Status: Just a prize!
Straw Shoe
three.
“So you don’t get sick of the weather?” Jay, another New Englander, asked me in disbelief. “Crazy.”
“He grew up in Canada,” Lee reminded him. “Land of hockey, maple syrup, moose, and snow.” She waited a minute. “And Sidney Crosby.”
I shoved her lightly. “Go away.”
Before she could retort, her attention was stolen from our small group. Samantha was next to her then, drunk off her ass.
“Oh Lord,” Lee muttered.
“Izzy,” Samantha slurred. “Come play ‘pong with us. I need a new teammate.”
“I don’t think so, Sammy,” Lee shook her head. “You don’t need any more beer.”
“But it’ll be fun,” she dragged out her words and tried to wobble backwards, only falling onto her butt. “Please?”
“No,” Lee said, pulling her friend up from the sand. “You’re drunk enough and I want to be coherent enough to remember tonight.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, she looked to me. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back, okay?”
It was obvious how much Samantha and Lee cared about each other. And it was obvious who was the fun one. Samantha had probably had triple what Lee had that night and still wanted more.
Watching them go, Jay kept talking.
“She does too much for her,” he shook his head.
“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows. They were best friends. Shouldn’t they do a lot for each other?
“Sam digs herself a hole and Lee has to help her get out of it,” Jay explained. “Doesn’t give Lee a whole lot of time to think for herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“About a year ago,” he said. “Lee was dating this guy. Total douche. Guy’s name was Aaron. We all tried to tell her that it wouldn’t end well, that something was up. Low and behold, whenever Lee would be off helping Sam out, Aaron would be off with some other chick.” He swigged his beer. “Lee found out and wasn’t really the same after.”
“She seems alright to me,” I said, looking to the last spot that I’d seen her vanish to with a drunken Samantha at her side.
“She likes you guys,” Jay said. “You in particular.” He shrugged. “Just don’t be like him.”
I don’t know what made me do it, but the words that came out of my mouth next shocked me.
“I don’t intend to.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon enough, I was left to my own devices. And by that, I mean literally.
Sitting on the blanket, I tortured myself by pulling out my iPhone and checking the score. 2nd period intermission left Jersey up by 1 and LA would have to kill a penalty to start the third.
“Damn, LA,” A voice cursed.
I dropped my phone to the sand, but it was only Lee.
“You’re rooting for them?” I asked.
“Sure,” she sighed, lying back on the blanket. “I don’t like Jersey.”
“Fair enough,” I nodded. “How’s Samantha?”
Lee sighed again. “Fine. She just…gets a little carried away. I’ll check on her later.”
We drifted into our first awkward silence then and I watched the flames dance around the logs in the center of the pit. Lee got up and walked over to a guy sitting in a folding chair. I couldn’t see what she was doing but she returned with two wire hangers and two paper plates.
“S’mores,” she said, handing me one set.
“With hangers?” I asked.
“Shut up, you Canadian,” Lee laughed as she bent her own hanger into shape and I followed suit.
We weren’t the only ones roasting marshmallows around the fire and it felt really campy. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done something like this. Probably last summer with my younger family members on my day with the Cup.
I realized that was one thing Lee and I hadn’t talked about. In fact, today was the first day that we’d talked about hockey since finding out she was a Bruins fan. I liked that she didn’t need to bring that kind of stuff into the conversation, but I found myself a little thrown by it. Most people, when they’re getting to know me, talk about my occupation. And here is a girl that can leave me confused and speechless just by saying a few words.
“Hey,” Jay came up behind us. “You guys want to go up to the hill?”
“We almost got caught last time,” Lee chided him. “Is that a good idea?”
“That was because you insisted on dragging Sam’s drunken ass along with us and she wouldn’t shut up,” he retorted.
“She’ll be upset we went without her,” she sighed.
“Who cares,” Jay shrugged.
“Wait,” I interrupted. “What’s the hill?”
“It’s this giant hill,” Jay said obviously. “With probably the best spot to watch fireworks.”
“It’s also guest-only and totally off limits for employees after hours,” Lee reminded him.
“Fireworks?” I wondered.
“The local fire company likes to have a practice run for the Fourth of July,” Lee explained. “The shoot them off over in the dunes.”
“And the best place to watch is the hill,” someone else insisted. “Come on, Lee.”
She sighed, biting into the last of her s’more. “You game?”
