CHAPTER 4: PARTYING WITH THE RICH (APRIL 6TH, 1984)
I was over at Sam's house, chilling with Andy. Allison and Sam were upstairs, getting all primped and dressed up. Her friend, Rebecca, was throwing a small bash since her parents were out of town for the weekend. She invited Sam, Andy, Allison, and I. Well, she invited Sam and told her to invite some of her friends as well. As far as I know, it was just supposed to be the four of us, my two friends, Blaze and Firebug, Rebecca, and two of Rebecca's friends. She went to some public school in Naperville and was exactly like Sam, beautiful, smart, and popular.
"Saammmmm!" Andy yelled from next to me. "What is taking so long?"
"Hey, Sporto, I am sitting right next to you. Please don't yell in my ear."
"Sorry, Bender, didn't realize that your ears were so sensitive." I punched him in the arm playfully and smiled. We were already getting past the awkwardness of the athlete and the criminal being friends and actually having fun when we hung out and stuff…we did things that guys do and acted like guys.
"Hey, Sam, Basketcase! Hurry up already!" Turning back to Andy, "Why do girls take so long to get ready?"
"Sam, it's expected because of her reputation. Allison, I don't know."
"Unless Sam is totally girlifying her."
"Is that even a word?"
"It is in my vocabulary." Both of us just laughed as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it. It's probably Blaze and Firebug."
"What are their real names anyway?"
"Danny and Jenna. They hate being called by their real names so I gave them those nicknames."
"Blaze and Firebug?"
"Don't ask, it's a long story. "
The doorbell rang again and Blaze yelled, "Bender, open the damn door before I break it in. I don't think your girl would like that!"
"Shut the hell up, Blaze!" I let Firebug and him in and led them into the kitchen where Andy and I were sitting. "Blaze, Firebug, this is Andy. He's one of Sam's friends."
"Howdy, sport. What do you do?" Blaze asked, pointing to his letterman jacket.
"Wrestling, varsity team."
"Nice, you must be good then."
"Yeah, you could say that. Are they coming or not? It's about a forty minute ride out to Naperville and Rebecca may throw a fit if we are really late. I'll go check on the girls." He didn't even make it down the hall because Sam and Allison FINALLY came downstairs.
"What took you guys so long?" Blaze asked as the two of them walked into the kitchen.
"We're girls; does that answer your question?" Allison shot back as she set down her oversized bag.
"Touché."
Andy broke the silence, "Well, it is only 6 p.m. and we have a party to get to. Let's get going."
Andy, Allison, Sam, and I climbed into Andy's car and waited until Blaze and Firebug were ready. I don't know what my two friends were doing, but the forty minute ride in Andy's car was spent singing at the top of our lungs with the radio. We had the chance to be teenagers for once in our lives. We didn't have to worry about the stresses of being the beauty queen, the athlete, the criminal, and the basket case. It gave us all the chance to get out of our houses and away from the parents that put so much stress on us. I don't think that I have had that much fun in a long time.
"Alright, ladies, and Bender, we have arrived. Let's get this party started!" We all cheered and climbed out of his car. Blaze and Firebug did the same. Blaze caught sight of Rebecca's house, "Damn, this is a house."
"Remember to not get in trouble, Blaze. We don't need the cops coming out and your parents don't need to bail you out of jail again."
"Yeah, yeah, don't be a downer tonight, man. We came to have some fun and that's all I care about." The six of us made the walk up the driveway and onto the front porch. I pressed the doorbell button and Rebecca opened the door almost immediately. Sam and her both squealed when they saw each other before giving each other a big hug.
"Come on in guys, let's get this night rolling." Sam took the opportunity to introduce us to Rebecca.
"Becky, you obviously know Andy and John already. This is Allison, Andy's girlfriend, and Blaze and Firebug, John's friends." She must have explained who was coming before because Rebecca didn't ask about their names.
We spent the next hour blasting music, telling stories about our lives, and munching on snacks and drinking pop. I know Sam has told Rebecca about Vernon. Andy was currently telling Rebecca about the whole "Breakfast Club" deal.
"Yeah, Bender…excuse me, John here really knows how to push Vernon's buttons. If you met the guy, you would understand how tough he is."
"Yeah, I have detention for two more months, thanks to him." We were interrupted by a knock on the door and this high pitched voice that Andy, Sam, and I recognized.
"Becca, girl, are you home?"
"Shit," was all that came out of my mouth. "Becca, have a place we can hide and chill in for a bit?"
"Yeah, you can either go upstairs in my room or in the basement. What is going on?"
"We'll explain later. Just get her out of here. Well, Sporto, where to?"
"Downstairs, come on guys." The six of us ran down to the basement while Becca went to get rid of Diana.
