Graduation Trip

Chapter 4

This morning, nothing woke me up. Not Wes, not Owen's music, nothing. When I looked at the clock, I saw that it was eight. Wes was snoring a little and I couldn't fall back asleep. Instead, I got up to get a drink.

Apparently, Owen does sleep. He and Annabel were both laying on their sides on the couch, though he was turned slightly so that she was half on him. It looked so uncomfortable, huddled together like that, but both seemed to be sleeping fine.

It was always weird for me, seeing them together. Like…Beauty and the Beast or something. That's what people called around school when they first got together. I didn't know either of them at the time and thought that it was just because of their looks. Now though, I figured his anger issues also had something to do with it.

When I got back into bed, Wes was waiting.

"Can you, like, stop waking me up each morning?"

"It's not even that early this time. It's eight. Normal people are already up."

Taking my water from me, he took a sip before saying, "Normal people aren't on vacation."

"This is vacation? Between Owen and Kristy, it has felt more like a babysitting gig."

"Meh."

I kissed him as he sat my water on the nightstand. When I pulled back, Wes made me lay down so that he was over me. We were making out when there was a knock on the door.

"What?" He called out.

"It's me. I knocked. So…We're out of Pop-Tarts and I'm hungry."

"And?"

"Do you guys want to come with me to get breakfast? Owen wants to sleep longer and I'm kind of, sort of broke."

"What happened to the money I gave you?" Wes got off me to go opened the door. "Huh?"

"Well, see, on the way to the party last night…let's just say that I have some really cool hats now."

"Hats. You wasted your money for the week on hats."

"It's only your fault, Wes. You never taught me the value of a dollar."

"Bert."

"Here," I said, getting up and going over to my fallen jeans. "Here's twenty."

"Macy, don't give him money."

"Why not? You do." I handed it over to Bert, who happily took it. When Wes shook his head though, Bert tried to give it back, though I could tell that he wanted it. "Just take it and go get something to eat, Bert. Me and Wes are busy."

"Wes and I," he corrected before taking his money and running off, not wanting to deal with his brother. Over his shoulder, he called, "Thanks, Macy."

"Stop giving him things," Wes told me, closing the door again. "If he spent all his money on hats, that's his problem, not yours."

"So what? You were going to let him starve?"

"Of course not. There's food in the kitchen."

"But not Pop-Tarts, Wes. If you were the younger sibling, you would understand."

"Ha, so funny."

"I try."

He kissed me before taking my hand and dragging me back to the bed. "I want to finish what we started earlier."

"Fine. But it ends where it began."

"Okay, cryptic girl. That's what you said the first time."

"What do we do when we're completely out of beer?"

"Hopefully that won't happen anytime soon."

"None of us have ID."

"Who knew that you would be the one that ends up worrying so much about beer?" Wes knocked his knee against mine. "You hardly drank when we met. Now, you're, like, obsessed with beer."

"I am not. Besides, there are worse things to be addicted to."

"Like?"

"Vodka. Daniels. Tequila."

"Don't forget Everclear."

"I don't know what that is."

"Consider yourself lucky. You couldn't handle it."

"I'm sure."

Wes laughed at me, stealing one of my onion rings. "You know though, we have to go find the others soon."

"Right. You hate alone time now."

"Not all alone time. What we did this morning was good."

"I'm sure it was."

"After we finish these beers, we seriously have to leave," Wes told me, leaning back on the couch.

"I don't feel like moving. I'm tired."

"Alcohol is a depressant."

"I have not drank that much."

"You always say that before you puke."

"I think," I said, setting my can down, "that we need to go ahead and go find them. They always have more fun when we're not with them."

"Maybe that's a sign."

"It's not fair that they get to have so much fun when we're only stuck with each other."

"I think that we have a pretty good time alone," Wes told me. "Sometimes."

Standing up, I wobbled a little before evening myself out. "Come on. Let's go."

We didn't have to go far. We only got out front before we found them, in a heated battle of Texas Hold 'em.

"I thought you guys were going to the beach?" Wes asked, frowning at them.

"We were. Then we ended up here."

I looked at Bert, who seemed to be winning. "Who brought poker chips?"

"Me," Owen said. "I was out here teaching Annabel how to play when they showed up."

