High School Hangover

by Stephanie Hale

  “I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Jack. I kind of have a boyfriend,” I explain.

  “Laney, it’s fine,” Jack says. “You aren’t my type either,” he says, adding a laugh. Everyone starts babbling happily again and forgets all about it. I should be ecstatic that they didn’t make a big issue out of it, but I’m too hurt by Jack’s comment.

  What does he mean I’m not his type? I’m smart, and nice, and not hideously disfigured. This is crazy. Why do I even care? Clearly I’m Leo’s type, considering he wanted me by his side all night last night, so that’s all that matters. I mean, would he really have come back for me after going inside with Amelia if he didn’t like me? I don’t think so.

  Wait a minute. Leo came back for me. He pulled me out of the pool and we snuck across the street to his house while everyone was searching for that Mimi person. I can remember his strong arms pulling me out of the pool. His shirt looked like it was moving. That must have been the punch talking. I’m so excited that I remember more about last night I can hardly stand it.

  “Leo came back for me,” I shout, looking at Jack. “He pulled me out of the pool and we ran to his house,” I say, trying to remember more but hitting a wall in my memory.

  “Cool,” Jack says in a monotone.

  I try not to let Jack’s lack of excitement get me down. I was at Leo’s house with him. Then it hits me. Leo and I must have gotten into the moving van to be alone. Of course. It would have been the perfect place because no one would have looked for us there. Except that I don’t remember any of that and it still doesn’t explain how I woke up with Jack and not Leo. Crap. I kick the water in frustration, accidentally splashing Bernie right in the face.

  “Hey, what’s the big idea?” he growls at me, but adds a smile and a wink so I know he isn’t really irritated.

  “Sorry, Bernie,” I apologize. He ignores me and continues ogling Milly, who is trying to see how much water she can hold in her bikini top.

  I try to get Jack’s attention but he won’t look my direction. Even when Archie farts so hard that it has a whirlpool effect on the water, he doesn’t even throw me a smirk. I guess my comment about not having sex with him really cut deep. I don’t even know why he cares when he had those blondes hanging on him last night. The memory of the blondes pawing him stings a bit. I shake it off. Jack has his blondes and I have Leo.

  I don’t even know what it is exactly about Leo that I like. I guess because we’ve always been neck and neck with our GPA’s, I always saw him as a challenge which kind of intrigued me. In the end, I won, but Leo gave me a close race all four years of high school. Plus, he’s so tall and handsome. Not handsome like Jack, but in a different kind of way. Like someone took a big block of human and chiseled all his angled features perfectly. But mostly it is because of how he tried to come to my rescue during my project presentation. Only a true gentleman would do that.

  I notice Ginger gazing at Dom and I hope that I was never so obvious in my affections for Leo. I stretch my leg under the water and nudge her.

  “What?” she asks innocently.

  “Stop looking at him like he’s a Greek god,” I whisper. She immediately blushes and turns away. “Don’t be embarrassed, but don’t let him catch you looking at him like that.”

  What I’m more concerned with is Milly noticing. She would bust Ginger out in a heartbeat if she thought it would embarrass her, then she’d go after Dom like a great white after a bleeding seal.

  “Are you guys excited to go to Graceland tomorrow?” Ginger asks, obviously trying to get her mind off Dom’s hairy chest.

  “We’re going to Memphis?” I ask.

  “I didn’t bring my blue suede shoes for nothing,” Kris jokes.

  “I love Memphis. That’s where my dad lives,” I say dreamily. A fantasy of surprising Dad by showing up on his doorstep immediately runs through my head. Our long awaited reunion will be amazing and he’ll insist on driving me the rest of the way home himself. I can almost picture myself waving goodbye to Jack and the seniors as they pull out of Dad’s driveway. Then I remember that Dad is in Paris and my fantasy loses its air like a deflated balloon.

  “Your pops lives there, yeah?” Dom asks me.

  I nod, biting my lip. I don’t think Dad would like me just showing up unannounced, but he isn’t even going to be home. I want to see where he lives. I want to know where to picture him when we talk. “He isn’t home, though,” I say, knowing the seniors will never agree to stalk my dad’s house when there are so many tourist attractions to hit.

