Graduation Trip

Chapter 6

I woke up early the next morning to Owen's music. I laid there, trying to resist my interest in going to check it out, but I couldn't. It's not fair anyways, me having to ignore Owen because Wes is jealous. And I don't even know if he really is or if Kristy has just poisoned my opinion on the topic.

"Wes." I pushed his shoulder, but he just shoved me away. "Wes-"

"What?"

"You wanna get up?"

"No."

"Go run?"

"No, Macy."

"Well, I'm getting up."

"Whatever."

I got out of bed and changed clothes before going to find out where Owen was. Like always, he was out back, sitting in the chair he always sat in.

"Hey," I said, coming to sit across from him.

Owen glanced up at me before putting his finger to his mouth. That's when I noticed that he was on the phone.

"No, Mallory, I can't. No. I'll be back soon. Yes. I promise." He turned down the music on his laptop. "Yeah. Annabel got you some seashells…I know that you're not a little kid. I think that they are very cool…Whatever, Mallory. No. Alright. I'll get you something else before we leave. Bye."

It was silent for a second before he turned back on his music.

"That was my sister," he told me.

"The one that's obsessed with Annabel?"

"Well, yeah." He smiled at me. "She got sick last year though and is kind of mad at me right now."

"Why?"

"She wants to hangout all the time. She didn't want me to go to Colby." He changed the song on his laptop. "I told her it was only a week and if she needed me, I took the Land Cruiser so I could be there really quickly."

Annabel, as always, came out there to see what we were doing after a few minutes. Owen ripped his bagel in half and handed her some.

"What's up with you? Why'd you come out here?"

"I got cold."

He smiled. "My sister called."

"Just now?"

"Yeah."

"Is she okay? Why is she up so early? Did she say-"

"Annabel, chill. She just wanted to talk to me."

"But why is she up?"

"I don't know."

She grabbed his cell off the table and immediately hit redial. "Hey, Mal, it's me. Yeah. No. Because he didn't tell me that you called. I texted you the other day. Oh, I didn't know you were at the doctor all day. Yes. No. Why are you up anyways?" Annabel paused for the first time before getting up and walking back inside.

"It was kind of my freaking phone," Owen said, frowning.

"Your sister and Annabel seem close."

"I guess they are."

"She's the youngest, right?"

"Who? Bella? Yeah."

"Then she probably likes having someone younger than her to deal with. I always thought it'd be cool to have a little brother or sister."

Owen took a sip of his coke before responding. "Maybe that's why you baby Bert."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do. He's not that much younger than you, yet you act like he's twelve."

"No."

"Whatever you say."

"I don't."

"I'm agreeing."

Annabel came back outside, holding Owen's phone in her hand. "Here."

He took it, though he then grabbed her arm and pulled her into his lap. "Why did she say that she was up?"

"None of your business."

"Bella."

"It's not."

"She's my sister."

"And?" She grabbed the rest of his bagel. "Do we have any plans tonight?"

"I would like to think that you'd want to hangout alone."

"Kristy said there was a party-"

"What good did the last party do us?"

"We had fun."

"Only because we met up with some of my friends."

"We're going, Owen."

He leaned back in the chair, shifting a little from her still being in his lap. "You could sit in your own chair."

"You made me sit here."

"Then. Now I'm mad at you."

She rolled her eyes before grabbing his coke. "The party is tonight, Owen. If you want to do something now, we can. We're up, anyways."

"I have to go out and find Mallory something else. Apparently, sea shells aren't cool."

"Fine. We can go out to lunch and buy her something."

"Alright." Owen looked back at me. "What are the rest of you guys doing today?"

"I don't know. They'll probably ditch me anyways."

Annabel frowned at me. "I told Wes to let you sleep. Sorry. He said that you probably wanted to and I told him to go ahead, that I was leaving Owen behind anyways. I figured you guys could hangout. I didn't know that Wes would flip out like that."

"He's stupid, sometimes."

"Jealous for no reason," Owen mumbled, which got him elbowed by his girlfriend. "What? He talked to me after you passed out drunk, Macy. Because clearly I decided to let Rolly run Anger Management for a Sunday, leave my sister behind, so that I could get with you. And I brought my girlfriend along. Sometimes he's a complete douche."

"Owen, stop."

"No, Annabel. He's been an ass to me for no reason."

"That probably happens when one person is better looking in the relationship."

Owen frowned. "If you're trying to talk about me-"

"No. I meant you, Macy," she said, nodding at me. I know that she wasn't calling me out right now. Seriously?

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. Everyone thinks he's so great."

"He? I'm talking about you, not Wes."

"What?"

Owen stared at me. "You're kidding, right? You or Wes?"