They were all seated on the ground playing. Monica was playing with them too, but didn't seem to be interested.

"Is this where my twenty dollars went?" I asked Bert.

"Yes, but I won way more. I can pay you back now."

"But," Kristy broke in. "I'm gonna need you to loan me some money."

Rolling my eyes, I informed them that I couldn't play either. Wes said he had never played also. Quickly, we were all roped into the game. Just as quickly, we found out that Wes is the biggest liar on the planet.

"I didn't say that I didn't know how to play, I said that I didn't play very often because I'm not that good," he defended an hour later as he took me out to buy more sodas with his new found money.

"But you are good."

"Not compared to professionals."

"That's like saying that I'm not good at roller skating because I'm not a professional."

"Oh? You skate?" He picked up a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper, Bert's favorite. "And at a near professional level? I will have to witness this."

When we got back to the house, Annabel was on the couch, talking on her cell phone. Owen sat next to her, apparently waiting for her to finish.

"No, Mom. Yeah. No. I'm serious. He's fine." She glanced at Owen. "He's been very…mellow, actually."

Owen just rolled his eyes. Wes gave him a smile before yelling out for Bert to come get his drinks.

"Mom, you're the one that told me I should come down here. No. No. I'm serious. Owen hasn't done anything. Yes." Annabel got up and walked out the front door. Owen sighed as I sat down in the chair, watching Wes and his brother go into the kitchen.

"Her mom's not big on you?" I asked him.

"She was. Then…stuff happened."

"Fights?"

"The first time she met me was after I punched Will Cash. I mean, she couldn't have thought that I was a pacifist."

Will Cash…Right. I shrugged a little. "Maybe she thought you'd change."

"No one ever really changes. They just compromise a little."

Kristy came into the living room, smiling brightly. "Guess what I did while you were gone, Macy."

"Do I have to?"

"I found out where Mr. Everything will be this tonight."

"Yay?"

"Yes, yay."

"How did you find this out?" I asked her. "Extensive stocking?"

"As you know, I went with Monica to get more cigarettes. While we were in line, I happened to over hear two guys talking about a party."

"How do you know that he'll be there?"

"Because they said that the bike shop guy would be there. He is the bike shop guy."

"…How do you know that, exactly?"

"What I do with my time isn't important. What is important is that we're going to a party tonight. All of us. You and Wes have spent too much time alone."

"That's what I'm saying," Wes agreed, walking out of the kitchen. "Been saying it since I got with her."

"Shut up," I said, rolling my eyes. "Fine, Kristy, we'll all go to the party."

"Party?" Bert came in behind his brother. "Good. I can wear one of my hats."

"I'll burn those hats," Wes grumbled, making me stand up so that he could sit down. I then sat in his lap.

"Party's just aren't fun when you're with someone," I told Kristy as Wes ran a hand down my stomach. "You go to meet people. I already know Wes."

"Yeah, but you could make friends."

"I have enough friends, thanks," Wes said. "But, I'll go. It would be a shame to deny women a chance to look at me."'

I wiggled in his lap, just to shut him up. Suddenly, his attention became less distracted with Kristy and her talking and more with my hips.

"Can you guys not do that in front of me?" Bert collapsed onto the couch next to Owen. "Please?"

I leaned back against Wes, sighing a little. At least I shut him up.

Annabel came back into the house and sat down on the other side of Owen. He smiled at her, but she didn't return it.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

"Nothing. Mom's just flipping out over nothing."

"She's still mad that I-"

"Yes."

"It's not like I meant to-"

"I know. Just like you didn't mean to punch that guy the other night, right?"

"Well…yeah."

She elbowed him, but Owen just smiled. Kristy, who had gone to get a soda, came back.

"So, are we all in for the party? Monica is."

"Party?" Annabel asked. Owen made a face.

"We can just stay here, alone," he offered up.

"We're always alone. Yeah, we'll go."

Owen didn't looked thrilled, but he wouldn't go against Annabel and say something. As angry as he was constantly, he sure did let her run a lot of their life together. He wasn't controlling at all, which shocked me. Normally when you see a couple like them, the woman ended up just throwing her life away to do whatever the guy wanted.

Wes started tapping out a beat on my thighs with his thumbs. Kissing behind my ear, he whispered, "Parties are fun."