  “Maybe he’ll get home early. I’m sure these guys wouldn’t mind cruising by his place tomorrow, yeah?” Dom offers. Everyone nods their heads agreeably.

  “All this soaking is getting me hungry,” Bernie perks up. He holds his hand out to me for me to help him out. I stand up and tug gently trying to help him out without hurting him. He reciprocates by yanking my arm so hard that it knocks me off balance and I fall into the water, clothes and all.

  Jack and all the seniors cheer like crazy as I spit water out of my mouth. I peel off Milly’s sundress and toss it on a nearby chair. I figure I’m up to my neck in water so it’s not like anybody can see anything anyway. And I’ll strategically place my towel when I get out. I’m the master of the strategically placed towel, the only skill I’ve learned from physical education. I catch Jack’s eyes lingering on my chest, but it happens so fast I think I must be wrong. He continues chatting with Dom. It is really cool how comfortable Jack is with the seniors. I don’t know a lot of guys who would take such an interest in them like he’s done.

  “Why are we all taking a bath together?” Archie asks suddenly, looking alarmed.

  Ginger goes from a relaxed pose with her head resting against the pool ledge to being stiff and at attention within a millisecond. “Archie, we’re all on a trip, remember?” Ginger says softly, taking his hand.

  Jack and I look at each other, panicked. The seniors all huddle around Archie as he gets increasingly irritated.

  “I don’t know any of you. I want to go home,” he cries, making his way out of the pool.

  Everyone bolts after him with the exception of me, Milly, and Jack. They are all trying to help him dry off and redress but he keeps insisting that they are all strangers.

  I am fighting to hold back tears, wondering where the old man with the farting problem has disappeared to. Jack touches his foot to mine reassuringly under the water.

  “It doesn’t last long,” Milly explains, fanning her hair out on the pool ledge. “But he’s getting worse. That’s why we’re taking this trip. It won’t be long before he doesn’t remember anything or anybody,” she says, not unkindly but with the air of a person who has seen this happen before.

  “It must be so hard on all of you,” I say.

  “We manage. It’s harder on his family because sometimes he doesn’t even recognize his own children. They don’t visit very often,” she says.

  “Do you have any kids?” I ask. I don’t particularly like chatting up Milly but I feel helpless watching Archie so I’m trying to distract myself.

  “No, I never got married or had kids,” she says, looking away from me. “Who wants the hassle?”

  No wonder Milly has to be the center of attention with all the men. While women like Trudy and Ginger were happily married with children, Milly spent her entire life never meeting anyone special. I feel almost sadder for her then I do for Archie. At least he doesn’t remember what he’s missing. Milly probably doesn’t have a second where she forgets how empty her entire life has been. I still don’t particularly like her, but I do feel sorry for her.

  “Wasn’t there ever anyone special?” I pry.

  “Yeah, there was. But I screwed it up royally. Hopefully you’ll be smarter than I was,” she warns, giving Jack elevator eyes.

  Jack pulls himself out of the water effortlessly, beads of water cascading down his muscular body. I try to avert my gaze but fail miserably.

  “Will
you stop,” I hiss, nudging Milly. “I don’t like him like that.”

  “Yeah, and I’m a virgin,” she teases, pulling herself out of the pool.

  I slap the top of the water in frustration then grab a towel from the side of the pool and unfold it. I manage to get out of the pool and wrap it around me without incident. I’m able to wring most of the water out of Milly’s sundress and slip it over me. Thankfully it isn’t a very long ride back to the hotel.

  After everyone is dried off, we pile back onto the bus. Archie seems a bit less confused but he still isn’t back to his normal joking self yet. The sadness of it hits me like a locomotive. I know how frustrated I am about losing a few hours. I can’t imagine how scary it is losing the memories of your entire life.

  I push the thoughts away before they can overwhelm me. I got really good at holding back emotion when Mom divorced Dad. Luckily, I had myself trained so well that I barely skipped a beat when Dad told me he was moving away. If I thought about the fact that I’ve only seen him twice in the last three years, I’d probably break down. But that wouldn’t solve anything.