We stood quietly in the basement, listening to Becca talking with Diana.
"Come on, you know it's your turn to host a party. Plus, your parents are out of town, which makes it easier to have people come over."
"I told you that I was having friends over tonight and that any partying that was going to happen has to occur elsewhere."
"Well, they can come party with us."
"I don't think they will want to. Please, just leave, Diana. I promise we can have a party tomorrow night here, no questions asked. Just not tonight."
"Alright, you are acting quite weird, Becca. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, now please leave. I have friends to get back to." She left without another word and Becca called us back upstairs. We were all laughing because we knew Diana would be a bit mad that she couldn't have a party at Becca's tonight.
"Sorry about that, I told her I couldn't hang out tonight and didn't think she would show up. Now, can one of you please tell me why you guys had to hide?"
"She doesn't know about John and me. No one at Shermer does. Andy and Allison are the only ones. It's still a secret to everyone, except those here of course."
"Don't worry; she won't hear a peep from me. Your secret is safe with me. Now come on, we have a party to continue." We all let out a cheer and proceeded to return to the family room and have some fun. Eventually, we all settled down to watch a movie. Andy was the first to fall asleep, followed by Allison, Blaze, Firebug, and Rebecca. As the credits began to roll, I looked over to see Sam asleep, her head resting up against Rebecca's shoulder. She was so happy to see her friend tonight, which made me happy. Living forty minutes away in Shermer didn't allow them to hang out as much as they wanted to. I felt bad for her because Rebecca and Sam were inseparable and Rebecca knew everything there was to know about Sam's life. You could not find anyone more supportive than Rebecca.
I must have been the first of the guys to wake up. I looked around and saw Andy and Allison and Blaze and Firebug still cuddling together on the couch asleep. I heard giggling coming from the kitchen. Climbing off the couch, I stretched before walking into the kitchen myself. "Morning ladies, sleep well?" I walked over to Sam and wrapped my arm around her waist.
"We did, we were more tired than we thought."
"Well, we did a lot of dancing last night."
"By the way, how did you get out of detention? You should have been there by now."
"I don't know, I received notice that it was cancelled and something about how Vernon couldn't be there and no one would take it over for a weekend."
"Well, it's cool you managed to get out of it."
"Yeah, but I still have to serve an extra weekend now. Are we going to make breakfast soon?"
"Rebecca was about to start a batch of pancakes and we got sidetracked looking at some pictures of us as kids. We were laughing at this one because it was taken like fifteen or sixteen years ago and it was right after a sleepover much like this one, but just with the two of us." She slid the picture over to me and I couldn't help but laugh a little bit.
"You guys are really cute. You still are cute. No, not cute, beautiful…beautiful young women."
"Sam, keep this guy around. He is so nice and genuine and modest," Rebecca cuts in. The two of us look at her, both smiling and stifling back a laugh. "I'll go start breakfast now."
After a pancake breakfast and a few more hours of hanging out, the six of us were on the road back to Shermer. Andy and Allison were talking about their plans for tonight. Sam sat quietly in the back with me, staring at the window. I made a mental note to talk to her once Andy dropped us off. As the ride went on, I swear I could hear some sniffling coming from her side of the car.
When Andy dropped us off, Sam made a beeline for her house and tried to shut the door before I got inside. "Don't think you're getting rid of me that easily."
"John, I just want to be alone right now. Can we talk later?"
"Not so fast, angel. Something is bugging you. Just let me come in and stay here and you can talk when you are ready." She reluctantly let me inside and shut the door behind her. I walked to the kitchen and began to dig for the ingredients needed for an ice cream sundae. "Sam, come in here and sit down." She kicked off her shoes and shuffled her way into the kitchen before taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Grabbing the ice cream, I scooped three or four good size scoops into a bowl before topping it with all of Sam's favorites. Once I was done, I grabbed two spoons and the bowl and carried it over to the table. Setting it down in front of Sam, I grabbed some wood and watched as Sam stared the ice cream down. She eventually picked up a spoon and took a bite.
"You ready to talk now?"
"…I'm worried that Diana found out about us when she showed up at Becca's last night."
"Sam, baby, we were in the basement and we kept quiet long enough for Becca to get rid of her. She couldn't have, especially when our names were never mentioned."
"I know, but still, she has her ways of finding things out."
"If it happens, it happens, angel. The main thing is that we have each other and that is all that matters."
"I guess you're right. If it gets out, I don't know what I would do, but it would involve you, that is all I know."
Sam and I spent the rest of the day together, until her dad returned home from his trip to visit his mother in Springfield. When I climbed into my room, I could hear my parents arguing in the living room. Their arguing brought back the reality for which I lived in and it just made me wish I could go back to last night.