Graduation Trip

Chapter 3

It's not like I'm not used to waking up early. Because I am. I honestly am. But after a night of sex, thinking about Owen's sister, and talking to Wes, I was not ready to be woken up by the sound of someone raping about vegetables over some horrible music.

"Wes?"

He just groaned, rolling over. I poked him, but he still didn't wake up. Huffing, I got up and changed clothes before gong to see who was blasting music at five in the morning. Who else, but Owen.

Annabel was still sleeping on the couch, though it was evident by the way she was laying that Owen had been on it with her at some point. Now though, he was gone. Grumbling, I made my way to the kitchen and peaked out the back door. He was out there, sitting in a chair with the outside table pulled up to him with his laptop sitting on it.

"Hey," I said, opening the door and walking out there. Owen glanced at me before going to his laptop and pressing pause on whatever program he was using to play his god-awful crap.

"Sorry. Was it too loud? I moved out here because Kristy complained yesterday. I'm just not used to anyone hearing it. Annabel sleeps through it."

Lucky girl…

"Just a little," I told him. Him saying sorry was throwing me off. He always seemed to so mean to everyone that I was just as ready to be mean to him too. Then had had to go and be kind to me. "What is it, anyways?"

"Techno."

I frowned. "I guess I don't like techno then."

He did something with his computer before play another song. "How about this?"

"Still techno? Because I don't like it either."

"Maybe it's just women. Bella doesn't like it either."

It took me a second to realize he meant Annabel. Hearing him refer to her with a nickname with weird to me, if only because I didn't picture him as affectionate. At all.

"Maybe," I agreed. "But I don't think Wes likes it either."

"He doesn't. Bert does."

Of course.

"I think he just likes anything you do," I said, sitting down across from him in a chair.

"Bert's okay, I guess. I always wanted a little brother." He frowned when he said that. "I mean, I like my little sister. She just has some…weird obsessions."

"Like what?"

"Annabel."

"…What do you mean?"

He laughed a little, smiling. Smiles weren't something that I saw a lot on his face. "She thinks Annabel's amazing for some reason. I don't know. She always has."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Annabel was a model and she liked her work or something. She's also obsessed with music."

"Ah. So you guys get along there."

"Her favorite singer is Bitsy Bond. And she likes Nicholls Lake and Jenny Reef."

"So no?"

He let out a loud sigh. "She's just a lot to deal with sometimes."

"Do you have any older siblings?"

"No."

"Then you don't get it."

"Huh?"

Borrowing from Wes yesterday, I said, "You don't understand what it's like to be the younger sibling then."

"I guess I don't, but it doesn't seem nearly as hard as being older."

"Then you must be a pretty good big brother. It was hell dealing with my sister."

"I think I am. She just gets frustrated with me sometimes."

"I have no idea how," I told him, nodding at his laptop. He shook his head.

"Now she's obsessed with annoying my mother by calling her by her first name. Teresa."

"That annoys your mom?"

"Yes."

"I could never get away with calling my mother by her first name."

"Me neither. But I'm healthy."

I didn't know what to say to this, but fortunately he moved right along.

"Back to music though, it's not her fault. She's just not enlightened."

"Enlightened?"

"Right. Neither are you."

I don't know if I was supposed to be offended or not, but I kind of was. "What?"

"Do you like music?"

"Yes," I said, frowning at him. "Just not what you like."

"Then you're not enlightened, more than likely."

"Just because everyone doesn't like what you like doesn't mean that they're not enlightened. Maybe you're the one that's not enlightened and just have been lying to yourself the whole time."

He took a moment to take in what I said and I feared that I would become his next victim. Instead, he just took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I just…there is no right or wrong in music."

"…Oh, okay."

"And if you honestly believe that you are enlightened, then I'll take your word for it."

"…Do you think anyone other than yourself is enlightened?"

"Annabel's sister Whitney is pretty enlightened."

"Annabel has sisters?"

"Two."

'What about the other one?"

"She's…something."

I laughed at the way he said that and he smiled for me again.

"What's going on out here?" Wes asked playfully as he walked out there. "Mace, do you realize how early it is?"

"I woke her up with my music," Owen told him. "Sorry."

Wes came up behind me and patted me on the head. I looked up.

"You have got to stop doing that."

He just smiled at me. "You wanna go for a run?"

"No," I told him, looking back at Owen, but he was already into his laptop again. "We can tonight, if you want."