  Dom plops down next to me, clutching his noisy machine, and I smile at him.

  “Your pops like living in Memphis?” he asks, in between compressor pulses.

  “Yeah, he’s lived there for about three years now,” I confirm.

  “You guys is from St. Louey, yeah? I usta know some peoples in St. Louey. What’s your pops name?” he asks.

  “My dad is Archer Wentworth. He’s a very important businessman,” I explain, although I’ve never quite understood exactly what my dad does. Every time I ask him about his job, he sort of talks in circles. I guess his job is too complicated for me to understand.

  “You two close?”

  “Oh, yeah. I mean, we don’t get to see each other much but we talk on the phone all the time.”

  “He’ll sure be surprised tomorrow, yeah?” Dom says with a bit of a twinkle in his eye.

  “You think?” I wonder. “I mean, he probably won’t even be home, but I’ve always kind of felt like he didn’t want me in Memphis for some reason,” I say, wondering why in the world I’m pouring my heart out to a man I don’t know.

  “Oh, I guarantee you. He’ll be so surprised, he’ll have to change his shorts,” Dom assures me.

  *****

  After everyone has showered and gotten into dry clothes, the seniors decide that the hotel restaurant isn’t good enough and they want to head back to town to eat. We all hop back on the bus. Luckily, this routine is getting a little faster each time. After vetoing about ten choices of restaurants, Kris swings into the parking lot of a nightclub called The Big Chill. Everyone starts piling off excitedly.

  “Hold on, guys. Laney and I can’t get in here,” Jack shouts over them.

  All the seniors start laughing hysterically. Ginger shoves a wad of twenties into Jack’s palm as I sit dazed in my seat.

  “Be careful with her,” Kris warns, tossing the bus keys to Jack.

  “But shouldn’t we be with you?” I shout to their retreating figures which elicits more snickers.

  “Isn’t it cute how they think they need to babysit us?” Trudy asks Ginger.

  “Be back in three hours and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Milly teases, throwing Jack a kiss as she exits the bus.

  “What the h?” Jack asks, stunned. He sinks down in the seat next to me and we watch as the posse of seniors limp their way inside. I can only imagine the looks on the owner’s faces when they invade the club.

  “They totally blew us off,” I say. I witnessed the whole thing and I can still barely believe it. We just got blown off by a group of senior citizens.

  “You wanna grab something to eat?” Jack asks, holding out the rolls of twenties Ginger stuffed into his palm.

  “Sure,” I answer, my stomach a nervous mess thinking about spending three hours alone with Jack. This could be a good thing though. Maybe I’ll find out more about last night.

  Jack takes the driver seat and starts up the bus. I move up to the front row and try hard not to remember what Jack looks like without his shirt on.

  “How about that seafood place we passed?” Jack asks, practically reading my mind.

  “That would be great,” I answer, settling back while Jack drives us to the restaurant.

  *****

  “Why in the world did you suggest a seafood restaurant if you are allergic to shellfish?” I ask Jack, who ordered a hamburger.

  “I saw the way your face lit up when we drove by before, so I knew you wanted to come here,” he admits.

  How incredibly sweet! I’m starting to feel guilty for the way I treated Jack about the project. Everybody makes mistakes. The important thing is that I don’t think he would ever let me down again. Not that it matters because after we get home, we’ll probably never see each other again, which kind of makes me sad.

  We pass the time waiting for our entrees by talking about the seniors. I feel like an old married couple out for date night that can’t manage any conversation without bringing up their kids. Thankfully our meals arrive in record time.

  “What do you remember about last night?” I ask Jack. I crack open a King crab leg and pull out a huge chunk of the sweet meat. I dunk it repeatedly into the tiny vat of drawn butter then pop it into my mouth. It’s all I can do to keep from moaning.

  “Not much,” he says, not glancing up from his burger.

  “You said you were really drunk, right?”

