Twisted

by N. L. Greene

  Ash smiled at Mel and nodded her head. “Good idea. I have chorus last period, so it’ll be cool if I miss it. What do you have, Nat?”

  “Umm…gym?” It came out as a question, because I was still scrambling in my head to come up with an excuse for how I was going to skip it. I didn’t have any experience with that sort of thing. I didn’t even know what to do! Plus, I was a complete and utter chicken. I simply didn’t want to get caught.

  Mel opened her mouth and narrowed her eyes at me, probably getting ready to make fun of me for being afraid, but Ash quickly spoke up before she could. “Cool. Meet me at my locker before gym and we’ll walk out together.” She glanced at me in the rearview mirror with a covert smile and I shot her a grateful look. Sometimes I thought Ash knew me better than Mel did. She had this way of silently reassuring me and helping me out when I needed it the most, all without Mel knowing.

  “Okay, sounds like a plan,” I said with more ease now that I knew Ash would be with me when I skipped class. I was still nervous about it but I was pretty sure that if I had to do it on my own, I wouldn’t have made it to the car.

  Mel rolled her eyes at us but didn’t comment further, thankfully. I didn’t need a reason to be any more keyed up than I already was. We pulled into the school parking lot and were greeted by a few other kids, effectively ending any further discussions about skipping school. I needed some along time to mentally prep, anyway.

  The rest of the day raced by, and every spare second I was focused on the crime I was about to commit. I felt like all of my teachers knew what I was going to do, and were keeping an even closer eye on me than usual. By the time 5th period rolled around I was a nervous wreck. I glanced over my shoulder as I made my way to our locker to dump my books. Every time I walked past a teacher I steadfastly avoided eye contact and picked up the pace. As I headed toward Ashley’s locker, I was looking over my shoulder again when I bumped into someone; stopping me dead in my tracks. Strong arms gripped mine to keep me from bouncing backwards and landing on my ass.

  “Whoa! Why the rush? Class doesn’t start for like, two more minutes!” Noah teased me.

  I laughed, because we only had two minutes between classes, and I knew the bell was about to ring, meaning we actually had less than that, but Noah was always late to class so in Noah-time he probably still had two minutes. “Sorry, I’m meeting Ash and I can’t be late,” I said as I walked around him.

  “Alright!” he yelled, and then winked. “Looking good, by the way!” I rolled my eyes. Noah still teased me every chance he got and although it was nice of him, I sometimes wished he wouldn’t flirt with me. I knew he did it more out of pity than anything else; trying to make me feel better about myself. I didn’t need that! I didn’t want people to pity me; I just wanted people to think I was genuinely pretty. I had been trying really hard, but no matter what I did I still wasn’t as pretty as Mel or Ash. I was beginning to think I would always be just average, and it was a disturbing thought.

  I turned the corner and saw Ash leaning casually against her locker; instantly replacing my somber thoughts with nervous ones. When she saw me, she straightened and walked confidently toward me. “Come on!” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind her. We walked briskly toward the parking lot, passing kids in the hall and teachers talking to each other. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to us, and somehow we made it all the way to Ash’s car without a single suspicious look. Mel was already there, arms crossed over her chest and looking irritated. “What took you so long? It’s fuckin’ hot out here!”

  “Whatever, just get in.” Ash unlocked the doors and we all slid in. Ash turned the air on and the radio up before driving out of the parking lot; acting like it was the most normal thing in the world for us to be doing. I turned back around to look behind us, thinking that someone must be chasing after us; fist waving in the air demanding that we return to school, but there was no one. I couldn’t believe how easy that was.

  I turned back around and let out a relieved breath, then slumped against the seat. Mel turned around and grinned at me. “How you doin’ baby girl?”

  This was the BFF that I loved and adored. My face broke out into a huge smile, one that made my cheeks hurt. “Awesome! That was kind of a rush!”

  Ash and Mel both laughed. “Now you know what all the fuss is about, huh?” Ash smiled at me through the mirror.

  “Uh, yeah! I’m totally liking the idea that everyone else is stuck in school right now and we’re not!” I snagged the offered cigarette from Mel and lit it. I leaned back and rolled the window down, exhaling a long stream of smoke. This was a nice beginning to what I hoped was going to be an amazing night.

