“It was good. You, on the other hand, look like you haven’t slept a wink. Have you been sleeping?”
Marissa Lou thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure. I guess I did some.”
“Maris, you really look bad. I’m really beginning to worry about you. Maybe you should go back home and get some rest.”
“I’m fine, Bec, but maybe you’re right. I do feel a little tired,” Marissa Lou said and yawned as if on cue.
“Do you need me to drive you?”
“No, I can drive,” she said waving her off. She closed her locker and turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back around to face Becca. “Becca, can you not tell anyone you saw me like this? I don’t want anyone worrying about me.”
Becca didn’t answer right away. “I guess so, but it’s too late about the worrying part because I’m pretty concerned.”
Marissa Lou waved the comment off again. “Don’t be. You’ll see. Tomorrow I’ll be back to my old self.” She then turned around and slightly staggered as she walked through the hallway toward the exit.
“I hope so,” Becca mumbled as she watched her leave.
* * *
By the time prom rolled around in late May, everyone had gotten back to normal. That is, everyone but Marissa Lou. After the return from Christmas break incident she worked harder to cover her tracks. On the outside she seemed like her usual self, but on the inside she was suffering, but she opted to suffer in silence rather than burden her friends with her problems.
On prom night, Randy met Marissa Lou at her house. She made her grand entrance when he first got there and made a production of showing off her dress. She looked like the bride in the Guns N’ Roses video November Rain with a tight white sleeveless bodice top which met what looked like a taffeta tutu flaring out around her thigh.
She matched it with sleek heels and an up do. She decided to keep her neck and shoulders bare of any jewelry and wore a lone pair of dangling diamond earrings. She was perfect, and to her, so was Randy. He wore a black pinstriped suit with a black t-shirt underneath the jacket rather than a white button up like most guys would wear.
Her mom gloated and took pictures of them, but when that was done, the couple retreated to her bedroom to wait for the limo the group of friends insisted on renting together.
“I got a little something something,” Randy said sitting down on her bed.
“Oh yeah?” she asked raising an eyebrow.
He leaned forward and took something out of his back pocket. Marissa Lou leaned over and craned her neck to see what he was concealing.
“Pick a hand,” he said smiling, but looking serious.
“What?”
“Pick a hand. Left or right?”
She studied his face, looking for a clue as to which hand to choose. “Hmm, how about right?”
He smiled wider and brought his right hand in front of him and opened it palm up. Sitting there was a little brown vile. Just staring at it made her nose run and her heart speed up.
“Oh,” she gasped.
“You wanna?” he asked her, like he didn’t already know the answer.
She hurried to lock her bedroom door and grabbed her hand mirror off her vanity and gave it to him. She was still too new with cocaine to know how to cut it properly so she let him do the honor.
She watched as he poured a little out on the mirror and diced it back and forth with his driver’s license before making four perfect lines.
“You got a bill?”
She nodded her head and hurried to her wallet and retrieved a crisp five dollar bill and handed it to him. She began pacing through the room as she awaited her turn and periodically glanced out the window, paranoid that someone would see what they were doing.
When it was finally her turn she gently sat on the bed, her heart pounding a mile a minute as she stared at the powder substance that she’d become so fond of. When she put the roll to her nose her hands began to shake uncontrollably, but it didn’t stop her. She inhaled deeply and it was as if everything that had been weighing on her mind vanished, leaving happy thoughts of flakes playing in her nose. It was just her and her favorite drug and that’s all she needed. After a moment she sat up straight and closed her eyes and let it work its magic.
“God that’s great,” she whispered.
“You’re damn right it is,” Randy said picking up the bill and snorting his second line.
Still in her own world, her eyes shot wide open when she heard a car horn blow outside her bedroom window. She immediately jumped up from her bed and rushed to the window and saw the limo sitting in Katie’s driveway and the group of friends standing around it.
“Shit!” she cursed and hurried to the bed for her second line that was laid out for her. When it was devoured she racked a finger across the mirror, picking up any powder that might be left over, not wanting to waste a drop, and rubbed her finger on her teeth. She then picked up the mirror to be sure there wasn’t any remaining on her nose. When she was satisfied, they left her room hand in hand with a quick “good-bye” to her parents before joining her friends on the lawn.
Anyone who said that eight people could fit comfortably in the back of a limo obviously didn’t have three of the eight people in fluffy prom dresses. It was a tight fit, especially with Becca and Jess’ full length puffed out dresses, but Marissa Lou didn’t seem to mind. She threw her bare legs across Randy’s lap and chatted away happily.
No one missed the sexiness of her dress or how it rode up, exposing all the way up to her thigh, but no one commented about that.
“That is some dress, Marissa Lou,” Becca said eyeing her thigh.
“Yeah Maris, I just love it. It’s so November Rain,” Katie added.
“I know, right? As soon as I saw it, images of Stephanie Seymour came to mind, walking seductively down the aisle to Axl Rose, I knew I had to have it,” Marissa Lou said to the girls. “Katie, you are rocking that damn thing too.”