"For who?"

"I'd like to think us."

"Yeah, you'd like to think."

He gave me one more kiss before moving back. "So about our dog."

"Or cat, since you're such a cat person."

"We're getting a pet?" Bert perked up. "Really? Hey, Wes, remember Butter? I loved Butter."

I giggled as Wes rolled his eyes. Owen slipped off one of his rings and began to toy with it in his hand. Annabel reached over and took it from him.

"Did you guys ever have a pet?" Bert asked me.

"No. My dad tried to keep a dog we found once, but my mom wouldn't let him. She was afraid it would ruin her carpets."

"We should get one though, Wes. Me and you can take care of a dog, don't you think?" Bert asked, hope in his voice.

"No. You have to clean up after them, feed them, take them out-"

"It can just play in the yard with you while you work."

"We'll talk later, alone, alright?"

"Macy agrees with me, though," Bert told him.

"Macy doesn't live with us."

"Right."

Wanting to change the subject, I asked Annabel if she ever had a pet. She said she had fish once, but her sister Kirsten forgot to change the filter a few times and they died.

"Is she the enlightened one?" I asked, making Owen turn away.

"What?" She looked at Owen. "You think Kirsten's enlightened?"

"Of course not. Though, I do enjoy Led Zeppelin from time to time."

"That's probably the only band you've mentioned that anyone else knows," I told him while Wes went back to his beat on my thighs.

"Annabel knows everything I mention," he defended, though her face betrayed that thought. "Right, Bell?"

"What? Yeah. Of course."

He made a face, taking his ring back from her. "Anyways, back to pets, I always wanted a dog."

"Like a big dog?"

"It's not like I'll have a Chihuahua just running around town with me."

Annabel leaned against his arm. "I guess not."

"If anyone said anything, I'm sure you'd just hit them," Kristy told him before walking off.

"What did I do to her?" Owen asked.

"She doesn't like me either," Annabel said with a shrug.

"Consider yourself lucky," Bert said to which I smiled.

Wes made me get up so that he could go to the restroom. When he came back, I refused to get up to let him sit under me. Wes just shrugged before sitting on top of me.

"Wes-"

"You do it to me."

"That's different. Get up."

He eventually moved to the armrest, which I was fine with. It didn't look comfortable though.

"What do you guys want to do until the party?" Bert asked.

"This," Wes said, messing with my hair. Annabel and Owen were both whispering things to each other and didn't seem to care about us at all.

Bert groaned, standing. "Post high school relationships suck."

"It's knowing that they'll inevitably end in divorce that makes it that way," his brother told him as he walked out of the room.

I pushed Wes, but he just smiled at me. "Wes."

"What? I'm gonna need a super hot first wife."

"Seriously, stop."

"Don't worry. When we're eighty and have gone through five marriages, we'll get back together. Maybe a civil union this time. You know. Keep it topical."

"I will push you off that armrest."

Wes just laughed at my threat…until he was on the ground.

"That was so immature," he told me, standing up.

"You're the one that decided to go younger," I told him as I stood. Now that I had had my fun with him, I let him sit back down in the chair, me in his lap once more.

"Yeah, yeah. Now be quiet."

I elbowed him hard this time, making him rub his chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist, sighing a little. Owen and Annabel got up and went out back, leaving Wes and I alone. We were making out when my phone rang. He pulled it out of my pocket.

"Your sister," he said before answering. "Hello? Yeah. Hey. No. She's not here. Nope. Bye." He hung up before trying to kiss me again. I moved my head, making him frown.

"Why did you tell her I wasn't here?"

"How do you know that it was you she was asking about? Maybe she was worried about Kristy. Or Annabel. Or Monica."

"Wes."

"We're busy." He ran a hand through my hair. "Really busy."

I shirted around in his lap, trying to get comfortable again, but now I couldn't. Instead, I stood up and made him follow me to the bedroom.

"Why'd we have to move? We have today and three more days. I don't have enough condoms if this keeps up."

"Shut up," I told him, laying down.

"Remember, Mace, safe sex is great sex. Though, I suppose the thrill of the unexpected makes it more fun."

"Shut up, I'm serious."

"How come I got hit when I told you to shut up?"

"Because you were ordering me around."

