Issues
Amanda felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She waited until it stopped, but it didn't. Must be a call, god who's calling me? She stretched out from her comfortable position on Hector's basement couch, and slid her iPhone out of her pocket. She sighed when she saw who was calling. She reluctantly pressed SEND and put the phone next to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey Amanda, how goes it?"
"Fine Jason, thanks."
"So I was thinking-"
"Were you now? That's new." Amanda rolled her eyes. She heard a chuckle from the other end.
"I was thinking that we could get together sometime. Sometime soon. I miss you."
"Jason, we can't. I have a life now. I have friends, I'm a cheerleader, I have a boyfriend, I can't go back to the way things were before. I'm sorry." Amanda hung up before he could respond. She felt bad about hanging up on Jason, but she couldn't risk anyone finding out about the way she was. Things were different here, she was different here. She couldn't let herself go back. For one brief moment, Amanda allowed herself to be drowned in the memory.
Summer of 2009. A summer when 14 year old girls are supposed to be going to the beach, the mall, and the park with friends. Having small summer flings and seeing stupid movies. Playing sports and having fun. 14 year old Amanda is with her boyfriend, Jason Alverez, and nothing they're doing is good.
"Jason, I don't know."
"Come on, Amanda, don't chicken out now. You can do this."
"Okay, I guess." Little Amanda is clutching a can of spray paint in her hand. She quickly looks around until Jason lightly pushes her towards the house. It's a pretty little pink house, with white shutters. Not the kind of house you'd expect your rival gang members to take refugee in. But that's kind of the point. Amanda stumbled for a second but crouched down and crawled to the house. There, she quickly spray paints 'GREYHOUNDS 4EVER' across the door. Amanda drops the can and runs back to where Jason is hiding. He pats her on the back, and as they walk back to his car, he mutters, "That'll teach those sorry Pitbulls who's the boss."
Amanda blinks hard and floats back from her memory. She shudders slightly when she recalls the awful things she and Jason did that summer. She hears footsteps thudding and she quickly hides her phone under a couch pillow. Hector appears at the bottom of the steps holding a big speaker. He sets it down and hops onto the couch next to Amanda. "You excited, babe?"
Amanda nods and smiles slightly. She knew Hector's party would be fun, they always were. But now with her ex-boyfriend back in touch with her, and her Little Issue, which had appeared again on Wednesday, she had a lot more to worry about than what she was going to wear.
Sam loved her snuggie. It was the softest thing ever, she used it so much it was like a part of her. On this particular Saturday night, while the rest of Centerscore, including her boyfriend Colt, were getting ready for the ultimate party featuring hot sorority chicks, Sam sat on her bed in her snuggie, finishing Tiger Eyes. She closed the book on her index finger as she heard knocking at the door. Sam jumped out of bed and ran to get the door. She swung it open and found Colt standing on her doorstep. He wore Diesel jeans, the ones Sam had given him for his birthday last year, and his leather jacket. He held two motorcycle helmets under his arms, and he was grinning like a maniac. "Ready, Sammy?"
Sam groaned. "I don't want to go."
Colt pulled lightly on her arm. "Come on, please. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty please!"
Sam tried to pull herself back inside, but it was a lost cause. Colt was twice as strong as her. "Ugh, fine. But I have to get ready. Give me 10 minutes." Sam ran into the house and up the stairs. 10 minutes later, she emerged, party ready. Colt led her to his motorcycle. "Your chariot, my lady." He winked. Sam couldn't help but smile at his attempted cheesiness. She hopped on the back and wrapped her arms around his waist. They rode off into the night.
"Chugs, where the fuck are we? This looks like a ghost town or something." Adriana, one of Chugs' sorority sisters, pressed her face against the passenger seat window.
"It's Centerscore, the town of boring. I've been here before and I wanted to kill myself. Let's hope their parties don't turn out as boring as their town." Chugs turned onto a dark street lit up with streetlights. 4 of her sorority sisters, plus Adriana, were squished into a car they had rented for the weekend. Chug's dialed Taylor's number into her phone while keeping an eye on the road. It rang for a minute and Taylor picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey cuz, it's me. We're on our way to your friend's party, what's the address again?"
"It's 1800 Ferry Road,"
"Thanks, we'll be there in like 2 minutes. This party better be live when we get there." Chugs hung up. A few minutes later, they pulled into Hector's driveway. Dozens of cars were already parked throughout the street and driveway, and loud music was pumping from inside the house. The 6 girls got out stretched their legs. They were all decked out like major sluts, tight trashy mini dresses, tons of makeup, stilettos, the works. After all, they had to make an impression. A few kids were hanging out outside on Hector's porch while the girls walked up to the door. They whispered to each other and looked at the girls. Chugs smiled to herself. Obviously word had gotten out that she would be making an appearance. They stepped onto the porch and Chugs kicked the door in, so it swung open. The party was in full swing. Kids were grinding against each other, all holding red plastic cups in their hands. Chugs strutted inside, followed by her sisters. She plucked a red cup out of a blonde girl's hand. "Hey!" She screeched. Chugs ignored her and did what she did best, chugged down the whole cup without blinking. She wiped her mouth and burped into her hand, dropping the empty cup onto the floor. Her sisters were also finding their own drinks and laughing at the blonde girl who was now pouting. Chugs motioned for them to follow her deeper into the party. It was time to make things interesting.
Hector and Howard stood next to the dance floor, drinking from their cups. They observed the party, clearly searching for Chugs and her sorority sisters. Taylor had described what Chugs looked like, but it was a pretty vague description. Suddenly, Howard slapped Hector lightly on the shoulder and pointed to some girls. Hector turned his head as if in slow motion, and saw 6 girls. He knew right away that they were the sorority girls. Hector dragged Howard over to where they were half dancing, half drinking and shouted over the music. "Hey ladies, welcome to the party. I take it you're Chugs?"
Chugs laughed out loud. "It sounds funny when high school kids say it. But yeah, that's my name, don't wear it out." The other sorority girls laughed hysterically. Hector smiled and nodded towards the other girls. "How about you introduce your friends?"
Chugs looked confused for a minute, and then smiled. "Ohh, these friends! For a sec I didn't know what you meant." She laughed again. "This is Adriana, Nicolette, Allison, Cassidy, and Kayla." Hector smiled again. "Well, enjoy the party girls." He walked away. Chugs grinned at Hector until he was gone, and then turned to her friends. "This shithole is so lame I'm about to die of boredom."
Allison put her hands on her hips. "Well let's make it interesting, Chugs! You said you had something fun for us to do!"
"Yeah Chugs, you said we could do something fun if the party was shit," Nicolette pouted.
Chugs held up her hands. "Girls, girls, relax. Let's mingle for a little longer, and if worse comes to worst…" Chugs grinned and reached into her pocket. She felt the small bag that had been there since before they had left NYU. "I know how we can get this party started."ectorJ