Chapter 3 -- Homecoming
Then
The whole damn school had gone crazy. This week was probably the worst week of the entire year. Homecoming Week. The halls of Willow Creek High School were covered in red and white streamers and balloons. They had banners saying how the Creek Tigers were number one. How they were going to `destroy' Rochester Area High School at the game. The kids in the school were crazy. Screaming and chanting stupid shit the whole week. Today was the worst. It's Friday. The night of the game. Bryan Dellwood cringed as he walked down the halls with his friends.
"God, I hate this school." He mumbled. Everyone behind him nodded their heads in agreement as they made their way outside to Smoker's Corner. They still had time before classes started. As they started lighting up, Rachel McFarley took out a Sharpie from her pocket and started drawing on Bryan's cast.
"Hey man, how long do you have to wear that stupid thing?" Jeff Levin asked.
"Um, just another week, I think." He responded, looking down at it. It had already been a week since the accident, where Stephanie Brown had hit him and his friend Jeff pulled him out of the Jeep.
"I can't believe that bitch just hit you like that." Rachel said as she continued to doodle on his cast. "Probably acting like she owned the road or something."
"Actually, she was. She almost hit me a few seconds before hitting Bryan ." Jeff spoke up, shaking his head.
"Not surprised. She's the queen of the school. What makes you think she's any different at home or on the road?" Rachel groaned.
"Well, she wasn't all that bitchy at the hospital." Bryan said. "I think I saw you two getting pretty comfortable at the there." He laughed towards Jeff. Rachel's head instantly shot up to give him an evil glare.
"No dude. She just felt guilty about hitting you. Besides, she hasn't even said anything to me or you this past week. Face it, she's a bitch." Bryan nodded. Just then the bell rang. They quickly finished up their smoke before throwing out the butts. Rachel stood up and put the Sharpie away.
"There you go." She said with a smile. Bryan looked down at his cast too see what Rachel had been doing to it. He saw a dancing pot leaf cartoon with big Mickey Mouse gloves and shoes on. Bryan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
They all went their separate ways as they got to class. When Bryan entered his first class, he saw him. Teddy Griffan. For the past week, Bryan had been thinking about Teddy a lot. This was completely odd for him, because Bryan was not gay. He knew he wasn't gay. So why has Teddy been the center of Bryan 's masturbation fantasies this past week? Bryan didn't know. He crossed the room and sat in his desk. He couldn't help but stare at him throughout the whole class period. Bryan once again felt his dick get hard in his jeans. What was happening to him? He couldn't help but slam his head on his desk.
"Mr. Dellwood?" Bryan's head sprang up. Mr. Thompson, the geometry teacher, was looking at him weirdly. Bryan shrugged. "I asked you to solve problem number 57 in the book." Bryan groaned, then reached into backpack, took out his book, and turned to the assigned page. He looked at problem 57. It was a word problem. It said:
'Tiffany is standing on the roof of the Empire State Building, which stands at 1,250 feet high. She looks down and sees two cars. The angle of depression of car number 1 is 45 degrees. The angle of depression of car number 2 is 67 degrees. How far apart, in feet, are the two cars? '
"What the fuck?" Bryan wondered out loud.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Thompson asked.
"I mean, I can't answer this kind of question. There are multiple factors involved here. 1: Why is Tiffany on top of the building, anyway? 2: How tall is she? 3: It depends on the size of the cars, really. 4: If Tiffany can figure out the damn `angle of depression', why can't she find the distance of some stupid cars? And finally, um, who cares?" The rest of the class then started laughing, including Teddy.
"You see guys, this is what happens when you don't pass Geometry when you're a sophomore. Don't be like Mr. Dellwood here and have to retake it again. Again." Bryan just once again groaned and slammed his head down.
"Hey, pass me the green!" Rachel McFarley called out; reaching out her hand until someone placed a spray paint can in it. She shook it real good before pulling off the cap and started tagging the white car. The football game had started a half an hour ago, leaving them with plenty of time to finish the prank. She looked up from the car, just in case any asshole cop decided to come by and bust them. But she didn't see anything. All she saw was about eight of her friends running around the parking lot and spraying cars with either spray paint or silly string. Some people also brought eggs and toilet paper. This would be the biggest stunt pulled since the Water Fight of Junior Year. She looked around for Heather.
"Great idea, Graham." She complimented.
"Thanks, it's because I'm so amazingly smart like that, right?" she laughed as she Silly Stringed Jeff Levin. She didn't know why, but watching that scene sent a shiver through Rachel. She shook her head of the thoughts and continued to spray.
"Holey shit guys! Look what I've found." Someone had called in the darkness. Rachel quickly made her way a couple of lanes over and met up with the rest of her friends, confusion running through her mind. When she finally got over to where the voice had come from, all she saw was a maroon Corvette convertible.
"Yeah, what's the big deal?" she asked
"You guys don't recognize who's `Vette this is?" everybody was completely silent. Rachel turned to Bryan, who simply shrugged. "Dude, this is Austin Rayes' car!" someone shouted. Then everyone got it. A smile grew across Rachel's face. Instinctively, she glanced over at Jeff, who had been looking back at her. They both nodded. She absolutely hated Austin Rayes. One time during junior year, Austin tried hitting on her, even though he was dating Stephanie Brown. Rachel gave him a black eye. But apparently he didn't get the hint, because he came back the very next day. At the time, she was still with Jeff, and Jeff stepped in to defend her. Austin and Jeff got into a serious fight. They were both badly bruised, blood flying everywhere. But of course Jeff won. Austin was a spoiled rich boy while Jeff basically grew up on the street. (Not "the street" of course. But sometimes he didn't always have a home.) Austin still hits on her from time to time.
