Chapter 36 Part II

"Staaacyyy," she simpered, grabbing the waist of his shirt with one hand to stop him short and gently tugging on one strand of his wheaten hair with the other, "didn't that give you any ideas?"…

With one foot still hanging in the air, ready to set it down on the top step, Stacy paused. "Maybe," he replied uncertainly. "But uh, do you think it's cool to do it in someone else's house like this?"

Jess gave him an exasperated look and clicked her tongue. "Hey, where have we been doing it all for the last week?" she shot back, and he couldn't argue with that.

They went the other way down the hall and found a what appeared to be a guestroom. As they went in, Jess noticed some of Mindy's presents piled on the floor by the bed.

"I dunno if this lock is really secure," Stacy said a bit worriedly as he tested it out by turning the doorknob.

"Maybe it's one of those where you can open it from the inside but not the outside?" Jess suggested. Stacy shrugged, but left it alone and moved to join Jess on the bed. They quickly stripped off and began kissing and caressing each other, working feverishly to round the bases as fast as possible. Within two minutes Stacy had reached home plate and was half-whispering a running commentary: "Oh Jessica… I love this… love y-"

He suddenly broke off talking and looked up sharply, his movements coming to a standstill. Confused, Jess tilted her head back to see the bedroom door and realized that they had an audience. Mindy and Jackie were standing in the open doorway, gaping unabashedly at the sight of their coupling.

"Dios mio, I guess Stacy's not a virgin after all," Jackie gasped, followed by a hasty and truly embarrassed sounding, "We're so sorry!" from Mindy, who used both hands to pull Jackie away from the door and kicked it closed behind her with one foot.

Stacy and Jess wordlessly regarded each other with shock, then he dropped his head and rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed with his face buried in his hands. Jess lay where she was, breathing hard and blinking with incomprehension. Then the full realization of what had just happened hit her, and she moaned in mortification.

"Well, that was a first," Stacy said through his fingers, then lifted his head and raked his hair back with both hands. "I guess with all the foolin' around we've been doing lately, it was gonna happen sooner or later," he admitted with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"What did that girl…Jackie…mean by that 'not a virgin' comment, anyway?" Jess asked as she sat up and fished around with shaking hands in the sheets for her underwear.

Stacy shook his head and his hair promptly fell back around his still-crimson face. "I have no idea. I guess I have a reputation in their circle for being really inexperienced with girls," he grudgingly replied.

"Well, compared to some of those Dogtown guys, you definitely don't come across as a skirt-chaser, that's for sure," Jess quipped as she pulled her bikini underwear on and pulled her dress down to cover her thighs, then stood up and found her strappy sandals. "We are gonna be the laughingstock of the party," Jess said with a sigh as she put them on.

"We have to go back down there though," Stacy replied as he zipped up his jeans, although he clearly didn't relish the idea either. "I'm sure everyone else was too into the skating to notice we were gone anyway."

"Yeah, but I have no doubt those girls are telling the whole party what they saw," Jess shot back grumpily, all too aware how certain females could be in situations like this.

Quickly Stacy shook his head, eager to alleviate the worst of Jess' fears. "Nah, Mindy and Jackie have a little more class than that. Don't worry, let's just go down there and play like nothing's wrong. Ya ready?"

When they re-entered the pool area Jess realized it was now fully dark outside. Strategically placed tiki torches had been lit all around the patio, throwing pools of ambient light onto the partygoers, while a spotlight mounted high on one wall of the house threw the skaters into stark relief as they carved the empty pool. She was immediately relieved to see that nobody took any notice of their return, never mind pointed and laughed at the hot-to-trot couple. As they passed the buffet table Leela stepped over to them. "Did you guys find the bathroom ok?" she asked sweetly. Jess couldn't decide if she knew about their interrupted tryst or not. Then Allen and Mindy came out of the shadows.

"So, how's it hangin', Peralta?" Allen asked with a sly little wink, and Jess knew the jig was up. Despite her best instincts, she leveled a glare at Mindy, who to her credit colored a little and apologized for interrupting them upstairs. That was Allen and Stacy's cue to step away and watch the skaters.

"I guess we should be the ones to apologize for sneaking off like that," Jess admitted, blushing again.

Mindy grinned. "Hey, don't sweat it. I mean, I can't talk 'cause Allen and I were doing the same exact thing not long before you guys were. Only we made damn sure the door was locked," she added with a big wink that caused Jess to blush again.

"Yeah, well I thought Stacy had that covered," she replied with a grimace. "Next time I'll be the one in charge of locking the door."

