Chapter Ten

"He's coming over here?" I squaked. "Why the hell did you do that?"

Becca covered her face again. "I don't know, I don't know!" She moaned. "I'm a friggin idiot, aren't I?"

"Well, honestly, yeah!" I hissed. "Jeez, Becca, you have one guy in the living room that you're sleeping with, now you're inviting an ex boyfriend over to my house? How many guys are you trying to sleep with this week?"

"I'm not going to sleep with Jake!" Becca retorted. "I just wanted to see him, wanted to talk."

"And you think that drunkenly inviting him to my house at midnight is the way to go about that?"

"No... Yes... I don't know!"

I stood up. "Becca, you're my best friend." I told her. "But I'm not doing your dirty work for you. You want Jeff to leave, you tell him."

"But it's your house!" Becca wailed. "You have an excuse! What do I have?"

"Tell him you're sick and you need him to take you home." I suggested.

Becca snickered. "Yeah, I need him to walk me all fifty steps." Becca sighed. "Fine. I'll fucking do it."

She stood up and walked into the living roomm. Jeff glanced up at her, then continued his conversation with Adam. I rolled my eyes. What a jerk.

"Jeff, I'm going home." Becca announced. "I don't feel well. And I think Charlotte wants to go to bed."

Adam gave me a quizzical look, and I shook my head at him, ever so slightly. He leaned back in his chair, looking a little miffed. I know he didn't like all this drama and lying crap that was going on. I didn't either. But I didn't like Jeff, so I really didn't care if I lied to him.

"Okay." Jeff said, standing up. "Guess I'll walk you home."

The four of us walked into the kitchen, where Jeff and Becca pulled on their shoes and jackets.

"Um, I'll call you tomorrow." Becca said to me stiffly.

I nodded. "For sure." I said. "See you, Jeff."

"Bye." Jeff said, pulling open the door. They stepped outside and started across the lawn when a voice called out. "Hey, Becca!"

"Oh, shit." I muttered under my breath. No sneaky plan would ever go down smoothly. I wish I could remember that.

"What?" Adam asked. I grabbed his hand and we stood outside on the front stoop. Jake was walking across my yard at that very moment.

"Hi, Jake." I heard Becca say weakly.

"Coon?" Jeff asked. "Hell are you doing here?"

Jake shrugged. "Becca asked me to come over." He said slowly. "And now you're leaving?"

"Why would you ask him to come over and then want to leave right away?" Jeff asked Becca. "Why would you ask him to come over, period?"

"Yeah, why are you leaving, Becca?" Jake asked suspiciously. "I told you I would come over."

Both of the boys were looking at Becca expectantly, and she shot a glance my way, silently screaming Help Me!

I jumped off the stoop. "Hey Jake!" I said brightly. "It was actually me who texted you!"

Jake looked confused, and I wished like hell I knew what Becca said to him. "You did?"

I nodded vigorously. "Yeah!" I answered. "I just remembered that I really needed help on my, um, my... math homework... and who better to call than... than... than my old friend, Jake!?"

Jake was looking more confused by the minute. "Charlotte, I'm not really very good at math." He said slowly.

"Oh, quit being modest!" I laughed, probably a little too loudly, and grabbed his arm. "Come and help me, it's really, very important, because I... really need to... I need help. Right now!"

"Why did you text him at midnight on a Friday night to help you with math, when he says he's no good at it?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, why?" Adam added, crossing his arms. I glared at Adam, shooting daggars at him with my eyes, but smiled as brightly as I could.

"Like I said, Jake is just modest!" I replied. "Aren't you, Jake?" I squeezed his arm while saying the last sentence, hoping like hell that dumb, old Jake would catch on.

He didn't.

"I'm really not, Char." Jake protested. "I got a 52% on the last test. I think you are way smarter than I am."

"Just. Come. Help. Me. Now!" I said with clenched teeth, pulling him towards the steps.

"Hi, Adam." Jake greeted him weakly as I dragged him past Adam, who was giving me a terribly dirty look. Shit, Becca. Shit. You are such a piece of work.

"We're going to go to homework now!" I called back outside with a very uncharacteristic, high-pitched voice. I slammed the front door and glared at Jake.

"Jesus, Jake!" I hissed. "Can't you take a God damn hint?"

Jake held his hands up in defence. "I have no idea what the hell just happened." He told me. Looking worried, he added. "Jeff and Adam aren't going to beat me up, are they?"

"No, dumbass!" I said, exasperated. "But I might!"

I felt someone pushing on the door behind me, so I moved out of the way and pulled it open. Adam walked in and just shook his head at us.

