"Now don't go over there and act like the jealous boyfriend--be cool about it," Jack advised.
"Jack," Hudson addressed with a face of an authoritarian, "Do me a favor, don't lecture me on how to handle my relationship."
Jack lifted his hands slightly in defeat. "Suit yourself."
Hudson carved a path with his broad shoulders to Storm, his Storm. He was on a mission to save her from the immoral pair but rather to save her from herself. Without a word, he grabbed her free hand and pulled her away. "Have some respect for women douche," he said with hardened eyes at the sleazy college dropout.
After feeling a few jabbed elbows and stepped over shoes, they arrived back where Jack stood, casual as day, sipping on his beer with a poise of an older boy whom had roamed these college bars many times before.
"You're ruining a perfectly good night! Come on dance with me," Storm pleaded, pulling Hudson's arm towards the dance floor again.
Hudson yanked his arm away. His pure green eyes turning into the eyes of a moral judge . "Do you know what their intentions were?"
Jack almost choked on his beer. "Dude, you're not supposed to tell her that."
"Shut up Jack! This is between me and Storm."
"Can you not be such a snoozefest for one night?" Storm snapped. "It's my birthday and I don't want you or anyone to ruin it for me!"
Hudson chuckled. "Storm, you've always hated your birthday..."
"Well, thats changed...among other things." Her gaze fell upon Jack whom now felt cornered.
There was new friction between the three of them and Jack felt every razor sharp edge of it.
The trio grew quiet as the blaring rock music and bright neon lights took over. Hudson froze, unknowing what to do or say to disrupt what he saw before his eyes. This was new and it made him quite uncomfortable seeing his best friend and his girlfriend look at each other this way. After almost taking Storm's virginity yesterday, he was afraid he had awoken a lust in her he wasn't ready to put out.
"Come on Jack, let's dance." Storm reeled Jack into the crowd, leaving Hudson baffled. She had always been adventurous as a child, and maybe a bit of a troublemaker but now as a 17 year-old teenage girl he was beginning to see a different side of her he did not know.
An uncomfortable Jack took another anxious chug of his beer as Storm began to dance on him. Her hips were shameless, moving as if they had a mind of their own with the intention to compel every man at the bar. She raised her long waves of hair for relief from the sweat beads accumulating on her fine neck. The place was sticky from the humid summer air escaping the open entrance. Moving her petite hourglass body, she could feel Jack's hands lightly place themselves on her bare waist where her glimmering top had risen just enough to expose the sides of her stomach.
He was treading carefully with her as if she were to shatter if he held her too roughly.
It drove her mad, to see him treat her so differently than the many girls she presumed he coerced into his den.
During her pursuit of mild seduction, Jack fell miserably to her charms, his eyes grazing each artistic curve her bronzed body drew out into the air. He held her lightly like you would hold a ripe rose, knowing his boundaries but also aware of the attractive girl she was growing into. Her hand suddenly reached the back of his neck pulling him closer, releasing a radiating heat of pheromones between them. He breathed in her cotton candy scent rising from the sweat of her neck as she pulled even closer, now feeling her body brushing up against him-awakening things in him he never thought would happen--not with her. Not with Storm.
Hudson. He looked up suddenly searching the crowd for his best friend only to find him scowling from afar.
"Storm," he said by her ear, inhaling the ache of regressed desire as he spoke. "I think you're being a little too harsh on Hudson."
Storm twirled to face him. "I thought you brought me here to have fun! Is that too much to ask?"
"I get it, it's your first night out of that shit town, but it's also Hudson's. You can't blame him. He's a prude by nature."
Storm whipped around again to face him with eyes of daggers. "Fine! I'll find someone else to dance with!"
"Storm, wait-"
She was gone into the crowd before he could reach her. He shook his head and sighed. He knew there was no hope in trying to stop a loose cannon. It was evident, to him at least, Storm Pierce could not be tamed.
Hudson now caught up to him with wary eyes. "Where'd she go?"
"She needs some space."