Nobody hesitated to start trashing his car. People were spraying it like crazy. Some people wrote messages on his windshield with the paint. Rachel took out her key from her pocket and keyed his door. Eggs were flying all over the place, as well as toilet paper. Some people who had brought super soakers soaked the TP with water. When they were finished, it looked like a car mummy. When Austin comes down from the game, he would have trouble ripping off the TP, and if he ever did get it off, there would be a colorful surprise underneath it.
Rachel jumped around a little as she laughed. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Maybe it was the vandalism, maybe it was the alcohol. But whatever it was, she liked it. She just wished she could stay that way for a while.
Apparently other people were also having fun. The parking lot was filled with kids running around hyperactively; people were "woo-hoo"ing yelling. They high-fived each other on their victory.
As Rachel looked around, she saw something that made her heart stop. Heather and Jeff were making out underneath the light post. His hands were resting on her hips; her hands were in his hair. Well, the little hair he had left after buzzing it every other weekend. She quickly spun around to avert her eyes. As she did, she bumped into someone by accident.
"Shit, sorry." She said apologetically.
"No prob. Hey, Rache, you okay?" Rachel looked up to see that it was Bryan she had ran into.
"Yeah, no. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She fake laughed. Bryan looked at her, then glanced at the scene behind her. Then he nodded his head.
"Oh," he said simply.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked, her fingers going up into her hair. He nodded a little. "I don't know why I'm acting like this." She said softly.
"Maybe you still love him?"
"What? Ha! Please, I don't still love him." She said, looking back at them again. They weren't kissing anymore, but Jeff was now tickling Heather as she attempted spraying him with Silly String.
"You sure?"
"Maybe." She said almost at a whisper. "I mean, no. No. I'm over him. I told him it's over. Hell, I don't care if he dates other people." She said to Bryan.
"Well, maybe they're not dating or anything. You should ask her."
"You're right." She sighed, "I'll go over there."
She made her way to the light post Jeff and Heather played under. "Yo, Blondie. Come here." She called. Heather escaped from Jeff's grips and made her way over to Rachel. Meanwhile, Bryan started talking to Jeff.
"What'sup?" she asked.
"Hey, um. I know it's not really my business, but are you two dating?" she asked shakily.
"Who, me and Jeff?" she said looking back at him. "Nononono." She said laughing a little. Rachel was relieved to hear that. "We just had sex." There it goes. Her heart just sank again.
"You. You guys fucked?"
"Of course we fucked. I mean, it's us. The slut and man-whore. Come on now." She smiled. Rachel returned a fake smile. "I mean, he's just so damn hot. You know?" Rachel nodded.
"Yeah, I would know."
"Oh shit. That's right, huh? Dammit, I'm so sorry, Rache. I really didn't mean to. I completely forgot. I-" Heather blurted out so fast.
"Don't worry about, Heather. It's fine. Really." She lied. Heather took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Really?" Rachel nodded. "Good. Because he is amazing in bed. But of course, you already knew that too." She giggled. Rachel just stood there very calmly. Nobody knew she was dying inside.
"Yo, Austin . Have something to drink." Austin turned around, hearing his name being called. Eric Dean was trying to hand Austin one of those red plastic cups filled with beer. "We won the game, man! Why aren't you partying with us?" Austin just glared at him for a long time. Maybe he wasn't in the party mood because after he scored the winning touchdown, he came down to the parking lot to see his car completely fucked up. Along with everyone else's car. After spending a good half hour taking down the wet toilet paper, he had to clean up the egg (which was already drying), then saw that his car was a multitude of different colors. He was extremely pissed but decided to get it fixed in a few days. After Homecoming.
"Yeah, man. You're right" he said trying to calm himself down and grabbing the beer and chugging it quickly. "Whoa, man. This aint the cheap shit!" he said shocked.
"Yeah, I know dude!" Eric said excitedly as he drank his own beer. "Where's Chase?" he asked, looking around until they spotted Chase Adams in the living room, dancing with a bunch of girls (mainly freshmen and sophomores). Austin and Eric made their way through the crowd of people, pushing until they made it to the center where Chase had been dancing.
"Yo dude, this party is sick!" Austin screamed into Chase's ear. (The music was extremely loud and they happened to be right next to the speakers.) Chase looked up at them with a confused look on his face.
"Really?"
"Yeah man. Welcome to the club." He said before walking away. The underclass chicks were checking them out and flirting with them. Of course Austin is going to flirt back. After teasing a few girls, Eric pulled him aside. Standing at a good 6'2", and Austin being 5'8", he had to look up to have a conversation with him.
"Yo, what are you doing?" Eric asked. "Steph is somewhere in this house. Do you feel like dying tonight?"
"Calm down, man. I'm only flirting. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. Besides, I'm doing what you want me to do. Celebrate." With that last word, he turned around to grab a random bottle sitting on the table. Austin opened the bottle and took a swig from it, realizing that it was Jaggermeister. It burned down his throat for a second, but in the good way. "Come on man. Have some. We fucking beat Rochester tonight!" Eric couldn't help it and gave in to the temptations. Within a few minutes, Austin could feel it working. He and Eric headed out to the center of the living room and started dancing with some girls. Just then, Brittany Rizzo comes pushing through the crowd.
"Hey baby. Starting without me?" she asked pushing into Eric and kissing him passionately. The two of them then began to dance erotically. Austin tried ignoring them by dancing with other girls. He wondered where his girlfriend was at. The curiosity only lasted for a few moments until some sophomore girl distracted him. He began dancing with this girl (who seemed extremely familiar) for a while. He realized that the Jagger was working extremely well as he started getting more frisky, hyper, and dizzy all at the same time. He turned to Eric to seek more from the bottle, but saw that Brittany had finished it off. He was upset for a second, then quickly got over it.