"Fine, but we are running."

"Whatever."

Wes patted my head again before going back in, calling back to me that he was going back to bed.

"You two sure do run a lot," Owen mentioned to me.

"Yeah. I was in track back in middle school. Did you do sports?"

"No," he told me, shaking his head.

"Really? You seem like you'd be good at boxing."

"R and R."

"…What?"

"Rephrase and redirect. It's an Anger Management thing."

"Right," I said as again someone came outside. This time it was Annabel. She didn't say anything as she sat down in the chair next to her boyfriend.

"You're up early," Owen said, sliding her his coke.

"Everyone kept walking by. The couch was a stupid idea."

"Most of yours are."

I felt slightly bad that Owen and Annabel were stuck with the living room, so I decided to offer up that we changed rooms for the rest of the week.

"No thanks," Owen said for the both of them. "Not after what you and Wes did in that room."

Annabel chocked on the coke. "Owen."

I must have been blushed because she quickly apologized for him. I just shook my head.

"If you guys are fine with that couch, that's okay. I don't really want it anyways," I told them.

Owen shrugged. "Don't get so embarrassed. I was just being honest. It's not like anyone thought you guys weren't going to have sex."

"Stop, Owen," Annabel told him. "God, you are really trying to annoy me this trip, aren't you?"

"What have I done to you?"

"Besides humiliate me multiple times?"

"You're exaggerating."

"You still embarrassed me multiple times."

"I'm sorry, okay?" He snapped, frowning at her. "When some guy calls my girlfriend a slut, she needs to go ahead and realize that I'm going to punch him."

"Maybe I don't need to be your girlfriend then."

"Maybe you don't."

Awkward much? "I'm, uh, going to go back to bed."

"No, you don't have to leave," Annabel said, standing. Owen just reached out and grabbed her arm. "Let me go, Owen."

"No. Sit."

"O-"

'Sit."

She did so, clearly ready to fight with him more. I made my exit then, though once in the kitchen, I lingered a little, waiting to make sure she didn't end up getting punched. As seemed to be the usual with their fights, she ended up moving closer to him, whispering stuff in his ear. Owen just leaned back, eyes closed, nodding his head. Annabel looked up suddenly, and stared at me through the window. Shit, I was caught. She just smiled a me before reaching over to Owen's laptop and turning off the music. I thought that he would stir, but he just sat there, letting her do as she wished.

When I got back to our room, Wes was sleeping again, so I just got into my side of the bed, closing my eyes. I wasn't tired anymore though, and found sleep too hard to come by. So when I heard Kristy, Bert, and Monica's door open and close, I got up to see which one of them was up.

It was Kristy. She went into the kitchen in search of something for breakfast. I followed as she pulled out a Pop-Tart.

"Hey," I said, glancing out the window to see Annabel was now sitting in Owen's lap as he used the laptop, though he was no longer playing his music. Annabel was playing with one of the rings that he kept on his fingers.

"Hey."

"So did you guys do anything last night? Annabel said that you guys went out to eat."

"Yeah,"

I wasn't used to one word answers with Kristy, so I knew that she was still mad at me.

"So…You'd see Mr. Amazing?"

"Look, Macy, I know that you know that we're fighting, so cut the bullshit, alright?"

Okay… "Well, I'm just trying to talk to you, Kristy."

"Stop acting like yesterday didn't happen."

"I'm not."

"Because if there is anyone to be mad at right now, he's out there with his girlfriend, playing on a laptop."

"I actually talked with Owen this morning and I think that he's a pretty okay guy."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "You think everyone's an okay person as long as they're nice to you. Hell, you dated Jason and he was the biggest douche alive."

"Okay, he was not that bad. And compared to the guys you have dated in the short year I've known you, he was a freaking God."

"Oh, whatever."

"At least I can stay with a guy longer than two weeks."

"I can too."

"Michael turned out to have that creepy obsession with rape and lasted two months, David had a foot fetish and lasted three, Sam was the biggest alcoholic alive who lasted a week, J-"

"Alright, I get it. Just stop already."

Going to stand next to her, I put a hand on her arm. "I'm not trying to be mean, Kristy. Besides, we didn't really fight anyways. Just had a disagreement. It's not that big of deal. And Wes isn't even mad at you anymore."

"He's not?"

"No," I told her. "And remember when we were in the restaurant? He was ready to fight for you. If anything, you should be glad that he can get so upset over you. It just means that he cares about you."

