by D. K Lake
"Seriously?" I mutter, shaking my head. It feels so wobbly I think it might fall off.
Damn, I'm drunk.
Mitchel starts yelling and Boston is trying to pull him away from Stephen, and Stephen is shouting about some bet.
"Get off me or I'll tell her about the bet!" Stephen yells. Tell who, what?
"Yeah...you do that. See how hard it is to speak when I break every bone in your face." Mitchel growls.
I climb off the table and nearly fall over. I can see Mitchel and Stephen, or more accurately I can see colors. Mitchel is all in black with a red and black shirt tied around his waist and Stephen is wearing a blue shirt with a floral design on it.
"What's your problem?" Stephen shouts, trying to push Mitchel away.
Mitchel is drunk as well because he falls over a chair.
"My problem is you!" Mitchel snarls, shoving Boston out of the way so he can get to Stephen. "You had your hands all over her and she's drunk." Mitchel barks.
"If you hadn't noticed she sounded as though she was enjoying it. I doubt she moans that loud for anyone else." Stephen says. What? Was I moaning?
Mitchel charges at Stephen, knocking Boston to the floor on his way through, and crashes into Stephen. I push my way through the small crowd of people that have gathered around and head straight for the blur of black that is on top of Stephen.
Stephen hits Mitchel on the head with something and Mitchel falls off of him. Stephen scrambles to his feet and Mitchel wastes no time in springing back up but I get in front of him and throw my arms around his waist to hold him back.
"Stop fighting!" I shout.
Mitchel struggles against me but doesn't push me away. He stumbles back a step and we nearly fall over. I'm not sure if it's me or him that's the unstable one, maybe both.
"Get. Out." Stephen yells.
"Come on, man. Let it go, let's get out of here." Boston says, coming over to Mitchel.
I'm still holding onto Mitchel, my head resting on his chest because it feels heavy, and I think I can feel his arms around me.
"This party blows anyway." Mitchel says, turning me around.
I think he's going to push me back in Stephen's direction but instead, he hooks an arm around my waist.
"We're leaving." Mitchel says, walking me forward but Stephen steps in front of us.
"No way am I going to let you leave here with her." Stephen stops us.
Am I leaving with Mitchel? Wasn't I mad at him? I really can't remember anymore.
"I mean it." Stephen growls.
"You really think I would do anything to her?" Mitchel says in a low tone.
"I don't trust you with her." Stephen clips.
"Get out of my way." Mitchel barks.
"Mitchel," Boston tries to step in. "Come on, Kelsey will be safe here with Stephen."
"I'm not leaving her anywhere when she's in this state." Mitchel argues.
"What, Colorado?" I say randomly.
"She's really drunk." I hear Boston say, trying not to laugh.
"Let me have her." Stephen says, reaching for me.
"Don't touch her! Do you want me to break both your hands?" Mitchel barks.
"No need for any hand breaking." Boston interrupts. "Stephen, Kelsey will be fine with us."
Stephen looks between Boston and me.
"Stephen, it's fine. I'll be fine." I tell him.
"No Kelsey. It's not fine!"
"You worry too much." I say, patting him on the arm.
He tries to grab me but Mitchel pushes me into Boston and steps in front of us.
"Hands off, Conrad."
"I'm not letting you leave with her." Stephen tells Mitchel in his serious voice.
"You don't have a choice 'cause I'm not leaving here without her." Mitchel replies.
"I said NO!" Stephen says, standing up tall.
"You want to go again, Conrad? 'Cause I haven't even started yet."
"You two seriously need to chill out." I say and push Boston out of my way and grab Mitchel's arm.
"If you fight him again I will kiss him again." I say to Mitchel, looking up at his blue eyes and he looks as though he's thinking about it.
"Kelsey, you can't go with him. You don't understand-" Stephen starts.
"Stephen, shut up! I will be fine with Mitchel. I'm not even that drunk. Really!" I talk over him, hiccuping.