Being a non-girlie girl, Katie decided against the typical fluffy princess dress that people normally wore to prom. Instead, she wore a tight fitting, floor length, black satin dress with a plunging neckline and practically no back. It was beautiful and sexy and something Marissa Lou totally would have worn had she not fallen in love with the one she had on, but she kept that comment to herself.
“Thank you,” Katie said, seeming slightly self-conscious in the form fitting attire. Daniel gave her shoulder a squeeze for reassurance.
“I’ve never ridden in a limo before. It’s a shame there’s no bar or something like you see on TV,” Becca said looking around.
“If there is one, it’s probably being smothered by all this ass and taffeta,” Marissa Lou said laughing as she adjusted herself on Randy, which only worked to expose even more of her thigh. Something Daniel didn’t miss. Neither did Becca and Jess’ dates.
“We could always have our own bar,” Randy said to Becca after a little while.
She just stared at him curiously, as did everyone else.
He reached inside his coat pocket and retrieved a shiny silver flask.
“Was that in your left hand?” Marissa Lou asked him smiling.
“Yep,” he said taking a sip.
“Sweet!” Becca’s date, Tommy, said and gave Jess’ date, Carl, a silly high five.
“We’ll so get into trouble if someone smells alcohol on our breath. I don’t want to get kicked out of prom,” Jess said staring at him seriously.
“It’s Vodka so no one will smell it.”
“Yeah, Saint Jessica, just chill. Everyone knows you can’t smell vodka on someone’s breath,” she said to her friend then turned to Randy and held out her hand. “Over here,” she said, but not before Marissa Lou got some for herself first.
The flask went around the car. Each person taking a pull before passing it along. When Katie handed it to Daniel he just stared at it briefly then looked at Randy appearing torn. Daniel looked him down as if assessing if he really wanted to drink
anything he gave him, especially after he already drank out of it. He groaned and glanced around the car at all the eyes on him, watching and waiting for him to drink. He wrinkled his nose then wiped the top of the flask off before drinking out of it.
“Eww, Daniel’s got my coodies now,” Randy mocked him. “But I guess that’s fair since now I have your coodies too,” Randy said kissing the side of Marissa Lou’s neck.
Daniel’s anger flared, but he just rolled his eyes at him then threw the flask at him, which was nearly gone so it wasn’t very heavy, but it hit its target in the middle of Randy’s chest.
When they got to the school, each couple filed out of the car and sauntered like movie stars into the school gym. It was so dark they could barely see, but thanks to a few assorted strobe lights, they were able to find a table without running into anyone. They each sat down in their respective spots, happy that there were eight chairs to a table, and looked around.
“A 50s night to remember?” Becca asked when she saw the prom themed banner and chuckled. “It’s so dark in here I can barely see. How is that going to help me remember anything?”
“Umm, did anyone know we were supposed to dress in clothes from the 50s?” Katie asked looking around the dark room.
The girls all looked at each other than looked around the room as well. They stood out like a sore thumb, except for a very select few who went with the normal prom attire. Most girls were dressed in poodle skirts and patent leather shoes while the boys separated themselves as either cool James Dean types wearing jeans and t-shirts and their hair slicked back or preppy polyester suits. Obviously Katie, Marissa Lou, Jess and Becca didn’t know about the theme which was a bummer because they all liked to play along. At least the decorating committee pulled through. They did a great job by decorating the gym according to the sock-hop theme, with the added bonus of black and gold balloons and sparkling streamers all over representing the school colors. There was also a buffet of greasy diner food, a make your own sundae bar on one wall of the gym and a makeshift bar for drinks close by it.
“Hell, I can barely remember the ride here,” Marissa Lou said laughing and leaned into Randy. “Come on, baby. Let’s take advantage of the darkness and dance,” she said pulling him to his feet and leading him out to the dance floor.
* * *
“Well this is going to be an interesting night,” Becca said watching Marissa Lou and Randy slightly stumble to the dance floor before pulling her own date to his feet and followed suit.
“How about you?” Katie asked Daniel.
He paused for effect, but after a moment without a word he stood up, grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She nestled up to his arm as he led her a few feet away to the dance floor. When they reached what was deemed the dance floor, Daniel looked around and spotted Marissa Lou and Randy dancing close to each other so he decided to play it safe and lead Katie to the opposite side of the floor. Once he was satisfied, he spun her around and brought her close to him, causing her to giggle out loud. But when he laced his arms around her lower back, he felt her skin for the first time and the atmosphere between them became very tense. Her skin was so smooth and flawless that he couldn’t resist but to run his hand ever so lightly up and down her bare back. It amused him because when he did, he could feel goose bumps flare under his touch.
Until that point their interactions were innocent; a few kisses here, a hug there, but at that moment he wanted more. Deciding to test his limits he placed his lips on her shoulder and lightly kissed her skin. By the way her body reacted with quivering heat, he could tell she liked it, so he lightly kissed up from her shoulder, to her neck, to her cheek, then stopped at her lips, feeling her body respond with each touch. With their lips merely inches apart, he breathed her in. He could smell the Vodka on her breath, despite what Becca said about not being able to, but it wasn’t offensive; actually it was warm and sweet.
