Friends With Benefits

To avoid Fletch accusing me of slutting it up for Will, I put on a simple black and white striped shirt with black jeans and flats in preparation for the party. Despite what Will had said to get me to agree to coming, Fletch didn’t have work that evening and was more than willing to tagalong to the party with the two of us. I just hoped he didn’t go out of his way to ruin things, like he seemed to do at every party we ever attended with him. I met Will outside and hopped in the car, a little disappointed that he didn’t give me the once over followed by a low whistle like he had when I wore the short dress that made Fletch furious. I almost regretted not dressing up more, until we arrived at Fletch’s house.

He was already in a pissy mood and seemed annoyed that I was riding shotgun. He slammed the door as he slunk into the backseat and sighed, not putting on his seat belt but put his feet up on the back of my seat. Will looked at him annoyed, and ordered him to buckle up and put his feet down before he would drive off. Fletch was quiet throughout the ride out to the restaurant and didn’t say much during supper as Will and I joked around. I actually found myself growing concerned for Fletch. I knew he had gone out somewhere with his parents earlier in the day and I was wondering if he had run into Ivy or something since that was about the only thing I could think of that would put him in such a foul mood.

Will flirted a little with our waitress and seemed to be egging Fletch on to do the same. I decided Will was more trying to cheer Fletch out of his funk than he was seriously interested in the girl, so I didn’t bother. She was what you would describe as “pleasantly plump,” with gentle curves and a face that was kind and sweet but nowhere near drop dead gorgeous. She was definitely not Will’s type: blonde, peppy, petite and looking slightly like she had somehow been airbrushed into real life. Fletch ignored the waitress completely, instead making rude comments to her or snapping at me or Will whenever we pointed out how rude he was being.

I was immensely relieved once we paid for our meals and got out of the restaurant after Fletch’s embarrassing behavior. Will and I laughed and joked, blasting music on the way to the party, but Fletch was in the back, acting as sullen as ever. His arms folded and his knees purposefully digging into my seat, I knew he was obviously trying to make someone else as miserable as he felt. I wasn’t going to let Fletch ruin the evening for me, but at the same time, I wanted him to snap out of it.

“Seriously, Fletch,” I said to him after a short pause in the conversation. “What crawled up your ass and died tonight?”

“Probably the same thing that shoved a big stick up your hairy ass,” Fletch shot back.

“That was completely uncalled for,” Will said to Fletch sternly. “Come on, man. Lighten up. You’re here tonight so you can have fun.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna have fun,” Fletch grimaced, crossing his hands over his chest.

“Quit acting like a petulant four-year-old,” I shot back.

“And get your knees out of the back of Ailee’s seat,” Will order.

“Sure thing Mom and Dad,” Fletch snorted.

“Why did you even bring him?” I seethed to Will.

“I don’t even remember,” Will admitted with a sigh.

The crisp, cool October air blasted us as soon as we stepped out of Will’s car and into the strange front yard in Bennington. The two of Bennington was to the north of our hometown of Grange Valley as well as the neighboring town of Westmoreland. It was a much smaller community with no mall, two fast food restaurants, and where the majority of kids hung out in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly for entertainment. Bennington kids didn’t go to our school or Westmoreland but to the school up in Ajax, in the northern part of the county. Since they came from a mostly rural area with little to do, Bennington kids were pretty weird, thinking they were the height of pop culture yet still being tackily backwoods at the same time. They dressed in all the latest fashions, used all the new slang, and tried to be so hip they made themselves lame. It was no wonder Maddie Scheme fit in with them so easily.

It was obvious several of the popular kids from our school had been invited to the party by Maddie, but I honestly didn’t recognize anyone as we headed into the house. I didn’t know much, but Will said Maddie told him it was just a random party thrown together at the last minute by a guy who’s parents were out of town for the weekend. Once we hit the door, the familiar party smell of booze, cigarettes, and illicit substances bombarded my nose just as a already semi-trashed Lucas Garretson bombarded our group.

“Hey, man,” Luke said, giving Will the customary male fist-bump. He looked me up and down with a slight smirk and slurping sound. “Glad you brought Iverson here.” Will protectively threw his arm around my shoulders and I nearly melted at the sweet gesture.

“Yeah,” Will said to him. “Ailee was nice enough to volunteer to come with me so I wouldn’t be all by my lonesome.”

“What about me?” Fletch pouted.

“I had to force you here,” Will rolled his eyes.

“Sup, Murphy,” Luke said apathetically. Fletch scoffed at the indifferent acknowledgment.

“Obviously not your flaccid, pathetic excuse for a…” Fletch began before Will yanked him along with us into the kitchen. Fletch huffed and shoved his fists into his pockets.

“Luke is such an ass,” I said to Will.

“Tell me about it,” Will nodded. “You want something to drink?” I nodded and Will turned to ask Fletch, who had mysteriously disappeared.

“I hope he’s not getting into trouble,” I grimaced.

“You hope? I’m the one who’ll have to break things up if he runs his smart mouth around Garretson,” Will shook his head. “So, what do you want to drink?”