As the time flew by, Austin continued to dance. His skin glistened with sweat from the dancing he was doing all night. He started to feel his dick swell in his pants. He was getting horny, much like he did every time he got drunk. He didn't even remember walking up the stairs and down the hallway. The next thing he knew, he was locking the door to one of the upstairs bedrooms. He turned around and gave Ellie McElroy a devious grin. Ellie was a sophomore at Willow Creek High. Of course the underclassmen all wanted to get with the older kids at the school. Plus Austin was extremely horny. It was a win-win situation.
Austin crossed the room and made his way over to Ellie. He leaned forward and started kissing her deeply. She pulled her hands up to his face and started rubbing her fingers through his hair. Then she pulled away from him, smiling. He looked at her curiously as she started undressing herself. He too, then started stripping off his clothes. Within seconds, they were both completely naked and started kissing each other again. Austin guided her gently down onto the bed as they kissed. Then he quickly got off the bed for a brief second, grabbed his jeans, reached into his pocket and grabbed a condom. He swiftly ripped off the seal and took out the rubber, then slowly rolled it onto his dick, all the while smiling at Ellie.
He crawled back onto the bed; Ellie had already spread her legs and started fingering herself. Austin positioned himself and placed it at the entrance to Ellie's vagina. Before even pulling himself in, he could feel the heat radiating from it. Austin smiled down at her, she returned the smile as he entered her. She squirmed a little at first, Austin's dick was about 7" and pretty thick. But Austin went going slow for a while. He too had to get used to her tight, moist, hot pussy. It didn't take long for them to get comfortable and soon Austin was pumping away with a pretty fast rhythm. Ellie's eyes were closed, Austin held her by her waist as he fucked her. Ellie's hips started moving in a circular motion and she was screaming with ecstasy. He also felt something hot and warm cover his penis. Austin knew she had just had her orgasm and smiled. He obviously rocked her world. Within a few minutes, Austin could feel his own orgasm building, he started thrusting his hips harder and faster until he finally came. He grunted with each shot of cum, his thrusts were harder and eyes were closed. Then his thrusting started to subside as he finished cumming.
He slowly pulled out of Ellie, threw the soaking wet condom in the nearest trash can, and collapsed next to Ellie. He laid there for a few minutes, trying to cool off. He was drenched with sweat, and the both of them were breathing heavily. They looked at each other and laughed. Austin put his hands behind his head and decided to close his eyes for a while. All the alcohol and sex mad him dizzy. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.
Stephanie Brown stood by the snack table almost all night. She danced every so often, but staying near the table and eating celery all night kept her from making her way to the alcohol. She didn't like to drink. Well, that was a lie. She loved to drink. But the thought of alcohol now a days reminded her of her parents. Her parents drank a lot, usually after fighting, which only caused more fighting. Last week after the accident, the car insurance sky rocketed. Her parents didn't care about the money. Her parents didn't care about her health. Her parents didn't care about Bryan's health. They argued about which one was the irresponsible one to let their daughter leave in the middle of the night and get into an accident. (The answer: both of them.) All she knew is, she didn't want to be anything like them. Hence the reason for staying near the snacks and avoiding the alcohol.
"Hey babe. What are you doing way over here?" Brittany Rizzo asked making her way through the kitchen." Stephanie shrugged.
"Trying to avoid drinking." She said simply as she took and drink of water from a bottle. (She didn't trust the punch. A party with this many kids means the punch had to have been spiked at least 3 times)
"Come on. Come dance with me. Please?!" Brittany begged. Stephanie finally gave in.
"Alright!" she laughed as they made their way to the living room. When they got to the loud music, Stephanie and Brittany started dancing together. They were getting weird glares from the other girls, while the boys all had happy smiles on their faces. Stephanie couldn't help but laugh.
After a few songs, she decided to step away a little, get a drink and come back. As she made her way to the kitchen, she heard a group of young girls talking, giggling, and shushing.
"No you didn't." one of the girls said.
"I swear, I really did!" another girl said. Stephanie recognized her as Ellie McElroy from junior varsity cheerleading.
"You didn't have sex with him."
"He's still up stairs if you want to see him."
"But he has a girlfriend."
"But this isn't the first time he's cheated on her! Apparently he does this all the time." Then she heard them all shushing each other when she made eye contact. She couldn't hear anything else so she proceeded to the kitchen. As she drank her water, she saw them all pointing and looking at her, yet trying to be discrete about it. Something in her made her turn on her heal and head in their direction. A knot forming in her stomach. She was just hoping they weren't talking about who she thought they were talking about. She held her breath.
"What's going on?" she asked, arms crossed.
"Nothing. We're just, chatting." One girl fake laughed.
"Come on. I heard you guys talking. Who'd you sleep with, Ellie?"
"Um. No one. Really."
"Fine, I'll find out myself." She said pushing through them. Anger building up now. Somehow she just knew they were talking about Austin , although there was no actual proof. She made her way up the stairs and started opening every room. Most of them were already preoccupied, and she apologized. Then she finally got to the third room on the left side. When she opened it, her jaw dropped slightly. Austin was standing in front of her, practically naked, pulling up his boxer-briefs. His weird faux-hawk was extremely messy, his eyes were half open. He was obviously drunk and it didn't take a scientist to put the pieces together. He had sex with Ellie McElroy.
She gave him a cold glare before turning around and slamming the door.
"Steph, wait!" she heard him call, but she ignored it. She stomped away down the hall, passed all the people and down the stairs. As she pushed passed all the people in the living room, she turned around and saw him struggle down the stairs. She just shook her head and walked outside, then got in her truck. She started, backed out of the drive way, drove away. She looked in her rear view to see him stumble out through the front door, confused.