He crosses his arms and gives me the once-over.
"You look pretty intoxicated to me."
"And you're currently moving from side to side, so you're one to talk."
"No. That's just you." Stephen says and tries to pull me in his direction but I take a step back and start to wobble and Mitchel quickly hooks an arm around my waist.
"You got her?" Boston asks.
"Yeah, I've got her." Mitchel replies, lifting me off the floor and carrying me bridal style.
"You wish you got me." I snort. Did I just say that out loud?
Mitchel chuckles and carries me out of the room without dropping me or knocking my head on a door.
I thought he was drunk. Obviously, he's not that drunk. I see Boston in front and he looks like he's swaying from side to side but I figure my eyes are playing tricks on me and I'm the one that is wasted here.
"You do anything to her and I will personally kill you, Torres!" Stephen shouts but he soon fades into the background.
"Where are we going? My bag is upstairs." I say.
"Boston will get your bag while I put you in the car."
Mitchel carries me outside and I hold onto him as the cold air brushes over my bare arms. I took my hoodie off and left it in Nessie's bedroom. Mitchel carries me down the street and stops in front of a blue car. It takes me a minute to realize it's JT's Mustang.
"Where's JT?" I ask as Mitchel sets me on the ground.
"He's over at Amber's."
"Who's driving then?"
"Boston, he's not been drinking."
"And why do you need me?"
"What?" Mitchel stares at me blankly.
"Why do you want me to leave with you?"
"Oh...um, we still need to have that talk." He takes a step closer and runs his hands up and down my arms to warm me up.
"You know, I'm a little tipsy and won't remember half of this tomorrow."
"I know, but I think you're more likely to listen while you're like this."
"I dunno. Are you going to make me cry like you made Phoebe cry earlier?"
"No."
"So why'd you break up with her?"
"I told you I didn't like her." he says, untying his red and black flannel shirt and sliding my arms into it.
Even my arms don't work properly.
"Then why did you go out with her in the first place? And what is it Stephen's not allowed to tell me? Did you do something bad, something illegal? Oh, oh did you rob a bank? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you say yes. And why did you attack Stephen when he kissed me?!" I babble.
Mitchel's lips twitch. "You're really talkative when you're drunk." he says softly, looking at me with his baby blue eyes that make me want to wrap my arms around him and cuddle him all night.
"Why aren't you answering my questions?" I pout.
"I will answer all your questions when we get back to mine, alright?"
"No. Not alright." I push him back a step.
"Who was that girl?" I snap.
"What girl?"
"That girl that was sitting on your lap?"
Mitchel frowns and scratches his head.
"What girl?"
"The girl. The girl sitting on your lap!"
"Oh...that girl. I have no idea, she just came over and sat on me and helped herself to my drink. I don't even know her name."
"I guess it's better that way."
"What way?"
"If you don't know their names, makes it easier to forget them in the morning." I poke him in the chest and he grabs my hand.
"Seriously, Kelse. I don't know who she was and I don't fucking care
."
"Well, I don't care either." I say, snatching my hand back and crossing my arms and my balance goes.
"Come on, get in the car."
Mitchel opens the door for me but I don't budge.
"Kelse, get in the car, please."
"Why'd you get mad when I kissed Stephen?"
"Why do you think?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."
He sighs and lets go of the car door and takes my hand and pulls me against him and walks me two steps back and pushes me against the car.
"'Cause I was jealous." he whispers.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said I was jealous, ok?"
"Jealous, huh?" I stand up on my tiptoes.
"I don't like anyone else touching you." he says, his eyes glancing around us, watching a group of teenagers crossing the street.
"Well, that might be a problem because people touch me all the time."
"They do?" he asks with a smirk.
"I mean, in general. I bump into people at school. I make contact with other people all day long."
"Yes, but they don't grope you under your t-shirt."
"Well, no but...what?! Was Stephen groping me?"
"And that is the reason why you should never drink."
"Oh...anyway, like it matters, not when you're around to fight off everyone that comes anywhere near me."