She parted her lips, as if inviting him to kiss her, so he did. When their lips touched it was like the world stopped spinning and it was just the two of them, dancing and kissing with months of built up passion. The longer the kissing lasted, the more intense it got. With swirling tongues she wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting and needing more.
He placed his hands on both sides of her flushed cheeks and slightly pulled away to look into her eyes to see if she was feeling all the same things he was. He knew she wanted to take it slow, and he had respected that up until that point, and he didn’t want to pressure her. But by the look on her face he could tell she wanted him just as badly.
“You wanna get out of here?” he asked her and lightly kissed her again before she could even respond.
She didn’t speak, only nodded her head ‘yes’.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded her head again, and he knew she meant it, although she didn’t seem to want to stop kissing him.
He kissed her one last time before dropping his hands to hold her hand and led her out of the gym.
* * *
Marissa Lou spotted Daniel and Katie as they danced. Their bodies were pressed so close together that it was hard to tell where he began and she ended. It hurt her heart to see. It was supposed to be them here together at their senior prom. Somehow everything went wrong. Then something happened that almost made her sick to her stomach. They began a hot make-out session that could set the gym on fire.
What made it worse was watching them leave the gym hand in hand directly after. Katie always swore she was going to wait to have sex until she got married, but Marissa Lou knew exactly what they were heading to do. Her mind was screaming for her body to run after them. To stop them from doing something that would no doubt bring them even closer together, but her body wouldn’t listen. Instead she buried her face in Randy’s chest and cried.
Chapter Fourteen
Marissa Lou didn’t think anything could have been worse than prom night, but once again she was proven wrong, like many occasions before when graduation day rolled around in mid June. A day that was supposed to be epic, one that was meant to put an end to an era and a beginning of another. Instead it turned out to be the end of it all.
By the time graduation came around, Marissa Lou had a full on problem, although she didn’t realize how bad it was. She just brushed it off as stress like usual.
“I can’t believe this is the end,” Jess said sadly.
“This isn’t the end,” Becca said to her and draped an arm over her shoulder to comfort her.
“Yes it is! Today we graduated. School is over.” Jess buried her face in Becca’s arm.
“Don’t worry, Jess, we’re going to college together. It’ll be like high school, but more fun,” Becca said beaming. “Speaking of, where did Marissa Lou get off to?”
“Beats me,” Katie said. “Last I saw her she was getting off the stage and walking away with Randy.”
“She wouldn’t have left without saying anything, would she?” Jess asked.
Jess, Becca, Katie and Daniel all looked at each other before turning around to scan the crowd for Marissa Lou. They all knew, when it came to Marissa Lou those days, there was no telling what she would do.
“Look, over there!” Jess said pointing at Marissa Lou walking from the school parking lot with Randy at her side, his long arm draped over her shoulder per usual.
“Marissa Lou! Over here!” Becca yelled to her.
Marissa Lou looked up at the sound of her name and vigorously waved back at Becca.
“We thought you left,” Jess said to her once she was close.
Marissa Lou ran a hand down the side of her face, her eyes darting around as a way to not look anyone in the eye. “Yeah, umm, we went for a walk,” she said pointing her thumb behind her where she had just come from.
“Looks like someone started celebrating early,” Becca said laughing.
“What? Who, me? Nah I’m just happy.”
“Yeah, okay,” Becca said crossing her arms over her chest. Unlike her other friend
s, she’d see Marissa Lou like this before.
“I’m happy too. I can’t believe school is over,” Katie said bouncing around excitedly, oblivious to what was going on with Marissa Lou and Becca.
“You know what this means, right?”
Everyone turned to look at Becca.
“Duh, party! You know there is going to be a good one, somewhere, sometime tonight. It would be un-American not to.”
No one was surprised that was what their beloved red headed wild child would want to do.
“Speaking of, does anyone have a camera? I want to remember this moment,” Jess called out sounding nostalgic.
“Hold up,” Katie said before leaving the group and running up to her mom, who was a few feet away talking with Marissa Lou’s mom. A moment later she walked back to her friends with her mom in tow and a very snazzy looking piece of equipment in her hands.
“Alright ladies and gentlemen, huddle up,” Katie’s mom said.
Daniel and Katie were the first to link arms, then came Jess, Becca, Marissa Lou, and begrudgingly to the others, Randy. With each person’s arm across the people beside them, squeezing them all in tight, they all smiled and yelled, “cheese!” in unison before the camera clicked.
* * *
“I still can’t believe this is it,” Jess said sadly.
“Jess, we talked about this already. There’s still college. There won’t be any difference because we’re all still going to be together, well except for Katie. She’s leaving us country folk for bigger and brighter lights.”
That made Marissa Lou smile wide, with a giddy happiness.
“Umm, no. We’ll all be at ECU together,” Katie said nervously.
Everyone turned to look at Katie. One by one the girls dropped their arms, breaking the group’s link, and quietly stared at her, waiting for an explanation. No one wanted one more than Marissa Lou.
“I decided to stay here for college,” Katie said simply. “I thought y’all would be happy about it. I worked hard to keep it a secret until now.”
Hometown Girls: Beginnings (Hometown Girls Series Book 1) Page 9
