California Dreaming

by Stacey Johnston

  We only have a few more hours until we need to head back, and I don’t want to waste the time I have with Katie. She’s been acting a little nervous since her friends left, and I have to wonder if it has something to do with what Blondie said. All I know is the way she is twisting her curly hair around her finger is so fucking adorable. I know she wants to say something, but it’s obvious she doesn’t know how to start.

  “What’s on your mind, babe?” I am tired of tiptoeing around the subject - time to get it over with. “You seem nervous since we ditched your friends. She was right about the thing she said, wasn’t she?” I can tell from the flash of anxiousness in her eyes that there is truth to what her friend said.

  Fuck! I’m guessing the plans I had for Katie aren’t going to happen now. I was hoping we could slip away and have some time alone for an hour before it got too late. Usually, I don’t have any trouble getting what I want, but then a good girl like Katie isn’t the type of girl I would go for. Gulping loudly, she looks down at the grass and starts picking at her fingernails. I just wish she would just say it already.

  “Yes,” she confesses. “I am a virgin, but I really like you and I wanted to spend time with you today. You may think I’m old-fashioned, but I’m shy, and really wanted my first time to mean something.”

  Glancing up, the wariness in her eyes really is evident. What do I say to her now?

  I’m disappointed, I won’t deny it, but she is different from the other girls. I may be guilty of a lot of things, but I’m not shallow enough to treat her the same way I do the less than reputable girls I normally meet.

  “I’m can’t deny that I had hoped our day together would turn out differently,” I finally admit. “But, I’m not going to force you to do something you are not ready for.” Look at me acting all grown up and shit. Makes me forget how old I really am. Her sigh of relief surprises me. I never picked up on her being that uncomfortable.

  “I appreciate your understanding, Ben. Look, it’s been a wonderful day, but I think I should head back now. I need to get ready for the trip home tomorrow. It’s been a day I won’t forget.” Her words make me feel like I am being dumped, although I know that isn’t the case.

  We watch her leave, and without fail, Luke does what Luke does best.

  “Shit, pity that didn’t pan out. That’s definitely one for the bucket list—sex with a virgin.” I just shake my head at him, throwing some of my chips at his head. Maybe I’m the one who dodged a bullet after all.

  Luke

  I started my day bummed, shit got real after we arrived home from Kyle’s last night. My parents were pissed at me, but I’m used to that. The others thought they saw Jill and Marcus, a.k.a, my mother and father at their worst last night, but nope, they saved that shit for when we got home. Nothing I do is ever good enough for them, so I figure, what’s the point in trying.

  Most days, I prefer to not be on the receiving end of their crap, which is why I choose to stay out for as long as I can. The problem is, they now have an image to uphold and I’m not fitting into that image at all. James on the other hand, my precious older brother, fits that bill perfectly. He’s their golden boy, the one to follow in dad’s footsteps. He’s away at college upstate at the moment, thank fuck.

  The thing that cuts me the deepest is, it wouldn’t have mattered if I was heading in the same direction as James, or not. I will never be as good as him in my parent’s eyes. My father, ladies, and gentleman, has just been made partner in the law firm he has worked in for the past twenty years.

  Big fucking deal I reckon, but for him, it’s a huge thing. Now that he is partner, I’m expected to bow down and kiss his feet. “It’s all about image” he dribbled last night when we got home. There was a time when I would’ve been happy to follow suit, when I wanted to please my father, but not anymore. He and my mom ruined that for me six months ago. I don’t think I can ever forgive them, but that’s not a story for now.

  Our day started out no different than normal, except for the cutie Ben was trying to pull. Fuck it was funny when he found out she was a virgin, and that he had no hope of bedding her. She wasn’t his type anyway. I don’t know why he even went there to start with. You see, Ben’s like me, he likes the easy conquests. Neither of us is looking for anything long-term, we are only out for some fun.

