CHAPTER 2
What do you wear to a party on the beach with a ton of stuck up bitches? Stumped yet? Yeah, me too. I stood in front of my closet with a towel wrapped closely around me when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at it shocked for a minute. Was it seriously six already?
"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck," I said I went over to the door.
I opened the door to find two girls. They were both beautiful, of course. I mean one of them dated Pogue. And they were both wearing clothes.
"Alright," I started, "this school is totally lame if they wear clothes to their parties. BOOO SPENCER BOO!"
They both laughed as they crossed the threshold into my room. The brunette (Kate?) was the first one to enter my room.
"Hi, I'm Kate Tunney," the brunette started. "This is Sarah Wheham. She had no idea what to wear either." I laughed. I couldn't help not to. She was funny.
"It's so nice to know I'm not the only one here on scholarship…and not from around here…and from a public school," Sarah babbled. Her nervousness made me laugh harder.
"I know what you mean," I said after calming down. "I feel like people look at me with like I have three heads. It's wicked annoying."
The rest of the time in my room went on like this; Kate helped me pick out what to wear, how to do my makeup and how to wear my hair. I ended up in the same mini-skirt and Old Navy flip-flops I wore to work with a tight cami under a tighter tank top. Sarah spent almost an hour trying to tame my wild curly hair with a straitening iron and ended up giving up leaving me with a quarter of my hair straightened. We all died laughing while we tried to fix it by getting it wet in the sink in my room.
"Time to face the music girlies," Kate said after my "makeover" was complete.
I looked in the mirror one last time, smoothed down my unruly hair, again giving up, and then arm in arm we all walked down the hall to the party.
Sarah and I were immediately wicked close. I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one to feel weird about transferring in my senior year. Kate was really cool too. I could see why Pogue got all smiley when I asked about her. Sarah drove while Kate gave directions. I played with Sarah's iPod the whole way, making fun of some of her taste, telling her it was so generic. Other selections on her iPod made me smile, thinking back to my friends in Methuen. I put down the iPod when Kate told Sarah to park in the woods. Whatever, that's where all the other cars were parked.
As soon as we all filed out of the little Volkswagen, people seemed to envy us. I figured it was due to the fact that Kate was the girlfriend of one of the hottest guys I've seen on campus; therefore she was a) popular as hell or b) on the hit list of every girl in school. Perhaps she was on both.
We laughed and talked as we walked down to the beach. Everyone was eyeing Sarah and me; they were trying to figure us out. They knew we were transfers but besides that we were a mystery to all.
As the beach came into view, I saw that it was lit up bonfires randomly scattered around the beach. There was a bar and a DJ spinning with his back to the waves. The students were in full on rave mode. My heart started pounding at the same beat as the energy that filled the night air. I grew more and more excited for this night to begin.
Kate dragged Sarah and I towards the center bonfire. It seemed less crowded there, almost as if it was reserved for the elite of Spencer Academy. I had never been the elite before and I welcome the change with open arms.
"Alright
so give us the scoop," I demanded. "Who's here?"
"The
first thing you have to know," Kate started as she turned our
bodies and pointed, "is that Aaron Abbott is a prick. He treats
girls like dirt."
"Okay," Sarah said looking around. "OO who's that?" she asked pointing to a very cute guy who was walking the perimeter of the elites bonfire.
"New kid," Kate answered. "I don't know much about him but I intend to find out."
"Oh he's looking over here!" Sarah squealed. I looked over at him and he and I locked eyes for a minute. I felt a chill run down my spine and I felt sick all over. I looked away as I stepped closer to the bonfire. Sarah and Kate walked over looked concerned as they came closer towards me. I promised I was okay, just a little chilly. Kate suddenly turned.
"They're here," she said becoming alarmingly serious. I looked to where she was looking and saw four figures walking down a hill. I came to realize that it was Pogue, Caleb, Reid and Tyler. I smiled when Tyler saw me.
"Who are they?" Sarah asked. I peeled myself away to hear Kate's answer.
"The Sons of Ipswich" was all she said. There was a sudden chill in the air as she said the sacred name.
"What are they, a boy band?" Sarah questioned.
"Yeah, I think I heard that their new cd comes out in a couple months," I joked trying to break the newfound tension among our small group. "I've already pre-ordered the cd. SO PUMPED!!"
We were all laughing when they reached us.
