Stay With Them Tonight

On Thursday evening I got home from work at nine-thirty, and I practically had to drag myself in the door. The vacationers were out and about on their last days, seeing as there were three days until most of the state started school. It had been a hectic 8 hours. I went up to my room, glad I had the next day off.

I took a shower and was watching TV in the front living room when I heard people yelling. Curious, I looked out the front window to find a girl yelling at Jason. Go figure, I thought sarcastically. The girl was tall and redhead, and sort of stunning. I say that because she looked to be the typical ginger- on the tall side, leggy, long auburn hair, etc. Nothing different than every other ginger in the world. Well, the stereotypical ones. I bet her real hair wasn’t even red.

I tried to hear what they were talking about, but then figured I didn’t really care. If they wanted to make fools of themselves in Jason’s front yard, so be it, but I wasn’t going to contribute to the spectacle. I caught Jason’s eye as I was turning, and rolled my eyes at him, mouthing “stupid.”

*****

“So, is Mrs. Luce’s sister okay?” Kelly asked as we got ready for the party.

“Mhm. She had a slight concussion, and she was scratched up a lot, but everything else was fine.”

“Cool. Are you gonna babysit again anytime soon?” She grinned over at me while she studied my shoes, just in case I might have something better than the pair of heels she had on that fit her outfit. She had her dark brown hair with lighter streaks in a ponytail-like contraption, with loose strands hanging around her face. She accentuated her dark eyes with similar smoky brown eyeshadow, and had on a short pink dress. She was tall and tan, and even as a girl I knew she would command eyes tonight.

I was in a long light blue shirt and jean shorts, my hair down and slightly curled with light blue makeup. The house wasn’t far, so we decided to walk. As we walked past the Luce house, Ryan and Jason came out the door.

“Hey!” Kelly said to Ryan. He grinned over at us.

“Going to Rach’s party?” he asked as he came up between us. Jason was to my left, while Ryan was on my right. I gave Kelly and Ryan a little bubble of space, inadvertently walking closer to Jason.

Kelly started up a conversation with Ryan, while Jason and I walked in silence. I wondered what the hell last night had been about with the redhead.

“So. Your best friend likes my brother.” I hit him on the arm and pushed him a little further away from Ryan and Kelly. Ryan looked over, but I ignored him and he went back to talking with Kelly.

“Shut up! He’ll hear you!”

“She’s not being very discreet.”

“She at least deserves to tell him herself, regardless if he knows yet or not.”

“Whatever.”

“Shut up, stupid.”

“You said that last night, too.” he said. Like I didn’t know.

“Hm. I think that might be your new nickname.” I didn’t know whether I was actually going to continue calling him stupid or not, but I thought it might make him angry. Anything other than a smirk or being amused would have been nice. Instead, he only looked more amused, thinking about something.

“What?” I asked him, suspicious.

“Nothing.”

“If you smirk one more fucking time, Luce, I swear—”

“Hey Allie, this way!” Kelly called. They had turned down a street where I could see a whole bunch of people hanging around a particular house. Actually, these things were more like mansions.

It was a part of town where old mixed with new, and this was one of those grand old places with traditional style. If you went down two streets, you started seeing newer houses. This old place was well-maintained and must be worth a lot. The crowd of people on the front lawn starkly contrasted the traditional building.

We waded through the people, getting tangle in arms and legs and drunken smiles, and somewhere we lost Jason. I was lost soon after that, in a crowd of unfamiliar people, but I knew Kelly and Ryan had been heading to the kitchen, in a certain direction. I followed that, until I hit a wall. What now?

Looking around, a lot of people had drinks, some people had other things, and all the smokers were basically outside. I felt like a fish thrown in the sewer.

I was looking for a door was or something when I saw Ryan heading towards me, trying to shout over the music, and I went to meet him.

“Where’s Kelly?” I had to shout.

“She’s already in the kitchen, c’mon.” he took my hand and pulled me along behind him in the packed house. I wondered if he meant anything by taking my hand so easily. Because of his normal manner, I figured it was an innocent gesture.

