Regina

by Mary Ann Moody

  Chapter Twelve

  The ‘pasture party’ was in the middle of nowheresville. Katie picked me up at eight o’clock that night from grandpa’s house. At first, I was sure my parents would say no to a party, but I think daddy regretted the way he acted towards me and convinced her to let me go. I was not used to getting their approval to attend a party. They’re never around to help or guide me, so they should not start now. We all agreed we needed a break from each other and letting me out of the house would give us time away. I felt great as I got into Katie’s car, a little yellow Volkswagen.

  “Do you like my birthday present?” She gestured to the car.

  “I love it!”

  “Do your parents think I’m a bad influence on you now? Taking you to a party when you’re here for a funeral?” Katie asked with a chuckle.

  “Oh, screw them. I don’t care what they think.” I said without thinking.

  “Wow, Regina. Sounds like you have a great relationship with your folks.” Katie giggled.

  “I did until we came here.”

  We took CR 226 to once again in order to get back to the main highway. When we were halfway down 226, Katie took a left on CR 224. I had never been this way before and was interested in the scenery.

  We passed new and larger homes, and acres upon acres of open pastures of green grass and livestock. Mostly cows grazed here, but I could see the occasional sheep, goat, and pigs. This road was rich with large trees that reached as far as they could to the sky. Beautiful garlands of ivy and moss hung from some of the trees, adding a lot of charm. Since it was getting dark quickly, a creepy feeling came over me as Katie drove deeper into the woods.

  Barbed wire fencing ran along the road. I swore everything looked familiar, from the gravel in the road to the shape of the trees. Soon the houses disappeared and the only scenery that remained was dark farmland. I shook my head to rid myself of the intense feeling of déjà vu.

  A few moments later, we arrived at the party. It was a big open field with cars parked in a circle. Katie parked her car in circle and left her headlights on to give us plenty of light. The pickups trucks were turned around so we could sit and the music blared into the night. I saw a couple of kegs of beer on one side and cans of beer on another. A couple of kids sat on top of the car hoods, laughing, and guzzling their beer. Kids who came with someone were off to the side, making out. A cute older girl with red pigtails walked around the party with a video camera. The girls took the opportunity to flash their boobs at the camera. I saw kids dancing together in center of the party. I laughed as I observed this new alternate universe. One thing we never did at Will Lawson Academy was have parties. I decided to forget about my bad dreams for the night and have some fun. The guys in their football jackets danced with the girls. I saw guys doing keg stands. Some girls were doing back flips off the back of one of the pickup trucks. The one who did the best got a huge shot of alcohol. I could tell many of the girls had too many shots already. One girl landed on her face when she flipped off. Her nose was broken and blood fell from her nose, but everyone cheered when she got back up to try it again. Amazingly, some kid streaked through the crowd.

  “Hey Regina!” Katie shouted over the music. “These sexy chicks are my friends, Becky Lowe, Natalie Rogers, and Sabrina Turner. This is Sabrina and her brother’s party!”

  Katie nodded to three very pretty girls. Becky, the tallest one, looked like a model with her long legs, slim torso, and sleek body. Her tan was flawless as was her brown hair. Natalie was a brunette, as well. However, her plump figure was totally overshadowed by her green eyes. They were as bright and brilliant as emeralds! The last one, Sabrina, was very different. Her extremely long blonde hair was pinned up at the sides. Her round hips and bigger sized stomach gave her curves that made the boys stare. However, it was the way she looked at me that gave me the creeps. Her blue eyes stared at me with malice and she had a smirk on her face as if she was better than me. Instantly, I disliked Sabrina.

  “Let’s dance!” Katie shouted at us.

  We went to the middle of the clearing and danced together. The song was fast and they complimented me on my dance moves. Becky tried to imitate me.

  “Where did you learn to dance?” Natalie shouted her question.

  “Clubs in New York!” I shouted in response.