She was leaving it up to me. I didn’t want her and her friends to get into trouble, but I was also a little curious.
“Sure, why not?” I shrugged. “It could be fun.”
“Yeah, until all our sorry asses get fired.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was a hike to get to the top and they’d been moving fast, wanting to put as much distance between them and the resort as possible. I realized that I would need to put in a lot of time at the gym before the season started. If it started, that was.
“Pick a seat,” Jay said, extending his arm. Scattered around the hill top were different trees and benches where young people were already settling themselves.
“Come on,” Lee grabbed my hand and led me over to one big tree in the middle.
Its roots stuck out, making perfect seats. We spread the blanket out and made ourselves comfortable. Jay and another girl were close by, talking quietly, one of many couples.
“Is it always like this?” I asked.
“Always like what?” she cocked her head to the side and I gestured to the obvious pairings. “Oh. Yeah, pretty much so.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” I asked. “You never feel… out of it?”
A blush crept up her skin, tinting her cheeks as she squeezed my hand. “Not tonight.”
She didn’t let go.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The fireworks were spectacular. Or at least, that’s what I assumed based on the reactions of the people around me. I was too consumed with the fact that Lee had insinuated herself that we were there together that night.
And there I went again, with the lovesick teenager stuff. Most likely, Tyler was getting laid and I’d only just advanced to hand holding. But what did I expect?
Surprisingly enough, I didn’t mind.
“What’s he doing here?” Lee leaned over and whispered to Jay.
“I have no idea,” he said. “Did you see who he came in with?”
“No,” Lee’s voice was quiet. “I just don’t want to see him.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, pulling her back up to me.
“It’s nothing,” she tried assuring me. “Really it’s-,”
“Isabella,” a voice boomed and everything around us went silent. “Would you look at you?”
She groaned. “God dammit.”
I watched her turn around, crossing her arms. “Hi, Aaron.”
Ah, so this was Aaron. He was a big guy, bulky. His round face almost reminded me of Looch. But it was obvious this guy wasn’t a hockey player. The way he was built, Aaron had to spend most of his time drinking protein shakes and lifting weights.
“How’ve you been, babe?” he attempted to sit down and sling an arm around her, but Lee slid aside into me.
“Fine, thanks,” it was an abrupt answer.
“Aaron,” a girlish voice called. “There you are.”
The girl that Lee had told me was Shana appeared, settling herself onto Aaron’s lap.
“Sorry, babe,” Aaron apologized to Shana. “Just catching up with old friends.” He smiled devilishly at Lee.
“You can go now,” the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“What?” he cocked a bushy brow.
“I said,” I straightened up. I had no reason to be afraid of this guy. “You can leave. Now.”
“Who do you think you are?” He pushed Shana off his lap and stood up. I did the same, settling Lee onto the tree root before matching his stance.
“I think I’m the one here with Lee tonight,” I said, eyeing him. “And you and your date can go.”
“I think we’ll stay,” Shana piped up, but Aaron quieted her with a harsh word.
“I’d like to show you a thing or two, buddy,” he said, glaring at me.
“No,” Lee stood up just as I was taking a step forward. “This isn’t happening. Aaron, you and Shana are gonna go. Now.” Her voice was firm and the hands she had placed on either of our chests were enough to keep us from swinging a fist. “Go.”
Aaron huffed, but swiped up Shana’s hand and they took off down the hill. He nearly dragged her away, he moved so fast.
“Well,” Lee sighed as quiet voices emerged around us. “That was fun.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone stayed up on the hill for a while longer, but as the night wore on, people left in groups. They would hurry down the hill and around the main building of the resort, towards the employee shacks.
Eventually, it was only a few of us left. We were cleaning up any evidence of the secret viewing that had gone on up on the hilltop when everyone stopped in their tracks.
There were voices coming up the hill and by the looks of things, flashlights were in hand.
“Shit,” Jay muttered.
“I told you this would happen,” Lee cursed at him as she wrapped herself under my arm.
“Just relax,” Jay assured us all. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be-,”
“Fired,” she groaned. “And I’ll have to go home and-,”
“Calm down,” I rubbed her arm. “It’ll be okay.”
We all stood with bated breath as the lights got closer and the voices got louder. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide but up in the trees and with the amount of alcohol we’d ingested, no one was scrambling for branches.
“What is the meaning of all this?”
“Mr. Hyland,” Jay began.
“We can explain,” Lee said.
