I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Three

Song for this chapter: “Mean” by Taylor Swift

After I finished meeting Cameron and Jace the rest of the school day went by fast, a little too fast. When the last bell rang, announcing that school was over, I sighed. I still hadn’t made my mind up. Then an idea popped up in my head.

Maybe if I went home before I saw Taylor, I wouldn’t have to choose.

At first that idea sounded good to me, but I soon realized that wasn’t a good idea. Taylor was the one who drove me to school, and Landon’s truck wasn’t working. I groaned as I realized Taylor would have to be my ride home.

I stalked glumly to her silver Porsche. She was waiting inside her car patiently, applying some lip gloss on lips. I opened the door to her car and slid into the passenger seat. The sound of leather absorbing my weight filled the car.

It was awkward in the car. Neither of us started the topic, so the only thing keeping the car from complete silence was the radio. She was listening to some kind of Taylor Swift song. I didn’t know which one it was, but the background music was kind of catchy.

Without saying anything to me, Taylor started her car. Slowly, she maneuvered her car out of the parking lot. There were so many vehicles around us, all trying to get out at the same time. From the corner of my eye I saw a couple of teenagers next to us in their car. A small smile crossed my face when I realized it was Cam and Jace, they were trying to get my attention by waving at me like maniacs.

I gave them a quick wave, letting them know that I saw them. They both gave me wide smile before they made a right. The only positive thing I got from this whole experience was those two guys. Sure, David was nice too, but he was just too arrogant and way too cocky for his own good. He seemed to be like the last person I wanted to hang out with besides little miss perfect next to me. I started to wonder where David was. Shouldn’t Taylor and David be carpooling? For a couple they didn’t seem to hang out as much as they should.

“Did you make up your mind yet?” Taylor suddenly asked, breaking the silence and making me jump a little.

“Y-yeah,” I lied, giving her a cursory look.

“Liar,” she accused, just as I turned my gaze away from her.

“I’m not a liar!”

“Do you know who you’re talking to? I lie practically twenty-four seven.” She told me, looking at me with her peripheral vision.

“Oh,”

“Duh,” she rolled her eyes at me.

After that the conversation died and Taylor Swift once again filled the car. When we got to my driveway I sighed in relief. All I had to do was get inside my house and then I could go on and on ranting about how horrible my day was. I opened the passenger door, ready to leave the car when Taylor spoke again.

“So, what’s your answer? I’m giving you thirty seconds to answer, starting now.”

What would happen if I didn’t answer in thirty seconds? Would she seriously send it to the people in her contacts? I gulped, feeling my hands turn all clammy. She dug through her purse again and pulled out her phone. She used the touch-screen on her phone and showed me the picture, telling me that she’s not kidding.

“Twenty seconds left. Tick-tock, tick-tock,” she mocked evilly, waiting for me to answer her question.

Come on Lyn, say something! Say something now!

I suddenly felt claustrophobic staying in her small two-seated car. The time was ticking, and I was mentally counting each second in my head.

Taylor let her slim finger hover directly over the send button, and I felt my heart squeeze in response. She cackled in amusement as she watched me think of the answer. This was pure torture and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so scared in my life.

“One...zero,” Taylor smiled and started to push the send button.

“Wait! I’ll do it, okay. I’ll do it.” I yelled surprising not only her but myself too.

I gritted my teeth together as I realized what I just did. Somehow I knew that this was the choice I was going to choose all along. My social image, even though it wasn’t very well-known, was more important to me than doing what was right.

“Hmm, for some reason I knew you’d say that.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, finally feeling defeated.

Taylor was quiet for a second and I thought I had finally got her to shut up. I was starting to get sick of her attitude. My temper wasn’t anywhere near short, but I did have my limits too.

“Hmph,” she harrumphed. “Well, then meet at my house at ten sharp. Got that, square?”

So it looks like square is my new nickname, great.

“But, I don’t have a car to drive you home with,” I said, attempting to try and use the last excuse I had left.

She snorted, “You’re going to be driving me home using my car, duh.”

I clenched my teeth together. I hated how she keeps treating me like I’m a little kid.

“Fine, whatever,” I sputtered, leaving her car and slamming the door shut.

I stomped to my front door, and opened it. Landon always opened the door every time I got home. He was sitting on the couch just like this morning, watching TV. When he saw me making my entrance he stood up and looked at me questioningly.

“Hey, Lyn, what’s the matter?”

“You let me go to school with the worst person in the world,” I snapped, turning my face towards him. I felt bad as soon as the words left my mouth. It wasn’t Landon’s fault that I was in this mess.

Landon frowned, standing up from the couch. “She didn’t seem mean when she asked if you needed a ride this morning. And you did say it was okay.”

“I know, but she’s going to make my life miserable,” I groaned, imagining all the things I would have to do for her. This party was just going to be the beginning.

“Why? What happened?”