"As ridiculous as that was, it was pretty entertaining." Adam admitted. To Jake, he said, "Did my girlfriend rip your arm out of the socket?"

Jake laughed nervously. "Um, almost, I think." He answered.

"What the hell was that?" Adam asked me. "What kind of shit is Becca getting into now?"

I sighed and jerked my thumb towards Jake. "She wanted him to come over, but wanted-" I jerked my thumb the other way, "-him to leave."

"So why did you step in?"

"Because Becca didn't know what to do!" I exclaimed. "She was friggin dying out there, and she is supposed to be the more outspoken one!"

Adam started laughing again. "Fuck, man, Kuhn!" He said, chuckling. "You were fucking lost out there!"

Jake laughed too. "I still have no idea what happened." He admitted. "We aren't really doing homework, are we?"

"Only if you want to." I assured him. "Becca will be back any minute."

"Why did she text me?"

I shrugged. "Who knows." I answered. "But, oh! Speaking of texting, I should find out where Corrie and Shea are."

Adam snickered and started to talk, but I covered his mouth. "Don't." I said firmly. "We all know what you and Jeff want to believe, now let me find out the truth."

Jake looked even more bewildered than normal. "What the hell kind of night did you guys have?" He asked.

"You don't want to know." I answered, quickly texting Corrie's number.

"How long do you think Becca will be?" Jake asked, checking his watch. "If my mom catches me out so late, I'll be in a lot of trouble."

"Not long, I don't think." I answered without looking up from my phone. Adam was fiddling with the tab on the top of his beer. Neither one of really knew what to say to Jake, so no one said much of anything.

Finally, Becca burst back though the door. She noticed us all sitting around the the table and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, guys." She told us. "Guess I kind of ruined the night."

"Nah, Jeff leaving was the highlight of my night." I said dryly.

Jake smiled at Becca. "Hi." He said shyly.

"Hi." Becca answered, just as shyly. "Um... how are you?"

"Good." Jake replied.

"Good."

I glanced at Adam. This was too painfully awkward to sit around and try to enjoy. I stood up.

"We'll be upstairs if you need anything." I told Becca. "Let me know if you leave."

Becca smiled gratefully at me. "Thanks, Char." She said. Adam stood up as well and followed me up the stairs. I flopped onto my bed, and Adam laid down beside me, burying his face in a pillow.

"Masoriad." He mumbled.

I laughed. "What?"

He turned his face and grinned at me. "I'm so tired." He told me, draping his arm across my stomach.

"Me, too." I answered, closing my eyes. Adam pulled me closer and snuggled against me.

"I wish I could stay here." Adam said into my hair. "But I guess I need to go home pretty quick.
"Really?" I said, disappointed

Adam nodded. "You know it's the best idea."

I sighed. I knew he was right, but snuggling with him felt so good, I didn't want him to leave.

"I know." I answered, wrapping my arms around him and pulling myself closer. "I just wish it wasn't the best idea."

Adam laughed. "God, you're cute." He declared, kissing my forehead.

"You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Pike." I teased. We laid there quietly for a few moments, then Adam spoke up.

"Why did Becca call Jake?" He asked. "I mean, she's been sleeping with Jeff, then she gets drunk and calls her ex boyfriend? And she calls my sister a skank?"

"She's not a skank." I said defensively. "She is just confused. It happens. She misses him."

"What happened with them in the first place?" Adam asked me.

"You don't know?" I said, surprised.

Adam shrugged. "I guess I heard things." He replied. "But never the full story."

"I thought you hated gossip and drama." I teased him. "Why do you want to know this?"

"Cause it involves my sister, doesn't it?"

I sighed. "Yeah, kind of." I answered. "Vanessa, for some reason, didn't like that Becca was happy with Jake, so she had to ruin it. Her and Haley devised this plan to make it seem like Becca had cheated on Jake. They Photoshopped some pics of her, saying this guy she was with was a friend of her sisters. Jake, sweet, dumb-as-a-post, Jake, believed it and was devestated. Haley came on to him, and Jake fell for it and they hooked up."

"Haley actually hooked up with him?" Adam asked with a snicker.

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess she tried telling everyone that she didn't, she just fooled around with him, but Jake said they actually did."

"So Becca was obviously pissed."

I nodded. "More so at Haley, cause Vanessa denied that she had anything to do with it. Plus, Haley was the one who actually slept with him."

"She wasn't mad at Jake?"

"She was... but when she saw the pictures Vanessa edited, she saw how real they looked, and wasn't as mad at him."

