by Mia Archer
I rolled my eyes. I could always count on Valerie to be so very sensitive to my feelings. Sometimes I felt like she didn’t realize what she was doing when she talked like that and other times I was convinced she did it on purpose and then put on an innocent oblivious act after the fact to get away with it. Trouble was I’d never been able to prove it.
I crossed my arms and let out at snort. “I don’t see what the point is anyways. All the guys there will say the same thing. Allison the Ice Queen. Undateable because I’m not willing to hop into the sack after the first couple of dates.”
Valerie sighed and sat down next to me on my bed. For the briefest moment I caught the scent of her shampoo and the subtle perfume she wore. I felt the heat coming off of her body and I closed my eyes then opened them and shook myself out of the momentary funk.
Where the heck had that come from?
“Allison, hon,” Valerie said. “You were dating Derek for most of our senior year and you didn’t ever go any farther than making out.”
“So?” I said, suddenly feeling on the defensive. It was bad enough that I got this crap from Derek. I didn’t need it from Valerie too. “I wasn’t ready.”
“And that’s fine,” Valerie said. “He’s an asshole for breaking up with you because of that, never mind going around calling you the ice queen, but at the same time he made it clear he wanted more and you made it clear you didn’t want to go along. Can you blame him for breaking up after he made that clear?”
I fell back against the bed and sighed. “It’s not like I didn’t want to do anything with Derek.”
Valerie fell back beside me and once more I was aware of the feel of her body next to me on the pink comforter. I paid special attention to the way the light reflected off of her blue eyes and her highlighted blonde hair with a color that came straight out of a bottle at Curl Up and Dye down on Main street. She really was a pretty girl.
I shook my head again. Why did thoughts of how good she looked keep coming up? Breaking up with Derek had really done a number on me!
“So if you didn’t have anything against going farther with Derek why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know? I mean making out with him was okay, I guess, but it just felt…”
“So Derek’s not a good kisser?”
“Not a good anything. Really. At least he wasn’t doing it for me!”
Valerie tapped a finger to her lips, a move that meant she was thinking. “So Derek’s no good in the sack, eh?”
“Well he’s no good in the back of a car or movie theater, but I suppose it’s the same difference.”
Valerie grinned and sat up. “We could use this! You’re not the ice queen. He’s just no good! A terrible kisser! We could spread this around the party tonight and totally ruin his image! Turn this whole thing around on him and let the truth out!”
“Yeah right. I don’t want to get involved in a PR war with Derek over why I wasn’t interested in getting with him. He can go ahead and spread whatever rumors he wants. He’s just letting everyone know he didn’t have a chance with me.”
Val shrugged. “I guess that’s fair enough too, but that doesn’t get you out of going to the party at the lake tonight. We only have so many of these parties left before everyone goes off to college! We need to make the most of our time together!”
I sighed again. Valerie did have a point. It wouldn't be much longer before I wasn't going to lake parties. No, I'd be going to parties on campus. At frat houses maybe. Or house parties. Somewhere where I could get my hands on some booze, because I wasn’t going back to a dry lifestyle after getting used to partying on the lake.
Yeah, house parties were probably a safer bet. I didn’t even know if frats would be willing to give out alcohol to underage girls. They were supposed to have high moral standards to uphold, after all, if the stories my dad told about his time in a frat were any indication.
Yeah, it was hard to tell what kind of new fun I might get up to once I got out to state. All I did know was that at the end of the summer it was going to be the end of my fun with Valerie since we were going off to completely different schools, and that still made me sad every time I thought about it.
Then again it’s not like it would be the first time something like that happened. I glanced up to a picture surrounded by silly mementos on a shelf tucked away in a dusty corner of my room that I hadn’t touched since middle school. A picture of me and Claire smiling into the camera at some band trip back before we’d both realized staying in band was social suicide and gone on to other things.
Only going on to other things hadn’t included staying in touch with each other. Especially after moving away. Not that I moved all that far away, just out to the lake. We still went to the same school and all, but a combination of middle school and not living in the neighborhood had pulled us apart. I still thought about her from time to time as I looked at that shelf filled with tchotchkes from our years as friends. Actually that was the only shelf I hadn’t completely rearranged over the years for some reason.
I suppose if I could get over a friend as good as Claire drifting away then I could get over Valerie going off to a completely different school too. I suppose I’d make new friends when I was off at college. It would suck at first, but I’d get used to it. At least I hoped I would.
I spared one last lingering glance for that shelf I’d never quite been able to bring myself to clear out and turned back to Valerie.
“Fine. I’ll go if you’re going to drag me to the damn thing,” I said.
“Great!” Valerie said.
I smiled, but inside I was less than enthusiastic about being dragged out to a party on the lake. Granted the lake was just a few feet away from the lower levels of my house, or my parents’ house to be more accurate. I’d be able to hear the party from my room if the music and the people got loud enough, which it almost always did.
