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She watched the crowd, unable to wrap her head around the fact that she was actually here in the midst of complete strangers in a place she wouldn’t have gone to even during her wildest years.
As the crowd thinned, drinks were quickly replaced with drugs, hugs replaced by full-on make-out sessions, and couples were constantly disappearing into various rooms and bathrooms.
Tara herself was almost completely drunk, her words slurring as she tried to talk to Collette, her words completely incomprehensible.
“I need some air,” Collette yelled over the noise and the music.
Tara nodded eagerly and pointed towards the bar. “I’ll be right there doing what I do best.”
Collette smiled awkwardly and made her way through the guests, already feeling incredibly uncomfortable as she bumped into one drunk person after the other, coming very close to having a drink spilled on her.
When she made it through the veranda doors, she sighed heavily and stretched, letting the cool air soothe her. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh air, a little light-headed from the smoke inside.
She took out her phone and saw that Jackie had tried calling her. She pondered whether to return the call or not, and decided against it.
If Jackie found out she was out at a party, she would never hear the end of it. She’d give her a call in the morning.
Collette leaned against the railing and looked back at the crowd inside.
They were a rowdy bunch, and she found it hard to believe that any of them had jobs or a life to get back to.
It was as if they had been created for the sole purpose of partying, in their own little bubble as the world around them went about its business, oblivious to everything around them.
She couldn’t believe that at one point in her life, this had been a regular outing for her and Jackie. She almost regretted having had agreed to come here.
Collette looked at her phone again, registered the time, and decided she had had enough. She made her way back into the smoke and music, wincing after having had experienced the fresh air, heading straight towards the bar to let Tara know she was leaving.
She looked around for the blonde but couldn’t find her anywhere, frowning as she scanned what was left of the crowd for the woman.
“We have a problem here!”
Collette turned to where the voice was coming from, a small commotion starting up as a few guests hurried into one of the several bathrooms.
“Someone call 911!”
Collette felt her stomach turn, a sinking feeling hitting her as she hurried towards the bathroom, pushing through the crowd.
Panic immediately hit her when her fears were confirmed, Tara’s body lying limp on the bathroom tiles with a needle in her arm.
She rushed forward, falling to her knees beside the blonde as two men tried to lift her up.
Another woman was slapping her face, trying to wake her up, but Tara was unresponsive.
“Do you know her?” one of the men asked Collette.
Collette felt the world around her suddenly spin out of focus.
CHAPTER FIVE
“And sign here.”
Collette pulled her coat tighter around her, the pen in her hand shaking as she signed her name on the hospital release papers.
“You do understand that she is being released completely into your responsibility, right?”
Collette nodded as she handed the pen back to the nurse, hugging herself as she waited for the doctor to fill out a prescription form. He handed her the small piece of paper, sullen and half asleep.
“Is she going to be okay?” Collette asked.