"That seems dumb." Adam answered. "Jake should have been able to tell they were phoneys."

"Jake is also... missing the toy in his Happy Meal." I answered with a grin. "He's not the brightest kid around."

"Very true." Adam agreed. "Well... I hope they can figure something out. Jeff is one of my best friends, but he's not a great boyfriend type."

"He should take some lessons from you." I said with a smile.

"It's easy to be great when you have someone great." Adam answered.

"We sure can be disgusting and cheesy, can't we?" I laughed. Adam snickered and stretched his arms.

"I really should go." He murmured.

"I know." I answered. That was the last thing I remember saying, until around four am, which I was awoken by a screeching voice.

"Charlotte Marie Johanssen!"

I sat up straight in bed and looked around. My mother, still dressed in her scrubs, was standing in my doorway, hands on her hips and absolutely glaring at me. The sky outside was still dark, the clock read 4:24 am... and Adam was sitting staight up in bed beside me.

"What the hell is going on here?" My mother demanded. She didn't wait for either one of us to answer before she continued. "Beer cans all over my living room, Becca passed out on the couch with Jake Kuhn, and my fifteen year old daughter in bed with a boy? What the hell were you thinking, Charlotte?"

"Mrs. Johanssen, it's not what-." Adam started.

Mom held up her hand. "I really don't want you to talk right now." She snapped.

"Don't talk to him like that!" I snapped back. "We are still in our clothes, Mom! Obviously nothing happened!"

"Yeah, I'm completely sure of that." Mom answered dryly. "I can't believe you would go behind my back and throw a party!"

"It wasn't even a party, Mom!" I tried to explain. "There was only a few of us over here! It wasn't like some rip-roarin shit show!"

"Watch your mouth!" Mom told me sternly. "Adam, it's time for you to go."

Adam stood up and walked towards the door. "Mrs. Johanssen, I'm-."

"Save it." Mom snapped. "If you think you van get away with this, get away with spending the night alone with my fifteen year old daughter, you're dead wrong."

"Mom, we fell asleep!" I exclaimed. "We didn't do a thing wrong!"

"Bullshit." Mom retorted. "Goodbye, Adam."

I mouthed, I'm sorry, to him and he gave me a small smile as he escaped from my bedroom.

"I'm going to go kick your other friends out of my house." Mom told me. "Go sit in the kitchen and wait for me."

"Mom, it's like, four-thirty." I said weakly.

"Move!"

I jumped out of bed and detoured into the bathroom while Mom stomped downstairs and yelled at Becca and Jake to get out of the house. Once I heard the door shut, I went downstairs. Mom was sitting at the table, absolutely fuming at me. I slinked into a chair across from her and started to fiddle with a napkin that was left on the table.

"How stupid are you?" was the first thing out of Mom's mouth.

I looked up at her. "Mom, I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed. "He was just about to leave, and we ended up falling asleep! Nothing happened!"

"Yeah, this time." Mom answered. "But what about next time? Or the time after that?"

"I'm not having sex with him anytime soon." I informed her.

"You better not be." Mom retorted.

"And even if I was, Mom, I'm not an idiot." I continued. "I know all about birth control and condoms. I go to public school, we learn that stuff in, like, the sixth grade."

"I'm really not comfortable with you being alone with Adam here." Mom told me.

"Well, maybe if you didn't work so much!" I exclaimed.

"Char, that has nothing-"

"Mom, that has everything to do with it!" I cried. "I don't like being alone, and I always, always am! You never cared if Becca spent the night, why do you care so much if Adam spends the night?"

"Because you aren't going to have sex with Becca."

"So if I told you I was a lesbian, Adam could spend the night?"

Mom sighed. "Charlotte, don't be ridiculous." She told me.

"You're being ridiculous." I snapped, feeling like a brat. "I am not going to have sex with Adam, I have never done anything to betray your trust, he's my first boyfriend ever, and you're treating me like I am this huge ass skank!"

"I'm treating you like you are being an irresponsible teenager, which is exactly what you're being!" Mom snapped back.

"No, I'm not!" I exclaimed. "If I was, I would have already had sex with him!"

Mom closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I don't want to think about that." She told me. "I know I have to punish you."

"For what?" I yelped. "For wanting company while you are off at your stupid job, which is obviously more important that your only daughter!"

"Just go back to bed." Mom told me. "We'll deal with this later."

"Can't wait." I snapped, pushing my chair back with more force than needed and stomped back up to my room. I saw my phone flashing in the dark room, so I grabbed it and opened it up.

r u ok?ur mom looked like she was ready to kill u! im sorry babe.