Talk about just what I needed. A reminder of the good time everyone was having while I was busy moping because I was annoyed about Derek dumping me. The real bitch was that I was more upset about him dumping me first when I’d been weighing the pros and cons of dumping him before the end of the summer and not having to deal with Captain Handsy during my last months with my school friends.
The asshole. Breaking up with me because he wanted to "explore his options" and date a girl who had a “more open mind about things” which was code for a girl who could put up with his lame skills in the sack long enough to do him on the first date.
The son-of-a-bitch. He'd probably been cheating on me already if the rumors were true. As though he could ever hope to get a girl as great as me. I guess to find a girl who was willing to put out on that first date he’d have to take a hit in quality which he more than deserved.
The horny prick.
No Allison. That wasn't the way to think. That wasn't a good attitude to have about anyone, even a no good horny asshole who dumped me because he was so eager to get his dick wet that he ignored the other important things in a relationship. Sure I'd been blessed in the beauty department, but that was no excuse for taking it for granted or thinking less of whatever girl he ended up dating just because she might not look as good as me.
No, far better to feel sorry for that girl because she was stuck with Derek and his piss poor skills that had resulted in things never getting hot and heavy for me even when he was getting a little hot and heavy himself and not even bothering to notice that I wasn’t having fun.
As long as he got his. That was the kind of guy he was. Like I said, a complete asshole.
I glanced over to Valerie and smiled. It looked like she was already prepared for a night on the lake when she came over here. And why not? It would’ve been a pain for her to go back into town to get changed if I gave into her demands.
I was only a little annoyed at her sparkly getup with a bright pink bikini underneath that showed a generous portion of her impressive chest. Annoyed because that outfit meant Valerie was ready for a night of party
ing whether or not I came along with her, and because I had a feeling she never had any intention of letting me back out.
She could be… insistent like that.
"You're sure there’s no chance I can get out of this?" I asked.
Valerie shook her head. "Not a chance!"
I sighed. "Fine. Let me find a suit that’ll have Derek eating his heart out and get ready."
I knew just the suit I was going to pick out, too. Despite my misgivings I was starting to look forward to this!
The party was the same as it had always been, and in a way that was comforting. Derek's parents had been nice enough to give over their massive house to the partying crowd for several years now which had quickly rocketed him to the position of most popular guy in school well before he hit his senior year.
Back when we were still dating, only a week ago, Derek had been stoked that I just lived a short walk down the beach. He went on about how hot it would be to sneak out and meet in the middle of the night, never mind that I’d much rather rest for school the next day than stay up all night letting him clumsily fumble at my bra snap which he always seemed to have trouble with while he was slobbering all over my lips.
No, I wasn’t going to think about that. I was going to focus on having fun.
I’d never understood why his parents were willing to volunteer their house until we started dating and I met his dad who had a serious problem with living in the past while simultaneously living vicariously through his son in the present. When we were dating his dad was always going on about how hard he partied when he was in school even as Derek’s mom was always running around with a harried shell-shocked thousand yard stare after the parties were over. For some reason Derek’s dad never helped with the cleanup.
I guess the asshole traveled down the male line in their family.
I was pretty sure their “arrangement” with Derek was in violation of a couple of laws about furnishing alcohol to minors, but it's not like anybody was going to come out and hassle a judge’s son for throwing a party. Not if they liked their job.
And so Derek’s house had acted as sort of no-fly zone for the local cops which meant everybody was free to party and have fun as long as they dropped off their keys at the beginning of the night.
“So do you think Sheriff Creeper Jr. is going to be out there tonight?”
“Isn’t he always?” I asked.
Sheriff Creeper Jr. Was the sheriff’s son and he’d gotten that nickname thanks to his habit of hanging out at high school parties most nights even though he’d graduated a couple of years ago.
He was a classic example of a failure to launch if there ever was one. Still working at the same job he had in high school down at the local gas station and still going to the same parties where he creeped on younger girls, though he at least had the good sense to creep on senior girls which was a small part of why he was still tolerated.
The failure to launch was too bad for him, I suppose, as far as life goals went, but it was one hell of a good thing for everybody who enjoyed going out and having a little bit of fun. Him being out there was just an added layer of protection from the local cops which was by far the lion’s share of the reason why he was still tolerated.
Derek's house. I closed my eyes as I walked past towards the beach where people were already gathering and a bonfire was just getting started.
Just stepping onto the beach by his house felt like I was going into hostile territory. It felt like I was being overwhelmed with all the memories associated with this place. Coming over here for dinner. Taking pictures out on the front lawn for prom. Getting pissed whenever he chased after me in the water trying to cop a feel while I was telling him to cut it out because his parents were usually right there watching us.
Yeah, this house was definitely loaded with memories. Some good, but most of them just annoying. Now that I thought about it I wondered why I’d ever dated the asshole in the first place. I hadn't been entirely sure we were going to stay together after graduation anyways considering I was going off to state and he was going off to a private school in another state, but it still sucked being dumped even if it was a sort of welcome dumping.
