2703 words
CHAPTER TWO
"It's all going to start on Friday."
"Why Friday?" Anna looked at me incredulously. "The party in La Push silly remember?"
Every year at the end of school Makah and La Push tribes would get together for an end of the year bonfire slash beach party. I'd been last year with Quil but he didn't want to stay long because of all the drinking.
"First we need to get you a bikini."
"A bikini? Doesn't the party start at 8?"
"The real party starts at like 12." Anna grinned. "We're gonna skip school again."
We decided against going to the mall and instead, Anna told me I could have one of hers. She went a bit crazy last summer and had a dozen stringy, cheeky bikinis.
The fifth one was the winner. It's was a simple royal blue colour that contrasted nicely against my tanned skin. The top crossed in the back and Anna informed me that it had great hold and even my C cups would stay covered if we played a game of beach volleyball. The bottoms, however, were a different story. Though it wasn't quite a thong, which most of Anna's were, they still showed most of my ass.
Anna smacked it playfully as I passed her. "You'll have Quil drooling after you, chasing away all the boys."
I couldn't help but grin. "You think?"
"Hell yeah, you're freaking hot."
That night, after I had showered, shaved and lotioned every inch of my body I called Quil, Anna's instructions still fresh in my mind.
"Hey, Claire."
"Hey, Quil." I sighed softly. He didn't respond for a beat.
"What have you been up too?" I could hear him shuffling in the background probably getting together some food. That man was forever hungry.
"Oh not much. Just been trying on Anna's bikinis all afternoon." I left off there.
"That's nice. You girls going to the beach?" My eyes narrowed. Anna was wrong, he didn't seem affected at all.
"Yeah. You know the party at first beach tomorrow?"
"Oh, you don't need your swimsuit. It'll be way too cold at night. And I thought we could catch a movie tomorrow. Sam doesn't need me to run patrol at night."
"Actually we are going there during the day already. Anna asked me to sleepover too."
"Oh." His voice dropped. "So I guess I'll see you at the beach?"
"Yeah for sure! If you're not busy during the day you could join our beach volleyball tournament."
He paused. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Come on Quil, don't tell me you never skipped school for a day?"
"I could pick you up after school tomorrow if it's because you need a ride."
"No." I tried my hardest not to huff. The point of this whole scheme was to appear mature. "Jamie is lending me her car after we pick up some drinks."
"Drinks?"
"Yeah, you know for the party?"
"Oh. I guess I just didn't realize you were drinking already."
"I'm almost seventeen you know. I'm not a little kid anymore." I could hardly keep from twirling in my room, Anna's checklist running through my mind. One, remind him you're not a kid anymore. Two, tell him about the bikinis. Three, be innocently sexy. The last one I was still working on, but I wasn't quite sure how to do the whole sexy thing yet. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll make sure to see you Claire. Goodnight."
I sighed again. "Goodnight Quil," and then with the sexiest voice I could think to do, "sweet dreams." I hung up the phone quickly and fell backwards onto my bed. This is going to be amazing.
...innocent…
I woke up Friday morning with the sun shining on my face. It's like the universe aligned to make sure today would be absolutely perfect. Because my mom wasn't aware of our plan to skip school today, I ate my usual oatmeal and then grabbed my school bag, now filled with my bikini and overnight clothes rather than books, and waved goodbye to her before walking over to Anna's.
Her mom was still home, but actually encouraged us to have fun at the party, reminding us to stay safe and to not drink and drive, we can call her anytime. Anna rolled her eyes and all but pushed her mom out the door to work, informing her that this was not her first rodeo.
Anna grabbed my hand and we rushed upstairs to change. We both put on our bikinis and jean shorts, and while I decided to put on a white v-neck Anna decided to forego a shirt altogether.
I texted Jamie to see if she was finally awake, she was home from university for summer break and so far had not woken before 12pm. Half an hour later she texted that she was so we walked back home and jumped into our old silver van.
Jamie was only 19, but she used to date this guy called Jack whose family owned the nearby liquor store. She was pretty sure that she could get us something. At the last second, Jamie decided Anna should go in with her too. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Anna was only wearing her bikini top.