"Stop trying to make me feel better, guys. It's not working."

"We're not kidding," Annabel said as she got out of Owen's lap. "You and Kristy are the only people I've ever seen that pay attention to him."

"Please, at parties everyone's looking at him. All the girls."

Owen looked at Annabel and she shrugged. He laughed. "Maybe they're looking at you. Women do tend to be jealous over each other."

I had never thought about this. Because it was complete bull.

"Wes is way better looking than me."

"Then why is he always so jealous? He clearly isn't secure because you're hotter than him. After all, I always tell the truth," Owen told me. I glanced at Annabel before back at him.

"So I guess Annabel is the better looking one out of the two of you?"

He frowned. "…Why?"

"She doesn't seem very jealous. At all. And you're basically hitting on me."

"Not really."

"I am, Owen, make no mistake," Annabel told him. "I'm going to go take a shower, alright?"

"Fine. But we're on an equal playing field."

"Oh, Owen, don't break your no lying record now. Especially over something so blatantly obvious."

"Annabel-"

"Shower," she said before walking inside.

"What?" Owen asked me when he noticed that I was staring at him.

"Nothing," I said, shifting my vision to the table. "It's just…I don't know."

"It's my turn in Truth, right?"

"Sure."

"Then why do you really think that Wes is better looking than you?"

"It's just how I've always seen it. You and Annabel are the only ones that think otherwise. And you don't count."

"Why not?"

"No guy ever calls another guy hot. Straight guy, I mean."

"I would if it were true. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Wes, he's just not as…beautiful as you."

He was so hitting on me. I think. It's not something he wouldn't have said in front of Annabel, I'm sure, but that's also weird to me. Honestly though, their whole dynamic was weird to me.

"Not according to Kristy."

"Wes and Kristy have something weird going on," Owen told me, shrugging. "Him being jealous of me is stupid. You thinking a little bit about them would make more sense."

"So that's what you do out here? Talk shit about me to my girlfriend?" Wes came out of the house, frowning. "Seriously, Mace?"

I just looked away, not wanting to fight with him. Owen shrugged.

"I'm not talking shit. I'm telling the truth. And dude, I told you last night, don't fuck around with me, because I have no problem knocking you out."

"I let you come on this trip and you try to hook up with my girlfriend, but I'm fucking with you?"

"Believe me; I've got something way better than you do." Owen glanced at me. "No offence, Macy."

I just shrugged, refusing to take sides in this. Besides, maybe I did like Wes being jealous. Maybe it turned me on kind of. Maybe.

"What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that you need to back off, calm down, and realize that I don't want anything from your girlfriend. At all. Again, no offence, Macy." Owen stood up from his chair. "If you're seriously this insecure about your relationship with her that you think that one of your friends is after her, you've either seen too much Maury or need to work some shit out on your own. Just leave me out of it, bro."

Owen walked off into the house, leaving Wes and I alone. He huffed, just watching me for a moment.

"Well?" He asked.

"Well what?"

He snorted. "You're not serious."

"Wes, I didn't say anything bad about you."

"But you were just going to let him say whatever he wanted?"

I shrugged again, not wanting to fight with him about something so stupid and childish.

"So you're not going to say anything? For real?"

"What do you want me to say, Wes? I'm sure that you talk about me behind my back sometimes. In fact, I know you do." I looked at his face for a moment. "It's not like Owen and I are doing anything. You know we're not. Wes, his girlfriend was, like, a model. Trust me, he doesn't want me."

"So you want him?"

"What? No. Wes-"

"That's basically what you just said."

"No."

"Yes, it was. You want him. Just admit it."

"Why would I want anything to do with him when I have you?"

"You had Jason and you were all over me."

"First off, we were on a break. Second off, you were the one that was all over me."

"Please. I could do way better than you."

"Then do it."

"Maybe I will."

"Good."

Our fight was broken up as Monica came walking through the back gate. When she saw us, she stopped and stared for a moment, before continuing her walk of shame. Or at least I guess that's the type of walk she was on, because I know it would never be a leisurely one.

Wes just shook his head before going off into the house again. When Monica finally made it to the table, she collapsed into the chair next to me like she had been running for years.

"Where were you?" I asked, though I figured I get no answer. Monica just gave me a look. "Date?"

"Doneven."

"What? He didn't even buy you dinner first? Kristy would be disappointed."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "More important."

"He bought you cigarettes?"

"Gas/Gro. Candy too."

"Candy and cigarettes and you sleep with him?"

"Doneven."

I searched her face for awhile. "Who is it?"

Monica forced herself from the chair. "Stop."