Oddly, she wasn't upset. Well, she was pissed, but not sad. In a way, she sort of felt relieved. Then again, she and Austin had been dating forever. But she remembered what Ellie had said about this not being the first time. (Which only made her more angry) And it was the night before Homecoming, which means now she no longer had a date, she may possibly not even go at all. She thought about this as she drove at a low speed of 5 mph. Chase, along with most other rich kids, lived outside of Willow Creek. The roads out here in the woods were graveled, which meant that her dramatic exit would have been way better if she didn't have to drive slow to protect her tires.
.........................................................................................................
Now
Austin felt himself bumping and shaking and woke up. It took him a while to realize where he was. After looking around, he soon remembered. He was in sitting in the Expedition that Rachel had burrowed. He must've passed out on the drive back to Willow Creek. It was a few hours away from Pittsburg , where his flight came in. The flight was about two hours long. He looked out of the window and saw trees towering over them. He then notice that he was on a graveled road.
"Ha, I knew that would wake you up." Rachel said smiling over at him. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty."
"Hey," Austin replied groggily, stretching. He also noticed the sky was a blue-gray. He checked his watch to see it was 7:00. He looked around at the scenery, but didn't recognize anything. Yeah, he's aware that he's been gone for a while, but he also grew up in this town. He would definitely recognize this place. "Where we going?" he asked Rachel. She simply smiled.
"Just going to an old friend's house." That's all she said. A few moments later, she was following a smaller, narrower road that led away from the main road. She drove slowly going up hill. It was a winding road through the woods, and Austin soon realized that it was a driveway. At the end stood a giant, white, wooden house. Rachel followed a small road that led to the side of the house and parked the car.
"Wow. Whose place is this?" Rachel had said an `old friend', but Austin didn't recognize this house at all. He didn't even remember ever going to a party here. Nothing. This was sad, because Austin was one of the popular guys back in high school."
"You're so impatient! Can't you just wait `till we get there?" she laughed as they got out of the car. They popped the trunk, grabbed Austin's bags and locked up the car. They made there way around to the front of the house, Rachel pulled out a key from her pocket, and unlocked the door.
"We're here!" she announced as they made their way into the large living room area. As Austin looked around, he saw that it had a cabin-type feel to it. The ceilings were tall, and a large chandelier came down in the center of the living room. A large staircase went up from the living room to a second story. There was also a living room upstairs, well half a room. It was only half as wide as the ground floor, and a balcony stopped at it's edge. Just as Austin was looking around, a cute little kid poked his head out from the balcony.
"Rachel!" he exclaimed excitedly. He then proceeded to run down the stairs to greet her. He had sandy blond hair and hazel eyes, Austin noticed. Rachel bent down to pick him up and hug him.
"Hey, Little Jay." She said happily. Austin just stood there in confusion.
"Hey, Rache. Is that you guys?" Austin heard a familiar voice coming from the kitchen.
"Yeah, it's us. Hurry up!" she responded, smiling as she placed the boy back down. Within seconds, a man appeared out from the kitchen. He had really short, brown spiky hair, his eyes were a piercing blue, and he had a finely-trimmed goatee. He came out, gave Austin one glance, and a huge smile erupted on both of their faces. It was another one of Austin's old friends, Bryan Dellwood.
"Hey, man." Austin said as they crossed the living room and embraced eachother in a huge hug. After several minutes, they finally let go. Both of the grown men's eyes were a little misty.
"Austin, there's someone I'd like you to meet." He said as he headed towards the little boy and patted him on the shoulder. "This is my son, Jason." He said smiling. The boy looked up at Austin, a wide grin placed upon his face as he waved. "Jason, this is a very good friend of mine, Austin."
"Hi, Austin!" he excitedly.
"I've got frozen pizza in the oven." Bryan announced. Rachel shot him a cold glare. "Cheese. I promise." He laughed. Austin also laughed a little. "Well, sorry we can't all be professional chefs like you." He teased.
After everyone finished eating, Austin and Bryan stayed at the table to catch up. Rachel took Jason up to get his bath and put him into bed. Although he was reluctant to go. He didn't want to miss out while all the adults got to stay up.
"He really is cute." Austin complimented. "How old is he?" he asked.
"Well, he'll be five soon." Bryan answered.
"Five? Wow. How did that happen?" he took a deep breath before he began.
"Well, it was during my freshmen year of college. I met a girl named Cameron who was already pregnant. We became really close friends and it turns out that the father of her kid was psycho. Like, he was harassing her and abusing her and stuff, well, until I jumped in. I basically kicked his ass for threatening her and we got a restraining order. Not long after, he was thrown in jail for robbing a convenient store or something." Bryan paused to take a drink of water. "Sorry. Anyway, for the next two years, I helped Cameron raise Jason. Until the night she died." He said that last sentence slowly.
"What happened?" Austin asked as he listened intently.
"Car accident." He said simply.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's. It's alright." Bryan said slowly. "Anyway, I filled for adoption and now Jason is legally mine." Bryan smiled.
"Really? That's great, man." Austin said smiling. "So what do you do? I mean, this is a great place you got." He said looking around the huge house.
"Well, actually, I'm a cop." He said hesitantly. Austin's jaw dropped a bit as he stared at Bryan blankly. Then, finally, he started laughing. It had to be a joke.
"Good one, Bry. Almost got me."
"No, man. I'm serious!" he said chuckling.
"There's no way a cop can get a house like." Austin stated. "I mean, it's huge!"
"Yeah, we have about fifteen acres." Once again, Austin's jaw dropped a little.
"Okay. My point proven. Cops make, like, nothing. How do you get a huge house like this, with about fifteen acres of wood, with the salary cops make? And you hate cops!" Austin added.
"I told you before; it's not about the money. I don't care what salary I get. Which is why being a cop works fine with me. Besides, Willow Creek is a small town. Nothing happens. Basically, I just drive around and bust a few meth users." He shrugged.
