Wilson Mooney, Almost Eighteen

by Gretchen de La O

  “There you are, Wilson. Are you packed?” Cindy grabbed my arm; I shuffled and tripped as she pulled me back into my room.

  “Whoa, I just have a little more to go.” I told her. She went to close my door, peering around. Come to think of it, she was acting super weird. “What’s up with you?” I didn’t complain because at least she was being preoccupied.

  “I don’t want someone to find me.” She stared into my eyes before she turned to the pile of wrinkled clothes on my bed. “He was a lot better looking last night,” she whispered under her breath, but loud enough to hear.

  “Who is this someone and how much did you drink last night?” I followed her.

  “The someone is Alec, his last name is not important, and to answer your second question, way too much.” She grabbed my duffel bag and started stuffing my clothes inside. “Why do I end up with the strays?” She focused on my bag. “It’s not like I plan it; most of the time it just happens. We start dancing, I get excited, and boom, I end up sleeping with the guy.” She looked at me, I just shrugged my shoulders.

  “I need to be more selective like you.” She balled up my favorite green shirt and shoved it into my bag. “I bet you can count on one hand how many guys you’ve been with.” She looked up at me, waiting for me to answer.

  I’ve never been one to kiss and tell. The only person who knew anything about my whole world was Joanie. Now, suddenly, Cindy wanted me to talk? The only problem was I couldn’t even count on one hand because, technically, I was still a virgin.

  “Yeah, one hand.” I grabbed a pair of my jeans and rolled them up. Something, anything, to keep my hands busy and my mind clear to handle the next bullet she was going to fire at me.

  “So do I know him?” She stopped twisting my clothes.

  “Who?” I snatched another pair of pants, shaking them up in front of me before rolling them up.

  “Wilson, come on. We’re bonding here.” She tossed my shirt down. “Okay, fine, my first was this guy, Robert. We met at summer camp my ninth-grade year. He was a camp counselor for the younger boy’s group. He and I flirted all week, talked about stupid things. The last night, there was a dance. We snuck out to his car. Did you know Mini Coopers had back seats?”

  Too much information! I didn’t really want to know about Cindy’s first time in the back of a Mini. As a matter of fact I wish she would leave so I could pack my on stuff and wallow in the self pity of my major loss. No such luck.

  “No, never really paid much attention to whether a Mini had a backseat,” I mumbled.

  “Well, it wasn’t the most comfortable way to—you know. Anyway, after that, I vowed to never date a guy with a Mini anything again.” She laughed and held up her index finger and thumb apart about two inches. “So how ’bout you?” she pushed.

  What was I going to say? I don’t have a ‘Mini’ story or a one night stand I regret. I’m a virgin who’s come so close that I feel like I should be an honorary member of the ‘de-flowered’ club. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to join. I just didn’t have a valid membership for another twenty-eight days. Don’t even think about driving until you’re sixteen, can’t vote until you’re eighteen, and no drinking until twenty-one. Oh, and by the way, no sex with Max for another six hundred and seventy two hours. Problem was, other girls around me were joining that club long before I even considered it.

  I cleared my throat to come up with some random excuse to change the subject when Nick pounded on my door.

  “Wilson, we need to get a move on. It’s after nine. Cindy in there with you?” His fingers tapped on the door so fast it was completely frickin’ annoying. But I was grateful he distracted us from that conversation. Cindy pulled the door open a crack to see him.

  “Is he gone?” she asked low.

  “Who?” Nick’s voice broke with a high pitch.

  “He was here last night.” She pulled the door open wide. Nick looked back at me. His eyes bounced between Cindy and me. He swallowed hard. His eyebrows curved down, his jaw tightened with worry lines faint on his forehead. I couldn’t take the chance he would say the wrong thing.

  “Alec. Right?” I said, looking at Cindy and shaking my head yes before I looked back at Nick, hoping he wouldn’t say anything about Max being here. “The guy that came home with her last night,” I continued to coach him.

  “That guy? Yeah he left awhile ago. Where did you find him?” His eyes grew wide and he gave Cindy a cocky smile. He must have been used to her repeating the same pattern in Aspen. “Let me guess, the Polaris? The club where, if you are a somebody, you’d be there.” He laughed.

