Chapter Twelve – Get Out Alive

"No time for goodbye" he said
As he faded away
"Don't put your life in someone's hands
They're bound to steal it away
Don't hide your mistakes
'Cause they'll find you, burn you."
Then he said

If you want to get out alive
Run for your life
If you want to get out alive
Run for your life

"Mom!" Zack yelled. "We need to get moving! I don't want to be late! Coraline's supposed to be in the lobby at 5:45!"

"What?" Cody said, teasingly. "Don't want to be late for your date?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't," Zack said, brushing his hair, again. He was wearing a nice black button-down shirt, somewhat dressy black pants and brown dress shoes.

"Another thing," Cody said, teasingly. "I thought you said plain button-down shirts are uncool!" He himself was wearing a white button-down shirt, khaki pants and black dress shoes.

"They are..." Zack replied. "At parties! This is a semi-formal affair, so a plain button-down shirt is awesome."

"I see," Cody replied. "It's 5:40!"

"Mom!" Zack yelled. "Let's go!" They walked into the living room.

"Alright," Carey said, walking into the living room, looking through her purse. "I just gotta make sure my camera's here!"

"Mom!" Zack and Cody yelled.

"What?" Carey replied. "I'm not going to miss this! It's your first high school dance! Now, let's go!"

Zack and Cody rolled their eyes as they walked out the front door of their suite. Then, they went down the elevator. Barbara and Coraline were standing by the front desk. Coraline was wearing a dark purple, sleeveless knee-length dress with high-heeled black shoes. She had on a silver necklace with a crescent moon. Barbara was wearing a light blue, sleeveless knee-length dress with dark blue flats. She was wearing a gold-colored necklace with a small crystal and simple emerald-green stud earrings. She had her hair pulled up into a simple, elegant bun.

"Wow!" Zack said to Coraline. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Coraline replied, smiling. "You look nice, too."

"Lovely," Cody said, greeting Barbara. "You look lovely."

"Thank you," Barbara replied. "You look rather handsome yourself.

"Zack!" Carey said. "I want to take a picture of you and Coraline first!"

"Mom!" Zack said, irritatedly.

"Don't worry about it, Zack," Coraline said. "My mom would be the same way! Oh, by the way, Carey, my mom would probably appreciate a copy of this picture!"

"Sure!" Carey replied. "I'll have Zack give you one!"

"My parents will probably want one of me and Cody!" Barbara said.

"Sure!" Carey replied. "I'll send it with Cody!"

Zack and Coraline stood in front of one of the planters of flowers. He cautiously put his arm around Coraline. They smiled and Carey took the photo. Then she took a photo of Cody and Barbara. They all walked out of the hotel. Mr. Moseby waved goodbye, saying, "Bye! Have a good time!"

They all got into Carey's car. It was a tight, but manageable fit. Carey drove them to Old Bag of Nails, the restaurant Cody and Barbara had picked out, partially because it was walking distance from the school. Tapeworm and Max were already there, waiting in the lobby. Tapeworm's mom had driven them. Tapeworm was wearing a navy blue button-down shirt, black pants and black shoes. Max was wearing a black spaghetti strap dress and black flats. She had on silver hoop earrings and a simple silver necklace. They were escorted to a six-person circular table in the back of the restaurant by a waiter. They started with water, and quietly looked at their menus.

"Marvin," Max said. "Whatcha thinking of getting for dinner?"

"I don't know," Tapeworm replied. "I've heard the fish and chips is really good."

"I've heard that too," Max answered. "I'm not really that hungry, though. I couldn't eat an entire order."

"Well, we could split an order," Tapeworm suggested. "I doubt I could finish an entire order, either."

"Alright," Max replied. "That sounds good!"