"We know him, don't we?" I made a shocked face. "Eli? You and Mr. Perfect? Please, no. I can't handle this turning into another John story."

"No." She walked off into the house, probably the fastest I had ever seen her. Then it was me, out on the porch alone once again. For a vacation, this trip sure did feel a lot like work.

Kristy and I gone out to eat lunch with Bert. Wes was still mad at me and tried to call in sibling loyalty, but I think Bert felt like he owed me, seeing as I've been giving him cash. I'd like to believe though that he realized what an ass his brother was being to me and chose to side with me, but I knew as soon as this trip was over, if Wes and I were still fighting, he'd be right back teamed up with his big brother.

We were at Last Chance, going to give it another shot seeing as the older boys weren't with us. We were having a good time when Bert suddenly had to go to the bathroom and Kristy ran over to that store down the road where she got her sunglasses, saying we should just wait for her here. I was sitting alone when people sat down in the table next to me.

"Dude, I just love her," a voice I immediately recognized said. I glanced to the side and saw Jake with Eli, Auden, and that little girl that Eli had brought into the store that time. "Like, I'm changed, you know?"

Eli started to rip up the little girl's burger, seeming to either not hear Jake, which was kind of impossible, or ignoring him, which was most likely. "There you go, Thisbe. You're hungry, huh?"

"Yes." She beamed brightly at him before taking her hat off her head and giving it him. It was the baseball cap that he had set down on the counter that day. He took it, giving her a pat on the head, before going to his own food, which he proceeded to cover in ketchup.

"Behave," Auden told him, frowning.

"Take a good look, Aud. Pretty soon you'll be with those sissy boys in Europe and might forget how real American's eat."

"If covering everything in ketchup in hopes you won't kill your taste buds is real American, I just might move to Africa."

"Guys, listen to me," Jake pleaded. "The baby is not that cute."

"Of course she is," Auden said, smiling at Thisbe. "Huh, Isby?"

"I'm in love, okay? L-O-V-E. Love. And this girl is leaving tomorrow."

Auden sighed a little. "What's her name, Jake?"

"You had better not be talking about Auden," Eli said, making a face. "I don't feel like dealing with that."

"I'm being serious, Eli."

"Who is she then?"

"Her name is Monica."

I choked on my drink.

"What?"

"Yeah. I met her at that party the other night. The one where you showed up, Auden? She's one of those tourist dicks. Wait, no, she's not. Her friends are. Remember? She was the one that I was talking about when I was drunk?"

"The one with the boyfriend? Jake-"

"No, Eli. See, I thought that she was too, because that annoying girl with the boyfriend that tried to beat me up at the party said so, but Monica told me that she must have thought that I was talking about Annabel. I wasn't. I'm in love with Monica."

Auden, who was sitting across from him, smiled. "I think it's cute that you're finally in love, Jake."

"I told you to leave the tourist dicks alone, Jake," Eli said, frowning at him.

"She's not a tourist dick."

"Might as well be."

"Stop saying dick," Auden said, frowning. "We do have Thisbe with us."

Eli held up his hand and Thisbe, who was sitting across from him, leaned over to give him a high five. "Thisbe's fine. She can hang. Huh, Thisbe?"

"Yes!"

"Still. If Heidi hears that we talk like that in front of her, you might not be able to baby sit anymore."

"What about you?"

"She's my sister. She can't keep her from me."

"She likes me better," Eli tried.

"Does not."

"Yes-"

"Guys!" Jake, who was next to Thisbe, frowned. "Come on, pay attention."

"Did you guys hook up?" Auden asked.

"Why? Remembering our fling?"

"All twenty seconds of it."

"Maybe twenty on your part, virgin-"

"That's one of the words I was talking about."

"She doesn't know what it means."

"So?"

Eli shook his head. "So was this the night of the party or-"

"No, we just talked then. Last night, I met her as Gas/Go. She was getting cigarettes, so I bought her a pack and some candy. Then I took her back to your place, Eli, since I'm sort of staying with Mom and Dad right now."

"What?" Eli frowned. "Are you serious? Jake-"

"Chill, you guys were at Clyde's."

"And? In my bed?"

"Then we showered."

"What?"

Auden sighed. "Jake, why do you have to be such an ass all the time?"

"Hey, you just used a word."

"And? I'm her sister."

"I hope you bought matches with those cigarettes because I am going to have to burn those sheets. Aud, do we have Scrubbing Bubbles? My poor shower…You know that I hate for women to use it. They get hair in the drain and stuff. I don't even like for Auden to use it! My bed…My poor, poor bed. That's it. I want the apartment key back."

"Bro, you have to contribute to the cause. I'm in love. I couldn't take her to my parent's house! Did you see how beautiful she was?"