  “Very funny, Nick; keep laughing—jerk. At least I can bring someone home, unlike you.” She wrenched her nose at him. “Wilson, you need to hurry up. We’re going to be late. Nick, make yourself useful, grab my bags for me.” She pushed past him.

  “That’s why I can’t stand her. She is such a bitch.” He sat on my bed next to my duffel bag.

  “Well, she’s leaving so you’ll get a little break from her.” I shoved the rest of my clothes into my bag and grabbed the miscellaneous things I had lying around. I really didn’t feel like entertaining him while I finished packing. I just wanted to move on.

  “I wanted to catch up with you before we get stuck in the car with Cindy for four-plus hours. Even though we just met, I feel a connection with you.”

  Oh, great, here we go. I like Nick as a friend, that’s it. Why now? My whole life—nothing. Now that I really like a guy, suddenly all these others start to come out of nowhere. I have to break this to him easy.

  “I feel like I need to look after you. I know, a little strange, but I was thinking this morning I should have found out if you were okay last night. And well, I didn’t, so I’m sorry.” He looked down at the floor. I was totally confused.

  “Why are you sorry? I was fine last night. You’re too sweet.” I stood in front of him and ruffed up his hair. He caught me around my waist and lifted his body up against mine, his eyes smoldering. He pushed his hands against my face. Tangling his fingers into my hair, his lips pressed unyieldingly against mine. I pushed him away. Oh God—what just happened? Not a good thing. Wrong message, total miscommunication here, we were on completely different pages. I didn’t think of him that way. I rubbed the back of my hand at my lips.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.” Nick took a step toward me. His eyes constricted, his face raced to a light shade of crimson.

  “Nick, please don’t go there with me,” I whispered, stepping back holding my hand out for him to stop.

  “I had to see if there was a chance you’d feel the same.” He lowered his eyes to the floor before he sized up my body. “Wilson, tell me I don’t have a chance, and I will leave you alone.” His eyes met mine. It must have taken everything inside of him to do what he did.

  “Nick, I really like you, as a friend. But there is no chance for you and me.” I made sure to keep space between us. Damn it, I didn’t want this. I wanted to be his friend. Now everything was awkward and I had a four-hour drive with him.

  “So this thing with Calvin’s brother is pretty serious?” He shifted his stance and brought his hands to his waist.

  “Yeah, it is. But I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to Cindy about it.”

  “Don’t say anything to me about what?” Cindy piped up as she closed the door.

  My heart dropped to my feet. Every ounce of blood that flowed through my body drained to my legs. Chills vibrated across my spine and down through my arms. I kept looking at Nick, waiting for him to pounce on the opportunity to expose everything he knew about Max and me to Cindy. Nick took a breath and started telling her what happened.

  “I kissed Wilson.” He stepped away from her. She turned really fast toward me. “She didn’t kiss me back. I guess I’m not the one for her.”

  “Damn straight you’re not. What the hell were you thinking? Stay away from my friends, Nick.” Cindy’s face burned dark red as she looked into my eyes.
“Don’t tell me, you’re into him.” She flung her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to Nick.

  “No, we’re just friends. Nothing happened between us.” I felt relief spread throughout my entire body.

  “Good. Because if you were, I’d have to really rethink our friendship. There’s not one thing you could say that would make that okay.” Cindy twisted her body to stand between us.

  “Oh come on, Cindy, like you’re this great catch. Give me a break. You can’t even keep anyone long enough to learn their last name,” Nick spewed as he headed for the bedroom door.

  “Screw you, Nick,” Cindy blurted out. Her body heaved and waned with such hatred, it made me glad I was an only child.

  “No thanks, I don’t screw skanks.” He flipped her off and turned to me. “Sorry I can’t drive you to Denver.” He left.

  I had to take a moment. Guilt started swelling from deep down, bulging and overflowing my conscience. This whole argument had started because of me. I’ve got to fix it. I can’t have this on my head.

  “Wait, Nick.” I ran after him. He was already down the stairs and heading out the front door.

