Status: Re-posting.
Dedication Takes a Lifetime
Pass Me Another Bottle, Honey
It was just shy of midnight by the time everyone left, and there was surprisingly little mess left behind. It took the five of us all of fifteen minutes to throw away the plastic cups and food crumbs, and then we settled down on my living room carpet with a handle of vodka. I didn’t usually drink straight liquor, but we were all still in a celebratory mood. Plus, it was Jack’s last night with us, and we wanted to be sure to send him home with a headache.
Somehow, we ended up playing that stupid Never-Have-I-Ever game.
“Never have I ever,” Deveraux said, teetering slightly from side to side, full shot glass in hand, “Fantasized about a teacher.” Kal and I took shots at the same time, then looked at each other with matching goofy smiles.
“Mister Florence?” We asked it each other, then broke into fits of laughter. Mister Florence was the drop-dead gorgeous Music Appreciation teacher at Camellia.
Once she’d settled herself down, Kal filled her shot glass again and said, “Never have I ever gotten a boner while taking a shit.” We glanced back and forth between the two men, both of whom took a shot dutifully. “Ew,” she wrinkled her nose in disgust as they refilled, “That is so…blech, she shuddered.
“Okay, okay, me now,” I knew I was slurring a little, well past tipsy, but I didn’t care. “Never have I ever lost my virginity!” We all took our shots except for Kal, who just stared at hers with a confused expression. When she noticed we were all staring at her, she blushed and gave a sheepish smile.
“I’m not really, uh…not really sure.”
Jocelyn giggled, face beet-red and eyes half-lidded, “Howdjyoo no’ know some’in like tha’?” She was wasted.
Kal shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, does having a guy put it in you for three seconds and then screaming ‘No, I changed my mind; I’M NOT READY!’ count?”
We all exchanged glances and then agreed in unison, “Yep.” She tilted her head thoughtfully and took the shot.
I held up my hand, “I need to switch to beer, I think. And I also,” I clamped my mouth shut to hold back the huge belch that crawled up my throat. “I also,” I continued, “Need to stop playing this stupid game before I tell you guys some things that I do not need to tell you.” I stood unsteadily, zigzagging a bit before I reached the refrigerator and tugged a six-pack of beer from the top shelf. “Yum, yum,” I hummed to myself, “God is great, beer is good, and…beer is goo-oo-ood.” When I made it back to the living room, everyone was staring up at me. “What?”
“We were wondering,” Kal said carefully, though giggling a little, “How’s it that you have this big ol’ house, and such a nice car, and never seem to worry about money.”
“You’re a full-time student and a part-time waitress,” Deveraux added in drunken wonder. Jocelyn fell against him then, and snorted at the action but made no move to right herself. Deveraux absentmindedly put a steadying arm around her shoulder, but continued to stare up at me.
I put the beer down on the table slowly and lowered myself to the carpet. I could feel my eyes were wide and my skin had gone cold and clammy. But I was drunk, and drunk doesn’t lie. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, “When I was eleven, my parents told me that I was adopted.” It only took one sentence to have their entire attention.
There was no turning back now. “Um…well, I love my parents, but I wanted to find my biological family, obviously. I was adopted right here in Grey Valley, so I figured it would be pretty easy to find my family, but…my biological parents had both passed away a few years ago, and I didn’t have any aunts or uncles. But I did find my grandmother--my mother’s mother--and she was,” I felt the tears welling already, but I held them back, “She was really happy to have me, you know?
“She was rich,” I let our a bark of laughter, “Like, really rich. Her late husband had struck oil or something like that, and owned his own insurance company on top of that, so when he passed it all went to my grandma. At first, she thought that was what I was at her doorstep for, but I really just wanted to get to know her.” I snapped open a beer, but didn’t drink any of it. “I kind of grew apart from my family and started spending most of my time with my grandmother. I mean, I was still home almost every night and Tomas and I still spent time together every day, but my parents became sort of…less there, I guess.
“But the summer before Junior year started, I was spending the week on vacation with my parents, and I got this phone call from the hospital.” I gulped, “They told me Grandma was dying; she only had a few months left. So I, uh, I took time off of school to take care of her and get everything in order. She passed around Christmas,” now I was crying, “And it took me a while to get over it. I didn’t go back to school second semester, and ended up losing my place at Camellia Ridge. But she left me this house,” I waved around. “And all of her money and cars and everything. All I have to do is pay bills and insurance and food. She loved me a lot, I guess,” this last part came out as a bare whisper, as my throat was tightening dangerously around my vocal chords.
Jack looked at me with sad eyes and reached across the table to squeeze my hand, “She sounds great, Nettie.”
I nodded. “You know, I was really shy about singing when I was a kid. I thought I sucked. I joined the choir at my middle school, but I always froze up.” I finally took a long gulp of the beer, smacking my lips when I sat it back down. “Grandma came to our first concert and I told her I couldn’t do my solo, and you know what she said?” They all shook their heads and I laughed ruefully, “She said, ‘Just sing. Just open up your damn mouth and sing, girl.’”
With that, we were all quiet for a very long time. Finally, Deveraux inhaled deeply and nodded, “That’s good advice.”
“Yep,” I smiled weakly, then looked up at the table, “Screw this beer idea; where’d that bottle go?” I reached for it, then swayed back and forth, “Pass me another bottle, honey. The Jager’s so sweet, but if it keeps you around then I’m down.”
