A High School Story

“It was perfect,” I popped my lips around the last word as I finished telling Mollie what had happened last night after she left.
“It sounds like it,” she laughed and smiled encouraging at me, or tried to at least, “I’m glad that you’re giving him a second chance Keyla.”
“Me too,” I sighed and let yet another bright smile overtake my face, “So what do you want to do tonight? Joe’s going to come and pick me up after his last class is over but I’m free to hang out after six.”
“Mom’s coming back today so the three of us are going out to dinner tonight, I can’t hang out,” she replied and glanced over my shoulder for a millisecond before staring at me again, “How about Saturday?”
“Can’t, I’m go to the movies with Joe Saturday,” I said and she pursed her lips in thought, “Sunday?”
“I have to finish my short story for English sometime over the weekend and knowing me I’ll start the whole thing over Sunday night so not the best idea.”
I rolled my eyes and I saw the corners of her mouth twitch up into a genuine smile for the first time since yesterday. Something was definitely up with this girl.
“So you’re officially his girlfriend?” she questioned while her eyes flashed over my shoulder every few seconds, either something was up or the wall had the most annoying spot possible on it.
“Yep, asked me last night before he let me get out of his car,” I chuckled and she smiled again while playing with the mashed potatoes that were sitting on her lunch tray, “Are you okay, Mollie?”
“Yeah, why?” she answered and tried to make it look like she didn’t why I was asking.
“Spill,” I told her and she bit her lip before shaking her head, “Why not?”
“Because…I don’t want to ruin this for you,” she whispered and my heart dropped a little, did she know something about Joe that I didn’t, “That came out wrong! What I meant to say is that I don’t want to bring down your good mood.”
“There will be other good moods stupid, if something’s bothering you then I want to know about it,” I replied and she shook her head before looking down at the table and resuming the fight with her mashed potatoes, “Spill it or something else if going to start spilling from you.”
“Is that a threat?” she half laughed and I glared at her, “I could have you suspended for that darling.”
“You won’t have the chance unless you tell me what the hell is going on with you,” I scoffed and she stared at me for a minute before sighing deeply, “Yeah, I thought so. Now what is it?”
“It’s complicated,” she mumbled and I waited as patiently as I could for her to continue, “I overhead Nick and Mike talking about something last night.”
“What was it?” I probed and she shifted awkwardly in her seat, “Mollie?”
“They were talking about me,” she answered and I motioned for her to go on, “And…Nick admitted that he liked me.”
“Well that’s great!” I exclaimed and she looked at me with an odd expression plastered on her face, “That’s not good?”
“No,” she said and drew the word out a few extra seconds, “It’s not good…”
“Why is it not good exactly?” I questioned and she looked over my shoulder again before avoiding my eyes, “Mollie?”
“Mike told him that he would only surrender and let Nick have me if he managed to get me into bed,” she whispered and I groaned inwardly before tightening my grip on the spoon I was holding, “And he agreed to it.”
“He did what?” I hissed and cast a glance over my shoulder as Nick sat next to Mike at their usual lunch table.
The thing that caught my eye however wasn’t the torn expression on his face, the lack of food he was eating, or the quirky expression Mike was wearing again but the condom that was sitting smack dab in the middle of the table for anyone nearby to see. Everyone who knew anything at this school knew what that meant; at least one girl in the school was about to lose their virginity to one of the studs sitting at the table.
“They gave it to him about ten minutes ago,” Mollie explained in a soft whisper and my nostrils flared out as I tried to calm myself down enough to the point where I could resist the urge to strangle the idiot.
“Wait until his brother finds out,” I threatened lightly under my breath Mollie looked at me confused, “Joe’s not going to be very happy with his brother, I can tell you that much.”
“Keyla, Joe is a twenty-year-old male. I’m sure he’s had his share of experience,” Mollie tried to laugh out.
“You don’t know?” I asked and her expression grew even more confused with every second that I spoke, “The guys all wear Purity rings, Mollie. Joe told me last night when we were on the way home.”
“But he…and Mike…and the…are you kidding me?!” Mollie yelled out the last part and then lowered her head as Mike made a few cat calls in response to her sudden outburst.