"Hey Kate," Caleb said. "Hey Maeve." Tyler whispered something in Caleb's ear only to have him turn back to smile, and say to me: "Hello Mae." He stressed my nickname to make it known to the group.
"Hey baby," Kate said as she threw her arms around Pogue and then receiving a kiss from him. "You're late," she whined.
"Sorry
baby had some stuff with the family," he explained. I stifled a
laugh at what he remembered from his family business. Pogue raised an
eyebrow at me. He then went on to ask: "Who's this?"
"This
is my new roommate Sarah Wheham," Kate explained. "You all seem
to know Evie over here."
"Hey there Red Reid!" Reid
exclaimed. I groaned.
"Umm, anyway," Kate continued. "Sarah this is my boyfriend Pogue Parry. That's Tyler Simms. This is Reid-"
"Garwin," Reid interrupted. "Reid Garwin. Good evening." He stuck out his hand for Sarah to shake and I felt déjà vu coming on.
"Good evening," Sarah said sincerely. She shook Reid's hand and then looked over at me. When our eyes locked she rolled her eyes. "Sarah."
"You know Sarah is my grandmother's name. You kind of remind me of-"
"Caleb
Danvers," Caleb interrupted as I busted out laughing. "And you
don't bring my grandmother to mind at all."
"Good," Sarah
giggled as Caleb gave her his mind-blowing smile. "Sarah."
"Does that line actually work on girls Reid?" I asked. That was the second time I had heard him use it in the last 6 hours and it hadn't worked either time. People looked confused. I didn't know why though. He used it only a second ago. "The one about your grandmother? Of course it didn't work on me, and Sarah was smart enough to see the idiocy of it. I wonder if there's a girl out there who would fall for it." The group laughed at a surprisingly silent Reid. I looked passed the Sons Of Ipswich to see another red head coming this way and man did she look skanky. "Try the grandmother line on this red head coming Reid. She looks slutty enough to fall for anything," I said causing all of the group to laugh hysterically.
"Hey Caleb," she said flirtiously.
"Hey Kira," he replied. However his eyes never left Sarah's. It was really cute.
"How was your summer?" Kira pressed.
"Uh," Caleb stumbled. Before he had the time to answer, Kira turned to Sarah and I. Sarah seemed a little nervous but I, on the other hand, stood my ground and glared at the intruder.
"So you two are the new transfers from the public schools?" Kira questioned.
"It seems you already know the answer to that honey," I said like I would say to my three-year-old cousin.
I was pissed that I was already making enemies. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tyler smile at me and next to him, Reid winked. I smiled back to Tyler and ignored Reid. I suddenly felt an arm snake around my waist. I jumped away from the unfamiliar arm and found the guy Kate described, as a prick, was right behind me. I pushed him off of me as I stumbled back into the Sons.
"What's wrong baby?" Aaron questioned. "I was just saying hello. No need to be scared. I don't bite… unless asked of course," he said as he clamped his teeth together.
"As if. I don't fuck grease balls like you. Here's some advice: instead of jerking off in the shower, try using some shampoo," I retaliated. I heard some chuckles and gasps from the group that had formed behind me.
"Fucking bitch," Aaron replied.
"That's all you got? Really? LAME!" I proclaimed. He glared at me. "Don't rack that brain of yours too much. It might explode from having to think for the first time ummm…ever?"
"Apologize to Kira," he ordered.
"Seriously? I just kicked the shit outta you and you want me to apologize to that!? How does that work Einstein?"
"You fags make me wanna puke."
"Is that so?" Reid piped in.
"Reid!" Caleb warned. "Look, I don't want any trouble."
"Well I do," Aaron said as he stepped foreword. All of a sudden, the new guy was in between Aaron and Caleb.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said. "She was being kinda bitchy." He pointed to Kira. Aaron shoved the new kid and as he did, the guy behind Aaron barfed all over Aaron's letterman jacket.
All the girls gasped and move away from the puking as the music stopped short and the DJ began to speak.
"Hey guys. Dylan just called and said that there are three cop cars head this way on Old Dell Road!" he exclaimed.
Everyone was in full on panic mode, scattering in all directions. The Sons, the new guy and us girls all took off towards the woods. As we entered the woods the panic lessened but only slightly. Smaller conversations broke off. I felt dirty listening to Pogue and Kate's who were right behind me. I settled for Caleb and the new guy, who were in front of me.