"You and Auden hooked up by the sand dunes."

"My exact point."

Auden rolled her eyes. "Can we, like, stop mentioning that? Please? I think everyone is entitled to one one night stand in their life."

"Not you, Thisbe," Eli said, handing her some of his onion rings. "You're never going to date, huh?"

She just giggled.

"Alright, guys, I have to go now," Jake said, standing. "I'm taking Monica to lunch."

"You just ate," Eli said.

"Bro, I can eat eighty times a day and still be hungry."

"I don't know how with all that beer you drink," Auden commented, taking a sip of her soda.

As Jake stood up, he saw me and smiled but said nothing as he rushed from the restaurant.

"I'm shocked at him," Auden said, wiping the toddler's fingers of ketchup.

"I know. My apartment?"

"No. Him and this girl."

Eli shook his head. "He's just playing, like he always does. I hope this girl knows what she's doing, getting involved with him." Eli glanced at her. "You know, I hear only idiots sleep with him."

"Shut up."

He just kissed her head before helping clean Thisbe up, who had made a mess of her food.

"Man, my stomach is tore up."

I frowned at Bert as he sat back down next to me. "Thanks for the status update."

"Just thought you should be aware. Kristy still isn't back?"

"Not yet," I told him, distracted still. It was so weird, Eli being alright with what I assumed to be his brother having a past relationship, however short, with his girlfriend. Wes couldn't even handle the fact that I went out to lunch with Owen. Here they all are though, eating together, joking, like nothing was wrong. Maybe Eli is Mr. Perfect. Maybe.

When Kristy came back, she just sat down across from me, not seeing her most recent failed attempt at perfection. "You would not believe- Macy, I can't believe you."

Well, for a moment she didn't see him.

"What?"

"Sitting right next to him. God," she whispered hissed at me.

"We were here first, Kristy. What did you want me to do? Make a big scene of moving?"

"No. But I don't want you just sitting here either."

"Too late."

She huffed. "Since you started hooking up with Owen, you have become a lot more annoying."

Bert frowned. "What?"

"Kristy's being stupid."

"No. You didn't know Bert? All the time you spend with Owen and you haven't noticed? Macy's obsessed with him."

Bert just stared at me, not saying anything. I honestly thought that he knew that Wes thought something was going on. I figured brothers told each other everything. When I really thought about it though, Owen was right. Wes and I both treated Bert like he was way younger, when really, he was only younger by a few years.

"I am not," I said, blushing for some reason. "Kristy's he's going to think that you're serious."

"Maybe I am."

"Then you're an idiot. I'm perfectly fine with Wes."

"Perfectly fine? But not happy?"

"We all know the only reason that you're trying to cause problems for me and Wes is because you want him, so just quit, alright?"

"What? Macy, I was your biggest supporter in getting together."

"Realize you made a mistake?"

"No. Maybe you did with Owen though."

"You really think that we…cause we didn't."

"Right."

"We didn't."

Bert stood up. "We should probably leave now. I mean, I'm not really the person to contribute to this conversation anyways."

Kristy, now mad at me, stormed out, leaving Bert and I behind in her trail. I took one more look at Mr. Everything, who was now staring back, but hurried along, wanting to keep up with Bert.

"I'm really not doing anything with Owen," I told him as we walked back to the beach house. We had gone five minutes without talking and I couldn't take it anymore.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Bert, I'm serious."

"Wes is my brother, Macy. If he thinks that you are, then I have to too."

"He doesn't think that. Kristy's messing with us for some reason."

"She's been my friend longer than you. I have to be on her side too."

So that the line. No matter how much time I spent with all of them, I would still be the newest person to the group. That happened every single time I got into an argument with any of them. I don't know why I always expect something different. I kicked a rock up, sighing.

"If I didn't have all those restrictions though," Bert began, "I would believe you. And, also, Owen's really into honesty. Cheating isn't in him. It just isn't. And Wes would kill him and use his bones to make a statue."

"Oh."

"I think he would just kill you, not use your bones."

"Thanks for bringing a little morbid stuff to my day."

"I like you. Macy. Even if you are cheating on Wes, you're…cool. We're friends."

"Yeah. We are."

When we got back to the house, Wes was in the bedroom, talking on the phone. I think it was Delia. I laid down on the bed next to him, staring at his face. Wes pretended like I hadn't come in and just kept talking. I reached out and touched his arm, but he moved. When I did it a second time, I got a look, but he let me touch him. Slowly, I moved to lay my head on his pillow.

