Dancing with Molly - Lena Horowitz Page 0,39

sure. Jess was holding two bumps in her hand and she carefully rolled up the remaining two in the baggie and gave it to me. She told me to hold on to it for a second, then she popped one of the hits in her hand into her mouth, washed it down with some water, and grinned at me. She told me it was time to go get Kelly.

When we walked out of the bathroom, Carson and Reid were waiting for us in the hallway. Reid was dancing back and forth like a little kid who had to pee. Ashley was getting a drink at the water fountain, and as Carson leaned down to kiss me, I slipped the rolled-up baggie into the back pocket of his jeans. Dang, that boy has a hot butt. Carson winked at me, then headed into the boys’ bathroom with Reid. I told him I’d meet him back in the gym in a second. Jess grabbed Ashley’s hand and announced that she was coming with us, then we headed down the hall toward the music wing.

Kelly was waiting for us outside. As soon as Jess pushed open the door, Kelly slipped in and threw her arms around Jess’s neck. They kissed for what seemed like a very long time, until Ashley told them to get a room. Then Kelly hopped onto a nearby rehearsal chair and threw both arms around Ashley, jumping onto her back like Ash was going to give her a piggyback ride. They both collapsed onto a pile of old band uniforms giggling, and Jess held out her hand to Kelly. Kelly tossed back the hit and chased it with a drink from my water bottle.

We all walked back toward the gym, passing through the band room, which was arranged with beanbag chairs. Not many people were in here yet. I knew that wouldn’t change until people got tired of dancing, but it made me want to hurry up and go back with Carson. Suddenly I couldn’t wait to see him again, and I realized I was starting to feel the molly already, even though it had only been about fifteen minutes since I dropped. Ashley’s face seemed a little flushed and she kept oohing and aahing as we passed through the Mylar streamers that decorated the hallways. As we crossed the drawbridge over the moat at the front of the gym, Ashley stretched out her hands toward the fountain on the right and said it was SOOOOO BEAUTIFUUUUL.

Kelly and Jess and I all started laughing, and Jess said, Yep. Guess it’s working.

All I could think about was grabbing Carson’s butt again and getting him back to the biggest beanbag chair in the corner of the band room. Jess danced up to the boys, who were in the middle of the gym. When Reid turned around, he sniffed really loudly and Jess narrowed her eyes. Turns out the guys opened up their little wads of molly and snorted them off the toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom. Carson told me he was already feeling it in a major way, but it was dripping down the back of his throat and tasted like crap.

We went over and got some punch. Carson and Reid both gulped down a couple of glasses and then we all took bottles of water. About that time, the DJ started spinning this remix of an old-school Lady Gaga track and we all turned and ran back to the middle of the dance floor. Ashley let out a big WHOOOOOOOOOOO! and started dancing in a circle with her arms above her head. Seeing her so loud and crazy made me wonder again about how smart it was to drop molly at a school party, but something about the music was just taking over my body.

There were tiny twinkle lights strung back and forth over the gym and they were suddenly dancing as hard as I was. The music pulsed through me, and I felt Carson’s hand pull me in closer. We were all sandwiched together, our bodies pressed tight in the crush of people dancing. Reid and Ashley were whooping together now, and I thought about how molly affects everyone a little differently. Jess and Kelly get all quiet and giggly. They tell secrets and whisper to each other. Carson and I seem to become so close that we don’t even need words to communicate. It was right as I was thinking this that Carson took my hand and