Trip to Hell & Back

Lisa was seventeen years old with a whole future in front of her, or so everyone said. But in Lisa’s mind tomorrow was never promised. It’s why she lived each day like it was her last. To her this meant partying from dusk to dawn. MDMA was her poison of choice. She liked the way it made her feel. It made her appreciate little things more and it helped her connect to others. Something that she had trouble doing otherwise. She had been doing it for years, but after her ex-boyfriend called her to tell her that he met someone else, she started doing it more. Until one night when it almost killed her.

Her friends were throwing a house party that night. Lisa was invited and was definitely going to attend. She would never miss an opportunity to party. But, like before any party she attended, she had to find a ride and pick up the “party supplies.” Not the ones you would find in the store.

Her friends Isaac and Mac texted her that day asking if she wanted to go to the beach with them.

She agreed to go. Lisa loved the beach. She was a summer baby after all. She basically lived at the beach.

They decided to spend the beach day drinking so they picked up some liquor from the local liquor shop and headed over to the beach.

They had a great time just drinking, swimming, and talking. To capture the moments, they took photos.

Before they knew it it was already evening.

It was time to pick up the “supplies” and head over to the party.

Isaac, Mac, and Lisa drove up to a high rise apartment building in a shady part of town.

This was nothing that Lisa was unfamiliar with. She had spent most of the last few months in shady places and with shady people. She didn’t care. She had nothing to lose. She didn’t really care if she lived or died anymore. She hadn’t for a while.

They took the elevator up to the 7th floor to meet their dealer.

“How many?” He asked as he showed them the triple-stacked purple star ecstasy pills in his hand.

“Three” Isaac replied and handed him the money.

They were in and out of that place so quick that they barely registered being there.

“Alright, let’s go.” Mac said, eager to go to the party.

So they got in the car and drove off.

Loud music blasting and speeding down the highway.

They arrived 15 minutes later at the party.

Lisa greeted the friends that had invited her and then ran to the bar that was in the basement.

She needed something to chase her pill with after all.

So she did.

She chased the pill with vodka like it was life saving medicine that she was in urgent need of.

But that wasn’t all she took. She also smoked weed and hookah on top of it.

She was feeling good, dancing with her friends, and enjoying the trip until she checked her social media.

That’s when she saw the picture of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.

Seeing this would be enough to upset anyone, but what made it extra painful to Lisa was that he never posted her on his profile. So who the hell was this girl and why was she so special? And why was she not?

Lisa ran for the nearest bottle and chugged as much as she could while crying.

She did it without even thinking.

She just couldn’t handle the pain.

She wasn’t trying to kill herself, but she didn’t quite want to be alive in that moment either.

She was fine for a while. She kept dancing for about an hour after that until suddenly she didn’t feel so good. She couldn’t breathe and she was burning up.

She ran outside, sat on the lawn, and started dry heaving.

Her friends noticed and followed her. They asked her what was wrong. She had to come clean to them about what she took if they were going to help her.

They got her into their bedroom and told her to lie down. They gave her some water and asked her what she wanted to do.

Lisa said she needed to go home.

She was lucky her other friend Michael was there and offered her a ride home because Isaac and Mac were long gone.

She knew she had to text her mom. She would make sure she survived.

“Mom, I’m coming home, but I did something stupid.” Lisa wrote to her mom.

“What did you do?!” Her mom replied, half angry and half concerned.

Lisa had to lie. Her mom didn’t know about her drug use and she didn’t want her to find out.

“I drank way too much. I don’t feel well.”

She wanted her mom to know enough to help her when she got home, but she knew she’d be dead if her mom found out about her drug use. Telling her that she was drunk seemed like the right choice.

Lisa arrived at home. Her mom and sister greeted her when she stumbled into the house.

Her mom asked what she had taken.

Lisa lied. “Nothing Mom. Just alcohol.”

Her mom asked her again. “What did you take? Do you need to go to the hospital? Who gave it to you?”

Lisa just kept saying no.

Her mom told her to get into the cold shower.

It wasn’t helping enough. Lisa was terrified that she was going to die so she caved and told her mom the truth.

“Mom, please don’t hate me, but I lied. I didn’t just drink. I’m scared.”

“What did you take?!” Her Mom screamed.

“I took ecstasy.”

“How could you be so stupid!”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She said before her mom pulled her into the light to see if her pupils were dilated.

“You really disappointed me. Do you want to be like your father?” Her mom said with complete disgust.

Lisa was crying and in so much pain.

Her mom was so angry she left and instructed Lisa’s sister to take care of her.

Lisa’s sister Bethany was only thirteen years old.

Lisa was so embarrassed. She was supposed to be setting a good example for her younger sister and here she was being a complete failure.

Luckily Bethany didn’t judge Lisa. She just wanted her to be okay. She stayed with her and talked to her while making sure she hydrated.

Lisa just wanted to pass out. Her mom had told her not to because it wouldn’t end well.

But at that point Lisa didn’t care anymore. She was so tired after hours of pain.

Lisa started falling asleep on the bathroom floor. That’s when her mom came in to take over from her sister. She wanted Bethany to get some sleep. Her mom just kept asking why. Why had Lisa done such a stupid thing.

Finally after hours of drinking water and flushing out her system she started feeling a little better. She was exhausted, but she was sober. Her mom told her that it was okay to go to sleep now and that they would discuss this tomorrow when Lisa woke up. Lisa was just grateful to be able to go into her bed and sleep. She didn’t care about tomorrow’s punishment. She was just happy to be alive and not in so much pain anymore.

She knocked out for the rest of the night and most of the next day.

When she woke up, it was time to face the music.

The consequences of her actions were waiting for her.

She went into her mom’s room.

Her mom was worse than angry. She was quiet. Completely silent.

“Mom, I am so sorry.” Lisa said apologetically.

“Why Lisa? What possessed you to do something like that? Don’t you care about your life? How long have you been doing this?” Her mom asked.

That’s when Lisa broke down and told her mom everything. Everything that she had been doing for the last few months. Her mom was in complete shock. Her mom never did anything like this. She grew up without doing any drugs and never really getting into any trouble. She didn’t understand. But she did care. She just didn’t know how to handle it. She was never the best at handling overwhelming emotions. She grounded Lisa and Lisa gladly accepted the punishment. She was more upset that her mom was upset with her than she was about the punishment.

She vowed to change her life from that day forward and with the help of her mom, sister, and closest friends, she did.

She was able to come back from Hell.