"Yeah. The second we get back, we got a gig? I mean, it's not like we can tell you no. Yeah, I know. It's your business. Yeah. No, her mom called once. Yeah. Nah, you think? No. Mrs. Queen loves me." He laughed. "At least she's nice sometimes. No. Mom would've torn Macy apart. Yeah. Me too. Alright. See you later. Bye."

The second he hung up, Wes sat up, leaving me with nothing to lay on but the bed. I closed my eyes as he sat the cell down next to my stomach.

"I went to lunch with Kristy and Bert. I didn't bring you anything back though."

Still, he didn't speak to me as he sat there. I reach out and ran a hand down his leg. We stayed like that for awhile, neither wanting to move and ruin or connection.

"Wes?" There was a knock on the door. "Can I talk to you?"

"I thought I told you not to yell?"

"I knocked."

"After the yell."

"I forgot, okay?"

"What do you want?" He asked, not moving.

"We're going down to the beach."

"We?"

"Me, Owen-"

"Me and Macy are fine here."

"…Alright. We'll be back in time for that party tonight."

"Alright. See you later, Bert."

"Bye."

After we heard the front door close, Wes asked, "Are we going to the party?"

"It's up to you."

"Alone time, or too much of it, hasn't helped us any."

"Then why are we staying here instead of the beach?"

"You spending time with Owen isn't helping any either."

I didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm not cheating on you."

"Oh, I know. I'm just defusing a problem before it arises."

"Wes-"

"You're lucky that I give a shit enough to even deal with this. If you were anyone else, I would have just broken up with you."

"Why am I any different?"

"I've put nearly a year in this relationship, Macy. I'm not just going to give it up. Yet."

"Yet?"

"Keep fucking with my head and it's done."

"Me? This is not all on me."

'How is it not?"

"What about you and Kristy?"

"What about us?"

"Don't fuck with me either, Wes."

He made a face at me. "I'm not. We're friends. You know that we're friends. We've always been friends. We'll only ever be friends."

"Oh, whatever. Like you don't know that she's into you."

He shrugged. "A lot of women are."

"You are too cocky."

"Right. Sure."

"You are. And according to Annabel, I'm better looking than you."

"Right. Annabel must be a lesbian, because-"

"See? Cocky. If someone's not into you, clearly they don't like guys? Wrong. I'm hotter than you."

"Please, save yourself the embarrassment of actually thinking that."

I let out a yawn. "Owen says that you're just scared."

"Owen says. Why does Owen say that?"

"Because I'm leaving at the end of the summer."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"At first I didn't get it either, but now I think I do." I sat up on my elbows. "If you're this jealous of Owen, a guy who is your friend, spending a few days hanging out with me, what are we going to do when we're miles away from each other and I'm meeting new people? I mean, you don't really think when I get there that I won't find guy friends, do you?"

He breathed out through his nose. "Let's get one thing straight, Mace. I am not jealous. Your life is your fucking life. You want to go be with Owen? Go. You wanna go hook up with anyone and be a slut? Go. Fine. Whatever."

"Wes, I'm not trying to fight-"

"Who's fight?"

"I don't want anyone else, but you, Wes. I was just saying-"

"I don't care, Macy. I really fucking don't. You want to hang out with other guys? Fine. Do what you want and I'll do what I want." He got out of the bed finally and left, slamming not only the bedroom door, but also the front door.

I stayed in the room for awhile, trying to decipher what that meant. When I heard the front door open and close again, I got up, thinking it was Wes, coming back to talk.

"I know that you're probably still mad, but-" I stopped short as I made it to the living room. "Oh."

Monica and Jake, who were making out on the couch, separated. Monica sighed.

"Beach?"

"I stayed behind."

"Go. Now."

I made a face. "Fine, I'll leave, I guess."

Jake just reached over to the coffee table and picked up his beer. "See ya."

I didn't want to go to the beach, because I didn't want to deal with the others, so I went ahead and stared walking around town. I was doing that when I ran into Wallace and that other guy. Adam, I think.

"Oh, look, the tourist dick," Wallace called out to me as I walked past some place called Abe's Bikes. I rolled my eyes while the other guy sighed.

"Wallace, can't you be chill for, like, a minute?" Adam smiled at me. "I hear that one of your friends has made Jake a changed man."

I nodded a little, stopping to talk to them. "He's at our place right now with her."

"Says that he's moving."

"What?"

"Yeah. He's moving to be closer to her."

"From being together three days?"

Adam nodded. "It's not like he has a lot going on here anyways. He was between apartments at the moment and was living with his mom. If he can find a place down there, I'm sure it will be for the better."

"For us, at least," Wallace mumbled.

"What?"

"He doesn't really like Jake currently," Adam explained.

"I thought that you were mad at all of us for fighting with him?"

