“Fell in love with a girl” - Story #1

“Fell in love with a girl, I fell in love once and almost completely – she’s in love with the world – but sometimes these feelings can be so misleading... Red hair with a curl, mellow roll for the flavor and the eyes for peeping, can’t keep away from the girl, these two sides of my brain need to have a meeting.”  From the song “fell in love with a girl” by The White Stripes

Mia smiles down at her phone. “hey Brianna’s buying a car tomorrow”. 

“Well it’s about time” says Hannah – looking over Mia’s shoulder at the text. “yeah, she says the same thing  - ‘finally’”  she laughs “oh and - ‘woo-hoo’ – she added that too.”

“Wow she must really be excited” Hannah says as she rolls her eyes. 

Hannah is almost as relieved as Brianna about her finally coming up with the cash for a car since Hannah is the one that has been most responsible for giving her rides everywhere – at least when Ethan isn’t around.

“So, does she know what she’s gonna buy?” – Hannah asks.

“No, I think she’s going with the best car she can get for the money she has.” Says Mia.  She shakes her hair back from her face “I wish I could wake up!  God, I’m so pissed that I didn’t get my Starbucks this morning – I am never going to stay awake for this class” she groans 

“Do you ever?” Hannah laughs.  “I can grab you a latte after class if you want, I have a free period after this so I’ll probably run out anyway.”

“Oh god, I love you!” – Mia smiles.  “that would be fantastic. See you then.” 

“See ya” Hannah says turning to head to class.

As Mia enters the classroom – she looks out the far window that faces the student parking lot – hoping to spot Ethan’s car.  After her conversation with Brianna last night, she was hoping to touch base with Ethan before they all got together later on.   Mia knew that she probably should stay out of it and let them sort it out but she couldn’t help but think that if she could get Ethan to talk to her about it and see that this could be a really good thing for Brianna, then maybe she could keep the situation from getting any worse.

Mia took a seat closest to the window so she could keep an eye out and stacked up her books and arranged her desk so that she could use her phone without being seen.

E – where r u? Mia hit the send button and waited…and waited….nothing.   “oh well” she thought. “Maybe later.”   She closed her phone with the hope that she could catch up to Ethan before he went to band practice later that night.  She knew for sure that there was no way to bring it up once everyone was around – especially Brianna.

Jack and Adam pulled into Ethan’s driveway just as he was closing his front door.

“What? Were you leaving without us?  I’m so hurt!”  Adam said with a pretend whine. 

“I was going down to the store to pick up stuff for tonight” said Ethan. 

“We’ll come with” said Jack as he and Adam started climbing back into Jack’s car.

“Yeah whatever” Ethan said, sliding into the back seat. 

Jack and Adam glanced at each other.  They both knew that it wasn’t going to be easy dealing with Ethan’s mood this afternoon ever since they got the text from Mia about her conversation with Brianna last night.

As they drove to the store Jack and Adam took turns trying to get more than a grunt out of Ethan but nothing worked.  Jack had been through stuff with Ethan before and he knew that he was not the kind of guy that you could easily cheer up.  But that didn’t mean anything at all to Adam – Adam thought he could put anyone and anything into a good mood – but the more he tried to lighten things up with Ethan the worse his mood got. 

Ethan would end up getting pissed off at Adam for not giving up and more than once Jack had to step between them before the situation got really ugly.   Jack could tell as soon as he saw Ethan that this was one of those times.  And both friends knew that once Ethan started down this road, there was no stopping him and no way of predicting what he would do.

As they pulled up to the store, Ethan said “I’ll be right back” and was out of the car before the other two could say anything. 

“Let him go” Adam said. “Maybe a few minutes buying junk food will help him shake it off”. 

“I doubt it” said Jack. 

Adam settled back and started scanning through CD’s trying to find what to play next.  The door opened and Ethan climbed into the back seat with a full bag in each hand. 

“So what did you get?” Adam said as he pulled at the top of the bag to see for himself. 

“Uh-uh, this bag’s for me” Ethan said as Adam pulled the edge of the plastic down to reveal a six pack of beer.

“How did you get that?” Jack said, looking at his friend through the rear-view mirror. 

“I scored a really convincing fake ID from my cousin’s friend.”  Ethan said. “I told him I needed it to play at parties that serve liquor.” 

“Yeah right” Adam scoffed as Jack just stared skeptically at him. 

“What?  I do need it for parties – I can’t help it if there are other benefits too.”  Ethan laughed for the first time that day.

“So, what are you going to do?  Get drunk and rant and rave at Brianna and anybody else that’s around?”  Jack said. “Am I gonna end up cleaning puke off my back seat again this weekend because you had a fight?”  Jack continued.

“Just drop me off” Ethan said. 

Jack wouldn’t quit “I’m serious Ethan – I’m getting sick of you getting drunk every time you have a fight with Brianna” 

“I said DROP ME OFF!” Ethan yelled. 

