My Best Friend's Sister

Chapter 1: Mixed messages

Chapter 1: Mixed Messages

So the summer holidays were starting and there was only one person I was looking forward to seeing. And she hadn’t arrived yet. It wasn’t an obsession or anything, just a fascination—but how did that make me sound?

I was with my best mate Craig Glass at some fit blonde’s party. Nonsense music was pounding and people were being dirty. Most corners and rooms were occupied—and, oh, what was that couple doing over there?! The biggest problem was that nobody knew what personal space was. People rubbed up against you everywhere you tried to go and if you wanted to go anywhere, even if you wanted to leave, well, you just couldn’t. Not yet, anyway.  Like, right now I was holding a spot while Craig went to get us some drinks, because as soon as you move, your spot’s gone. The party hadn’t even swung into the late hours and more people came flooding in. Friends of friends of friends. This was England; houses weren’t very big. Soon it would swell up and burst. 

Just then I spotted Craig squeezing through the throng of sweaty, horny teens, holding two cans in the air.

“LITTLE HELP?” He yelled over the noise. I’d quickly taken the drinks from him and rushed back to our spot again; he easily forced his way out. Craig was the type to sweat and boy did he sweat a lot tonight; his hair was damp enough to look black and he was a dirty blond. “Boy, is this party intense or what?”

We took our cans and I did a double take at it. “Tesco value beer? What the hell?”

Craig shrugged, tipping his back. “Beer is beer.”

“Still, that’s embarrassing.” I said, chugging some of my own. I guess it tasted all right. But I wanted to get to the point. “When’s Maxine getting here?”

“When she feels like it, but she texted me. Five minutes.” I just nodded like it was casual, but inside my pulse was speeding up. Maxine is Craig’s sister. My best friend’s sister.

All of a sudden the music halted. And everything came to a standstill. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked confused. Even us; we thought there was a fire or something.

Then the small blonde girl party host jumped up onto the dining table in clear view. She hardly wore anything, just a belly top and boxer shorts, though she was definitely wearing more than that an hour ago.

“Okay, so who’s having a blast?” she screamed.

Then everyone else roared back. YEEAAAH! WHOO!

“Food’s ready in the conservatory, so...attack!” she raised her bottle in the air like a toast and everyone, mainly us guys, bolted for the conservatory. And lined up on three tables were boxes of pizzas, bowls of chips, KFC buckets...there was more but those were what caught my eyes. So I grabbed hold of that succulent, greasy bit of beautifully seasoned chicken...

“That sure looks good...” said a voice. Then suddenly the chicken didn’t look as appealing anymore. Yep, it was Maxine. She was leaning on the door frame, smiling, slightly flushed by the heat of the house.

“Maxine.”

“Jake.” she mimicked. “Don’t I get a hug, then?”

“’course. Come here.” we hugged. She really looked stunning and she smelled even better, like a sweet perfume. This may have been a party but she more or less just rolled up in slim jeans, a purple blouse and a dark leather jacket with high heel boots and still looked better than half the girls here.

“How’ve you been? Miss me?”

“Loads.” I said.

She’d been studying abroad for two months and I’d never think I’d miss her so much.