Did You See That?
One of the coolest high school parties I ever attended was a sleepover bash. The cool kids, who all attended too, called it a “bash.” I’d never been to a bash, but I was darned excited to be invited.
There were no parents at this party; nobody was supervising. It was the kind of party you see in the movies, but I saw it from the inside. What I remember most: everyone was LOUD. The music was loud; the speakers were blaring in every room. All the cool kids called across the room to one another, cups raised in unison, grunting and bellowing and belching. In order to be heard, it was essential to shout.
I was a mouse. I did not shout. I mostly just watched. And I drank, of course. A lot.
At some point, it was time to go to sleep. I am pretty sure this part was female only, but I can’t be sure. We had sleeping bags, which we rolled out on the floor. The music went off, and my friend and I were rolled up in our bags, whispering to each other about how much fun we’d just had because we were suddenly so cool.
Then my friend whispered, “Waid – did you hear that? Did you see that?”
“What?” I asked. I saw nothing.
She said it again, louder, “Did you see that? I know you saw it that time!”
“I didn’t!” I said. “What did you see?”
“Like a guy or a troll or something…” she trailed off, realizing she didn’t know what she was saying. “I think I’m hallucinating.” Realizing this, she started to panic. “I must be hallucinating!”
My friend had taken a pill that I hadn’t taken, and for a minute we wondered if it was some kind of hallucinogenic. After about ten minutes of sheer terror, during which my friend’s hallucinations became even more realistic and frightening, she said, “Feel my forehead! Feel it! It’s burning up!”
Sure enough, my friend had a fever – a very, very high fever – and she was hallucinating. I didn’t know these symptoms could be related.
It’s a scary thing when you’re a kid – even though you think you’re all grown up – and your best friend is really, really sick but there are no real grown-ups around.
“Do you want me to call your mom?” I asked.
“No!” she nearly shrieked. “You can’t call my mom!”
“Right, okay…. Do you want to go to sleep?”
“Yeah, sleep, yeah. I will go to sleep.” She passed out the moment her head hit the pillow, right there on the floor.
She woke me up four times during the night, freaking out, still hallucinating. I had no idea how to help. I couldn’t do a single thing for her.
Morning came and she went home, crawled into bed, and eventually recovered. Miraculously, I didn’t catch whatever caused her fever. But I crawled into bed and slept for as long as I possibly could.
We didn’t go to any more sleepover bashes after that.