The

plastic bottles seemed to be more shabbily made than the more commercial

sodas, as did the red wrapper that embraced the bottle.

The

soda, which boasted twice the sugar and caffeine of regular sodas, even

tasted a little cheaper despite having more of those two special ingredients.

I loved Jolt Cola though, from the minute the carbonated bubbles zinged

on my tongue and my muscles twitched due to the overdose of stimulants

inside the magic brew.

first found Jolt Cola in a convenience store near my old house. It was

separated from the other sodas, as if it wasn't good enough to be grouped

with the others. The clerk had placed it near the flavored milks and sparkling

waters. My friend had heard about it from his older brother, who was 16

and infinitely more worldly than us at the time. We decided to purchase

some to enjoy that evening at a sleep-over. We did not sleep a wink that

night.

We

each purchased a one-liter bottle of Jolt Cola and drank it during a viewing

of "Short Circuit" and "Police Academy III." Our tiny

preteen attention spans got even smaller as we neared the end of the soda.

I seem to remember a lot of fast, herky-jerky movement, but much of the

evening has become a blur. There was a lot of laughter and we may have

even returned to the store that evening to purchase just one more bottle

of the sweet elixir that was quickly becoming our new favorite beverage.

As

I said before, we did not sleep at that sleep-over. We watched bad television,

talked about girls and sports and girls again. We did some night swimming

in my pool and played hours of video games. The sun came up and we watched

it. It was a glorious night, made all the more glorious, thanks to Jolt.

That

was not my final experience with the soda. Far from it. My friend and

I, two counselors in training, decided to bring two two-liter bottles

to the annual CIT sleep-over that summer. The other CITs purchased their

own cans and bottles of the magical drink, along with pounds of junk food.

This was a night away from home and disapproving eyes. A night of independence

and indulgence.

CITs

are supposed to aid the counselors and start working their way up to becoming

counselors themselves, but they are merely one year removed from being

campers. The CIT sleep-over allows the CITs to let loose a little bit

and return to camp games and such. At this particular sleep-over, which

was supposed to include sleep as there would be hundreds of campers arriving

in the morning, Jolt took over.

My

friend and I took down a whole bottle of the soda within the first hour

and a half. We played dodge ball in the gym with more intensity than ever.

Our thirst forced us to take down the second bottle right before lights

out. The lights may have been out, but we were far from it. I remember

only bits and pieces of the evening, as it was a long time ago and I was

freaking out on caffeine and sugar.

We

took out the screen on the window in what was the boys' sleeping room

and climbed outside. We then helped the girls open their screen window.

There was running around on the campgrounds behind the main building.

There was making out in the gym. Our counselors who were supervising the

event were either asleep or fearing for their lives as these Tasmanian

devil-like teens stormed around the complex, whooping it up.

There

was minimal whooping the next day. Because none of us had slept at the

CIT sleep-over, the camp day, which was long to begin with, was extra

long. Campers who wanted to play soccer or tag or charades with their

CITs were met with sluggish, surly teens, who were desperately searching

for shade to curl up in. There were reprimands at the end of the day from

the camp director and many never touched Jolt Cola again.

recently spotted my old friend Jolt and gave a fleeting thought to purchasing

a few cans and having a good, old time. I thought better of it as I thoroughly

enjoy sleep now and choose to remember an entire boring evening than forget

most of a night of caffeine induced hysteria.

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