"Space?" Hudson's face contorted into disgust and disapproval. "Are you crazy? Look around you! This is not the safest place to encourage her need for freedom!"
"Hudson," Jack addressed with a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, she's a tough girl. She'll be fine."
Hudson looked around, disapproving of everyone in that room. Two girls in neon tube tops were waving them over. Jack didn't waste time and signaled them over. They were evidently college girls and quite attractive but not distracting enough to deter him from worrying about Storm. Nothing was. Before he knew it, Jack's mouth was exploring the two girls. He could never. Simply watching made him uncomfortable in his own skin.
There was a sudden commotion from the bar, and a rise of testosterone in the air. Jack and Hudson looked over. Surrounding the bar were drunken men whistling and hounding like a pack of dogs in heat at the seductress now dancing atop the counter to the beat of the rock n' roll music.
Hudson lost all reason as he stood there, frozen with mouth ajar at Storm Pierce conquering the spotlight dancing on the bar.
"Oh shit..." Jack muttered then whispered the two girls away.
Hearing his best friend's nonchalance towards the grave matter at hand brought Hudson back to reality.
"Oh shit? That's all you have to say?"
Jack uncrossed his arms. "Hudson, chill man. She's just having a good time."
"A good time?" Hudson repeated, sliding a hand through his blonde hair. This time he was out of breath and a panic attack seem to be around the corner. He looked at her again, burning inside the longer he watched her entice the crowd with her luscious honey hair and piercing hazel green eyes. The girl that now dominated the crowd with her burlesque body movements was not the girl he knew or maybe he was too blind to see that Jack was right about her.
The crowd grew rowdier and a group of bikers now threw dollar bills at her. Hudson felt the blood drain from his face. "I'm done being a spectator," he said as he stepped into the crowd, determined and headed towards the bar.
"You need to let her get it out of her system," Jack advised.
Hudson shot him a look of disgust. "You haven't changed have you?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Hudson grunted and pushed his way through grown sweaty men that barked like dogs in heat at his 17-year-old virgin girlfriend. A few cougars tried to stop him on the way, their stench of cigarettes and cheap perfume almost made him hurl. When he reached the counter he shouted out to her. "Storm! Get down!"
But her eyes were on the crowd, enjoying every minute of the attention. "Storm!" he shouted again this time louder.
Storm looked down and her eyes lit up. She climbed down and sluggishly threw herself in his arms.
"Huds!" She said like a child seeing her favorite Disney character for the first time. "I was looking for you!"
"You're drunk?" he questioned, holding her waist.
"I had one shot..." she said, lifting up a finger then giggling.
"We're leaving, now."
"I don't want to leave!"
"Storm, you were humiliating yourself in front of everyone—acting like a....like a floozy." He worded it as best he could and prayed for no retaliation.
Storm's eyes narrowed at him dangerously and for a moment she looked sober. Sober and enraged.
"Why don't you shove your prejudices up your righteous hole, and fuck off Huds!"
"Storm I-"
"Is there a problem here gorgeous?" A deep raspy voice spoke behind her. "Is pretty boy here bothering you?" Another man spoke.
Before they knew it, they were surrounded by mid-aged bikers with lumber jack beards and bandanas.
"I'm fine," Storm said with a roll of her eyes.
"You sure?" The oldest with salt peppered hair and a leather vest grew closer. "Because it seems like Ken here don't know how to treat a lady."
Hudson swallowed at the barbarians that now closed in on him. He was clearly unmatched and far smaller than the 250 pound grown men that now itched for a fight. He thought back to his first and only fight in the 2nd grade, even then, Jack had been there to put an end to it.
"I said I'm fine," Storm repeated. "Come on Hudson." She felt a sudden grip on her arm pull her back in place.
"Now now, no need to protect pretty boy here. I'm sure he's man enough to defend himself."
"I don't know boss, looks like to me pretty boy needs a braud to hold his balls in place." The bikers let out a hearty laugh, loud enough to hear above the techno music pounding against the walls.
