Laced
Many people say springtime in Capilla De Monte is one of the most beautiful places in all of Argentina but, for all the young people who live here it's just the start to a boring, uneventful summer. With the gradually aging population, abundance of farm land and the nearest city being over 2 hours away, Capilla De Monte is probably the most boring place in the world to be a teenager. At one point this town had a thriving environment of people of all ages but as more and more young people graduate highschool and move to bigger cities for college, what is left is a population of farmers who are nearing retirement age and a small handful of youth who can't wait to leave.
However, there is one thing everyone under the age of 20 looks forward to every spring. The all-night rave up on the old grassy hills out of sight from the police and adults. An endless night of loud electronic music, an abundance of drugs, alcohol and the most beautiful scenery you have ever experienced. In a way, summer break hasn't officially started until after the first rave of the season. Even at school, all you hear walking down the hallways is whispers of excitement and people planning out their perfect night atop the hills.
The school bell rang signaling the end of the school day as everyone grabbed their backpacks and shuffled into the hallways heading for the exit. Javier's old worn out red backpack draped across his shoulder in the most uncaring of ways as he pushed his long black hair out of his eyes while he followed the crowd of students out of the classroom.
"Hermano! You know what tonight is right?" Said an excited voice from behind him.
"How could I forget? It's all you have been talking about for the last 3 weeks." responded Javier to his best friend Carlos.
"You remember what we talked about last night right? I'm trusting you with this Javi. If you mess up my favorite night of the year I swear you will never hear the end of it."
"I know, I know. Lucky for you my brother's old college roommate Diego is back home visiting for the weekend and always has the best stuff. I had my brother text him last night just to be sure he had enough."
"Ok javi. I trust you with this one. I'll pick you up at 8!" said Carlos as he messed up Javiers hair and ran through the crowd chasing after his girlfriend.
Carlos and Javiers friendship was the type where 2 opposites come together to form a unique bond. Before Javier ever met Carlos, just the idea of going to a party would be out of the question let alone breaking several laws to ensure they all have a good time. Carlos always pushed Javier to be more social and outgoing while in return Javier ensured Carlos stayed out of jail and didn't make too many bad decisions.
As Javier finally made it home he noticed his brother's roommate's shiny new sports car parked out front of his house. The minute he walked through the front door he could see both his brother and Diego sitting on the couch drinking beers together while they watched football on the old TV.
"Javi, is that you? Come drink a beer with us! I got you that stuff we talked about." Said Diego in an excited voice.
"Hold on let me grab you the money first" responded Javier as he headed upstairs to his bedroom. He got on his knees as he lifted up his old dirty mattress and reached underneath for the big stack of money all of his friends pooled together over the last few days. He could hear his brothers cheering and yelling at the TV downstairs as Argintina scored a goal.
"Javi, you just missed the best goal of the game! Messi just did that thing with his foot and the ball went straight through the goalkeeper's legs." said Diego.
"I've got the money you asked for." said Javier in a slightly nervous voice.
"Perfect. The bag is in my jacket pocket over there on the chair. Just grab it before you go."
"Ok, thank you again for doing this. I know you don't like to sell to highschoolers."
"How could I say no to my little Javi! I remember when you were just a kid, now look at you buying pills for all your friends." said Diego while giving Javier a little wink.
Javier reached into the jacket throne across the chair and pulled out a perfectly sealed bag of 10 bright blue pills with little smiley faces stamped on them. He quickly put the bag into his pocket and headed upstairs to get ready for the Rave.
After making sure his dark brown hair was perfectly slicked back with gel, clothes perfectly matched and body covered with his favorite cologne, Javier could hear the blaring electronic music coming from Carlo's old pick up truck. Javier was sure to grab the bag of pills before running down the stairs and hopping into the truck. Carlos and his girlfriend both had an excited look on their face as they hugged him and sped off down the dirt road towards the hills.
As they approached the hills they could just make out the silhouettes of dozens of high schoolers scattered across the tops of the hills like a colony of ants leaving their nest. The cool evening air smelled of wet grass and burning firewood as they parked the car and stepped out onto the dew covered hill. The sounds of blaring electronic music greeted them like a hug from a long missed friend. Before they even had time to climb to the top of the hill a small group of friends from school approached them eagerly greeting them.
