American Honey

by Heidi McLaughlin

  I had arrived a few days earlier and it didn’t take long for Brittany and me to fall back into our friendship almost like we had never been apart. She had gone to cosmetology school after high school and worked at a local beauty shop.

  “Grandma, do you need anything else or can I go?” I called to her. She was in the back office taking care of some paperwork.

  She got up and came out by Brittany and I. “No, I think I’m good.” She took off her glasses. “Where are you two headed?”

  I looked over at Brittany. “I don’t know for sure but she’s anxious to go get ready and get there.”

  “Isn’t it kind of early?” Grandma asked, checking her watch. “I didn’t think you young people partied until later at night.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Why do we have to go so early?” I was used to college parties that started at ten.

  “Well, we have to go to my place to get dressed and do our makeup. The guys are grilling out, so we’re eating dinner there. It’s the summer kickoff party Matt and his friends have every year,” she explained with an exasperated sigh, like I should know this stuff already.

  “I remember Mike. He used to ride his bike around everywhere,” I said, recalling the boy with hair that was so blonde it was almost white.

  Brittany nodded. “He has this party every weekend after Memorial Day. People always say Memorial Day weekend is the start of summer, but not around here. There are too many foreigners around. We consider the next weekend the official start of summer.”

  I looked over at Grandma and smiled at her words. I remembered the way the locals felt about the people that came around on the holidays. Because my grandparents lived here, they considered me a local just like they were.

  “Go on, dear.” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Have fun.”

  I grabbed my purse from behind the counter. “Ok, let’s go. Can we stop at home and get me some clothes?” I looked down at the shorts and t-shirt I had on from working all day.

  She made a face at me. “You can borrow something of mine.” She grabbed my arm and led me out the door to her truck. I climbed in and we drove to her parents. She was still living with them but hoped to move out soon. I secretly thought she was waiting until she got married to move out, but she denied it when I asked her. When we were younger, she would always talk about falling in love and getting married and having babies. She didn’t really care about a career.

  She talked the whole ride, catching me up on everyone we hung out with when we were younger. It didn’t seem like a whole lot had changed. I’d been away for so long; would I still have anything in common with them? I had to admit I was a little nervous about this party tonight.

  We arrived at Brittany’s and I was greeted warmly by her parents, both of them giving me hugs. She didn’t let me spend much time talking to them, dragging me off to her bedroom. She found me some shorts and a tank top I could wear and shooed me into the shower while she did her hair and makeup.

  When I got out of the shower, she insisted on doing my hair and makeup. I watched her in the mirror and I couldn’t help but notice how different we looked. I was about six inches taller than her while she had a fuller figure. Her hair was black and hung well past her shoulders. I had dishwater blonde hair as my grandmother called it that would get wavy in the summer heat. She had dark green eyes and mine were so brown my grandpa always teased me about being full of shit.

  “There,” she smiled and put her makeup brush down.

  I turned and looked in the mirror. “Brittany!” I exclaimed. “You did an awesome job.” My hair was pinned up in a messy bun with a few pieces framing my face. She picked out the perfect colors of eye shadow to compliment my coloring and it wasn’t too dark. She had definitely found her calling.

  “The boys will be fighting for your attention.” She crossed her arms over her chest and admired her work.

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know about that.”

  “You just wait. Besides, you’re something shiny and new to them. They’re tired of the girls that are always around. They’ll be all over you tonight, trust me.”

  We applied our lip gloss and headed out, stopping to say goodbye to Brittany’s parents. We got back into her truck, giggling and looking forward to the night out. Matt’s place was off of the main road and there were bumpy back roads that led to a shack in the middle of a big field. As expected, there were big trucks parked everywhere. I never saw trucks this big in Madison.

  Brittany found a spot to park and we checked our hair and makeup in the mirrors on the truck. “Ready?” She asked with a grin.

  I gave her a firm nod; I was as ready as I was going to be.

  As we got closer to the party, the music got louder. It was only around six PM, but things were in full swing. I looked around, not sure if I recognized anyone anymore.

  “Kara!” A girl screamed and ran up to me, embracing me in a big hug. She pulled away, holding onto me at arm’s length. “How are you?”

  I glanced over at Brittany as if to say ‘Help me!’ I had no idea who had just basically tackle hugged me.

  “Hey Missy!” Brittany said, saving me. That’s right, Missy!

  “I’m good, Missy. How are you?” I smiled at her. She never even noticed I didn’t remember her.

  “I’m great.” She hooked her arm with mine. “It’s so good to see you. It’s great you’re in town for the summer. We’re going to have such fun.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Brittany behind me. I barely remembered hanging out with Missy all those years ago. Why would I now? Brittany shrugged her shoulder and smiled at me. I had a feeling she was going to fill me in later.