Kelly likes him, Kelly likes him, I told myself. I hoped that might slow my heart down, and it did. When we got back to her, she looked fine, with a plastic cup in her hand. She glanced down at our hands, but I knew she trusted me not to do anything. I quietly slipped my hand out of his.

“Jason?” she asked. It was slightly quieter in here, but not by much.

I shook my head. Ryan shrugged. A bottle-blonde came up to us and pulled Ryan into a hug. Kelly rolled her eyes at me.

“Ohmigod, I cannot believe you came for me, Ryan! It’s so nice to see you!” she yelled in his ear, loud enough for us to hear.
Kelly looked over at me, with that look. The look where something is completely ridiculous. Ryan grinned at the girl, Rachel I assumed, and extracted himself from the tangle of her arms.

“Hey, Rach. How’ve you been?” he asked.

“Omigod, so fantastic. Isn’t this party fun? Where’s you drink? Hey, do you think we’ll have any classes together?” She said a slew of drunk-babble.

“Maybe,” he answered only her last question. “Hey I was going to go and introduce Allie to some people, so I have to go, Rachel.” She looked like she only halfway comprehended his sentence, but after a second she figured it out enough to turn and stare at me. I saw something flash in her eyes, and she looked completely sober in that second.

“Okay baby, I’ll see you on Monday? Or maybe earlier?” She slid closer to him.

“Monday,” he said with a smile. He put his hands on the smalls of mine and Kelly’s backs, leading us away. He grabbed a drink for me and him quick, and led us away.

When I looked back, Rachel was staring at him. She saw me looking at her and huffed away.

Through the night, I got slightly buzzed as Ryan and Kelly introduced me to some people, none of which I would remember later. I did see a guy that kept checking me out when he thought I wasn’t looking, and I went over, claiming to need the bathroom.

“Hey.”

He turned from talking to a friend, who was completely off his rocker, to talk to me. “Hey. I’m Greg.”

“Why were you staring?” I leaned back and put a hand on my hip. He was handsome, with a strong face and light brown hair. He looked like an athlete, like Ryan, and he looked like a good guy, like Ryan. I just wondered why he kept staring at me.

“Because I don’t know you. And because you’re cute.” He smiled at me.

“Where do you go to school?” I asked. He gave me the name, and it was the same as my school.

I studied him. He didn’t seem like he meant any harm. He just seemed like a regular guy. A very hot regular guy. I bet he was easily one of the best-looking guys here. It couldn’t hurt to be friendly.

I smiled. “I guess I’ll see you Monday, then.” I walked away, knowing I hadn’t given him my name. I would ask Kells about him later. Greg, right?

*****

On the walk home, I talked to Kelly about Greg. “There’s two Gregs,” she told me. “Both are athletic, and one happens to be the hottest guy in school. I wonder which one you talked to?”

“I don’t know.”

“What? Do you like him? Jesus Al, you just met him!”

I wasn’t surprised. She always jumped to the first conclusion she came upon when she was drunk. Actually, that was always her personality. “No, I was just wondering. I guess I’ll find out in a few days.” Ryan had stayed behind, talking to a group of guys, so we had slipped away without him. Jason had only been seen once from across the room since we had lost him.

“AAAAllie, hellllloooo? Your house is here.” I looked up. Dang, she was right.

“Oh. Okay, bye Kelly.” I smiled, and went inside. I climbed into bed, and fell asleep immediately.

*****

“Oh, god. My head,” I said. I had a headache, but I had definatley had worse. I just hadn’t expected anything. I had thought I was only a little buzzed last night. Then again, I never drank. I went downstairs and made myself a bagel and water, not in the mood to make anything more. I heard my dad moving around upstairs.

“Al? Can you go get the mail?” he called quietly. Mom must still be asleep. I went outside, ignoring the drizzle and the fact I was only in pajamas. I looked down the street and found Ryan walking back.

“Hey,” I called.

“Hey, Allie. I slept at a friend’s down the street. What are you doing out?” I held up the mail.

“Oh. Well I meant to ask last night, but now’s as good a time as any. Can I have your number?”

Wow. How random. “Sure.” I pulled my phone out while giving him the digits. I entered his into my contacts and said bye. What an interesting way to start a Saturday. I went back inside shivering, and got out a tiny pot to make cocoa.