"When they try to put their hands up your t-shirt, then yes, I will fight them. I will kill anyone that lays a finger on you."
"I wanted him to."
"Wanted him to what?"
"Kiss me."
"Did you?" he says in a clipped tone.
Did I? No. Not really.
"I wanted to kiss you first but you were too busy with that other girl." I blurt and cover my mouth before I say anything else.
"Do you still want to kiss me?" Mitchel asks. Yes. No.
"Maybe. But you lied to me and you've been hanging around with Phoebe-skank-pants."
"I never lied to you. I didn't send those messages. And I don't like Phoebe, that's the truth."
"I don't understand."
"I know and I will explain everything when we get back to mine."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I look in the direction of the house and see Boston walking this way.
"Kelse," Mitchel whispers to get my attention.
I turn my head to look at him and find him watching me.
"What?"
"Can I kiss you?"
"Why? What's the point? Tomorrow you'll be kissing some other girl, maybe even Mia. I hear she and Smith are on a break."
"The only girl I plan on kissing tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, is you."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to kiss me so badly?"
"'Cause I've wanted to kiss you since the first time I laid eyes on you."
"In English class?"
"No. In Vegas." he chuckles.
I blink and try to focus on his lips. Did he just say Vegas?
"Yes, I did just say Vegas."
"Wh...how?"
"You were on a school trip, some of your class were at the skate park, you had pink hair."
I stare at him for longer than I should.
"Kelse, you ok?" I just nod. "But, yeah, I wanted to kiss you when I saw you in English too. I thought I was seeing things when I walked into English and saw you. I liked the pastel pink." he tells me, playing with a loose strand of my over-bleached ice white hair.
"I dyed it for a joke to annoy my mom and I let Nessie pick any color she wanted and she chose pink."
"Well, she did a good job, it was the pink hair that caught my attention the first time."
"Who has pink hair?" Boston asks, walking over to us with my bag slung over his shoulder, my hoodie in one hand, and my roller skates in the other.
"It's a secret." I tell him.
"Am I the only one that doesn't have any secrets?" Boston says, dropping my stuff on the front seat.
"I bet that's not true, everyone has their secrets. Have you spoken to my sister recently?"
"Nope. She won't text me back anymore." Boston replies and walks around to the other side of the car.
Mitchel tips the seat forward and I clumsily climb into the back and fall onto the seat, and Mitchel climbs in behind me.
"Hey, Bos, you wanna know a secret?"
"I don't know. I think I've had enough of secrets."
"Well, this is a good one."
Mitchel puts his arm around me like it's the most natural thing in the world and I lean back and rest my head on his shoulder.
"How good?" Boston asks, starting the car.
"Really good. I can guarantee this secret will put a smile on your face until next week."
"I'm listening."
"So last week I had to switch bedrooms with Paige because some crazy guy climbed up the tree outside mine and broke in-"
"I didn't break in. Your window was already open." Mitchel interrupts with a little tickle on my waist.
"Ok...some crazy guy dropped in through my open window and my mom forced Paige and me to switch rooms, and while I was in her room I read this very interesting piece about you."
"Me?" Boston queries.
"Yes. And she still really likes you even after that whole truth or dare thing."
"She does?"
"Uh-huh and she thinks about you all the time, and she even does that thing where she writes her first name and adds your surname instead of her own and draws a heart around the outside of it, and there was more than one heart."
"Err...Kelse...Blue?"
Blue? Did he just call me blue? I must be hearing things. He must have called me baby.
"Where exactly did you see this?" Mitchel asks and his voice cracks into a laugh.
"In her diary, of course." I reply matter-of-factly.
"Kelsey!" Boston scolds.
"What? I was bored. I started reading Twilight but I got bored and needed to find something else to read."
Mitchel can't stop laughing which sets me off and Boston just shakes his head at us.
