The next day after school Beth found herself perched on top of Lucia's bed while they were giggling about the romantic survey in the latest issue of YM magazine.
Beth threw her pen at Lucia, "I can't believe that the survey told me that my ideal type of guy is the bad boy. That's definitely not right. I've never had a crush on a bad boy in my life.
Lucia laughed at Beth, "Oh come on Beth, I think you have and still do. Just because a guy is a bad boy type, doesn't mean he won't treat you right. I see the way that you look at him."she said still giggling at Beth.
Beth looked at her with a serious expression. "Who are you talking about?", she questioned.
Lucia got a fit of giggles and collapsed on the bed, kicking her feet in the air, which rolling on the bed laughing.
"You can't be serious right? I think you know exactly who I am talking about. Its painfully obvious that you have a big old crush on my brother, Beth. I see the way your eyes follow him when he's around and the pained expression that you get on your face whenever he brings a girl around in front of you. You know he does that shit on purpose to make you jealous. I mean haven't you noticed that the girls come by after you get here to the house and not before, he obviously plans their arrival.", Lucia stated.
Beth looked at Lucia with questioning eyes and her mouth gaping open trying to look completely shocked at the accusation of her having a crush on Rio, "I do not have a crush on Rio. I don't know why you would even think that. I mean he's like my brother too, we grew up together. I couldn't think of him that way and he doesn't look at me in that way neither. I highly doubt that he coordinates the timing of his girlfriends to the house to correspond to when I get there. Why would he?", Beth responded, acting offended that Lucia would suggest anything to the contrary.
"Denial isn't a river in Egypt Beth. You can deny all you want but I know what the way you stare at each other means. I mean you guys practically eye fuck when you are in the same room. Its been obvious to me for a few years, ever since both of you hit puberty I knew that you liked each other ", Lucia explained.
Just then there was a knock on the door and Rio popped his head in. "Hey ladies. How's it hanging? Beth, how did you date with the illustrious football captain go?", he asked her.
Beth shook her head at him. "You should know, you were there for most of it bragging about how hot Rhea was to impress your boys", she said sarcastically.
Rio grinned big at her, "I just said my girl, I didn't say Rhea specifically", he said slyly, grinning at Beth.
Beth cocked her head to the side and bit her bottom lip, "Who else would you mean? You have more then one girlfriend that I don't know about?", she questioned.
Rio again threw his head back and laughed before stating, "Something like that." He then looked at her with a gleam in his eye.
"Did he kiss you?", Rio asked her point blank.
She looked up at him and met his gaze. "Yes", she admitted.
"Was it what you thought it would be?", he questioned.
She bit her lip, "No. It was not, it didn't make me feel anything but maybe I just need to practice more. He asked me to grab a bite to eat after the football game tonight so maybe I'll get another opportunity", she teased.
Rio shook his head, "No amount of practicing kissing will make that guy any less of an idiot, Elizabeth. He sees you as a challenge, something to conquer. He's not seeing who you are, everything that makes you special", he explained.
A pillow went flying across the room and hit Rio in the head, "Rio, stop being so loud for goodness sakes, I am sitting right here, you know you two aren't alone, right?", she yelled.
Beth looked at Lucia with confusion marring her face, "He's not being loud, Lucia, more on the quiet side.
Lucia rolled her eyes. "Beth, girl you really need to learn more slang terminology. Maybe Rio here will teach you." She said giggling.
Rio laughed, "Remember guys like him like it when girls are the aggressor. Why don't you be the one that kisses him first. Roll your tongue around to wrestle his tongue.".
Beth shrugged her shoulders. She grabbed her purse before stating, "I should go, I told Annie I was going to pick her up, well Ruby and I are picking her up to go to the game, so I need to make sure she's ready.
When she was out the door, Rio caught up with her. "Hey", he said as he stood in front of her, licking his lips.
"Hey", Beth repeated.
His eyes flickered over her face before he leaned his face gently down to meet her upturned head and landed a soft, gentle kiss on her lips. His lips were warm. His tongue pried open her lips and slipped into her mouth where it gently wrestled with hers. Beth moaned softly into his mouth.
"Kiss him just like that ", he breathed out as he took a step back from her, leaving her stunned and staring back at him as he jogged back into the house.