Adam sat quietly – this wasn’t the first time Jack tried to stop Ethan from reacting this way but it had never worked before so why would it now?  Adam thought. 

They pulled into Ethan’s driveway and he started to climb out of the car – with both packages. 

Jack grabbed his arm, “listen I’m not trying to rag on you but every time you do this it only gets worse.  Brianna will get even more pissed - just think about it.” Ethan grabbed the rest of his stuff from the back seat and said “later” as the door closed behind him. 

Jack and Adam sat quietly for a minute and then started backing out of the driveway. 

What do you think happens?  What should happen next?  The next steps in the story will be created based on the answer with the most votes – so be sure to come back next week to see how your choice scored. 

Story #2 – These Dreams

“…there’s a demon in my head who starts to play
A nightmare tape loop of what went wrong yesterday
And I hold my breath till it’s more than I can take
And I close my eyes and dream that I’m awake”
Narcolepsy by Third Eye Blind

“Mom – did anything come for me today?” Jack calls out to the house as he comes through the front door.  He starts up the stairs to see if his brothers have gotten home yet.  Finding the house empty – he returns to the 1st floor and heads to the kitchen to get something to eat before Mia and Hannah come over.  He grabs the pile of mail his mother has left on the table, and thumbs through it as he waits for his pizza to heat up. 

Jack has been waiting over a month for his school loan application to be processed.  With his scholarships already in place and a couple of grant applications already awarded, he still needs a loan to be able to go away to school.  He already has enough put together to get into a local school but he has wanted to go away to school for as long as he can remember.  As he eats his pizza, he thinks again about how lucky Mia is.  Her family must have started her school account when she was born because there’s enough money in it for her to go anywhere she wants.  Just last week she was talking about going to Europe to study for a semester or two – “it must be nice” Jack thought.

He’s always been able to talk more with Hannah and Adam about things like this than Mia.  She just can’t understand what it’s like to have money get in the way of what you want.  Even when they were younger, Mia could never understand why Hannah would agree to babysitting jobs in the summer, or why Jack would mow lawns in the neighborhood instead of spending the day with her at the beach. 

Mia also never understood how hard it could sometimes be for Jack splitting time between his parent’s homes.  Jack was 13 years old when his parents divorced.  Even though his parents get along better than most divorced couples – it was still hard on them when his dad moved out.  Jack was just glad that they got to stay in the house – and he was especially glad that his dad stayed close to them all and didn’t disappear like Brianna’s father did – all in all, it could be a lot worse.

The thought of Brianna brought last night back to him again.  Checking the time he realized that Mia and Hannah should be there any minute and then the three of them would pick up Adam and head over to Brianna’s house.  Jack had a strong feeling that talking to Brianna would turn out the same as it always did – she would get mad at Ethan for acting like an ass but at the same time she felt sorry for him and he knew it!  That was what made Jack so pissed at Ethan.  He knew that his friend meant it when he said that things weren’t going to be the same for him if Brianna left for college with the rest of them – but he also knew that Brianna had to make her own decision and that no matter what happened – life was going to change for all of them when they graduated – whether they went to college or not.

“It’s me” Mia called as she opened the front door.  Jack followed the sound of her heels across the wood floor. 

“In here” Jack called – changing their direction towards the kitchen. 

“You ready?” Mia said as she gave him a quick hello kiss.

“Yup – hey Hannah – how’s it goin’?”  Jack said. 

“Pretty good” said Hannah as she plopped her 10 lb. sack down on his table with a thump.  Hannah was well known for her choice of “bags”.  The latest one looked more like the mailbags that postmen carried.  The running joke was that she carried enough stuff with her at all times so that she was prepared in case of nuclear disaster – or if they decided to go away for the weekend she was the only one of them that wouldn’t need to stop home first to pack.   

“So, did you guys talk to Brianna today?” Jack asked. 

“Yeah I did for a little bit – she’s upset – but, ya’ know, the usual..” Hannah said. 

“Did you talk to Ethan yet?” Mia asked. 

“Are you kidding?  I called him and texted – but he’s probably just waking up now” said Jack.   

“Last night after you guys left he just kept saying how sorry he was – like always – but he’ll just do it again if he gets pissed off” Jack continued.  

“But what’s wrong with him?  I mean he’s always talking about how much he hates it when his father does that and then he does the same thing to Brianna” Mia said. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t have told her last night” Hannah added.

“Yeah, maybe but he would have gone looking for her anyway if we hadn’t brought her there and then what?  He would have gotten arrested or worse.” Jack said.

Hannah picked up her bag and said “o.k. so we better go and see what’s up” 

As they piled into Jack’s car, Mia’s phone started ringing “hey – we were just coming to get you – you o.k.?” Mia asked as she motioned for them to be quiet.  “He hasn’t talked to him since last night either”  she paused again “Jack thinks he’s probably still sleeping it off” she said into the phone.  “We’ll talk about it when we get there o.k.?” 

As Mia was saying her goodbyes to Brianna, Jack’s phone went off – “it’s just Adam wondering where we are” said Jack – tossing the phone to Hannah in the back seat – “tell him we’ll be there in 10”. 