  After the song, Sabina announced she was going for a beer. Katie stayed with me while the other girls went with Sabrina and that is when I saw him staring at me. From ten feet away, I saw the most incredible guy. He was over six feet tall with beautiful short brown hair and blue eyes. In fact, his eyes were so blue, they were they only thing I could see in the crowd of kids. Muscles rippled through his t-shirt as he brought his hand to his mouth to take a drink from the cup he held. I gulped. This guy was so hot! Probably the hottest guy at the party.

  “Who is that guy?” I asked Katie while trying to nonchalantly point to him.

  Katie followed my finger and saw him. She turned back to me and giggled. “That’s Steven Rank. I think he’s looking at you!”

  I laughed confidently. Of course he was looking at me! I was the prettiest girl here and not available. However, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun. I decided to go talk to him.

  “I’ll be right back. You won’t leave without me, will you?” I asked.

  “No! I promise I won’t! Go! Go!” She gestured for me to go talk to Steven and walked away.

  I turned around and did not see him anymore. It seemed like hundreds of heads were in the way. I searched the crowd for the guy with the blue eyes and did not see him. Before I could take one step forward to find him, he suddenly appeared in front of me. His eyes were now dark, like a monster’s. A slick smile crawled across his face as he put his hand out to shake mine. As I cupped his hand in a polite and firm handshake, I felt a jolt of desire surge through me. I closed my eyes for a second to feel the warmth travel from my toes to my cheeks. I giggled as I felt the blood rush into them.

  “I’m Steven.” He said in a suave voice.

  I looked up and let my blue eyes gaze into his. A sexy techno beat shook the ground below me. I felt good as Steven put his hands on my hips, leading me to the beat. Our foreheads and noses touched, and we breathed into each other as we danced. Sweat poured from our hairline as we moved together. Steven pulled me close to him at an intense moment in the beat. I felt my heart beat erratically when he grabbed my hips. My arms wrapped around his neck as we continued to breathe into one another. I moved my fingers into the belt loops of his jeans and held on tight. He danced fast as he moved his hips and feet to the music. Jeff was a good dancer, but nothing like this guy.

  I was hypnotized by his touch and closed my eyes as I let my body go. Our sweat became intertwined like our bodies. I felt everyone’s eyes on us as we danced. We were the center of attention to everyone at the party. Even Katie and the girls watched us.

  I was lost in one of those moments in life where I will never forget it. Steven’s strong hands led me into a world of desire I didn’t think existed. As I touched his face, I wanted him to kiss me. The desire to be kissed by Steven burned so deeply inside me, I thought I would die from it. We clung to each other, not wanting to let go.

  Then the song was over. Our eyes met and I knew the spell had been broken. The music was gone, as well as our moment. It passed us by.

  “Thanks for the dance. See you around.” He whispered as he walked away.

  Oh, that was so unfair! It was such a ‘Regina’ move! I stood alone in the clearing. My legs burned like they were on fire from him. Katie made her way through the crowd, squealing with delight as she came up to me.

  “That was so hot!” She exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ve seen that at one of Sabrina’s parties before!”

  “Who was that guy?” I asked again.

  “I told you, his name is Steven Rank. He’s seventeen and THE hottest guy in school. His parents own the dress shop on main street and the diner.”

 
“Where did he go?” I strained my neck trying to spot him.

  The rest of the night was the same, lots of kids drinking and dancing and acting like wild kids do. However, I did not see Steven the rest of the night. I drank a few beers, but not too much. Katie was driving so I was not too worried about getting home. I had a good time with the girls, except Sabrina constantly stared at me with a chilling gaze. Despite her, I met a lot of new people and managed to have a good time.

  At the end of the night, I felt as if I seriously misjudged these people. I thought this place would be redneckville, but it’s far from that. The kids are educated and pretty polite. It was a shame I would not be going to school here next year. I would be the new, cool kid and it would be a blast. I would probably go to school with that Steven guy. Oh, the possibilities were endless!

  I quickly hated myself for that idea. I didn’t want to break up with Jeff, I didn’t want to live here, and there was no way I would go to school here. I was way too different. Besides, I knew I would never see that guy again. I doubted my parents would let me go to a party again. We were leaving after the summer anyway, so it would not matter if I did saw him again. He didn’t know who I was anyway.

  He didn’t ask my name!