair from whatever is in school corridors.

"So, how are you?" Aphrodite asked Uji. I looked up at her, and she looked down at me, sending me a small grin.

"Uh, I'm good, and you?" He said quietly. I would have never guessed he was a waiter. She continued to smile, messing with my hair.

"I'm bored. Orchid, what ya listening to?" She asked.

"Mm, Blood in the Water remix." I said, sitting up. She took one of my ear buds and popped it her ear.

"By grandson?" Uji asked.

I grinned, "That's the one! Krupa remix."

"Who's grandson?" River asked. I gave him a pretend hurt look.

"An icon." I shifted uncomfortably. The floor was too hard for my butt. They all got back to talking. I, being uncomfortable, tried to get to my feet, but unfortunately my shoes had little traction on them, and I ended up slipping. My feet ended up in front of me before I realized what was happening. I toppled over backward. CLANG! My head smashed into the lockers behind me, and I landed hard on my tailbone.

They all snapped their heads to me, as I sat stiffly on the ground, looking dazed.

"What was that noise?" Aphrodite asked, "What happened?" They all looked really confused, and I gave a weak smile. Down the hallway, I saw Keiden. He was looking at me. My eyes dropped to my hands.

"Uhm... who saw that?" I asked. Uji started to snicker, and I pulled my knees to my chest nervously, "Oh boy."

"No," He laughed, "It's fine; are you okay?"

"What? What even happened?" Amyah asked, looking at River in confusion. River shrugged.

"I slipped and slammed my head into the locker," I winced as I touched my now tender head. It throbbed angrily at me. Uji looked nervous for me, and my heart hit just a little bit harder.

I got a DM from a kid in school, 'Party at my place! No drugs or booze, just wanna have fun. Invite everyone you can!' It had the information on the rest of the text. I showed it to Aphrodite, and she announced it.

"There's a no booze, no drug party. Hey, that sounds fun! Do you guys wanna go?" She asked.

Amyah yawned, "Hell naw. I got better things to do."

"I'm cool with doing that," I said, popping my neck.

Aphie nodded, "Definitely!"

"Well, sure," Uji said. I grinned at him.

We all talked until the bell rang, and went through classes. Classes, as usual, had nothing to catch my undivided attention. Just like earlier with my slick shoes, I slipped away from it all.

Eventually classes ended and I headed home in my van. Aphrodite came with me, and we got ready.

"So," She started, "On a scale from one to ten, how much do you like Uji?"

I scoff-laughed, "Huh? I don't know. A seven?"

"Just a seven?"

I rolled my eyes whilst laughing, "Okay maybe an eight."

I changed into sweatpants, cute ones. The ones the pull together at the ankles. They were grey, and comfy as hell. With them, I put on my Adidas, and my hair into a messy bun. I pulled off the flannel and left was the black crop tank top. Aphie looked me up and down.

"Cute!" She said, going through my jewelry, and grabbed hoops and a simple dark red choker, "Put these on, and get your wings on." I nodded, putting on the accessories, and put on cat-eye eyeliner and some mascara, along with some Vaseline on my lips.

Aphrodite was much different in her style compared to mine. She had skinny jeans on, a pastel pink t-shirt with white stripes going across, and a natural look going on. Brown eyeshadow, mascara, and gloss on her pouty lips. She looked really cute! Not to mention, her hair was up in a ponytail, her curls looking great. She had on red converse and a simple necklace. Positively beautiful, my best friend was.

We first went on a walk, bringing my dogs. They happily pranced along with us. We also got some food.

Time passed, and soon we left for the party. I arrived, the music was booming. It was like sunset, but still, music was making the entire property vibrate. Luckily, properties were spread apart decently. It was a rich neighborhood. Aphie and I looked at each other and grinned. This was going to be fun.

We walked into the large home. Music was going, people were dancing, sitting in circles playing board games, eating, whatever. All in all, everyone was having a good time. My phone vibrated and dinged. I pulled it out to see a text from Uji.

waiter uji: hey,, are you at the party?

Me: yup, everything alright?

waiter uji: oh its fine... well its a bit embarrassing but im nervous to go inside.. is that bad??

Me: ah its not bad! are you outside? I can come find u

waiter uji: would that be too much of a bother? im sorry:(

Me: hush up its no problem, im on my way

I turned my phone off, "I'll be right back Aphie," I told her. She nodded and I walked out the front door onto the steps. The wind brushed past me. Oh geez, I should've brought a jacket. I regret this. I looked around, kind of confused because I couldn't find him. I texted him.

Me: wait where are you?😂

"Right here," His voice called. I sharply turned my head 90 degrees to the left. He was leaning again the house, checking his phone. I shook my head in confusion.

"I couldn't even see you in my peripheral vision!" I gaped. He laughed to himself, and looked at me with a nervous smile. "It's relatively calm in there," I explained, "It's just the loud music."