Hudson stepped forward coming eye to eye with the most intimidating biker of the group. A wide and tall burly man with gory tattoos on his neck. He swallowed all fear for the sake of Storm and kept his gaze on the biker. "Storm, let's go."
The man's hands suddenly grabbed a handful of Hudson's collar. "Where the hell you think you're going pretty boy?"
"Woah woah woah," Jack arrived, pushing himself in between Hudson and the giant biker. "Gentlemen, excuse my friend—he's not from around here."
The tall grizzly biker pushed Jack. "Who the fuck are you, the lover?"
Jack smiled with hands crossed in front of him. "No douchebag, I'm the guy who will incapacitate you in a matter of," he glanced at his watch. "2.6 seconds if you touch her again."
"Is that a threat, boy?"
"I'm sorry, I don't speak paranthropus."
"The who?"
"Actually, considering your size among other things," Jack paused, rubbing his chin, "I'd say your stuck in the Ardipithecus stage of human evolution, but your friend here," Jack chuckled, "He's his very own prehistoric species, isn't he?"
"What textbook bullshit you babblin' about wiseass? You think you're better than us?"
"Ding ding ding—caveman number one answered correctly!" Before the man could process the insult, Jack landed a right hook on the man's face. Then the punches flew from different directions and Storm, fueled by the chaos and the loyalty to defend her two best friends, jumped on the giant man's back that Hudson now fought with. Amidst the chaos, Jack managed to shout, "Storm, run !" As the heavy man swung her off his back and to the ground, Storm stood up and ran out of the cloud of violence.
Ducking a blow from the six- foot tall biker, Jack grabbed a half full beer bottle from the bar counter and slammed it over the biker's head before taking off after Hudson and Storm.
The three of them now ran down the block back to the car. The sound of Motorcycle engines revving up were heard behind them. "Get in get in! Let's go!"
"Put your seatbelts on," Jack said as he turned the key in the ignition and stepped on the gas pedal.
"They're coming after us!" Hudson shouted looking through the back window.
Jack sped out of the parking spot making a sharp turn onto Bloomer street. The highway was only a mile away straight ahead and so, he stepped on the gas pedal all the way till the car was moving at eighty miles per hour.
When they reached the highway they were going 110 miles per hour. Hudson braced himself holding onto the handle above. He could almost taste the gurgling nerves in the pit of stomach.
Storm, charged by momentum, removed her seat belt and stood up through the car's sky roof facing the motorcycles behind them that now were growing further and further away. With her hair flying in different directions at dangerous speed, she stuck out her middle fingers and howled up into the dark sky.
Jack followed her lead and howled up in the air in victory.
Hudson looked over at his best friends. Their dynamic was still as toxic as ever. As much as he loved them, and would die for them, he didn't understand them and knew, he never would.
Once the adrenaline simmered and Jack drove at a more normal speed, Hudson relaxed in his seat, and closed his eyes, thanking the almighty God for still having a head on his shoulders.
"Fuck yeah!" Jack shouted again.
"How'd you manage to take that guy down? He was three times your size?" Hudson asked, curiosity conquering his nerves.
Jack shrugged, his eyes still on the road. "Ehh...I learned a thing or two from my drill sergeant."
"Dont feed his ego," Storm added now leaning over the shoulder of the passenger seat, attentive to Hudson's swollen cheekbone.
"Does it hurt?" She could almost feel the pain as she touched the emerging bruise lightly with her fingers.
"I'm fine. I'm just glad we're all alive." He looked at her, reminding her of why she loved him.
~~
Broadhollow was quiet, and still when they arrived, just as they left it. At 2AM, the stars were brighter than usual, lighting their path back to reality. The three of them found themselves laying on the cool green grass on Storm's front lawn looking up at the stars in a sweet melancholic silence. Jack and Hudson shifted to their side, lying on their elbows and looked at her.
"What do you wish for Storm Pierce?" They asked her in unison.
Storm kept her eyes on the grand sky. She wished for many things. One was to never lose the only two people she loved in her life, Jack and Hudson. But there was one thing she desired more with all her heart.
"To be forever seventeen," she said.