I couldn’t answer Landon’s question truthfully. If I told him, then he would tell my parents, and then my parents were going to complain to the school. Then, when the school talks to Taylor about this whole mess, she’s just going to deny all of it. It would all just be a pointless action, and it would probably just make my life even more complicated than it was now.

“It’s nothing,” I finally answered, waving my hand to dismiss this topic.

He eyed me suspiciously not sure whether to believe me or not, but he just shrugged it off and said. “M’kay, if you say so.”

“Right, well I’m going to start my homework. Tell me when dinner’s ready.”

“Alright, oh and mom and dad said they’re coming home late tonight. They said going out for dinner or something,” Landon called to me just as I entered the hallway.

At least it’ll be easier to sneak out tonight. The word sneak out still felt foreign to me. I knew what it was, but I just never thought I would have to do it. Not to mention, I would be sneaking out to go to a high school beach party.

Even though I didn’t like the idea of sneaking out and going to a beach party, somewhere deep inside me, I felt giddy of sneaking out. I was excited when I thought about sneaking out, and I didn’t know whether that was a good or bad thing.

Time seemed to fly by when I worked on my homework, and by the time I looked up from math homework I realized it was almost ten. Wasn’t Landon supposed to be making us dinner by now? I pursed my lips and stood up from my bed, which was littered with paper, binders, and thick, chunky textbooks.

I opened my door and walked into the living room. My face fell when I noticed Landon sprawled out across the couch. He was rolled over on his stomach, snoring deeply into the cushions. He’s home all day and he chooses now to fall asleep? Men are so lazy.

I padded into the kitchen and looked for something to munch on before I leave. I opened the refrigerator and looked up and down the racks. When I found nothing that I wanted I just went into the pantry and took out a bag of chips. It would have to suffice for now.

I walked back into my room with my bag of Doritos, making sure I was quiet enough so that I didn’t wake Landon up. Once I was inside my room, I opened the bag of chips and started to munch on them as I finished the rest of my math homework.

Every so often I would glance at the clock. I was becoming nervous. What if my parents see that I’m not home? What if Landon finds out? Will he tell our parents? Every time I asked myself these questions, I started to dread leaving the house. Maybe I could pretend that I was sick and I couldn’t go to the party.

No, that wouldn’t work. Taylor would just send the picture to everyone.

I looked at the clock once again, and it showed that it was fifteen before ten. I groaned and pushed myself off my bed. I thought of multiple ways to get out of the house, idea number one was to go out the front door, idea number two was to go through the back door, or my last idea was to go out my window.

I knew I couldn’t go out the front door because Landon was sleeping in the living room, and he’d wake up too easily. I didn’t really want to go through the back door because I would have to find a way to jump over the gate, since it was usually locked. My last and only option left would be to go out my bedroom window. My window was large enough so that I could fit through it, and it led to the front yard, so I wouldn’t have to jump the gate.

My last option appealed to me the most, so I made my decision and went to grab my shoes. I slipped them on my feet and tied them tight so they wouldn’t somehow fall off.

I then shoved a few of my thick pillows under my blanket. I didn’t actually think it would fool anybody that I was sleeping, but I had always seen it in movies, and it was better than nothing. I then shut off my bedroom light and went to the window. I tugged it once and it seemed like it was stuck. The sound of the window creaked as I pulled on it again, but this time it opened.

The cool breeze brushed my hair back as I stuck my head outside. It was in the middle of October, so this weather was just about normal. I walked back into my closet and grabbed a thin black jacket. Then I tried to jump out of the window, which proved to be a lot harder than it looked.

I got my right leg over the window sill, and was trying to hold myself up with the very small upper body strength that I had. I then somehow managed to get my left leg on top of the window sill and tried to pull it over, but I couldn’t get it over. My arms were starting to go limp, and my clutch was loosening. One by one my fingers lost their grip, until I only had two fingers left, and soon enough they let go too.

“Ow!” I yelped as my butt landed on the cold, hard ground with a dull thud.

I stood up and dusted off my now muddy bottom. I didn’t even realize that the sprinklers had just finished watering the grass, so I landed in a puddle of muddy water. Despite my dirty clothes I grinned in self-satisfaction; somehow I had snuck out of my house without anybody even noticing. My window was still wide open, but I didn’t think that it looked too suspicious. I would open my window sometimes when it was too hot in my room anyway.

I looked around the house and made sure nobody was outside watching me, and then I sneakily tip-toed over to Taylor’s house, which was next door, and walked up her porch. I didn’t even have to knock before the door flung open. Taylor stood in front of me, her hair golden blonde hair was curled loosely and a smug smile was on her face. She was proud that she had managed to get the goodie two shoes to sneak out of her house. Then as she examined me closer, her smug smile faded.

“Please tell me you are not wearing that to the party,” she scowled at my muddy clothing and the dirt in my hair and on my face.

“Why not? It’s not like I’m going to be doing anything there anyways,” I answered matter-of-factly.

She looked at me mischievously as she purred. “That’s what you think.”