After surfing and school that day, Tovah found herself lying on the shagged carpeted floor of her living room listening to the powerful voice of Billie Holiday, accompanied by the sound of the needle dragging against the vinyl record. Her brown sun bleached hair was fanned out behind her and her eyes were closed, she was just soaking in the music. If there was one guilty pleasure that Tovah loved to indulge in, it was jazz, she could listen to it for hours and never get sick of it. Sure she loved jamming out to Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Zeppelin, but she preferred the sweet sounds of jazz to all other genres of music. The ocean and a good jazz record could get Tovah through almost anything, it's what got her through the devastation of her dad leaving her, and it got her through every fight her and mother had (and continue to have). And as quickly as the alluring peace had settled into her home, it has left just as quickly if not quicker.
"Sometimes I still can't believe you listen to this trash," A voice said, as the stranger gladly welcomed themselves into her home "And Edith Pee-pea-whatever, you don't even speak French you freak,"
Jay Adams, but he wasn't alone because there were another pair of feet (possibly two pairs of feet) making their way into her kitchen. Tiredly Tovah peeked one eye open to see Jay hovering over her record collection looking for something that he would find suitable to listen to. Once Jay lifted the needle of the record Tovah sighed heavily knowing that all hopes of relaxation were over, the boys were here and it was no longer "me time", it was "we time".
"So what the fuck are we doing tonight? It's Friday, it's almost seven and I am still sober," said Tony's muffled voice as he raided her fridge
"Don't you guys have that skateboarding competition in Del Mar tomorrow?" Tovah said as she propped herself up on her elbows
"So what?" Jay said as he still sifted through the pile of records "Holy fucking shit Tovah, is there anything here that isn't classical music bullshit,"
"Jay, you know my records are upstairs, all of these are my mom's," she said while she rolled her eyes "And I mean, shouldn't you guys be resting up? Tomorrow is a pretty big deal, right?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so, but what are you our mom now Tove?" Tony snorted "Shouldn't you be resting up," he mocked in the highest falsetto he could manage
"Alright fuck you Tony, I'm just sayin' if you guys fuck up tomorrow Skip is gonna have both of your asses served up on a plate,"
"We ain't gonna fuck up, now if it was you skating tomorrow I'd be worried, but you're not so chill Tovah girl," Tony said as he flopped onto the burnt orange couch with an apple in his hand
"Yeah Tovah calm the fuck down, why are you so tense, is all the sexual tension between us? Because that can be easily fixed," Jay said this
"Shut up JB, no one wants your pencil dick anywhere near them," Tony said as he threw the core of his apple at Jay's head
"Oh yeah? That's not what you were sayin' last night!" Jay said has he thrusted his pelvis in Tony's direction making crude faces "Oh yeah Jay baby, right there, oh baby, yeah, yeah,"
"Jay that might be the single most homosexual act I've ever seen from anyone," Stacy said as he emerged from the kitchen empty handed
"Whatever. But seriously, what the fuck are we doing tonight? I'm tryna get motha' fuckin' trashed!" Jay exclaimed as he jumped onto the back of the couch, and sat that perched like a big crazy blonde bird
"Jay you are speakin' my language right now bro, lets go back to my place, invite some people over and get wrecked," Tony said as he pushed Jay off the back of the couch "You two up for that, or are you gonna stay in and bake muffins and read Jane Austen novels?"
Tovah quickly looked over at Stacy who looked back at her knowingly, when it came to parties Tovah was all for it, a joint and a few beers always sounded like a good time to her, but she didn't have the greatest self control. So therefore an unspoken pact was formed between her and Stacy, if Stacy was at a party with her he watched over her and made sure she was alright, and although it seem like she was just a nuisance to Stacy, sometimes it gave him something to do for the night, since he never truly partied as hard as the rest of the group. And if Stacy didn't go to a party, that ultimately meant Tovah didn't go to that party either. So Stacy gave her a small smile and a quick nod of the head, which singled all party settings were go for Tovah.
