Wake up Under the Sun

The house was in such a rich and fancy part of town that I was almost too nervous to get out of my car. But as I sat there, I noticed streams of people from all sorts of backgrounds heading toward the house. I locked the door behind me as I walked a few steps behind a random group of people.

The house was crawling with people, flashing lights and the music was just about to shake the walls. I couldn’t see anyone I knew, but honestly I wasn’t surprised. I did see plenty of kids my age, which was a surprise; they were drinking and stumbling around, latching onto each other by the mouth. Most of the guys wore Greek letters and their numbered jerseys, while girls pretty much wore nothing.

Pushing my way out of the foyer, through the living room and into the dining room, I found a little pocket of air. I had no idea why John had invited me here. I much preferred the little gatherings I had been to, where it was only a handful of people sitting around and drinking, talking lightly and laughing at stupid jokes. The thumping hip hop rhythm was enough to give me an instant headache and the lack of personal space made me want to leave immediately.

“Delaney, right?”

It was a miracle I had heard someone’s voice over the music and screaming. I barely turned around and was suddenly face to face with a bright-eyed girl. She looked a lot like the other girls at the party – pretty, tiny, tan, brilliant white smile – but I got a different feeling about her; she wasn’t here to hookup with anyone, she was here to relax after a long week of classes with some good friends and a few drinks.

“Right,” I confirmed meekly.

She smiled insanely wide and offered her hand to me. “My name is Ashley. Kennedy told me to be on the lookout for you.”

“Kennedy?” I questioned.

She laughed, leading me through the house. I noted that she seemed to know everyone, as she couldn’t get two steps without saying hello to someone new. We finally came up to a glass double door and she pushed it open with a frustrated groan and a slight mumble about how it was supposed to stay open.

There were just as many people outside as there were in, but the rolling breeze gave it a less claustrophobic feel and I could breathe easy as we stepped off the patio and into the dry grass. I still didn’t see anyone I knew, so I stepped a little closer to Ashley.

“Why was Kennedy asking for me?” I asked curiously.

Ashley looked at me with a smile. “I think I’ll let him tell you that.”

Kennedy wasn’t my new best friend, John was. Shouldn’t John be on the lookout for me? I almost begged her to just explain it when I choked on my thoughts and Kennedy came into view. He grinned at both of us and he hugged Ashley tightly.

“You found her!” he cried, sloshing the contents of his red party cup onto the ground. Ashley laughed as she graciously stepped aside to avoid being spilled on.

“She’s all yours, Kenny,” Ashley told him. She winked at me. “I’ll come find you later, okay? We’ll get to know each other better then.”

I nodded blankly and watched as she floated back into the party scene. I looked to Kennedy once Ashley had disappeared completely and he was smiling. I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, unsure of what to say.

“So, I guess I should explain,” he said slowly. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, heavily calculating his words. The tension in his face vanished all of a sudden and he smiled slightly. “Okay, so basically, I like you. And I wanted to know if you’d go on a date with me.”

I was slightly taken aback by how he had just put it up on the table like that. His struggles were then passed onto me and now I wasn’t sure what to say. I mimicked his actions of silently reaching for something to say for a few seconds before I snapped my mouth shut. Kennedy wanted to go on a date with me?

“That’d be nice,” I managed to recover after what felt like an extremely long pause.

“Great,” he beamed. “Tomorrow night? Dinner?”

I laughed softly at his enthusiasm and gave him my phone number. He promised he’d call tomorrow during the day so I would have enough time to pick an outfit and prepare for the date. My head was swimming at this point, his words a muffled hum in my ear. I had never had a boyfriend before and now, all of a sudden, a boy I’d known for less than a month wanted to take me out on a date. Maybe coming back really was a good choice.

“I’m going to go get a drink,” I told Kennedy.

He nodded animatedly as I wandered off in the direction I had seen Ashley go. I wasn’t exactly going to search for her but I needed some sort of words of advice from someone I knew. And since John wasn’t here and Lex was a few states away with Loren and his band, Ashley was next in closeness.

