14. Everett
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Everett
THEN
After the bonfire, it was official. People at school knew Teeny and I were together. Josh seemed okay with it, though around him, we tried to keep our PDA to a minimum, but even that was getting challenging. All I wanted to do around her was touch her and kiss her.
“So, a little birdie told me Titanic is going to be on HBO this Saturday.”
Teeny gasps. “No.”
I nod. “Yup.”
“How did you know that’s my favorite movie?”
“I think you’ve mentioned it about…twenty times.”
“I did not!”
I laugh, burrowing my nose into her hair with her perched on a bench seat in the courtyard. It’s lunchtime, and the crisp fall air with the brightly shining sun allows us to sit outside instead of inside where we’d been forced into during the heavy storm last week. “Movie night? I’ll pick up some of those waffles from Marie’s?”
She whips her head to look at me, her hazy eyes glazed over with infatuation. I don’t even feel bad that I’m using her favorite movie to bait her for a night alone.
“Is your mom okay with it? You know, a three-hour long movie? Her son, all alone with his girlfriend…”
“She isn’t going to be home,” I tell her. “She’s spending the weekend up north with my dad for some charity event.”
She peers up at me, suspicion twisting her mouth into the cutest pout. “Did you plan this?”
“If by ‘plan this’ you mean did I reach out to the Home Box Office to play your favorite movie on the one weekend my mom isn’t home, then yes. How did you guess?”
“Is that what HBO stands for?” She giggles, leaning into me so my nose nuzzles against the soft skin of her neck. It’s just us two out here since the usual group we spend our lunch with opted for the more crowded area of the courtyard, so I’m taking advantage of the moment. I’m touching her more, kissing her more, teasing her more.
“You know, when I kiss you right here…” I pause, kissing her right below the ear, trailing down her pulse point. “I can feel your heartbeat get faster and faster.”
She shivers. “Yeah?”
“Mh-hmm.” I kiss her again, her chin ducking low, making this moment more intimate even as we sit out in the open. “And you get all smiley and dopey eyed.”
She shoves at my stomach. “I do not!”
I pull her closer to me. “You do,” I argue, tightening my hold on her. “You want to know what makes you squeal and get all jumpy?”
“What?”
I press my lips into her neck, puffing my cheeks and blowing a loud raspberry into her skin. It rattles so loudly it causes a few heads to turn in our direction. And sure enough, Teeny squeals. It’s a delighted sound, something that echoes around us while the laughter dances in her eyes. She muffles it with a hand clamped over her mouth, and she smacks my arm.
“You are so embarrassing.” Her face is a shade of red so deep, I feel like it’ll stay like that for the rest of our lunch period.
She reaches for a Cheeto from the small bag sitting on the table and chucks it at me, just as I feel a low thump hit the back of my head. I turn to see Josh taking the seat across from me and Teeny. “I was just in Coach’s office. He wants you to start the next game.”
“Seriously?” I feel Teeny squeeze my hand, though she’s created some distance between us now that we have an audience.
He nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, he was going over the roster for the next game and asked me what I thought. Told him it would be a good idea.”
He bumps my fist, and I tamper down the excitement, feeling a little shy from the attention, but Teeny doesn’t let that slide. She pulls me closer, kissing me on the cheek before whispering, “Congrats, Hayes.”
I offer a shy laugh, unsure if it’s from her praise or if it’s because her brother’s sitting across from us getting a front-row seat. “Thank you.”
Her warm breath skirts over the shell of my ear. A soft giggle follows, and she says, “I think we need to celebrate.” Her voice is low enough that only I can hear, but I still feel vividly aware of Josh’s presence near us. “Maybe some Coke floats after school?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
She pulls away and wipes at my face, removing the traces of lip gloss on my cheek at the same time Josh’s face twists into a repulsed grimace.
“Okay, you guys don’t need to be doing that shit in front of me.” He grabs a handful of Cheetos and tosses it at us, nearly emptying what’s left in the bag.
“Josh, I was eating those,” Teeny protests.