He nodded, "Good to know. Sorry about... me."

I put my hands on my hips, "Hey, I get it. Don't worry about it, okay?" I smiled confidently. He nodded apprehensively and walked up with me. We went into the home. He was obviously nervous, so I closed the space between is, my shoulder against his, well right below it. Barely. He looked at me, and I acted as if I didn't notice. I was nervous too. For different reasoning. The guy I liked, we were really close.

I saw Aphie, hanging out with Elijah. I smiled at them. They were both dorks, the kind of dorks everyone liked. They were dancing and giggling like school girls. Psh, they were adorable. I also saw Keiden. He seemed pretty comfortable, with some friends. I turned away from him and looked at the kitchen. They had several types of soda-pops and such. There was also chips and bread. Just slices of white bread. Admittedly, that was a little weird, but if you're on a budget, you're on a budget.

Uji looked super nervous, and I looked up at him.

"What would you like to do?" I asked. He seemed surprised.

"I-I wouldn't know." He rubbed his wrists anxiously.

I nodded, and grabbed a slice of bread. "Bread?" I asked, trying not to laugh. He evaluated for a split second, before grinning.

"Yes please."

I handed him the bread, and grabbed myself a Dr. Pepper. He grabbed a root beer and all was good. We sat down in front of a couch. I put my Dr. Pepper beside me and Uji and I talked.

He looked up at the ceiling, "Is it weird that even though we're at a party, it feels like we're alone?"

"You think?" I observed the other guests.

"Well, there's people here, but it's just one huge conversation where no one's listening, so it's kind of isolating."

I grinned at the way he described it, "You're right. Absolutely."

I picked up my beverage and sipped from it, then pulled it away from my lips in a confused manner.

"Everything alright?" Uji asked.

"Yea, sorry." I looked at the expiration date; it didn't expire for quite a while. "It just suddenly tastes weird. Eh, whatever." I continued to drink it as I couldn't care less.

"That's worrying," Uji commented. I shrugged.

"It's probably nothing." It had been likely it just got warm.

Aphrodite and Elijah came and talked with us. We were talking about something I couldn't remember. I just knew I was tired, and felt kind of sick.

"Orchid?" Aphie drawled, poking my shoulder. I looked up at her.

"Hm?" I mused.

"Hey... are you feeling alright?"

I lazily shook my head, "I'm fine. Just tired is all."

Aphrodite looked at Uji, who didn't really notice my drowsiness until now, since him and Elijah were talking about Post Malone.

"Was she acting like this earlier?" She asked Uji.

He shook his head, "Not at all. What's up with that?" He looked so confused.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my head up.

"Aye!" Aphie crouched next to me. I hadn't realized it, but I was starting to nod off, and my body was about to give out. She grabbed my shoulders, trying to keep me stationary, and I flinched a few seconds later.

"What happened? She's acting like she's not sober."

"Huh? I've never drank in my life!" I weakly detested, "Nor any drug! Aphie you know this!"

"Orchid?" Uji asked, his eyes big like saucers. I looked at him. "You said your drink tasted weird?"

"Yea. It was kinda salty. Nothing big."

Aphrodite gasped, "Do you think she was drugged?"

Uji looked very scared, "I think so."

There was a weird taste in my mouth. I grimaced, and started to panic as I started feeling almost like I was out of my body. It was such a weird feeling, like a buffer between my soul and the real world. My eyes zoomed in on the floor, and the world went quiet. Sensations were limited. Aphie was tapping my thigh, but I couldn't react, no matter how badly I wanted to, in fact, my head dropped forward and my eyes rolled into their sockets. Moments passed, until I could finally grasp control of my body.

I jerked my head up, now definitely panicking, "What the hell was that?" I inquired, really scared.

"Geez! You're tweaking. Aphrodite, could you drive her to the hospital?" Uji said.

She nodded, "Yea, someone help me move her."

"No," I mused, "Everyone will be curious and I'm easily embarrassed..., and not light..." My eyes were closing.  I felt myself getting picked up anyway, bridal style. I grumbled, but was too out of it to really care.

"Whoa, is she okay?" Someone asked.

I opened my eyes lazily. It was a bit hard to see, being as drowsy as I was. People were looking at me. I tried to talk, "I'm just tired," I mumbled with a slur.

Aphrodite sighed exasperatedly, "Do you really think she was drugged?"

"When her head dropped, that was a seizure. I'm pretty sure she's drugged."

My eyes shut. I felt so sick and so weird. Soon enough, I felt somewhat... euphoric, but I couldn't do anything. It was alarming, comforting, and scary all at once.

Before I knew it, I was in a car. I barely opened my eyes, and was seeing the night sky through a window. I shifted uneasily, kind of 'waking' up.

"Hey, relax." Someone told me, putting their hand on my shoulder. I murmured nonsense.

