BFF

I waited anxiously for her response. After waiting a minute I sent another message.

1:34 A.M.

Pamtastic95: Please, I really need your help!

Bae_Gurl: y did u do it if u couldn’t handle urself?

Pamtastic95: Look, I messed up. 

Pamtastic95: I can’t ask anyone else.

1:37 A.M.

Pamtastic95: Please!

Bae_Gurl: Ok,ok. I get it! Just get ready, I’ll b there soon.

Bae_Gurl has logged off.

I let out a long sigh of relief as I saw her message. I knew I could count on Katie. As much as she complained about having to come all the way out here to pick me up, I knew she wouldn’t just abandon me. I put my phone back in my pocket and tugged my jacket closer to my body.

It wasn’t that cold for fall, but I felt like I was freezing. The cool wind rustled the leaves on the ground and shook the bare branches. They looked spooky in the dark like this. My buzz was definitely gone by now.

I was just planning on some weekend fun. Go to the bar, have a few drinks, dance a little, but I never expected things to get so out of control. How did I end up in the middle of nowhere? I was just thankful that I had enough signal to message Katie about what happened. She was upset, but she would forgive me. After all, she was my best friend. Who else do you turn to in a crisis like this?

I heard a car approach. I glanced over expecting Katie, but it was someone else. I hid behind a nearby tree. I didn’t want anyone else to see me. I just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. It was that damn tequila. I screw up every time I drink it.

It was innocent enough at first. A cute guy comes over, offers to buy me a drink. It had happened before, why would I worry about it this time? Even when he offered to take me back to his place I wasn’t that concerned. Bar hookups happen, it wouldn’t be my first. Not my proudest moment, but I something I knew I could handle. At least until he got rough.

That was probably the only reason she actually agreed to come out. Me getting drunk and stupidly ending up at a guy's place was one thing, but him trying to assault me was another. I knew she wouldn’t abandon me like that. I didn’t abandon her when that slimy dirtbag she used to date knocked her around. 

How many times had I swung by her place in the middle of the night to pick her up and take her “somewhere safe?” How many times did I blend her makeup to cover the bruises she refused to report? I was glad when she finally had enough and dumped him, but I would have stuck around forever if I needed to. You don’t abandon friends just because things get hard. Not for things like that and not for things like this. I suddenly heard the ping of my phone receiving a message.

1:56 A.M.

Bae_Gurl: I’m almost there. Is everything ready 2 go?

Pamtastic95: I got it ready before I messaged you. 

Bae_Gurl: Well, at least u did that. U doing ok hun?

Pamtastic95: I’ll be okay, just hurry please.

Bae_Gurl: :) <3

Bae_Gurl has logged off.

That was just like Katie. Scold me one moment and comfort me the next. No sooner had I put my phone in my pocket, then I saw her black sedan around the curve. I stepped out from behind the tree, almost shaking with relief. She screeched to a halt and practically ran to get to me.

“Jesus, Pam! Look at the blood!” She exclaimed.

I looked down sheepishly at my blood-soaked clothes beneath my jacket. She sighed and handed me a plastic bag. Extra clothes. 

“Change behind a tree or something. There was no one else in the house?” She asked.

I shook my head as I darted behind the same tree and started changing. I threw the old, bloody clothes in the bag. She motioned for me to lead the way. I started walking back to the house.

I was fine with sex. I already knew that was expected when I agreed to come back to his place. However, I didn’t agree to this little rape fantasy he had planned. I get that not telling the girl what you have planned “adds to the fantasy,” but there's a huge difference between it feeling real and it being real. He just attacked me out of nowhere. He pinned me to the ground and started to choke me. I was terrified.

 I didn’t even know I grabbed a fireplace poker. I was just feeling for a weapon, something to beat him off with. Next thing I knew the spike was buried in his neck. He panicked, I told him not to pull it out, but he didn’t listen. The blood went everywhere. I shuddered at the memory.

Katie shook her head as she looked around. It was a mess. I had the body wrapped in a carpet and a tarp already.

“Jesus, Pam,” she muttered again, walking over to it. “Okay, I know we made that whole ‘no questions asked’ rule for things like this, but what’d he do exactly?”

“Rape fantasy that was a little more ‘rape’ than fantasy,” I said, grimacing.

She made a disgusted noise and kicked the body. “Serves him right then. Come on, let’s get it to the car.”

She grabbed his legs and I grabbed his shoulders. We shoved him into the trunk. She'd already prepared by lining it with another tarp. I wasn’t happy about what happened tonight, but I was happy she was here. No one else would understand, no one else would help like she would, no one else would get in their car at one in the morning to help me hide a body, no questions asked. Well, one question, but I owed her at least that much. 

The point was she was here for me, and I would be there for her if she ever needed it. Even in the toughest situations, we had each other's backs. That’s why she was my best friend.