They drove down Main Street onto Washington. As they made the left on Mechanic Street – they could see Adam waiting on the front steps of his house. They pulled to the curb and saw that he had his phone pressed against his ear.  He continued talking as he climbed over Mia to take his seat next to Hannah in the back of the car.  “…yeah well I don’t know what the big deal is I guess.”  Pause “I don’t know anything about that but I know that you were wasted when it happened. That’s all.”  Pause “you want to talk to Jack?” Adam asked.  Jack watched Adam’s expression through the rearview mirror.  It was obvious that he answer was “no”.  “o.k. later” Adam said as he disconnected. 

“He didn’t want to talk to me today right?”  Jack said. 

“I guess” Adam said apologetically. 

“Because he knows you’ll yell at him” Mia said. 

“He’s not going there if he can help it.”  Hannah added. 

“Whatever… I don’t care what he does” Jack said.  “I mean it’s between them really.” Jack finished.

“So let’s talk about something else for a change” Adam jumped in “what’s up for next weekend? Anything going on?”  

Happy for the change of subject – even if just for a little while, Mia reminded them of her plans to go to the open house at Champlain College in Vermont on Saturday. “we’re going up for sure on Saturday morning – are you guys still thinking of coming with us?” Mia said. 

Adam and Hannah exchanged looks before answering “I want to” Hannah said “me too” said Adam.

 “I’m so glad – you guys are gonna love it when you see the campus.  And they have some amazing art and photography classes Hannah” Mia said excitedly.  “You’ll love it!” she repeated. 

“Well don’t get too excited Mia – we said we’d look – that doesn’t mean we’re going.  We still think we might take a year off” Adam said as they pulled into Brianna’s apartment complex.

Brianna and her mom moved into her grandmother’s apartment shortly after her parent’s divorce.  Brianna’s father took the time to visit with her a few times in the year following the divorce but the visits became further and further apart until they stopped completely just before Brianna’s 14th birthday.  Brianna was crushed.  Her friends remember how much Brianna’s personality changed after that. 

Mia remembers “it was like she turned inside herself when he left.  She stayed to herself all the time.  She just wasn’t the happy person she was before.  Then she met Ethan and she changed again.  He was really good for her back then – she started singing and then they put together their band and she really came out of herself.  I guess that’s why she feels so guilty to even think about leaving him behind to try college.”

Jack pulled into the nearest parking spot and waited as the girls went up to get Brianna.  Adam leaned over the front seat, stretching to reach the CD player.  As he hit the “seek” button, jumping from track to track – Jack worked hard to keep himself from grabbing his friends hands to stop his annoying habit of never landing on a song long enough to hear the whole thing.  Just as Jack was about to lose it – the girls approached the car.  As they climbed in, they were in mid-sentence – “...he didn’t mean it Bri – he was drunk!” Mia said. 

“But this time he was worse” Brianna said, then noticing the guys. “Hey – thanks for getting me” she added with a half smile. 

Jack was surprised by how bad Brianna looked – he knew she was going to have a bruise but her chin was scraped raw and had swelled up much more than he thought it would have last night. 

“Shit – are you o.k.?” he asked alarmed.  “What did your mother say?” he added. 

Brianna looked down – “she didn’t believe me at first – she thought he hit me or something.  I had to threaten to run away to keep her from calling the cops.”  She added. 

“Yeah she asked me what happened when I called this morning – I think she wanted to compare stories to see if you were lying.” Hannah said.   

“I probably wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t been there.” Mia said. 

“I feel really bad that we even told you that he was drinking – I knew you would try and talk to him and that it wasn’t a good idea” Hannah added. 

“no you didn’t do anything wrong – it was my fault for having those college brochures out in the first place.  It never would have happened if he hadn’t seen them.” Brianna said, struggling not to cry. 

“What are you talking about Bri?  You shouldn’t have to worry about him getting drunk and acting like an asshole because you are thinking about going to college without him!  That’s crazy!” Mia yelled.  “Besides, the last time he acted like that it was because you guys didn’t get that job that the band wanted – he always has an excuse!”  Mia added angrily. 

“That’s harsh Mia – your trashing him like he’s always like that and you know he isn’t” Adam said.  “Right Jack?” Adam waited for Jack’s answer.  Jack thought about Ethan, about how long they’ve been friends and what a great guy he is – most of the time. 

Jack thought back to when they were younger and Ethan was always defending the littler kids who got picked on at school and how he was always the first one to help somebody out – Ethan was always the kind of guy who would pick the worse kid in gym class to be on his team because he knew no one else would pick them.  Then he thought about how many times Ethan and his little brother would stay at his house because their father would be drunk and too violent for them to be safe there overnight.  As Jack thought about Ethan he started feeling guilty for being hard on him.  After all, Jack could understand how lost Ethan would be if Brianna went away – how it would wreck the band too – and he started to understand how that would make Ethan angry.  Then just as he started to feel really bad for Ethan – he noticed that they were all staring at him waiting for his answer. Jack looked at the bruises on Brianna’s face and said “you’re right Adam.  Ethan isn’t always like that – but he is when he gets drunk.  I think we should do something.”