  Both of us enjoyed a challenge, but if you have to put in too much effort, then it’s not worth your time. That’s what amused me about him today, all the time he put in, to get nowhere.

  I know I’m a player. I hear the whispers and rumors floating around town. I never used to be this way, but over the last six months, since Peyton left, my reputation at school has become increasingly worse. What the small minded people of Laguna don’t get is they can’t offend me with their words, because I don’t care. What I find humorous, is that it doesn’t matter how callous I become towards these chicks, the just want me more.

  I don’t get it.

  I find females to be very hypocritical, especially where we mere males are concerned. Have they not worked out that we are simple creatures, especially when our cocks start ruling our lives? I hear them all the time talking at school about how they want someone who will shower them with gifts, and worship them. What amazes me is the fact, that they don’t want that at all. What they want, is a dirty, bad boy who will use them and treat them like crap. Don’t get me wrong, not every girl I know, or meet is like that, but fuck me, most of them are.

  It’s those types of girls that turn me on the most.

  After Ben finally gave up the chase with Katie, we set our sights on an Australian family who stood out like a sore thumb. We knew straight away that this would be too fucking easy, like taking candy from a baby.

  Obviously, they aren’t the first Australian’s to hit our shores, but this particular family had a sexy as fuck daughter with them. How was I supposed to resist that? She was the reason we offered to guide them around town. The cash they offered didn’t hurt either.

  Suckers.

  They were lost, with no idea at all on how to get back to their hotel. Their daughter wanted to catch a glimpse of the actors involved in those piece of crap reality shows that are filmed here. Yeah, I’m so not a fan of that shit.

  I ended up spending the whole time smooching up to Chelsea – said daughter, with the intention of having some of my own fun with her later on.

  They were such a fucking easy prey, it was ridiculous.

  We showed them the touristy crap, and then I took their daughter for a ride of my own a bit later. I probably could have picked a better location than the men’s toilets, on the foreshore, but she had my balls ready to combust.

  Let me just say, she has a gifted mouth and talented fingers.

  It was too fucking easy.

  Prior to her leaving, I added my number to her phone, so that I can tap that again before she leaves. I very rarely do that, because I don’t do clingers, but I will make an exception for this chick.

  It does help, that she lives on the other side of the world.

  Kyle

  The last thing I wanted to do was spend more time around those chicks from yesterday.

  God damn Ben and his SOS!

  I prayed that just the mention of our arrival would annoy them enough that they would be gone by the time we got there. Thankfully, by the time we did reach Ben and Katie, the girls were already walking away. I’d like to say I felt sorry for Ben, for not getting what he wanted from Katie, but in all honesty, he is too much of a player for someone as nice as her. She deserves to be with someone better, especially for her first time. Unlike Luke and Ben, I actually value my virginity. I want my first time to hold some meaning, even though most days this cock of mine would like to lead me astray.

  Once Katie was gone, we were free to search out our next tourist targets, and man were the pickin’s good. We came across an Australian family wandering around aimlessly who have come to America for an adventure of a lifetime, as the father put it.

/>   They thought we were all well-mannered, considerate young men for offering to guide them around our lovely town.

  Ha, what a joke that was!

  We only offered to help so Luke - who called dibs before anyone else, could get into their daughter Chelsea’s panties. Well, that and they gave us some cash for our troubles. I have no idea how old Chelsea is, but she’s a tall, slim girl with blonde hair that has the brightest pink bits at the ends. There isn’t an inch on that delicious body of hers that isn’t perfect, she is goddamned gorgeous. Her accent, though, has us all drooling.

  Fuck me, it makes her voice hot!

  Mostly, she and her family were interested in seeing where the reality shows Laguna Beach has become famous for are filmed. The mother just wanted to please her daughter because she is apparently a huge fan. I personally have never really understood the appeal, but I suppose if the audience is into half-naked guys and sexed-crazed chicks, these were the shows for them. The excessive giggling coming from this girl was doing my head in, as was her constant head turning. She kept looking around to see if she could catch a glimpse of someone famous. While I grew tired of her quickly, Luke was still hooked.