“I’m sure that once his brother finds out what he’s been up he’ll change his mind,” I scoffed and Mollie shook her head, “What?”
“Don’t tell Joe,” she answered and a small smirk started to play itself on her face.
“What are you plan-”
The bell to leave lunch interrupted me mid-sentence and Mollie smiled before quickly standing up and grabbing her book bag off the floor.
“Mollie-”
“We have to get to English,” she protested.
“English can wait,” I insisted as I stood up and grabbed her elbow from across the table.
“Tell that to Mrs. Franklin,” she laughed and I sent a light glare her way, “Come on Keyla, what do you want me to say?”
“I want to know what you’re planning bitch,” I whispered in a harsh undertone and her eyes flashed over my shoulder again.
I kept my grip on her elbow while turning my head as far as I would go and trying to find what was obviously capturing her attention, although I was pretty sure that I already knew what it was. And indeed I did. Just as I had predicted, the guys were performing their usual pre-deflowering ceremony. Mike was smirking from behind all of his cronies as they all gave Nick tips on how best to make the experience mind-blowing for himself and how to make sure Mollie wouldn’t think he wanted more than a physical connection with her. And then of course, there was the condom that Nick was trying to conspicuously slip into his pocket without many people noticing. The fact that the idiots had enough respect to actually use a condom was beyond me but after having to stare at all of the pictures of STD’s and listening to people share their stories of teen pregnancy, I was amazed that anyone wanted to make love to anyone besides their spouse.
“We need to get going,” Mollie reminded me and I tore my eyes away from the players who were slowing beginning to disperse in the various directions of the cafeteria, “Mrs. Franklin will kill us if we’re late.”
“No she won’t, you’re mom scares her too much,” I replied and Mollie smiled at me before lightly pulling her elbow out of my grip and waiting for me to pick my bag up and collect my lunch, “She might kill me but you’re an entirely different story darling.”
“Naw, she loves you,” she replied and picked up her tray before we started walking over to the garbage area, “You’re her star pupil.”
“We’re neck and neck for that position darling,” I laughed and she rolled her eyes while dumping the garbage off of her tray and into the trash can and then placing her tray on the counter ledge where the lunch lady was collecting them.
“So when are we going to hang out this weekend?” she asked as I did the same and then turned to face her before we exited the cafeteria and started down the crowded hallway, “We haven’t not hung out on a weekend since forever.”
“That’s because I usually sleep at your house every weekend,” I answered.
“It still counts.”
She hip checked me and I stumbled in my high heeled boots before using an open locker door to steady myself.
“Sorry babe,” Mollie apologized immediately and I irritably blew a strand of hair out of my face.
“You fall a lot don’t you,” Dan laughed as he gently removed my hand from his locker door and then closed it.
“I have a tendency to yes,” I replied and Mollie rolled her eyes before walking off in the direction of the English room, “Always have, and always will.”
“So how did last night go?” he asked and another bright smile formed across my face, “Judging by the way that your face just lit up I’m going to take a guess and say that you got your man?”
“I got my man,” I sighed happily and he smiled lightly, “I’m still sorry that we couldn’t work out Dan.”
“Me too,” he whispered and tried to smile as he pulled me into a light hug, “But you’re happy so that means I’m happy.”
“You’re a great guy,” I told him quietly and hugged him back tightly, “And someday you’re going to find a girl who’s even better than I am.”
“I’m not going to hold my breath but I’ll be on the lookout,” he chuckled and I gave him one last squeeze before pulling back as the bell rang.
“I have to get to English but I’ll talk to you later alright?”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” he assured me and I smiled before giving him one last quick hug and then quickly walking down the hall towards English class.
Dan was a really nice guy, I would be the first person to agree to that, but it never would have worked out between us. No matter how much I wanted him to be as happy as I was, I knew that it wouldn’t happen as long as he kept this up.
“Nice of you to join us Miss Reed,” Mrs. Franklin said loudly as I cautiously walked into the classroom, “Take your seat and do your best not to let it happen again.”
“Yes ma’m,” I whispered and quickly made my way to the back of the classroom before taking my usual seat next to Mollie.
“And as I saying,” Mrs. Franklin continued and shot me a look, “You’re next project will be to write a collaborative essay with one partner on a topic of your choice.”