Mindy threw back her head and laughed. "Right on! Like Allen's mom says, if you wanna get a job done right, give it to a woman." Jess laughed with her, glad that the situation was getting back under control, at least as far as the coitus interruptus episode went. A covert glance around the pool area revealed Jay and Wentz still in evidence and apparently still drinking, by the sound of their raised voices. Wentz's girl was sitting at a table with Michelle and two other girls. She was looking almost on the verge of tears and Jess didn't blame her. Wentz's treatment of her was going well beyond the normal obsessed skater norm. At least the other guys sat with their girls when they weren't in the middle of a hard session. Wentzle on the other hand was standing on the other side of the pool almost nose-to-nose with PC. Jess couldn't tell if they were arguing or just conducting some drunken friendly banter, but either way, they seemed to feel strongly about whatever they were discussing.

Jess sat back down at the same table as before and after grabbing two more beers, Mindy sat next to her and offered her one. Jess took it gratefully, feeling a little cotton-mouthed after getting that surprise in the upstairs bedroom. Mindy began asking her a few questions about where she was from and how she liked LA so far, and Jess answered readily, sensing that the other girl genuinely had no catty or evil intentions toward her, she just wanted to know more about the girl who had captured Stacy's heart. She told Mindy briefly about finding the job at Evie's boutique, and meeting Deb and Kathy along with the Zephyr shop crowd. In turn, Jess learned that Mindy and Stacy were longstanding schoolmates and acquaintances although Stacy was in the year ahead of her.

Then the topic naturally turned to Jess' stabbing and the perpetrators of the crime. "I can't stand those girls," Mindy snarled. "It embarrasses me to be from the same area as them. I'm glad you got to know Deb and Evie, they're cool."

"Deb has been such a great friend to me, especially after the whole thing at the Civic," Jess said, toying with the rim of her beer bottle with her index finger. "And she helped convince my mom to let Stacy keep seeing me. For that I'm putting her in my will, I swear!"

Mindy started to comment on how some mothers could be on the overprotective side, but was interrupted by a commotion coming from the pool. Both girls jumped to their feet and rushed to the edge, peering down curiously with the rest of the partygoers to see what the noise was about. In the deep end PC and Wentz were violently shoving each other and spitting curses, then Wentzle threw a tentative punch that glanced off of PC's left collarbone and fully infuriated the dark-haired Canadian native, whose shoves immediately became closed fist blows. Immediately Biniak, Stacy and Nathan ran down to pull them apart, clearly not liking to see teammates fighting each other. The instant PC and Wentz were half-led, half-dragged out of the pool TA immediately began skating it again, oblivious to the altercation's conclusion. Wentz's date was standing nearby with her back to the scene, hugging herself and sobbing aloud. Mindy went over to her and placed a comforting hug around the crying girl's shoulders. "Shh, Bonnie, it's ok," she told her in soothing tones.

Stacy began trying to calm Paul down. "Wentz is drunk, he doesn't know what he's saying or doing at this point. Don't take it personally. Just chill out, ok? You don't wanna fight on Mindy's birthday, right?"

His counsel seemed to have the intended effect on Paul, who dropped his shoulders in resignation after shooting one last glare at Wentz who was on the other side of the pool, still raging despite Nathan and Biniak's best efforts to quell his fury.

Allen came over to where PC, Stacy and Jess were standing. "What exactly happened? I had my back to the pool," he told them.

Michelle overheard his question and stepped forward to give her account. "PC and Wentz were taking a double run and they collided. I'd say it was Wentz's fault, really, but the impact broke his board and he flipped out and started pushing PC around. Then PC started pushing back and well, you saw the rest," she calmly related, as though witnessing Z-Boy fights was an integral part of her daily life.

PC, composure now regained, went over to Mindy and Bonnie and apologized for his role in the affair and for upsetting Bonnie so. "It's okay, PC. I should've insisted on going home as soon as I realized how drunk he was," Wentzle's girl replied between sniffles.

When Mindy began affectionately brushing PC's hair out of his face and gently chastising him for fighting Wentzle, Jess turned away, oddly disconcerted by the genuine affection she saw in Mindy's face when she touched PC and how he returned it with his shy smile and body language. You're not the only one who notices unspoken things between people, Jess mentally told the birthday girl. I wonder how long they've felt that way about each other and how far it got before Allen came onto the scene. They better get things worked out quick though, or that seven-year itch might come about six years early.

She realized that Stacy was by her side again, and casually slipped one arm around his waist as he returned the gesture. "Might be a good time to split the scene, whadda ya think?" he asked her out of the side of his mouth.

"You good to drive?" Jess inquired, looking up at his face to try and judge his level of inebriation for herself.

