Love's Not A Competition: Senior Year

Katie and I both looked at him before all three of us burst into laughter. The thought of Brittney, the nun, pregnant was hilarious. I was actually crying from laughing so hard. I knew that they had finally had sex on prom night but Brittney must have been using at least two types of birth control. She was too careful that way. She wouldn’t want to ruin her figure for cheerleading or something. Besides, her parents would probably kill her or disinherit her if they found out she was pregnant.

“Don’t be stupid,” Katie said while she clutched her sides.
“Pregnant,” I giggled.

We all started laughing again before people started looking at us oddly. We headed out onto the balcony for some fresh air. Brittney and Aidan joined us and I leaned against the railing next to Brittney. She seemed like her old self with Aidan around. I really wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow when he was gone again. We had looked at all the school clubs but she hadn’t seemed very interested in any of them. I had wanted to join a few but my schedule was already too busy. I had barely enough time to hang out with my friends and I didn’t want to waste it by doing a club activity.

Amy came to stand by us and we watched Eric and Katie fighting by the hot tub. I was still amazed that they had slept together. It was even weirder that they had been laughing a second ago and now they were fighting like their old selves. It was a good thing; it meant that they were getting over the awkwardness. People had been starting to notice that they were ignoring each other. I mean, they ignored each other before but they did talk even though it was mostly to insult the other. I bet that they were glad they didn’t have to share a dorm room anymore. I watched as Katie pushed Eric and he stumbled a bit. He glared at her and pushed her back. I heard Amy gasp as Katie shoved Eric. He lost his balance and fell backwards but not before he grabbed Katie’s arm, dragging her into the hot tub with her. Everyone laughed when they both spluttered to the surface. Amy ran over and helped Eric out while Jesse walked over to Katie. We hurried over, asking if they were alright. They were lucky that there hadn’t been anyone in the hot tub at the time.

“You jerk,” Katie growled, dripping wet.
“You’re the one who pushed me,” Eric mumbled, excepting a towel from Amy.
“Hey babe, why don’t you come to my room so we can get you out of those wet clothes? You don’t want to catch a cold,” Jesse said.
“It’s fine. I’ll just go towel off in the bathroom,” she said.
“No, I think you should come to my bedroom.”
“No,” Katie said.

Jesse grabbed her arm and started pulling her into the house. Aidan and Zeke stepped in front of Jesse, arms crossed over their chests like tough guys.
“The lady said no,” Zeke said coldly.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Jesse said.
He stumbled forward a bit and I noticed how intoxicated Jesse was already. Katie stepped between Jesse and the boys.
“It’s fine. He’s just had a little too much to drink. Don’t worry about it,” she said softly to Zeke and Aidan. “Jasmine, come with me to the bathroom.”

I nodded and she pulled her hand out of Jesse’s. I smiled at Zeke as we passed and we went to the bathroom. I found some towels and helped her dry off as much as possible. She reapplied her makeup and we left when she looked nearly the same as she had before falling into the hot tub. I lost sight of her and as I walked into the lounge, a funny smell floated over to me. I looked over to a dark corner and saw curls of smoke coming from a bong. They were doing drugs and right there in the middle was Jesse. We had been gone all of ten minutes and he was off doing drugs. I saw Katie walking towards him and she sat down in his lap, kissing him. I couldn’t believe she could do that while he was smoking out of a bong. I would’ve killed Zeke if he ever did that. Speaking of Zeke, where in the world was that boy? He had been avoiding me.

I looked around, keeping one eye on Jesse and Katie in the corner at all times. I was just waiting for the moment when he tried to talk her into trying it. I really didn’t want to interfere but I couldn’t let Katie do that. Drugs were not good. I had learnt that the hard way after seeing my mother’s sister, Aunt Lacey; go through rehab for a cocaine addiction. I wasn’t saying that Katie was going to get hooked and develop a problem but I knew that it was easily done.

“There you are.”
Zeke looked up from his seat and smiled crookedly at me as I sat next to him. I reached out and took his hand, wondering why he was hiding in a dark corner.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“Nothing,” he said. “I’m just not in a party mood.”
“Come and dance with me.”
“Dance with Katie.”
“She’s kind of busy at the moment.”

I looked across the large room to where she was still sitting with Jesse and a couple of boys. Jesse was talking to her and I watched in horror as he handed her the bong. She looked at it before raising it to her mouth.
“Shit,” I whispered. “I’ll be right back.”
I jumped up and hurried across the room. Katie handed the bong back to Jesse just before I reached them. She looked at me and smiled. I tried to pull her to her feet but she had had more beer than me and she was stumbling on her feet. It didn’t help that Jesse was holding her down. I tried to talk reason into Katie but she just laughed me off. Jesse handed her the bong again and I watched as she did it again.

“Katie, stop that,” I hissed.
“Go away, mother,” she mocked. “It’s a party. Have some fun.”
The boys all agreed and I shook my head. “This isn’t funny.”
“Yes it is,” Jesse said.
“Shut up. You shouldn’t be telling her to do this. Everyone’s right, you are a bad influence on her. I didn’t think so before but now I’m definitely beginning to see it.”
“You are just jealous that Jesse likes me and had liked me for a long time, even when you two had been dating,” Katie slurred.
“I’m not jealous,” I said honestly.

Katie was going to say something but she put a hand over her mouth and jumped up. I quickly grabbed her free hand, knowing what was coming next. I pulled her to the bathroom and she fell to her knees in front of the toilet. I pulled her hair back and held it while she threw up. I rubbed her back while I looked around the bathroom, trying not to listen. I handed her some tissue paper when she had finished and she wiped her mouth. She looked at me as she sat next to the toilet while I leaned against the bathtub.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ve ruined your fun.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like I was having any. Zeke’s been avoiding me all night.”
“Do you really think Jesse’s a bad influence on me?”
“Well, yes,” I said honestly. “You shouldn’t be doing drugs. And the way he treats you isn’t good. You shouldn’t be forced into having sex with him.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “I keep thinking that if I don’t sleep with him, he will leave me. I don’t want him to leave me. I love him, I really do.”