The Anything Friend

by Michela DiMarco

CHAPTER 26

  “Float away here with me. An evening just wait and see. But tomorrow go back to your man. I'm back to my world. And we're back to being friends.” Dave Matthews Band

  Elizabeth was sprawled across Jack’s bare body, moving in sync with every breath of air he took in and exhaled. The consumption of alcohol could never be an excuse for what had occurred because neither of them touched even a drop. After their passionate tryst, Jack held Elizabeth all night long, not letting go for even a second. The dull hum of Jack’s cell phone vibrated against the keys of his pocket. Elizabeth, still half asleep vowed not to move from the safety of his embrace.

  He began caressing the small of her back. She took a deep breath to stop herself from laughing as his touch tickled her body. Elizabeth bit her lower lip as she traced his full lips. She felt a slight smile form under her finger. The urge to kiss Jack again rose from deep within her. She pulled her thin body towards his face and carefully grazed her lips against his. He responded slowly to her touch with his tongue for a minute before he was fully revived.

  Jack rolled Elizabeth on her back, holding her hands together with his left hand while his right hand wandered over her excited body. “Good morning,” he whispered between kisses. Her breathing increased as she arched her back pressing herself harder against his firm core. His cell phone vibrated again interrupting Jack’s train of thought. He looked at Elizabeth for a moment before choosing the phone over her.

  Embarrassed at the rejection, she quickly unraveled the twisted sheets and covered her exposed body turning away from him as she did so. “I’m sorry,” he said planting his feet on the carpet below. “Nick’s called eleven times. I’ll just call him quickly.” Elizabeth pulled the lime green sheet up to her eyes. For the first time since Jack had kissed her the night before she felt completely uncomfortable. She heard Jack sigh loudly before appearing on her side of the bed. He knelt down next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Nick’s dad drinks too much. When he needs to get away he always comes to my house. I just need to make sure he’s okay.”

  Elizabeth nodded. What happened between them meant something different to Jack than it did to her. He pulled on his clothes with his cell phone propped against his ear listening to his voicemail. She wanted to get dressed, too, but was suddenly ashamed of her body. She wrapped the sheet tighter and walked to her dresser to put clothes on. Just as she pulled on a pair of cotton shorts, the doorbell rang.

  Jack leapt to the bedroom window with the phone still to his ear. “I can’t see anything from here.”

  Elizabeth pulled a long sleeve t-shirt over her head, dropped the sheet and walked out of her room leaving Jack standing at the window. Confused about why they had acted so recklessly the last few hours, she made her way down the stairs and opened the front door a second after the bell rang again to find Nick Strauss standing there.

  “Sorry,” he said taking a step back. “Jack’s mom said he was over here.”

  Elizabeth paused not knowing if she should tell Nick he was in her bedroom or pretend she had no idea where he was. Neither of them wanted it to get out that they had spent the night together. How did Latasha know where Jack was?

  “Actually,” she started not knowing what words came next.

  “I’m here,” interrupted Jack bounding down the stairs.

  Elizabeth could feel Nick staring right through her as if he already knew she hooked up with Jack. “Breakfast?” he blurted out.

  “Yeah,” answered Jack. “That sounds great, I’m starving. What are you doing up so early?”

  Nick’s nose wrinkled. “Early? It’s 11:30. I can go if you want. I feel like I walked in on the middle of something.”

  Elizabeth blushed. He had interrupted something intense. “I’m okay,” she encouraged suddenly feeling dizzy. She was confused, not just emotionally but also physically. She had never been touched so sensually before.

  “We’ll talk later,” Jack said distantly and awkwardly offering her a one arm hug. He never gave half hugs, not even in front of other people.

  Elizabeth watched as he drove away in Nick’s car. She slammed the door behind her and stormed the stairs back to her room as loud as a herd of elephants. In a fury, Elizabeth ripped the sheets off her bed, dragged them into the hallway and tossed them off the balcony railing into the foyer below. She turned to the bathroom dropping the clothes she was wearing along the way.

  The hot water washed over her body wiping away Jack Bennett’s touch and smell. She leaned against the faucet wall and was sobbing before she could control her emotions. Elizabeth had been consumed by lust, drawn into passion, and unable to turn away from love. She had committed the ultimate act of stupidity, even worse than being hooked on drugs. They had unprotected sex. Some people have sex because they want to lose their virginity, some people do it because their friends are doing it, and others do it as a means to prove they like someone. Either way, regret is a natural reaction that comes after two teenagers have sex for the first time. The problem was, there wasn’t one part of Elizabeth that regretted having sex with Jack. She was breaking down not because they spent the night together but because he had left.

  When Elizabeth calmed down and finished taking her shower, she put on a pair of Carolina blue UNC sweatpants and a matching navy blue UNC sweatshirt. She hit the speed dial on her purple BlackBerry and waited patiently for her friend to pick up. When she heard the voice on the other end she knew it was safe to talk.

  “Angela, I hooked up with Jack Bennett last night.”

  “Whoa,” responded Angela. “What happened? Are you guys like together now?”

  “No,” she answered frustrated. “We’re still just friends; two friends that had sex.”