My First and Last Party

It is the night after my high school graduation, and I am laying in my bed scrolling on my phone like usual. It is a typical night in my house; my parents are in bed watching TV and my sister is playing the PlayStation downstairs. I get a text from my best friends, Gracie and Jasmine, asking if I want to go to a party tonight. It is already nine o'clock and my parents almost never let me leave the house this late. I would feel bad for telling my friends no just because I am too scared to ask my parents, so I get out of bed. I walk into their room and ask if I can go. At first, I think they are going to say no automatically, but then they start asking questions. It's just their typical parent questions like, "Who is going, where is it, who is throwing it, and will there be parents?" As they are asking all of these, I realize they might actually let me go. I had never been to a party before, just hangouts with my friends at someone's house. I am shocked when they say that I can go. Reluctantly, of course. 

As I start texting in my group chat with my friends, I am interrupted by my mom, "Be home by 2 a.m. Do not be late." I promise I won’t be, I even plan on coming home earlier than that. I am glad they are trusting me to go out so late, and I want to prove that I am responsible. I leave their room to get ready to go; Gracie is going to drive to my house, and I will drive us to the party in my car. As I am getting ready to leave, my little sister comes into my room to ask where I am going. I tell her that I am going to a party. Astonished, she asks, "They're letting you?" I tell her I am shocked too, but I guess since I just graduated, they are making an exception. 

Gracie gets to my house around ten o'clock, and I drive us to the party not long after. We are talking and laughing the entire car ride there, glad to finally be done with high school. It takes thirty minutes to get to the party, and as we are pulling in the driveway, we see that there are a lot of people there, way more than we expected. We have no idea where to park since it is so full, but there is a lady outside telling people where to go park and how to get out. I roll down my window as she approaches, and she says, "Come park up on this hill here. You can fit." 

I look to Gracie, and we are thinking the same thing. No way are we parking there. The lady sees us looking at each other and reassures us that it will be okay and that she will help us park. We are unsure but decide to park there anyways. She directs me with her flashlight as I slowly drive my old Honda Accord up the hill and between a huge truck and the fence. 

We get out and walk around the house to the backyard and basement. There are people inside and outside, and Gracie and I try to find Jasmine, her boyfriend and his friends. Gracie sees them just inside and tells me to follow her, so I do.

I walk in the house and I can feel the bass throughout my entire body. It reeks of sweaty bodies and marijuana. We walk up to Jasmine and the others and begin talking. I look around, and I see friends from school that I know I will never see again after tonight. Jasmine, Gracie, and I decide to break away from her boyfriend, Chris, and go into the kitchen. We think it will be less crowded, but the air gets denser as I move throughout the house with my friends. We decide to find our way outside. It is so hot in there and the cool summer air and sprinkling rain feels good on our skin. We sit by the pool for a while talking endlessly about high school, our futures, and everything in between. We are interrupted when Chris comes up to us with a cup in his hand. He hands us the cup and tells us to come back inside. 

We follow him back into the small basement of the house. I look to Jasmine and Gracie and tell them that they can drink what is in the cup since I drove. Gracie tells us that we can drink it and that she will drive us back. We go back and forth for a little while, but ultimately, I hand her my keys and take the solo cup. Jasmine and I finish the entire cup of what I am ninety-nine percent sure is Hennessy and hand it back to Chris. It is only 11:30, so we have plenty of time left before I have to be back home. 

By 12 a.m. the alcohol starts to kick in. The music is still playing and it is only getting more crowded. Jasmine, Chris, and I run into a group of our friends that we didn't know were coming, and they had a bottle of Ciroc. It was being passed around between me, Jasmine, Chris, our three friends, Jeremiah, Stephanie, and Willie. At this point, it doesn’t really matter what we drink. All we want to do is have a good time with our high school friends before we go off to college and never see each other again. 

While we are inside, the rain starts to pick up. But by 1:00 it dies down and people start to leave. Jasmine's sister comes to pick her up and by the time they leave, Gracie and I decide to leave in order to be back home on time. We get situated in the car and try to leave. Gracie starts the car and puts it in reverse. She steps on the gas pedal, but nothing happens. The car won't move. "I think we're stuck," Gracie mutters. She tries again, and nothing happens. All we hear are the tires spinning in the mud. Gracie tries to call Jasmine's sister, but she won't pick up. She tries to stay calm and think of a solution, but I'm not helping. She's panicking and I'm laughing. What are the odds that something like this happens to me the one time my parents trust me enough to let me go out, and I'm drunk. I try to stay serious for her sake, but I just can't help it. If I were sober, I would be freaking out with her.

Gracie gets out of the car to go find help. She comes back with Chris, his friends, and the lady who told us where to park earlier. Gracie gets back in the car to steer, and they push. Nothing happens. They try again and again. They try over and over, and nothing happens. All I can do is laugh. My car is stuck and the best help we can find are two drunk boys, their driver, and a lady in her mid-forties. Gracie thought it would be enough force to get us unstuck, as would anyone I'm sure, and it isn’t. The sober of the three boys, Shawn, tells Gracie to switch with him, so he can try to steer the car instead. They trade spots and try pushing the car again. 

The car finally starts to move, or slide in this case. We think we are going to get it out. They keep trying and it keeps sliding, but it starts to slide in the wrong direction. It slides towards the fence. We should stop trying to get it unstuck, but I really do not want to call my parents. I can’t have them coming to pick me up in this state, especially not when they trusted me. We keep trying, trying new techniques like putting boards under the tires, but nothing is working. It is only making things worse. My car is stuck up against the fence. Because my car slid up against the fence, the right-side mirror is ripped off. My poor car is not showing any signs of getting unstuck. If we keep trying, we will only cause more damage to the car. 

"Texts From My Mom"

We call it quits when Chris stops helping, complaining that his expensive designer shoes are getting muddy. "Just take the L and call your parents," he tells me. By now it is well past my curfew. As he says that, I get a text from my mom asking if I am home yet. Reluctantly, I take the loss like Chris told me to and text her back. I tell her no and that Gracie and I need to be picked up. I feel horrible as I hit send. I never wanted it to end like this. They trusted me to go out with my friends and be home on time. Now, it is 3:30, I'm drunk, and my car is stuck and damaged. Chris and his friends leave, and Gracie and I go back inside. We sit in the basement with the girl who threw the party and her mom until my dad comes. By the time my dad gets here, I have sobered up a little, but not completely. We don't say much on the way home except for a little small talk here and there. I don't want him to be suspicious of me, and the small talk helps. 

"My Car the Day After the Party"

We get home and Gracie leaves back to her house. Before I go up to bed, my dad tells me that we will be up early to go and get my car. It is past four in the morning and I am now dreading waking up. I hope early means ten o'clock, but I am wrong. He wakes me up at eight. He drives us back to the house in the Jeep and we pull my car out. The damage isn’t extensive, but my car isn’t exactly in perfect condition either. The mirror is hanging off, and there is a dent at the door hinge causing it to make a noise when opened. For my punishment, my dad tells me to pull the weeds in our yard. I expect more of a punishment than that, so I am relieved when that's the only thing I'm told to do. He says he isn't mad about the damage to the car, but I know him better than that. The dent in my door is now a small reminder of the trust that I gained and lost all in one night. 

Image Credits

"Texts From My Mom" by Maddie LaRocca

"My Car the Day After the Party" by Maddie LaRocca