Where the Wind Takes Us

I was expecting to see Mick pull up into my driveway this morning for our usual post-hangover sesh with the rest of the gang at Gloria Jeans, but I’m surprised to see Barbs instead – Colton’s car, Barbs, that is. As I get closer to the car, I realise that it is not in fact Colton, but James, smiling lazily at me as he winds the car window down.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, pulling on a pair of scruffy black boots as I hop to Barbs. Seeing Barbs through my room window caused me to run down the stairs quietly, making sure not to wake up the parentals but trying to run a hand through my untamed hair and pull on my shoes at the same time. Unfortunately, my balance isn’t working with my hangover, and I trip over the laces of my boot, catching the door handle just in time.

James snickers. “Good form.”

“Shut up,” I grumble. “Head hurts. Not in the mood.”

James nods in sympathy, rubbing his temple. “Thought I hadn’t drunk that much last night, but it proved to be worse than what I thought.”

I snort. “Dude, at one point I saw you scull down two beers in one gulp. How does one even do that?”

James grins. “Something I learned in juvy.”

James doesn’t talk about juvy much, and it’s something we don’t pester him about unless he wants to talk about. The most I know about James is that his father left when he was young and he lives with his mum and his younger brother Joe, who’s fifteen now I think. His mother’s one of those soft-spoken types, she has infinite love for James and Joe and tries to protect them as much as she can. James pretends to get annoyed by it, but I know he loves it.

Total mama’s boy, if you ask me.

I peek at him as he starts driving. “Oh yeah?”

“Uh huh,” James smirks. “I also learned how to snap someone’s throat and the best way to fuck a guy in the ass without hurting too much.”

I laugh, because I know he’s kidding.

I think.

James isn’t a radio kind of guy. He prefers to fill up the silence by having conversations. Or listening to himself talk. Either way works for him.

“So Natalie,” James starts. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?”

“Uh huh,” I tell him, toying with the USB I have of last night’s photos. “Did you have fun?”

“I did,” James smirks. “A lot of fun.”

I grimace. “I know. I saw that blonde chick with the pink dress – Ashley I think her name is?”

“Shit.” James smacks his forehead. “I was calling her Ashylnn the whole night.”

“I’m sure she didn’t notice,” I say reassuringly. “She was probably more into the fact she was hooking up with an older dangerous bad boy than anything else.”

“I’ll take that title,” James replies. “But take out the dangerous and replace it with sexy.”

I laugh. “Don’t you want to be truthful?”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Um,” I pretend to think. “Me.”

“That’s not what the girls at school say,” James counters, smirking.

I giggle. “Y’know, one day you’re gonna meet a girl who doesn’t think you’re the shit, and we’ll see what happens then.”

James doesn’t even pause before responding. “I’ll wear her down. She’ll have no choice but to succumb to my charm and good looks.”

James isn’t a player by any means, but he has the capability to draw people in because of his checkered past and boyish good looks – I’d never admit it to him, but he is very good looking and sometimes I’m surprised that I didn’t fall for him instead.

If I ever liked him though, I’m pretty sure he would never let me live it down.

It’s at this time that James pulls into the carpark of Gloria Jeans and parks the car. I notice Georgia’s car is here already, and so is Mick’s.

“How come you took Barbs?” I ask curiously.

“I borrowed her last week and I’ve mysteriously forgotten to give it back to him,” James says cheekily. “Don’t think he minds. He drives home with G anyways.”

As we enter the coffee house, James suddenly tugs on my arm. “Five bucks says Colton got laid last night.”

I grin. “Ten bucks says he got laid this morning.”

James raises an eyebrow. “I thought G hated mornings.”

I shook my head. “I hate mornings. G doesn’t mind if sex is involved.”

James shakes his head decisively. “We’ll see.”

As we reach our usual booth, we see Mick sitting on one side and Colton and Georgia holding hands, sitting on the other side of the booth. I slide in next to Georgia and James sits next to Mick.

“Ordered already?” I ask G as a way of greeting.

She nods. “Black coffees all around. At least two cups. I’m pretty good, though.”

“Birthday sex?” James asks slyly, causing Mick and I to burst out in laughter.

Colton blushes – typical, while Georgia comes straight out with it. “Yeah.”

“Before you came, didn’t you?” I add. Georgia ducks her head, slightly embarrassed.

I shook James a smirk. “Pay up.”

James glares at me. He hates losing bets, and he especially hates losing money. As much as I love winning it.