"Yeah we're cool for tonight, but are you two, I mean are you sure you don't want to have another round of passionate sex with each other?" Tovah mocked "And kudos to you Tony, Jane Austen very educated of you,"
"Alright cool, well lemme go home make a couple phone calls and we'll get this shit started," Tony said as he hopped up from the couch "C'mon JB, we'll see these two ladies soon, but right now we got a party to set up,"
Jay got onto to his knees from his position on the floor and crawled over to Tovah, who was still sitting on the floor, he straddled her hips placing the full weight of his hips onto her's so that she could obviously feel the outline of his penis pressing against her. Then continued to lean his upper-body forward so that his chest were pressed against her.
"I want you like this tonight, except no clothes, and drunk," Jay whispered into her with a smirk
"As I've said before Jay boy, in your dreams," Tovah whispered back to him with the smallest of smiles on her face
Jay quickly got up off the floor and made his way over to Tony, who was messing around with the tiny glass cat figurines her mom collected. And as soon as they had both come, they were gone, and it was just Tovah and Stacy.
"So, you and Jay?" Stacy questioned with a raised eyebrow as he made his way over to the couch
"No, not at all. So you and Kathy?" Tovah smiled up at him
"No, not at all." Stacy mocked
"Oh bullshit Stace, I know she's the only reason you're going to Tony's tonight. You wanna make sweet, sweet love to Kathy Alva." Tovah laughed and then continued "You know, she kinda looks like Tony, except with tits, is this your way of saying you like Tony?" Tovah laughed even harder throwing her head back reveling in her own jokes
Stacy watched Tovah as she laughed, something he often found himself doing subconsciously, there was just something about the way she laughed, and honestly there was just something about her. How no matter what was going on she found something to laugh about, something joyous although everything seemed like shit. But that was also her biggest fault in his opinion, she was always hiding behind her laughter, she never truly let anyone see all of her, she never showed that weaker side of her. Stacy couldn't even recall the last time he had seen her cry, or that last time she was showed that she was genuinely hurt over something. But that was just Tovah, she had this tough outer exterior and she made people believe that's how she was.
"So you must want Kathy pretty bad, huh? Especially if your gonna go out tonight even though you have work in the morning," Tovah said absentmindedly, as she chipped away at the navy blue nail polish that was painted haphazardly on her fingers
"Yeah, I mean, she's hot, and uh, nice and stuff," Stacy said awkwardly
"Such a way with words," Tovah smiled "But Kathy is cool, I guess. But do you think you can handle her?" Tovah said as she shifted her eyes up towards him
"Can I handle her?" Stacy questioned, "What does that even mean?"
"Kathy, I mean, she gets around, and I mean she gets all around Stace,"
"Are you tryna' says she's a slut? Because last time I checked your record wasn't that clean either,"
"Me!" Tovah exclaimed as she finally lifted herself off of the floor and stood above Stacy with her hands on her hips "You know for a fucking fact that I've only had sex with one guy, and that one guy would be Tony. You don't see me at parties hooking up with everything that walks through the door with two legs and a dick,"
"Oh c'mon Tovah, you're only saying this shit because you don't like Kathy," Stacy said as he rolled his eyes at Tovah
"So what? I am also sayin' this shit because I don't wanna see you getting yourself hurt, because you decided to try and get all serious with her, and all she wants is sex from you!"
"Shut up Tovah! Jesus Christ, you've always been jealous of Kathy because everyone thinks she's hotter than you, and because guys hook up with her, instead of you, because you're such a bitch all the time"
After those words came out of Stacy's mouth the entire house went silent, the clocks didn't dare tick, and all of the appliances had stopped making their noises. Tovah looked at Stacy, staring directly at his pupils unblinking, Stacy looked back at her with the same ferocity.
"Stacy get the fuck out, get the fuck out right now. Have fun with Kathy-fucking-Alva,"
Stacy got up without a word, and slammed the door behind him, making the entire house shake. Tovah looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost nine and she was still wearing the clothes she had worn to school that day, but she didn't care, she didn't have anyone to impress since everyone thought she was a "bitch" anyway. But since her shirt smelled like salt water she decided she would change that before going to Tony's, she quickly made her way upstairs and changed into a white peasant top and threw the dirty Bob Dylan t-shirt onto the ground. She made her way downstairs and left through the back door; Tony only lived about four blocks away so it was cool for her to walk there and back. By the time she had made it to end of Tony's block she could already hear music pumping out of the Alva household, and see kids on the front lawn, Tovah slowly made her way up the block to Tony's house, the entire time having a debate inside her head of whether or not she should turn around and go back home.
