Anna pulled me into her room and sat me down on her bed. She looked like she was up to something.
"I got something for you," she said, reaching into her closet and hiding something behind her back.
"Okay…?" Anna's surprises could sometimes be…unexpected.
"Ta-da!" she produced a beer bottle from behind her back. "I got a few for each of us."
I couldn't believe she'd think I actually wanted a beer, knowing full-well what had happened to me the last - and only - time I'd tried it.
"That was nice of you, Anna, but I think I'll pass."
"Aw, c'mon Scout! It's summer! Live a little! It'll loosen you up for tonight!" I wasn't sure why I needed to be "loosened up" to go see a movie, but she popped off the cap and handed it to me anyway.
"Anna, I really don't…"
"You'll thank me later." She took a healthy swig of her own and sat down next to me. I pretended to take a sip of the beer as she watched, and set it down on the bedside table, fully intending to empty it out the open window the second she left me alone in the room. Just the smell of it, as I raised it to my face, had made me practically want to throw up. I felt like I would forever equate the smell and taste of beer with the way Steve had tasted that night as he forced himself on me. I felt sick, and quickly changed the subject.
"What time is the movie?"
"Seven-thirty. We have to go down to the shop at ten past, and my Dad will drive us." I looked at the clock. Six forty-five. Twenty-five minutes to kill.
"Want me to do your makeup?" I noticed Anna was wearing more eyeshadow than was really necessary for any thirteen year old - or anyone, for that matter. She may have been only a year older than I was, but in terms of experience with boys, beer and makeup, she was years ahead.
"Not if it's gonna look like last time." No way was I gonna be seen in public looking all tramped-out like she made me look the last time.
"I'll tone it down a little, okay? C'mon, let me do it! You'll turn all the guys' heads tonight!"
"Okay," I finally agreed, seeing my opportunity to dispose of the beer. She went out to the bathroom to get Alison's makeup bag, and I quickly dumped it out the open window. Luckily, her bedroom window just opened into an alley. As a matter of fact, it was the alley Darry and Alison regularly ducked down to kiss.
"Okay, let's get you all spiffed up," she said, returning just as I was sitting back down on the bed. I pretended to drink from the empty bottle and set it back on the table. I wasn't sure why I bothered to fake it; I just didn't feel like defending my not drinking.
Anna watched and smiled.
"See, I told you you'd thank me! I'll turn you into a proper rebellious teenager yet, you'll see."
I wasn't so sure that was who I wanted to be, but I didn't say anything.
After fifteen minutes or so, Anna allowed me to check out her handiwork in the mirror. It wasn't nearly as bad as the last time, and, after I wiped a bit off of my eyes, I was willing to be seen in public with it on.
"Makes you look older," she said. I wasn't sure I really wanted to look older, but figured leaving it on for the movies wouldn't hurt. Heck, it was dark in there anyway. I could always wash it off before Darry got back to pick me up. I was surprised to see her reach behind her back, producing another bottle of beer out of the closet and opening it.
"Anna!" I eyed her questioningly. Was she serious? How "loosened up" was she planning to be for this movie, exactly?
"What, it's not like I'm gonna be driving, or something!" I just stared at her. I was in nowhere near the all-fired hurry that she was to grow up.
"Shouldn't we go downstairs soon?" I asked. It was five past seven.
"Yeah, as soon as I finish this," she said, taking another huge swig from the bottle.
"I'm just gonna go to the bathroom before we go, then," I said, excusing myself. I used the bathroom and then stood and stared at myself in the mirror for a minute. I guessed I did look older, but I didn't really look like me. Something about it just felt wrong. I almost washed it off, but decided not to hurt Anna's feelings, since she was so proud of the job she'd done, so I ended up leaving it.
"Gum?" Anna held out a stick for me as I came out of the bathroom. I had been wondering how she got away with drinking beer without anyone smelling it on her breath. Gum. Clever. I wished I'd had gum the night I'd gotten drunk, maybe Steve wouldn't have figured it out.
We went downstairs, where Mr. Harvey hollered a few instructions to the guys in the kitchen then followed us out to the car. I was surprised when he dropped us off at the movie house and turned and said to Anna:
"Now, you sure you're all set for a ride home?"
"Yup. Rachel's Dad is gonna drive both me and Scout home. I left Ali a note, but if she doesn't see it when they get back, just tell Darry that Scout is already home."
"Okay. Well, call the shop if there's any trouble. Have fun, girls," he said, and pulled away from the curb. I looked over at Anna.
"You didn't tell me Rachel was coming." She was a mutual friend of ours from school, but we had never really hung out together.
"That's because she isn't," Anna answered, taking my hand and leading me down the street in the opposite direction of the ticket booth.
