Short Story: The Fight

“The Fight”

                      Underwhelming. To fail to impress or make a positive impact on (someone); disappoint. In few words that's how I would describe my prom night although many say that it's a night that you'll never forget and a once-in-a-lifetime event. it just so happens that in my case only one half of that statement is true. For me, that night is so easily forgettable, it wasn't as shiny and extravagant as proms are fantasized to be. No beautiful date or night ending kiss that lit the sky up with fireworks. No teenage drama movie-esque dance scene where everyone is having the time of their lives and enjoying some of their last moments ever together. For me my senior prom was like a fever dream, a night that went just as quickly as it came. Now don't get me wrong prom is a once-in-a-lifetime event, I was dressed to the T in an expensive suit and got to spend the night with some of my closest friends. I guess you could say it just didn't go as I had always dreamed. But luckily some would say unfortunately the next 72 hours of my life would be 72 hours I will never forget.

                    Some months before prom weekend, the senior class of Cortlandt High School And surrounding districts devised a plan to go out on a bang.The night of prom we would all drive an hour and a half away from home to stay in Jersey Shore for the weekend. Now, I know what you're thinking, what could possibly go wrong with 100 or more 17 to 18 year old kids having a fun 3 Day weekend to themselves in Jersey Shore. The town where promises are broken, secrets are exposed, money is lost and the teenage spirit is able to be let loose. Personally, I thought it was going to be sunshine, rainbows and maybe a few bad decisions. And if you're reading this right now thinking the same clearly you haven't left high school yet. The Jersey Shore did the exact job that it was supposed to. It allowed us all a chance to get away, a chance to reminisce and live in the moment one last time before we were all shipped away to our respective schools across the country and tackle true adulthood for the first time in our lives. So that night after festivities had concluded we all got into our vehicles and took the long drive to Jersey Shore. The drive was nothing short of exhausting, I found myself on multiple occasions forcing my eyes to stay open while on my journey. Although in the passenger seat one of my best friends over the past 7 years Tyler was sitting next to me there was nothing that could help me besides a night's rest. Upon arrival I found myself jumping for joy in my head because I had finally completed a journey that felt like it was everlasting. Soon after I parked the car and Tyler and I were walking towards the hotel, I was soon bombarded with smells of alcohol, marijuana, and everything else that makes up the teenage spirit. Now if anyone knows me they'll know that I don't partake in anything when it comes to parties. I don't drink, I don't smoke and from time to time I've been known to hit a dance move or two but not too often. So just off of the initial flashbang to my senses, I knew that something about this weekend was going to go awry. As we continue to make our way to the hotel I could see that we were late to the party. From the ground to the second-floor balcony of the hotel it was full to the brim with people and even overflowing to the street. Passing a group of what seemed to be a mix of high school students and other random individuals we were stopped by a man who seemed to be heavily under the influence.                               

                       Now to put it in perspective for you this was not a small man. He looked as if it would take more than a team effort to stop this man if he were to get off his rocker. He looked to be about 6’2 in height with a pretty lean but muscular build, a bald head (never a good sign), around his 30s, and like he had nothing to lose that night. He mumbled on to us about something I didn’t have the energy to care about but I still humored him out of anxious and pitiful respect. After diverting off of our course we went to go claim our room. Greeted by more intoxicated faces than sober ones we claimed our room and the night was officially underway.