What should they do?

What do you think happens?  What should happen next?  The next steps in the story will be created based on the answer with the most votes – so be sure to come back next week to see how your choice scored. 

Story #3 – Flying High

“The beat is pumping, now she’s blowing up
The last thing on her mind is growing up
She’ll kiss the sky before she’s giving up
And oh, oh here she comes.” 

-Living in the sky with diamonds by Cobra Starship

Adam searched the crowd to see where they all ended up.  As usual he spotted Hannah first – her red hair lit up by the fireworks exploding overhead.  He scoffed down the last of his hot dog as he made his way through the crowd.  As he got closer, he could see Hannah struggling to light the 5 sparklers she was holding with one hand – each one wedged between her fingers. 

“Give me that before you set yourself on fire!” Mia said, trying to pull the unlit sparklers out of Hannah’s hand. 

As Adam approached the group, it felt so good to see everybody having such a good time after all the drama of the last couple of weeks.  Adam sat down on the blanket and pulled Hannah closer to him. 

She looked up and smiled, “where’ve you been?  We’ve been waiting for you guys to come back so we could get something to eat.”  

“I was at the batting cage with Jack and Ethan but they disappeared.”  Adam said while continuing to scan the crowd for his friends. 

“Knowing them they’ve probably stopped to eat without us” Brianna added. 

“Well I’m not waiting anymore –I want ice cream – who’s in?” asked Hannah. 

“Me!”

“Me too” – Mia and Brianna sang together jumping to their feet. 

Before Adam could protest Hannah added “and you” she pointed at Adam “you watch our stuff” she said. 

“What? I don’t get to eat?” Adam complained. 

“Don’t give me that crap – I saw you over there buying a hot dog a little while ago – so now you get to watch our stuff!” she said “come on girls” Hannah concluded as she turned and started off in the direction of the ice cream stand with both Brianna and Mia in tow.

Adam laughed as he watched them leave.  He felt such a sense of relief having all of them together and nothing bad going on. 

After the explosion weeks ago, Adam really thought that Jack and Ethan would never speak again.   While Mia and Hannah took care of Brianna – Adam followed Jack to Ethan’s house.  Adam knew that Jack was right and something needed to be said to Ethan, but he also knew that Jack was too pissed off by what had happened that it was likely that Jack would make the situation even worse. But by the time they got to his house, Ethan was more worried about Brianna than he was Jack’s reaction.  Adam knew that Ethan felt horrible about what happened and that he would never hurt Brianna or anybody else intentionally – it just wasn’t what he was all about as a person.  Jack knew that too – but Jack didn’t hold back from reminding Ethan that this wasn’t the first time that bad shit happened when he was angry and drinking. 

“Drinking when you’re pissed off just doesn’t work man” Jack told him “think about how you and your brother feel whenever your dad gets shit-faced”   

“Yeah, Ethan – you’ve got to know when to put the brakes on” Adam added. 

The three friends hung out late that night and Ethan promised them that his partying would be reserved for parties and party moods.  By the time they went their separate way that night – they all felt much better about everything even though things still needed to be cleared up between Ethan and Brianna.

That same night Mia had arranged for Brianna and Hannah to spend the night so they would have plenty of time to talk.  It was important to Mia that Brianna stop blaming her for what Ethan was going through but Brianna couldn’t help but feel that all of this was happening because Ethan felt like she was abandoning him by thinking about going away to college. 

“I don’t think I could go away and leave him feeling like that.” Brianna kept saying over and over again.

Hannah tried to make Brianna feel better “Bri it’s not like he’s going to be all alone – Adam and I probably are staying here and he would still have the band even if he has to replace you” 

“God that is not the point!  Who cares about that when she’s sitting here with a swollen face!” Mia yelled “Bri – this doesn’t have anything to do with your plans – it has to do with Ethan creating disasters every time he gets pissed off about something” Mia continued, her frustration clearly coming out. 

By the time they fell asleep – exhausted – Mia felt as though she had made little progress with her friend understanding that the problem was Ethan’s not hers.  Mia silently promised herself to try and stay out of it in the future.

In the weeks since that night, everything went back to normal – and Brianna and Ethan were together as usual and all seemed happy.  Adam couldn’t help but notice that Brianna changed the subject every time any of them mentioned future plans or college. 
As Adam sat on the blanket - watching people wandering around the fair – he thought about the past few weeks and how badly they all needed to have a good night together.

Just then Jack and Ethan appeared – and as Brianna predicted they both were carrying hot dogs, fries and assorted drinks. 
“Bri said you probably got food without them” he laughed. 