"I guess you're right."

Monica walking into the kitchen stopped us from talking. She just took the other Pop-Tart out of the pouch Kristy had before walking off.

"She was really upset about what Wes said to me too," Kristy told me.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I told her, though I had my doubts. It was still early, so now that my issues with Kristy had been cleared up, I went to go get back in bed.

"Either stay or leave," Wes mumbled against his pillow. "The door slamming keeps waking me up."

"I'm staying," I told him, getting into bed.

"You better." Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around my body. I ran a hand down his arm, sighing a little as I tried to sleep. Eventually, it worked.

When I woke up, no one was home. They had all ditched me. Seeing as it was about noon, I figured they had all gone to get lunch. Frowning, I went to take a shower, angry that they had all left me. I mean, I was the whole reason that they were here after all.

After taking a shower, I went out on my own to explore Colby. While I was walking around town, I had an unfortunate sighting of Mr. Everything. Only he was with his friends again and they spoke to me.

"If it's isn't one of the tourist dicks," the one I recognized as Wallace said as I walked out of the gas station. I had gone in to get a drink and he was walking in with one of the guys that tried to pull Jake away. Mr. Everything was standing next to a truck, filling it up, while the drunk from yesterday waited in the truck.

I blushed, trying to ignore him. The guy with him hit him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, Wallace. She didn't do anything to you."

"You shut up, Adam."

Mr. Everything looked up and saw me. He just shook his head, going back to filling up his truck. Jake saw me though and got out of the truck as Wallace and his friend went inside.

"Hey, it's you!" He rushed to me as I tried unsuccessfully to get away. He grabbed my arm, forcing me to face him. "You know that girl, from last night. I want her number."

"Jake, you're already down. Leave her alone," Mr. Everything called from the truck as he made his way over to us. "Let her go."

"No, I just want to talk with her."

"I mean it." Mr. Everything came and put his hand on Jake's shoulder. Then he looked at me. "I'm sorry."

Kristy was right. He had amazing eyes. I just nodded as Jake let me go.

"Eli, seriously, I just want to talk to her friend." Jake smelled like beer and had probably cured his hangover from last night with a few drinks.

"Not today, Jake." Mr. Everything, or Eli as I now knew, pulled his friend away. "Tell your other friend's that we're sorry too."

Wallace and Adam were coming back out of the gas station, so I went ahead and started walking again. I was almost back to the beach house when my phone rang. Seeing it was Wes, I decided that I was still mad at him and didn't want to talk to him yet. So instead, I shopped a little before going back to the beach house.

"There you are," Wes said as I walked into the house. "You know, it would be nice for you to pick up your phone sometimes."

"And it would be nice to not be left alone in the house for no reason."

"You were tired."

"Was I? I don't remember you waking me up to ask if I was."

"I could tell, alright?"

"Alright." I went and sat down next to him on the couch. "Where's everyone else?"

"Out still. I came back to bring you food and you weren't here."

I kissed his cheek. "At least that allows us to be alone."

"You wanna do some alone stuff again? Right now?"

"Not that alone stuff. Where's my food?"

He got up and came back with a fast food bag from the kitchen. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

Wes sat back down next to me, peaking into the bag at my feet. "So you bought stuff?"

"Just some clothes."

"Ew." He sat it back down with obvious disdain. "Do anything else?"

"Well, I saw those guys from Last Chance."

He frowned. "They say anything to you?"

I thought about telling him that they called me a tourist dick, but thought better of it. If I was Annabel, I would have said it if only because I knew it'd rile him up. Wes was so against confrontation that I doubt anything could make him fight for me. Owen would jump in front of a train for Annabel and then beat the shit out of the train driver. Wes would mourn me for awhile before hooking up with some other chick.

"No."

"Really? Good. Jackasses."

I ripped my burger in half and gave one part to him, making him smile at me. I leaned against Wes as I ate.

It's not like I didn't know that he cared about me. Because he did. He always treated me okay. And it's not like I want to be that girlfriend with that boyfriend, like Annabel is. Then again, he was ready to fight for Kristy yesterday and she wasn't even really hurt by Jake's comment. Though, I guess he's known Kristy longer and probably cares about her more. I guess…

"They're not that bad. Besides, according to Kristy, one of them's Mr. Everything."

He sighed, taking a bite of my burger. "She thinks that every guy she meets is Mr. Everything."