"Okay, but that really doesn't explain how you get all this." Austin said gesturing around the house.
"Well, it's my parents' house. Remember I used to tell you that they were rich? Well, after I moved back from college with Jason, me and my folks made up. They gave us all of this, and they moved into the Golden Retreat Apartments. They decided that they didn't need this huge place for just the two of them. And it's a perfect place to raise Jason." Austin had to agree, this place was a great place to raise kids. Austin's old house wasn't too far from here. It was thirty minutes from town, miles of woods to go camping or hiking or riding 4-wheelers all day. As Austin started thinking about this, he realized how much he missed the country. And now he's living in the big city.
"So, what about you? How's the Apple?" Bryan asked.
"It's good, actually. Completely different from all this. And we're always really busy at the restaurant." Bryan nodded his head.
"I knew you'd always be a chef." Bryan chuckled a little.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, man. I've seen the way you cook. Maybe you can make us dinner tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Austin smiled. Bryan got up and crossed over to the bar in the corner and poured himself some scotch on rocks. He turned to Austin.
"I'd offer you some, but-"
"No, it's okay." Austin shook his head. Bryan made his way back to the table.
"Speaking of which, have you talked to your parents yet?" Austin slowly shook his head. "Oh, sorry. I just figured, maybe you would have. I mean, it has been several years. And me and my parents are getting along now."
"Yeah, well your problem with your parents was different from mine." Bryan nodded his head.
"Yeah, you're totally right. Sorry, man."
"Nah, it's all good. Don't worry about it. Some people are just lucky to have good parents. Like Jason." He smiled.
After several more minutes of conversation, Austin finally asked the question he'd been dreading to ask for the past two days.
"So, when's the funeral?" he asked. Bryan took a deep breath.
"Three days." He said simply. "That gives enough time for everyone to make it." He said slowly.
"Blair coming?"
"Well, yeah. He has to." Bryan said. "Look, I know he pretty much fucked up, but that was years ago. It's time to just forget the past and move on. I mean, we're all adults now. We don't need this kind of bullshit anymore. Right?" he said with a slight smile. Austin agreed.
He sat there, staring at Bryan and started thinking. When the hell did Bryan grow up? He's a dad now, he's speaking with logic, he's not wearing eyeliner, and he has that goatee thing. Maybe, sometimes, five years does make a difference.
............................................................................................................
Then
"Stephanie, you have to go! This is Homecoming! Our last Homecoming! It wouldn't be the same without you." Brittany said as she sat on Stephanie's bed. Stephanie was sitting at her dresser, staring into the mirror, debating whether or not to put the make up on.
"Well, there's really no point on going if I have no date, now do I?" She replied. Austin had called earlier that morning to apologies about the night before, but Stephanie simply didn't care anymore and ended it with him.
"Who says you need a date? There are plenty of people who don't have dates but go to these things anyway." In her defense, Brittany really did think she was trying to help. "And we'll be in a big group. So it's not like anyone would notice."
"But I'll know! That's all that counts." She said pouting.
"The school needs it's president to be there."
"They don't really need me."
"Okay, what about this?" she asked getting up, crossing the room to Stephanie's closet and opening it, and pulling out a long sequenced purple dress and diamond beads lacing the bottom edges of it. "Are you just going to waste this?"
"Well, maybe?" she groaned. Brittany groaned back.
"Ugh! I give up! I have to go home and get ready. Call me later. Got it?" she said as she made her way out the door, downstairs, outside and to her car.
Stephanie was left sitting in her room. She looked at her dress which cost a few hundred dollars. Well, several hundred dollars, actually. Maybe she should go. But how can she go without a date? She didn't want to look like a dumb bitch in front of Austin. Then she suddenly thought if it. She couldn't see why she didn't think of it before. She took out her cell phone and scrolled down her contacts until she saw his name. She hit send and waited for him to answer.
"Hey, are you coming with us?" Taylor asked as she knocked on her brother's bedroom door. He lifted his head up from the pillow.
"Nah, I don't think so." He replied simply before laying his head back down.
"Teddy, come on! Please!" Taylor practically begged.
"No way. I'm just gonna be the third wheel. Besides, I might have plans." Actually, Teddy did have plans. He was going to meet up with Trevor somewhere in town and they were just going to chill. It wasn't a date. Or at least, that's what Teddy kept reminding himself. Although, somewhere inside him kept insisting it was a date.
"Well cancel them! This is our last Homecoming Dance. It'll be fun. Besides, I can't go with Blair."
"Why, did something happen between you guys?" Teddy asked leaning up with his elbows.
"No, dammit. There's nothing between us. Which is why I can't go with him alone. Because then we'll be each other's dates, and I'm not into Blair like that."
"Well, don't you have any girlfriends that you can go with? Like, in a group?"
"They all have dates." She said crossing her arms. Teddy groaned, but decided he'll go.
"Fine. I'll do it." He said leaning back again. "I don't see why you just don't ask Chase Adams." Taylor's face dropped instantly.
"What?!"
"I mean, you guys used to be so close. And I saw the way you guys were dancing last night at his place."
"Yeah, he danced like that with all the other girls, Dicktard. Besides, Chase Adams is one of the biggest jerks I've ever met. No way am I going to ask him."
"Fine whatever. But just so you know, I'm telling everyone that my sister asked me to Homecoming." Teddy laughed. Taylor picked up a pillow from the floor and threw it at Teddy.
"And I'll be sure to tell them all that my twin brother agreed to the offer." She said turning away to the bathroom to begin getting ready.
Austin sat in the limo, anxiously spinning the purple corsage in his hands. Brittany had told him earlier that Stephanie's dress was purple, so Austin bought a corsage to match it. Brittany had also told him that Stephanie called her a few hours ago, deciding to come to Homecoming anyway, which made Austin happy because he may have another chance with her. Hopefully.