They came back ten minutes later giggling and holding two brown paper bags. "Tequila!" Anna shouted out and Jamie broke down with more laughter.
"Anna is way cooler than you." Jamie winked at me and I stuck my tongue out.
...innocent…
It took me a while to get used to showing the world half my butt, but after Anna forced me to take a shot and we had a competitive game of beach volleyball I had all but forgotten.
The entire junior and senior classes of both Makah and La Push high school were here. Even some pale faces from Forks. Someone brought their jeep and parked it on the beach, blasting music through all the open windows.
We walked up to the nearby diner and I gorged myself on fries, making sure Anna ate some too, to soak up the quarter bottle of tequila she had already consumed.
It was getting close to sundown when I finally saw him. We were splashing around in the water when I felt the pull, and I knew that if I turned around I would see him watching me. Anna must have seen him too because she winked at me and mouthed, "go get him."
I turned around laughing and shouted out his name. Quil raised a hand in greeting. I ran through the water and up the beach, and wearing only my soaked bikini threw myself in Quil's arms, wrapping my sandy legs around his waist.
"Hi." I smiled.
"Hi." I saw his eyes shift to the right and noticed then that Paul, one of the pack members, was standing with him. I slid off Quil and tried my hardest not to blush. It was a lot harder to be sexy when you had an audience.
"Hey, Paul. I didn't know you were coming." He shifted uncomfortably.
"Just came for a beer." He nodded his head towards the keg that the seniors had set up. "See you around Claire."
A beat of awkward silence followed. Quil looked me up and down and I noted smugly that his eyes seemed to widen at the sight of me in a bikini. I twirled slowly. "You like?" I tried to bat my eyes inconspicuously.
He gulped. "Where's the rest of it?" Quil reached his hand behind his head and rubbed through his hair.
"Less tan lines."
He turned his head to look over to where Paul was filling his red cup and I swear I heard him say, "more like none."
I grinned and reached out to grab his hand pulling him towards the van where I stashed my tequila. He reached in after me and pulled out my jean shorts. "Here you go."
I raised a perfectly waxed eyebrow. "I'm okay. But thanks." Then I unscrewed the paper bag covered bottle and took a big gulp. I shuddered as the fire ran down my throat. "You want?" Quil looked down on me disapprovingly. For a second I thought he was going to lecture me or tell me I'm too young. I was determined not to cry if he did. But then he surprised me by grabbing the bottle and taking an even bigger gulp than me without taking his eyes off me. I laughed and jumped up and down. "Yes, Quil! I knew you could be fun!"
"As if there were any doubts." He grinned. "But it's gonna take me a lot more than a single tequila bottle to get drunk. Wolf genes." He pointed at his chest.
I began to walk away from where Quil was leaning against the van, "I've always wanted to try a keg stand." I swear I saw his eyes shoot up from my ass when I turned around.
He jogged to reach up to me and handed me my shorts again. "Take it easy Claire. Let's start with a simple cup of beer first."
That afternoon bled into the evening, which bled into night, and I had the greatest day of my life. Quil ended up drinking about eight beers before he called it quits and decided to check in with Sam before coming back later. I drank a few more shots but only had one disgusting warm beer. Anna, of course, was absolutely wasted and was hanging off a new guy, Hal, she met here from La Push. He had invited us to spend the night at his house just a short walk from the beach.
Quil and I had chatted a bit and he even joined us in a game. Where I could feel his gaze burning into me, I had decided not to get my shorts sandy and had taken them off again, but every time I turned to look he was watching the ball. Stupid wolf reflexes.
"Woo party girl! You need to finish your booze." I smiled at Anna's wobbly form. Hal would have his hands full tonight. Literally.
I grabbed the half-empty bottle out of her hands and raised it to my lips. Next thing I knew Anna, Hal and a bunch of our friends were chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug!" I finished the entire bottle and they cheered. I laughed and twirled. The alcohol didn't taste nearly as bad now that I was already drunk. Somehow the glass slipped from my fingers and it shattered on the concrete.
"Oh shit." I stepped away clumsily. Not wearing shoes was probably a bad decision. The glass had cut my ankle and blood pooled to the surface.