Beth touched her tingling lips and still felt the pressure of Rio's lips on hers. She was feeling confused. She felt like that kiss felt too personal, too intimate to be just some lesson that he was trying to teach her.
Three hours later Beth is sitting next to Ruby and Annie and they are huddled under a shared blanket that is draped across their laps on the outdoor bleachers. Their school football team is losing by 6 points.
Dean catches Beth's eye and waves at her from the sidelines as he is getting ready to go in to the game. Beth waves back.
Annie points out Dean to Ruby, "See there's Deansie. My sister wants to kiss him like this", she says as she holds up her hand and kisses her palm .
Beth points to Annie, "See what I have to deal with", she says laughing.
Ruby laughs and gives Annie a high five. She nudges Beth in the ribs, "I think someone is trying to get you attention", she notes as she points to a dark figure standing behind the bleachers. It was someone dressed all in black, black jeans, black jacket and a black beanie covering his head.
"I'll be right back", she tells Annie and Ruby as she gets up and heads down the stairs towards where Rio is standing.
Beth stands there with her hands on her hips.
"What are you doing here? I thought you told me last week you were going to be hanging out at Rhea's place during the game. ", she questioned.
"Something came up", he answered.
"The game ends in like 10 minutes, Dean is going to be looking for me. This is not the right time right now. I got to get back to my sister and Ruby", she told him.
He signed and dug his hands into his pocket, "This will only take a minute ok. I just wanted to make sure you are prepared for your date like we talked about.", he reassured her.
Beth shook her head at him. "Yeah, I think it will be fine. I have a couple dollars in case he expects me to pay for my food again", she explained.
Rio's eyes narrowed and he let out a guttural laugh, "He made you pay for you food last time even though he asked you out, not the other way around? What an asshole. His family has plenty of money, you basically carry your whole family with your job", he exclaimed.
Beth looked down at the mind and kicked a few rocks under her boot. "It was unexpected but it is fine", she said quietly.
Rio shakes his head, "Its not fine Elizabeth, you deserve to go out on a real date. That wasn't one", he said.
Beth bites her lower lip and looks down, "So where do you and Rhea go when you go out on dates?", she asked.
"I explained this to you, we don't roll like that.", he responded.
Beth shook her head and glared at him, "So why are you giving me dating advice to the contrary of what you have experienced? How do you know what dating is if all you do with Rhea is 'kick it'?", she said sighing.
Rio raised his eyebrows, "Its how I would picture dating for you, Elizabeth. I'm trying to help you ", he said, his voice tinged in frustration. "Just because you and I have a different definition of what dating is, doesn't mean I don't know what you like, how you deserve to be treated"
Beth threw her hands up in the air and started to walk back towards the front of the bleachers, "Thank you , but it sure doesn't feel like you are helping. ". Beth growled at him. Rio shook his head at her. He sighed, threw his hands in the air and stomped off back to the parking lot.
She came back to join Ruby and Annie just as Dean joined them. The team had lost by over 12 points. Dean was sweating profusely. When he took off his helmet, sweat dripped down his face and neck.
"You ready to grab that hotdog and soda pop with me?", he asked.
"Sure. Be right back guys", she said to Ruby and Annie as she walked beside Dean to the concession stand.
Beth walked beside Dean. A perky blonde cheerleader snuck up behind Dean and tapped him on the shoulder, "Great job there in the game. Without you we wouldn't have scored at all. We still hanging out at Coopers later tonight? the girl asked.
Dean smiled at her and not missing a beat said, "Absolutely, wouldn't miss it".
Beth was thinking that was some kind of after game party that the girl was talking about.
Dean waved at the girl as she walked away, staring for a few seconds too long at her backside.
Beth cleared her throat and he turned towards her. "Ehh, sorry we are planning to go to this after game party, all the football players and cheerleaders will be there", he stated.
Beth waited for him to ask her to join him but that didn't come, instead he turned around to order their food, not asking what she wanted yet again. Beth's stomach churned. She was hungry but she really hadn't wanted to eat a hot dog, she was going to order the chicken tenders instead, but Dean hadn't given her a chance to order that.
Beth thought back to what Rio had said about Dean liking assertive girls and she certainly wasn't following his advice by not speaking up. So she took a deep breath and gathered her courage.
"Actually "she said looking at the lady in the concession stand, "I would like the chicken tenders and fries please".