"Hey
man, thanks," the new guy said. "I defiantly thought that guy and
I were going to go at it back there. His friends puking sure did come
at he opportune time."
"Didn't it though?" Reid said from
behind me. I glanced back to see Reid grabbing Tyler by the shoulders
and shaking. I smiled but bit the inside of my cheeks to prevent my
wide smile. I didn't want people to think that I was overly noisy
even if I was.
I looked back up at Caleb to hear the tail end of and introduction. The new kid's name was Chase Collins. The name rang a bell but I couldn't place where or why.
We were at our cars now. I stopped to take my flip-flops off. I hated wearing shoes. I went bare foot all summer long and wore flip-flops as far into autumn as possible. Usually I started wearing shoes in late November. I walked towards Sarah's car as Tyler came up behind me.
"You were really great back there," he complimented. "With Aaron and Kira, I mean."
"Thanks," I said. I felt myself starting to blush.
"I've never met someone that could come up with insults that quickly before." I felt my blushing spread.
"Umm, ya," I tried to think of the nicest way to explain that if you couldn't hold your own with my dad's side of the family, you would get eaten alive. "You've never met my family." He smiled and laughed.
"BABY BOY!" Reid yelled. "The fuzz is coming and you're picking now to flirt with Red. Seriously? Get your ass in the car!"
"Yeah I better go too," I reasoned. He nodded and we walked off into the cars we came in.
Sarah was staring at Caleb as I entered the car. When I got settled in the back I jumped when I saw that this time I wasn't alone. This time, Chase was in the back with me.
"Oh my god," I said startled with my hand over my heart. "You scared the shit outta me!"
"Sorry," he said and he seemed to mean it. I still felt uneasy about him, though I no longer felt sick all over. "I'm Chase Collins."
"Maeve Reid," I said as I stuck out my hand. "But everyone calls me Mae or Evie."
"Got it Mae," he said looking down at my arm. "God Mae, you have goose bumps. Here take this," he said as he took off his jacket to give to me. I really didn't want it, I wasn't really cold and if I was, I would have wanted Tyler's not his. He didn't make me feel safe. He smiled an eerily smile, like he was trying to copy Reid's smirk but failing. I smiled back at him but I had a feeling the same excitement and happiness was not showing through my eyes.
We both sat forward and watched as Sarah attempted to start her car. Finally she sighed and leaned her head against the steering wheel. Looking up she rolled down her window.
"My car won't start!" she yelled out the window.
"Climb in with us!" Tyler yelled back.
"I can't just leave it here!"
"I can fix it!" Reid said calmly. I saw him say something to Caleb in the backseat as he got out of the car. He walked over as Sarah popped the hood. He stabilized the hood and then after a few moments, he said: "Try it now."
Sarah looked surprised and grateful when her baby started back up.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed out of her window. We could now see the police lights through the trees.
"Gotta bolt, move over," Reid said as he opened the driver's side of the Hummer.
"But it's my car!" Tyler whined.
"Move over baby boy now!" Caleb ordered from the back seatI giggled and bit my lip, as I finally understood what Tyler said earlier in the day when the Sons had invited me to the party.
We were then off, both cars going in different directions at high speeds. We reached the main road and Sarah slowed to not look suspious but it didn't matter, the cops weren't chasing us but after the Sons and I couldn't help but worry. I saw worry painted on Sarah and Kate's faces as well; fear for "our" boys.
Chase
broke the uneasy silence as he laughed. I had almost forgotten that
he was even in the car.
"How close was that!?" He
exclaimed. "Shit like that never happened at Hastings!"
I blinked at him, gawking at his lame excitement.
"At Methuen High," I started, "people think that it is fun to call in bomb threats." I laughed at the memories. "In my freshman year there were three in one day and they sent us home twice. The morons always got a kick outta doing bomb threats during every single MCAS session. Once there was a suspsous looking package at the entrance of the gym." I started to laugh harder. "My brother and I went to pick up my friend who lived like across the street from the school and we heard an explosion. Her dad is a teacher at Methuen and the entire staff of teachers had to stay for the rest of the school day. So we called him and asked if they blew up the box and he said YES! He took a video of them doing it and sent it to my phone. We all died laughing!"
By now the entire car was laughing. Sarah told a story how the Herald had done a story on the MHS bomb threats and so her school felt up staged.