"Javi, please tell me you brought ecstasy!" Shouted Tiago, one of Javier's classmates, over the blaring music.
"Come on guys! You never trust me with anything do you!" responded Javier while reaching into his pocket for the bag.
As soon as Javier pulled the bag out of his pocket everyone immediately put their hand out like a poor person begging for change on the street. He placed a single pill in each one of their open hands and they all ran off into the night.
"Javi, the 3 of us should do this at the same time. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1." counted Carlos as they all threw the pills into their mouth at the same time.
After just a few minutes Javier could feel a warm tingly sensation creeping down his body like the most comforting of hugs from an old long lost friend. The sounds of the music began to envelop his mind as if he could feel every note and distinguish every emotion the composer intended all at once. The wet grass beneath his feet began to feel so squishy and soft he was tempted to sit down right then and there to give it a good petting but before he had a chance, Carlos pulled him into the crowd of kids dancing in front of the DJ.
Carlos's pupils looked as round as the full moon in the sky above them as he began to dance more and more intensely while encouraging Javier to do the same. As the effects of the ecstasy peaked, even shy Javier couldn't help but let the music take over his body as he danced beside his best friend who was now intensely kissing his girlfriend with his hands on her backside. The worries of school and the feelings of boredom from living in this town slowly left Javier's mind, only to be replaced with the sounds of snare drums and the serine vocals of the music.
After what felt like an eternity of fast paced dancing, the DJ began to play slower calming music as groups of teenagers began to sit around the many bonfires scattered around the hills. Javier took a seat on one of the big brown logs in front of the fire next to Carlos and his girlfriend while they held hands and cuddled.
"That was some good stuff Javi, you really out did yourself." said Carlos in a tired but satisfied voice.
"I told you not to doubt me, my brother's roommate never disappoints" replied Javier.
The fire felt warm against Javier's skin as the feelings of euphoria slowly faded away only to be replaced with sleepiness and the cool spring night air. Javier couldn't believe that months of anticipation and preparation for this night had already come and gone but at least there was always summer vacation to look forward to.
"Want to head back home?" asked Carlos.
"Yea, i'm starting to get tired." responded Javier.
The boys headed back down the hill as the last few remaining logs in the fire turned into smoldering embers like flickering stars in the night sky above. As they reached the car and began to drive back down the old dirt road the sun began to rise in the distance like a final symbol of the night's end. Carlos switched on the radio to some old relaxing music as he tried not to fall asleep before making it home.
The old truck finally reached Javier's house and Carlos gave him a quick hug goodbye before driving off into the distance. Javier quietly snuck up into his room while being sure not to wake up his sleeping parents and jumped into bed without even bothering to brush his teeth or take off his jeans. The second he closed his eyes he drifted off into one of the most relaxing sleeps he ever had.
"Wake up! Breakfast is ready!" shouted Javier's mom from the kitchen downstairs.
Javier reluctantly crawled out of bed like a bear leaving hibernation in the spring and headed downstairs only to see his parents eating breakfast in front of the TV.
"It's a shame what happened to that boy last night, I'm glad you weren't at that party on the hill." Said Javier's mom in a disappointed voice.
Javier's mom gestured towards the tv as the news reporter showed pictures of all the trash scattered across the hill from last night's party. A second later the camera man switched to a view of caution tape with what looked like one of those bags the police put dead bodies into after someone had been killed:
"Tiago Gomez, who had just turned 18 last week died of what appears to be an overdose last night at an illegal party in the countryside of Capilla De Monte. Police are encouraging anyone with any information about what happened to contact your local police." said the news reporter in a serious voice.
Javier's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach as he dropped his fork onto his plate realizing that was one of the many boys who he had acquired the pills for.
"Javi, are you alright?" asked his mom in a concerned voice.
"Uhh, Yea. I just realized I forgot to submit an assignment for school." responded Javier in a reluctant voice. Javier got up from the kitchen table and quickly ran back upstairs to his bedroom to check his phone.