Max and Tapeworm ordered a plate of fish and chips and were the first to order. They both ordered Dr. Pepper as well. Cody and Barbara both ordered a Caesar salad. Cody ordered chicken noodle soup, and Barbara ordered minestrone soup. They both ordered iced tea. Zack ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and Coraline ordered a chicken sandwich and fries. They both ordered root beer. While waiting for dinner, they talked and laughed. They all enjoyed their dinner, and lingered for quite some time after they were done. For dessert, Tapeworm and Max split a small slice of chocolate cake. Cody had a slice of apple pie which Barbara ate a few bites of. Coraline had a scoop of strawberry ice cream. Zack had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of peanut butter ice cream.

Shortly before it was time to leave, Cody was given the bill. Barbara gave him her share of the bill as they were splitting their share of the bill. Max paid for hers and Tapeworm's share of the bill, and Zack paid for his and Coraline's. After the waiter came back, Tapeworm left the tip and the group left and walked to the school, where they were some of the first to arrive

The group formed a circle and danced to the overly-loud hip-hop music.

"May I have this dance?" Zack asked Coraline when the first slow song came on.

"Yes, I would love to dance with you," Coraline replied, and they began dancing. Cody and Barbara and Max and Tapeworm were dancing nearby.

When the slow song ended, the group went back to dancing together in a circle. Max and Tapeworm, the best dancers of the group, occasionally broke off from the group to do some swing-like dance steps and some of Max's hip-hop steps she'd learned. She enjoyed showing off her skills at dancing. After a few fast songs, Max and Tapeworm were thirsty and went over to the refreshments table and had some punch. They sat down at a nearby table. At the end of the fast song, "Thank You For Loving Me" by Bon Jovi came on.

"I love this song," Max said. "It used to play at all of the middle school dances!"

Tapeworm nodded, agreeing, and asked, "Well then, shall we dance, Maxine?"

She nodded, smiling, and they walked onto the dance floor, hand in hand. They began dancing, her head on his shoulder. He started singing along to the music quietly. Max smiled.

"Maxine," Tapeworm said, quietly "I've been thinking about those parties I attended."

"Oh?" Max replied, curiously, lifting her head slightly. "What about them?"

"I was just thinking how stupid I was to attend them," Tapeworm replied, regretfully.

"Everyone does stupid things, Marvin," Max replied, quietly.

"Yeah... But -"

"The thing to do is learn from mistakes and you've done that!"

"Yeah, I have. I'm glad I was able to that. I'm lucky I was able to do so. I'm lucky I didn't die!"

"Yeah. I'm glad you didn't. It wouldn't be the same if you weren't here."

"I'm thankful that I am here. I'm thankful you didn't walk away. I'm thankful I'm here dancing with you."

"I wouldn't have walked away."

"I love you, Maxine," Tapeworm said, quietly. He hadn't told her before. He didn't realize he did until he thought she might walk away after he told her about the parties.

"I love you, too, Marvin," she replied and they kissed. They continued dancing until the song was over, just enjoying being together. When the next fast song came on, they went to the other side of the floor where Coraline, Zack, Barbara and Cody were and danced some more.

Later on during the dance, Coraline, Max and Barbara went to the bathroom to fix up their hair and makeup a bit. Zack, Cody and Tapeworm went to the refreshments table where they ran into Lynn and Helen. Lynn was wearing a spaghetti-strap red dress that was very short and red stilettos. Helen was wearing a black halter-top dress that was about the same length as Lynn's and black stilettos.

"Hello Zack, Cody, Tapeworm," Lynn said, greeting each with a nod.

"Hi!" Helen said, cheerfully.

"Hello," Zack replied.

"You guys here with dates?" Lynn asked.

"Yes," Cody replied.

"They're in the restroom," Tapeworm added.

"How about you guys?" Zack asked.

"Nope," Helen replied. "Maybe next year."

"Maybe," Zack replied.

"So, Lynn and I thought your presentation in Media Studies was good," Helen said.

"Thanks," Zack, Cody and Tapeworm replied.

"It helped give us some perspective," Lynn said.

"Especially after last night," Helen added, somberly.

"Oh? What happened last night?" Cody asked.

"Eli hosted another party at his place," Lynn began.

