Shooting Stars and Satellites

I stared at the brick house in front of me, taking in a deep breath. I really wasn’t in the mood for a party, which I’ll admit, was strange for me, but Kennedy had convinced me to come. He had talked my ear off for a good ten minutes before I finally gave in and threw on an oversized grey and white top, along with a pair of dark blue jean shorts and light grey flip flops. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to get dolled up, either.

“Come with me,” Roxie stated before grabbing my hand and leading me inside of the overcrowded house. “Move … move … get the fuck out of my way ... thank you … move,” she mumbled as we pushed past people. I couldn’t help but to laugh at the reactions she was getting.

When we reached the kitchen, she immediately went for the bottles of liquor. She paused, staring at each one for a moment, before turning back around, holding up two of them.

“Jack Daniels,” I told her. She nodded her head and poured a healthy amount into two cups. After handing one to me, she took the other cup for herself. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she smiled. “By the way, don’t mention this to Kenny, please. He’s ”banished” me from liquor,” she said, rolling her eyes.

I laughed. “And why would that be?”

She shrugged and gave me an innocent smile. “No reason …”

“Uh huh, I’m sure,” I laughed.

We were both only two sips in before I saw my brother and John walking into the kitchen. I looked to Roxie, who chugged the remainder of her drink before quickly throwing the cup behind her. I stifled back a laugh as they both approached us.

“Hey, baby,” she cooed, giving him her best innocent face.

He eyed her suspiciously. “What was in that cup?”

“What cup?”

“The one you threw behind you,” he said.

“Uh, water,” she smiled.

“Don’t lie,” my brother laughed.

“It was just water, though. Right, ‘Laska?” Roxie said, looking to me.

“Right, Roxie,” I said, trying not to smile.

“Busted! Big time!” John yelled, causing us all to laugh.

“I can’t come to a party and not take shots, babe,” Roxie pouted.

Kenny laughed and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go dance,” he stated before pulling her away.

I laughed and shook my head before taking a sip of the whiskey in my cup.

“What’re you drinking, Dove?” John questioned.

“Jack Daniels.”

“Nice choice.”

I nodded my head. “And you?”

He held his cup in the air. “Good ole Cuervo, baby.”

I smiled. “Nice choice,” I mocked.

We both stood awkwardly next to each other, sipping our drinks. When we both finished, John turned to me.

“Take a shot with me?”

I widened my eyes. “I just drank whiskey straight,” I said.

“Live a little, Dove,” he smiled, grabbing two shot glasses.

I sighed. “If I throw up, you better hold my hair back.”

He chuckled. “I will. Here,” he said, handing me the small glass.

“Cheers,” we both said before downing the dark liquid.

I shook my head and made a face as I set my glass down. I could already feel the liquor burning its way down my throat and I poured myself a small amount of coke, hoping it would help ease the bitter taste in my mouth.

“Care to dance?”

I stared at John. “You dance?”

He shrugged. “Somewhat.”

I laughed. “Show me what you got, O’Callaghan,” I said before putting my cup down and grabbing his hand.

We walked out into the living room, where I immediately felt my body heat rise. We found a small space in between two other couples, and I took no time in moving my body to the rhythm of the fast paced music playing. John’s hands were planted on my hips, and I moved my body closer to his, while holding both of my arms slightly above my head, moving them to the music as well.

As we continued to dance, I could feel the effects of the whiskey coming into play in my body. I began to sweat slightly, and was moving my body faster and closer against John’s, who seemed to be buzzing himself.

As the current song ended, a slow song began playing, and I was grateful. I pulled my hair to one side of my neck, and looked up at John, who was smiling.

“I don’t do slow songs,” I told him.

His smile faltered and he shrugged. “Fine with me. Want another drink?”

“Sure,” I said.

“I’ll be right back.”

I began fanning myself as I walked to a corner of the room, where I saw my brother, Roxie and Jared standing. “It is way too hot in here,” I moaned.

Jared laughed. “That’s the liquor in your body, ‘Laska.”

I sighed and leaned against him. “Why are y’all just standing here?”

“We were watching the Alaska and John Freak Show,” Roxie giggled.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You and John were practically dry humping, dude,” Jared laughed.

“Seriously. It was disgusting, Alaska,” Kennedy grimaced.

I rolled my eyes. “We were just dancing, y’all,” I said.

Before any of them could say anything else, John returned with two red cups. He handed one to me and I quickly took a chug, eager to get some sort of liquid into my dry mouth.

“Whoa, slow down there, Dove. That’s 1800 and coke,” he told me.

I glanced into the cup before shrugging. “Whatever.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I saw your girl in the kitchen, Jared.”

His eyes squinted. “What girl?”

“Oh, you know … Yvette,” John said before bursting into laughter.

A panicked expression decorated Jared’s face and he quickly began looking around.

“Who’s Yvette?” I asked, feeling out of the loop.

Kennedy had to take a breath before answering me. “She’s Jared’s stalker! The girl swears she’s going to have his babies!”

“Dude, it’s not funny! She seriously almost cornered me the other night!” Jared said, exasperated.

John smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Awe, everything’s gonna be okay, Jare. Just take a drink,” he cooed.

We all laughed as Jared took a sip of his beer, his green eyes darting around the room. We continued to make small talk while drinking, still poking fun at Jared every now and then, all in good spirits, of course. However, as I continued to down my body weight in alcohol, it didn’t take long for my vision to blur and my thoughts to jumble.