He ignores her, resting his forearms on the table and leaning forward like he’s about to tell us a secret. “So, we’re planning this little party on Saturday,” he says, his voice a little low.
“Who’s ‘we?’”
“Me and a few other guys on the team,” he tells me. “But we’re having some trouble finding a place.”
“So, you guys are planning a party with no place to have it,” Teeny says, her words dripping with skepticism.
“Yes,” he answers with a peevish snap to his voice. He then turns to me. “You think we could…use your place? Since your mom is going out of town?”
Teeny looks at me, and I now have two sets of eyes boring into me. Teeny’s look disappointed and gutted while Josh’s look hopeful. “Uh, I guess.”
“But what about movie night?” Teeny asks, dispirited.
“Oh, come on, Teeny! You guys can do that stuff another day.”
“Why can’t you have your party some other day?”
“Because,” he answers, the two tangled in a full bickering argument at this point. “Everyone is busy the rest of the weekend.”
She rolls her eyes at him. “Whatever.”
“I’ll let the rest of the guys know.” Josh takes off before I have a chance to change my mind.
Teeny looks at me, her disapproving look making the guilt spread through my body. “I’ll make it up to you,” I tell her, linking my fingers through hers. “We can have our movie night on Sunday. We can rent Titanic from Blockbuster.”
“That’s not the point, Everett.”
I duck my head in shame. “I know.”
“And you told Josh your mom was going to be out of town before you told me?”
“It just came up yesterday during practice.”
She stays quiet, giving me the silent treatment with a sideways scowl. When her disappointed frown doesn’t let up, I round my eyes and pout up at her like a sad little puppy dog. It gets the reaction I want out of her: a sweet as hell smile and a crack in her restraint.
“You owe me, Hayes.” She points a finger in my direction, and I cup her face with both of my hands, leaning in to kiss her. We’re interrupted by the shrill sound of the bell. “I’ll see you after school?”
I nod before I take her hand in mine, pulling her closer before we part. “I am going to make it up to you.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it.”
* * *
I’ll be honest, a part of me was worried about this party. Would I make a horrible host? Do I need to order more than the six large pizzas that were delivered right as the first of the guests arrived? What about the drinks? It’s not like I have a fake ID stashed somewhere. What if it gets out of hand and my mom finds out? She would kill me.
Turns out, I didn’t need to worry at all. While I provided a location, the guys on the team provided everything else. The pizzas were overshadowed by the overabundance of chips and other snacks, and the drinks were pushed to the backyard discreetly, hidden from prying neighbors, including Josh and Teeny’s parents, with coolers and grocery bags. And while the music was loud, I was assured it would be lowered to a non-disruptive level by ten p.m.
Still, the anxiety driven need to please those around me causing an extra layer of worry to my already jittery state has me running from the kitchen to the backyard every ten minutes. It’s no large scale party like the ones Jake’s been throwing, already on his fifth one since the school year started, but it’s still pretty lively. Thankfully, it’s somewhat exclusive to members of the varsity team, including some of the JV guys that we’re familiar with, so the worry of it getting out of hand has subsided.
“Here.” A freshly cracked open can of beer is shoved in front of my face, Josh’s reassuring smile joining it. “Relax, man. Just enjoy the party.”
I take it, my body sagging at his advice to enjoy myself. “Have you seen Teeny?” I ask, taking a long sip. I guess taking a small load off my feet can’t hurt.
“She’s heading over in a bit,” he tells me. “I think she’s just waiting for a few of her friends.”
“I hope your parents aren’t going to complain.”
“They took Andrew to Legoland,” he tells me. “They’re not going to be back until late.”
“Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about my mom finding out.” I chuckle a loose laugh, my nerves unraveling to the point that I start to enjoy myself, just like Josh told me to. I start to make my rounds with Josh by my side. I mingle with a few people, keeping my eyes on the front door hoping to catch the only person I truly want to see tonight.
