"Oof!" I huffed as something large and velvety kept hitting my face. I opened my eyes to see the annoyed expression on Brittany's face as she held a pillow above her head ready to whack me with it again.
"About time!" she said as she tossed the pillow back onto my bed and took a seat at my desk chair.
"Why are you here so early?" I mumbled, still groggy from just waking up.
Britt just laughed, "Early? Hun, it's one in the afternoon."
"Oops" I got up and walked into the bathroom to fix myself up. I have this tiny habit of sleeping in on weekends. Okay, okay so its a horrible habit, and I'm usually passed out till early afternoon. I need my beauty sleep, so sue me.
"How long have you been here?" I slurred with a mouth full of toothpaste.
"Just got here. I think I saw Matt and your brother downstairs too." For some odd reason, Britt is the only person I know that can understand me when I'm brushing my teeth or have a mouth full of food.
"Great." I mumbled and then rinsed.
"Also, I made appointments for four o'clock at Chic C'est la Vie for us."
"Sounds good" I replied, walking back into the bedroom to pull on a black tank top and some denim shorts. “The sooner we get this project over with, the better.”
Two hours and six long Shakespeare plays later, Britt, Matt, and I found ourselves sitting at the kitchen table with books, notes, highlighters, and still no idea for our scene.
“Okay can we just take a break, if I have to read another paragraph about how Helena wants Demetrius to treat her like a dog, I think my head is going to explode,” Britt complained as she trudged into the living room where Ben was watching TV.
Matt and I sighed and followed suit. “Yeah, but we have to chose our scene by Monday so Mrs. Ross can approve, otherwise we get…” Matt trailed off. “Dude, you’ve been watching an Amanda Bynes movie…by yourself?” he chuckled.
“Shut up. It was either this or Bring It On, and at least this movie has soccer in it” he said glaring at Matt.
“Oh my gosh I love Bring It On!” Britt squealed next to him and I couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. Leave it to a cheerleader to get that excited about Bring It On. I’m not going to lie, even I know most of the lines in that movie. Don’t judge, I’m a cheerleader.
“Hey, this is that movie! Oh what’s it called again Jen?” Britt asked.
“She’s The Man” I answered for what would be about the 100th time. You see, whenever Brittany would get into a fight with her boyfriend Kyle, or when Brooke would have guy problems, we would always have a typical storybook ‘girls night’ to eat our emotions away and get lost in romantic comedies with happy endings.
This movie was just one of the usual 'go-to' films for our girls nights and Britt could never remember the name of it. Yet it escapes me how she can memorize every line in Bring It On. I only hope she can do the same with our Shakespeare scene.
After about five minutes of spacing out on my part, Matt suddenly speaks up, “Wait a sec, that dude’s name is Duke Orsino…and the blonde chick is Olivia…and the main girl is called Viola…” aah, so he’s putting two and two together now. Only took him five minutes.
“Yeah that sounds totally familiar. Do we have a Duke Orsino at our school or something, Jen?” Britt asked.
I gave her a ‘you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me’ look, “Wow, Brittany. You just re-defined dumb-blonde”
Ben grunted and roughly poked me in the ribs with his elbow while Britt shot me a ‘you’re-the-idiot-here’ look and replied “Uhh, I’m a brunette, Jen” with a slow, clear emphasis on the word ‘brunette’.
I heard Matt try to stifle a laugh from behind me. “I think what Matt is getting at is that this movie was based off of the Shakespeare play, ‘The Twelfth Night’.”
“OOH! That’s why it sounded so familiar” Britt said as realization hit her. “We should totally do this play for our scene!”
“I agree!” Matt said with the hint of an evil glint in his eye.
I blanched. It was then that I realized that whichever way this scene plays out (no pun intended), one of us is going to be ‘in love’ with Matt, while the other is going to be the one he’s ‘in love’ with. The universe hates me.
“Alright, spill.” Danté, the gay beautician at Chic C’est La Vie, said to us the minute Britt and I sat in the pedicure chairs.
We both laughed, “Would you like to go first, or shall I?” asked Britt.
“Ooh! Double drama? I want in!” Chloe, the owner of the salon said as she came prancing over to us.
Danté and Chloe have been working here since the place first opened, and are frankly, the best part of our spa days. They always cheer Britt and me up, when we come to see them, and they’re always anxious to hear about all our drama.
“Ooh.” Chloe and Danté said cryptically after I told them all about this week’s encounters with Matt.
“Well…it could be worse” Chloe tried to console me. I just laughed dryly. “I mean it! At least he’s not acting like a total dic—uh…butthead to you! It sounds like he’s being pretty nice and dare I say genuine, so far.”
Danté shook his head and laughed, “I’m sorry hun, but you lost me at butthead...”
“What! I have a 2-year-old at home! I can’t be throwing around no-no words left and right, you know!” she defended.
“Okay, okay, no more 'no-no words'.” Danté said as he attempted to stop laughing.
“Whatever, Dee” she sighed, and then turned to Britt. “Now what’s got you all quiet and thoughtful? You’re usually Little Miss Motor Mouth.”
This caught my attention. I’ve been itching to know what’s been bothering Britt all week. The only time she seems genuinely happy is during 6th period when we’re out of class. Maybe she’s not doing so hot in school. If she just asked, I could help her with her classes, but Britt has always had too much damn pride.
She let out a dramatic sigh, “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about things lately…things having to do with Kyle” she said with a guilty tone.
“Hold the phone. Are you thinking about breaking up with the boy?” Danté asked incredulously. Britt and Kyle have been a couple for as long as I’ve known them. Which is like forever. Longer than Dylan and I, and that’s saying something.