  “No, Wilson, I’m not waiting. I’m done with waiting. All my life I’ve waited; not anymore. Go back to your friend.” He turned and walked out the front door.

  I stood unmoved and mortified. He’d saved me from the heat by throwing himself in the fire, and now there was nothing I could do to change it. I turned to go back upstairs to finish packing.

  Cindy held her hands tight on her waist, “If he thinks he can talk to me that way and get away with it, he is so mistaken.”

  “I’ve got to finish packing. Give me a couple minutes.” I passed her at the top of the stairs and closed the door to my room.

  I just wanted to throw myself down and cry, but I only had a few more minutes before we had to be on the road. I figured I was the next in line to drive. I was already beat from staying up all night with Max, and now I was going to drive for four hours. Not my idea of a good start to the day. Especially when all I wanted to do was sit in the backseat, close my eyes, and relive my weekend with Max.

  “Come on, Wilson, we’ve gotta go,” Cindy whined as she banged on my door.

  I grabbed my duffel bag—it was packed so crappily I could barely zip it closed.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I told her, struggling and tripping as my duffel bag bounced off my leg. She rolled her suitcase down the stairs. Bang, bang, bang. I wished she would have just picked it up. Her demeanor was silent and cold. No doubt it was my punishment for Nick kissing me. She opened the front door and rolled down the stone steps. Bang, bang, bang. I wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing so when she stopped, I ran into her.

  “What is he doing in the car?” She pointed to the Sequoia. Nick was waiting in the driver’s seat. “I am NOT getting in the car with him. You can drive us, Wilson.” She didn’t move.

  “No, I can’t drive. I’m exhausted and I don’t know my way around. Come on, Cindy, give him a break.” I walked past her and threw my bag in the back. Cindy followed.

  “I’m only doing this because you rejected him.” She tossed her suitcase into the back and got into the car. I opened my door and slipped in behind Nick. Not one word was muttered between any of us. He put the car in gear, Cindy plugged her ears with American Idol music from her iPhone, and I pulled the hood up on Max’s sweatshirt. Wrapping my arms around myself, I closed my eyes. Four hours of silence. Wouldn’t that be nice?

  chapter twenty-five:

  The sway of the car put me to sleep. The smell of Max on his sweatshirt as I held the sleeves to my nose took over my mind. I saw his eyes, filled with lust. We were at school in his class. Nobody was in the classroom with us; just him and me. He had on tight black jeans with a black T-shirt that showed every muscle. He was wearing the sweatshirt I had on and the hood was over his head. He was standing at the board, wiping them clean.

  “Hey, that’s my job,” I told him, grabbing for the eraser. He held it in the air, too high for me to reach.

  “Not anymore,” he whispered into my ear and wrapped his hand around my waist.

  “Hey, you’re going to get us in trouble. Remember, no touching.” I pushed him away just enough to tease him. I had on a very short, pleated black skirt with red stiletto heels and a real low cut, white V-neck top.

  “No, I won’t. Not anymore. I took care of it. Now we don’t have to hide, ever again.” He pulled me close and I breathed him in.

  His lips found my exposed skin right above my heart. His hand slid softly up the back of my thigh under my skirt. It was such a turn-on to make out with him in his classroom. He pushed me against his desk. I pulled my hands from his hair and yanked at his jeans; he didn’t stop me this time. He pulled my legs apart and lifted me onto his desk. My hands lost his buttons for a moment until he pushed his body between my knees. His lips pressed, kissing gently, against mine. I pushed at his jeans, sliding my left hand down in between his skin and boxers; it caught on the waist band. Pressure cut across one of my fingers. The more I tried to push my hand down into his pants the more my finger hurt. I pulled my hand from the back of his jeans. It was a huge diamond ring set in a white gold band half as thick as the space between my knuckles. My mouth dried, my heart galloped, and my eyes flooded.

  “What’s wrong, Mrs. Wilson Goldstein?” He smiled with his smoldering eyes, proud to be calling me the name I’d practiced for months.

  My breath caught hard as I swallowed the images of what I hoped for someday. My eyes sprang open and I was in the backseat of the Sequoia. It took me a moment to realize Cindy was asleep with her ears plugged next to me and Nick was swerving, taking us off the road to a gas station.