The limo finally pulled over in front of Stephanie's house. Austin took a deep breath, then Brittany got up and headed to the back of the limo.
"I'll get her." Austin said to her. She looked at him wearily at first, then decided to let him go as she sat back down. Austin got up and opened the door. He made his way up the graveled pavement and to Stephanie's front door and rang the door bell. Seconds later, the door opened and Stephanie's face appeared with a smile. She was wearing that glitter crap on her face again. Normally, Austin hated when she wore it. But today, everything about Stephanie was beautiful. Even the glitter. He stared into her gray-blue eyes and smiled. Her long, blond hair with low lights was curled for tonight, which also had some glitter.
But her smile disappeared quickly, as soon as she saw Austin at the door. She gave him a stern look before pushing passed him and slamming the door, making her way to the limo.
"Stephanie, wait."
"I have nothing to say to you." She said simply as she continued to the limo.
"Wait!" Austin said reaching out and grabbing her arm, spinning her around.
"What?!" she yelled.
"I'm sorry."
"So I've heard. You called me all last night and this morning, remember?"
"So why are you so mad?" Stephanie looked at him as if she couldn't believe what he was saying. Her lips curled as if she was about to say something, but she just exhaled instead and walked away. "Wait, can't we talk about this?"
"No. There's nothing to talk about. It's over, Austin . I'm not here tonight for you. I'm here for my friends. And if you can't figure out why I'm still mad, then you're a bigger idiot than I thought." She said as she opened the door to the limousine and greeted her friends. Austin felt like a total dumbass just standing on the graveled driveway alone. He then finally made his way back to the limo.
The drive was like an hour long. They drove into and through town to get on the high way and continued the drive until they got to New Castle , Pennsylvania . There was a quant little Italian Villa that they liked to go to there. They liked going out to dinner before the dance, already all dressed up.
They made their way into the restaurant and the owner greeted them himself, and he seated them in a corner of the restaurant which they had all for themselves. There was a total of ten of them. They ordered their food and then Brittany pulled out a giant bottle of Champagne. Everyone passed it around and poured some in each of their glasses.
While Austin sat their sipping his Champagne, he kept looking over at Stephanie. She completely ignored him the whole time as she talked and laughed with the rest of the group. There was nothing he could do. She didn't want anything to do with him. And he couldn't entirely blame her. He quickly downed his first glass and poured himself a second.
Stephanie Brown was feeling a lot better after a few glasses of the champagne. As they joked and laughed on the ride back to Willow Creek and towards the school, she glanced over and saw Austin sitting at the back. Alone. He looked pretty upset, and she knew it was because of her. She didn't even try to make nice with him during supper or on the way back to the school. She almost felt bad for him. Almost. Until she remembers what he did to her less than twenty-four hours ago. She took a deep breath, and decided she should say something. She got up and headed to the back of the limo.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked looking at him. She could tell that he may have had too much to drink.
"Why do you care?" he said a little angrily.
"Austin, I don't hate you. I know I should, but I don't. And nobody else here hates you. Look around." She said gesturing towards the rest of the limo. "Nobody is choosing sides or anything. It's okay."
"No, it's not okay. Steph, I love you."
"I know." She said quietly.
"But you don't love me anymore." He said turning his head away to look out the window.
"No, I do! Austin, I really do." She said grabbing his hands. "But. I don't know. Things are complicated right now."
"Okay, so how about we go to this thing together and we can uncomplicate things tomorrow?"
"I can't do that, Austin ."
"Why not?"
"Because, I already have a date for tonight." She said softly. His jaw dropped a little. Then they were silent for the rest of the ride. He didn't try to defend himself. He didn't even ask who it was. Which could be a sign of maturity. Then again, you never really know.
The limo pulled in front of the school and they soon started to get out of it. Stephanie was the last one out. When she got out, she saw him standing there waiting at the door. He was wearing black slacks and a black, opened button up shirt with short sleeves and a white T-shirt underneath. It wasn't completely formal. Or even semi-formal for that matter. But it worked. She smiled as she made her way over to him.
"Hey, Jeff." She said smiling over at him. He returned the smile. "Hey, thanks for coming on such short notice."
"No problem." He shrugged. He stuck out his arm and she wrapped her arm around his as they made their way through the entrance.
"I can't believe him. I really can't. Is he serious right now?" Rachel McFarley was complaining, again, as they stood against the wall. Bryan was simply sipping on his punch.
"Well, you know Jeff. He's probably only here just so he can fuck her later." Bryan knew that as soon as he said that sentence, he regretted it. "Sorry."
"Not your fault." She said quietly. "I mean, we haven't been broken up for that long. And it was one thing when it was Heather, but now Stephanie? Plus, the whole Heather thing was only a few days ago. God, talk about a man-whore."
"Well, what's so wrong with Stephanie? I mean, she's hot." Rachel shot him a dark glare. "I mean, you're hot too. Just, differently." She took a deep breath.
"But she's also a bitch. I mean, you're still wearing that cast on your wrist from when she hit you." Bryan was silent. Although Stephanie Brown did hit him, it was also his fault. His mind wasn't on the road because he was thinking about Teddy back in the locker rooms at the pool. They both ran the stop sign. Of course, because both families had money, the money for the damage was no big deal.
"Hey guys. Why aren't you dancing? It's so bomb out there." Heather Graham said as she ran back from the dance floor. She was sweating a little.
"Don't feel like dancing." Rachel replied.
"I'll go." Bryan said as he placed his drink down. Then he turned back to Rachel. "Are you gonna be ok?"
"Look, I'm probably just gonna go home. I shouldn't have even come."
"Wait, stay." Bryan said reaching out to grab her arm.