  Jack doesn’t say anything but nods his head back and forth, not meeting my eyes. I have a direct line of vision to the bartender across the restaurant. Watching him rinse alcohol bottles for recycling triggered a memory from last night. I specifically remember Jack filling his beer bottle with water in the kitchen last night. I have a feeling that he did this in secret all night. But why would he lie about being drunk?

  “That’s funny because I saw you fill your beer bottle with water last night. Why are you lying to me?” I ask him, putting down my crab cracker.

  Jack finally looks up and the pitiful expression on his face pulls on my heart.

  “I wasn’t drunk,” he admits.

  “But if you weren’t drunk then how did you end up in the back of the truck with me?” I ask, confused.

  “I saw Leo and Amelia put you in the back of the truck and I got in to make sure you were okay after they left,” he blurts out.

  “You saw what?” I shout, earning me stares from fellow diners.

  “Leo and Amelia were carrying you outside. You were passed out and they put you into the moving van. God, Laney, it was terrible. I thought you were dead,” he rushes on. His words are practically on top of each other and he seems relieved to get them out.

  “Why would Leo put me in a moving van? He must have been coming back for me later,” I say, even though it makes no sense. If Jack knew this, why didn’t he just tell me this morning?

  “Laney, it was all a trick. He was mad at you for beating him for valedictorian,” he tells me gently. But it doesn’t matter how soft his words are, each one feels like a dagger going into my chest.

  “How do you know all this?” I ask, feeling overwhelmed. Maybe Jack is lying. He is probably so jealous of Leo he is making up all kinds of crazy things to try and get him and his dad in trouble. Maybe Jack put me into the moving van to try and set up Leo and his dad. I don’t know what to believe right now.

  “I’m ready to go,” I say, scooting away from the table. Jack flags down our waiter and pays the bill. He keeps his arm gently against my back as he guides me out of the restaurant and back to the bus. We ride in silence back to the club. Blues music is pouring out of the open windows and I can only imagine the havoc the seniors are wreaking on the place.

  Jack parks the bus next to a grassy culvert. He finds a dry towel someone left onboard earlier and gestures for me to follow him. He spreads the towel down on the grass and gestures for me to sit down on it with him. Nervously I do.

 
“I’m sorry I lied to you. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you,” Jack tells me.

  I don’t say anything because my tongue feels like it is frozen. I still don’t know what to believe. Could I really have been so stupid to believe Leo liked me and it was all an act?

  Jack traces my cheekbone and chin with his index finger. I glance into his eyes and see nothing but kindness. He’s careful not to move toward me even though I suddenly want him to. I’m so confused. I thought I liked Leo and I thought he liked me. But I have all these weird feelings about Jack. But what if Jack is lying to me about everything?

  “Laney, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.” I don’t say anything. I just let myself drift into his eyes trying to find the truth.

  If Leo doesn’t care about me, does that mean Jack does? I realize I’ve wanted to kiss Jack for a long time. Even back when we were partners in chemistry, I had moments where I could barely keep from kissing him. I just didn’t want to admit it. I move closer to his lips. He watches me eagerly but I can already tell if this is going to happen, I’m going to have to instigate it.

  “Are you sure?” he whispers.

  That’s all it takes for me to know that I am. I lean in so close that I can smell his breath. I run my fingers through the back of his hair. I’m just about to touch my lips to his when he jerks away from me.

  “I can’t do this,” he yells, practically flying backwards away from me.

  I sit dumbfounded as I watch him jump on the bus. I wonder if it’s possible for a person to actually die of humiliation.

  “You didn’t have to flash the entire bar,” I hear Ginger’s voice say.

  “Somebody said they were taping an episode of Grannies Gone Wild,” Milly replies innocently.

  “I didn’t hate it,” Kris says appreciatively.

  “Whether we got kicked out or not, it was time to go. Somebody tried to blow up Dom’s oxygen tank,” Trudy adds.

  “Twenty years ago, I’d a blasted those punks,” Dom claims.

  Everyone is piling back on the bus as Jack is trying to make his way back off of it. I stagger up the steps and plop down in a seat by myself trying to figure out how I can be so smart, yet manage to be so stupid at the same time. This is exactly why I’ve avoided social situations. I am a total failure at reading people.