I got to the door. I wasn’t sure if I should knock considering it was  a party. I had never knocked when I came over normally ,but do things change when you are going to a party? Was I supposed to just walk in? All of a sudden, the door swung open and I jumped. I looked up and there was Kara’s face. She had a sad look in her eyes. 

“Come on, Grace”, Kara said with a sad tone in her voice. 

She turned around and I followed her. We walked up the stairs straight into her bedroom. I walked into her bedroom and noticed there was something off with her.  I turned to Kara and said, “ Something is wrong. You seem weird. I think you need to get to talkin.”

She took a deep breath and then began, “ He’s not coming.”

“Who?”, I asked.

“Brant. We broke up.. I mean I’m not sure ,but him not coming sure feels like it.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe he just needs a day. Maybe he isn’t mad or wants to break up. Maybe he just wants to get some distance. You never know.” I rambled. ​

Kara was crying as she said, “No, this is different. He left. He was here and then he just walked out. He said we’ll talk later. He always wants to talk! I just know it's done. I know it! I know you’re gonna say that we have fought like this before ,but everytime we do he texts me. I know he is done! I know it.” 

“Maybe you’re just reading too much into it. Maybe he was in a bad mood. I think you should just give it time,” I said. I could tell this isn't comforting to her. I mean I never liked him so it's a little hard to comfort someone when you don’t even like the reason you have to comfort them. 

Kara began talking again,”I’m done talking about this. I just wanna get ready for the party and forget all about this.” 

“Ok, if that's what you want,” I said.

“Yes, that's exactly what I want,” she replied. 

We started to head downstairs after an hour of picking out the perfect outfit. When we got downstairs, people were already there. I was so excited. This was the first time that I had ever been to a real party. Well it wasn’t exactly the high school party you would have imagined considering that Kara’s parents were there ,but they didn’t really care about what we did so it was pretty much a real party. 

Then I saw him. I saw Chad. I had been pining over this guy since the 8th grade. He was the IT guy at my school. He was the guy all the girls wanted ,but no one wanted him more than I did. Then he started walking towards me. My heart skipped a beat. I thought I was gonna die. 

“Hey Grace,” Chad said in a raspy voice.

“Hey,” I said with a slight tremble in my voice. 

All of a sudden, the door slammed open and in walked the football team. Chad left and ran over to them. Then, I was all alone. Well, at least he talked to me ,even if it was just for a second. I watched him laughing, yelling, and having fun with his friends. I looked for Kara ,but she was nowhere to be seen. 

I walked over to go get a drink and Chad said, “Here,” and handed me a drink.

 I took the drink and said, “Thank you.” 

 I inspected my drink and it seemed normal, so I took a sip. There is no weird taste so I thought I was in the clear. Little did I know this would be the drink that put me in a very sticky situation. 

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was completely confused. Why are there so many trees around me? The bigger question was where am I and how did I get here? Then it hit me. I knew what happened. I knew where I was. Most of all, I knew I needed to get out of there. 

  I tried to get up ,but I couldn’t. My mind was fuzzy and I was confused ,but I still knew what happened. I knew what Chad did to that drink. I knew it all. I was so mad. I thought, at the very least, Chad was a good guy. A guy that I could have trusted ,but apparently not. He did that to me. 

I tried to get up again and this time I managed to stand. I started to walk slowly ,but my head felt like it's gonna explode. I leaned against a tree, trying to regain my balance and composure. I began to walk again and I saw a creek. 

I looked back and forth trying to find a place to cross the creek. When I found the perfect place to cross ,I attempted it. The water was rushing over my feet and my converses were soaked. I got to the other side and I was freezing. I fell to the ground. My head still pounding. I was terrified. The only hope I had was that I probably wouldn’t remember this the next day. 

  I got up and started to walk up stream. I saw a figure rustling in the bushes. I saw the figure move closer to me and I stopped walking. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had seen pictures of them before ,but never in real life. I was completely terrified. 

There it was. A giant rabid bear with a huge fish hanging out of its mouth. I didn’t know what to do. I stood there in shock for a minute. Then I started running in the opposite direction. I could hear it running after me. I tried to run faster ,but I was still confused and my head was still throbbing. I fell and tried to get up ,but I couldn’t so I went to plan B. 

I tried to find a place to hide. Then I finally found a log I could crawl to and it was just big enough for me to hide behind it. I held my breath as I heard the bear approaching. I tried to stay calm ,but it was so hard. Eventually, the bear kept moving. It must have gotten distracted ,but it didn’t matter to me. I was just so happy that the bear didn’t try harder to eat me. 

I laid there for a while so I could regain my composure. I laid there for quite some time. I was still completely shaken up. It took me forever to finally regain my composure ,but once I managed to compose myself I got up and started walking again. I had ran so far away from the creek that I had no idea where I was. I just decided to continue to walk. I prayed that I would eventually find a road, a person, or even some type of civilization.  

As I was walking I kept my eyes open making sure to be very aware of my surroundings. Eventually I started to hear car noises. I kept walking faster and faster praying that I could find the road and that someone would be willing to help me. 

Then I started to see faint headlights. I knew I was getting closer. This put a little pep in my step. I desperately wanted to be out of the woods and at home. I just wanted to be safe. Then, I got to the road. I could see the cars driving by ,but my head was hurting from the harsh light of the headlights coming down the road. I put my thumb up just like I had seen on TV when people would try and hitch hike. All of a sudden, a car pulled over and a guy wearing a black hoodie got out. All I could think was RUN. 

I started to run. I was determined that I wasn’t gonna have another bad experience with a guy that night. 

“Hey! I’m not gonna hurt you!” ,yelled a teenage boy.

“How do I know that!” I replied.

“I promise you can trust me,” he said. 

“That’s what they always say before they kill you. I’ve seen too many horror movies for this. Especially tonight, I can’t handle this!” I yelled. 

“My name is Sam. Sam Huddleston. I go to Andeler high school.” he stated.

All I could think is Oh my gosh I know this kid. He is kinda cute. He’s in my English class. I took a deep breath and responded,”I know you. You’re in my English class. I’m Grace Smith.” 

“Wait, didn't you leave with Chad from Kara’s party?” 

“Well I’m not sure. It's kinda a long story. Is there any way you could bring me home?”

“Oh my gosh of course. Just promise you’ll tell me how you got here so I know why I’m beating up Chad.”

“NO! You don’t need to do that, just bring me home and leave it at that. I don’t wanna talk about this. Plus I'm not even enterally sure what happened.”

“OK fine. Just get in the car.”

“OK,” I replied.  

I got in the car and he started driving. We were silent for quite a while. Then he said,”So if you want to talk I’m all ears.”

“Ok I'll tell you what I know ,but things are still kinda fuzzy,” I replied.

I then told him everything I could remember about that night. He was quiet the whole time I talked and when I finished we sat there in silence for about a minute. Then he said,”I’m so sorry. Chad is a jerk. I never liked him ,but now I hate him.”

“I’m still in shock. I don’t know how to feel about it yet.” I said with a sad tone in my voice.

We were quiet the rest of the way home. When I got home no one was awake. Sam walked me to the door and gave me his number. He told me to call him in the morning. I went inside and I headed straight to my room. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. That night I hoped that I would never remember this or that it was just a nightmare and when I would wake up it would all be gone ,but surely in the morning I woke up and I remembered it all.