“
Hey, babe,” Travis calls out to Licha. Babe? He called her
babe
. Weren’t there any other available girls to bring to the dance? He had to bring her, again. And call her babe. I swear, he’s trying to kill me.
“
I need to talk to you,” she says, eyeballing me with her nostrils flared. Her expertly arched brows are threatening to attack.
That’s my cue. “I’ll see ya later.” So much for small talk. I didn’t even get a chance to say hello, not that she looked interested in talking to me.
I cut through the bumping sweaty limbs, scanning faces along the way. No Keesh. No Steph. No Josh.
Shit. I’m going to have to call my mom.
“
Megster, what’s up?” Josh tosses his arm over my shoulder.
“
Hey, where ya been?” I ask, draping my arm around his skinny waist and resting my head against his chest.
“
Around,” he says. “This place is packed. You’re the first one from our group I’ve talked to. Where is everybody?”
“
Travis is out there dancing. I don’t know where the girls are. I’ve been looking for them everywhere and they’re not answering their phones. I need a ride home. Do you think your date would mind if you took me home?”
“
Don’t gotta date. She got pissed because I was dancing with one of her friends so she left. It’s just me and you, kid.” He pats my shoulder.
“
Sounds good to me.”
“
This dance sucks, doesn’t it?”
“
Yeah. It does.”
He tugs on my arm. “Come on. I got an idea.”
An hour later, Josh and I are in my backyard pulling the chaise lounges around the fire pit. He already ran back and forth from the side of the house with arms full of wood and started the thing. It took him a while but it’s crackling now. Alex usually took care to stack the wood just right, rolling old newspapers and lighting them in a precise fashion. It was like an art to him.
Geez. One night free of Alex thoughts would be nice.
“
I guess it’s safe to assume we’re expecting company,” I tell him.
He winks at me with his goofy grin. “You could say that.”
“
Who’s coming?”
“
It’s a surprise,” he says, waving smoke from his eyes.
“
Just tell me,” I whine. “Keesh and Steph?”
“
Hey-eyyy.” I knew it. I whip around to see my girls sauntering up my driveway. Travis is right behind them.
I run toward them and nearly knock them over.
“
Hey, I’m so glad you guys are here.” The three of us hug each other, swaying back and forth.
“
So are we,” Steph squeals. “That dance sucked something awful.”
“
Yeah,” Keesh adds. “It blew.”
Yes, it did. I never realized this whole single ladies thing would separate us. It was supposed to be fun, going out with different guys. Meeting new people. But barely talking to each other at a dance is not what I had in mind.
“
Hey, Trav. I’m glad you’re here too,” I tell him as I unwrap myself from my friends.
“
Yeah, we all should’ve stayed home and saved ourselves the grief of getting all dressed up,” he says, pulling his dress shirt out from his pants and unbuttoning the cuffs before he sits down.
Everyone plops themselves down and gets comfortable on a lounge. Josh shares one with Keesh and Steph who are on either side of them. Travis and I each get our own. He tosses me a blanket and I wrap it around my shoulders.
“
Yeah. I hate getting all frilled up. My tits feel like they’re being strangled right now.” Steph sits up, sticks her hands behind her back, and starts digging inside her dress. Seconds later, she whips out her strapless bra and tosses it over her head. It hits the fence with a slap and falls to the floor. “There. Now the girls can breathe.”
There’s a moment of silence before we all start laughing hysterically, in utter shock that Steph sent her black lacy bra flying. Although I’m not sure what’s more shocking. The airborne undies or the black lace. The girl is definitely taking a walk on the wild side this year. This is totally out of character for her. She’s come a long way from flowered granny panties.
I’m pleased to see Brody and Caitlyn walking hand in hand at school Monday morning after the dance. I’d hate to think I missed out on an awesome date for nothing. Oh, who am I kidding? I would have ended up staying at home watching New Kids videos with my mom. Or maybe
Knocked Up
. She loves the part when Ryan Seacrest does his whole spiel. It’s like two seconds long and she turns to mush every time. When that movie hits the DVD player, my dad grabs his things and heads to his room to watch TV in peace or read a book. I can’t blame him. I think I’d go a little cuckoo if my spouse was a celebrity junkie like my mom.
When I finally make it to chemistry class, Brody is grinning from ear to ear. It’s kinda scary. I see a Slurpee and a KitKat on my desk, so I know things went very well.
“
So you’re a spoken for man again, huh?” I say.
He stands, towering over me, and sweeps me up in a big bear hug. I slap at his arms.
“
Are you crazy?” I squawk at him. “You want Caitlyn to break up with you again?”
He sets me down, looking confused.
“
Oh, Brode, you can’t be this clueless.” We both sit on our metal stools.
“
Why would she break up with me again?” he asks, completely puzzled.
“
Okay, I’m the girl she was jealous of. She got back with you because she didn’t want me or any other girl to have you. Now that she has you, you can’t just go hugging other girls. Not like that anyway. Limit yourself to side hugs. Like this.” I lean into his side and pat him on the back. “Now, you can put your arm on my shoulder and squeeze, but that’s it. No front hugging. You should
not
be pressing up against some other girl’s titties.”
He shakes his head in distress. “This is way too complicated.” He puts his elbows on our lab counter and buries his face in his hands.
“
No, it’s not. Just be practical. And enjoy being with your girlfriend.”