“I couldn’t wait” Ethan said – but it came out “cud-t wayy” the words distorted around the enormous hot dog half chewed in his mouth.
The girls came back with their food and they all passed the time – stealing bites off of each other’s plates and trading stories and gossip about the people in the crowd around them.  As the last of the fireworks crashed over their heads, they started packing up to leave. 
“So are we taking two cars tonight or what?” Mia said trying to focus the group on the after-party they were all going to when they left the fair. 

“We can take my new car if you want to go in style” Bri said referring to the “new-to-her” used car that she bought a few weeks ago. 

“I want to take my own car in case I want to leave.  If it’s lame I don’t want to be stuck there waiting for a ride” Jack said. 
“Well if it’s lame we won’t want to stay either” Hannah said. 

“Yeah but your idea of lame and mine aren’t always the same” Jack smirked. 

“Oh yeah Mr. Cool I forgot” Hannah shot back.  They went back and forth for a while everybody throwing in what they wanted to do – until finally the decision was made that Brianna and Jack would be the drivers for the night and Adam and Hannah would get a ride with one of them when the time came. They made the plan to meet at Hannah’s house in one hour – giving them all enough time to stop home, change and meet back up.

Typical of what always seemed to happen whenever the plan was to quickly change clothes and meet back up – it was an impossible thing for Mia to do.  So as usual Jack stayed behind waiting for Mia to do whatever it was she needed to do, before feeling like she was ready to go out.  By the time Jack and Mia arrived at the party, their friends were already way ahead of them in the party mood. 

Mia spotted Hannah and Adam first – Hannah was dancing and trying to get Adam to dance with her – with no luck.  As Mia and Jack approached – the couple saw them and Hannah ran up to them jumping up and down and hanging on them “I LOVE this song and he won’t dance with me!”  She screamed into Mia and Jack’s ears trying to be heard over the music.  “Where’s Bri and Ethan?” Jack shouted.  “W-h-a-t?” Hannah and Adam both yelled back at him.  But it was clear that trying to be heard was useless until the song was over. 

When the song stopped Jack tried again. “Where’s Bri and Ethan?” he asked. 

“They were in the kitchen last time I saw them” Adam said “everything looked good” . Jack nodded. 

“You have to catch up” Adam said handing Jack a beer.  “You want one?” Adam asked Mia. 

“Don’t they have anything else?” Mia asked. 

“Bri was doing Jello shots the last time I saw her.  You want that?” Hannah asked. 

“No thanks.  I’m gonna wander around and see what else is there” Mia said.

As the music started up again, they all wandered in different directions, catching up with other friends that they hadn’t partied with since school ended.  Adam ran into his brother and his friends hanging out on the backyard deck, sharing stories about their 1st year in college.  After a while Adam went back inside to look for Hannah.  As he went from room to room trying to spot her, he saw Mia waving to him from the kitchen doorway.  As he got closer to her he only caught two words of what she was saying over the music “Brianna” and “trouble”.   Adam grabbed Mia by the arm and led her out the back door where the sound was not so deafening. 
“Repeat....repeat” Adam said to her.

“Brianna is getting herself into trouble I think” Mia said looking over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. 

“What do you mean ‘trouble’?” 

“She’s been doing Jello shots since we got here” Mia said, “she’s gonna be really sick” she said. 

“Where is Ethan?” Adam demanded. 

“He’s with her – he was doing them and told her how good they were. He started giving them to her too” she said. “It’s like they are competing for something” Mia concluded. 

“That’s just great – let’s go” Adam said heading in the direction of the kitchen with Mia following. 

“Should I find Jack?” Mia asked. 

“No not yet – it’s not gonna help anything for him and Ethan to end up in another fight.” Adam said.

As they entered the kitchen, Adam could see right away that Brianna was trashed.  Ethan looked buzzed but he was in far better shape than Bri, who could barely keep her head up. 

Ethan saw them right away and called across the room “hey guys ‘bout time you came around – you’re missing all the fun!”  

As Adam approached Ethan, Mia went to Bri – “hey there you o.k.?” Mia asked her.  Brianna looked in Mia’s direction but Mia could clearly see that Brianna had lost all ability to focus. 

“Hey Mi I’m good” Bri slurred.  

“How many shots have you had Bri?”  “I’m not doing shots I’m eating Jello!” Bri grinned. 

“Yeah she’s eating Jello!” Ethan joined in. 

Mia and Adam exchanged looks and without words understood what they needed to do.  Adam continued talking to them while Mia pawed through Bri’s purse, to find and confiscate her keys.  With that mission accomplished – Mia left to find Jack and Hannah to make arrangements to get their friends home. 

Jack and Hannah waited in the cars for Adam and Mia to collect Bri and Ethan.   Adam and Ethan came out of the house first, followed by Mia and Brianna.  Hannah watched as Ethan misjudged the curb – if Adam wasn’t there to catch him, he would surely have face planted in the driveway.  Hannah rolled her eyes, and looked to see how Brianna was making out as she approached the same curb.  It was clear as soon as Hannah saw her that there was no way that Mia was going to be able to keep her on her feet by herself.  Brianna’s legs looked like they were made of Jello.  Each time she tried to take a step it looked like there was a signal delay from her brain to her foot, and a complete loss of knee function.  Brianna looked like a rag doll.