“My office,” the owner of the resort boomed. “Now.”
“He grew up in Canada,” Lee reminded him. “Land of hockey, maple syrup, moose, and snow.” She waited a minute. “And Sidney Crosby.”
I shoved her lightly. “Go away.”
Before she could retort, her attention was stolen from our small group. Samantha was next to her then, drunk off her ass.
“Oh Lord,” Lee muttered.
“Izzy,” Samantha slurred. “Come play ‘pong with us. I need a new teammate.”
“I don’t think so, Sammy,” Lee shook her head. “You don’t need any more beer.”
“But it’ll be fun,” she dragged out her words and tried to wobble backwards, only falling onto her butt. “Please?”
“No,” Lee said, pulling her friend up from the sand. “You’re drunk enough and I want to be coherent enough to remember tonight.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, she looked to me. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back, okay?”
It was obvious how much Samantha and Lee cared about each other. And it was obvious who was the fun one. Samantha had probably had triple what Lee had that night and still wanted more.
Watching them go, Jay kept talking.
“She does too much for her,” he shook his head.
“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows. They were best friends. Shouldn’t they do a lot for each other?
“Sam digs herself a hole and Lee has to help her get out of it,” Jay explained. “Doesn’t give Lee a whole lot of time to think for herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“About a year ago,” he said. “Lee was dating this guy. Total douche. Guy’s name was Aaron. We all tried to tell her that it wouldn’t end well, that something was up. Low and behold, whenever Lee would be off helping Sam out, Aaron would be off with some other chick.” He swigged his beer. “Lee found out and wasn’t really the same after.”
“She seems alright to me,” I said, looking to the last spot that I’d seen her vanish to with a drunken Samantha at her side.
“She likes you guys,” Jay said. “You in particular.” He shrugged. “Just don’t be like him.”
I don’t know what made me do it, but the words that came out of my mouth next shocked me.
“I don’t intend to.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon enough, I was left to my own devices. And by that, I mean literally.
Sitting on the blanket, I tortured myself by pulling out my iPhone and checking the score. 2nd period intermission left Jersey up by 1 and LA would have to kill a penalty to start the third.
“Damn, LA,” A voice cursed.
I dropped my phone to the sand, but it was only Lee.
“You’re rooting for them?” I asked.
“Sure,” she sighed, lying back on the blanket. “I don’t like Jersey.”
“Fair enough,” I nodded. “How’s Samantha?”
Lee sighed again. “Fine. She just…gets a little carried away. I’ll check on her later.”
We drifted into our first awkward silence then and I watched the flames dance around the logs in the center of the pit. Lee got up and walked over to a guy sitting in a folding chair. I couldn’t see what she was doing but she returned with two wire hangers and two paper plates.
“S’mores,” she said, handing me one set.
“With hangers?” I asked.
“Shut up, you Canadian,” Lee laughed as she bent her own hanger into shape and I followed suit.
We weren’t the only ones roasting marshmallows around the fire and it felt really campy. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done something like this. Probably last summer with my younger family members on my day with the Cup.
I realized that was one thing Lee and I hadn’t talked about. In fact, today was the first day that we’d talked about hockey since finding out she was a Bruins fan. I liked that she didn’t need to bring that kind of stuff into the conversation, but I found myself a little thrown by it. Most people, when they’re getting to know me, talk about my occupation. And here is a girl that can leave me confused and speechless just by saying a few words.
“Hey,” Jay came up behind us. “You guys want to go up to the hill?”
“We almost got caught last time,” Lee chided him. “Is that a good idea?”
“That was because you insisted on dragging Sam’s drunken ass along with us and she wouldn’t shut up,” he retorted.
“She’ll be upset we went without her,” she sighed.
“Who cares,” Jay shrugged.
“Wait,” I interrupted. “What’s the hill?”
“It’s this giant hill,” Jay said obviously. “With probably the best spot to watch fireworks.”
“It’s also guest-only and totally off limits for employees after hours,” Lee reminded him.
“Fireworks?” I wondered.
“The local fire company likes to have a practice run for the Fourth of July,” Lee explained. “The shoot them off over in the dunes.”
“And the best place to watch is the hill,” someone else insisted. “Come on, Lee.”
She sighed, biting into the last of her s’more. “You game?”
She was leaving it up to me. I didn’t want her and her friends to get into trouble, but I was also a little curious.