"Oh, I am, tourist dick, but Jake is an ass too."

"You know, you would probably get a lot more friends if you stopped calling everyone a tourist dick," I told him, smiling to let him know that I was just joking. Wallace just stared at me for a moment.

"You look really familiar," he said, still staring. "Do we know each other?"

"Not that I know of."

"Which beach house are you guys stay at?"

I told him and then Adam looked shocked.

"Joe! You're Mr. Joe's daughter."

Suddenly I felt self-conscious. "Uh, yeah."

"Really sorry about what happened," Adam said. "He used to come here a lot. Him and some other guys. Mr. Dave and Mr. James. They were really cool. They used to donate money to the bike shop."

I nodded a little, though I hadn't known that.

"He'd let us use the beach house while he was gone for parties and stuff."

"He was cool like that."

"You look a lot like him," Adam told me, to which Wallace nodded. I didn't know what to say to that, but I didn't have to as Eli walked out of the store.

"Guys, you said you were taking a five minute break. It's over. Get back in here."

"We're talking to-"

"I don't care. This is our only busy season. Can you not get off your butts for once and do something?"

"Eli mean," came a voice from behind him. "Bad Eli!"

"Shush, Thisbe."

She just giggled, poking her head out the door. "Hi!"

Eli patted her on the head. "I told you to be quiet."

"Bad Eli."

"I should probably go so you guys can get back to work," I said, staring to walk.

"Well, wait a minute. Are you coming to the party tonight?" Wallace called after me. "I mean, I've been a complete douche to you all week. We're having one tonight at my place. You heard?"

"Yeah, actually, we're going."

He smiled at me, which was something that I hadn't really seen on him. I was, after all, just a tourist dick. "Good."

When I got back to the house, Monica and Jake were nowhere to be found. However, Kristy was there. She was on the couch, typing on her laptop. She ignored me, so I chose to do the same to her. It was almost six now, so I decided to go ahead and shower to get ready for the party later.

When I got out of the shower, nearly everyone else was gone, except for Owen and Annabel. They were making out on the couch. I made my exit quietly before realizing that I didn't know where I was going. Kristy was the one who knew where the place was. In hopes that they were still there, I headed to the bike shop where all those guys worked. Inside, I could see Monica and Jake talking at the counter, so I went in.

"Hey, it's you again."

I smiled at Jake while Monica pulled out her cigarettes. "I was just looking for your friends. I kind of need a ride to that party."

"The one at Wallace's place? Or the one out of town? That's where we're going," Jake told me, to which Monica nodded.

"No, Wallace's."

"He's in the back. Wall! Come here for a sec."

He and Adam walked out of the back, but were talking to each other. For a second, I thought about just ditching the party all together, seeing as it would do me no good to go anyways. I was having the worst time ever, so why go out and try to even have fun when I know it won't end well? If I just went home, I'm sure that Annabel and Owen would be fine with me hanging around with them. Though, that thinking was part of the problem anyways.

Really, though, I knew by tomorrow, Wes would be angry, but we were leaving. Once we were back in town, he would probably try to avoid me, as would Kristy, and I would have no chance to speak to them except on catering gigs. And even then, they would tell Delia that they wanted the day off or make sure that I got stuck working the kitchen or something. So if I was going to fix things with him, now was the time. And these guys, no matter how big of jerks they had been, were my only chance.

"Can you take, uh," Jake motioned to me.

"Macy."

"Can you guys take Macy with you back to your place?"

"Why, I don't know how Joe would feel about a threesome. And personally, I don't know how I do as long as Adam's included."

"Wallace, seriously?" Adam hit him. "Anyways, yeah."

"Whose there anyways?" Jake asked as he handed Monica a lighter after she found that hers was out of fluid.

"Eli was. He bought us the beer and everything," Wallace said.

Adam nodded. "We're underage."

"Aren't we all?" Jake said, making a face. "Can we close up now? We're headed to Josh's party."

"Dude, Josh hates you. You slept with his girl."

"Before. Old me did," Jake said, more for the benefit of Monica and me, though she looked more interested in smoking. "Anyways, the place will be packed. He won't know I'm there."

"Why can't you come with us? Everyone will be there."

"That's the point. I'm tired of you guys." He wrapped his arm around Monica, though she didn't seem to be enjoying it much. "I'm moving, if you haven't already heard."

"We have. Multiple times. All from you." Adam sat down a rag that he had in his hand. "Hey, you ready?"

"Yeah," I said when I realized that he was talking to me. As we walked outside to their car, I said, "Is he moving just for Monica?"

'Yeah," Wallace said, climbing into the driver's seat of the car. Adam opened the passenger side door, though he didn't get in. He looked at me, expectantly.