What should they do?

What do you think happens?  What should happen next?  The next steps in the story will be created based on the answer with the most votes – so be sure to come back next week to see how your choice scored. 

Story #4 – My Time

"Looking back at the beginning of this
And how life was
Just you and me and love and all of our friends
Living life like an ocean
But now the current's only pulling me down
It’s getting harder too breath
It won’t be to long and I will be going under
Can you save me from this?"  

- It’s not my time – 3 Doors Down

Hannah paused at the base of the stairs listening for sounds from her family.  Hearing nothing, she tip toes her way down the hallway leading to her parent’s kitchen.   “Sweet” she says under her breath as she enters the empty room.  
Hannah looks at the empty coffee pot sitting on the counter but realizes that the sound and smell of the pot brewing might just be enough to wake up her parents – or at least her mother and that is the last thing Hannah wants now.  “Just a little bit of time” she thinks – just a few minutes before her parents start in on her again.   Her mom was pretty pissed, Hannah remembers, and her step-dad seemed almost happy about having another reason to point out that he wasn’t much of a fan of Brianna – or Ethan for that matter.
Hannah knew it would be ugly if she got caught sneaking Brianna in last night and she also knew that there was very little chance that she could keep Brianna quiet enough to make it to her room without waking somebody up.  
Hannah glanced at the wall clock – 7:20 a.m. – she knew there was no chance that Adam would be awake yet but as far as she knew, Mia and Jack were still planning on heading to Champlain today so Mia would probably be up by now.  Hannah was pretty sure that there was no way that she would be allowed to go with them after last night.  She pulled her cell out of her pocket and called Mia.
Mia picked up on the first ring - “I was just going to call you” she said. 
Hannah got right to the point –“I can’t go with you today”. 
“What? Are you kidding, Why?” she whined.  Then suddenly “Oh no, did your parents wake up last night?” Mia gasped as the situation became clear.
“it was a nightmare last night – Mia – she was stumbling into everything, I couldn’t get her to be quiet, she puked into my mother’s flower garden in the front yard and when I was trying to get my key in the front door, she laid down on the steps and I couldn’t get her up.” Hannah rambled on “of course that’s when the light comes on and both my parents are staring at me.  I’m totally screwed.” She ended.
“Oh Hannah that sucks! But what are they mad at you for?  You weren’t the one puking!” Mia said “yeah I know – I mean, what was I supposed to do? Just leave her somewhere passed out?  It’s not like I let her drive or anything. It’s ridiculous!” Hannah said still trying to keep her voice down enough to keep the house quiet.  
“Is Brianna still there?” Mia asked.
“Oh yeah – she’s still asleep. But I’m going to get her up pretty soon because I’m not cleaning up by myself” Hannah said, starting to feel annoyed.  “I better go, you guys have fun” Hannah finished. 
“O.k.  I’ll call you later to see how things went” Mia said. 
They quietly said their goodbyes as Hannah hung up feeling the disappointment setting in.
As she slipped her phone back in her pocket, she could hear someone coming down the hallway to the kitchen.  Hannah braced herself as her mom came through the kitchen door. 

  “Good morning” her mom said leaning down to kiss Hannah on the forehead. 
“Morning mom” Hannah answered.
“I suppose Brianna hasn’t made an appearance yet?” her mom asked knowingly. 
“Not yet” Hannah replied.  Hannah waited quietly while her mom moved around the kitchen putting the day in motion.  Once she had the coffee brewing she sat down facing Hannah. 
“I am very upset by the behavior I saw last night and you should be too.  What the hell were you girls thinking?”  Her mom started. 
“Me?” Hannah said “I didn’t do anything I was just bringing her home – I thought it was the right thing to do.”  
“Right Hannah?” her mother jumped in. “There was nothing about last night that was right.  You are both underage and shouldn’t have even been at a party serving alcohol and besides that – you were trying to sneak her into this house so she wouldn’t get in trouble.  You were trying to cover it up and you know it.”
Her mom stared at her waiting for an answer. Hannah stared down at the table saying nothing. 

Her mom continued, “now, you are going to go upstairs – get Brianna out of bed – and I am going to call her mother and tell her what happened here last night” her mom finished. 
“No Mom come on – she’s never done that before and you’ll just get her in trouble.  She didn’t mean to get drunk she was eating these Jello things and they got to her I guess” Hannah pleaded Brianna’s case. “She’s been fighting with Ethan a lot lately and she was just trying to have fun.” Hannah said. 
“That’s just the point Hannah” her mom said “I am very concerned that she thinks that’s the way to have fun.  Look, I know you care about Brianna and so do I but that girl is on a bad road.  She follows Ethan around, she doesn’t think for herself, she has no plans for the future, she’s going nowhere fast and I don’t want you influenced by that.” Her mom finished. 