"Yo, puta! Walk a little slower and the party might be over by the time you get here!" Tony yelled at her from his porch
Tovah shook her head and picked up the pace, once she had made it to the front of Tony's house the first thing she noticed was Shogo and Wentzle taking hits from a bong she had never seen before.
"Shogo is that a new one?" Tovah asked as she made her way over to the two of them
"You know it girl, Tovah, meet Shelia, meet Tovah," Shogo said as he passed the bong over to Tovah
Tovah took the bong into her hands, lit the marijuana on fire and inhaled, after she had cleared the bong she passed it to Wentzle and walked inside and into a sea of people. It always surprised Tovah how many people Tony seemed to be able to fit inside his house, and every time she came over for a party it seemed like more, and more people were crammed inside. Tovah slowly made her way over to the fridge while surveying the group of people that had gathered inside of Tony Alva's home. It looked like everyone was here, it looked like a normal party, but it didn't feel normal, at least not for Tovah, not without Stacy. Tovah grabbed a beer out of the fridge and stared down at the canned drink, she began idly tapping her nails on the unopened tab, debating if she should drink or not. Tovah scanned the crowd again; watching people take shots, smoke cigarettes, shotgun beers, and other various party activities.
"Toe jam, you ready for some shots girl!"
Tovah turned her head to see Chris stumbling towards her with a handle of vodka clasped in his hands, he tripped over his own feet on his way over to her and was making his way towards the ground until, Paul came up behind him and stopped his fall.
Paul looked up at her smiled "Hey Tovah, what's up?"
Paul Constantineau was gorgeous, with his straight shoulder length brown hair, and that unbelievably sexy smirk that was always etched onto his lips. And don't even start with his chocolate brown eyes, those eyes, it was like someone has melted the finest European chocolate and poured it into his irises.
"Hey Paul, uh, nothing just, hangin', you know," Tovah said as she nervously played with the ends of her hair
"Yeah, just hangin' with your unopened beer, you tryna take a couple shots?"
"It's not even your alcohols, smaul," Chris slurred as he slumped against the kitchen counter
After Tovah and Paul had both ignored what Chris said they began pouring shots for the two of them, and as the minutes passed so did the amount of vodka in the bottle. Six shots later Tovah found herself sitting on the front porch with Paul smoking a bowl, and listening to Jimi Hendrix.
"So, are you coming to Del Mar tomorrow?" Paul asked quite slowly as he looked Tovah in the eyes
"Yeah, I'll be there, are you nervous?" Tovah tilted her eyes towards the wooden floor of the porch trying to avoid eye contact with Paul
Paul gingerly began twirling a piece of her curly brown hair around his pointer finger, making Tovah have to move closer to him so he wouldn't be pulling her hair. And with the lock of hair still wrapped around his finger Paul placed his lips drunkenly upon her's and Tovah kissed back with the same drunken ferocity. Tovah's hands found their way into Paul brown locks, and Paul's hands found their way to the hem of her blouse and began toying with it, slowly pulling it up exposing more of her tanned flesh. The sloppy drunk kisses continued as did the drunk touching, in any other situation Tovah would have been thrilled to be hooking up with Paul, but this didn't mean anything, the touches, the kisses, they meant nothing. So Tovah pulled away, she pushed his hands away from her body and scooted away from him, creating a small distance.
