Catalyst Read Online Free

handed Courtney a small pink drink and
giggled. "It's only pink punch. There's nothing in it."
    However, something was wrong. The drink made Courtney
lightheaded, not in a bad way but enough to make her throw her
previous doubts aside and begin to enjoy herself. She pulsed to the
beat when a young guy ambled up to her.
    "Howdy," he muttered in a slurred voice. "Me name's
Gary. Want'ta dance?"
    "Sure." He seemed quite a hunk.
    ****
    Pulsing colored lights, loud music and a crush of
sweaty bodies mixed. The dancing became energetic. Time was a blur.
Courtney's eyes caught her watch. My God, it was almost midnight.
She was in the ladies' room and had vomited in the toilet. In a
mild panic, she tore out of the room right into Sada.
    "Are you all right, Courtney?" the girl asked. "We've
been looking everywhere for you."
    "Better now," Courtney replied.
    "Have you seen Kathleen?" Sada continued. "We have to
go."
    Courtney bit her lip and gazed around the crowded
room. Darkness intercepted by flashing blue and red lights made the
dancing bodies mere silhouettes against a haze of smoke and gloom.
It was difficult to recognize anything.
    "We lost you both," Sada explained. "It's so late we
decided to get the Honda. Brigitte has it out the front. I said I'd
come in and find you. Hurry! You've been missing for ages."
    Courtney followed her friend around the room. It took
elbowing and squeezing but they found their friend giggling and
gyrating in the middle of the floor. She seemed oblivious to
everything.
    "We're going," Sada ordered as she grabbed her
friend's arm and propelled her towards the door.
    "Hi guys," Kathleen yelled. "One more dance?"
    "No," Sada hissed. "We're going. Brigitte has the
Honda out front."
    "Spoil sports," Kathleen muttered but allowed herself
to be guided out the exit.
    Brigitte saw them approach, jumped out of the
driver's seat and folded it down, so Sada and Courtney could crawl
through into the back.
    "I'll drive," Kathleen ordered. As soon as Brigitte
was seated in the front passenger seat, she accelerated down the
city streets towards I-93.
    "Don't worry," she said cheerfully. "I'll get us back
to school."
    "It's after curfew," Courtney wailed.
    Kathleen turned her head. "I know but what else could
we do?" she retorted. "It's not my fault you got yourself lost. We
couldn't just leave you."
    "Me?" Courtney said. "I wasn't lost. You were."
    "Well, whatever."
    "It'll be okay," Sada said. Her calm voice soothed
Courtney's emotions. "We can go up the back stairs."
    "We'll be home before lock out," Kathleen said as she
turned onto the interstate. She grinned and accelerated above the
speed limit. Within seconds blue and red lights flashed in the rear
view mirror and a siren sounded. Kathleen's eyes turned wide in
panic and she sped up.
    "Stop!" screamed Courtney. She grabbed the girl's
shoulders. "For God's sake Kathleen, stop."
    The police car kept pace in an adjacent lane. "Will
the driver of the Honda please pull to the curb," a loudspeaker
crackled through the night air.
    "We'll lose him here," screamed Kathleen as they
flashed under the large sign indicating an exit.
    Whether it was the speed, the alcohol, or Kathleen's
inexperience, nobody ever found out but the Honda did not complete
the turn. Courtney's mind blurred with vague memories of a screech
of brakes and flashing lights before she blacked out.
    ****
    A flashlight shone in her eyes and screaming reached
her ears. It sounded like Kathleen. Courtney struggled to move but
throbbing pain cut through her mind and she found it difficult to
breathe.
    "Hello, there young lady," said a kind voice. "Just
lie still. We'll get you out soon. The seat belt saved you." The
highway patrol officer turned. "We need help here. There's a lot of
blood."
    Courtney lost consciousness again.
    When she woke she found herself on a stretcher with a
paramedic holding a satchel of clear liquid above her head. The
Honda looked wrecked with the far side squashed in against