She was afraid, and he still disgusted her. But she was even more afraid of what would happen if Johnson discovered she wasn’t the kind of girl he thought she was. What kind of humiliation would rain down on her, whether he’d dump her on her doorstep like a child and nothing would have really changed in her life that night. The only thing that could make her harder than the hard girls was if she did things even they wouldn’t do. Jeanette was getting dizzier and dizzier. She felt nauseated.

“You’ve never done this, have you?” Johnson said to her, eyes suddenly all pupil, fried eggs with black yolks.

Jeanette didn’t say anything.

“Just snort it really, really deep, like you’re trying to breathe all the way into your skull.”

Jeanette took the key and snorted as Johnson had. She thrust her head back like him, like this was an action she’d repeated so many times it’d become automatic.

The snorting felt like drowning. It felt like breathing in water accidentally when she chicken-fought in the pool with friends, a burning all up her face and then a metallic drip at the back of her throat. She had a taste in her mouth like she’d swallowed blood.

“Good little girl,” Johnson said, giving her ass a squeeze. He took the key in his hand and shoved the tip into Jeanette’s mouth. “Now run this on your gums like a good girl. Lick that key clean.”

Jeanette did as she was told, more metal in the mouth. More blood. She felt part of her mouth go numb.

The high came so fast, Jeanette wasn’t sure it was really a high and not some kind of trick of the mind. Her body felt electrified and the dizziness evaporated. She was seized by an excitement, the feeling of something incredible about to happen. She felt at the precipice of a whole new life and couldn’t believe she’d ever doubted herself. She was amazing! Queen Caro times infinity squared, ruler of all the dance floor, killer of all the men. What would it feel like if she turned the tables on Johnson? If she ended up chopping his body into pieces so everyone he’d ever known would grumble, What was he thinking, letting a stranger into his car who could have been a serial killer for all he knew?

“Let’s dance,” she said, unable to get the words out fast enough.