"Mmm, Tovah baby, what are doin', c'mere," Paul mumbled as he attempted to pull her back to him
Tovah shook her head and tried to force his hands away but he quickly placed his lips back onto hers, and took a firm grip onto her hips. Tovah was able to wriggle her feet in the perfect position, and to say the least; she kicked him where the sun don't shine, hard. Paul fell back and began muttering obscenely as he fell back onto the porch, Tovah wobbled up slowly catching her balance from the effects of the marijuana and the alcohol. Some people had started to make there way outside to grab from fresh air before going back into the crowded home, and a car had just pulled up in front of the Alva household. Tovah stared expectantly at the car and it passengers, wondering who it could possibly be since most of their friends didn't own cars, and then Kathy stepped out, and was soon followed by Stacy. She stared silently at the two, as they held each other's hands, and she watched as Stacy pulled one of his hands away to shyly push his blonde hair behind his ears, and how Kathy so confidently kissed him and ran her fingers through that beautiful blonde hair. Tovah began to feel a prickling feeling in the corners of her eyes but quickly pushed away those feelings, and now was the time she decided to leave; she was so over this party and just wanted to be home. She made her way down the porch steps, keeping her head down and walking swiftly, she just wanted to make it past Stacy and Kathy and she would be home free.
"Oh hey Tovah!" Kathy greeted
Fuck, Tovah cursed inwardly "Hey Kath, I was just about to leave so,"
But she was cut off by Kathy "What? Why? Stay, have fun,"
"No, I'm just gonna," Once again cut off
"You're gonna what? Go home and sit in your house alone?" Kathy laughed, "The night is still young, stay,"
Tovah silently starred at Kathy for what felt like hours, that was until Tovah felt her eyelids closing slowly, and all consciousness began to slip away, she felt her knees buckle, and then darkness.
"Cool move you guys! You know Tovah can't drink a lot, and you all fucking know that she can't smoke pot and drink all in the same night!" Stacy said angrily
"Alright bro, chill the fuck out, she's gonna be fine, Jesus Christ," Tony said as he ran his fingers through his curly hair "She's a big girl, she knows how to handle herself. And didn't you guys get into a fight today anyway?"
"Did she tell you that?" Stacy said, his tone lightening up considerably
"No, she didn't have to tell us anything. The moment she walked up to my house without you I knew something was wrong, and she was hanging with Paul all night," said Tony.
"So what'd you guys fight about?" Jay asked Stacy
Stacy sighed "Well I pretty much called her a bitch, and then said the only reason she was mad at me for being with Kathy is because people think Kathy is prettier than her,"
"Low blow dude," Jay smirked "But like what started it? Because you obviously didn't just come out and say that shit for no reason,"
"She has been gettin' on my case about Kathy ever since she found out about it. She keeps saying shit how she thinks that I can't handle a girl like Kath, and how she thinks Kathy is a, uh," Stacy glanced over at Tony "Tovah thinks Kathy is, easy,"
Tony shrugged his shoulders "Well I'm not gonna say she isn't, but that's my sister we're talkin' about so chill,"
The party at the Alva home was still in full motion, another one of their close friends with a car had driven Tovah home, and that's where she was now. The three boys were standing out on the front porch, in the chilly night air not exactly worrying about Tovah, but they were concerned.
"Stace come inside, we can go upstairs," Kathy said as she came outside and clasped onto Stacy's hands attempting to pull him inside "Oh, hey guys," Kathy said awkwardly once she noticed that her brother and Jay were outside too
"Yeah, go upstairs Stace," Jay said as he made his way back inside to the party
Tony followed suit but not forgetting to stare down Stacy as he did so, as if to warn him, if he messed around with his sister in his own house, he was a dead man.
"Uh, Kathy I'm just gonna head home, cause you know I have Del Mar tomorrow and I wanna be at the top of my game,"
"Oh, Stacy you're so cute, but you'll do fine tomorrow, come inside with me," Kathy said as she looked up at him with her full lashes and pouty lips
"I'm serious Kath, I'm gonna head home." He said after kissing her on the cheek "I'll pick you up tomorrow?"
Kathy sighed dejectedly and nodded her head, Stacy gave her another quick kiss on the cheek and began to turn away but Kathy was not satisfied. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to her, and placed her lips onto his; into a kind of kiss only Kathy Alva could deliver.
Kathy pulled away slowly pulling slightly at his bottom lip with her teeth in a teasing manner "Good night Stacy,"
And with that she went inside, Stacy walked slowly to his car thinking deeply about many things; Del Mar, his newly budding relationship with Kathy, and an old friend. All seemed important, but would gaining one of those things be worth losing another?