I texted him back and asked him to call me. A few moments later, I felt the vibrations of his phone call. I flipped my phone open and pressed talk.

"Hi." I said quietly.

"Hey." Adam answered. "You okay?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess." I replied. "My mom just totally freaked on me and called me an irresponsible, stupid girl, even though I tried to explain to her that nothing happened."

"My mom freaked on me too, when she heard me come in." Adam told me. "I don't really know why, Jordan stays at Tiffany's house constantly. But she was not impressed by me at all."

I groaned. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Adam answered.

"It just sucks." I said. "Getting in shit for no reason. We didn't do anything. Mom seems more concerned about what I did do than what I didn't do. Yeah, okay, you spent the night... whoops. But we didn't have sex. She can't seem to see the good things I do, only the bad stuff. And not just this. Everything in general. School, grades, all that stuff... Nothing is ever good enough for her."

"I'm sorry you have to go though that." Adam told me. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Just listening to me bitch and moan is enough." I said with a laugh. "I better let you go, though. I don't want either one of us to get in shit again tonight."

"Okay hon." Adam replied. "Well, I'll call you in the morning, and hopefully neither one of us is in jail."

"Here's hoping." I said, snickering. "Okay, I'll talk to you soon."

"Night."

"Night."

I hung up the phone and tried to get comfortable in bed. After a minute, I realized I was still wearing jeans, so I kicked them off and tried again to get comfortable. I was so mad at my mom for being so uptight about everything. She didn't even give Adam the chance to redeem himself, and now, here I was, getting in crap for sleeping with someone when I didn't even sleep with them! I might as well have slept with him, I was already getting treated like I did!

I slept the next morning until about 8:30, then got woken up by my phone. I rolled over and glanced at the Caller ID. It was Becca.

"Hey friend." I said sleepily into the phone.

"Your mother is friggin nuts." Becca replied. "She went completely ape on us last night, we weren't even on the same couch!"

"Oh, you don't know half of it." I groaned. "She flipped on Adam and I! We didn't even do anything! So we fell asleep... Gasp and egad!"

"Same here." Becca stifled a yawn. "Nothing really happened. Jake and I are going to hang out today though."

"I love how you say that 'nothing happened but we're hanging out today' so casually, like it's not a big deal." I said with a laugh.

"Is it?"

"I think it is." I said. "You still like him."

Becca sighed. "I feel bad about Jeff though."

"Why the hell would you feel bad about that?" I demanded. "He's a jerk, Becca, and all he cared about was getting laid."

"He's cute though."

"He's a jerk."

"I know." Becca was quiet, then started to laugh. "Man, you were so funny last night, trying to get Jake inside to help you with your math!"

I started to laugh. "Man, he's a great guy but he is kind of dense!"

"He really had no clue what the hell was going on!"

"Becca, no one knew what the hell was going on!" I answered. "What did Jeff say?"

"Not much." Becca replied. "Just started going off about how weird Jake was, and I acted sick so I could rush into the house. He didn't seem to care that I didn't feel well."

"That's probably because he doesn't care about shit." I told her. "Not to sound totally harsh, but Jeff is all about Jeff. That's it. Maybe booze and getting laid, but nothing is as important as Jeff."

"Yeah." Becca slowly agreed. "I know you're right."

I stretched out in bed. "So, what are you and Jake doing today?" I asked her. "Makin' babies?"

"Nah, just practicing." Becca joked. "Not really though. I think we are going for lunch. He said he'd call me later."

"Did he say anything about the whole Haley thing?" I asked.

"Yeah, he said it was the dumbest thing he's ever done." Becca told me. "I agreed."

"Well, I hope you can get though it." I said. "I better go, though, see if I can shower and have breakfast without the Wrath of Peggy coming for me."

Becca laughed. "Good luck with that." She teased.

"Yeah, I'll need it." I answered dryly. "Call me after your big date!"

"Will do. See you later." Becca answered, hanging up.

I hung up and threw my covers off my bed. I figured Mom would still be sleeping, after working a twelve hour shift and getting home at four AM but sometimes she is crazy and runs off virtually no sleep. Maybe that's why she is so crazy.

I locked myself in the bathroom and turned the shower on. After I was done, I walked back to my room. That's when I noticed the note on my door.

Don't think you are leaving this house without cleaning up your mess first. After you're done, we are going to have a little talk.

Mom

"Oh, fuck." I groaned. So much for spending a Saturday enjoying myself.