“Did he hurt you! OOH! That boy!” Chloe started getting worked up.
“No! No! He didn’t do anything. That’s just the thing. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think he’s the one for me. Not anymore at least” she explained. “Is it possible to just randomly fall out of love with someone?”
“Girl I know what you mean. My sister’s roommate’s ex-boyfriend’s cousin just got divorced, and from what I hear, it came out of the blue! Nobody cheated, nobody fell in love with someone else, nobody got into a fight. They just realized they didn’t love each other anymore in the way they used to. It’s sad, and it’s rare, but it is what it is darling” Danté explained. Man, that boy can gossip.
“Gosh, I hope that’s not the case. I just don’t know what I feel right now.” Britt said examining her fresh manicure.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Danté and Chloe expertly cheering us up like they always do when we come to visit, and Britt and I returned home feeling refreshed, happy, and relaxed. Unfortunately the relaxed feeling would only last about another hour before my house became party-central.
_____________________________________________________________
I slid my phone out from between my cleavage to check the time. Not the classiest thing, I know, but my strapless black dress was pretty darn tight, and didn’t have any pockets. Admit it, you’d do the same.
10:52pm and the party was in full swing. I heard something crash in the kitchen, and I let out a frustrated huff as I trudged in that direction to do damage control.
Parties were never really my thing. That might sound hypocritical, considering I’ve probably been to more parties in my high school career alone than Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan combined have attended in their lives. But in all honesty, the only reason I go to parties is because Dylan convinces me to. Or at least that’s how it started out in freshman year.
Once we hit junior year, he loosened the leash with me a bit at parties, so I got the chance to socialize with more people rather than have my drunken quarterback boyfriend grind up on me all night (not that I’m complaining). But once I started to get to know more people outside our little circle, TA-DA! I became student body president. So I guess it’s kind of in my job description as a ‘Popular’ to make an appearance at all the good parties. Granted, this one is my own, but I’m mostly doing it for Ben…and I guess also for the fifty other kids that decided to show up tonight.
“Dude, round two! Round two!” some guy yelled as I entered the kitchen. Turns out a couple of football guys thought it would be smart to have a very drunk Vicky (way to represent the cheer squad, Vicks) get on the counter for body shots. And of course, very-drunk-Vicky falls off the counter. I just rolled my eyes and walked away laughing. I never really liked her anyway.
As I passed the living room I noticed my brother and some other guys absorbed in a very sloppy game of beer pong. Once Ben tossed the ping pong, he stumbled and fell onto the table. Yep, he’s wasted.
Alright, so since Ben was pretty much useless to me, I continued my search for the second best person to assist me with damage control and cleanup, Brittany.
I spotted her in the hallway chatting with a few guys that were vaguely familiar. I think they might have been Ben’s friends.
I walked up to her and grabbed the cup from out of her hand and took a big gulp of whatever was inside. Vodka and cranberry juice. Britt always liked to make her own fruity drinks. The juice kind of masked the bitter burn of the vodka, but it was still strong enough to give me a little kick.
“Is this your first one of these?” I asked her.
“Second” she said taking the cup back and sipping it.
“Don’t get too smashed, okay?” I don’t know why I told her that, Britt only gets tipsy at house parties, never drunk. She doesn’t want to risk—as she says, “looking like a dumb, slutty ho bag” in front of everyone. Smart girl.
“I won’t, don’t worry” she said and turned back to the guys she was talking to, and I was immediately tackled from behind as I was twisted into an awkward, bone-crushing hug.
“Heeeeeeeey baaaybey!” I heard the slurred voice mumble from behind me right after I smelled an overpowering scent of alcohol mixed with…more alcohol.
“Hi Dylan, you having fun?” I kissed his cheek to avoid a sloppy alcohol-tasting kiss on the lips.
“HEEEELL YEEEEEAH!!” He yelled and pulled me into his chest again.
I wiggled to get into a more comfortable position (and also to avoid my dress from riding too far up). “I should go clean up around the house a little bit. I don’t want to have too tough of a job tomorrow morning.”
“Okaaaaay” he pouted, letting me go. “I luuuuuve you baaaaybe” he slurred and then gave me the same adorable shy pouty smile that never fails to win me over.
“Love you too” I smiled and kissed his cheek again, still not wanting to taste his alcohol lips.
I heard some guy shout, "Yo! Dylan! Check this out!" and in an instant Dylan was stumbling into the other room.
I picked up a few stray cups, bottles, and cans around the house, and then headed upstairs to assess the damage and make sure my parents’, Ben’s, and my bedroom doors remained locked.
My number one rule about house parties has always been that the only rooms that weren’t locked were the bathrooms.
I found a pack of unopened (thank God) condoms strewn on the bathroom counter, and quickly shoved them into the trash bag I was carrying. Really, people? Sex in my bathroom? Well at least they were using protection...
As I was exiting the bathroom I heard a male voice coming from the direction of Ben’s room shout “Aww YES!”
Curiously I peeked around the corner and noticed his door was open a crack. Oh GREAT! Now I have to walk in on a couple getting it on and kick them out. I’m definitely not telling Ben that.
As I got closer I heard the sound of the TV on. Well that’s kind of weird. What the heck are they doing in there?
I nudged the door open with my foot, and the view that greeted me was both relieving and also the last thing I wanted to see at the moment.
“Oh, hey Jenny! What are you doing up here?” He smiled his adorable thousand-watt smile that never ceased to make my knees wobble and my stomach flutter.
Damn that boy.