"What exactly do you call what you do to me?"

"Suggestions."

"Well, I suggest that you stop telling me what to do so often." He laid down next to me, though it quickly became over me.

"Why?"

"I just might get in the habit of," he leaned in close to my ear, "not listening."

"I wouldn't notice much difference anyways."

When we got to the party, it was in full swing. Which, honestly, was thanks to Kristy. She took two hours to get ready. I really didn't like her final outfit, but Wes told me that if I mentioned it to her and he got stuck waiting for another hour, he'd kill me. Since I enjoy living so much, I decided to listen to him.

"Do you think I picked the right hat?" Bert asked me as we pulled up the place.

"Regardless, we're here now."

"So no?"

Monotone refused to walk to the place, so Wes, Bert, and I drove with her to it. Kristy walked with Annabel and Owen. I warned them that this would only prove to ruin their opinion of her, but they said that they already had too low an opinion for it to drop any. When I asked Kristy why she wanted to walk, she said that it would go with her look, being slightly sweaty. Maybe she thinks the smell of her sweat will attract Mr. Everything.

"You look fine," I told him, climbing out of the truck. The house that the party was at was huge. Great. We'll never find Mr. Everything. Bert ran off to go find beer while Wes and I hung around the truck, waiting for Kristy. Monica stayed close by, chain smoking.

"So…What do you want to do?"

I shrugged, staring down the road, hoping that Kristy would hurry up so that we could go look for Eli. The sooner this was over, the sooner we could go back to the beach house. Wes was kind of mad at me right now because I honestly had no plans of having sex again, while he did. Yet, here I am, stuck with him again. I was starting to wish that I had just walked with the others.

"Well, we could be back at the beach house, doing what I wanted to do, but instead, we're here. So, what do you want to do?"

"Wes, you wanted to be here, not me."

"Oh? I did? I think I wanted to have sex and you wanted to come."

"No. You wanted to come from the beginning."

"Not if we were having sex!"

Two guys walking by laughed at us, but Wes didn't seem to care. I pushed by him and walked off, heading into the house. I saw Bert showing off his hat to some way older woman, and had to smile a little. After he broke up with his girlfriend a few months ago, he had been really sad. Maybe the summer would bring him a new relationship. Not with any of these women though, but here's to dreaming.

"Hey, it's you."

I groaned as I made it into the nearly empty kitchen, only to come face to face with the drunk.

"Do you go everywhere?" I asked him, frowning a little.

"Do you?"

"I asked you first." I walked around him to some cans of coke. Wes thought that I had been drinking too much recently.

"I live here in Colby. I go to all parties."

"I'm staying for the week. I have to do something while I'm here."

"You could give me that chick's number."

"You're sober this time, so there's no excuse for being a douche."

"Ooh, spicy. Maybe it's your number I should be trying to get."

"Boyfriend."

"Every girl has one. Doesn't mean anything these days."

"Well, it does to me. And that friend has one too."

"The punching guy?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll leave that one alone," he said, stepping closer to me. "Besides, she's not nearly as hot as you."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to see Wes come into the kitchen. When he saw me, he made his way over.

"Hey, if we're fighting, at least stick around so that we can finish it."

"Leave me alone."

"No."

"She said to leave her alone," Jake said, deciding to make his presence known to Wes. He just made a face before looking back at me.

"Anyways, Mace, Kristy's here and she's ready to look for Eli."

"You mean Mr. Everything?"

"No. I refuse to call another man-"

"Eli? My Eli?" Jake smiled at me. "I can take you and whoever Kristy is to him. Not him though."

Wes rolled his eyes before grabbing my arm. "Come on, Macy. Something smells really bad in here. Kind of like…a loser that got his ass kicked."

"Wes-"

"Bet you wouldn't say that to my face," Jake challenged back, bucking up. I sighed, pulling my arm from Wes.

"You stay and fight with him. I don't care. I'm going to find Kristy," I said before going out the backdoor. "Or come with me. Your choice."

I found Kristy with Mr. Everything. Owen and Annabel were nowhere to be found though, so I just walked across the yard to Kristy.

"-all this time and he was seeing Monica behind my back. Only it wasn't her fault, because she didn't realize that he was the same John that I was talking about. And then-"

"Hey, Kristy," I said, coming to stand next to her. Eli, who was staring into his beer, looked up. When he saw it was just me, he looked back down.