Dean looked taken aback for a minute as he held a ten-dollar bill in his hand.
"Uhh Beth, I hope you have chicken tender and fries type of money because that's not what I intended when I asked you to join me after the game at the concession stand. You should really get a hot dog", he confirmed.
Dean turned to the woman and said, "Two hot dogs please, no fries".
Beth frowned but didn't argue further.
She remembered what Rio had said about Dean liking a girl that flirts with him and thought she'd try her luck and maybe get an invite to the after game party.
Dean handed her a hot dog in a paper sleeve. He had already drenched the hotdog in ketchup and mustard. She already wasn't thrilled about eating a hot dog and wasn't thrilled about any condiments being added.
"Hey Dean, can I join you at the after party. I think we'd have a nice time together", she said taking a deep breath and then looking at him for his reaction. She's being assertive she thought, she's taking the plunge and asking to be with Dean.
Dean looked at her with raised eyebrows, "You know, I don't think that you would have any fun Beth. Its not exactly your scene.", he said patting her on the shoulder similar to how you would console an upset child.
Beth was persistent with everything she did. She would pester her teachers when her grades were teetering on the border of A's and B's. She wasn't going to give up on this opportunity.
She grabbed Dean's arm, "Oh come on now, it could be fun. I can meet all of your friends; we'll have some fun. I just have to let Ruby know that she should take my sister, Annie home and not wait up for me.
Dean looked like he was pondering what to say but he nodded his head, "Sure, go ahead, I'll drive you to the party".
After Ruby agreed to take Annie home with her, Beth ran back to the parking lot to find Dean was waiting for her in his car. She realized right away that they weren't alone. Two of his football teammates were squeezed into the back seat.
"Hey Beth," the blonde guy behind her greeted. Beth nodded at him. Dean only talked to his friends during the car ride over to the party. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
When they got there, she opened the front door and followed Dean into the house.
As she was sitting on a couch in the living room, sitting stiffly as Dean went to the kitchen, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Got you a beer", Dean said handing her the beer.
Beth opened it and took a few sips before deciding she didn't particularly like the taste of cheap beer. Dean started chugging his beer and then slammed the can on the coffee table.
Beth looked into Deans eyes and he started back at her. She took a deep breathe and gathered up her courage to enact Rio's advice and kiss Dean before he had an opportunity to kiss her.
Beth was feeling a bit bold after drinking the beer and recalling what Rio had said about making the first move surged her body forward onto his on the couch, mashing her lips against his. She then shoved her tongue past his tongue into his mouth and tried to wrestle his tongue while sucking on his bottom lip. He smelled like beer and cigarettes, Beth started coughing slightly into his mouth from the smoke, but she quickly recovered. Dean kissed her back for a moment, however stiffly.
Beth pressed her lips rougher onto his mouth and wrapped her arms arpund his neck.
Dean broke the kiss, sputtering and trying to catch his breath. "Woah, slow down there tiger. I wasn't ready for that" he said laughing.
Beth was still feeling confident and leaned in to kiss him again. She didn't expect what happened next. Out of nowhere, Beth felt Dean's hands on her chest shoving her away from him.
.
Her entire body started to lunge forward after the shove. She hadnt anticipated being pushed off of Dean and she lost her balance as soon as he pushed her off of him. She tumbled off of the couch to the floor, landing hard on her elbow. Pain shot through her body, and she pulled her crooked elbow close to her body. Tears started welling up in her eyes.
Dean didn't seem to notice her wincing in pain as she pulled herself back up off of the floor, he had turned his head towards his friends who were in the corner talking.
As she stood up, Dean's blonde friend came over and grabbed Dean's elbow, pulling him off the couch and eventually down the corridor, away from Beth.
As tears started falling from her eyes, she walked into the kitchen to use the house phone. She dialed a number of someone that she thought wouldn't hesitate to pick her up from the party. Someone she could trust.
Twenty minutes later, still crying in pain as she was sitting on the concrete front yard stairs of the house, a car pulled up and she made her way to it. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and opened the passenger side door.
The driver shook his head and turned to face her, staring at her tear stained cheeks.
"What happened?", Rio questioned her.
Beth shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to forget all about how terrible the night had been, "I don't want to talk about it right now. Just drive", she requested while wiping her tears away with her palm.