  After guiding the whole family around half the town, Luke asks Chelsea’s parents if she can come down to the beach with us. He is looking to get her away from her parents so he can make a move on her. He promises she will only be gone for an hour as the four of us have to be home by six. They agree, but only after Chelsea agrees to take her cell phone with her, which doesn’t take much convincing.

  She’s a chick—they always have their smartphones permanently glued to their hands.

  As soon as we hit the beach, she strips down to a bikini that barely covers her body. Fuck me! What a sight she is. She has every one of us adjusting our cocks when she takes off her shirt and shorts. Wow, what a vision. When she and Luke take off toward the water, we all know what is going to happen. That’s Luke’s angle - to get them hot and bothered in the water, slip into the beach’s public bathrooms together, and finish the job. He doesn’t care if she is on her knees on the dirty restroom floor as long as his cock is buried down her throat.

  As per usual, Luke gets exactly what he wants - he always does. He has that whole bad-boy persona perfected to a T. This chick is no different from the others before her. She got sucked in by his charm just like they always do. Before he walks her back to her parents, he programs his number into her cell. She must have been good because he only does that if he is going back for more.

  Sitting back down on the sand, we watch the waves rolling onto the shore. There is something soothing about watching as a wave reaches its crest as it rolls in toward the beach, crashing down onto the sand as they sink into their trough.

  “So,” Ben starts. “Did you taste good?” Did I just hear correctly? The smirk on Luke’s face is just wrong.

  “Yep. I read, in one of dad’s issues of Playboy, that if you drink pineapple juice, it sweetens the juice, if you know what I mean. I hate when chicks spit instead of swallowing, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve been drinking pineapple juice for the last week to test it out. Not bad, if I say so myself”

  His reply has us all laughing, he really is a dirty bastard. Imagine how bad he will be when we finally do reach eighteen. Nothing shocks him anymore, and I’m not just talking about his sexual prowess. There was a time when he wasn’t like this, but his home life has been far from easy for as long as I’ve known him.

  Over the last year, he’s slowly become harder, shutting off all emotion, taking what he wants, when he wants. After an incident with his parents six months ago, he became even more closed off. What happened only further hardened him, and he hasn’t cracked since. Funny enough, though, he seems pretty happy with himself for giving that Aussie chick her own personal, adventure of a lifetime. We will no doubt, get even more of the gory details of what happened on the way home.

  “That’s just wrong, you know that, right?” Stephen scolds him, making Luke’s face break out into a massive grin. Even his eyes lit up with excitement.

  “Jealous, my man. You should give it a go. You never know, you may like it.” Stephen scrunches his nose up as Luke continues his assault of words. “Oh, that’s right. We need to remove that little thing you keep holding on to - you know, your virginity.”

  It’s a good thing none of us get offended easily. Otherwise, we would be at each other’s throats all the time over the stuff we say to each other. Stephen just laughs him off and replies, “In good time, my man, in good time.” They fist pump, and move on, just like we always do.

  Speaking of moving on - oh shit, we’re going to be late again. “Hey fuckers, we need to go. We are going to miss curfew, and dinner at Luke’s.”

  There are more than a few fuck words escaping the mouths around me as we gather up our stuff, and head off the beach. “My mother will no doubt have my demise planned for when I fuck up this time,” a frustrated Luke sighs.

  He isn’t the only one. I doubt any of us will get off lightly this time around. “I think we are all in the same boat.” I console him.

  Looking at the time on my watch, it’s ten to six. There’s no way we will make it home in time. We’re going to have to take the shortcut we use from time to time to even come close to making curfew. I hate going that way - it’s fucking creepy. We have to pass through an alley in between a shit load of old buildings in a part of Laguna we don’t venture to very often. We only use it when we are desperate, as it shaves about fifteen minutes off our trip, which is exactly what we need to have happen right now.

