Ch. 3 Fun at First I Won't Deny
"Clare," Audra calls down the stairs, "your mom is here."
"I wonder what she's doing here? I told her we had plans tonight," I comment getting off the sofa. Adam shrugs but follows me upstairs to see what my mom is doing here.
I've been at the Torres house for about two hours now. Drew and Adam picked me up, but Drew went up to his room shortly after we arrived back at their house. I was too upset to talk so Adam put on the TV, something Drew didn't want to watch I guess. He never actually said he was leaving; at some point he went upstairs and never came back.
"Hi Sweetheart, I know you said you and the boys had plans tonight but I wanted to let you know that your father is packing his things. I'm going out with friends tonight and plan to be out late. I was going to suggest you sleep at Alli's, but I remembered she was gone. I packed you an overnight bag anyway, but I can also pick you up from here on my way home?"
"Why is Randall packing?" Audra asks.
"We're getting a divorce, he's been having an affair and he's moving out," Mom tells them. Her voice waivers and I hug her, on the brink of tears again myself.
"I'm very sorry to hear that, Helen. Please let us know if there's anything we can do," Audra offers in a kind voice.
"Thank you, Audra, I appreciate that," Mom smiles.
"Clare and Drew already have plans tonight, why doesn't she stay here. She can take Drew's bed and he can sleep on the basement sofa. I'm sure he won't mind giving up his bed for his girlfriend," Audra says.
"That would be great, thank you Audra I truly appreciate this," Mom replies handing me my bag. She would never allow me to sleep at a boy's house, especially one she believes I'm dating under normal circumstances. She must really think it's better if I'm out the house while Dad is packing. "Have fun tonight, Honey, I'll see you tomorrow." Mom kisses the top of my head; thanks Audra again and then leaves.
"Come on, there's still hours before you leave, I think a vampire movie marathon is in order," Adam remarks taking my bag from me. I smile at my best friend as he sets my bag down and we return to the basement.
"I told Drew I'd go with him to this party tonight, but after this morning I'm not in a party mood," I huff collapsing onto the sofa.
"You have five or six hours until the party. Besides, a party could be just what you need, mindless teenager fun, get your mind off of your parents. You'll be safe with my brother at the party, and sleeping here tonight, so you don't have to worry about anything."
"You're not coming?" I question sitting up a little. I hadn't really thought about it being me and Drew at the party without Adam.
"Wasn't invited, and I'm meeting with Jenna, she wants my help on a song. For now, let's fill you with junk food and vampire movies," Adam comments.
We spend the next several hours watching vampire movies together. Drew only joins us after Audra orders us pizza for dinner and puts it in the basement. After dinner I change into the purple jeans, black halter and black half sleeve sweater I brought for the party. I don't normally wear makeup, but I put some simple makeup on tonight, mostly to hide the fact that I was crying.
While I'm getting ready for the party Drew and Adam change the sheets on Drew's bed. I'm not really sure what he was told about me spending the night. Drew changes pretty quickly for the party, black jeans, and a sky blue polo top. We drop Adam at Jenna's on our way to the party, he waves and says to have fun tonight.
"I was thinking we should start picking you up in the morning for school. I can take you home after school as well if you don't mind waiting until practice is out. Another way for me to show what good boyfriend material I am," Drew comments as he drives away from Jenna's.
"Okay, sure," I nod. He never picked Alli up, but she did have Sav to drive her. A ride to school would certainly be nice. Though, other than rides to and from school I'm wondering if I'm getting anything from this deal. I'm not even sure Eli cares that Drew and I are together, hopefully this party will be a good place to show Drew and I being cute and even intimate and piss Eli off.
Drew parks behind a car I recognize as Owen's, and we go into the party. It's pretty cold outside, but neither of us brought jackets as we'd be inside with lots of people. I see a lot of people, but they seem to be all jocks and cheerleaders. A couple jocks just inside the door are already pretty drunk. Drew holds tight to my hand and pulls me deeper into the house.
"Drew you're here just in time," Marisol grins. She appears suddenly and grips Drew's arm like she's drowning. After looking him over and salivating a little she finally seems to notice me. "Oh, hey Clare," she says with an overly sugary voice and smile. "We're about to play kiss or strip, come on you have to play," Marisol insists. She tugs on Drew's arm not giving him a choice really. He keeps a tight hold on my hand, and I'm pulled right along with them. She brings us into what seems to be a rec room of sorts. There's several other kids in here, I see K.C. and Dave among them, both of whom are talking to Jess.