“Dance,” I slurred to John before grabbing his collar and pulling him back out onto the “dance floor”.

I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands landed on my waist. Our bodies collided and departed from each other with every beat of the song. And soon enough, we became so close that John’s breath was tickling my neck and my hands were tangled in his hair as our bodies constantly grinded against one another’s.

Feeling filled with liquid confidence, I dove in for a kiss, and just as my lips were about to touch his, he pulled away and looked at me.

“Uh, we, uh, we shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed that he had just rejected me in front of so many people. “Why not?”

“We just shouldn’t,” he sighed. “I should get you home.”

I rolled my eyes. “My brother can take me home.”

“Actually, he can’t.”

“And why would that be?”

“He and Roxie left a few songs back,” he told me. “Just come on …”

I groaned in frustration but knew that I had no other choice but to accept John’s offer. “Fine, let’s go.”

He smiled and grabbed my hand and led us through the maze of bodies. Once we were outside of the house, I retracted my hand and followed behind John. When we reached his car, I went straight for the passenger door, but he blocked me.

“What?” I asked, agitated.

He placed a hand on my cheek. “Don’t be mad at me, Dove.”

I let out a dry laugh. “You just rejected me, John. I’m not angry, I’m embarrassed,” I admitted.

He frowned. “I wanted to kiss you, Alaska, believe me. But you’re drunk and I didn’t want you to regret that kiss in the morning,” he said earnestly.

I bit down on my bottom lip as I felt my embarrassment fade. He had a point, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. “Well … thank you.”

He gave me a small smile. “You’re welcome.” He opened the door for me and I slipped inside as he jogged over to the driver’s side, getting in as well.

As we backed out of the driveway, I rolled my window down and allowed the slight breeze to enter the car. I leaned my head back against the seat and watched as John fiddled with his stereo.

After a moment, he placed his hand back on the wheel and a soft, slow melody filled the car. As I listened closer, I recognized the song and smiled before closing my eyes.

“I roll the window down and then begin to breathe in … the darkest country road with a strong scent of evergreen, from the passenger seat as you are driving me home,” I sang softly along with Ben Gibbard.

John looked over at me and smiled before joining in. “Then looking upwards, I strain my eyes and try … to tell the difference between shooting stars and satellites …” I planted my feet on the dashboard and he laughed as he realized just how perfect this song fit our car ride home. “ ... When you feel embarrassed, then I'll be your pride. When you need directions, then I'll be the guide. For all time … For all time,” he sang before looking at me.

I felt my cheeks warm, and I turned to look out of the window, not wanting him to catch me blushing.

“I saw that,” he chimed.

I scoffed. “You didn’t see anything.”

“Oh, but I did.” I turned in my seat and pinched his arm. “Ow!” he moaned, rubbing his skin.

I smirked. “You didn’t see anything, O’Callaghan.”

Despite his pain, he laughed. “Yeah, whatever,” he winked.

I sighed and leaned back into my seat as the next song began playing.

When we reached my house, John pulled the keys from the ignition and looked at me. “Well … I hope you had fun tonight.”

I smiled. “I did. Thanks for taking me home, John.”

“It was no problem, Dove,” he grinned.

It took me a moment to do it, and maybe it was because I still had alcohol flowing through my blood stream, but I leaned over and placed my lips against John’s.

He didn’t react at first, and I felt my heart drop, for a second time, and began to pull away, when suddenly his lips began moving against mines. I couldn’t help but to smile. Soon enough, our tongues became tangled and I climbed over the center console, straddling John’s lap. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions, and I had to keep my head low so as not to bump it on the roof, but God, did his lips feel so amazing against my own.

His hands ran up and down my sides, lifting my shirt and landing themselves on the inside of my shorts. I pulled at his hair, causing a soft grunt to escape his lips. I smirked and began grinding against him, feeling him grow excited.

“Alaska … baby, stop,” he moaned in between kisses. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. “Alaska,” he breathed, breaking our kiss. “We can’t do this here.”

It was only then that I remembered we were in the front seat of his car. I bit down on my lip and knew it would be a risk sneaking him inside of the house, but my hormones were raging and it was all I could think about.

“Follow me,” I instructed him as I opened the door and climbed out of his car.

He softly shut it before trekking behind me. I opened the door as quietly as I could and held my breath as I shut it. After a second of making sure we hadn’t been caught, I grabbed John’s hand and led him through the darkness and up the stairs, straight into my room.

I immediately felt my body relax once my door was locked and shut. I turned around and John immediately attacked my lips as his arms wrapped around me, hoisting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and we fell onto my bed.

I tugged at his belt, practically ripping the damned thing off. He slid them off his legs and they fell softly onto my floor, followed by my shorts. Once our shirts were off, John wasted no time in reaching one hand behind my back, unclasping my bra. I slid off my underwear, now completely nude under John.

His eyes trailed up and down my body, and I blushed. As his green orbs met mine, I could see just how much he wanted me. “Will you hate me in the morning, Dove?” he whispered.

I shook my head, not bothering to think twice. “I could never hate you, O’Callaghan,” I said hurriedly before yanking his boxers down.

Our mouths reconnected and after a second of John reaching for a condom, our bare bodies began moving as one.

And as a feeling of bliss took over me, I thought about how there was no way in hell I could ever hate John for what he was doing to me ... No way in hell.