"You just called me baby." I say before I think it through and decide it's a bad idea. Why did I say that? My mouth just doesn't care when I'm drunk. But I kinda like me when I'm like this. Or maybe it's the drink talking.
"Nope, I called you Blue, but I can call you baby if you like that better."
"I don't know, did you call Phoebe baby as well?"
"No, I called her Barbie because she's as thick as sh-"
"No need for name calling, didn't your mom teach you it's not nice to call other people names?" I interrupt him.
"Actually, she said it was ok if the person isn't around or they can't hear me."
"Wow...that's some parenting 101 at it's best." I say.
"So you don't like Blue? Would you prefer cupcake or muffin?"
"No. I'm not a food product."
Boston chuckles in the front.
"Well, until you decide on a better name I'm just gonna call you Blue."
"Blue? As in the color blue?"
"Yes, blue. You like blue?" Mitchel asks.
"Why blue?" I ask. I'm so confused, what are we talking about again?
"'Cause you had a blue tongue when I first kissed you and I remember thinking that it matched your blue eyes, and now every time I see something blue I think of you."
"Why did you have a blue tongue?" Boston asks.
"Because my slushie was blue raspberry and it turned my tongue blue." I explain.
"Yup. I'm sticking with Blue." Mitchel says as he kisses the side of my head.
I smile and scoot over a little more and snuggle up next to Mitchel, feeling safe and content. I close my eyes and breathe him in. Is it weird that I know what he smells like off by heart? Everyone has their own smell and I love Mitchel's, but tonight I can smell something fruity on him.
"Did you just sniff me?" Mitchel asks.
"Just making sure Phoebe didn't leave any of her nasty ass perfume on you."
"Don't worry, I'm going to shower when I get back anyway 'cause Boston spilled cherry punch all over me."
"You normally smell like mint and smoke, and clean sheets."
"Clean sheets?"
"Yup, you have that freshly washed smell straight out of the machine."
Boston starts laughing.
"You think I smell like clean laundry?" Mitchel says, trying not to laugh.
"It's a compliment."
"I know. It's just the weirdest one I've ever heard, but then again you are a little weird."
"Is that bad?" I ask and poke him in the cheek.
"No. It's why I like you. You're not plastic like the other girls at school. You're real, squishy and soft."
"You're both weird." Boston adds.
"Was that a compliment? I couldn't tell. Did you just call me fat?" I pout and stick my tongue out at him.
Mitchel laughs and says, "She's so wasted."
"I hope she doesn't puke." Boston responds.
"No...I think she's asleep." Mitchel says quietly.
Am I asleep? My eyes are closed. Maybe I am asleep.
38
I wake up with the sudden urge to pee. I quickly roll over thinking I'm in Nessie's bed and her bed is in the middle of the room, so when I try to roll to the right I'm confused when I bump into a wall.
I'm so tired my eyes don't want to work. I feel the wall to make sure it is a wall. Yup. I roll back over and hit something solid, something warm...and it has no t-shirt on. I sit bolt upright. The room is dark and I'm so confused I can't figure out where I am. All I know is I'm in some stranger's bedroom.
What the hell happened last night? Oh, my...I didn't...do that, did I? With him...wait, who is he?
I don't care right now I just know I'm going to pee myself if I don't find a toilet. I try to climb off the bed carefully without waking the sleeping stranger but I end up slipping off and landing on the floor with a bump.
"Owww!" I moan, pulling what feels like a roller skate out from under my ass. Is this mine?
"Kelse?"
A light flicks on and I soon realize I'm in Mitchel's bedroom.
"What are you doing on the floor?" Mitchel asks.
"What am I doing in your room?" I ask, confused, but get distracted when I notice the cut across his forehead. "What happened to your head?" I stand up and Mitchel chucks the covers back and I see he's only wearing his boxers. I quickly look down at my own body and see that I'm only wearing a t-shirt, panties, and socks. I feel my boobs...yes I actually grab them to check I'm wearing a bra. I'm relieved to find I am wearing a bra but the t-shirt isn't mine.