"We didn't go," Helen added. "We were already a bit wary of these parties."

"Seth and Candi went," Lynn continued.

"Of course," Helen said, shaking her head, frowning.

"I got a phone call from Candi this morning," Lynn continued. "Apparently, sometime over the course of the evening, they both passed out."

"Not really that uncommon," Helen said, matter-of-factly. "I myself passed out at several parties – I didn't really think much of it."

"Me neither," Lynn said. "However, maybe we should have. Candi came to near the end of the party. She soon realized that something was really wrong. Seth hadn't come to yet. She noticed that he looked pale and he wasn't breathing. She felt for a pulse; There was none."

"Seth died?" Zack said, shocked.

"Yup," Lynn replied, sad. "Candi said that she called 9-1-1. Eli wasn't happy about that."

"I can imagine," Zack commented. "I remember how pissed they were when I called about Tapeworm."

"Yeah, Lynn said. "I'm sorry for my not caring."

"Me too," Helen said. "I'm glad you ignored us."

Zack chuckled. "No problem."

"Anyways," Lynn continued. "The ambulance arrived fifteen minutes later, after Eli herded everyone out. They attempted to revive Seth, but he was dead before they got there. No chance. The ambulance took him to the hospital, anyways, and she went home."

"Wow," Tapeworm said. I'm lucky, he thought. That could have happened to me.

"She was going to go to the dance with Seth," Helen said.

"Oh, "Cody said.

"Is she here?" Tapeworm asked.

"No," Lynn replied, simply. "She's at home."

"She didn't want to go without him," Helen elaborated. "She liked him a lot. She's pretty much in shock and doesn't want to be around people right now."

"I don't blame her," Cody said. "I'd probably be the same way."

Zack and Tapeworm nodded.

"There is some good coming out of this, though," Lynn said, quietly.

"Oh? What's that?" Zack asked.

"She said this morning that she's done going to the parties," Lynn replied.

"Well, that's good," Tapeworm said.

"How has Eli reacted?" Zack asked, curiously, even though he knew the answer.

"He hasn't," Helen replied, simply. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't care."

"He's here at the dance," Lynn said. "With some dumb blond girl who's probably drunk. He's acting as if nothing happened."

"But they were really good friends, right?" Cody asked, disbelievingly.

"It didn't matter," Helen replied. "They both just became really callous towards everything. I doubt Seth would have cared had the roles been reversed."

"Wow," Tapeworm said. "That's sad."

"Eli'll probably keep going to those parties won't he?" Cody asked.

"Yup," Lynn replied. "Unless his parents try to stop him, which they won't. They don't really care."

"Oh," Zack said. There was silence for a few minutes.

"I propose a round of toasts," Cody said, and they all raised their plastic cups. "To Seth Koogle, a misguided, but cool person. May he rest in peace."

"Hear, hear," said the others and they clinked their classes together.

"To Tyler Stone," Helen said. "A bright guy who had a bright future. May he rest in peace."

"Hear, hear."

"To Coraline Davis," Zack said. "For giving me a chance I probably didn't deserve."

"Hear, hear."

"To Candi Lane," Lynn said. "For having wisdom enough to walk away from danger."

"Hear, hear."

"To Zack Martin," Tapeworm said. "For recognizing the trouble I was in and having the courage to go against everyone else. You saved my life, friend. And to all of us for getting out alive."

"Hear, hear."

Song Lyrics: "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace

THE END

Author's Note: My inspiration for this piece of fanfiction was a Reader's Digest article about the dangers of pharming parties. Tyler Stone was a real person mentioned in the article who died due to his involvement in these parties. I want to dedicate this story to the real Tyler Stone and any other teenagers who have died as a result of these dangerous get-togethers. I hope that you readers have understood that my purpose was not to glorify this, but to warn of the very real dangers of pharming parties. Don't believe the myths – this 'fun' will lead to your downfall later. Remember, as my old health teacher used to say, 'Drugs start out as friends but end up as foes'.