After Will had settled himself with a beer and I had gotten myself a deliciously tacky plastic cup full of boxed wine, we began to mingle throughout the party. I was nervous around so many strangers, but Will always fit right in anywhere. It was a matter of minutes before all of the Bennington girls were eating right of the palm of his hand and flirting like crazy. Will still had his arm linked with mine in a protective gesture against Luke Garretson, who was always milling about in the background of the room. It disgusted me that, for all these girls new, Will and I were in a serious relationship, yet they kept blatantly hitting on him in front of me. I was glad when the two of us finally branched off from everyone else.

“Those girls are completely annoying,” I grimaced.

“How so?” Will asked, subtly checking out the curves of two girls drunkenly stumbling up the stairs.

“They were hitting on you right in front of me,” I replied. “What if we were dating, you know? That’s just sleazy.”

“We’re not dating,” Will pointed out.

“Yeah, but if you were here with one of your girlfriends, would you just subject her to that? Come on, you wouldn’t just let her stand there while you flirted with random girls you’re never going to see again, would you?” I replied.

“No?” Will replied, hoping he had returned the proper response. I let out an exasperated groan.

“And I guess you wouldn’t be pissed if your girlfriend turned around and started flirting with random guys in front of you?” I asked.

“I dunno. Depends on the girl,” Will said. “What’s with you and all these weird questions?”

“Never mind,” I grimaced. “I’m going to get something more to drink.”

“Okay,” Will replied. I rolled my eyes and headed into the kitchen without him.

When I returned to the living room, Will had somehow been sucked into a virtual whirlpool of new girls to flirt with. Rather than torment myself by watching other girls fawn all over Will, I opted to find Fletch, the only other person I knew at the party. I meandered through several rooms in the house, holding my drink as close to my body as possible so no one could slip anything into it. I got a few leering glances from guys and had to make a quick escape when Lucas Garretson approached me more than once. I filled my plastic cup up with some more boxed wine for a third time and, after deciding to explore the upstairs portion of the house, found Fletch in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

He was on his fourth beer with three empty bottles on the floor and was watching a pay-per-view horror movie on the TV. After glancing around the room, I gathered it must be the guest bedroom. There was an en suite bathroom, but the décor in the room was rather plain and simplistic. Other than the bed, a dresser, an end table, and the stand for the TV, there was no furniture in the room. I didn’t see any posters or photos or anything that personalized the room at all. The room also looked unlived in and I didn’t even see suitcases, clothes hamper or anything to indicate it was currently being used.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked him, sauntering over to where he was sprawled out on the bed, sipping his beer. “You know, drinking alone is supposed to be one of the signs of alcoholism…”

“Whatever,” Fletch grimaced as I sat down on the edge of the bed. He glanced over at me slightly as he felt the weight from my body sink the mattress a little. “Where’s Prince William?”

“Will’s got a harem to keep him company,” I grimaced.

“Not even an hour in and he’s already got Bennington girls lining up to suck him off,” Fletch said, emitting a low whistle. “How long did it take for him to ditch you for them?”

“I ditched him,” I replied. Fletch glanced at me skeptically before his eyes turned back to the images flickering across the screen. “I can’t believe you ordered a shitty movie on someone else’s cable account. That’s low.”

“Well, if this idiot kids want to throw a rager, he’ll have to deal with all of the shit that comes with it,” Fletch shrugged. “So, what made you come up here? Miss my charming good looks and winning personality?”

“As if,” I snorted. “Honestly, the only person I really recognize at this party other than you is Luke Garretson. You just happen to be the lesser evil.”

“Joy,” Fletch snorted, taking a final sip of his beer and then discarding the bottle on the floor with all the rest.

“I thought Will and I told you we weren’t going to lug your drunk ass home again,” I warned him. “Seriously, who do you think would be willing to give you a ride home all the way from Bennington on a Saturday night? All of Will’s football friends like you even less than the like me.”

“Don’t be stupid. They love you, Lenny,” Fletch snorted. “Well, they love certain parts of you, at least.”

“You get moody when you’re drunk,” I replied.

I took a last sip of my wine before crumpling the plastic cup and tossing it into the empty wastebasket. I wasn’t about to litter the floor like Fletch had done, even if they guy throwing this party did have it coming to him. Next, I swung my legs over so I was lying on the bed next to Fletch. He already had the pillows propped up so he could see the screen, but after a few seconds, I determined his movie was a little too on the gory side for my taste. His eyes were slightly glazed over thanks to his drinking and he seemed half-asleep, his left arm bent, underneath the pillow that was propping up his head.

“This movie is creepy. Let’s watch something else,” I told Fletch.

“You know, I didn’t ask you to come in here or even to stay,” Fletch pointed out. I grabbed the remote from where he had stupidly left it beside him on the bed, flipping through channels to see what else was on. “Hey!”

“What?” I replied. “I want to watch something that’s actually good.”

“It’s my damn remote,” Fletch said.

“No it’s not!” I replied, holding it away from him. “It’s not even your house!”