"We should play," Drew says excitedly. I notice his excitement seems to be over the fact that Jess is in the room.
"Umm, okay, but what is kiss or strip?" I question warily.
"Don't worry I'm just about to go over the rules," a boy grins putting his arm around my shoulders. He's on the football and basketball teams, I believe his name is Julian.
"Clare this Julian, our host. You know Adam's best friend Clare," Drew says by way of introducing us. I was right, his name is Julian. Julian's reply is to wink at me before he whistles loudly. Julian takes his arm from my shoulders as everyone looks at him.
"Everyone sit in a circle, I'm about to go over the rules," Julian says. Julian and another boy move the coffee table out of the way, and we all sit down. There's eleven of us all together, six guys and five girls. The two girls I don't know by name are cheerleaders, and I recognize the two guys from the football team, I think their names are Brock and Heath. "If you haven't played before it's like spin the bottle, only no bottle. Marisol is getting all our names onto the spinner," Julian remarks looking at Marisol.
"Almost done," Marisol comments. She has a spinner from a boardgame and is writing our names on the spots using a white board pen and white board tape.
"We go in order, take the spinner, and spin it. Whoever it lands on you have to kiss, even if it's someone of the same sex. The kiss must be at least ten seconds, open or closed mouth up to the kissers. If you choose not to kiss the person you must take off an article of clothing, shirt or better. That means shoes, socks and jewelry don't count. If the spinner lands on your name, you strip. Everyone got that?" Julian asks.
We all nod or say yes, but I also swallow hard, I'm not so sure I should be playing this game. My choices are to kiss someone, most of whom I don't think I want to kiss or start taking off clothes. Drew's very excited to play, he's practically jumping next to me. Of course, he has the chance to kiss Jess or get to show off his body, maybe see hers. I'm suddenly wishing I had gone with Adam instead.
"I'll begin," Marisol announces sitting between Julian and K.C. with the spinner still in her hand. She gives it a good spin and we watch the little plastic arrow whir around the names, it slows down before landing on Drew. Marisol grins but Drew doesn't look happy. Marisol hands the spinner to K.C. and crawls her way to Drew. She puts her hand on his shoulder and they kiss, as I watch. This is a voyeurs dream and my nightmare! Drew and I aren't even really dating, and I don't want to watch him kiss some other girl.
"Ten seconds," Dave calls and Drew pushes Marisol away. At least, I know their mouths were closed the whole time because I was watching.
"Spin," Julian says to K.C. when Marisol is back in her seat.
"Ava," K.C. calls out. I have no idea who that is until the cheerleader sitting between Drew and the football player, I think is named Heath, gets up. She and K.C. stand up and meet in the circle center she has to stand on her tiptoes, and he bends down for their mouths to join. I think they keep their mouths closed, but I can't be sure from this angle. He does wipe his mouth of her lipstick when they're done. Next is Jess' turn, and I know the whole point of our deal for Drew is for him to get together with Jess. However, in the back of my mind I'm silently hoping she doesn't land on him.
"Brock," she calls out. The football player closest to Julian takes of his shirt rather than kiss her. Jess looks relieved by this and passes the spinner to Dave. He takes it with an anticipating smile and flicks the plastic arrow. When it stops, he looks at me with me a smirk.
"Clare," he grins setting the spinner on the carpet as I'm sitting right next to him.
I've never kissed Dave before, but I've kissed all of his other friends at one point, now including Drew, and we're friends. If I have to kiss someone else in this circle, I'm glad it's Dave. I turn to him, bracing my hand on his leg for support as he's sitting right next to me. He brushes a hand into my curls resting it at the back of my neck. Our lips join, our eyes close and I relax into the kiss. I surprise myself when I part my lips for Dave allowing his tongue in.
Dave is gentle, almost timid at first, but his tongue goes between my lips and begins to explore. His hold on the back of my neck gets tighter and I find myself gripping his leg, not just resting my hand there. His tongue explores the depths of my mouth, caressing and tasting. I believe if Alli knew he kissed this way she would have given him a chance, too late now, I guess.
"Ten seconds," K.C. calls but it's another couple of seconds before we actually pull apart. Dave, sits down and looks at K.C. with a smile on his wet and swollen lips. "Don't look so smug, I kissed her long before you did," K.C. shoots back.
"Yeah, I kinda doubt she kissed like that last year," Dave shoots back.
"Your turn Clare," Marisol says with annoyance. She seems to want to move the game along.
