"Not too long, okay?" Libby said as Teddy parked in front of Ben Devore's house on the outskirts of Castle Rock. It was already pulsating with loud music. "And no drinking. Sorry to be all tyrannical and stuff, but I don't want to be around someone who's drinking."
He shook his head. "No problem." He got out and shut Libby's door after she'd gotten out. They walked through the front door and immediately got ambushed by a bunch of guys.
"I didn't think you'd make it," Ben said, handing Teddy a drink. He finally looked at Libby critically. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Libby," Teddy said. "Don't bug her, she's my date."
"I wasn't going to. We'll make her feel right at home. You want something to drink, Libby?"
She looked up at Teddy with contempt, quietly murmuring, "We're not staying long, actually."
Ben waved his hand dismissively. "Sit down, stay awhile!"
Libby turned to Teddy expectantly. Teddy shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to stay for a few minutes."
They moved further into the house. Libby grabbed Teddy's arm when she found herself getting separated from him in the crowd.
"Ahahaha, there you are," Teddy giggled, once the reached the kitchen. They found the keg resting on a pile of slushy ice. Much to his dismay, Kennedy Griere's lips were wrapped around the tap and a bunch of people were standing around, counting. She broke away at twenty. She stood up a little dizzily, spotting Teddy and moved over to him. "Decided to join us lowlifes huh? Nice to see you've torn yourself away from your clique."
"It's not a clique, they're just my friends," he said, but not very defensively.
"Of course not. My mistake." She gestured to the keg. "Have a go?" she asked coyly.
"Sure," he said, ignoring Libby's glare. She had been in Castle Rock for a week and a half and she'd already picked up on the fact that Kennedy was the whole state of Oregon's notorious slut.
Teddy came sputtering about at 32. He laughed and attempted to stagger to his feet but his head hit the counter. This just made him laugh harder. The kitchen began to empty as people lost interest. Kennedy put an arm through his. "Fun little buzz, isn't it?"
"Shit, yeah."
Libby glanced reproachfully at Kennedy as she stepped in front of Teddy, pleading softly, "Can we go now?"
"Pretty quick, Libby," he assured her.
"I talked to you about the drinking, remember?"
Kennedy smirked. "Who's got you whipped now, Teddy? First it was Andie, then it was Delia, now who?"
Ignoring her, Teddy looked at Libby with something in his sweet eyes that was unfamiliar. He said, "Don't condescend to me."
"I'm not condescending; you promised," Libby said, almost pleadingly.
He giggled, "Maybe my fingers were crossed."
"Whatever. Just give me your keys."
He said protectively, "Get your own damn keys."
"You can't drive, Teddy."
"Where would you take these keys?"
"I'm going for a walk, considering I'm stuck here until you grow up."
"Ooh," Kennedy laughed mockingly, stretching her arms languidly around Teddy's waist. "A feisty one."
"That's what I like about her," he said.
Slowly, Kennedy looked at Libby. "I thought you were leaving." She sighed and dug in Teddy's back pocket and retrieved his keys, tossing them to her. "Here."
Without a glance at either of them, Libby tried to keep her composure as she headed for the door. Ben saw about to leave and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Leaving?"
"As sad as that might make you feel, yes."
"Without Teddy?"
Libby scowled and jerked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen. "He's busy with the happy little hooker back there."
Ben shouted, "Teddy's getting lucky tonight!" He reconsidered. "Sorry, honey."
She smiled. "Not as sorry as he's going to be."
He gasped. "Are you going to chop off his balls with a blunt butter knife?"
"No…" she said, looking at him carefully with a cautious grin. "I was referring to the fact that I was five feet away from her and I was worried about catching a disease. Poor Teddy. Bye Ben." She quickly maneuvered around a group of people coming in the house.
"Son of a bitch," Libby grumbled as the late November night air chilled her bare arms at about four in the morning. "Should have taken that bastard's jacket too."
She sat inside Teddy's beat-up piece of crap truck, wondering how she'd gotten into this mess. Her mother was probably worried sick. Desperately she wished that she'd just stayed with her sister. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized how badly she wished Tabitha were with her.
Approximately at five o' clock, Ben led Teddy outside, mumbling, "Maybe if I leave you on my doorstep, the mailman will adopt you."
Approaching them, Libby said, "Probably not. He'll probably trip over Teddy's stupid ass and break his neck." She laughed at the mental image this created in her mind.
"You taking him home?" Ben asked. "He can't stay here. My parents are coming home at 8. Plus I'm a little on the tipsy side myself so I can't get him home."
"Yeah, I'm taking him home," she sighed. "Will you phone a taxi for me?"
Once the cab reached Teddy's house she was even more pissed off. Now she had to somehow get him in his house without breaking her back or making a lot of noise.
"You're going to feel pretty in the morning," she said, struggling to keep him standing upright.
"He's got chronic hangover syndrome, he'll be fine," a male voice said from behind her.
Libby jumped and spun around.
"Relax, it's me," Chris said.
Gesturing to his canvas bag, Libby asked, "Aren't you a little too old to be a paperboy?"
"Yes. I should have won the lottery and gotten rich years ago. Do you need help with Teddy?"
She nodded. "Thanks very much so."