15. Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Sloane
M aggie and I go into the kitchen and find Kurt, Shelly, and Jesse talking.
"What happened to you?" Jesse asks.
"Oh, Dave Flemming grabbed me and pretended he was going to throw me into the pool," I say. "Spilled my Coke all over me." I shudder as a chill runs through me.
Jesse shakes his head and chuckles. "Of course it was Dave." He sets his cup down and says, "I'll go grab one of my shirts for you. Be right back."
"Do you know that guy?" Kurt asks.
I nod my head. "Yeah, we hung out a couple of times over the summer. He goes to Saint Christopher’s." I say as I feel my cheeks grow warm.
"Aww, he's flirting with you!" Shelly says, her green eyes sparkling. "That's cute."
I groan. "He was kind of a jerk this summer, and that's why we stopped hanging out."
"Oh," Shelly says. "Well, clearly he realized he let a good thing go."
I smile at her. "Thanks."
Jesse returns grinning with an armful of clothes. "Okay, Sloane, you're going to kill me, but your choices are limited because I need to do laundry." He sets the small pile on the counter and picks up a black T-shirt. "You've got a choice between this one which I got at a school assembly." He shows me the front of the shirt which says "D.A.R.E" in a red brush font and below it, "KEEPING KIDS OFF DRUGS" in smaller white text. He sets the shirt on the counter and picks up another black T-shirt, this one with long sleeves. "Or this one." Jesse is smiling as he holds up the second shirt which has "Pantera" in bold white letters across the top and shows a fist punching a guy in the face.
I groan again. "Ugh, really. Those are my choices?"
Jesse shrugs. "Beggars can't be choosers!" He smiles and says, "I brought a flannel, too, because neither shirt will be as warm as your sweater."
Kurt chimes in. "Dude, you've gotta go with the Pantera shirt. No contest."
"Dude. I hate Pantera, remember? They're like one of my least favorite bands."
"At least the D.A.R.E. one could be seen as funny," Maggie suggests. "But if you want to hang out outside, you'll be cold."
I totally catch her drift because the one place I want to be is outside, even if I'm just stealing glances at Tyler. "Maggie's right, the Pantera shirt will be warmer." I grab it from Jesse, then he picks up the brown and white flannel shirt and tosses it to me.
Jesse leads me down a narrow hallway off the kitchen to the bathroom so I can change. I attempt to wash the stain out of my sweater, without much luck. I look at myself in the mirror. While I'm comfortable, I look like the biggest tomboy ever in Jesse's Pantera shirt and flannel. Don't get me wrong, I am a complete tomboy, but I do make an effort to look cute at school and events like this one. Plus, with my crush here, being cute is kind of a top priority. I open the bathroom door and as I'm looking at my stained sweater, I turn and walk right into a wall.
"Oof," I say as I look up and see a shirtless Tyler Finlay grinning at me. My face flushes and the butterflies wake up in my belly. "Oh, um, sorry Tyler." I realize my hand is on his bare chest which is still damp from the hot tub, and I immediately snatch it away like I've just touched hot coals. "Er, sorry."
He chuckles as electricity hums through my body. "No problem." His gaze drops to my non-existent chest, and his eyebrows squish together. "I didn't peg you for a Pantera fan."
I let out a laugh. "Yeah, definitely not." I tuck my hair behind my right ear. "My drink spilled all over my sweater, so Jesse gave me something to wear." Tyler's grin is killing me over here, and we're so close to each other in this tiny hallway that I'm starting to feel out of breath. Seriously, how can one person have this much of an effect on another?
"Jesse's awesome. How do you know him?"
Being this close to a half-dressed Tyler Finlay has seriously limited my ability to think. "Oh, uh, we went to elementary school together."
"Cool. Well, I'm glad you've got something warm and dry to wear." His smile fades. "I saw what that guy did and was afraid he was going to throw you in the pool."
The butterflies have sped up in my stomach, and my nerve endings tingle. "Yeah, me too." I move to the side to let Tyler pass. "I'll, um, get out of your way." Uncertain about what to do, I turn toward the kitchen.
"Hey Sloane?" Tyler calls after me.
I turn back, my breath leaving me for a moment. "Yeah?"
His dark hair has fallen over his right eye, and he pushes it out of the way. "I was wondering-"
"Oh my gosh , there you are ," squeals a voice from behind me which I immediately recognize as Amber Gates. I turn to see her pulling Lori Tanner along behind her. "We've been looking all over for you!" It's evident that they've both had a lot of punch. They're looking past me, at Tyler, of course.
"We're going to get beer pong set-up," Lori exclaims. Her eyes squint from the huge grin on her face.
The two girls have practically squished me up against the wall, and Amber finally acknowledges my presence. "Did you need something?" She sneers as her eyes cut to me and look at me up and down.
"Uh, no," I say quietly as I turn and squeeze out of the hallway and back to the kitchen.
"What's with that outfit?" I hear Lori say under her breath.