After about the fifteenth glance at the door, I finally see her. She walks in with a small group of her friends, all of them laughing at something one of them said, and it feels like time stands still. Like she moves in slow motion, her hair tumbling around her in waves and the gorgeous red dress she’s wearing fitting her perfectly. Like it was made only for her and no one else in the entire world. She’s wearing makeup. Nothing heavy or overwhelming, but I can tell she took her time. That’s probably what she was doing, getting ready in her room with her girlfriends while they gossiped and laughed over something silly but would make it to my ears at some point during the night. Because every word that comes out of her mouth, all the little stories she has saved in her mind, waiting until she can tell me with bouncing excitement, I’d listen to on repeat. She can tell me over and over again about the time she and Diana went to Cold Stone Creamery and the boy behind the register asked for Diana’s number. And all the little nuggets of information about Diana and her date with the Cold Stone guy? I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it. Because it’s Teeny telling me. Teeny with her eagerness in sharing every bit of her life with me. Teeny with the way her eyes light up each time she sees me, like we haven’t seen each other in days, when in reality, it’s only a few hours between classes.
I make my way to her, my steps moving urgently through the crowd, and she squeals when I lift her in my arms, spinning her in a dizzying circle.
“I missed you,” I say into her hair. I pull away, and I notice the little added touches she made to her makeup. The deep purple eyeshadow smeared across her lids, the smattering of glitter on her arms, and the intoxicating scent of perfume on her neck.
I don’t let her go, and she wraps her arms around my neck.
“Cold Stone guy is going to be here. I hope that’s okay.”
“I get to meet him in person?” I say excitedly.
“He has a name,” Diana informs us flatly, annoyance clear in her tone. “It’s Toby, if you care to know.”
Teeny laughs, and Diana and the rest of their friends walk away to the backyard where the thick of the crowd is gathered, but I have other plans for Teeny. I drag her to the only room on the ground floor. The office-slash-den my mom’s been using to store boxes and a few of my grandparents’ things she hasn’t thrown away yet. It’s quiet in here without the music, and it feels like everyone else outside is no longer there and I get to have Teeny all to myself for the rest of the night.
“Don’t you have an entire party going on outside?”
“Yeah,” I answer, our bodies pressed against each other as I guide her to a lone desk in the corner. “I just wanted you to myself for a moment.”
“Oh,” she exclaims softly. I perch her at the edge of the desk and kiss her. No one’s watching, no one’s giving us an awkward side eye or telling us we’re being disgusting. It’s just us two, and I take full advantage of that. Her legs part, giving me access to step in between them, and it makes something frantic and desperate grow inside me. My hands start to cup her neck, stroking her jaw and cheek as I continue to dive deeper. A finger flicks the thin strap of her dress, letting it fall off her shoulder, and I start to tease the newly exposed skin. Her arm drapes over my shoulder, and my fingers follow, guiding her closer to me while I grip her wrist. Her pulse is wild, as is her breathing. Her free hand tucks under the hem of my shirt, and the coldness from her fingertips against my skin zaps through me like electricity.
I’ve never pressured Teeny to go further than she’s comfortable with, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want things to go beyond these heavy make out sessions. It’s unreal the way we react to each other. How the curves of her body shift to fit mine like a perfectly carved out puzzle piece. Or how everything about her becomes frantic and blazing. Her hands, her skin, her breathing, her heartbeat. All of it speeds up with urgency, and my entire body reciprocates with a steady flow. A rhythmic beat that thumps at a fast yet even tempo.
Bum-bum-bum, bum-bum-bum.
She pulls away first, both of us unsure of how far we’d take this even with the party going on outside. “We should get back out there,” she says, her gaze focused on my chest.
I cup my hand over the back of her head and duck my head so my nose nuzzles into her hair, finding that the glitter strategically placed on her arms has strayed to her scalp. “Yeah,” I whisper.
She takes my hand, leading back outside, and I feel a deep twinge in my chest. I have this impulse to tell everyone to leave, anything to be alone with Teeny. Not just to continue that kiss, but to just hang out with her. To hold her and have her catch me up on her gossip, maybe more intel on her friends and the potential boys they’ve been instant messaging on AIM. Maybe even watch Titanic if it hasn’t started playing on HBO.
