Chapter Text
It was the weekend before Halloween, the holiday fell on a Thursday this year and the Sorority was putting on a party.
Jess and I were downstairs with her friends, Denis and Eveylyn. I think that’s what their names were. I don’t remember. It was around seven thirty when I snuck out of the conversation and into the living room, greeted by a cloud of smoke and obnoxious laughter. The living room was decked out in purple, orange and black streamers, a couple witch and ghost window decals hung around to let you know there was a theme to the party.
I glanced around, saw a couple people I knew and most people I didn’t perform modern day mating techniques.
Clare Harrison was dressed like an angel and was laughing with a boy, I think called Chris, blushing and tucking strands of hair behind her ears.
Oh dear god, end me now.
I turned around and stared out into the night sky. There hasn’t been rain for days, but massive clouds hung in the sky waiting to drop a tidal wave of ruined plans, moods, and bring a fresh wave of tension. The clouds almost looked like a pregnant person. Music drummed through the house and the energy of every living person in that house soaked into my skin as I gazed at those big, fat, pregnant clouds, bent over and fucked by evaporation and forced to give birth by God or Nature or whatever.
I thought I was going to vomit.
A shriek. Loud enough to cut through the music, and enough to make me flinch. The phone was ringing again. I spun around, moving towards the disturbance. A couple girls eyed me carefully, then slipping easily back into their conversations.
The phone ringing had only recently become a topic that caused distress amongst the residents. I think I got the first call back in September, some guy breathing into the receiver - practically nothing back then. He started calling more frequently, sometimes once a week, maybe three times, or not at all, the breathing developed into hacking coughs and obscene moans and grunts. A whisper everyonce in awhile threatening rape or murder or something unintelligible. The girls started calling him The Moaner.
“Hello?” I answered blandly.
“Hello?” The other voice says in the same monotone uninflected voice as my own.
“What, have you moved on to impressions now?” I asked him. “Can you do anyone famous? Maybe try using your impersonating talents somewhere else huh? I am really really not in the mood tonight.”
The breathing was deep and rhythmic. I had a well known, cold anxiety spread throughout my body. It’s the realization of coming home to find your parents sitting at the door waiting for you, and then you spot your journal on the coffee table and realize you hadn’t hid it as well as you thought. Maybe it would be better if I learned how to keep my dumbass mouth shut sometimes.
Then, he broke out in delirious, erratic laughter.
“Can I…can I lick your pussy? Aaaaaahhhhaaahahaaa, leeeet meeee lick it. Please please please please?”
I grimaced with disgust as he continued laughing and begging, I said nothing assuming he would only continue if I kept talking to him. But after a minute he stopped and all was quiet on the other line, not even the sound of his breathing could be heard. I shifted my feet, leaning myself against the staircase and watching the people shuffle, dance and flirt around me while a stranger screamed obscenities in my ear.
“Does this mean I can go now?” I asked, glancing around for a clock.
“You could suck my fat cock.”
“No,” I was suddenly aware of how tired and unwell I felt. All the people, the party itself, and now this guy was making me feel sick. “Have fun, I guess, with that though. I'm going to hang up now.”
He started to scream.
“DON’T HANG UP ON ME YOU STUPID PIG BITCH NO NO NO NO NO!”
“Jesus fuck okay I won’t hang up just stop screaming, please? Look I’m tired, I’m in a shitty mood and my head hurts.”
“Piggy doesn’t sleep, only sleeps a little but barely.”
How did he know that?
“-never sleeps stays up all night reading and writing away hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa and pace and smoke and pace and cry and smoke some more Billy knows Billy knows silly piggy doesn’t sleep at aaaaaaallllllllluhhhhhhhh…can’t lick your pretty pussy, can I lick it?”
What. The. Fuck.
He laughed. A couple girls were looking at me, the naked rage and shock on my face. A girl walked towards the kitchen.
My mouth was dry, humiliation and terror left me speechless. I muttered something.
One of the girls mouthed, “Are you okay?”
A brunette girl with ringlet curls and blue eyeshadow kept glancing at me and the phone. She took a few unconscious steps backwards, as if putting a distance between herself and the phone would keep her safe from the deranged man on the other line.
“Piggy, are you still there piggy?” He asked, breathless from laughing. “Billy didn’t scare you right, piggy? Are you still there?”
I wanted to hang up. I wanted to hang up and run upstairs and throw myself under my covers and go to sleep. If I could just go to sleep I wouldn’t have to deal with this, any of this, this party, Jess, this maniac on the phone, the itch in the back of my throat to scream and bash my face into the staircase until my teeth fall out. The images of slaughtered sorioity girls and blood painted walls every time Clare Harrison or Phyl or Megan or Heather or any one of these fucks talked to me. All those repressed urges and emotions slowly but surely slithering their way out of my body and into the world to eat, destroy, vandalize and shred every single thing in sight.
Houston we have a problem.
“Billy! Billy! Stop scaring the other children Billy! Nasty Billy! I know what you did Billy! Stupid fuck ugly little bitch stop scaring the other children Billy!”
“Alright, alright, okay,” I breathed deeply. “I’m still here I didn’t leave you’re not scaring me Billy-“
“You should be.”
Hang up the phone, hang up the phone, hang up the -
“What? Why? How did you know I wasn’t sleeping?”
“How did you know I wasn’t sleeping? I’m not scared I’m not scared I’m not scared aaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaaaaaaaa you’re scaring me Billy stop stop Billy you’re scaring me!”
Jess walked in with the girl from earlier, looking from me to the phone and back again. My grip on the receiver tightened as she strode towards me.
“Give me the phone,” she said.
“No,” I whispered.
Jess’s eyes widened slightly, “What? Give me the phone.” She tugged on it forcefully.
The Moaner was laughing hysterically through the receiver.
“Give me the phone!” Jess snapped still trying to tug the phone from my grasp.
Why was I fighting? Why wouldn’t I let go?
“No Jess, stop it!” I tugged back.
People were beginning to stare as we pulled on the phone, fighting over the object as he continued his screeching laughter. Everyone turned to watch as we fought in this stupid game of tug-o-war.
“Just let go!” Jess yanked backwards.
“No!” I pulled it towards me.
“Why are you being so difficult?! Just give me the phone!”
A crowd had formed around us, some girls were shouting, trying to say something but all I could hear was my panting breaths and the howling laughter. Nothing felt real, like I was watching a movie, I felt completely disconnected and far away. I didn’t even realize what I was doing when I pulled hard enough for Jess to fall and slam into the wall. I didn’t even hear the gasps from the crowd.
I just knew she let go.
“Are you still there?” I asked the receiver.
Someone was crying.
“Hello?” I yelled.
“You’re going to get in trouble,” He said before hanging up.
Slamming the receiver back down I circled around to confront Jess, why had she stepped in? If she had just left me alone he wouldn’t of hung up, why did she always have to ruin -
Jess was bleeding. She had a small cut on her forehead, tears streaming down her face mixing with the tiniest amount of blood. She stared at me, confusion, anger, pain, fear.
I bit my lip to hold back my smile.