Hal's nameless friend, who was smart enough to wear shoes, stepped up to me and in one fell swoop lifted me into his arms bridal style. A small 'oomph' escaped my lips before I wrapped my hands tightly around his neck. The last thing I needed was to be dropped into the glass, who knew how drunk he was.
He walked me over to the sand but before he could set me down, hot hands roughly ripped me away. Quil.
"What the hell Quil?" I looked over to see a hurt and confused look on the boy's face. "Sorry about that."
He opened his mouth to speak but Quil was already walking away. "Who was that?" His voice was clipped.
"That was so rude Quil. That guy was just helping me." Hiccup.
"Are you drunk?!" Quil's eyes shone with anger. And then I was angry too.
"Yeah, I'm drunk Quil. That's what you do at parties." I narrowed my eyes but found that the world was beginning to spin.
"And letting random guys paw at you? Is that also a part of going to parties?" I shoved at his chest to try and get down but Quil was simply too strong. And hot. I felt clammy against this heated skin.
"Why do you care, huh?!" I shoved again. "Let me down!" Finally, Quil set me down on a log that lay close to the shore. I breathed deeply and closed my eyes, but quickly opened them when it made the spinning worse.
"I care about you Claire." His voice was much softer. I looked up to find that he was frowning. "You're hurt."
"Huh?" He grabbed my ankle and looked at it in the moonlight. Then with a surprisingly gentle touch, he pulled out a small shard of glass. I hissed. "Ouch."
"Where are your shoes?"
"The car." Hiccup. Quil was gone before I finished talking and back just as soon. I briefly worried if anyone noticed his speed but when I looked around only a few people were left on the beach and all of them looked to be completely plastered, myself included.
He gently patted the wound with my sock and then put them on each foot. I tried my hardest not to fall back as he laced up my sneakers. Suddenly Hal appeared behind Quil with an almost unconscious Anna. "You coming, Claire?" When Anna stumbled again he picked her up easily and smiled down at her. She mumbled her thanks.
"Yup" I popped my p. When I tried to stand Quil pushed me back down. He looked at me questioningly
"Where are you going?"
I patted his head reassuringly. "To bed Quilly!" Hiccup.
"With this prick?" My eyes shot open. I had never heard Quil use a bad word before.
Hal turned to Quil, "Yo, don't worry dude, half the people here are sleeping at my house. It's cool."
Quil didn't deign with an answer. He simply picked me up and called over his shoulder, "Claire's staying with me. Have Anna call in the morning."
It was only a fifteen-minute walk to Quil's house from the beach but each step sloshed the liquid around in my stomach. And he was simply so hot.
At the last second, I was able to push enough out of Quil's arms to avoid vomiting on him. "Oh Claire." He set me down on my feet gently and held back my hair. Even though I felt sick and gross I couldn't help but feel like I'd just completed a teenage ritual. And Quil was the guy holding back my hair. The girl always ends up with the guy who holds back her hair.
Once we were in his house Quil set me down on his lumpy couch and grabbed me a large glass of cold water. I drank the whole thing in one go. Then I got up on wobbly feet and shuffled towards the bathroom. I peed for the first time all day, aware of the fact that Quil could perfectly hear what I was doing, but it honestly felt so good I could hardly care. I grabbed his toothpaste and spread it on my finger, drunkenly not having the forethought to wash my hands first. I scrubbed at my teeth and rinsed three times. I hated vomit breath.
I shuffled back into the living room and found that Quil had put on a movie and he held his arms open for me. I curled up beside him. And for the first time ever, rested my head in his lap. At least being drunk made me bold. I desperately tried to keep my eyes open because closing them made me feel nauseous, but I was getting more and more tired.
"Quil?"
"Hmm?" He moved to brush his fingers through my hair. I could have purred.
"Do you think I'm cute?" His fingers stopped for a second then he started again.
"Of course. You know that. Why?" I didn't respond. But not beautiful.
"Quil?"
"Yeah, Claire?" I closed my eyes again. A few moments later I heard him again, "Claire?"
"You are really hot." His fingers stopped their movement. Reality was beginning to slip away and I snuggled closer.
"Want me to move away Claire? Or turn on the fan?"
I tried to tell him that that's not what I meant but I'm not sure I was able to get the words out of my mouth.