Instead, we make our way to the coolers out back. Teeny dips into one of them, pulling out two Smirnoff Ices. We crack them open and start sipping. We’re invited to start a game of beer pong, and with my rusty techniques and Teeny’s novice skills, we’re outmatched against Josh and Kevin.
“I want to play again,” Teeny says, her speech slurred with her arm slung over my shoulder. I hadn’t realized when the alcohol she’d been consuming had transitioned from a happy buzz to her current sluggish state. Her body sways, and her smile looks lazy and relaxed, and I can’t help but laugh as she giggles to herself.
“I think you should sit this one out.”
Her smile shifts into a pout. “Noooo,” she whines, her cheeks growing flushed.
“I’m going to go sit her down somewhere,” I tell Josh, letting some of Teeny’s weight hang on my arm as her swaying grows sloppy. He answers with a nod and refocuses his attention on the game.
I help Teeny up the stairs to my room, and as soon as we walk through the door, the sounds of the party falling silent once again, she flops onto my bed.
“I’m in your room,” she slurs through heavy lids. She yanks at my hand, and I fall onto the bed next to her.
“Yeah.”
“Did you bring me up here to take advantage of me?” she adds, some of her words blending together.
“No,” I answer with a laugh. “I do think you need to sleep this off.”
“Nooo,” she protests, pulling me closer to her. “I want you to lie here with me.”
“Okay.” It comes naturally, the realization that I can never say no to her.
She nuzzles her face into my chest, and I give. I cradle her body against me while her breathing starts to grow heavy. I think she’s fallen asleep, but then I feel her shift before she whispers, “Everett?”
“Hmm?”
“Nothing.”
I smile into her hair. “What is it?”
“I just wanted to say your name,” she answers, the laziness in her words gone and a solemnness in its place.
I kiss her temple, taking a deep inhale of her shampoo, and it causes a significant chain of movements between us. Teeny lifts her face and kisses my collarbone, finding her way to my lips like a moth to a flame. Her hand tucks under my shirt, lifting it as her fingers trail over my stomach and chest. She hooks her knee over my waist, causing her dress to lift and expose her entire thigh. It’s fast and swift, the way she pushes me against my own bed and ends up on top of me. She continues to lift my shirt, urging me to remove it completely, and I comply. Because, of course, I’d do whatever she wants. My heart thuds in my chest, and I can feel it claw at me. The way Teeny’s hands move across my bare skin. How her hips press into me with need. How my own hands move over her possessively.
“Teeny,” I whisper between kisses. “We should stop.”
She shakes her head, her fingers fumbling with the buttons to my jeans. “I don’t want to.”
“But you’re drunk, and maybe we should do this when you aren’t.”
“I’m not that drunk,” she responds, her voice insistent and pleading. I stop, holding her face in my hands and pulling away from her. She looks at me, her eyes wounded and worried. “Do you not…you don’t want to?”
“No,” I answer. “God, no, Teeny. I really, really want to.”
“Okay then…” I stay quiet, watching her grow nervous and worried. She gnaws on her lower lip. “Is it because…I’m not—because I don’t know what I’m doing? Like, I don’t have experience?—”
“Baby, no. No, that’s not it at all,” I tell her, urging her to believe me. “I just don’t…I don’t want your first—our first time to be with a party going on outside.” Her eyes mist, visible even in the dim light coming from the small lamp sitting at my bedside. “I want it to be special. I want us to be able to take our time.” I sit up and kiss her, soothing away any doubts she may think I might have. Because I don’t have a single one. Not even a hint of one telling me that it wouldn’t mean as much as I think it would.
She finally nods and smiles. “Okay.” The haziness in her eyes returns, and she clamps a hand over her head.
“Are you okay?” I ask, bracing my hands on her shoulders for support.
She nods. “I think I might be more drunk than I thought. I should probably lay down.” I place a small kiss on her cheek, and she shies away. “Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” She shakes her head, shifting to climb off me, but I stop her. “No, Teeny. What’s wrong?”
“I feel like I made a total fool of myself.”
“No,” I argue, squeezing her palm. “No, Teeny. Don’t say that.”