"Why?" she asked.
"So we can have fun!" Heather said excitedly.
"But this isn't my thing. I hate Homecoming. Actually, come to think of it, none of us fit in here. I mean, look at us." Bryan looked down. He was wearing Dickies shorts, dirty-ass Chucks, a black collared shirt with a skinny white tie, and a studded belt. Rachel wore a black tank-top with one of those black dresses she always wears, and a leather jacket. And Heather, well Heather was different. She actually looked semi-formal. Her dress was pink and had ruffles. And she wore a tiara for some reason.
"Yeah, but we're here for Jeff. I know you hate him, but we're his friends. Even you." Bryan explained. "Stephanie Brown asking Jeff Levin to Homecoming is not something that happens everyday. He just didn't want to be alone." Rachel rolled her eyes. She was silent for a while before speaking up.
"Well, I'm not his friend. And I'm not gonna watch him hook up with that slut. Night." She said softly as she turned walking away. Bryan watched her walk away and felt bad and turned to go after her.
"Bry, let her go. It's hard for her." Heather said reaching out to grab Bryan 's arm. "Come on, let's dance." They made themselves to the dance floor, but Bryan 's mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about Rachel again, and also about Jeff and how weird it was that they were all here. As he was dancing, he saw, of course, Teddy Griffan across the dance floor. Great. Just one more thing to add to the list of crap going on in his head.
Rachel turned back to look at them. Heather and Bryan went back to dancing, she glanced around the room and also saw Jeff and Steph dancing. She needed to go back to her place. She couldn't deal with this right now. She turned back around and headed for the door.
"Yo, shawty. Where you headed off to?" Rachel stopped dead in her tracks and a smile grew on her face. She recognized that voice anywhere.
"Hey Scott." She said turning around to face Scott Miller. Scott was the wigger of the group and he always knew how to make Rachel laugh. He had spiky blond hair and mesmerizing blue eyes. He wore a triple-X white T and baggy black pants. "Didn't think you'd be here." She said giggling a little.
"Nah. Dis shit aint my scene." He said looking around the room. "Jus' here fo my boy, ya'know?" Rachel nodded. "What `bout chu? Dis don't seem like yo thang, Hippie." Rachel laughed again. Scott always called her the punk-hippie.
"No, it's not. I was just leaving actually."
"Mind if I tag along?" He asked.
"Sure" Rachel said smiling as they walked out of the cafeteria.
Teddy watched as his sister danced with Chase Adams and laughed to himself. People do crazy things after having some of the spiked punch. But then he sort of felt bad for Blair. Sure, he was dancing with other girls, but he kept glancing over at Taylor . Just then, Teddy got a text message, so he reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. The text said `go to restroom.' Teddy looked around for a while, confused. Who could be texting him and why would they want him in the restroom? So he broke away from the crowd and headed towards the restroom. He was a little nervous as he made his way over. But when he opened the door, he lost all his anxiety and a smile grew across his face.
"Hey, Trev." He smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to rescue you." He smiled. Teddy laughed.
"From what?"
"From that." Trevor pointed out the door.
"Oh, I'm actually kinda having fun." Teddy said.
"Oh." Trevor simply said.
"Well, let's stay for a little while longer, `kay?" Teddy asked.
"Sure. But after this." Trevor said smiling as he leaned in to kiss Teddy. His hands went up to Teddy's head to run his fingers through his hair. Instinctively, Teddy pushed Trevor into the handicap stall as he started unbuckling his belt a pulling off his clothes. Trevor also started undoing Teddy's clothes. Starting off with the tie then coat and throwing them aside. Then he pulled down his pants to expose his cock. Trevor got down on his knees and smiled up at Teddy as he slipped his cock in his mouth. Teddy shuttered for a second as he felt Trevor's warm, moist mouth around his cock, which grew inside of Trevor's mouth. He started slow, then started bobbing his head up and down faster and faster. All while smiling up at Teddy the whole time. Teddy's eyes closed as he leaned back against the wall. He reached over and gripped the handle bars as Trevor continued to suck his cock. His hands went up and started playing with his balls. His hips started moving back and forth and was soon fucking Trevor's face. He felt his orgasm coming faster. He groaned as he kept his eyes closed, his grip on the bar getting tighter until he finally came inside Trevor's mouth. Trevor tried to swallow as much as he could, but Teddy kept cumming. His cock spased with every shot. Trevor pulled off of Teddy's dick and started beating it as he licked his head, getting all the cum off of it.
"Whoa. Wasn't expecting that for tonight." Teddy said smiling, trying to catch his breath. He then pushed Trevor against the wall and got on his knees. Trevor was already hard as a rock. His head was glistening with pre-cum. Teddy quickly licked it up. And within seconds, Trevor's dick was halfway down his throat. Teddy followed the same procedure: he started slow before bobbing his head faster and faster. Then he reached up and fondled Trevor's balls like he did to Teddy. Trevor's eyes were closed until they heard a noise that made them both jump. Someone had opened the door and was in the bathroom with them. Teddy stopped for a second to look up at Trevor, who was also looking down at him. Then Teddy smiled and continued to suck on Trevor's cock. This turned them on more. For someone who had never had any kind of sexual encounters until a week ago, he was becoming a pretty good cock slut. He pulled off of Trevor's cock to start sucking on his balls which was covered in dirty-blond hair. As he did this, he continued to beat him off until Trevor's balls tensed up and started cumming. Teddy put his mouth back on the head and continued to drain all the cum he could. When it was over, they smiled at each other. Teddy got up, kissed Trevor, and they started pulling their clothes back on.
"Alright, let's head back." Teddy said as he opened the stall door. But his heart stopped when he saw that someone was still in the bathroom. He was looking at himself in the mirror and turned around to see Teddy and Trevor fixing their ties.
