Last Night

1 Last Night Petra Perrault Colored lights flash across what would’ve otherwise been a dark room. I lay across a stain ridden fuchsia sofa with a nearly empty wine glass in hand. The sequins on my dress were beginning to come off and I found them scattered along my chest and arms. My eyes shot for my purse which was still securely wrapped around my shoulder. Well, at least I have that going for me, I thought. I slowly made my way to the dingy club bathroom. The neon sign that glowed on the women’s room door was only half lit, showing only the letters w, o and e. “Woe room,” I said quietly with a giggle. Yikes. I need to sober up if I’m going to make it home safely tonight. I make my way to the nearest sink and splash my face with water. The sensation of the cold liquid makes the hair follicles on my skin stand straight up. I walk towards the paper towels and realize the dispenser is empty. Shit. I look at myself in the mirror and notice the black streaks of mascara trailing down my cheeks. Suddenly, the bathroom door flies open and a girl who looks far too young to be at a club stumbles in. Tripping over her heels as she steps closer to the sink to fix her makeup. She meets my gaze in the mirror “You look so beautiful girly! I just love your outfit.” “Thank you so much! Those heels are absolutely gorg,” I say with a fake high pitched tone. Her cheshire cat sized grin grows even more as she stumbles to take a bow for me. I grab her arm to help her regain her balance and she reaches for her purse. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion until she finds what she was searching for. A makeup wipe. “You got a little smudges going on there girl. Not that you even need makeup!” She laughs and hands it to me.

2 “Oh my god. Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver.” I take the wipe and begin to clear the messy canvas that is my face to reveal the real Jessica Wright. The dark circles under my eyes become more apparent as my foundation washes away. Underneath my dark crimson lipstick are chapped lips that I’ve been working so hard not to pick at when school and work stress me out. I finish ridding my face of makeup and throw the wipe in the overflowing bathroom trash. It sits right next to a torn blue condom wrapper. Classic Philly. I shake my head and leave the bathroom. I reach for my purse to find my phone. The first thing I pull out is my pepper spray. “Nope not that,” I say to myself before finally finding my iPhone. The screen flashes, 1:34 AM, and I see two missed calls from my roommate Shelby. Oh shit. I completely forgot about her. I search around the crowded room trying to find her. She is sure to kill me this time. It’s the third time that I’ve accidentally fallen asleep on ‘girls' night.’ Maybe girls’ night would be more appealing to me if I wasn’t a nursing student. My internship has been killing me lately, but anytime I talk about it around Shelby she just complains about her own work drama. She works for her father's marketing team at L.L Bean land still gets paid commission without selling a damn thing. My family didn’t help me at all for me to get where I am and she will just never understand that. I continue to push and shove my way through the crowd of sweaty bodies trying to keep my sore feet moving forward. Before I finish looping the entire dance floor, I finally find her. Her blonde hair that was perfectly curled before leaving the apartment was now looking more like partly uncooked ramen noodles with a layer of frizz throughout. Her eyes glaze as if she’s as tired as I was, but her smile was the biggest I have seen in awhile. She threw her arms around me

3 almost knocking us both to the floor. “Jessie girl! I was looking all over the place for you,” she squealed. “Oh yeah, I was just over there in the lounge talking to some people so that’s probably why you didn’t-” “Yeah, yeah okay. Well I met this guy tonight and I totally think that he’s a keeper.” She gestures for him behind her. He’s much taller than Shelby and I and his white t-shirt clings to his upper body tight enough for me to notice dark swirls of ink on his abdomen. “Hi, I’m Wyatt.” He sticks out his hand for me to shake it. His hand completely enveloped my own with a tight grip. He looked mysterious, but there was something about him that drew me in. Maybe he just seemed more put together then the usual trashed men that Shelby took home. “I’m Jessica, but you can just call me Jess.” I say. “Jess,” he says holding the s like a snake would. “That fits you,” he adds with a grin. Shelby rolls her eyes at him before grabbing his arm to turn him to her and begins to kiss him fiercely. I hate when she does this. Trying to prove herself in front of me, as if any of her men are really going to leave her for me. Their over the top public display of affection was interrupted by the sound of the ringing bell at the bar. The unenthusiastic lead bartender calls out. “You don’t have to go home.” And the crowded club chants back. “But you can’t stay here.” I unlocked my phone again and realize it’s 1:45 AM and the Rig where we were, closed at 2. I went searching for my Uber app but Wyatt lurks over my shoulder and gently taps my phone down. “Oh, no need for an Uber, let me just take you guys home. Free of charge.” Shelby looks up at him in absolute awe.

4 “Jess! Isn’t that so sweet of him,” Shelby cooes. Technically yes, it is. But I knew that his real payment would be coming from Shelby later tonight. “Very sweet, but didn’t you drink tonight?” I ask. “Nope. I was DD tonight for my friends, but it seems they left with some ladies already so it really won’t be a problem,” Wyatt insists. “Do you guys come here a lot? I’m surprised we haven’t crossed paths yet.” Shelby pokes at Wyatt’s ribs. “Oh uh, no not usually, I just moved to the area not too long ago,” Wyatt replies. “And you already have friends here? Wow! Are they keepers? Jess over here hasn’t had a man over in months-” “Shelby! Why don’t we just get home already huh?” I quickly say. “Good idea Jess, let’s get going.” Wyatt says. “Well in that case, shotgun!” Shelby yells as she starts running towards the exit of the club. I shake my head and follow behind her. Wyatt’s car is jet black and quite honestly one of the most attractive cars I have ever seen. He sees me admiring the exterior before unlocking it and letting us all in. “Have you ever ridden in a Tesla before Jess?” He asks. “No, this is just amazing Wyatt. Thank you so much for giving us this ride,” I say as I get comfortable in the back seat of the car. Shelby pulls out her phone to take a picture of the three of us but Wyatt swiftly lurches his head towards her and lands a kiss on her forehead.