“It’s not your damn house either!” Fletch shot back. He pounced on e and began wrestling me for the controller.

Somewhere between biting and kicking each other for control of the TV, the remote fell to the floor with the pile of Fletch’s beer bottles and the fight became a wrestling match between our tongues. Since we were both pleasantly buzzed, it didn’t take long for the inhibitions to fly out the window. Whereas it had taken a good thirty minutes the pervious day for Fletch to wiggle me out of my shirt and bra, both were quickly discarded on the floor within five minutes thanks to the alcohol flowing through our systems. Not very long after that, Fletch’s shirt and pants were gone, and, clad only in his socks and boxers, Fletch had unbuttoned and pulled down my ants to mid-thigh. I didn’t even care that he was getting a look at my daisy-print granny panties.

My brain didn’t seem to register that a little over twenty-four hours beforehand, I had been shoving Fletch away from me and pointing out how things had gotten completely out of hand. In my alcohol induced state, however, I didn’t care that Fletch was gently teasing the elastic on my underwear with his index finger or that my own hands had found their way to his abdomen, sliding lower and lower. I was about two seconds away from making the biggest mistake of my life when a loud pounding started on the door and someone began twisting the locked knob.

It took Fletch and I even less time to quickly throw our clothes back on than it had for us to shrug them off of each other. Somehow, the fear of nearly being caught made things almost that much more exciting. I giggled as I drunkenly fell on the floor after finally buttoning up my pants. Fletch rushed over, throwing open the unlocked door while I lay in a giggling mess on the floor. I was relieved to find it was just someone looking for a bathroom, though Fletch seemed a little agitated that things had been ruined. It was only a few seconds later when Will found his way into the room.

“What are you guys doing in here?” Will asked curiously as I stood up and smoothed out the nasty hair tangles caused by Fletch twirling his fingers through my hair.

“Watching a pay-per-view movie,” I lied easily. “Fletch tried to put on a horror film, but I said no. It’s…” I looked over to see it was some sort of romantic comedy. “That movie…”

“Well, this party has gotten lame, so I figured we’d head home,” Will said.

“How so?” Fletch asked calmly, obviously trying to hide any sign he had been drinking.

“All the hot chicks have boyfriends,” Will said.

“That hasn’t stopped you before,” Fletch pointed out.

“They’re also boring Bennington chicks,” Will shrugged. “I swear, if I heard one more time about how God damn awesome our mall is…”

“We hear ya, we hear ya,” I rolled my eyes. I slightly stumbled over, linking my arm to Will’s with one arm and to Fletch’s with another. “So, come one. Let’s get going.”

“Ailee… what had you been drinking?” Will asked me calmly.

“About three… maybe four glasses of the boxed wine,” I shrugged. “It’s okay, though. I’m just tipsy. Get me some coffee at one of the drive-thrus on the way home and I’ll be fine.” Will looked over at Fletch, furiously.

“SO, she had four glasses of wine and you didn’t stop her?” Will snorted.

“She was already hammered when she came up here,” Fletch shot back. “I thought she was with you anyway. Maybe if you had kept a closer eye on her, she wouldn’t be drunk off her ass.”

“Because the five beer bottles on the floor of the room emptied themselves, right?” Will growled at him. “I can’t believe you Fletch! You blame me for letting Ailee get trashed and you’ve been drowning yourself in alcohol all night!”

“And how many drinks have you had, Mr. Designated Driver?” Fletch shot back

“Both of you shut up! I got drunk on my own!” I yelled at both of them.

“I’ve only had one,” Will replied. “Anyway, you’re riding in the back and you’re taking care of her on the way home, got it? It’s one thing for me to come home plastered, but I’m not letting Ailee get in trouble.”

“Aw, how sweet,” I said, giving Will a big hug.

“He’s just doing it because he knows he’d be in trouble with both your and his parents if he let that happen,” Fletch shot back. “He doesn’t really care about you, Lenny. He ‘s just saving his own ass…”

I let go of Will to tell him off, only for Will to rear back and punch Fletch straight in the face. Fletch stumbled backward, clutching his eye. He yelped slightly due to the pain and then looked up to find Will standing over him, fists balled and at the ready if Fletch dared challenge him again. Sure, it was sort of primitive in the let me prove I’m an alpha male kind of way, but I knew in my drunken state Will was just trying to show he cared for me and wasn’t going to take crap from someone like Fletch, who insisted he didn’t. I felt a swoon coming on and then I realized it was vertigo due to my wine intake. Will managed to catch me as Fletch stood up, rubbing his face.

“You punched me in the fucking eye!” Fletch yelled at him.

“Well, I wanted to hit your smart mouth, but I didn’t want you bleeding all over my car,” Will shot back. Fletch opened his mouth for a smart response, but Will interrupted. “Come on, now, help me get Ailee downstairs and into the car. She might hurt herself…”

“Fine,” Fletch grimaced, taking one arm while Will held firmly on to the other. I giggled slightly as the two of them lead me down the stair and out the door.