Stacy nodded a bit hesitantly. "Yeah, but maybe we should wait just a little longer to be safe. I'll have some more cake and some punch and when it settles, we'll go." And with that declaration he headed back to the buffet tables as Jess shook her head in amusement. Any excuse to eat, you'll take it, she thought with a mental giggle.

Her humor was to be short-lived, however, when the next person to appear at her side was Jay, and he looks like he could chew barbed wire and spit out nails, as Dad would say, Jess thought. "Um, hi Jay," she ventured cautiously.

"Hi yourself. What the hell game are you tryin' to play with me?" Jay spit out, the smell of hard liquor in strong evidence on his breath.

Bewildered and beginning to color slightly again, Jess started to edge away. "I…I don't know what you're talking about, Jay. I have no problem with you and I'm not trying to play games." She quickly glanced around for backup, but everyone was either concentrating on the aftermath of the fight or the action in the pool. Stacy was on the other side of the tables talking animatedly to Nathan, his back turned to Jess and Jay.

"I see you lookin' over at Peralta," Jay sneered. "Guess I'm not good enough for ya, but Mr. Purity is, huh?"

Of course, he's feeling scorned and jealous, Jess belatedly realized. She tried to defuse his anger by placing a placating hand on his forearm. "Jay, I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel like we…"

"Had something?" Jay finished for her. "Well, you did make me feel that way. I mean, that makeout session we had in the Zephyr shop was hot. I know you wanted me. We could have finished our business at Red Dog's if you hadn't run out on me. What did ya do that for, Jess?" he asked, but the trace of genuine hurt in his voice was overridden by the hostile undertones. Jess instinctively took another step back.

"Look Jay, we have no unfinished business and there's nothing between us. Be cool, ok?"

Upon hearing that, the more open, pleading look on Jay's face vanished as his blue eyes darkened with rage. "Be cool, be cooool," he mocked Jess as he grabbed her forearm and tried to drag her to him. "I'll show ya cool, ya little tease."

Before Jess could even yell for help or try to pull away, rescue came from a most unlikely quarter – Jackie inserted herself directly between Jay and Jess, knocking Jay's arm down with one strong olive-skinned hand. "Get the fuck offa her before I snap your cabrón neck!" she hissed, her slightly Mexican-accented voice loaded with high-octane venom. Jay let go of Jess but didn't move away, just glared icily at her. Jess was worried that he might deck her despite the fact that she looked about six months along, but instead of raising his hand again, he growled, "Why do the stupid ones always get knocked up?" then turned on one heel and stormed off.

Jackie unleashed a string of Spanish curses at his retreating back. Immediately Mindy was at their side, asking Jackie in English and Spanish what had happened. Jackie related her part in the tale. "After he said that shit about getting knocked up I was gonna punch him out but then I decided he wasn't worth the effort." She gave a disdainful snort. "So what was up with your boy PC and Wentz anyway?"
Mindy shrugged. "Eh, Wentz was just being a jerk. He told Paul that we'd gone all the way."

"No!" Jackie shrilly retorted. "You didn't, did you?" she asked her friend, a suspicious and slightly alarmed look crossing her face.

"No, of course not!" Mindy hastily replied, but Jess didn't miss the blush that began to spread across her high cheekbones.

"Okay, just checking," Jackie replied. Then they both looked at Jess, realizing she'd witnessed the entire exchange. At the obviously confused look on the Eastern transplant's face, Mindy held up a defensive hand. "I swear my life isn't normally this complicated. Man, that bastard Jay. What the hell did he want with you anyway, Jess?"

Now it was Jess' turn to look uncomfortable. "Well, we uh, we met not long after I moved here and ended up making out a little bit at a Zephyr party. Then I met Wentzle and we also kissed, but then I found out he was seeing someone else. And the last time I saw Jay it was at Red Dog's party. Jay wanted to make out again, but I was upset over Wentzle and not really into Jay anymore, so I took off and Stacy caught up with me outside the house and took me to dinner and then we sorta became an item after that night. But I swear nothing else happened with me and Jay and Wentz," she concluded in a low voice so none of the partygoers could overhear. "Sorry, I'm babbling," she told Mindy and Jackie.

The two other girls just laughed. "Hey, it's ok," Jackie reassured her. "At least you guys only kissed. I wish that's all I had done with Jayboy," she sighed, rubbing her rounded belly pointedly.

Wide-eyed with surprise, Jess asked, "You mean he's…?" and gestured toward Jackie's stomach. Before Jackie could confirm or deny it, two girls walked up to the little group to tell Mindy goodbye. Then Stacy finally came over.

"What was going on here with you guys and Jay?" he asked, concern shadowing his handsome features.