Someone else snickered, perhaps Elijah, and I tried to talk once more, still severely slurring my words, "Why're you laughing? I sound weird." Maybe that was why. I agreed with my statement. I sounded weird. "Nevermind."

My head dropped forward, doing what had happened earlier with a supposed seizure. This time, I swore I could see a spider on my hand. My heart rate accelerated. I did not like spiders. They scared me so bad, but I couldn't move. Great. Just great. The spider started to grow. What? What the hell? Oh geez, this was terrifying. I still couldn't move, so I just closed my eyes. It felt like it wasn't there, but why could I see it? I took in a deep breath, and that was when I went out cold.

I woke up, for real this time. I was in a hospital room, and definitely panicked. I jumped up, taking in rapid breaths. What happened? Why was I here? I tried to rack my brain for memory, but oddly enough, I couldn't remember last night. The last thing I remembered was feeling nauseous when talking to Uji at the party.

A nurse saw me thankfully, and rushed in.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"How'd I get here? What happened? Where... where's my phone?" I wanted to text someone for questions, maybe text my ma.

"It's alright, we have it," She assured, "We were told you were drugged. Sure enough, you were."

"I... I was?" I looked around the room, "Was it like an overdose?"

She nodded, "Yes. Luckily your friends caught onto it before it could really become fatal."

"I don't remember anything." I gazed at my shaking hands. This was a new level of scared.

"We actually have some police here to just ask a few questions. Being drugged is a big deal."

I nodded, and a thought occurred to me, "How bad is my makeup and hair?"

She laughed, "Your mascara is a bit under your eyes, and your hair is falling out of your bun. Would you like to fix up?"

I nodded, "Yea, that would be nice."

She hummed in response, "Let me get you a hand mirror and I have some makeup wipes."

"Thank you so much!" I called out as she walked out. Truth be told, I just would feel better. She came back with those things, and I fixed my makeup and hair. My eyeliner stayed on like a champ, so I felt happy about that. My under-eyes were cleaned up, and I looked decent. I redid my hair, back into a big, messy bun. My curls made it pretty big.

Police walked in. They looked somewhat friendly.

"Hello, we're just here to ask some questions."

"Go ahead." I told them.

"What happened? Were you taking drugs?" A man with a smaller frame and longer brunette hair asked.

"No," I replied, "I apparently was drugged. It was at a party that didn't have any alcohol or drugs, so I didn't really think about keeping an eye on my drink." I told them. They nodded.

"Ah, okay. Where was this party hosted?" They inquired, and I told them the address. "Lastly, do you think there's anyone who would do this to you?"

I paused, "Well, recently a guy I used to know moved back. He didn't seem too pleased with the fact there was someone I was interested in. Still, I don't think they'd do this."

"Who is this?"

"Keiden Rogers," I sighed, "They go to my school, Capitol."

They nodded, "That's all. Thank you." They got up and left. I sighed, and spotted my phone on a table across the room.

"Ugh." I sighed. I got myself up, swaying a bit. I was thankfully still in my outfit from the night before, but I also had a jacket on me. I don't have any recollection of receiving a jacket. It looked familiar, though. Not gonna lie, it smelled good. Kinda like cinnamon and cologne. I picked up my phone, looking at messages from many of my friends and other curious people.

blessing: orchid what the hell happened? what happened to u?

Micaela lived in a different state, and she already had word. I sighed and replied.

Me: someone drugged me. im alright, but i don't remember anything.

I checked the time, 1PM, and got back into the hospital bed. My parents were worried out their mind, they had no idea what happened. I called my mom.

The line rang a couple times, before she picked up. "Orchid? Orchid where are you?" She sounded angry.

"Uh, I'm at the hospital." I scratched my head.

"The hospital? Why are you at the hospital!"

I sighed, "I got drugged at a party. With no booze or drugs allowed, keep that in mind!" I added quickly.

"What? Are you okay?"

"Yea. I don't remember anything, though, so I can't tell you much."

"You're dad's at work. I'll tell him this, but I have to go. Be safe, we're really worried."

"I know... love you."

"Love you." She ended the call and the line ran dead. I sighed deeply. Why would someone drug me? To what? Rape me? Let me die? I texted Uji.

Me: what happened? do u know?

Surprisingly, I got a reply almost immediately.

waiter uji: are you okay??

Me: yea... just nervous:(

waiter uji: thank god you're alright. well... you just started acting weird,, you have two seizures and we're getting loopy

Me: i had seizures? geez, someone's out to get me

waiter uji: ah don't say that,, i don't know why someone would do that, but i think everything will be fine

Me: i hope so, i also hope i can leave the hospital soon😅

waiter uji: i have to go,, but i'll let everyone know ur alright. ttyl:(

Me: ah mkay, ttyl:)

I lied back down in the bed. Whatever happened... it didn't feel like that was a one time thing.

U
April 7th, 2019