“You know Nat, you never did tell me about how the rest of your night went,” James says thoughtfully. “Care to share?”

James knows. I don’t know how he knows, but he knows. He’s an asshole for bringing it up in front of Mick, but since Mick saw it, it’s not like there’s any point hiding it from him.

“I hung out with Josh,” I tell James. “We’re friends. Why is this a big deal?”

“Because I don’t like him!” Mick snaps at me. “Isn’t that enough reason to stay away from him?”

“You told me to hang around him and now you’re telling me to stay away,” I roll my eyes. “Christ Mick, make up your fucking mind.”

I’m fairly sure it’s the pounding headache that made me say the words I had just said, but that doesn’t stop the surprise registering across all of the boy’s faces. Except for Georgia’s. She gets annoyed by Mick’s comments too, except she voices her opinions more than I do.

“Mick,” Georgia starts. I wonder if she’s going to change the subject or continue on, but with a sigh of relief I see she’s doing the former. “How was your night?”

“Good,” Mick says brusquely. “Three girls.” He sends a sheepish look to Colton. “I think one of them may have been your cousin. My bad.”

“Which one?” Colton asks. “Maria or Ashlynn?”

“James hooked up with Ashlynn,” I interrupt, sending James a sickly smile. That’s what he gets for being an asshole. “So probably Mick.”

Instead of bitching them out, Colton sighs. “You two are lucky I’m in a good mood this morning.”

The drinks come, and we’re all silent as we take our drinks and sip them slowly, letting the drink calm our headaches. We say after every event that we’re never drinking again, and then the next event we have, we turn into alcoholics. It’s a vicious cycle.

“Here,” I say abruptly, passing the USB to Colton. “All of last night’s photos. I’ll probably put them on Facebook too.”

“How many did you take?” He questions.

I shrug. “More than 500, I think. There’s photos of James trying to hook up -”

“Trying?”

“ – and sexy time between you and G, Mick and a few girls, oh! And the cutest group shot of us all. Pretty sure we were all hammered at this point.”

I thought the pictures with Mick and the girls would hurt, and I was expecting the overwhelming feeling of having my heart being crushed into a million pieces, but it never came. Well, it still got crushed, but not into a million pieces. Maybe like five or ten. A part of me feels like I’m finally getting over Mick, but I wonder how I’m able to get to this point.

Colton chuckles. “That sounds about right. Did you get any pics with anyone?”

“Yeah,” and not wanting to lie to the group, especially Mick, I add, “Josh.”

Mick bites his lip, which I know he does when he’s trying to keep something to himself but he has to literally do something to keep it inside.

“Just say it Mick,” I sigh. “What is it?”

“Josh is fucking gay!” Mick bursts out. “I swear to god he checks me out every time he walks past or some shit! Are you retarded enough not to see that?”

A silence fills the table, mostly in awe because in all of our years of friendship, Mick has never spoken to me like that. I have no idea how to respond, mainly because I feel like I’m about to break down in tears. Georgia luckily picks up on this and squeezes my hand, before glaring at Mick.

“Just because someone is gay, doesn’t mean they’re going to be interested in every Dick and Harry that walks past,” Georgia retorts, and in a move that I didn’t think she had the balls to do (seriously though, why do I not think Georgia has balls?) she turns to me and kisses me, keeping it short and brief. I can’t do anything but blink rapidly in shock.

When she pulls away, she directs her attention back at Mick, venom lacing in her tone. “I just kissed Nat. Does that make me a les, mate?”

It’s safe to say we’re all in shock now, even Colton, who seems both in awe and surprise at Georgia’s actions. Mick opens his mouth as if to say something and then closes it, probably realising that he’s going to need ice for that burn G just gave him.

“Besides,” Georgia says, her voice now light. “Josh is bi. We all see the way he looks at –”

“Sorry,” Mick interrupts Georgia. “To the both of you.”

I frown, since I don’t accept his half-assed apology. Not yet, anyways.

“You have to apologise to Josh too,” I tell him, my frown deepening. “You’re being an asshole for no reason.”

“No way,” Mick crosses his arms. “No fucking way.”

I take my cup of coffee and stand up. There’s no way I can sit with Mick and pretend to be dandy when I’m not. I don’t know why Mick has such a vendetta against Josh, but it’s pissing me off. Why can’t we all just get along?

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say abruptly. Before I leave, I turn to Mick. “I’ll see you around.”

I stalk off angrily, wishing I had told him to go fuck himself instead.