"We were in the ghetto and we were getting up staged by this prissy rich town from the middle of NOWHERE!" she explained. "So the whole student body got together so they could upstage you losers in the suburbs. Of course it didn't happen because some asshole had to bring in another crazy PACKAGE! So whatever scary package wasn't bad enough, you have to go put it in the fucking school. That was the same day that we had planned our stunt. Red, just wanna let you know, that if you ever think of showing your face in my school, I will point you out and help with the ass kicking."
"You see," I started. "No one thinks that there is any school pride these days. Idiots!"
"Wow," Kate said while wiping tears from her eyes. Yeah she was laughing that hard. "Chase, maybe we should go to a public school for the rest of the year."
"Oh ya," he agreed sarcastically. "Ipswich high here comes trouble in the form of Kate Tunney. Be afraid, be very afraid."
After Chase said that we all couldn't stop laughing. Kate couldn't kill an icky spider even if it was going to kill her; she was as innocent as it came.
The ride home seemed slightly longer then the ride to the Dells but we had made it home. We had pulled into the dorm parking lot and were all filing out of the car. Chase opened my door before I even noticed that he had gotten out of the car. I smiled up at him.
"Thanks," I said as he took my shoes from my hand.
"My pleasure," he replied. In his free hand he pulled my hand into his. His hand was surprisingly cold for such a warm summer's night. It was early September so the nights were only a tad bit cooler than the days. His thumb nonchantly massaged the back of mine sending goose bumps up my arm; something wasn't right about the way his hand felt in mine and it wasn't just that it wasn't Tyler's hand. Something was wrong.
We entered the building to find nobody roaming the hallways, the lights off in all the rooms and an eerie silence filling the dorms. We stopped in between the two rooms.
"This is us," Kate gestured.
"We must be the last ones in. Oh!" Chase said. He dropped my hand and reached towards Kate's shoulder. I saw a spider climbing around as Chase took it off of her hair.
"Ew, Oh My God!" Kate whined as Chase dropped it to the floor and dragged his foot over it. "They're all over the place here."
"And who said that chivalry is dead?" Sarah beamed.
"No, it transferred in," Kate flirted. "Hey listen tomorrow Sarah and I are going into town to stock up our room. Do you want to pick any stuff up?" Kate asked while Sarah looked at us both pleadingly at me.
"Yeah sure it will be wicked fun," I said. "I have some goods to buy anyway." Chase nodded in agreement, smiling down at me. Creepy, I thought. His smile isn't pure like Tyler's or even mischievous like Reid's.
"I'm in 313," Chase said to us all. "Call me," he said directly at me with a wink as he walked away. Fuck!! My mind screamed.
"OMG!" Kate whisper screamed. "He is so totally into you!"
"Who?" I said as I unlocked my door ignoring the yelling voice in my head that was telling me to stay the fuck away from Chase Collins.
"CHASE!"
Kate continued. "And he's super cute!"
"Tyler seemed to
be interested too," Sarah commented. I smiled at the internal image
of Tyler and I as a couple as Sarah spoke those words.
"You're right Sarah," Kate thought out loud. "That's a tough choice." She was now leaning up against the wall in between the two rooms "They are both extremely cute and really nice…"
"But
Tyler seems too shy to do anything," Sarah interjected Kate's
thoughts. "You'd have to be like the man. Making all the first
moves or whatever."
"This isn't the 1950's and I have soo
done that before," I said. "Plus I think Tyler's a lot cuter.
And those eyes…Oh my God those eyes!"
"You're right," Kate said. "But be careful. He's the guys' Baby Boy and he never seems to be interested in girls. Be nice and take it slow with him."
"Umm okay Mom," I joked and then thought for a moment and remembered something. "Hey I wasn't the only one who was getting checked out tonight! Miss Wenham, what did you do to Mr. Danvers?" I said causing Sarah to blush vibrantly.
"I don't know," Sarah mumbled.
"Oh and don't forget about Reid, Evie," Kate reminded me causing Sarah to turn an even brighter red than I thought humanly possible.
"Oh yes, you're right!" I giggled. "After all, his grandmother has the same first name!" I mocked as I entered my room.
I heard Kate laughing outside my door and her mocking Sarah endlessly, followed by more laughs. I think I maybe able to adjust to prep school after all.