I pick up the spinner and flick the red plastic arrow as it spins around, holding my breath every time it passes someone I don't want to kiss. When it finally stops, I bite my lip, it's on K.C. which is probably good. He sees it, and smirks at Dave as he comes over, leaning down and cupping my face. K.C. doesn't hesitate at all and when his tongue licks across my lips I grant access immediately. It's familiar but also not, Dave was right, K.C. and I hardly even kissed with open mouths in the five weeks we dated.
"Ten seconds," one of the girls calls and we break apart resuming our seats.
"My turn," Drew says eagerly taking the spinner.
It goes around and around, landing on Heath. Drew takes his shirt off rather than kiss Heath. Ava is next, she also lands on Heath and just like Drew she takes her shirt off rather than kiss Heath.
"Aww man, no one wants to kiss me," Heath pouts as Ava tosses her shirt away.
"Man shut up and spin," Brock shoots back. Heath spins and we all laugh when the spinner lands on Brock. Somewhat surprisingly the two football players lean over and actually kiss for ten seconds. I'm pretty sure their mouths are closed the whole time, but they do it.
"Your turn Eden," Heath says handing her the spinner and now I know the name of the second cheerleader.
Eden gets K.C. and they meet in the center of the circle. From my view it looks like quite the passionate kiss as I see tongue and all. Julian calls ten seconds and they sit down licking their lips and quite satisfied. Julian is next, he lands on himself and stands up to strip his shirt off. He makes a show of it and the other guys make some music for him. Julian sits down with a smile, leaning back on his hands so we can see his exposed chest. Marisol takes the spinner; it lands on Jess, and she gets up also making a show of stripping off her shirt. She even flings it when she's done; it goes toward Drew, but he dodges and the shirt lands behind him.
K.C. is next, he lands on Drew and the two shrug and get up to kiss. Closed mouths, not even sure their lips touch, but they do make a bit of a show of it. Jess lands on Julian and she kisses him, her back is to us, so it's hard to see if anything happens, but Julian is grinning when he sits down. Jess on the other hand wipes her mouth as she resumes her seat. Dave's turn now, his spin lands on Ava and she kisses him, but they are apart as soon as ten seconds are called. Now it's my turn again, I take the spinner and it lands on Julian.
"Who is it?" Marisol asks when I don't announce it.
"Julian," Ava pipes up for me. Directly across the circle from me Julian grins and licks his lips.
"What'll it be Clare? Do I get to sample that tasty mouth of yours or you gonna strip and show us your breasts?" Julian asks.
I'm faced with no good choices, either I take off my top and let all the guys stare at my lacy purple bra for the rest of the game. Or I kiss a guy I don't know at all and is too eager to kiss me. Deciding that the kiss is over in ten seconds, while if I take off my shirt it I have to sit here topless the rest of the game, I get up and walk to the center of the circle. Julian stands, meeting me in the center and puts his hand at my lower back, his fingers comb into my hair and he pulls me up to him so that I'm forced to put my hands on his chest. He nips at my lower lip and my lips open. As soon as there is an opening his tongue darts in and begins exploring.
"Ten," Drew says but Julian doesn't pull away and I start pushing at him. "Hey, ten seconds," Drew growls as Julian is ripped away from me. K.C. pulls Julian back and Drew puts an arm tightly around my waist. "What the hell were you doing Julian? Only I can kiss my girlfriend that way," Drew hisses as we sit back in our spots.
"You shouldn't have let her play, she's hot and a great kisser," Julian grins as he sits back in his spot. Julian looks at me and licks his lips, Drew's arm tightens around me.
"Your turn Drew," Marisol reminds him.
"I pass this time," Drew comments handing the spinner to Ava. "Are you okay?" Drew asks while I'm wiping my lips.
"I'm fine," I say quietly. I'm not actually sure that I am, the kiss was pretty forceful, and he wouldn't pull away. I'm grateful Drew and K.C. pulled us apart, I really should have objected to playing this juvenile game.
"If you aren't going to spin then you take something off Drew, and that means you're about to lose those jeans," Marisol grins.
"Fine, give me that," Drew remarks taking the spinner back from Ava. She was halfway through a spin but Drew's hand slamming down on it makes it stop. Drew flicks the plastic arrow and when I see the name it lands on my stomach drops. "Jess," Drew smiles handing the spinner back to Ava.
I shouldn't care so much, but I do. I don't know why I do, we're trying to get them together, it's his entire reason for agreeing to this deal. Yet, I really do not want to see them kiss, or even know that they did. Despite me and Dave being the only two sitting between them, Drew and Jess make a show of crawling to each other, going onto their knees and joining their lips. Their mouths definitely open, she's resting her arms on his shoulders and he holds her around the waist. I see some tongue action and I don't even realize that my fists clench. Thankfully, Dave calls ten seconds and they break apart.