"Not every guy," I mumbled, remembering the huge crush she has on Wes. And apparently, he was alright with her too.

"Yeah, but she dates some jerks."

"Eli doesn't seem like a jerk."

He looked down at me, curious. "You know his name?"

"Maybe they said something to me. Maybe."

Wrapping the arm I was leaning against around my shoulders, Wes asked, "What?"

"Nothing really. The drunk just wanted Annabel's number."

Wes laughed. "Guess that punch wasn't enough for him."

"Guess so." I still leaned against him. "Owen's not that bad of a guy."

"Where'd that come from?" Wes kissed my head. "And I know. That's what I've been saying since the beginning."

"Who can ever trust your judgment?"

"I would hope my girlfriend."

"I'm not yet convinced."

"You better get convinced. I am, after all, the man. I get to make all the decisions."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Damn right."

"Wes."

He just chuckled, kissing my head again. "Maybe I'll let you make a few decisions."

"Like what?"

"Like…whether we're cat people or dog people."

"Dog people."

"See, I was thinking cat, but I'll allow you to make that choice."

"Cat? You don't strike me as a cat person."

"I'm very surprising, Mace."

"Oh, I know," I said, swatting his hand when he tried to take my burger. "Stop it."

"What?" He ran his hand up and down my arm. I breathed him in deeply, cuddling against him.

After I ate, Wes and I went out to the back porch, wanting to be alone for a little while longer.

"This is going to be a long summer," I mumbled to him as we sat down on the steps. My beer can from yesterday was still there and I remembered that our last day, I'd have to do a sweep for all of them, not wanting my mom to know that we had alcohol while we were here.

"Good. I want it to be."

"Why?"

"The longer it will keep you away from college."

"Defriese isn't that far away."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You can drive down to see me."

"Nah," he said, bumping our knees together. "That's a smart person place. I'll feel out of place there."

"You're smart too."

"Not like you."

"If you wanted to go to college, you could."

"My time's better served watching over Bert and playing with metal."

"Playing with metal?"

"Yeah, and sometimes accidentally creating genius works of art."

"Sometimes. A lot of it is just a hit and a miss."

"Is that so? Your sister doesn't seem to think so."

"I'm more interested in what she thinks when she finds out that we had sex in her bed."

"Oh, we'll wash the sheets. No big deal."

"Yes, big deal. Owen heard us."

"Is that what the two of you were talking about this morning? Sex?"

"No," I said, pushing him. "It came up."

"How?"

"I offered for us to take the couch tonight-"

"What?"

"-but, he declined because he didn't want to sleep in the bed where we just had sex."

"Well, we weren't taking the couch regardless. Annabel had her chance to choose anywhere and she chose the couch."

"She was being nice because we were all arguing." I sighed. "I don't understand how they're together."

"What do you mean?"

"She's so nice and he's so…taut and confrontational."

"I'm sure that she can be mean too."

"Everyone can be."

"She sure yells at him enough."

"Only when he's a complete idiot. Which, by the way, is a lot."

"I thought that you liked him now?"

"I do."

"You're so confusing."

"Wanna play? While we're still alone?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Alright. Whose turn is it?"

"Let's see…after sex, you asked me a question and then…Did I ask you? I don't remember."

"No, so it's your turn."

"Okay."

"…Are you going to ask?"

"I'm thinking, Wes."

"Hurry up before I take your turn."

"What's the best memory you've ever had?"

Wes kicked his feet for a second, thinking. "I guess…it was the Christmas after my dad left. Back then, he still gave a shit. Bert had been having a very bad time and my dad came down and made him feel all better. He, uh, bought us a lot of presents. I even a new game system."

"Sounds like a pretty good Christmas."

"Yeah, it was. It was also the last time we saw him."

I wanted to ask why. I wanted to know so much more. Instead, I just leaned against his arm.

"What was your best Christmas?" He asked.

"The last one with my dad too, I guess. Now, looking back on it, it was kind of eerie."

"Why?"

"He, uh, didn't give…me my gift."

"How's that eerie?"

"You know."

"No."

"It was one of your sculptures."

"Oh. I thought…I didn't know it was for Christmas."

"Yeah. He died before I got it. My sister found it."

"I still don't see how that's eerie."

"You don't think that it's weird? I mean, it's kind of like a premonition, right?"