"Oh, hi." He had a fake smile placed upon his face. It was Bryan Dellwood.
"Really, dude? This guy?" Austin pointed towards Jeffery Levin. "This is her date? She turned me down for this guy?" he said leaning against the wall and downing down his punch.
"Yeah, but the more important question, dude, is how many of these have you had?" Eric asked him pointing towards the pile of plastic cups sitting on top of the overflowing trashcan.
"Oh, I don't know. Twenty-three?" He said looking up at Eric. Of course, twenty-three was just an estimate.
"You do know like, five different people spiked that shit, right?" Bryan looked into his empty cup, as if he were actually looking for the alcohol.
"Really now? Well maybe that's why it's so good." He laughed a little. By now he was pretty wasted. He had several glasses of champagne before arriving to the dance and now the mountain of fucked up punch he's had for the last couple hours. This couldn't be good. But by now, there was nothing Austin could do about it now.
"Maybe we should stop." Eric said reaching over and throwing out the cup. "Come on, let's get out of here." Eric suggested.
"No. I don't wanna leave." Austin said crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
" Austin , you're drunk. We can go home or something. Or maybe go down to the Java Bean and get you some coffee?"
"And leave her here alone with him? Heeeeell no man." Austin said as he slurred his words.
"Look, nothing's gonna happen. She only asked him because there was nobody else. So, come on let's go." He said grabbing his shoulder and trying to lead him towards the entrance.
"No way man!" Austin pushed him off of his should, then lost his balance and almost fell against the wall, so he reached out his arm to steady himself with the wall. "Whoa dude. I think I need to sit down." He said sliding down and sitting on the floor for a while.
"Want me to get you a chair?"
"No. No. This is nice right here." Austin said as he planted his face in between his knees.
"Hey, is he okay?" Austin heard someone's voice. It was deeper, maybe a teacher?
"Um, yeah sure. He's just fine." That voice was Eric's. Then Austin felt another person kneel next to him, so he lifted his head up to see James Summers.
"Hey, Mr. Summers." He said smiling.
"Dammit, he's drunk." Summers said. "Alright, I'll be right back. Make sure nobody sees him. Especially the other teachers. Got it?" He said, and within seconds he was gone.
"Dude, we're lucky only Summers caught us and not some other teacher."
"Yeah yeah." Austin tried waving him away. It didn't work. Summers came back a few minutes later with a mug of coffee.
"I ran over to the teacher's lounge to get you this. Drink it." He handed it over to Austin . He took it and started gulping down, then realized that it was hot and started coughing. The drinking must've screwed with his reaction time. "Hey, it's hot. Slow down." Austin nodded and started sipping his coffee.
"Ow. My head hurts." He said as he leaned against the wall.
"Alright, can you take care of this?" he asked Eric, who nodded. "Okay, good. Cause I have to get going. I'll be back to check on him later. Kay?" Eric nodded again.
About a half an hour later, Austin was feeling a little better, with a major headache. The cookies and stuff that they had here at the dance only made his stomach turn every time he looked at them. But the people on the dance floor also made his stomach turn.
"He's a freakin pot head! Look at him." Austin mumbled.
"Shut. Up!" he heard everyone at his table chorus. He turned around to look at them and they all seemed to be pretty annoyed by the whole complaining thing Austin 's been doing all night.
"Dude, you brought this upon yourself." Brittany said. "You shouldn't have cheated. We all know this." Austin nodded.
"You're right. But look at them." He turned back around and saw them dancing pretty close, his hands in her hair and they were looking into each other's eyes. And, just as Austin expected, Jeff leaned in and kissed her.
"That's it." Austin said jumping out of his seat. He probably shouldn't have done that. His head started hurting more as the blood rushed to his head. His vision got all blurry again and he couldn't see anything as he stumbled through the massive crowd of people.
" Austin !" he heard his name being called from back at the table. Along with some "Come back" and "It's not worth it" and "You're being stupid. Again!" but Austin ignored them. Finally he made his way to them and pushed Jeff off of Stephanie.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Jeff said as he realized what happened.
"Back off my girl." Austin said as sternly as he could.
"Last time I checked, she wasn't your girl."
"Well check again."
" Austin , what the fuck?!" Stephanie said stepping in front of him. "I'm not your property. Besides, we're over. We talked about this."
"No we haven't. You talked. I'm not ready for this to be over." Stephanie leaned forward a little bit and started speaking softly.
" Austin , let's not make a scene. Please." She said begging a little.
"Come on, let's just ignore him. He's drunk." Jeff said pulling her away. Austin was left standing there like a jackass.
"So when did the stoner suddenly become above the drunk?" Austin said, once again slurring his words. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" he ran over and pushed Jeff. Jeff turned around and, with one quick punch, knocked Austin to the floor.
Austin didn't even remember the walk to the principles office. But suddenly he was sitting on the seat outside holding a bag of ice to his bleeding lip. If he wasn't drunk, he would've totally clobbered that stoner. Just then, the door opened and Jeff walked out with a smile. Austin so badly just wanted to knock it right off of his face.
"Mr. Rayes, come in." Mr. Phillips said to Austin . Austin passed Jeff as he headed inside the office, and Jeff walked down the hall happily.
"Austin, a fight? Why?"
"He was putting the move on my girl, sir!" Austin protested.
"Well, he says, and some witnesses agree, that you started it. Is this trued?" Austin nodded. "And it appears you're a little intoxicated, which is prohibited at this school. You know this." Austin once again nodded. "So, I have no other choice but to suspend you."
"What?! Well, what about Jeff?"
"Mr. Levin isn't drunk. Plus he only hit you because you hit him first."
"It was a push. It's not even that serious."
"I'm sorry, Austin, but I'm afraid it is."