Ava goes next, she gets Eden, the two girls have no problem kissing and making a show of it for the guys. They whistle and hoot, spurring the girls on. When Marisol calls ten seconds both girls lick their lips and make sure to wriggle their asses back to their seats. Heath's turn is next, he gets Eden as well and she smiles. She gets up and plants herself in his lap, her arms linking around his neck. When ten seconds get called they don't move, in fact they don't even seem to hear us.
"I think that's the game," Julian says standing up and getting his shirt back on. "Guess I should go see how my party is doing," he remarks and strides out of the room.
Anyone who took something off quickly gets it back on. Drew looks like he wants to talk to Jess, but she's already leaving the room. Drew and I follow them out with Dave and K.C. behind us, Marisol is also trailing along but Brock already left.
"I need something to drink," I remark.
"This way," Drew says bringing me into the kitchen. "That was fun," Drew smiles handing me a can of pop. He takes one too, I'm glad he's not drinking.
"Oh, yeah, getting mouth assaulted by a jock whose name I hardly remember was great fun," I reply sardonically. We're the only two in the kitchen right now, but I still keep my voice down.
"Sorry about that, are you sure you're okay? I can go deck Julian," Drew offers. I don't like violence but the fact that he did offer makes me smile.
"I'm okay, just wasn't really prepared for that. So, how was it kissing your dream girl?" I question. I don't really want to know, but I feel like I should ask.
"Amazing," Drew grins with this dazzled goofy smile on his lips, "better than I even could have dreamed."
A pit opens in stomach, a green one, but it's stupid. I have no reason to be jealous, I have no feelings for Drew, other than friendship. He's Adam's brother, and this whole sham relationship was Adam's idea. I agreed to it thinking of Eli's face when he saw me with Drew. So, why is it that when it comes to Jess, I can't help but clench my fists and fall into that green pit in my stomach?
"Come on, we can't show anyone anything if we're hiding in the kitchen," Drew comments taking my hand.
We go out to the living room; Jess sees us but is talking to some other girls. Drew snakes his arm around my waist and kisses my temple. I see Jess smile at the show of affection. Part of me wants to turn to Drew and kiss him like crazy, stake my claim. Only, he's not mine to claim, nor am I about to pounce on him in a room full of people. Alli would do so, Bianca, possibly even Jenna. Demure and terrified Clare just can't do that. I do decide that I should help Drew with his part, even if a part of me truly can't stand the thought of him and Jess. I put my hand on his chest and lean into him, nuzzling a bit to show affection.
Drew kisses the top of my head just as we join some of the basketball team. Drew starts talking to them, and I quickly get bored. I finish my drink pretty quickly and deciding that I've been standing here as arm candy long enough excuse myself to the washroom. After finding the washroom and using it I go looking for Eli. I look everywhere in Julian's house, even upstairs, though I was really hoping Eli wasn't up there with Imogen. I don't find Eli, but I do find Julian and it is his party.
"Hey Julian," I call to him. He's talking to a couple of girls but comes over to me with a licentious grin.
"Hey Clare, want another kiss?"
"Only if you want me to knee you in the nuts."
"Didn't know you were so feisty, I why Drew likes you so much," Julian grins and I roll my eyes.
"Have you seen Eli?"
"Who?"
"Eli Goldsworthy, my ex," I clarify.
"That whiny Emo kid with the hearse? He better not be here, he wasn't invited."
"Right, thanks," I reply tensing up. My fists are clenched so tightly that my fingernails are digging into my skin. "Excuse me," I remark to Julian before walking away quickly.
I'm fuming! I'm sure Drew knew Eli wasn't invited, even Adam wasn't invited. Actually, when Adam told me he wasn't invited I should have known something was up. Drew brought me to the party for his gain only, to impress Jess. We've been doing a lot of that and I'm not sure Eli even cares that Drew, and I are "dating". What have I gotten out of the deal so far? Mouth assault by a jock that's going to look at me with lascivious eyes for the next few days? Rides to and from school? That isn't worth all of this. I go looking for Drew, I'm livid and we're about to have our first "couples" fight. Drew isn't where I left him, but I do see Owen.
"Hey Owen, have you seen Drew?" I question. I don't really care that I'm interrupting his conversation with a couple other kids.
"Uh, yeah, he and some guys went to the den I think," Owen responds.