"Hey." She looked at me before looking behind me. "Where's Wes?"

"He's fighting with that drunk guy from-"

"Oh no." Eli took off running for the house, screaming for Jake. Kristy made a face at me.

"Thanks, Macy."

"I didn't know that he would assume it was Jake."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"And when did you become so buddy buddy with all of them that you know their names?"

"I'm just observant. And are you going to go after him or what?"

"No. He'll come back. He'll want to know the end to my story."

"I've heard the John story before. You should just follow him."

She made a face at me as I watched Wes come out the back door. He looked around, presumably for me, but when he couldn't find me, kept walking. I almost called out to him, but stopped myself. He was the one that was acting like a jerk.

When Eli resurfaced, he walked right past us, dragging his brother along with him. Kristy immediately set out to find out where they were going and I went with her, if only because he was going in the same direction that Wes had gone.

"Where are we going, Eli?"

"Home. At least you are."

Jake groaned. "You have to take me. I gotta suspended license."

"I can't. I'm busy."

"Talking to them?"

He glanced behind him to see us following him. "No. Look, you're going home."

"Eli-"

"Unless you can leave that guy and any of his friends alone. Do not mess with any of the those girls that were there when you got hit either. Just mess with your usual ones and stay out of trouble. Alright?"

"Okay."

"Now get lost." He let go of his brother and stopped walking, but I kept on, seeing Wes over by his truck.

"Hey," I said, leaving Kristy behind with Eli. "Are you leaving?"

"No," he said, letting down the tailgate before sitting on it. "Are you?"

"No," I said, cautiously sitting down next to him. "Did you hurt Jake?"

"No. Quit referring to these guys by name."

"Why? Are you jealous?"

"No," he said slowly. "They're not our friends."

"Eli's nice."

"You think everyone's nice."

"Not everyone."

"No," he agreed. "Not everyone."

"We've said no more in the past minute than all day."

"N…yeah."

I leaned against him, staring back at the house. From the lights inside, I could see Kristy standing next to Eli, no doubt finishing her story. Sighing a little, I closed my eyes.

"We could totally ditch this place and go get something to eat. You hungry?"

"A little," I mumbled. "But I want to stay."

"Why?"

"In case Kristy needs me."

"For?"

"To help her with Mr. Everything if she needs it."

"You think she will?"

"Need me? If she keeps telling those boring stories, yes."

"No. I meant help them get together."

"Do you guys even know if he wants to be with her?"

"At this point, I don't think that it matters."

I felt Wes wrap his arm around my shoulders, sighing. I think he was going to say something, but suddenly a car pulled up beside us, making us both look up. I yawned, watching a bunch of women get out of the car. Another one got out much slower and began to walk towards the house. I turned my attention back to Kristy as she yelled out Eli's name. But he was running towards the girl that had jus stepped out of the car. He met her not a few feet in front of us.

"Hey."

She just stood there, not speaking. They were right in front of the back of the truck, giving us a not only a good view, but also a great chance to eavesdrop.

"Maggie said that you were coming to see Thisbe before you left for Europe."

"Yeah," the woman said curtly, clearly mad about something.

"Well I told her to get you to come here so that we could talk. I knew you wouldn't meet me at my place and your mom would probably arrange for my murder if I showed up at her house."

"Probably."

"So…now we can talk."

"Eli-"

"And I think that…I've been a douche. I mean, I do think that you should spend time with me this summer instead of leaving to go be with your mother, but if you want to go, go. I can't stop you."

"I know that you can't."

"And even though I'm going to be here with the same old people while you're out meeting guys, European guys, I'll just seethe silently here, until you get back."

"Alright."

"And I don't want you to think that we're over. Because we're not. I'm not going to be messing around with anyone. I haven't been messing around with anyone. At all. And I hope that you haven't been."

I glanced at Wes, but he was pretending to be preoccupied with his watch.

"I haven't."

"Then go."

"I am."

"And when you get back, you'll go back to school, and things will go back to normal."

"Fine."

"So you know that while you're with your mom that you're still with me, right? You're not going to come home with some French guy? Or British guy?"

"No."

He kissed her head. "Good. When do you leave?"

