“Heather. Cindy and I think it was an elaborate plan from the start.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna go until D man told me he was going. I didn’t like Po that much.”
“Neither did I honestly, but Heather… it had to have been a set-up.”
I had thought about that. It all made sense. But I let Derrick tell his story and his idea of how it was. I wanted to know what they saw.
“When Cindy and I arrived, it seemed fun. A regular ol’ grad party, right? Like it’s nothing too… weird; for lack of better words. I found it odd that the M clique was there. They seemed out of place. No one there, as far as we knew, liked them. They’re assholes. They don’t have like any friends beside themselves; and half of ‘em are related. But Po was talking a lot to them. I mean a LOT. We just assumed that he was faking conversation. But they were all talking and pointing a little too much for a regular convo. Considering they were talking to Po AND his father, that’s what threw Cindy and I off. And I think they realized this. When Po left to get you, Marcus pulled me away from Cindy with some idle conversation. I saw Mandy take Cindy over to a group of guys. Marcus gave me a drink, but I refused, obviously. I’m not that dumb. He seemed anxious but he brought some more kids from random groups to talk all together. I did have some fun speaking to some of these people. I saw you come in and I went to go talk to you, but Marcus kept talking to me and making me stay. I did finally get away briefly, that’s when we talked about the little fight and everything. When you went back to Po, I was dragged outside; definitely more of a literal drag this time. There were groups of people all around the entrances. That’s when I was even more skeptical. I just kept looking around for Cindy. Time went by pretty fast and I saw you running out. I wanted to follow you and see what was wrong. I knew that would be weird if I followed you, but I was worried. Marcus started laughing almost uncontrollably so I got mad, shoved his ass into the fountain, grabbed Cindy and left. Now we’re here.”
“Yeah, I know I can get distracted by guys, a lot.” Cindy started. “It’s an awful trait of mine and Mandy used it against me. She kept me close to y’all but surrounded me with so many hot dudes, I like couldn’t help myself. I didn’t see much of anything, but the atmosphere seemed off. I did notice you getting all ‘pee-dancy’, trying to hold it back. Saw Marcy walk into the bathroom with two guys right beforehand. Everything else from that night was a blur; I think I was drugged by one of those guys. Or the M’s. Which would make a lot of sense now that I think about it since Marcus wanted to hand you a drink, Derrick, right? Derrick grabbed me. That’s all I remember. But when I heard the news, I was absolutely disgusted. I just wanted to help out in any way I could. I knew my mom knew where you lived because your dad used to babysit me. And again, we’re here.”
All our stories seemed to line up. It all made so much sense. I should’ve been smarter. I should’ve known something was up with how persistent Gladys was with having me use their bedroom bathroom.
“If I wouldn’t’ve used their bathroom, would I have been drugged too?”
“Heather. I think so. It makes sense.”
Yes, it does Cindy, yes it does… I don’t understand. I just wanted to be happy. Feel loved. I thought I found my soulmate. I was wrong. I was stupid. I was deceived. I was… used.
“I know we don’t have much of a friendship, let alone any kind of relationship. But I’m here for you.” Derrick spoke softly, as if he was going to cry.
“Same goes for me. I know we’ve been very distant since elementary and I’ve definitely been more interested in sex than anything, but I’m sorry that this all went down, and I wasn’t able to defend you. I hope you know if I wasn’t spiked, I’d be right there kicking ass for you.” Cindy’s voice seemed more determined, confident, and a million times more apologetic than I’ve heard in a long time.
“I did miss our friendship we shared. I’m happy it’s back Cindy. And Derrick, I’m more than happy to call you my friend as well. I love y’all.”
“We love you too.”
We embraced. All three of us. I finally feel it. Love. Happiness. I thought I needed a man to fulfill those needs, but I just needed one thing that came in two packages. The two people who put me first. Who love