"Where are we going?" I pulled my hand away from her grip. "What's going on, Anna? We're gonna miss the movie."
"I know. I got something better than a movie planned. It's summer now, and I plan to have a good time. A really good time."
"What are you talking about?" She turned the corner into the space between the movie house and the pharmacy.
"We're going to a party! A high school party!" she said, practically jumping up and down with excitement.
"What? Whose party?" I didn't like where this was going.
"Eddy's. Well… okay, Eddy's brother's." Eddy was her latest love interest, the one about whom I'd assumed she had some kind of juicy information she wanted to share with me during the course of the evening.
"Anna, I don't even know him. No way would Darry let me go to a party at his house."
"See, that's the beauty of it. Darry will never know. Eddy's gonna pick us up, then he'll drop us both off at home later. We just go to bed, and nobody's ever the wiser." She giggled, and I found myself wondering if she'd started drinking beer before I even got to her house. She was talking way too fast and was leaning up against the wall in a way that made it seem like without the support, she might fall.
"Anna, I don't think I should be sneaking around. I mean, I finally got Darry trusting me, he would kill me."
"I'm telling you, there's no way he's gonna find out. It's a foolproof plan." She giggled some more.
"Look, Anna, things aren't quite as simple around my house as they are in yours. We can't screw up. I can't screw up, or I'm never gonna be allowed to go anywhere."
"Fine, then, don't come! I was just trying to do you a favor, get you some excitement for a change." She turned to walk away but stumbled and reached out a hand to steady herself, leaning back up against the wall.
"I know, Anna. I just… I can't." I was so worried about screwing up, about Darry finding out and thinking I was sneaking around behind his back. It just wasn't worth it to me.
"I said, fine. I get it. Go to the movie. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you about all the fun you missed!" She was mad, and as I was trying to think of how to get her to really understand why I couldn't go, Eddy pulled up in his car with two other guys.
"Hey, baby," he called Anna over, and she stumbled to the car. I followed. Anna hopped in the front and she was immediately handed yet another beer, which she eagerly accepted and started drinking.
"C'mon Scout… hop in." I was surprised the guy knew my name - Anna must have told him I was coming. I hadn't ever really seen him before, except for a quick view of the back of his head while he and Anna were making out in the parking lot on the first day of exams, while Kevin and I sat on his car.
"Thanks, but… I can't," I said, watching Anna downing the beer while plastering herself all over him. I admit, kissing Ben was pretty nice, but I was pretty horrified at what she was doing. I would never have done such things, certainly not in public.
"Why not? I'll take you home - we know you girls got curfews. C'mon, it's gonna be fun. Danny got two kegs. And his friend's got a band playing." I knew enough about this kid to know that Danny was his older brother, from the boys' basketball team.
"I appreciate the offer, really, but my family, well… I could get in big trouble for not being where I'm supposed to be." Anna laughed and threw down her empty bottle to the floor of the front seat. She was immediately handed another one from one of the boys in the back seat.
"She's just chickenshit," Anna said, still mad. "She doesn't want to get in trouble with her big brother," she mocked. "She'd rather watch a movie."
"You know why I can't go, Anna," I said quietly, trying not to get angry in return, knowing that was partly the beer talking.
"You won't get caught, I swear," Eddy promised. "Come on, Scout, you of all people deserve some fun." I wondered what he meant by that. I sometimes forgot that everything that had happened to my family had been public record. Strangers knew about all the crap we'd been through. Everybody thought they knew us, just because of what they'd read in the paper.
I was watching Eddy as his hand was rubbing Anna's thigh, coming dangerously close to places it shouldn't be. She was laughing and falling all over him, and suddenly it occurred to me what could happen to her at this party. My stomach clenched and I almost had to cover my mouth, thinking again that I might be sick.
I looked this Eddy character in the eyes and knew immediately that I didn't trust him. Here he was, taking her off to his house, where two kegs of beer awaited them, and Anna already had a four-beer head start. I was scared for her, for what he might do to her when she couldn't fight back.
At that moment, I realized I had a choice to make. I could stay at the movies, and not have to worry about upsetting Darry or getting caught doing anything bad – or, I could go with Anna and make sure that the same thing that had happened to me didn't happen to her.
The choice was clear. If I could possibly prevent what Steve had tried to do to me from happening to somebody else I cared about, and I didn't, I would never forgive myself. As I watched Eddy's hand heading up the back of Anna's shirt, and saw the disconnected look in her eyes, my mind was made up. I would have to explain it to Darry later. No way was I gonna let Anna get hurt and scared like I had been. I took a deep breath and opened the car door.
"Let's go," I said, hoping for the best as I climbed into the back seat with two complete strangers.
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A/N: Thanks for reviewing, readers. You make my day/night :-)