"Damn it, girl, do you have to be so slow and noisy about letting me in?" a deep male voice came from the darkness.

Johnny Hollister crouched down next to the wooden steps, a brown grocery bag under his arm and a worried look on his face. Sheree stood with her mouth open in utter surprise, and Johnny immediately seized the opportunity. He shouldered past her, pulling the door closed behind him and fumbling at the lock. He breathed a sigh of relief as it clicked shut.

"Shit, honey, this is no work for a nervous guy!" the big football player whispered, the excitement crackling in his voice.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Sheree demanded, shock leaving her and cold fear settling in its place.

"I was invited, remember?" he waved the brown bag at the dumbfounded girl. "And I got my ticket!"

The bag produced the unmistakable clink of bottles hitting each other as the football star sat it down on the table. He pulled out two plastic champagne glasses and sat them down next to the bag with a flourish.

"Not only sloe gin, but champagne!" Johnny grinned mischievously. "Now let's get the party started."

Numbly, as though she had been caned from a block of ice, Sheree watched as Johnny uncapped the cheap champagne and filled the glasses. Their eyes were accustomed to the near darkness, so it seemed almost light inside the small room when Johnny found Sheree's transistor radio and flipped it on. The green light from the dial and the soft thump of the rock beat seemed to fill the whale trailer.

"Where did you get this?" Sheree gestured with the full glass, playing for time.

"Wasn't easy," Johnny smiled, gulping some of the bubbling liquid down. "I had to give Bill Hasket's older brother enough money to get himself a whole case of beer to get him to buy this for me."

Sheree swallowed a mouthful of the highly carbonated, slightly sour wine. She toasted Johnny with her glass and smiled.