  “You’re such a dork,” Mel said with a grin. “But you’re my dork, and I love you!”

  “Awww! Love you too Mel!” I blew her a kiss, making her and Ash both giggle. “You too, Ash!”

  “Muah!” she said to both of us, before turning the radio up louder. We all sang and danced the rest of the way to Mel’s house, but my mood dropped when we pulled into the driveway and I saw J.T.’s car. Mel picked up on my mood and reassured me. “Don’t worry. I already told him it was girls only tonight. None of his friends are coming over.”

  I let out a relieved breath and smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks, babe.”

  “Anything for my Natty.” She gave me a smacking kiss on the cheek before grabbing her backpack from the trunk.

  “Oh come on! Kiss her on the lips, Mel!” I turned to see J.T. standing in the open doorway of the house. Even though I didn’t like him romantically, I still couldn’t help the way my heart tripped at the sight of him. One of his arms was raised, holding the top of the door frame, and the other was in the front pocket of his jeans, causing them to hang lower than usual on his lean hips. He didn’t have a shirt on and his feet were bare, giving me a view of his chest and six-pack that should have been illegal. His eyes were squinted because of the sun, but he had a broad grin on his lips that showed perfect, straight white teeth. “He is so hot!” I mumbled to Ash and Mel on our way up the path.

  Ash just groaned while Mel giggled. “Girl, you should see him in boxers.”

  Ash groaned again.

  “You okay, Ashley? Need me to get that bag for you? Sounds like it might be heavy!” he teased, and Ash’s cheeks turned bright pink. I almost said something, because I had never seen Ash blush like that when a guy flirted with her. I glanced over at Mel and she nodded, which silently told me that Ash was totally crushing on J.T., and by the look on his face, he not only knew it, but was basking in it.

  Poor Ash. Her relationship with James hadn’t turned out so well. I didn’t know all the seedy details because Ash didn’t like to talk about it, but I knew they’d stopped seeing each other around the same time that Mel’s parents split. I think her parents found out about them dating and vehemently forbid her to see him. Ash was upset over it, but honestly I thought it was a good thing. James was a loser, and she deserved so much better. Too bad J.T. wasn’t really any better. In reality he was a great guy, but he was not into relationships. He had a new girl over every other night, and Mel said he had twice as many calling him. I knew that Ash knew all of this already, but I also understood how hard it was to stop liking someone. Especially when no matter how bad they were for you, they were still genuinely nice like J.T. was.

  “Come on, give me your shit. All three of you.” He put his arm out and motioned for our bags. We all complied gratefully.

  “Thanks, J.T.,” I told him as I passed by him.

  “No problem, babe.” His face softened just a little when he looked at me, and instantly I knew what he was thinking and what he was going to say next. I hated that he felt sorry for me over the whole Miguel–thing.

  “I’m fine, J,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Okay, okay! I just thought you’d like to know…” Thankfully Mel interrupted him, because I didn’t think I would have been able to stop him. Part of me really wanted to know what he was
going to say.

  “Just leave it, J! Okay?” Mel snapped at him.

  He frowned at her, but then turned back to me and slung his free arm over my shoulder. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure my girl was okay,” he said softly.

  “I know, and thank you, really. But I’m cool,” I reassured him. J.T. had taken his self-appointed big brother role pretty seriously when it came to me. He was really sweet and protective of me and we had gotten pretty close, much to Mel’s frustration. She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew she didn’t like the way J.T. tried to take care of me. He was also still trying to talk to me about Miguel, and she didn’t like that either, but it didn’t matter because I simply wouldn’t let him. I wasn’t sure what it was that he thought I needed to know, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know. I was better off just forgetting about Miguel, and talking about him all the time wasn’t going to help make that happen. Mel knew this and she did a pretty good job of running interference whenever she could, like now. I was thankful to her for that.

  J.T. gave me one last sidelong glance before letting me go and throwing our stuff in the corner of Mel’s room. “So what are you girls up to on this ‘Girl’s Night’ of yours?”