I paused to adjust my outfit. The sparkly green bikini I’d settled on felt like it was barely there, hence the nature of its appeal, but that also meant it constantly felt like it was falling off. Of course when I went to adjust the thing it wasn't falling off, it was just that there was so little material there that it constantly felt that way under my tank top and shorts which were preserving my modesty for the moment.
I blushed when I thought about wearing this thing at the beach. It was something Derek got for me that I swore I’d never wear and having it on tonight was a calculated “fuck you” to him that I was finally wearing the thing after he dumped me.
I glanced over to Valerie and grinned. I didn’t think it was possible, but under her tank top and shorts was a bikini even skimpier than my own. Her tank top/bikini combo showed off plenty of her gorgeous and amazing tits, God how I wished I could have a pair that looked like that, and the top was short enough on the bottom that it showed off her slim stomach up to her belly button.
Down below she had shorts as tight as mine that showed off a perfect ass that never failed to make me jealous when she started disrobing, at least I always told myself it was jealousy that drew my eyes because the alternative was something I wasn’t even going to consider thank you very much.
Both of our outfits were calculated to show off everything while not quite revealing anything, but that was going to change as soon as we got to that bonfire and broke out the bikinis!
I smiled as we made our way towards the bonfires and was surprised to realize I was actually looking forward to tonight, and not just because I was looking forward to the look on Derek’s face when he saw me finally wearing this thing and it wasn’t for him.
No, this was going to be one hell of a party, and why not? Time was running out, and it wouldn't be long before we were all scattered to the winds. It was time to enjoy being young enough to have no responsibilities but old enough to do what we wanted while we still had our friends around!
Sure it was nothing major or life changing going to a party on the lake, graduates had been upholding that tradition for decades, but I figured even so this was a night I’d be looking back on for years.
3: Beach Bravery
The lake. The beach. Although calling it a “beach” wasn’t exactly right. It wasn’t a natural beach so much as it was sand imported from a hardware store or a quarry or wherever the hell you got fake sand a few decades back when they started building houses along the lake and topped off every couple of years when the partying took its toll.
The partying was way faster than erosion in these here parts.
“Here we are,” Sam said. She leaned over from the driver’s seat and grinned at me where I was sitting imprisoned in the back. I thought of it as being imprisoned even though I’d willingly climbed into the car back at Darcy’s house.
“Come on Claire,” Sam said. “You should try to enjoy yourself.”
Try to enjoy myself. Yeah, right.
I looked out at the crowd of people gathered in front of a massive house. I think it was Derek Arnold’s house, but I wasn’t exactly up on who lived in what house out in this part of town. I just knew the place by its reputation.
There were a couple of bonfires already roaring even though it wasn’t quite dark yet. The sun was moving down the horizon, but slowly. In the middle of summer like this it would be a couple of hours before it really started to get dark anyways.
I also spotted a couple of kegs out on the beach in flagrant violation of local ordinances that were supposed to keep people from doing that sort of thing on the lakeshore. I knew because there were letters to the editor in the paper, something no one from my generation bothered to read anymore but I used to have a boring study hour in the library, about how that ordinance was useless since it was never enforced.
>
I always figured it was old people who still read the paper getting cranky, but here was the proof right in front of me.
Everyone out there looked like they were having a damn good time. Well, almost everyone. I saw one poor girl I didn’t know stuck in a conversation with Tiffany Thomas, the infamous blabbermouth who never shut up once she had you in her clutches, but otherwise the beer was flowing and nobody was out there stopping people from drinking even though I recognized most of the faces out there and I don’t think a single one of them was under twenty-one.
Okay, so maybe Creeper Jr. the sheriff’s son was twenty-one. I was pretty sure he’d graduated when I was in eighth grade so the time line probably worked out so that he was a little over twenty-one. Maybe.
To be honest the whole thing looked like a hell of a lot of fun if you were into that scene, I just couldn’t see myself enjoying it. No, Samantha and Darcy looked out there and saw a bunch of friends having a good time for the last time before everyone shipped off to college or wherever it was that people who weren’t going off to college went. Probably to a job at the local gas station like Creeper considering all the manufacturing jobs around here had dried up a couple decades back but bedroom communities like this one kept lurching on without realizing they’d been dealt a mortal wound and were bleeding out their youth population with each passing year.
What I saw when I looked out there was very different from what Sam and Darcy, and most everyone else out there, saw. I saw people who hadn’t reacted all that well when I came out. I saw people who’d been openly hostile to me at first. I saw people who’d been whispering about me behind my back and spreading ridiculous rumors like the only reason I was valedictorian was because I was sleeping with our (lady) principal.
Which was completely ridiculous, but talk about a vicious rumor that I had to deal with because some idiots believed it no matter how preposterous it was. No, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going out there and running a gauntlet I thought I was finished with as soon as I walked across the stage at graduation.
