“Ugh,” Addison shuddered, “I hate that word. Official. It’s like we’re registering with the state or something. What kind of bullshit…”
“Look, I know that you’ve never been in a relationship before-”
“Neither have you!”
“But think about it, Addison. What do you call what we are now?”
“We’re friends,” Addison said, “We’ve always been friends. And I’d like to stay that way for as long as we possibly can!”
“But that’s the thing,” Charlie said, “A friendship is a relationship. And a friendship that included sexual attraction, well… I’d say we’re mates, my dear girl. Like it or not. Now, all I’m suggesting is that we do exactly what we’ve been doing this whole time, except we stop doing it with other people. Can’t we at least just try it?”
“I don’t know,” Addison said, “I don’t see why we should.”
“Well,” Charlie said, “For my part, I simply don’t want to have sex with other people. So I’m not going to. How about that, huh?”
“But…Then I’m being awful if I do!” Addison cried.
“Have you been with other guys lately?” Charlie asked, “Since we saw each other last, I mean?”
“One…Almost,” Addison said. She realized then that she too had been mostly exclusive to Charlie, except for one lackluster eating-out by her TA. What was going on? Charlie smiled at her excitedly.
“See! You feel it too!” he said, “We haven’t talked about it, but we’ve each felt it! So what do you say? Why don’t we at least give it a shot?”
Before Addison could answer, Anna let out another enormous shriek, rattling the car on its tires. All four friends burst into laughter, noticing the steamed up windows all around them. They were a caricature of themselves, alright. Anna slid off of Grayson back into the driver’s seat, shaking her head.
“Well, I guess I’m sobered up,” she laughed, turning the key in the ignition. “You guys about reading to hit the road or what?”
“Fire her up, baby,” Charlie said, wrapping an arm around Addison, “Let’s go home.”
A sharp knock on the driver’s window made the four friends jump out of their skins in unison. The sudden, bright glare of a flashlight seared through the foggy glass. Addison whipped around and noticed a pair of headlights shining behind them. When had this other car arrived?
“The cops?!” Grayson uttered, “We’re so screwed!”
“Just be calm” Anna said, “I just cry and get out of all kinds of tickets. Watch.”
Anna rolled down her window and squinted into the bright light. No one could see beyond it to the figure beyond the window, and his silence was eerie.
“What are you doing out here?” said a stern, bass voice from behind the light. Anna giggled girlishly at him.
“We’re just enjoying the view,” she said, “It’s a little tradition for me and my friends. But we were just leaving, officer!”
“Is that booze I smell?” he demaned.
“Uh, no…” Anna chirped, the worry shining through her voice. Addison saw out of the corner of her eye a second flash light on the passenger’s side. All around the car, dots of light were springing up, blinding the four friends in the car.
“What’s going on?” Charlie called.
“Get out of the car,” the voice outside demanded. The locks on all four doors sprung open at his touch of the button. The four doors were wrenched open simultaneously, and dozens of hands reached in to wrestle the occupants out of the car. Addison felt greedy fingers close around her legs and rip her from Charlie’s arms. She was pulled into the cold night as her screams, and those of her friends, were carried away on the winter wind. She felt her body being carried away, and was tossed unceremoniously onto the cold floor of a waiting van. She heard the others being thrown in afterward, the roar of an engine, and they were speeding away. In the dark, the friends grappled for each other. They collapsed into a terrified heap, wondering what horrors they were soon to face. Addison found Charlie’s hand a squeezed it tight.
“It’s OK, he murmured, “We’re going to be OK.”
But she could hear in his voice that it was a lie. And they all knew it.
“Is anyone hurt?” Grayson asked in a quiet, desperate voice.
“I…I think I broke something…” Anna moaned, the pain in her body radiating through her voice. In the pitch blackness of the van, they couldn’t tell their limbs apart. With grasping hands, they reached out to Anna.
“What the fuck is this?” Addison said, her voice shaking, where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie said, “I thought it was the cops telling to get moving at first, or arrest us for being wasted, but-”
A shrill cry rose from Anna’s throat, piercing the hearts of her friends. She was badly hurt, they could feel. Her leg had been twisted under her body as she fell, and something was cracked and crunched as the van jostled them against each other. Anna needed a doctor, and they all needed some answers in a big way. But it seemed like they were all out of luck.
“What’s happening?” Anna muttered, deliriously. Grayson found her in the dark, cradled her small body against his own.
“We don’t know,” he whispered, despondently. “We were all in the car together, waiting for the booze to get out of our systems, and some guy stopped behind us. There were so many people…Just, out of nowhere! Where did they even come from?”
“Were they following us from the start?” Addison wondered aloud, “Did they follow us to the beach and then just wait there for us to come back to the car? Do you think that’s it?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Charlie moaned, wrapping his arms around Addison, “Who could they possibly be?”
“I have no idea,” Grayson said, amazed, “Who in the world would do something like this, and to us? We’re nobody! It’s not like we have any enemies! It’s not like we’ve got parents in the Mob or the UN! This is just some random act, I bet you anything. Just some mindless fucking voilence.”
“Violence?” Anna said softly, “Do you think they’re going to hurt us Grayson?”
“I think that there is a very good chance of it, Anna,” he said gently, “I don’t know who, exactly, took us from our car. I’ve heard about gang initiations that start this way. New members go out and kill or kidnap people to earn their spot in the gang. It’s sick, is what it is.”
“Gangs?” Anna said, her voice trembling, “But…Why us? I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand,” Charlie said testily, “Stop blabbering on!”
“Charlie!” Addison scolded, taking his face between her hands, “Don’t lash out at her! She’s hurt, she can’t focus. We need to keep level heads in all of this. That’s the only way that we’re going to make it through.”
“Level heads?!” Charlie exclaimed, “How do you propose we do that, Addison? We’re probably being carted off to our deaths right now, and all you can talk about is being reasonable!”
“It’s the only thing that’s going to help us, Charlie. We have to be reasonable. It’s our only weapon right now.”
“That is just like you,” Charlie said contemptuously, “Just letting reason run the game, instead of ever trusting your gut or your heart. You never once give anything a chance except your brain, do you? Not even me. Not even when we’re-”
“Don’t start with your relationship bullshit right now, Charlie!” Addison cried, “In case you haven’t noticed, we have somewhat more important things to worry about right now!”
“Anything would be more important to you than me!” Charlie said coldly, “Just say it! You don’t care about me one bit, and you’re going to be the person I die with!”
“No one said anything about dying,” Addison said, “We’re not going to die. Whatever this madness is, we’re going to make it out alive. You can mark my words.”
“Then will you go out with me?”
“For God’s sake…” Addison groaned.
“Guys?” Grayson said softly, “I don’t think…Anna’s not responding.”
“What?” Addison cried, lurching across the back of the van. She fumbled in the dark until her hands found Anna’s body. The girl had lost consciousness, the pain in her battered leg too much for the rest of her waking mind to bear. Addison grappled in the blackness to find her friend’s neck, rested her fingers against the jugular vein. A faint, subtle pulse was there, beating in time with the bouncing van. Addison let out a little sigh of relief. If nothing else, they were all alive. For the present moment.