I looked over at Mollie and she smiled brightly. We always rocked her collaborative essay projects.
“But due to the poor quality of most essays I received last time, I will be assigning partners.”
I groaned along with most of the class and Mollie’s smile fell full fold as she let out her own groan.
“Mr. Burton, you will be teamed up with Ms. Randle,” she went on as if no one had made a sound and I tried to keep my anticipation down as I prayed that she had assigned me and Mollie to be partners, “Ms. Hyton, you’re partner is going to be Mr. Crandle.”
I forced down a laugh and looked to see Payton Hyton’s face in an expression of pure disgust as she looked across the room at Brian Crandle. Payton was the school whore who always wore the most vulgar clothing, flirted with anything that had two working legs and was breathing, and has been in just about every hot guys pants that ever set foot in this school since freshman year. Brian on the other hand was the guy who’s had the same steady girlfriend since freshman year, loved said girlfriend to death, would never even think to look at another girl, and was just an overall nice guy. As for them working together, it should end very interestingly.
“Ms. Reed,” Mrs. Franklin went on and my head snapped at in her direction at the sound of my name, “I’ve paired you with Ms. Rounder.”
I smiled lightly and looked over at April Rounder as she did the same. I had never been that close to anyone but Mollie but if I had to replace her for any reason at all, I would choose April.
“Ms. Maloney you’re partner will be Mr. Jonas.”
My smile fell completely and I looked at Mollie as her face broke out into a look of pure terror and Nick started smiling uncontrollably.

****

I tapped my foot impatiently as I stood outside of the main entrance waiting for a certain boyfriend to pick me up. I know that his class gets out barely ten minutes before our school but it shouldn’t take this long to get here!
“What took you so long?” I demanded as I pulled the passenger door to Joe’s car open and then climbed in.
“You just got out ten minutes ago,” he laughed.
“You know I’m impatient,” I replied and tried to keep my face straight.
“That I do,” he teased me lightly and I gave in before smiling and accepting his hand as he intertwined it in mine, “So what do you want to do tonight?”
“Mom and dad are out of town for the weekend so I thought that we could-”
“Joseph!”
“-head there and you could help me watch Frankie,” he finished and I felt my face burn a bright shade of red, “What were you thinking?”
“Nothing,” I whispered and I heard him chuckle, “Oh shut up.”
“You’re mind works in very mysterious ways miss Reed,” he replied and I pulled my hand out of his before folding it across my chest and pouting, “What’d I do now?”
“You made fun of me.”
“I did not!”
“You did too!” I protested and nodded my head firmly.
“I change that, you’re mind works in mysterious and crazy ways,” he corrected himself and I turned my head so that he couldn’t see the smile that had reappeared on my face, “What’d I do now?”
“Nothing,” I sighed happily and watched as the houses passed by, “You didn’t do anything.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?” he questioned and carefully turned down our street.
“Because I don’t want you to know that you won,” I laughed and looked out of the corner of my eye to see him smiling, “Don’t get your hopes up though Joe, people rarely win arguments against me.”
“Mollie warned me already,” he assured me and pulled into his driveway before shutting off his car and then turning to face me.
“So when does Frankie get home?” I asked and smiled at him.
“About ten minutes,” he answered and returned the smile full force.
“Mmhmm…what could we do to kill ten minutes?”
I stroked my imaginary beard as I pondered the thought and then stopped as I looked back at him again.
“I think I have an idea,” he mused and leaned towards me as I began to wrap my arms around his neck.

~Mollie’s POV~
“You have got to be kidding me!” I yelled as I tried once again to start my car before it sputtered and died, “This has got to be a joke!”
A large puff of air left my body as I leaned down and pulled the handle that popped the top of the car. I opened the driver’s side door to my convertible before stepping out. The usual sound of my high heels on the pavement rang through my ears and it suddenly struck me as to how really annoying the sound was. It was probably just the bad mood thinking, but I had an urge to take off my shoes and throw them into a tree just so the noise would stop.
“Do you need help?” a quiet voice whispered in my ear and I pulled my torso out from under the hood of the car to look at Nick.
“From you, no,” I answered sourly and slammed the top down.