                     We linked up with a couple of my friends that we were sharing a room with Ader and Adain and they seem to be having a great time so far. We wandered around the town and near the boardwalk for a little while when we noticed a peer of ours Aidan was walking past the hotel drunk and extremely upset. As a collective, we checked on him and he disappeared into the night with another friend of hours. About 40 minutes went by and he was nowhere to be found. This was about the time we started to get worried. We wandered the streets and spammed his cell for another 30 minutes before we gave up. Eventually, by the grace of God, he appeared again and seemed to be in good condition all but still a bit agitated. After that fiasco Ader, Adain, Tyler and I decided to go back to our room and take a break from all the Jersey Shore Shenanigans. We walked into our room and as we all sat down almost like a magnet people started to flock to our room. To this day I still don’t know what made our room seem so welcoming whether it was the proximity to the ground floor steps or the individuals in it. But anyways, quickly our room became a HotSpot for all activities. But along with the crowd came its main attraction, the man who stopped us on the street before we entered the premises. As we’re all sitting in the room with our friends chopping it up in the hotel room. The man stumbles in and of all places to go he sits on my bed. At this point I wasn't too annoyed, but grossed out more than anything. But just as I'm getting past that invasion of space he flopped his entire body backwards and laid on my bed. The entire packed room let out a collective “WOAHHHHHH” that was the moment we all knew we needed to get him out of here. Two of my friends Ethan and Dean volunteered to try and escort him off the property. Kindly and calmly they approached him through the crowd and asked him to leave, they explained to him that the entire hotel had been rented out by us and he wasn’t allowed nor did we feel comfortable with him around. He stared back at them almost blankly but in my mind I knew there was more going on in his brain than he was letting on. His demeanor quickly switched to one that seemed as though he felt disrespected. He explained back to the two guys that he was causing no harm and shouldn’t have to go anywhere. But with an unusual calmness he got up from the bed, red in the face and sweating from whatever was in his system at the time and exited the room. In the moments following I knew this couldn’t be good, if anyone has ever been in a high tense sometimes violent situation it always goes like this. The calm before the storm. As he walked out of the room 2 kids Steven and Nick, both probably also under the influence, shouted out to him “Get outta here bozo!” and “ Who even are you? Get outta here!”. Just like that you could say that, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The man charged Steven and they began fighting furiously on the second floor balcony. They started swinging with reckless abandon at each other but the man was just too big. He seemed to be getting overwhelmed by the man but Dean had a plan to stop that and help steven. Within a blink of an eye all I heard was a big “DING” and saw blood pouring out of the man's head. I had no idea what happened but I knew that this situation had just got increasingly more troublesome. Steven kept hitting the man over and over again but like a gorilla to a tranquilizer dart the man just kept going, unphased. At this point other people came to the fight and started hitting the man, as for myself I knew it wasn’t safe to leave my room and I had no plan on joining the action. But my friend Adain clearly did not have the same idea. He emptied all his pockets and walked out to join the fray. Immediately Adain started shoving the man, put him into a tight headlock and waited till he seemingly lost consciousness. We all thought that the fight was finally over, but the man was only playing possum, he ripped out of the hold, started shoving everyone out of the way and for some reason rushed back to my room. In my head I said a single word “nope!” The second he put pressure on my door to get it I quickly shoulder-checked the door and kicked it closed to keep the man out. We all had to push against it to get it locked and he stopped trying to enter, I believe at this point is when the man decided the jig was up and it was time to go. He left the premises bloody, bruised, battered and most of all if I was him embarrassed. We heard hard knocking at the door and at first we were reluctant to open but it was just Tyler and Adain trying to get the room with the rest of us. They told us the hotel manager had called the police and we all had to hide in our rooms and avoid anything that might transpire when they arrived. The entire hotel went quiet, we closed our blinds and we waited about 15 minutes until we surveyed the scene. After a short wait it seemed as though the police had driven by, kept going and it was safe for us to come out. The second I walked out the room I could see the aftermath of all that happened in the last 20 minutes. There was blood on the door, the floor, the window, and balcony guard rail. It looked like a bonafide crime scene from a TV crime series or someone's favorite slasher movie. At this point one of the kids staying at the hotel told us that he had seen the man walking the streets extremely frustrated and heard whispers of a gun. In my head I knew it was time to get out of there. If I knew anything, someone like him would only come back more dangerous than last time with an undying vengeance and there was only one place he would come. My room. Frantically I gathered my things alongside Ader and Tyler and searched for a place to stay. Luckily, our friend Roberto was staying across the street and allowed us to stay with him for the night. For the rest of the weekend I was extremely on edge that we would run into the man again but luckily enough he would never rear his head again. But that didn’t stop me from habitually looking over my shoulder for the man and losing sleep to anxiety . The weekend proceeded as planned and we all had lots of fun on the boardwalk after the bonanza although the tension lingered.

                    So to conclude, the Jersey Shore trip will always and forever be branded in my memory. For most their prom nights are magical and memorable but for it always be the time following the festivities, that i will remember and in a way cherish. I’ll cherish the good times, the bad times and know that through it all the Cortlandt class of ‘21 went out on a bang.