  “Shortcut, boys?” I ask. No one says a word. They just glance my way and nod.

  Yep, we all hate going this way.

  The closer we get, the more nervous we get. We have seen some pretty bad shit happen in this part of town. It’s usually where the seedier locals tend to spend their time. Basically, it’s a straight-through alley that has buildings on either side, where there’s only enough room for the dump truck to travel through, to empty the trash cans. Needless to say, we try to avoid this place.

  On a good day, it’s only the homeless who frequent this area, but it’s usually where the crack addicts and cheap hookers come to conduct their business. Here’s hoping today offers us no surprises. I want to get through here as quickly as fucking possible.

  “Fuck, we really need to stop doing this to ourselves,” I mumble. I wasn’t really directing the sentiment at any of the boys, but I got an amen from all of them.

  As we approach the entrance of the alleyway, a couple of old, homeless bums move out from behind a dumpster, scaring the shit out of us. “Seriously dude,” I call out when they come to a stop in front of us. The two of them are cackling, like it’s their own private joke, with their fucking toothless grins.

  I settle myself, fuckers, I think.

  And we keep moving.

  Ben

  Goddamned homeless men scaring the crap out of me like that. I should have known there would be one or two of them hiding out around here. Those ass-wipes find it fucking hilarious when they jump out and we nearly go through the fucking ceiling. Okay, so maybe there is no ceiling in this alley, but my meaning is clear.

  Moving past their stinky asses, we keep walking, hoping no one else is hiding around any more dark corners. Although the sun is just starting to set over the beach, it has become dark through here very quickly, making it hard to see too far ahead. We have had to slow down just to see where we are going. So much for our shortcut. You never know what you will run into around here. Dodging trashcans doesn’t bother me. It’s the junkies I hate. You can’t tell if they are high or dead when they are slumped on the ground.

  The first time we went home this way about a year ago, we came across a couple of junkies shooting up against a wall. All four of us froze, not knowing what to do. None of us had ever seen anyone shoot up before, so obviously it shocked us. Although we’d been to enough parties where you could get your hands on alcohol or drugs,
that was the first time we’d seen anything like that. Our gawking made the junkies paranoid, so they chased us out. We ended up being too quick for them, making it easier to lose them in the end, but it was still fucking scary.

  Not wanting to attract any attention to ourselves, all four of us keep walking as quietly as possible until a door opens ahead of us. We watch as a youngish guy steps out and into the alleyway, coming to a stop a couple feet ahead of us. He looks like he is searching for something in his shoulder bag, but since it’s so dark it’s hard to know for sure. I hope he hurries up, because, at this rate, we are going to get home even later than if we had gone the normal way. I really don’t want to listen to my parents ranting at me again tonight.

  The guy with his back to us doesn’t seem to be in any hurry, whatever he is searching for must be important. Out of the corner of my eye, I witness something else moving in the darkness. Turning my head in the direction of the movement, I watch, anticipating the worst. It would just be our luck to have more homeless guys hiding ahead, waiting to jump out at us. Catching my attention, the movement to the side continues, and a figure steps out from the shadows. When it finally comes to a stop, it is literally right behind the young guy in front of us. Looking across at Luke, I notice his eyes have widened in shock.

  Seriously, what the fuck is happening?!!

  Completely oblivious to what’s going on around him, this guy or whoever he is, has no idea there is someone standing directly behind him. The dark figure doesn’t make a sound, it just stops- dead still. We can’t make out any of the mystery person’s features because every inch of his body is covered in black clothing. Even their face is hidden.

  As we continue to watch the scene playing out before us, an arm cloaked in black slowly begins to raise, and a gun becomes visible. Mystery guy has it aimed at his unsuspecting target’s head. While a man’s life is in grave peril, all I can do is wonder how we have walked into such a mess. As I contemplate our terrible luck, one loud pop pierces the silence, and a body drops to the ground.