“Are you sure? Because it doesn’t look like you’re doing too hot right now,” he replied and rolled my eyes while walking back to the open driver’s side door and leaning in.
“I can do just fine without you, I assure you that much,” I said over my shoulder while turning to key to hear the engine start, sputter, and die yet again, “Damn, I was hoping that would work.”
“Are you sure-”
“Just go away!” I interrupted him coldly and tried to ignore his stare as I pulled out my phone and dialed dad’s cell phone number in, if I was lucky he wouldn’t be in a meeting today.
Ring one…ring two…ring three…ring four…ring five…ring six.
“Crap,” I muttered to myself and hung up, he wasn’t in a meeting but of course with my luck he was using his cell for some type of business call that led me to have an endless amount of rings on my end.
“Do you need a ride home?” he probed and I pursed my lips as I weighed out my options.
I could wait here for dad to call me back and run the risk of being late for dinner with mom. I could call Angelica and have her come back from her mom’s for the night so I could get home on time and get to dinner. I could walk home and probably break my ankle in the process due to the non-sensible shoes I had chosen to wear today. Or I could get a ride home from Nick…and possibly put my plan from earlier into action.
“You’ll take me straight home?” I questioned and he nodded, “No stops, detours, or shot cuts?”
“None, I swear,” he answered and held up him hand in the live long and prosper sign, “Scouts honor.”
“Alright then,” I laughed and grabbed my book bag from the backseat and the keys out of the ignition before closing the door and locking it up, “So where’s your bike?”
“On the other side of the lot,” he answered and went to take my bag from me.
“I got it, I’m not completely helpless,” I protested and he shrugged, “So what do you have planned for tonight Mr.Jonas?”
“Mike’s having a party while his parents are out of town,” he answered reluctantly and I pursed my lips as I waited for him to continue, “So I figured that I’d stop over there and hang out for the night.” “What do you parents have to say about that?” I asked curiously; from what I could gather, his parents didn’t seem like the type to let their kids out partying all night.
Besides, Mike’s parties were always more than just parties. They were a chance for all of the ‘worthy’ people in the school to get high, wasted, and/or laid.
“My parents are out of town for the weekend too,” he whispered and I rolled my eyes, leave it to this kid to go partying the weekend his parents leave him alone, “What about you? What are you up to tonight?”
“I have dinner with my parents tonight. Mom should be getting back from China within the hour,” I replied and he nodded silently as our feet made scuffing and shuffling sounds together.
“Oh Nicky!” a high pitched voice rang out and I turned my head along with Nick to see Payton leaning against his bike in a seductive sort of way.
I managed to turn my laugh into a cough before Nick could pick up on the fact that I found this extremely hilarious.
“Ugh, what are you doing with her?” Payton asked and eyed me displeasingly as I stopped in front of her with Nick.
“My car died so he’s going to give me a ride home,” I answered and she rolled her eyes before looking back at Nick and smiling flirtatiously again.
“When are you going to take me home Nicky?”
I suddenly felt awkward as I realized where she was taking this conversation. This girl may be smart enough to get into Honors English and History classes but she sure didn’t seem to understand how easy she was making it for herself to get knocked up.
“Next week Payton, okay?” Nick answered and winked at her.
“Maybe I can’t wait that long,” she whispered as she lifted herself off the bike and walked right up to Nick so that she was barely an inch between them and she was playing with the buttons on his shirt, “Maybe I want you right now.”
“Next week, I promise you,” he chuckled and she puckered her lips as she shifted her body so that her half exposed chest was directly in Nick’s line of vision, “Next week.”
“Fine,” she sighed and shot me a glare before walking off and swinging her hips with much for force then necessary.
“You ready to go?” Nick asked.
“I’ve been ready but I guess you were too busy to notice now weren’t you,” I scoffed and secured my bag onto my back.
“Sorry about her, she doesn’t really take no for an answer,” he chuckled and swung a leg over his bike before sliding up the seat so I had enough room.
“I’m sorry, did you give her no as an answer?” I replied.
He sighed heavily as I swung one of my own legs over the bike and then slid up the seat so that I was comfortable. My arms wrapped around his waist tightly as he kick started the bike and I tried to hide the fact that of the circumstances were different, I would be enjoying this with every cell in my body.