Javier's phone was lighting up and buzzing with notifications as if it had come alive in the last few minutes. "Did you hear what happened???" said one text from Carlos. "OMG Tiago is dead!" said another classmate. The amount of texts of surprise and panic were so overwhelming Javier considered just shutting his phone off but instead quickly responded to Carlos with "I'm coming over now".
Javier threw on some clothes and immediately ran down the stairs outside on his way to Carlo's house. After what only seemed like seconds he burst through the front door only to find Carlos's girlfriend crying into his shoulder, upset that she recently lost one of her closest friends from school.
"Javi, we should talk outside." said Carlos while gesturing him out of the house.
"I cant believe Tiago is dead. He was a good kid." said Javier in a sad voice.
"You do realize what this means right?" asked Carlos.
"Yea, we won't be having these parties anymore."
"No Javi, you gave him that pill. The news reporters said the police are already investigating who sold him the drugs. If they find out it was you they probably will try and charge you with murder."
"But, I didnt even sell any drugs. I just took everyone's money and got everything from my brother's roommate. It's not like I'm some drug dealer."
"The police won't care. All they care about is who gave what to who. They already have started going to all of Tiago's friends' houses asking for information about what happened."
"What should I do then?"
"I'm sorry Javi, I can't help you with this. If I get in trouble I'll never be accepted into any college in the fall." said Carlos as he headed back inside, closing the door behind him.
As Javier walked home his head filled with feelings of guilt and regret as he contemplated why he ever let Carlos convince him to go to that party let alone buy drugs for his friends. For the first time since he met Carlos 2 years ago he wished he had stayed that shy reclusive kid he had been all of his life. His parents were always so happy that he was finally making friends and getting out of the house but if they had known the type of stuff Carlos had him doing they probably would have kept him inside like a prisoner in his bedroom.
The walk home which usually felt so short now felt like an eternity as Javier's future flashed before his eyes. His dreams of finally leaving this boring town to go to college now seemed as likely as him hitting the lottery. All that hard work in school felt pointless as he slowly made his way further down the street. The thought of becoming the new family disappointment weighed heavy on his mind as he continuously replayed all the words of hope and encouragement his parents gave to him as each year of school progressed and his grades continued to improve. Javier never had been good at hiding guilt or secrets and decided it would probably be best to just come clean to his parents before the police arrived. Maybe they could get him a good lawyer as long as they don't completely hate him for what he did. Perhaps he could even convince them it was all Carlos's doing that ended him up in this situation in the first place. The guilt he would feel betraying Carlos would feel miniscule in comparison to the guilt he currently felt for the death of his classmate.
While Javier continued to walk down the street he began to contemplate just how much he had changed over the last few years of high school. At the start of 9th grade he was by definition an antisocial loner with no one he would have even considered a true friend. Although he did feel unaccomplished socially before meeting Carlos and his new group of friends, it did come with a sense of peace knowing that he had no one to betray him or convince him to do things he wasn't comfortable with. The taboo of being the loner at school always had negative connotations which were reinforced by his parents and classmates constantly encouraging him to change but, in the end maybe being alone was a blessing in disguise. After all, if he had stayed true to his lonar identity he would never have ended up in this mess in the first place.
As soon as Javier turned the corner onto his street his heart sunk deep into the bottom of his stomach as he could see what looked like a million police cars already in front of his house. His knees began to shake as he slowly approached the house knowing that he was about to go to jail before he could even confess to his parents what he had done. He silently wished lightning would somehow strike him in that very moment so he wouldn't have to deal with what was to come.
Before Javier could walk up his front steps to his house, the front door flung open as 2 officers dragged a screaming Diego by his arms from the house and into a police car. "I'm going to kill you!" shouted his brother's roommate as the police officer closed the car door.
In shock, Javier stood in front of his house as he reached down for his cell phone in his pocket. There was a single text from Carlos on his screen which read "You're welcome :)". Just like that, the guilt and anxiety that Javier felt lifted from his shoulder like a bodybuilder dropping the weights down onto the floor. I guess meeting Carlos wasn't so bad after all, he thought.