  “Par-tay!” Mel shouted enthusiastically with a fist pump that had Ash and I laughing at her. She grinned and started digging in her closet.

  “Where?” J.T.’s voice was a little less playful now that he knew our plans. I guess he’d been under the impression that our ‘Girls Night’ would be a night in.

  “Oh, a party with someone you don’t know,” Mel said with that regal air of hers that she liked to use when she didn’t want to completely answer the question.

  J.T. straightened up, crossed his arms over his bare chest, spread his bare feet, and looked at Mel with a hard expression on his face. He was so sexy when he was all serious and concerned! “Where are you going, Mel?” He was in total big brother mode. Mel hated it!

  Mel huffed in exasperation and sat on the edge of her bed. “God J, it’s not a big deal. It’s a senior at school named Sean, okay?”

  “You two dating?” His eyes narrowed on her face.

  “No! Well…not yet.” She got her patented sly look on her face and J.T. rolled his eyes at her. “Hopefully after tonight we will be. Two of his friends are going to be there too, and he’s hooking them up with Ash and Nat.”

  I whirled around to face her. “You didn’t tell me that! I don’t want to meet some guy!” I yelled at her. I didn’t like the idea of being set up with a total stranger, especially without my knowledge beforehand. I’d already had one encounter with a random guy that had not turned out so well, and I wasn’t looking forward to repeating that.

  “Oh yeah? Why not?” she challenged.

  I gritted my teeth, not wanting to say it out loud. “You know why,” I said in a low, angry voice.

  “Would you just get over that already?” She waved a dismissive hand at me. “Besides, I thought we already discussed this, Natalie. I told you at the beginning of the week what the plan for tonight was going to be.” I knew right away what she was referring to, and my anger spiked. I knew that she’d told me I should lose my virginity, but I didn’t think she would be setting it up! Who does that?!

  “God, Mel! Chill the fuck out, will you?” Ash interrupted us, and then turned to J.T. “We’re going to a party, we’ll be back later, call us if you need us and we’ll call if we need a ride. Cool?”

  “Yeah,” he answered tersely; his eyes bouncing between Mel and I, who were silently staring daggers at each other. I knew he was wondering what the hell we were talking about, and I didn’t want him to know. He would be pissed off at Mel, and just feel sorry for me. It was already embarrassing enough that he was standing there and had seen what he had already witnessed our little catfight.

  When I finally heard him leave the room, I was ready for a real fight. “Why are you being such a bitch? If I don’t want to meet some guy, I don’t have to! And I sure as hell don’t have to sleep with him if I don’t want to! You can’t just decide I should do this, then pick a guy for me and command me to do it!”

  She glared at me for a second longer, and then let out a measured breath. “Okay– you’re right. But will you at least meet him first before you decide? He’s really nice, and crazy–hot, too.” When I didn’t say anything, she continued to reassure me. “And you don’t have to sleep with him. I was just kidding okay? Just meet him and see if you like him. Please?” She stuck out her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes innocently at me.

  I stared at her for another full minute. Mel had basically just apologized for bullying me. She never apologized! I was so shocked; I didn’t know what to say for a second. “Umm…Okay. But no pressure! I mean it, Mel,” I told her sternly.

  “Goody!” she squealed. Her pout turned into a wide grin, and then she returned her full attention to her clothes.

  I glanced at Ash, who had been strangely quiet after dismissing J.T. She looked angry, and I knew it was because of what Mel had planned and how she always tried to dictate over me. Ash didn’t say much, but I knew she didn’t like how Mel tried to run everything. I shook my head at her, not wanting her to say anything. Everything was already settled, and there was no use dwelling on it. I wanted to have fun now! Ash just shook her head in disgust and started pulling clothes out of her bag. I knew she was disappointed, but what could I do?

  Mel finally broke the some–what tense silence. “Nat, did you bring something to wear? Because you know you can’t fit into any of my clothes anymore; they’re too small for you.” She said it casually but it still made me feel a twinge of embarrassment, even if there was actually no intent to hurt me behind her words. I’d been working diligently on my weight, but Mel was still super model thin; wearing a size zero or two. She had even grown a few inches taller, but still she never gained any weight. So now she was taller and thinner than I was. And even though she knew that I’d lost a few pounds, she still never failed to remind me that I couldn’t fit into her clothes any more.