  My heart pumped blood so fast through my body, I swear I had none in my head when the car rolled to a stop. Light-headed, what had I just seen? I thrust my hands in front of my eyes and focused: nothing, no ring. A wave of fatigue flooded my body.

  “I have to stop,” Nick was short. I kept squeezing my eyes shut and reopening them. “Are you okay?” He stood between his door and the front seat, looking back at me. The freezing air replaced the warm as it swirled around us.

  “Yeah, I guess. I think I should get something to drink.” I still was in the dazed fog of a dream I wanted to remember.

  “What do you want? I’ll get it. I’d rather do it so we can get on the road faster,” he came off bothered.

  “A Coke. Thank you.” He slammed the door, not asking Cindy if she wanted anything.

  “Where are we? Why are we stopped?” Cindy woke up. She pulled her earphones from her head.

  “I don’t know. Nick needed to stop and get something to drink,” I told her.

  “What time is it?” She checked her iPhone. “Eleven fifty-five. I’ve been asleep over two hours?” She stretched her arms above her head.

  Great, she is awake now and we still have another two-plus hours to get to Denver. Find the happy place Max took you to and live there now, Wilson.

  “Is Nick all wigged out? He can be such an ass.” Cindy wrapped her earphones around the back of her neck.

  “I don’t know. I was asleep, too.” I pushed the sleeves of Max’s sweatshirt up my forearms. I didn’t want to be put in the middle of Cindy and Nick’s dysfunctional relationship. My door swung open; startled, I just about jumped out of my skin.

  “Here, Wilson.” He pushed a Coke at me. I thanked him and he slammed the door. He shuffled to the front driver’s door, slid in, and didn’t say another word.

  I looked over at Cindy and mouthed. “I think he’s still pissed.”

  “Whatever!” she said out loud.

  I looked up into the rearview mirror to see his reaction. He glanced at me, leaned forward, and turned the Green Day song up on the radio.

  “Do you know your enemy, your enemy,” repeated over and over. He definitely made sure Cindy heard the chorus of the song.

  In minutes we were back on the road. I wish I had my iPod to help
me escape the one-sided conversation Cindy insisted on having.

  “Wilson, where did you get that sweatshirt? I’ve never seen you wear it before.” She stared at me, almost like she was waiting for a lame excuse to cross my lips. “Don’t tell me it’s Nick’s. I know for sure you didn’t have it before you came to Aspen.” She pushed her earphones into her ears, not waiting for my answer.

  I didn’t even bother speaking, just turned and looked out my window. The white-frosted, whipped mountains speckled with sharp evergreen pines and earth brown jagged boulders made me think of my grandparents; I missed them. I rolled toward the door, wrapped my arm under my head, and closed my eyes. I wanted to think about Max. Instead, I fell asleep.

  “Wilson. Hey, wake up, we’re here.” I felt something tap my leg. I felt the muscles in my back pull up through my shoulder blades as I stretched.

  Cindy grabbed her bag from the floor. I wanted to be motivated to get to my flight, but something inside me clicked into slow motion. I guess it was the fact that, the sooner I left Colorado, the sooner my weekend would fade into a memory. The flutter of the first butterflies Max freed in my body would become dull reminiscences of empty cocoons, and I wasn’t really ready for that.

  My phone vibrated with a message. My heart leaped into my throat. It had to be from him…it was about time! As I pulled it from my pocket, my hands shook. Cindy had already closed the door and was pulling her suitcase from the back of the Sequoia. I unlocked the keys and waited to see what he’d texted me. A flood of disappointment reigned heavily across my body. It wasn’t from Max, it was from Joanie.

  WHEN R U BAK? CAN’T W8 2 HEAR ABOUT UR WKND W/MG! MISSED U.

  Don’t get me wrong; I was glad she was thinking of me and I was happy she texted me, but it wasn’t Max.

  MISSED U 2 @ AIRPRT NOW - FLT LEVS @ 3:15. C U ASAP. LOTS 2 TELL, I sent back. I went to the rear of the car where Cindy was still standing and grabbed my duffel bag. My phone chimed again.