I pulled on a pair of jeans, one of my nicer button-shirts, threw some gel in my hair and tiptoed upstairs to watch for Emma. It was stupid, really – no one was home, obviously, but I didn't want to take any chances. I was already in a lot of trouble and I didn't want to make things worse.
Which I suppose means sneaking out was maybe not the best choice…
I saw headlights pull into the driveway. I parted the front blinds to confirm that it was Emma – blue VW bug; yep, it was her. I grabbed my wallet and flew out the door, happy to be free of my house and my psycho family for a little while.
I hopped into the passenger side and gave Emma a kiss. She looked hot. She had some tight little dress on I'd never seen before and she'd clearly taken time getting ready. I started to wonder if maybe we should head to her house instead.
"Ready?" she asked with a cheeky smile on her face. I brushed a hair out of her eye and kissed her again. She tasted good. But no, our time was short and I knew she'd been looking forward to this party.
"Let's do this!" I cried. I leaned back in my seat and propped my feet up on the dashboard.
"Get your feet down, goddamnit!" she screamed at me. I smiled and rolled my eyes. So Emma. I was glad to be with her tonight. She sure had a way of keeping me on my toes.
It took a half hour to get to Casey's house where the party was being held. He lived in an older house out in the sticks near a huge sheep farm. The place reeked like hell, but his parents were out of town and no one within miles could hear the rucus (or see the beer…) we were making so it was pretty ideal. Emma pulled up on the front lawn and parked next to an old restored black Mustang. I jumped out to inspect.
"Ah, nice!" I cried, running my fingers across the shiny waxed surface. "One of these babies is going to be mine someday," I mused to Emma. She waited patiently. For about five seconds. Then grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the house. I looked off into the neighboring field on our way in – the sheep were grazing and the moon was hanging lazily not far above. It provided enough light to see the hills in the distance and a few more houses dotting the landscape. It was pretty sweet.
"Take a look at that, Emma," I said. I pointed at the moon and she groaned.
"Come on, you want to talk about the moon? There's beer inside, let's go get lit!" I laughed (partly at myself) and followed her inside.
The party was raging. I could swear the entire school was there. I said hi to my buddies and grabbed and drink for me and Emma. She had already found her giggly gaggle of friends so I gladly left them to their gossip and found my buddy Mike playing poker over by the den. I slapped him on the shoulder, gulping my beer.
"Hey man, you making the big bucks yet?" I teased.
"Nah, man, we're playing for condoms," he said with a grin. Sure enough, in the middle of the table was a pile of about 10 condoms of varying brands, shining like pirate doubloons. "Whoever wins gets to get laid as many times as there are condoms."
I laughed. "Some of us don't have to play poker to get laid, man." He shoved me out of the way.
"Get the fuck out of here, you're throwing off my game." I meandered behind him to analyze his hand.
As I was determining my opinion of his, well, completely useless hand, I noticed someone walk in the door. A couple of girls screamed and ran up to a long-haired brunette who stood grinning by the door in her hoodie. It was her. The girl in the plaid skirt. No plaid skirt this time, but she did have on an even sexier black skirt and big clunky black boots. I watched her walk shyly in, then survey the room. She caught my eye and I flinched, trying to pretend I was looking at the wall behind her, but I don't think she bought it. She scowled, turned away, and got swallowed up in the crowd.
I chugged the rest of my beer and then downed Mike's too.
"Dude, what the hell?" he cried. I ignored him. She's not gonna get away that easy.
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