"Thanks," I reply and then note the cup of amber liquid in his hand, "is that alcohol?"
"Yeah, just cheap sc…" Owen stops abruptly when I snatch the cup from his hand and swallow it in a couple of gulps. I shouldn't have, I don't really know Owen, well nothing good anyway, or what was in the cup. Rational Clare however burned away with how fumed I am at Drew right now. "Whoa," Owen says taking back the empty cup. I feel his friend's eyes on me, and I don't even care. "Uh, you want another one?"
"Yes please," I reply.
"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," Owen tells his friends. Putting his arms loosely around my shoulders he brings me back to the kitchen. "Beer, vodka, wine cooler, water?" Owen says motioning to some bottles.
"What are those?" I question pointing to small plastic cups full of colorful water, actually it looks like gelatin.
"Jell-o shots but…" Owen is saying but I pick one up and gulp it down quickly. I swallow it so quickly I don't taste anything, not alcohol or flavor. I reach for another, and Owen grabs my hand. "It will hit you in a second, you don't want another one. Here, you'll like this," Owen comments says opening a bottle and handing it to me. "Let's go find your man," Owen says. He puts his arm around my shoulders again and begins steering me through the party while I begin sipping at whatever he gave me. "There," Owen tells me pointing into a room with guys. My vision is beginning to blur, but Drew is talking, and I find him by following his voice.
"I need to speak to you alone for a moment," I remark. Not waiting for a reply and ignoring the stupid sounds the others make I drag Drew out to the front yard. Drew comes with me, he doesn't fight at all, and when we're alone in the front yard I release his hand.
"Are you drinking?" he questions taking the bottle from my hand to look at it. I twist my mouth and snatch it back from him. I nearly stumble back and grab his shirt to keep from falling. Drew puts his arms around me to steady me.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we come to a party I don't want to be at, where I kiss a bunch of guys and then watch my boyfriend," I reply making the word sound as sarcastic as possible and attempting air quotes, "make out with his dream girl while I get assaulted by Julian. All this after finding out my parents are getting a divorce because my dad's a cheating bastard. So, excuse me for having a drink or two."
"Wait a minute, the family drama that had you in tears at our house is your parents getting divorced? Your dad's been cheating on your mom?" Drew asks, all I can do is nod in response. "Shit, I'm really sorry to hear that, Clare. I'll make it up to you okay, you're sleeping over tonight, and we'll try and find Eli tomorrow. If we can't I will spend all day Monday doing whatever I can to make Eli mad with jealousy. Why don't we go on a date tomorrow night before I take you home? A real one, even if we don't see Eli, it will give us plenty to talk about at school Monday."
"Okay, that does sound nice," I nod.
"Good, finish out the party with me, so I can show what a good boyfriend I can be. Tomorrow night I'll make sure you have a fantastic date."
"You do realize that Jess has seen that even with a girlfriend you were very willing to play a game where you let your girlfriend kiss other guys. And, that you were more than happy to kiss other girls. Not exactly the best way to show that you can be a good monogamous boyfriend."
"Okay, bad plan, guess I didn't think that through," Drew remarks rubbing the back of his neck.
"But you did get to kiss Jess."
"Yeah, I did get to kiss Jess," he grins. While he's thinking about kissing Jess I down the rest of my drink.
"Okay, let's go back inside where it's warm. I will spend the rest of the night showing Jess that I really am an amazing boyfriend. We'll enjoy the party for a couple more hours and tomorrow I'll take you on a fantastic date. Hopefully, we'll see Eli, but if we don't, we'll get him Monday. Can we go inside now? It's cold out here and we don't have jackets."
Drew puts his arm around me, and we go back inside. We spend a couple more hours at the party. Most of which is me bored with Drew's arm around me while I sip at water, he won't let me have any more alcohol. Drew does most of the talking, with people I have no interest in. I do talk a little with K.C. and Dave though. Even when I'm not sure that Jess is watching Drew makes a show of being a good boyfriend. Keeps his arm around me, kisses my temple a lot, or my cheek, refills my water and pays me compliments frequently.
When we finally do leave the party, I'm extremely relieved. I don't even realize I've fallen asleep in the car until I wake when Drew picks me up. He's carrying me to the basement, but my stomach rolls and is threatening to come up on me.
"Put me down Drew," I bark at him.
He seems startled but he sets me down. I barely make it to the bushes by the basement door before I throw up all the contents in my stomach. I feel Drew brushing my hair back and holding it just as the basement door opens.
"What's going on?" Adam questions.
"She's drunk."