"Three days."

"Can you stay with me until then?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then." Eli kissed her on the lips this time, rather deeply before taking a step back. "Go get in my truck. I have to go find Jake. Some tourist dicks have been messing with him."

She kissed him quickly before starting to walk away.

"Oh, and one more things."

She turned to look at him. "What?"

"I love you, Auden."

"I love you too."

As he ran off to go find Jake and she went to go find his truck, I got up to go talk to Kristy. She was still standing in the same place and just let Eli run past her. He didn't even look at her. Guess he doesn't want to hear the end of the John story...

"So…you saw that?" I asked her as I approached.

"And heard parts, yeah. I guess he wasn't Mr. Everything."

I felt someone staring at me and looked back towards the Wes, who was still waiting for me by the truck. The lights in the house caused the shadows to hide him from me, but I knew that it was him watching.

"Yeah," I agreed with her. "He's not Mr. Everything."

"Maybe someone already has my Mr. Everything."

"Maybe," I said. "Still, it's kind of early to decide that."

"No. Eli was Mr. Everything for me."

"But not Mr. Extraordinary."

"Maybe not, but he could have been."

"He seems to be in love with Auden."

"You just know everyone, don't you?" Kristy sighed before beginning to walk. "I'm going back in there. Colby has to have some guy that's right for me. That one, Wallace was it? He was cute."

I just shook my head, watching her go back into the house before I walked off to, back to my own boyfriend.

"She okay?"

I nodded as I sat back down next to him. "Fine."

"Good."

"Yeah."

He patted me on the head. "I told you that Eli wasn't any good for her."

"Oh, like you predicted this."

"I did. I am very clairvoyant."

"I'm sure."

"Chicks dig hats, Macy."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure, Bert."

"They do. Don't you find me amazing in a hat?"

"Bert, shut up," Wes said. We were both on the couch, talking to Bert about his night. Apparently, he thinks that his hats were a hit.

"I like your hats, Bert," Kristy told him. She was in the chair, half listening to us, half reading a magazine. "Monica does too."

"Mmmhmm."

Owen and Annabel had yet to get back and we were all waiting up for them. Kristy said that when they got to the party, Owen mentioned something about recognizing someone, but she didn't really care, so she didn't ask questions.

"I wonder where they are," I mumbled, pushing my boyfriend's arm away when he wrapped it around my neck.

"What?" Wes asked, frowning.

"You stink."

"I do not."

"You need a shower."

"Well then." He kissed my cheek. "You've been really rude recently."

"Just honest."

"I don't appreciate it."

"Owen would. He loves honesty."

"Well, you're not with him, you're with me."

Bert came and sat down on the other side of Wes. "Tonight was the best night ever."

"Yeah, because you weren't stuck with Macy all night."

"Wes."

"Kidding." He kissed my head. I squirmed a little, moving away. Wes just smiled at me.

"At least you didn't find out that your Mr. Everything already had a Ms. Amazing."

"Or maybe she was Mrs. Everything," Bert offered up. I don't know if he was trying to be helpful or annoying, but I was leaning towards the latter.

"Shut up," Kristy said, making a face at him. "I just felt like me and Eli made a real connection with each other."

"You didn't even know his name until today," I pointed out.

"Since when are names important?"

Kristy eventually went to bed, taking Monica with her. Bert hung around for awhile before he too called it a night.

"We should go to bed soon," I told Wes. He shook his head.

"I wanted to talk to Owen, but if they don't show up in the next twenty minutes, we can."

They didn't, so we just went to bed. Around four in the morning, I heard the front door close, waking me up. I listened as Annabel laughed loudly, though she was quickly shushed by Owen. They're voices were soft after that and eventually nonexistent.

"If you're going to spy on them, do it now before I fall back asleep."

I pushed Wes. "I'm not."

"Good." He kissed my head. "Your amount of interest in him has me worried."

"Not in him."

"Sorry. In their relationship."

"I am not, Wes."

"Right. It's either one or the other."

"Whatever."

He rolled onto his back. "Just sleep, Mace. You know the day we get back that we get to start our week of babysitting for Avery and Lucy."

"Yeah."

"We'll need our rest."

"Kids are annoying."

He chuckled slightly, closing his eyes again. "Very."