She buries her face into her hands. “I’m just embarrassed.”
“Teeny, listen.” I force her eyes on me. “I love that this is what you want because I want it just as badly, if not more. But I want things to be perfect. For you. And this isn’t what I imagined to be perfect.”
A small smile peeks through the sadness in her eyes. “What did you imagine?”
“Well, for starters, something quieter.”
She laughs, running her hands over my bare stomach. “That would be nice.”
“And when there aren’t like fifty people in my backyard. Including your brother.”
“Yeah,” she whispers through a huffed laugh. I kiss her, this time in a way that’s more consoling than anything else, and she kisses me back, the insecurities that caused her to pull away now gone. She squeezes her eyes shut and buries her forehead into the crook of my shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
She nods. “I think I should sleep some of this alcohol off before I get home.”
“Take a nap here,” I suggest. “Josh can take you home in a few hours once you’re feeling better.” I turn over my comforter and let her crawl inside.
She nuzzles her face against my pillow, and before I’ve even covered her up, she’s sighing into the soft fabric. I turn to put my shirt back on, and lay next to her, using the comforter to create a barrier between us as I watch her fall fast asleep.
Whether she believes it or not, the plans I have for her aren’t something hurried with the thought that someone outside might walk in on us. It isn’t on a night when we’re both muddled with alcohol, her more than me, and the memory of what happens between us will grow fuzzy. I want to remember every detail.
* * *
The post-party high came and went. The guys on the team did a pretty good job cleaning up the mess left behind, and Teeny went home with the help of Josh discreetly guiding her to her room without getting caught in her drunken state. And with the traces of the party long gone and the conscious awareness to the end of the weekend, I have nothing to look forward to except to be with Teeny for the rest of the day.
So that’s what I have planned. After a quick call to Teeny and finding out that her hangover is just as bad as I thought it would be, I arrive at her doorstep prepared.
“Hi.” A laugh bubbles inside of me as Teeny answers the door. She has her hair thrown up in a messy bun, and she’s wearing my hoodie and bare legs. A haggard look of fatigue mixed with disgust crosses her face as she turns around and lets me in.
“Ughhh,” she moans into a cushion as she slumps into her sofa.
Teeny’s mom waltzes in, looking over Teeny with concern. “Maybe it was that Subway sandwich you had for lunch yesterday.”
“Mh-hmm,” Teeny mumbles into the fabric.
Teeny’s mom turns to me. “She’s been feeling awful all morning. Probably just a little bout of food poisoning.”
I hold back a smile. “Yeah,” I tell her, keeping an eye on Teeny. “Could’ve been the mayo.” She nods in agreement and walks away, leaving me and Teeny alone, and Teeny finally lifts her head.
“What’s in the bag?” She curiously eyes the brown paper bag I walked in with, and I reach for it, excited to show her the contents.
“Well, I said movie night,” I say, watching a small smile peek through her bedridden state. “So I brought a movie.” I whip out a DVD copy of Titanic from Blockbuster, and her smile spreads wider. She takes it from me while I dig into the bag once again. “And, to help with that hangover of yours.” I say that last part in a low whisper. “Some waffles from Marie’s.”
She cuddles into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and letting her cheek rub into my chest. I accept her embrace, leaning back into the couch while running my hand over her back. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome.” I waggle the DVD case with the blue and yellow logo on it. “Should we pop this baby in?”
She nods, and I get off the couch to start the movie. We settle with our food, and Teeny brings over a few cans of soda and water, and before we know it, we’re joined by Josh and Andrew. It seems Josh isn’t dealing with the after-effects of last night’s party, at least not as badly as Teeny is, and by the time the Titanic is hit with an iceberg, we’re surrounded by another heap full of snacks and drinks.
“Thank you for taking care of me.” I look down at Teeny. Her head is nestled into the crook of my arm, and her arm is resting over my stomach. She looks a hundred times better than when I walked into her house a few hours ago. She no longer has the look of pain and discomfort, a contented smile in its place, and her energy is back too.
I kiss the top of her head. “You’re welcome, baby.”