"Thanks," I said, climbing in. He just smiled before getting into the back seat.

"Is she serious about him?" Wallace asked after he turned down their music.

"Who?"

"That chick. Monica. Does she care about Jake?"

"I don't…I don't think so, no."

Adam shook his head. "Jake's a jerk."

"He's a changed man," Wallace said, mocking Jake's voice. He got a snicker from Adam, but I just stared at the road. Wallace glanced at me. "Jake's our friend, but he's a dick. And not the tourist kind."

Adam leaned forward in his seat. "He's not that bad."

"You only say that because he was cool when you dated Maggie."

Shrugging, he said, "So? All I know is if this girl does hurt him, he's getting what he deserves. He plays everyone. It's finally his turn to be played."

"Not if Eli's got anything to say about it."

"Eli's just being a good brother."

"You'd think that he'd want Jake to get hurt too, after he slept with Auden."

"Man, Jake will not shut up about that. It's been a long time. Move on."

Wallace glanced at me. "Is he moving in with that chick? Monica?"

"No, I don't think so," I said, trying to picture Stella opening her trailer to Jake and all the drama he obviously brings. And I didn't really see Monica pleading her case for him. Maybe he can stay with Wes and Bert…maybe.

"I just feel kind of bad about us letting him fall into this," Adam admitted to Wallace.

"Eli will fix it. Besides, he has to get burned eventually. Might as well get him out of our hair for awhile while we're at it."

"I guess."

When we got to the party, the small house was filled and I had no idea how I was going to find the others. Or even if I wanted to find them. Once again, my will to fix things with Wes so quickly were fading. I told the guys bye before walking off, planning to find Kristy first, as she was usually easier to get to forgive me. Even when it was me that needed to do the forgiving, it was simpler to just pretend like I had done wrong.

"Hey, Bert," I said, going over to him. The girl he was talking to, frowned at me, but I ignored her. "Have you seen Kristy?"

He nodded, pointing in the last direction he had seen her go, which was to the backyard. He was in the kitchen, apparently having fun. "Like my hat? More than the one from the other day?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, distracted when I saw Wes in the living room, talking to some girl. He saw me looking, I know he did. Then he leaned closer to her, putting his back to me. Fine. Whatever. Deciding then that I didn't even want to fix things with Wes ever, I went outside to find Kristy. She was talking to some guy and I didn't want to ruin it, so I went back in and got a beer before coming back. This time she wasn't talking to anyone, so I headed over.

"Hey, Kristy."

She looked at her nails, not saying anything. I sighed.

"If you're mad at me-"

"If?"

"Fine. You're mad at me and I'm sorry."

"See, I don't know about that."

"What?"

"I mean, you freaking blew up at me for nothing."

"You were telling Bert-"

"I was kidding. Kind of."

"Oh, whatever."

She rolled her eyes. "Macy, I'm not the one that's causing problems here. You are. Wes and I have been friends for a long time-"

"I am so tired of that getting thrown into my face every time any of us fight. Every time. Since when does length play into friendship? I thought it was about who's right and who's wrong?"

"Fine. You're wrong. Problem solved."

"How though?"

"You know that Wes is jealous. You know that he is. Yet you won't stop hanging out with Owen."

"And? There's nothing-"

"I know that. Honestly, I do. But he thinks there is. Out of respect for him, you should have just left Owen alone. Yet you kept pushing it." Kristy finally looked at me. "Just admit it. You liked him being jealous."

"Well…Yeah."

"See? You were causing problems. It was your fault. Not mine."

"Yeah, sure," I said, though I still secretly disagreed.

"Oh, and Macy?"

"What?"

"I don't want Wes. At all."

Again, I silently opposed.

"Besides, I'm still into Mr. Everything," she said, smiling at me.

"He has a girlfriend."

"And? You heard them. She leaving for the summer. As we both know, a lot can change in one summer."

"I guess."

"You had your turn to be the pirate. Now it's my turn."

I left her after a few more words to go find Wes. I was still mad at him, but my beer had given me a little liquid courage. Plus, he was my ride home so it seemed.

When I did find him, he was in the hallway, still talking to that girl. I downed the rest of my beer, wishing that it would have a lasting effect, as I made my way over.

"I need to talk to you," I said, stopping in front of them. Wes glanced at me and then my beer. "It's my first." When I realized how that sounded, I said, "Beer. I know what you're thinking, Wes."

He shrugged. "Talk."

The girl got annoyed with us. "I was talking first, so fuck off, alright?"

I looked at her before back at Wes. I was totally going to need another beer if I was going to deal with her. Maybe two. Wes sighed.