5 “Aw Wy, you’re just the cutest!” Shelby exclaims. Wyatt starts the car and begins to pull out of the vacant alley that his car was parked in. I notice that Shelby was not going to be able to direct Wyatt due to her alcohol consumption so I decide it’s my time to step up and help him out. “Luckily for you, our apartment isn’t too far from here. I’d say about ten minutes away.” Wyatt eyes me in the rear view mirror and smirks. “I’d drive you both whether it was an hour out of my way,” he cockily exclaims. Shelby giggles giddily and attempts to put her arm on Wyatt’s thigh but he slaps her hand away, which makes her sigh. “C’mon babe, relax,” she says. I try my best to forget Shelby’s outrageously forward personality when she drinks, but it’s impossible to escape it in the confines of this car. “Wyatt, um you’re going to take this upcoming right on Interstate 88 then we’ll be right off the first exit.” I say hoping to break the awkward silence that Shelby created. “Sure thing,” he says. After about a minute we reach the Interstate but the car veers to the left instead. “Wyatt,” I question. “I think you made a wrong turn.” “No I didn’t,” he says and I’m met with a toothy grin that makes my stomach turn. Shelby turns to face me and slurs, “Jess I’m sure he knows where he’s going.” “Um, Shelby he just moved here remember, I don’t think he knows-” “Sure I do, my buddy lives right near you guys, I’m just taking a short cut.” Wyatt replies loudly and looks at me in the rearview mirror. His grin has left his face completely, and his eyes stared so deeply into my own it made me shiver. I reach for my phone and text Shelby. Shelby, I’m getting bad vibes from Wyatt. We gotta get out of here stat. Shelby’s ringtone goes off and she begins to reach for her phone but Wyatt reaches out and grabs it from her.

6 “What are you doing?” Shelby yells, annoyed. Instead of answering her, Wyatt plants his foot harder on the gas and we begin to travel dangerously fast. “You’re scaring me Wyatt stop!” Shelby screams. Tears start streaming out of my eyes. “Wyatt, what do we need to do for you to stop? We will pay you whatever you want.” I plead. “My daddy is the regional manager of L.L Bean, I’m sure we could have you all set for money! Please!” Shelby sobs and Wyatt shakes his head. “You two sluts just don’t get it,” he laughs and keeps his eyes on the open road in front of him. “You just fuckin’ met me and you’re good with a stranger driving you home? You’re just like her. Just like her,” his voice cracks and he reaches for his center console revealing a 9mm pistol. Shelby continues to sob and screams at the sight of the gun. “If you try to touch me you’re dead.” Shelby looks back at me with her mouth open, but not a single sound comes out. My thoughts are racing as I try to think of a way out of this, Who is he talking about? His mother? His girlfriend? If I ask him, it can go one of two ways. He gets mad and ends up killing Shelby and me or, he tells me calmly and decides to drop us off back home and we never see him again. I know it wasn’t going to end well, but this was my only choice. I slowly reach into my purse as quietly as possible. “Who is her?” I ask quietly. Wyatt whips his head around and I quickly pull out my pepper spray and douse his face. He screams and the car jolts to the right before beginning to slow down. He reaches both hands to rub at his eyes. “Shelby! The gun!” I scream.

7 Shelby reaches for the pistol in his lap. Before she is able to grab it we hit a guardrail and veer off of the road. All three of our screams fill the air as we are sent into the brush and meet our final resting place. A tree. I begin to hear something in the distance. Maybe animals. No. It can’t be. Animals aren’t that loud. The sound comes closer and I realize it’s police sirens. They’re here to save us! I get out of the car and begin to yell for them. “Over here! Over here!” I chant. My voice is strained and as I look down at my once clean sequin dress, I see it is covered in blood. The two men flash their lights toward me and I wave my hands frantically. “Help me officers! We need help now!” As the first man reaches me I begin to cry. “Thank god, I don’t know if my friend is okay, help her please!” I sob but the officer doesn’t look at me. They both walk straight to the car. “We need an ambulance stat,” one of them says into their radio. “Gosh there’s a lot of blood,” says the other one quietly. I begin to follow their gaze and as I reach the car I find Wyatt has been ejected from the car and is definitely dead. Shelby seems to be dazed in the front seat with a lot of glass sticking out of her forearms and chest. Her eyes are frantically blinking but her mouth doesn’t move. She’s clearly still in shock. “It may be too soon to call but it's looking like two casualties and a critical condition at the scene,” an officer says into his radio. Wait. Two casualties? But Shelby isn’t dead. I push past the officers and open the back door of the car, and I can’t process what I see: it’s me.

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