“She doesn’t ‘follow Ethan’ they’re a couple!  And she’s not ‘going nowhere’ just because she doesn’t know if she wants to go to college – neither do I – that’s not the only thing to do with your life – god!  You are so judgmental!” Hannah exclaimed. 
“Hannah, college has nothing to do with what is going on this morning.  Get upstairs;  get your friend out of bed and down here. I am calling her mother and then the two of you are going to clean up the mess you made and she is going home.  And you…are grounded until further notice.”
Her mother got up and went to the coffee pot. 
“Real nice mom, you tell me to come to you when I’m in trouble and then I bring my friend here because I don’t know what else to do and you ground me and rat her out –real nice mom, thanks.” Hannah said sarcastically as she turned and stormed out of the kitchen on her way to wake up Brianna.
Meanwhile, Jack and Mia drove down Rt. 9 over the bridge from NH to VT, heading to Champlain College.
“She’s probably going to be grounded for a few days” Mia finished filling Jack in on her conversation with Hannah earlier. 
“That sucks” Jack said. “So did you get a chance to go through the site?” changing the subject. 
“Yeah I did” Mia answered “they have a Digital Forensics course”
“what the hell is digital forensics?” Jack asked
“damned if I know but it sounds cool doesn’t it?” Mia laughed.  “seriously though, they have great design classes for me – and the Environment course work for you looks like exactly what you’ve been talking about – ooh, and they have an Event Management major too” she said excitedly. 
“Who is that for?” Jack asked.
“Me” she said “in case I decide that I want to plan parties for a living.” She laughed. 
“I can so-o-o see you doing that” Said Jack reaching for her hand.
Mia wound her fingers through his and sat back with a smile. 
“I am so excited to actually see the campus; I’ve heard so many good things about it.” She said. 
“Are you still worried about pulling the money together?” Mia asked gently. 
“I’m always worried about the money.  But now that the student loan came through I know I can go – it’s just going to be hard once I’m there.  I’ll have to find a part-time job right away or I’m going to be eating a lot of Ramen.”  
“Don’t worry about that – I’ll share my food with you” Mia said “but you’ll have to get used to veggie burgers and tofu hot dogs”
Mia laughed at the look of horror on Jack’s face. 
“I’ll stick to the Ramen, thanks anyway.” He said pretending to gag.
“Oh shut up, it’s good for you!” Mia said, releasing Jack’s hand so he could answer his ringing phone before he missed the call.
“Hey Adam what’s up?”  Jack answered.  “What?!?  What are you talking about – what happened?!?”
Mia felt a chill go up her spine at the sound of alarm in Jack’s voice and the expression on his face.
“Stay with Hannah, we’re turning around, I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Jack maneuvered the car into the breakdown lane and put it in park, he turned to Mia
“it’s Brianna and it’s not good”
As Jack and Mia were racing back to town, Adam paced back and forth in front of the emergency room doors, waiting for Ethan to arrive.  He could hardly believe that any of this was happening.  When he arrived at the hospital after getting Hannah’s frantic message, she was in shock, so he didn’t really have all the details – only the little bit he overheard when Hannah’s mother called Brianna’s mom and grandmother from the hospital.
“The doctor said it’s alcohol poisoning,” Hannah’s mother said “They said it will take time for the alcohol to leave her system and they have her on a breathing tube and intravenous already” he heard her say.

Adam thought back to the night before.  They all knew that Bri was toasted but poisoned?  “How did that happen?”  Adam thought.  He knew she was doing Jello shots but shit how much could be in a little Jello shot that would make you this sick?  None of it made sense to him.

What happens next?

What do you think happens?  What should happen next?  The next steps in the story will be created based on the answer with the most votes – so be sure to come back next week to see how your choice scored.

Story #5 – Better Days

“I’m faded, flat busted, I’ve been jaded, I’ve been dusted.  I know that I’ve seen better days.”

“I’ve Seen Better Days” by Sublime

Mia pulled her car into the visitor’s parking lot next to the main entrance to the hospital.  As she walked through the doors she thought about how intimidating hospitals are.
Until this happened to Brianna, Mia had only been to a hospital one other time and that was to visit her grandfather.  She was only 10 at the time and it was a horrible experience.  Her grandpa didn’t look like himself at all, he looked weak and gray all over.  She remembered how scared she was being there but also feeling really bored at the same time.  She begged her mother to leave her home and not make her go back to visit.  Her mother finally gave in and left her home – even though it caused an argument between her parents.  She remembered her father insisting that it was a good “teaching lesson” for Mia to learn that sometimes you do things for the people you love that aren’t comfortable for you.  Mia’s dad always looked for opportunities for “teaching lessons”, Mia remembered with a smile.  I guess the last few days qualified as a major teaching lesson for her and her friends –most of all for Brianna.
As Mia walked down the hall to Brianna’s room she tried to brace herself for what she would find. Even though Ethan told her that they had removed the oxygen and the IV from Brianna – she still felt nervous about seeing her friend like this.  
The other night, when Adam called Jack and Mia to tell them Brianna was taken to the emergency room,  Mia thought she knew what to expect when they arrived at the hospital.  She had certainly seen Ethan really drunk before and she had gotten sick from partying too much a time or two – so she expected something similar to that.  In fact, Mia thought that maybe Hannah’s mother was making a bigger deal about it than was necessary.  But when she got there, she knew she was wrong.  This was different – this was serious. 
Mia could see through the gap in the curtains surrounding Brianna’s bed – and it didn’t look good.  She could tell by the pace of the people going in and out of curtains that Brianna was in bad shape. 
For the first few hours all they could do was sit and wait.   Brianna’s mother and grandmother stayed at Brianna’s bedside and Hannah’s mother gave the rest of them reports on Bri’s condition and progress.
Hannah filled Mia and Jack in on what had happened the morning after the party and what led up to Hannah calling an ambulance.   

