"That's right," he spat, giving me a shove in the shoulder. "Run home to your fuckin' mommy."
The way he sneered, I could tell that his words were poised to create optimum impact with me. His little gang just stood behind him, waiting to see where he was going with the crack about my mother.
"Or is she too drunk to handle you?"
There was the ever-cliché low 'ooh' from his group, but they got quiet as the sting of the remark settled in. He seemed pleased with himself, crossing his arms across his chest and smiling. I could feel anger building in me, the dead give away being the lightheaded blushing sensation that washed over my face.
Unthinkingly, I charged him with outstretched arms; I knew full well I couldn't throw a punch decent enough to take him down, so knocking him down seemed my best way out. He stumbled back into his little pack of friends and fell when they didn't catch him.
"I have always fucking hated you, Tony," I said, still clenching my fists. Surprising him had been my only hope of not getting my stumbling over my own feet.
He just sat there on the ground for a moment before starting to laugh; "Aw, look at 'er, she's gonna cry…"
None of his friends were laughing; there was a difference in ribbing someone, even going too far, and saying things that were totally out of line. It was no secret that many of their parents hit the bottle a little too much, too. It was the way a lot of people were at the time, if they had the money to afford alcohol. Tony's parents were never even there, so attacking my mom who at least fed me seemed a little strange.
"At least my parents can afford food," I shot back, not feeling proud of myself in the least for going back and forth in the immature fight with him. He tightened his mouth into a straight line, but remained on the ground.
"This is getting a little heavy, man. Let's forget lunch. There's good waves, let's go, T.A., get up," Jay said with a whistle, pulling Tony to his feet. They turned to walk away.
I'd been friends with Jay and Stacy for five years, since I'd moved out there. Tony had always had something against me, from the start. I'd never even done anything to him, but he'd had some sort of vendetta against me from the first time we met. We just didn't mesh.
"Fuck her anyways," Tony mumbled, walking off.
"Sorry, Lil, he's an ass," Stacy said with a shrug. "There's not much anyone can say."
He was right, regretfully. There was just nothing to be said or done about Tony Alva's poisonous attitude. It would probably never change, even if someone knocked him on his ass.
"It's okay," I said, returning his shrug. "Go surf; I'll catch you and Jay at the party, later."
He exchanged an apologetic glance with me; "I feel kinda bad leaving you out… I mean we had plans for eating and all that…"
Ever considerate one, it was no surprise that Peralta felt bad about what had happened. Jay was much more carefree about everything and very little bothered him. Stacy was more likely to regret the unpleasantness of the situation.
"Nah," I shook my head. "It's cool. Go, have fun. I'll see you."
Inside, I wanted him and Jay to come and hang with me versus surfing and skating all day with that bastard, but I'd known them long enough to know that asking them to give up doing that would piss them off royally. It was an unspoken code.
"If you're sure," he said, giving my arm a pat. "I'll swing by the party later and try to find you."
With that, we split up, going our separate ways for a while. I had the afternoon to kill, so I decided to sneak in a little surfing of my own. The boys surfed the Cove, which was a little too rough for me. I enjoyed the calmer, less dangerous waves of the beach. That was too easy for the guys, though. They said that there was no challenge in it. I wasn't half the surfer Jay was; he seemed to pull ahead of the rest of the guys a little.
The waves were fairly decent; I had a good time. It calmed my nerves after the whole Alva incident.
Soon, though, it was time to go home and get dressed for the party. This guy in town was throwing a house party and it was open invitation. I always tagged along to those kinds of things, usually ending up hanging around with the other mellow people, outside.
Tonight was no different, really. The music was loud and the house dark, beer and pot getting distributed left and right. That wasn't really my bag; when and if I drank, I only drank a little. I just never got a very good taste for it, I guess. I just wandered around, greeting the people I knew. That wasn't many people, but I was still having a good time.
"Hey," a familiar voice shouted next to my ear, and an arm was thrown around my shoulders. "How's it going, Lily?"
Jay stood beside me, a red plastic cup in one hand, smiling. He was always a little more of a party animal than anyone I knew of.
"Great, you?" I yelled back, over the music.
"Perfect," he replied in the same loud tone. Then he said something I couldn't make out. Sounded like 'let's get a beer'.
"What?" I called back. He repeated it but it was so damned indistinct.
"I said," he got closer to my ear, "Tony is here."
Ah. There was his message, loud and clear. It was even emphasized by the subject standing a little ways behind him, chatting up some girl. Jay's warning served no real purpose; I suppose he just wanted me to know.
"Thirsty?" He shoved his drink at me, spilling some on my blouse. I pushed it back towards him and made my way to the door, where he did not follow. I suddenly remembered why I hated going to those things. Nothing good ever came of them, really.
I looked around, standing on the front porch; a few couples were making out here and there, a few random people smoking. No Stacy, not even a Sid. No one I knew at all. This was going to shape up to be a long night.