The volume inside had seemed to double in the short amount of time I had been outside. It was nearly impossible to squeeze through the pulsing crowd of people but somehow I managed to stumble my way across the house and upon the kitchen. I mindlessly grabbed for a red cup and poured some Pepsi into it. I pursed my lips as I examined the liquor bottles stretched along the counter.

“Laney, Laney, Laney,” I heard from beside me. I knew who it was instantly without having to look, his warm voice cutting right through the music. His hands made choices a lot faster than mine did and I even noticed he made a decision for me, adding splashes of liquor into my cup before twisting the cap back on the bottle and placing it back in its spot.

I grabbed two straws, poking one into his cup before he could lift it to his lips and used the other to stir mine up a little. “When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago,” he told me. I nodded, sipping my drink. “When did you get here? I didn’t think you’d even show up, really.”

“Uh, a while ago I guess.” I shrugged, averting my eyes. My surprise and glee from being asked on a date had somehow escaped me and a slight feeling of betrayal had stepped in to replace it. I wasn’t sure if Kennedy had talked to John about it or if I should be the one to mention it. I got the feeling that John was going to protect me from a lot of things, including boys, and I was wary on if he’d be okay with his friend asking me out.

His eyebrows rose. “A while?”

“I met Ashley,” I explained. “Then found Kennedy.”

He nodded slowly, taking it in. “What’s Kenny up to?”

Okay, so no one had talked to him. I felt his voice tighten as he pursed his lips, his eyes landing everywhere except near me. “He asked me on a date.”

“Congrats,” he dully said. “I guess you’ve got your first boyfriend.”

I took a step away from him. “I guess so.”

Slipping around him, I left the kitchen and tried to find my way back to the double doors leading outside. Even though the kitchen had been empty besides us and a couple of other people mixing drinks, that room felt the fullest. I found myself in a hallway, the front door at one end and a door leading to the backyard. It wasn’t the door from earlier but I could see out the small little window, and there in the corner closest to it was Kennedy, Pat, Ashley and Tim.

I wasn’t sure why I was running from this party but I chose the front door. I raked one of my hands through my hair as I dumped the contents of my cup into a bush with the other. I dug my keys out of my pocket and sighed, shaking my head slightly.

“Laney!” I heard John yell. I could literally hear him running up the street to catch up to me, his feet thumping against the pavement.

I rolled my eyes as I unlocked my car. The lights flashed twice to signal that it had been unlocked and I tugged the door open. I sat down, closed the door and watched as he huffed and puffed his way up to my car. He boldly opened the passenger door and got inside.

“Lane,” he wheezed.

“Wow,” I said, trying to hide my giggle. I was mad at him, I shouldn’t encourage him and his actions. “You should probably work on that.”

“Can you not?” he groaned, still gasping for breath. I glared at him and waited for him to regain his composure. A full five minutes later, he had finally calmed down. “I’m sorry about my attitude. You should know this by now, I’m nothing but an asshole.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely proving that one right,” I sighed.

He rolled his eyes. “Look. If you want to go on a date with Kennedy, I’m not going to stop you. That’s not what best friends are for. Best friends are there to let you know if you’re dating a jerk and I can easily tell you that Kenny is a genuinely good kid.”

“It’s one date, Dad,” I scoffed. “I don’t even know him that well.”

He laughed softly, leaning his head against the seat. “Fine. But don’t feel like you have to have sex on the first date.”

I laughed and smacked his stomach. He just grinned, his head lulling to the side so he could look at me. I smiled slightly and I felt a slight rush of heat blushing my cheeks. I liked having John as my best friend, and he could act as my stand-in father any time he wanted to.

“So, you wanna go back?” he asked.

I shrugged and minutes later, we were back in the packed house, pushing our way toward the backyard. It was a lot easier with John as my shield. We joined the others in their little corner, John and I sitting in the grass due to lack of seating, and quickly jumped into the conversation.

Maybe John wasn’t as much of an asshole as he thought he was. Maybe he was just a protective older-brother type. Or maybe it was something else entirely, something I refused to let my thoughts venture toward.