“Wow,” I heard Kal breathe, and it was one of the last things I remembered from the rest of the night, “An E! True Hollywood Story and an All Time Low song? She’s plastered.”
Somehow, we ended up playing that stupid Never-Have-I-Ever game.
“Never have I ever,” Deveraux said, teetering slightly from side to side, full shot glass in hand, “Fantasized about a teacher.” Kal and I took shots at the same time, then looked at each other with matching goofy smiles.
“Mister Florence?” We asked it each other, then broke into fits of laughter. Mister Florence was the drop-dead gorgeous Music Appreciation teacher at Camellia.
Once she’d settled herself down, Kal filled her shot glass again and said, “Never have I ever gotten a boner while taking a shit.” We glanced back and forth between the two men, both of whom took a shot dutifully. “Ew,” she wrinkled her nose in disgust as they refilled, “That is so…blech, she shuddered.
“Okay, okay, me now,” I knew I was slurring a little, well past tipsy, but I didn’t care. “Never have I ever lost my virginity!” We all took our shots except for Kal, who just stared at hers with a confused expression. When she noticed we were all staring at her, she blushed and gave a sheepish smile.
“I’m not really, uh…not really sure.”
Jocelyn giggled, face beet-red and eyes half-lidded, “Howdjyoo no’ know some’in like tha’?” She was wasted.
Kal shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, does having a guy put it in you for three seconds and then screaming ‘No, I changed my mind; I’M NOT READY!’ count?”
We all exchanged glances and then agreed in unison, “Yep.” She tilted her head thoughtfully and took the shot.
I held up my hand, “I need to switch to beer, I think. And I also,” I clamped my mouth shut to hold back the huge belch that crawled up my throat. “I also,” I continued, “Need to stop playing this stupid game before I tell you guys some things that I do not need to tell you.” I stood unsteadily, zigzagging a bit before I reached the refrigerator and tugged a six-pack of beer from the top shelf. “Yum, yum,” I hummed to myself, “God is great, beer is good, and…beer is goo-oo-ood.” When I made it back to the living room, everyone was staring up at me. “What?”
“We were wondering,” Kal said carefully, though giggling a little, “How’s it that you have this big ol’ house, and such a nice car, and never seem to worry about money.”
“You’re a full-time student and a part-time waitress,” Deveraux added in drunken wonder. Jocelyn fell against him then, and snorted at the action but made no move to right herself. Deveraux absentmindedly put a steadying arm around her shoulder, but continued to stare up at me.
I put the beer down on the table slowly and lowered myself to the carpet. I could feel my eyes were wide and my skin had gone cold and clammy. But I was drunk, and drunk doesn’t lie. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, “When I was eleven, my parents told me that I was adopted.” It only took one sentence to have their entire attention.
There was no turning back now. “Um…well, I love my parents, but I wanted to find my biological family, obviously. I was adopted right here in Grey Valley, so I figured it would be pretty easy to find my family, but…my biological parents had both passed away a few years ago, and I didn’t have any aunts or uncles. But I did find my grandmother--my mother’s mother--and she was,” I felt the tears welling already, but I held them back, “She was really happy to have me, you know?
“She was rich,” I let our a bark of laughter, “Like, really rich. Her late husband had struck oil or something like that, and owned his own insurance company on top of that, so when he passed it all went to my grandma. At first, she thought that was what I was at her doorstep for, but I really just wanted to get to know her.” I snapped open a beer, but didn’t drink any of it. “I kind of grew apart from my family and started spending most of my time with my grandmother. I mean, I was still home almost every night and Tomas and I still spent time together every day, but my parents became sort of…less there, I guess.
“But the summer before Junior year started, I was spending the week on vacation with my parents, and I got this phone call from the hospital.” I gulped, “They told me Grandma was dying; she only had a few months left. So I, uh, I took time off of school to take care of her and get everything in order. She passed around Christmas,” now I was crying, “And it took me a while to get over it. I didn’t go back to school second semester, and ended up losing my place at Camellia Ridge. But she left me this house,” I waved around. “And all of her money and cars and everything. All I have to do is pay bills and insurance and food. She loved me a lot, I guess,” this last part came out as a bare whisper, as my throat was tightening dangerously around my vocal chords.
Jack looked at me with sad eyes and reached across the table to squeeze my hand, “She sounds great, Nettie.”
I nodded. “You know, I was really shy about singing when I was a kid. I thought I sucked. I joined the choir at my middle school, but I always froze up.” I finally took a long gulp of the beer, smacking my lips when I sat it back down. “Grandma came to our first concert and I told her I couldn’t do my solo, and you know what she said?” They all shook their heads and I laughed ruefully, “She said, ‘Just sing. Just open up your damn mouth and sing, girl.’”
With that, we were all quiet for a very long time. Finally, Deveraux inhaled deeply and nodded, “That’s good advice.”
“Yep,” I smiled weakly, then looked up at the table, “Screw this beer idea; where’d that bottle go?” I reached for it, then swayed back and forth, “Pass me another bottle, honey. The Jager’s so sweet, but if it keeps you around then I’m down.”
“Wow,” I heard Kal breathe, and it was one of the last things I remembered from the rest of the night, “An E! True Hollywood Story and an All Time Low song? She’s plastered.”