“Sure, why not?” I shrugged. “It could be fun.”
“Yeah, until all our sorry asses get fired.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was a hike to get to the top and they’d been moving fast, wanting to put as much distance between them and the resort as possible. I realized that I would need to put in a lot of time at the gym before the season started. If it started, that was.
“Pick a seat,” Jay said, extending his arm. Scattered around the hill top were different trees and benches where young people were already settling themselves.
“Come on,” Lee grabbed my hand and led me over to one big tree in the middle.
Its roots stuck out, making perfect seats. We spread the blanket out and made ourselves comfortable. Jay and another girl were close by, talking quietly, one of many couples.
“Is it always like this?” I asked.
“Always like what?” she cocked her head to the side and I gestured to the obvious pairings. “Oh. Yeah, pretty much so.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” I asked. “You never feel… out of it?”
A blush crept up her skin, tinting her cheeks as she squeezed my hand. “Not tonight.”
She didn’t let go.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The fireworks were spectacular. Or at least, that’s what I assumed based on the reactions of the people around me. I was too consumed with the fact that Lee had insinuated herself that we were there together that night.
And there I went again, with the lovesick teenager stuff. Most likely, Tyler was getting laid and I’d only just advanced to hand holding. But what did I expect?
Surprisingly enough, I didn’t mind.
“What’s he doing here?” Lee leaned over and whispered to Jay.
“I have no idea,” he said. “Did you see who he came in with?”
“No,” Lee’s voice was quiet. “I just don’t want to see him.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, pulling her back up to me.
“It’s nothing,” she tried assuring me. “Really it’s-,”
“Isabella,” a voice boomed and everything around us went silent. “Would you look at you?”
She groaned. “God dammit.”
I watched her turn around, crossing her arms. “Hi, Aaron.”
Ah, so this was Aaron. He was a big guy, bulky. His round face almost reminded me of Looch. But it was obvious this guy wasn’t a hockey player. The way he was built, Aaron had to spend most of his time drinking protein shakes and lifting weights.
“How’ve you been, babe?” he attempted to sit down and sling an arm around her, but Lee slid aside into me.
“Fine, thanks,” it was an abrupt answer.
“Aaron,” a girlish voice called. “There you are.”
The girl that Lee had told me was Shana appeared, settling herself onto Aaron’s lap.
“Sorry, babe,” Aaron apologized to Shana. “Just catching up with old friends.” He smiled devilishly at Lee.
“You can go now,” the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“What?” he cocked a bushy brow.
“I said,” I straightened up. I had no reason to be afraid of this guy. “You can leave. Now.”
“Who do you think you are?” He pushed Shana off his lap and stood up. I did the same, settling Lee onto the tree root before matching his stance.
“I think I’m the one here with Lee tonight,” I said, eyeing him. “And you and your date can go.”
“I think we’ll stay,” Shana piped up, but Aaron quieted her with a harsh word.
“I’d like to show you a thing or two, buddy,” he said, glaring at me.
“No,” Lee stood up just as I was taking a step forward. “This isn’t happening. Aaron, you and Shana are gonna go. Now.” Her voice was firm and the hands she had placed on either of our chests were enough to keep us from swinging a fist. “Go.”
Aaron huffed, but swiped up Shana’s hand and they took off down the hill. He nearly dragged her away, he moved so fast.
“Well,” Lee sighed as quiet voices emerged around us. “That was fun.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone stayed up on the hill for a while longer, but as the night wore on, people left in groups. They would hurry down the hill and around the main building of the resort, towards the employee shacks.
Eventually, it was only a few of us left. We were cleaning up any evidence of the secret viewing that had gone on up on the hilltop when everyone stopped in their tracks.
There were voices coming up the hill and by the looks of things, flashlights were in hand.
“Shit,” Jay muttered.
“I told you this would happen,” Lee cursed at him as she wrapped herself under my arm.
“Just relax,” Jay assured us all. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be-,”
“Fired,” she groaned. “And I’ll have to go home and-,”
“Calm down,” I rubbed her arm. “It’ll be okay.”
We all stood with bated breath as the lights got closer and the voices got louder. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide but up in the trees and with the amount of alcohol we’d ingested, no one was scrambling for branches.
“What is the meaning of all this?”
“Mr. Hyland,” Jay began.
“We can explain,” Lee said.
“My office,” the owner of the resort boomed. “Now.”
♠ ♠ ♠
3/5