  “Yes, I brought clothes,” I said with an agitated sigh. My clothes weren’t as cute as Mel’s, and I hated that I couldn’t borrow them anymore.

  “You can look through my shit if you want to, Nat. I brought a few extra shirts. And we’re the same size, so everything I brought will fit you.” Although Ash said it casually, there was a bite to her words. If Mel thought I was fat, then she was insulting Ash as well, because we were the same size. Ash however, didn’t think she was fat and got pissed at Mel whenever she brought it up. I shot her a pleading smile, not wanting this to start a new fight, and she relented. “You can borrow my make-up or whatever, too. Help yourself.” She smiled more genuinely at me.

  “Thanks, girl.” I pulled out my super cute skinny jeans that made my hips and butt look smaller and totally hot, and then I looked at the shirts Ash had tossed on the bed. All of her tops were cute, but the one that really grabbed my attention was one that she hadn’t put in the pile. “Can I wear this one?” I held up a black see–through tank with a black skull on the front. It was a loose fitting top that was cut deep in the front and back, as well as under the arms.

  “Umm… you know you can see through that, right? And whenever you bend over you’ll be able to see right down the front, and you can see everything under the arms, and…” I laughed and cut her off.

  “I know! But I think I have just the thing to wear under it.” I dug through my bag and pulled out a bandeau top that was completely covered in silver sequins. My mom hadn’t really wanted me to buy it, but since she said no one would ever see it, she relented. “I can wear this under it.” I held it up to show Ash and Mel.

  “Oh, you bitch! That’s totally cute and hot! I love it!” Mel snatched the top from me and held it up to her chest. I bit my lip in consternation because I didn’t want her to ask to borrow it, simply because I knew I’d let her if she did.

  Before she could though, Ash snatched it from her. “Too bad this won’t f
it you, Mel. Nat’s boobs are waaaaay bigger than yours,” she said shrewdly, before tossing it back to me. She ignored Mel’s infuriated look and kept talking. “That’s way hot, Nat. You’re going to look great! You’re wearing your hair down, right?” I nodded yes while I started stripping off my clothes to change and thankfully Mel did the same. She wouldn’t dare get snippy over Ash’s boob comment. “Good, will you let me straighten it for you? Oh, and let me do your make-up? Pretty please?” She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously and stuck out her bottom lip.

  I laughed at her. “Okay, okay! Fine, but don’t make me look crazy, okay?”

  “I won’t, promise.” She giggled and rubbed her hands together in anticipation. I laughed, and suddenly the tension was forgotten as we all talked about silly stuff while we finished changing. Once done, we checked each other out for anything that didn’t look good enough. Mel was wearing a black mini-skirt that made her legs look impossibly long, paired with a tight red tank that covered her belly, but only when her arms were down. Ash had on skinny jeans like mine, but hers were white and she had on a teal, gauzy tank top with beads around the neck. It made her light skin and blonde hair stand out even more. My outfit turned out exactly as planned. My dark blue skinny jeans rode low on my hips, so my stomach looked flat instead of flabby, and they helped keep my butt and hips curvy and tight. The black skull tank with the silver bandeau looked just as sexy as we all thought it would, and I was very pleased with the end result. Our outfits were finished off with cute sparkly flip flops; nobody needed any broken ankles after a night of dancing, drinking, and getting high!

  “Come on, Nat let me do your hair and make-up!” Ash called out on her way to the bathroom. I followed behind her and sat on the closed toilet seat. She laid all her stuff out on the vanity top and I watched silently as she prepared to work her magic. Ash was actually really good at applying make-up. Hers always looked stunning, but still natural. It was totally different than the way Mel had been teaching me to wear mine, so I was a little nervous about how it would look on me. I looked up when Mel walked in a few seconds later, joint in her fingers. I smiled because I knew I wouldn’t be nervous much longer. She took a couple of puffs and then handed it to me. We smoked the joint while we finished getting ready; cracking up over stupid stuff and giggling over boys. Typical girl stuff.