"Look, uh…" He looked around, clearly not knowing her name.

"Belissa."

"Belissa, I've kind of got something to do right now. Maybe we can talk later."

She made a face before walking off. Wes watched her go before looking at me.

"This had better be important, Macy, because she was hot."

"And?"

"And? You're the one that said we should do what we wanted."

"No. You said that."

"Right. You were just the one doing it."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to say I'm sorry."

"Really?"

"I don't know. Is that what you want?"

Wes took a deep breath. We had to stand really close to hear each other because of the music that was blasting, but I didn't want to suggest we go somewhere else for fear he'd say no.

"I want you to mean whatever you say."

"And I have been! I'm not with Owen. First off, ew. Second off, I'm friends with Annabel. Kind of. And plus, I wouldn't do that. If I didn't want to be with someone else, I would just break up with the other person."

Wes sighed a little. "It's not that I think you are doing anything with him, Macy. I just don't like you being so…friendly with another guy."

"That's kind of immature."

"Fine. I'm immature. Whatever. I still don't like it."

"What do you want me to do, Wes? I'm not going to just stop being friends with him."

"I just…Come here." Wes grabbed my hand and led me into the first door we saw. It turned out to be a closet, but he pushed me in anyways, closing the door. The music was now muffled, it was dark and smelled of mothballs, but at least we got to finish this alone.

"I don't like it, Macy. What do you want me to say? That I do? Because I don't. And I won't like it when you leave for college. I want you to stay here with me. I know that you won't. And I know that we'll probably break up if you go. And I know that I don't want it to go down like that. I just…I just don't want things to change, okay?"

I stared into his eyes as my own adjusted to the darkness. "You think we'll break up?"

"Doesn't everyone when someone leaves for college?"

"I don't know. Do they?"

"Yeah. Normally the person leaving wants to grow and meet new people."

"Oh. So I'm supposed to break up with you?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well…I don't really want to grow. I think I have enough. And I don't want to break up with you, Wes."

It was his turn to look at me, but instead of responding, he just kissed my neck, pushing me up against the back of the wall. The coats and jackets that hung above us felt weird against my body, like arms trying to reach out and grab you. I felt Wes' arms actually just do that.

"And I think that we can make it."

He kept at my neck, mumbled a yeah against my skin.

"And I know that we'll probably fight a lot, but don't we always?"

I got an uh-huh that time.

"And…And…Wes, would you stop? I thought we were talking?"

"We were," he said, pulling back to look at me as his hands went to my jeans. "Now we're doing this."

I had never hooked up at a party before, much less in a closet, but it was different. From that point forth though, I was pretty sure I would always be turned on by mothballs. Guess it's a good thing they're banned in most places…

"Where were you guys?"

"Nowhere," Wes told Bert as he led me outside.

"Right, whatever. Anyways, I was wondering-"

"No. Leave."

He made a face at his brother before running off, back into the house. Wes led me to his truck, where we sat on the hood.

"So we're fine again?" I asked, for some reason feeling awkward. We had had sex before, but this was different. In multiple ways in the technical sense, but mainly because I felt a little embarrassed about it being at a party.

"Yeah. Sure."

I leaned against his arm, looking back at the house. I could see Kristy through a window, talking to yet another guy. Wes reached down and grasped one of my hands.

"I think we will make it. Through you going to college, I mean," he said randomly, as if to ease my mind even though I had forgotten about that. I was still stuck on the masturbating each other in the closet thing…

"What? Yeah. Of course."

"I mean, a lot of people break the mold."

"Mold?" I glanced up at him before back at the people milling around the house. I saw Mr. Everything with Auden, making out. They were probably preparing for that long stretch of time that they were going to be apart.

"Yeah, like…" He trailed off, looking around before finding Owen and Annabel sitting on the ground, her in his lap, as Owen leaned against the back of the house. He had his headphones in and she was flipping through songs on his mp3 player. "Them. Owen and Annabel. You wouldn't think that they would work together, but they do. They're happy with not being normal."

"I guess."

"And what about them," he asked, pointing at Auden and Eli, who probably were never going to come up for air.

"What about them?"

'They're doing exactly what we're dong. She's skipping out for the summer and he's deal, right? Isn't that what we heard the other night?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

He elbowed me gently. "We'll work out fine."

I thought about what he had said about the mold. "Like Monica and Jake."

"…I'm going to leave that one alone and pretend like I didn't hear it."

Smiling, I interlaced our fingers. "It would be appreciated."

I know that we had just solved our problems with sex, but I still felt like something had been accomplished. Kind of. For now. But isn't everything in life just trying to hold off the inevitable in the most enjoyable way possible?