"It's all under control, Stacy, don't worry about a thing," Jackie told him, then clasped Jess' shoulder with a friendly hand before turning back to the pool area. "Who's gonna get this mamacita-to-be a glass of punch?" she called out and several guys hastened to obey, obviously impressed or intimidated by the outburst she'd directed at Jay.

Then Bunker approached their little group and politely asked to have a private word with the birthday girl. "We're gonna take off too," Stacy told Mindy as she started to walk away to her impromptu conference with TA's wealthy friend. She turned back and bade them farewell and thanked them for coming to the party and for the present, giving Jess an extra-big hug. "Sorry again for all the craziness," Mindy whispered in her ear.

"No, there's nothing to apologize about," Jess reassured her. "It was a great party. Maybe see you in the boutique sometime soon, ok?" And with that parting sentiment she and Stacy made their exit as quickly as possible.

As he turned the car onto the Pacific Coast Highway heading south, Stacy asked Jess again what the deal was with Jay. Jess confessed to kissing him in the Zephyr shop, but reiterated firmly that nothing else happened and that he was the one she was fleeing when she ran out of Red Dog's party.

I uh, didn't realize that you two had made out," Stacy said with a bit of trepidation in his voice. "I thought he was just hitting on you for the first time at Red Dog's and you got yourself away."

"Yeah, well I didn't want to mention it to you because I didn't want you pissed off at him," Jess said in her defense.

Stacy furrowed his brow and shrugged. "Well, Jay's Jay, you know? It's not worth getting pissed off at him because he'll probably never change. As long as he didn't actually hurt you in any way? 'Cause then I'll deck him," he growled.

Jess shook her head hard, eager to distill his animosity. "No, he grabbed my arm tonight but I don't think he meant any serious harm. Not like Fr- um, some people can get." Stacy wondered who she had started to mention before amending her speech, but held back from asking.

"Anyway, it's all water under the bridge. I think he got the message that I'm with you now," she concluded, hoping the subject would be dropped.

Stacy, however, wasn't quite willing to let it go yet. "And you have no feelings for him at all?" he asked in a neutral tone.

Quite taken aback by the question, Jess could only shake her head in disbelief at first, then found her voice. "Stacy, you know I don't! Geez, it was only a few kisses months ago! And I quickly decided afterward that he wasn't the right guy for me. Jeez!"

Stacy held up a hand to calm her. "Ok, ok, sorry I asked! Moment of doubt, won't happen again," he confessed with a crooked smile. When Jess crossed her arms over her chest in a peeved manner, he reached out with his right hand and hooked his little finger around hers, coaxing her into taking his hand for a moment. "C'mon, Jessica, I know you don't like Jay in that way."

"More like not at all, after tonight," she snarled, but gave his hand a return squeeze before he let go. She turned to look out the passenger window, trying to see the Pacific, but it was a dark and moonless night, so the vast ocean off to their right was visible only in her imagination.

They drove along in silence for another minute, then Stacy spoke up again. "So do you have any lingering feelings for Wentzle, then?" At the renewed look of outrage on Jess' face he burst out laughing. "Psych!" he yelled over the car stereo, then winced as Jess began pounding his shoulders with her small balled up fists. "Hey, hey, c'mon! It was a joke! Ahh, mad Jersey girl on the loose!" He batted her hands away grinningly, causing the car to lurch a bit over the center line of the highway, and Jess immediately subsided and leaned back in her seat, not wanting to cause a head-on collision with her horseplay.

Silence descended once again. Then Jess broke it with a proclamation: "For the record, the only Z-boy or for that matter, any boy I have feelings for is the one sitting beside me. And since I got interrupted earlier tonight, I'll just have to show you exactly how much I like you while we have no one to bother us. I mean, how do you walk in on a moving car?"

And with that valid question, Jess turned toward the driver's side and proceeded to show him without using words just how much she did care for him. The Volvo lurched toward the center line again and Stacy wrested it back into his lane, then settled back with a Cheshire Cat grin to enjoy the drive home to Venice.

End of Chapter 36

Author's postscript: Jay fans, I know your boy isn't getting depicted very nicely in this story, but someone had to be the dark to Stacy's light, and Jay won the "Antagonist" lottery. Remember, the characters in this story are based more on the original guys than the actors who played them in the LODT movie. There are many first-hand anecdotes out there, some told by Jay himself, that paint a good picture of how he was back then and believe me, LODT really lays off the gas when it comes to depicting him. So Jay lovers, please accept my sincerest apologies, but I refuse to romanticize him in order to make it a more pleasant story…the Stacy/Jess storyline has gotten sappy enough already! LOL.