Jessica held the lunch stray and looked around, trying to find her friends, Bella and Emily. “Hey, we are here.” Emily was waving her hand with a big smile on her face, something exciting have happened to her. But Jessica didn’t pay attention to that, “God, since the juniors came in, the school canteen is always so crowded,” she thought while walking to the table. As usual, Bella started her prattle but this time was different. “Guess what! Eric is going to have a party in his house since his parents are out of town. And there will be people from outside of school. He told us just now but you were not here.” “Really? “She said and tried so hard to restrain her excitement but she couldn’t keep her smile hidden. Bella smiled at Emily and winked, “So you are coming, right?”

“Yes, why not?” She cleared her throat and replied.

“Don’t you remember last time? I mean are you sure your dad will allow you?”
Suddenly, her mind was brought back from thinking about what kind of clothes she should wear and all the illusions about the party. She creased her brow, thinking about what happened three weeks ago. She went to a friend’s party like she used to and had a glass of beer, as all her friends kept telling her it was ok to do that. And, when she returned home, her dad was sitting on the sofa and waiting for her. “Do you know what time is it now?” He stood up and asked but there is no answer; she just stared at him.

“What is this smell? Did you drink beer?” he opened his eyes wide and increased his volume.

“Tell me!”

“Just a bit.” She whispered.

“I warned you! Do not touch alcohol ever again! And, you are not allowed to go any party.” He shouted loudly. Suddenly, she was burned up. Shouting at him, as hard as she could and venting her anger that she had kept for the past few years. Then, he slapped on her face, like how he did to her mother.

“How dare you speak to me like that? Don’t disobey what I told you just now!”

It was probably the most heated quarrel between her and her father, Mr. Morrison since he divorced with her mother. She could still remember that night; her father was very drunk when he got home. Then, her parents started quarrelling. Suddenly, Mr. Morrison slapped on his wife’s face, he was too drunk to control himself. After that night, Jessica’s mother left her and started a new life in another place. In the past few years, she used to be alone. Until the first time she went to a party, she made a lot of friends there and had so much fun with them. Sometime after that, going to a party became one part of her regular life. She really enjoyed it because it made her feel the happiness and energy that she had never experienced before. But it all stopped three weeks ago. It took her a while to come out of the memory. “Why should I listen to him? I’ll go anyway.” She answered slowly

“Well, I have an idea.” then Bella moved close to her ear and whispered. She occasionally nodded her head: yes, yes…

It was a normal afternoon on Saturday; Jessica grabbed her bag and came down from upstairs. “Dad, I am going to volunteer at a nursing home with my friends. They will be here soon and pick me up.”

“What friends?”

“Who else do you think it can be? Bella and Emily. After that we want to do our schoolwork together so I probably will stay at Bella’s house tonight.”

Mr. Morrison looked up, stared at her T-shirt and blue jeans that she was wearing. Then, he turned to her bag. “Show me your…” Suddenly, the blare of car horn came from outside while he just trying to say something. “I have to go now,” Jessica quickly rushed out of the house, like something terrible would happen if she were not leaving. She opened the door and got in the car. “Let’s go!” Then, the car was gone in a flash.

Emily turned to her “How is everything?”

“Great! I am so excited,” she answered and opened the bag to see her dress for the party.

The night fell. It was very late when they arrived. The house was full of light, music and laughter. There were about 80 people in the house with so much beer and most of them were drunk. Jessica looked around and tried to find someone she knew but most of them were from outside of school. The party was totally different than she thought, there were many people wearing strange clothes, smoking and drinking alcohol. She started to feel a bit nervous and afraid. As she walked around a man almost bumped into her and his breath was full of the smell of alcohol.

“Hey, come here and have a drink,” a man who was in a black jacket asked her with an evil smile. He looked fat and was up to no good. She just stood there and didn’t know what to do; the atmosphere was almost going to suffocate her.

“No…Thanks…” she ran out of the house as fast as she could and the only thing she thought about now was going home. It was very dark outside; she curled up in a corner and wondered where were Bella and Emily. Suddenly the light from a car flashed her eyes, dazzling bright, taking her out of the darkness. Then, she saw someone getting off the car and quickly walking towards her. By the light, she saw a worried face, as the person got closer. That’s her dad!

At that moment, everything seemed to stop and go back in time. Jessica stood up and ran to her father like she used to when she was young