He shrugged. "I think…that everything happens for a reason. Everything in your life is foreshadowing something. That's why everything is so damn ironic."

Closing my eyes, I said, "I think that…my dad would have liked you."

"He did."

"Wes."

"What? He was my coach. Bert too. Coach Joe. Plus, I met him when he bought your gift. He was nice then too. He even remembered me. It was cool."

"My dad was a really nice guy, I guess."

"Yeah. And not that fake nice like your mother."

"Wes."

"She's really good at it though. I guess it comes with her profession."

"She's just really guarded these days."

"For the past year?"

"Try the past forever."

He smiled at me. "Once you get to know her…okay, she's still pretty harsh, but I don't think she hates me that much."

"I prefer not at all."

"Me too."

"Do you ever sleep?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

I sat down in the same chair I had that morning, right across from the same person.

"What are you doing now?" I asked him.

"I'm actually trying to find new songs."

"You still haven't finished your playlist for Sunday?"

"I have, I have," Owen said. "This is for personal usage."

"How do you find these song anyways?" I asked, frowning. "I've never heard any of the things that you play. Ever."

"That's because you don't know where to look."

I popped open the Pepsi in front of me. "Then enlighten me, Owen."

He laughed. "You're really good at turning other people's words on them."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. You do it a lot."

"I don't notice."

He laughed at that before playing another song, though he played it softly, as not to wake the sleeping other. They had all gone to a party tonight while Wes and I went running. Kristy went to the party in hopes that she would see Mr. Everything, but that was in vain.

"So did you guys have fun at the party?"

Owen glanced at me. "If you're asking if I punched anyone, no."

"That's not what I was asking. I just wanted to know if you had fun."

"The music was terrible, if that's what you mean."

"Figures," I said, shaking my head. "Have you ever been with anyone and just liked what they were listening to before you showed up?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Who?"

"Guys in bands that I know."

Rolling my eyes, I took a sip of my soda. "So you didn't have fun?"

"I don't know. I'm not into parties. Annabel is. I wouldn't have gone, had she not wanted to. Besides, I think that the crazy chick doesn't like me."

"Kristy? Yeah, you're probably right."

He laughed. "You're honest. I like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

It was silent for a second before Bert came out there.

"Okay, Owen, so imagine that the Big Buzz doesn't happen. How do you think the world will end?"

I got out of my seat and Bert took it. Going to Kristy's room, I had to listen to her talk about Eli for awhile. I had yet to tell her that I saw him and his friends, if only to avoid the conversation. We were talking for awhile when Monica finally clear her throat, clearly wanting to go to sleep. I left them to go get in bed with Wes.

"It's nice, being with each other every night," he told me as I changed. "Seeing you naked constantly is a nice perk."

"It's dark. You can't see."

"I can see enough."

"After all the times that I've been naked in front of you, wouldn't it have lost the effect?"

"Meh."

Laying down in bed, I said, "Seeing you naked has lost it's effect."

"Explains why you still whine, 'Oh, Wes. Wes. Shit, Wes. Mmm, Wes'."

I elbowed him. "First off, I do not sound like that. Secondly, shut up. Someone might hear you."

"Wes!" He groaned in a high-pitched voice.

I sat up, putting my hand over his mouth. Wes just licked it, laughing when I removed it.

"Macy, you have my spit inside your mouth. How is on your hand worse?"

I wiped it on the bed sheets. One more thing to not tell Caroline about. "I don't know. It just is."

He closed his eyes. "Anyways, night, Macy."

I ignored him, mad that he had spit on me. Wes finally rolled onto his side.

"Are you upset?"

"No."

"Macy."

"You spit on me."

"Here." He held out his hand. "Lick me."

"Okay, that is so not the context I ever planned to hear you say it in."

"Oh? You plan for licking to begin to take place?"

"Wes."

"I have no problem with it, just to let you know."

"Wes, seriously, stop it."

He just smiled at me. "I'm sorry I spit on you. If you want retribution, take it. I won't mind."

"No," I said, rolling over to face him. "It's not that serious."

"Good." He moved forward a little and kissed me for a moment before pulling back. "Tomorrow, I want to go out with Kristy and them."

"What? Had too much alone time?"

"Yes."

"Wes."

Kissing me again, he stayed close to me, pushing some of my hair out of my face. "Never."

We kissed again before Wes moved back and closed his eyes. "Night then."

I pulled the blanket up closer around me, yawning. "Yeah, night."