"Seriously," Amber cuts back. "I guess she thinks she's all grunge or something."
Mocking laughter fills my ears, then tears prick the back of my eyes. I take a deep breath, willing myself not to cry, at a party of all places. I enter the kitchen and see my friends smiling and chatting right where I left them. I put on a smile, determined not to get upset.
"Rock on," Kurt exclaims, then his eyes search my face. "Hey, what's wrong? It's not that bad, Sloane."
I take a deep breath. "No, it's cool." I try to mentally shake off my mean-girl encounter. "I just had a run-in with Amber and Lori."
"What happened?" Shelly asks.
I shake my head. "You know, just making fun of the way I look and acting like I don't belong anywhere near them."
Maggie puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sloane. They're probably just irritated that you can pull off this look."
"Hey, Bleacher Buddy!" I hear as a friend from elementary school barrels into me and wraps me in a bear hug. Tameka and I went to most of the DHS baseball games last year and Sara was there quite a bit, too.
"Sara!" I hug her back, then she releases her embrace and holds me by the shoulders taking in my outfit.
"Girl, I love this." She gestures to my T-shirt and flannel. Sara's long brown hair is naturally curly. The kind of loose curls you'd kill for, and she always seems to have a smile on her face. Tonight is no different.
I laugh and fill her in on what happened.
"You could wear a sack and still look cute," she tells me, but I wave her off.
"See?" Maggie says with a smile.
Sara's best friend and soccer teammate, Wendy, walks up with two plastic cups, handing one to Sara.
Wendy joined me and Miranda for an INXS concert at the Omni last year that my dad got tickets to from his job. The company he works for sponsors events around Atlanta, and one of the perks is free tickets to a lot of good shows.
"I didn't know you were a Pantera fan," Wendy says gesturing to my shirt.
We all laugh, and I fill her in on the debacle with Dave.
"Phew," she jokes, "For a minute I started to worry about you."
We hear the jangly intro to Cyndi Lauper's, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun , and Sara drags us into the great room. I'm not a dancer, in the least, but I hop around with my friends. When you're six feet tall and as thin as a rail, you kind of just look like knees and elbows and feel like you stick out like a sore thumb. At least that's how I imagine I look when I'm dancing. I'm a good five inches taller than my friends, but I try not to feel self-conscious. Maggie looks like she's trying hard not to be self-conscious either, but Sara and Wendy move with ease and don't look like they have a care in the world. That must be such a great feeling.
When the song is over, I can tell Maggie needs to make a quick escape, so we go back outside and let Sara and Wendy tear it up on the dance floor. We grab a seat on a lounge chair where we have a view of most of the pool area.
"You know what I love about Sara?" I say to Maggie. "She became kinda popular this year, but she's still nice to her old friends."
"That is cool. It's not common for one of us nice girls to be embraced by the popular girls."
I laugh. "Right? I guess when she became a cheerleader for the basketball team last year, that elevated her status."
"For sure," Maggie agreed. "Something you and I could never do."
"Totally. I can scream from the stands, but cheering while everyone is looking at you? No thanks."
"I'm glad we have classes together and became friends," Maggie says. "I've never really felt like I've had a place here."
"Same here," I agree. "It's like, I have acquaintances in lots of groups but don't feel like I fit into any of them." I hug Jesse's flannel shirt around my torso. "And people like Amber and Lori just make everything so much harder. Like, just leave me alone, do your thing, and I'll do mine."
"Exactly. I know I should be excited for our senior year, but I'm just so ready to graduate and move on from these people."
"Yes!" I bump her with my shoulder. "That's why I'm glad I have you. You love football, you don't want to party and chase boys, and you're… so nice ." I say that last two words with emphasis, and we giggle. "Now, if I could just get you interested in my music."
"Nah, I'm not that cool," Maggie says. "Thankfully you have Miranda and Kurt to talk to about music…oh, and Tyler."
She winks at me as the dimple in her cheek reappears. I scan the area looking for Tyler, remembering what he started to say to me in the hallway when Amber and Lori interrupted us.
I grab Maggie's knee and sit up straight. "Oh my gosh! I almost forgot. Before Amber and Lori stumbled into the hallway, I ran into Tyler. Like, literally ran into his bare chest." Thinking about it makes my pulse race.
"What?" Maggie exclaims as she turns toward me. "What happened?"
I fill her in and say, "Just before Amber interrupted us, he said, 'Hey, Sloane, I was wondering-'"
"Wondering what?" Maggie asks as she sits on the edge of her seat with wide eyes.
I shrug my shoulders. "I have no idea. That's when stupid Amber and stupid Lori interrupted."
Maggie slouches down, and her shoulders roll forward. "No," she pouts.
I nod, "Yep. Talk about the worst timing ever."
Maggie sits straight up, faces me, and grabs my hand. "Let's go inside and find him. You've gotta find out what he was going to ask you."
I mull this over in my head then let out a breath. "Alright, but you're coming with me."