Back for You (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 1

Nowhere to park, as usual. The digital clock on the dash radio said 8:30. School only started an hour ago, why the hell were so many seniors on time today?

       “Did we miss something? It’s so packed today...” Lena was my co-pilot, scanning the lot for open spots to the right. I sighed and rolled the steering wheel, pulling out of the lot and heading around the divider. “Rem? You’re not really gonna...”

       I yanked the car into the mostly empty staff lot and pulled into the first open spot I saw. Satisfied, I grinned. “What? That’s what they get for taking half of our lot over the summer. There are more of us than there are of them! C’mon.” I grabbed her bag from the floor in front of her and shoved it into her lap, hoisting my own purse over my shoulder and climbing out of the car. Lena scrambled after me. I have to remind myself to walk slower when I’m with her—I have nearly a foot on her height-wise, and the boots don’t help.

       “Remi, I don’t think Brick’s gonna like this.”

       I tossed my arm around my best friend’s shoulder as we walked. “You worry too much. He’s less than a fucking rent-a-cop—he’s a high school security guard, what’s he really going to do?” She giggled. Lena does worry a lot—she always has. But over the years she’s loosened up. I don’t think she’s had much of a choice with me. But, sure enough we heard a voice just as we were about to round the building.

       “Hey! You can’t park there, kid.”

       I forced my sweetest smile. “Arrest me, Brick!” I watched the high-and-mightiness slide right off his face. We crossed the field to the bleachers where the rest of our friends were already sitting. Jason noticed us coming before the others and within a few seconds he jumped over the side railing and jogged across the grass to us. I felt the big stupid grin creep onto my face as he stood in front of us.

       “Morning, ladies!” He smirked at me and snuck an arm around my waist, and I let myself mold against his side. He planted a kiss on my cheek and my face flared up instantly. Even after over two years together, he had the same effect on me as the day we met. If it were anyone else I would have gagged, but Jason brought out a mushiness I couldn’t contain. It was gross, and I loved it. Gag me.

       The three of us climbed up the bleachers to meet the others.

       “Hey Lena, Remi! Just in time, we’re assigning jobs for the bonfire.” Trey gave us a broad grin. He’s the kind of guy you can never be mad at, try as I might. Not only is he Jason’s best friend, he’s the world’s best friend: impossible not to like, even if he was about to dump some job on me.

       “Perfect.” I settled into my spot on the tier below Jason and leaned back against him. The school year just started and we were already thinking about our three-year anniversary trip—a nice, romantic vacation in Jamaica for the two of us, right after graduation. Trey hooked us up, as a matter of fact. His grandma lived on the island and offered us her place while she came to visit Trey and his mom.

       But, it was months away. First things first: the senior bonfire. The bonfire was less of a school event than it was a legendary party at the beach that a class of seniors came up with a few years ago. Being the social princess that she is, Katrina volunteered to organize ours. Naturally, that meant that the rest of us got sucked into it, too.

       I watched her flip through her Overachiever Binder for her notes. “Lena, you’re my PR girl—get the word out on Facebook, mass texts, whatever you need to do. Remi, you, Jason and Garett are on food and drinks.”

       “All right, that’s a job I can get behind. Nice going, Tinkerbell.” I heard Jason stifle a laugh behind me, but he nudged me for my remark anyway. It wasn’t that bad. I’m pretty sure I’ve called her worse than Tinkerbell. Either way, she rolled her eyes and kept talking. I leaned back and rested my head on Jason’s knee and felt the heat rise in my cheeks when he started to run his fingers through my hair. One month of school down, and eight to go until we’d be done with high school and on a plane to someplace a hell of a lot warmer than Harriman. Eight months, and it was over.

—

The music was blaring by the end of the night, though most people were too tipsy to care. There was a reason why the senior bonfire took place on the shore of Lake Kanawauke—there was never anyone around to complain about the noise, and the cops rarely patrolled this far out.

       And in another instant my feet were off the ground. For a second my hair covered my face, blocking out the fire with a black curtain and I almost lost touch with which way was up. I was surrounded with the smell of cinnamon and mint, which mixed with the smoke from the fire a few yards away: Jason.

       “Found you!” I heard his voice in my ear and could hear the smile. He put me down and I turned to face him and went weak in the knees all over again. The fire lit up his face even more; olive skin, dark hair and eyes and a smile that made you feel like there was nowhere in the world safer than with him.

       “You’re a good looking S.O.B., you know.” I laced my fingers with his and looked out over the lake. Some of our dumber peers were bobbing out in the water, and a kid on the beach was shooting beers out to them with a potato gun. A potato gun? Really? “Mixing alcohol and swimming… Brilliant.” I rolled my eyes.

       “You’ve told me once or twice. You’re not so bad yourself.” Jason nudged me and squeezed me tight. He nodded off towards the other kids. “As for them… you’ve said it yourself babe, we don’t have the brightest peers.”

       “Fact.”

       He smiled and kissed the top of my head. “Ready to get out of here?”

       The music was still going, but it looked like people were beginning to tucker out and we were no exception. “Mhm.” We started walking back up the bank, passing a staggering bikini-clad Brianna Savage clutching a red cup along the way. “Don’t trip, Goldielocks!” I grinned and watched her cut her eyes at me as we passed. However, a second later she toppled over a log and seemed more upset about her spilled beer. Jason smirked and raised his eyebrows. “What? I was offering her some helpful advice—it’s not my fault she didn’t take it.”

       He laughed as we climbed into his truck. “What am I going to do with you?”

       “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” I leaned across the armrest and kissed his cheek and felt a huge smile spread across my face as he blushed and threw the car into Drive. My left hand reached up out of habit and his right hand linked with it as he pulled off the trail and back onto the main road.

–

There was nothing good on the radio. I searched through the alternative and classic rock stations, and was met with BrokenCYDE and Peter Frampton. What the candy-coated fuck has this world come to? Jason flicked on a pop station and I watched his eyes light up: Britney Spears, one of his only weaknesses.

       “I-I-I wanna go-o-o all the wa-a-ay, taking out my freak toniiiight!” Jason sang and pointed at me. I couldn’t resist. That trainwreck’s music was infectious, and I couldn’t help but love Jason’s never-ending crush on her, even if he had a horrible singing voice.

       “I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow all the dir-ir-irt I got running through my mind…”

       “WHOA-OA-OA!”

       There was no turning back now. We kept going, dancing in our seats, making asses of ourselves and serenading each other, forgetting how little energy we had left at this point in the night. We pulled up to a red light and our private party continued, speakers beating in our heads. The light turned green and Jason grinned at me as we sang and bounced around. I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek and he pulled off.

       I noticed the lights out of the corner of my eye to the right as we passed through the intersection. What I didn’t see was how close they were. Jason turned his head to look at me and for a second I saw a flash of that beautiful smile as he focused on my eyes. I melted. But then his focus switched to the window behind me, and that beautiful smile slipped away.

       There was no screeching of tires. Just one huge bang, the crunch of breaking glass, and then nothing at all.

-

*End of chapter 1! Chapter 2 coming soon. Remi finds Jason in the hospital and gets some startling news from a new friend. Please feel free to tell me what you thought in the form of a comment, critique or PM—good, bad and ugly, I value every response. :)*