Acting on her mother’s orders, Hannah went to wake Brianna so they could get started with the clean up from the night before.  But when Hannah called to Brianna to get up, she got no response.  Thinking that Brianna was just sleeping soundly – Hannah went closer to the bed and shook Bri’s shoulders.  From that shake to their arrival at the emergency room was all a blur.  Hannah remembered screaming for her mother to come quick – she remembered her mother’s reaction when she rolled Brianna over on her back and saw Bri’s eyes rolling back in her head.  They could both see that Bri was far from asleep - she was unconscious.  Vomit was smeared down the side of her face, sticking in her hair and her lips were pale and bluish in color.

Hannah remembered her mother screaming at her to call 911 – and half-running, half-falling down the stairs to get to her phone. 
When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics cleared them from the room so they could work on Brianna.  Her heart rate and breathing had slowed so radically that they had to breathe for her.  They let Hannah’s mother ride in the ambulance with Brianna, while Hannah called Adam to pick her up. 
Hannah told Mia at the hospital that waiting those 5 minutes for Adam to drive around the corner to her house, were the longest 5 minutes she had ever experienced.  Hannah said she was terrified that Brianna would die before they could get her to the hospital.

Three days had passed since then and as Mia walked down the hallway of the hospital to visit Brianna, she wondered if any of them would be the same after going through the past few days. 

Three days had passed since then and as Mia walked down the hallway of the hospital to visit Brianna, she wondered if any of them would be the same after going through the past few days.
She arrived outside Room 202 and as she opened the door to her room she could see Brianna sitting up in bed watching TV.
 “WOW, you look so much better today” Mia said, pulling a chair closer to the bed to sit down.  “Did they say when you get to go home?” 
“The doctor told my mom that they might let me go tomorrow if my blood tests come back okay.”  Brianna said.
Mia could hear the scratchiness in Brianna’s voice, a leftover affect from the breathing tube that she needed in her throat during those first hours in the emergency room.
“So, how are you doing?” Mia asked her.  Brianna started to cry.  “What’s wrong?  What’s the matter?” Mia said, moving closer to Brianna.
“I don’t know – everything.”  She said “I feel like such a jerk for everything that happened.  It was so stupid.”
“It could have happened to any of us – don’t feel bad.  You’re okay now and that’s what’s important.” Mia said trying her best to make Brianna feel better.
Brianna didn’t answer right away, she just looked out the window.   When she finally spoke, her voice was so quiet that Mia wasn’t sure whether she was talking to herself or Mia. “The doctor said I almost died.”
“That’s what he told us too.” Mia answered.  The two friends sat quietly together, the weight of the situation sinking in and making any other conversation topic seem petty. 
Finally Brianna spoke, “I was thinking Mia, maybe when I get out of here, if you guys don’t mind, maybe I’ll go with you to check out Champlain.” 
“Really?  That’s great Bri!  You can definitely come with us.  I’m so glad you are thinking about it again.” Mia said.  “What about Ethan?”
“I love Ethan – you know I do.  And I’m not saying any of this was his fault.  I mean he didn’t hold me down and dump jello shots down my throat – that’s all me.” Brianna continued “but it seems like that’s all he wants to do these days.  Every weekend, he just wants to get the band together and party.”  She sighed “I’m just getting sick of it.”
Mia put her arm around Brianna.  “I’m so glad to hear you say that because you’re right – that is all he wants to do lately.  Jack has noticed it too.” she said.  “Look, we all love Ethan- but you have to do what you want too.”
Mia saw Brianna start to tear up at the thought of leaving Ethan behind.  Mia added “look, maybe it would be the best thing for Ethan too because it might make him start to think about life after this summer a little bit.”  Mia said. “Either way Bri – you have to stop doing what you think Ethan wants – look where it’s gotten you so far.” Mia finished.
Brianna dried her eyes with the back of the sleeve on her nightgown and took a deep breath.  “Okay, so how do I get started?” she said with smile.
Mia smiled back at Brianna and said “Let’s call Jack and set up a trip to Vermont for next weekend”

What happens next?