Chapter 3
Ally
The bell rings just as Cali and I rush into the classroom. Mrs. Laverne eyes us over her glasses, her squinty eyes shooting daggers from where she stands in front of the chalkboard.
“Barely made it today. I wonder if you could manage to make it early if one of you wasn’t always waiting on the other,” she sneers.
“Sorry ma’am! We had an accident on the way to school this morning.” Cali says, giving her one of his charming smiles.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Mr. Alexander. Take a seat!”
Snickers whisper around the room and I keep my head down as I make my way to an empty seat at the back of the class.
Cali sits next to me, comfortable and laid back as usual.
We listen as Mrs. Laverne drones on and on about the town's history, as if we haven’t heard the stories a million times.
I watch as the hand on the clock goes round and round until finally the bell rings.
“Yo, Cali,” a boy from our class says. I look to see Bennett. He walks up grabbing Cali into a half handshake half hug.
“What's up, bro?” Bennett asks, not paying one ounce of attention to me standing here.
“Oh you know, the same ole, same ole,” Cali laughs.
“Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?”
Cali scratches the back of his head and winces.
“I don’t know man. It’s Ally’s birthday and I want to celebrate it with her.”
I instantly blush, allowing my long hair to hide the evidence from my face. I can feel Bennett’s gaze on me before I even look up.
“Aw damn. Happy Birthday, Ally,” Bennett says, smiling at me.
I’m speechless for a minute. Never once in 14 years of us attending school together has Bennett ever said my name, much less spoke to me.
I finally glance up to see his honey brown eyes staring at me.
There’s a dimple in his cheek from his smile and his brown hair is short on the sides and wavy at the top.
“Uh-uh thank you!” I eventually say.
I watch as he crosses his arms, a snake wrapped around the length of one of his bicep shows as he flexes.
His eyes still haven’t left mine, but then they move from my face, beginning to roam from my head and down my body.
I’m all of a sudden even more nervous than I was before, and I didn’t know that was even possible.
Cali suddenly throws his arm over my shoulder, pulling me close and holding me tight.
“Yeah man, the big 18 today. My girl is finally an adult,” Cali says, emphasis on the my in ‘my girl’.
“Your girl, huh? I didn’t know you two were dating, Alexander,” Bennett teases, leaving me and Cali to both freeze.
“Nah man, but she is my best friend,” Cali attempts to laugh it off and my heart breaks a little inside.
Suddenly, Bennett snatches my hand and pulls me away from Cali’s hold.
“Come to the bonfire tonight, Ally. You’ll be my honorary guest as the special birthday girl.”
He’s smiling at me as if I’ve hung the moon, but I know better. These kids have never acknowledged me and definitely have never invited me to any of their get togethers.
I swallow hard, “Oh, I don’t know if I shou–”
Bennett takes my other hand, holding them both close to his chest.
“Don’t break my heart, Darlin’. I’m begging you, please come.”
I start to shake my head, but Bennett sees it coming from a mile away.
I watch as he drops to his knees in the middle of the hallway, still holding both my hands in his. I look behind me to see Cali now leaned back against the lockers with a narrowed look on his face.
“Ally,” Bennett says at the top of his lungs, “Please come to the bonfire so we can all celebrate your birthday. Right, everyone? Don’t we want Ally to come?” Bennett asks the gathered crowd.
My face is officially so red, I doubt you could tell the difference between me and a tomato if we were side by side.
“Do I need to beg more, Ally?” He pouts.
“No! No!” I say quickly. “Fine, I’ll come.” The nerves, anxiety, and panic leave me breathless.
Bennett gets back to his feet, stepping so close our chests are almost brushing against one another.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
I watch as he brings my hand to his lips and places a kiss on the top of my fingers.
“Catch you later, bro,” he says to Cali, knocking him in the shoulder as he leaves.
“You good?” Cali asks, coming to stand next to me.
“What the hell was that?” I whisper.
“Hell if I know, but looks like the birthday girl gets to pop her party cherry tonight. Come on, let’s skip classes so we can prepare for tonight.”
Cali has a sneaky smile on his face, telling me he’s up to no good.
“What do I need to prepare for?” I ask, trying to keep up with him as we rush out of the school.
“Not preparing as much as pregaming,” he laughs.
We hop into the truck and Cali spins out of the parking lot. Instead of heading toward his house, he turns in the direction of the town.
“Why are we going toward town?” I ask.
“This is your first party, Ally. You’re going to need all the alcohol you can drink before we even head there,” he says, as if I should’ve known the answer to my own question.
“Cali?”
“Hmmm?” He says, tapping his hands on the steering wheel to the beat of the music.
“How do you plan to get alcohol? You’re only 18 too.”
He gives me an evil smile.
“You let me worry about that, Sunshine. I have my ways.”
With that, he turns the radio back up, the song ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ blaring through the speakers. What the hell have I gotten myself into?