For the rest of the class, Brody drills me with questions on what’s appropriate contact with other girls. And when he should be worried about how she touches other guys. What have I done? I’ve created a monster.
But he’s a monster in love. And if I’m not getting any lovin’, I’m glad someone is.
Twelve
The gang is all together at lunch, which is a rare occasion.
The guys are always hanging on the other side of the quad with all the baseball dudes. Even though Travis doesn’t play baseball, any friend of Josh’s is a friend of theirs. And wherever Josh is, there are swarms of girls. You’d think once they talked to him, the cool factor would wear off because he’s such a goofball. But it doesn’t. The girls love him even more, no matter how many times he makes humping gestures and fart sounds with his armpits.
So they’re here today and it’s nice to sit and chat.
“
Let’s do something this weekend. Just the five of us,” Josh says.
“
Like what?” Steph asks.
“
Strip twister?” Keesh throws out.
Travis and I look at each other all wide-eyed. He says, “Let’s not.” I agree.
“
We can watch a movie at my house,” I offer. Dang, I’ve gotten boring.
“
How about a party?” Steph suggests. “But we go together and we leave together. No hooking up with anyone else.”
“
But we can hook up with each other?” Josh wiggles his brows.
“
Honey, that ship sailed a long time ago.” Steph flicks her hand at him, and we all laugh.
“
What? You two together?” Travis asks. I chuckle. Steph and Josh were pre-Travis.
“
Freshman year, before he met Erica and I met Dominic,” she explains.
“
And before you two were together?” Travis gestures to Josh and Keesh, and she looks away, embarrassed. “Dang, Josh, you get around.”
Josh’s boyish grin spreads across his face, looking proud. “Can’t help it. I got skills.”
Keesh throws her empty water bottle at him. And Steph whacks him in the chest and says, “Yeah, that’s why you wanna go out with us this weekend. Those skills are running dry.”
“
Hey, if you don’t wanna go out, that’s fine. I got plenty of girls waiting for all this.” He runs his fingers down his body.
“
Shut the hell up,” Travis tells him, chuckling. Josh pretends to look hurt for a split second and then starts laughing right along with him.
“
But no, really. I just miss us getting together. I miss you guys,” Josh says.
“
So a party it is?” I jump in before Josh has us rolling some more.
Everyone nods. A party it is.
Ethan told Steph about the party we’re going to tonight. I like the idea of going with the crew. Less pressure. I don’t feel the need to get all dolled up. In fact, it’s tempting to throw on a hoodie, stretchy jeans, and some Chucks so I can really get down. But I won’t. Who knows? I may run into someone I’d like to go out with later.
“
What are your plans for this evening, honey?” Mom asks.
I flop myself down on a stool at the kitchen counter. “We’re going to a party. The football team is having a get together, and Steph is kinda dating one of them.”
“
Will parents be there? Some kind of adult supervision?” Really? She’s never asked before.
“
Wow, why you getting all parental on me?”
“
I’m serious, Megan.”
“
Yes, Mom. There are always adults at these things,” I lie. “What kind of parents let their kids have people over unsupervised?”
Her face tenses up. “We do. Your friends are always here when we’re not home.”
“
And we’re fine, right? We’re all alive, nobody’s on drugs, and nobody’s gotten pregnant. We’re all peachy.”
“
Huh. Now I’m worried. Maybe we shouldn’t let all of you hang out without us.”
Oh goodness. She’s killing me. “Everything is fine, Mom. It could be worse. We could be throwing our panties on stage at some boy bands.” I raise my brow at her, waiting for her response.
She giggles at the thought. “There aren’t any boy bands nowadays worth throwing underwear at.”
“
I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“
All right, well, have a good time. Just not too good. And call us if you need anything.” My mother looks worried for some reason.
“
What’s up, Mom? Why are you stressed? I’ve been to plenty of parties.”
She bites her bottom lip. “I don’t know. It’s finally occurred to me you’re not a baby anymore. You’re almost out of high school. This time next year, you’ll be applying to colleges. I just want to make sure you don’t do anything to get in the way of that. All parents worry.”
There’s a knock at the door, and that’s my cue.
“
Don’t worry too much, okay? I promise I won’t do any body shots tonight. I’ll just stick to the beer.” I wrap my arms around her waist and squeeze as she lightly smacks me on the shoulder.
“
Keep up with the jokes, and you’ll be staying home,” she says.
I unwrap myself from her and leave the kitchen shouting, “Bye, Mom. I’ll be back before dawn.”
I close the front door as I hear her yell, “Megan Miller, don’t you dare.”
This is the biggest party we’ve ever been to. It’s a huge property. Nice two-story house. Not a mansion by any means, it’s just there’s room for another three houses to fit in between the one that’s already there. Their lawn seems to stretch on forever. It must be pretty cool to live in a house where it doesn’t feel like your neighbors are right on top of you.
The guest list for this soirée is just as massive. I thought we were going to be early, but now I’m thinking we should’ve gotten here two hours ago, like we’d need to for a midnight showing of a highly anticipated movie. Cars line up and down both sides of the street. We end up parking two blocks away.
The music can be heard as soon as we step out of the car.
“
This is insane,” Steph says, looking around.
We all nod in agreement.
“
Let’s hurry up and get in there before it gets broken up,” Josh tells us. He’s right. A party like this is not likely to make it past ten.