  “Let’s go get a beer.” She led us over to the keg and handed me a glass. We stood in line to get our beers when someone else came up to talk to Missy, making her forget all about me. I handed Brittany a beer and we laughed.

  “Who was that?” I whispered to her, making sure Missy couldn’t hear us.

  “I thought you remembered her,” she snorted and took a drink from her cup.

  “I do. Kinda. I remember a Missy, but that’s about it,” I admitted.

  “Well, if you have something you don’t want people to find out, don’t tell her. She has the biggest mouth ever. And if you want to get the scoop on anything or anyone, ask her,” she rolled her eyes. “I try to avoid her.”

  I nodded and took a sip of my beer; it tasted so good on this warm day. I looked around the field, checking out the scene around me. There were a few couples hanging on each other and a big group of girls giggling. Next to them I caught the brownest eyes looking at me. It unnerved me and I had to turn around.

  “Who’s he?” I hissed at Brittany behind my cup.

  “Who?” She asked, looking around, getting up on her tiptoes to get a better look.

  I smacked her lightly. “Don’t be so obvious.”

  “What?” She asked, looking around more casually. “Who are you talking about?”

  “That guy over there. By the girls. He was watching me. He has on a red baseball cap and torn jeans.” I looked over at him, noticing the way his sleeveless shirt revealed very chiseled arms. I looked away quickly when I caught him watching me again. “The one that won’t stop looking at me.”

  “Oh him!” She squealed. “That’s the new guy I was telling you about. Isn’t he hot?”

  “What’s his name again?” I asked, taking a drink of my beer and trying to act all cool and casual. I had a feeling he was looking at me again, but I didn’t dare check.

  “JT. Well, someone told me it’s John Thomas, but he likes to be called JT. He moved here a month or so ago with his dad. They have an auto shop near the beauty shop.”

  “Does he have a girlfriend?” I asked.

  “Nope,” she shook her head. “At least I don’t think so. I’ve seen him at a few parties talking with some girls, but that’s it. All the girls flirt with him all the time. But he hasn’t shown any interest in any of them.” She beamed at m
e. “Until you.” She looked in his direction. “He’s still checking you out. You should go say hi.”

  “No way. I need a few more drinks before I get the nerve to do that,” I mumbled.

  “Then drink up,” she urged me, pointing to my cup.

  I made the rounds at the party, talking to all of my old friends I hadn’t seen in years. Despite not remembering Missy, I could recall everyone else there. It was great to see them and I felt bad I had fallen out of touch with everyone.

  A few beers later I was feeling more relaxed and went to refill my cup. When I was done, I turned around and ran right into JT, spilling beer all over him.

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed.

  He smiled at me and laughed. “No worries.”

  His voice was deep and sexy as hell. I stood there looking at him. “Sorry,” I muttered again and went to find Brittany to lament to her how humiliated I was. This was not the way to make a good first impression.

  Chapter Two ~ JT

  “Play It Again”

  I couldn’t stop staring at the girl with dark blonde hair that had just arrived at the party. I had been in town for a few months now and hadn’t seen her yet. Mountain was a pretty small town where everyone knew everyone else, so I’m pretty sure I would have noticed her.

  Her hair was piled high on the top of her head; I wondered how long it would be if she took it down. Her black tank top and jean shorts hugged her every curve and her legs seemed to go on for miles. I bet they would look good wrapped around my waist. From the way she ignored the way all the guys were looking at her, I bet if I said something like that to her she would smack me.

  I walked over to Chase, another guy at the party and one of the first ones to befriend me when I moved to town with my dad. He was talking to some other guys and I nudged him with my elbow. “Hey, Chase, who’s that girl?” I nodded towards her. She was laughing and her smile made my knees weak.

  “Who?” He turned to me and looked around to see who I was referring to.

  “That blonde over there in the black tank top,” I said, trying not to point. She already caught me looking at her.

  “Oh, Kara!” He said with a grin. “She’s hot, isn’t she?”

  I smiled in agreement but didn’t say anything. I was trying to play it cool. “She’s ok.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Ok, my ass.”

  “Her name is Kara?” I asked, trying to figure out how I could get him to tell me more without being obvious I was interested.

  “Yes. Her grandparents live here. They own that little diner, Moe’s.”

  I loved that place and Dad and I ate there all the time. Neither of us could cook worth a damn.

  “I haven’t noticed her,” I shrugged.

  “She just got here a couple of days ago. She lives in Madison but she’s here for the summer to help at the diner since her grandpa had knee replacement surgery.”

  “So she’s just here for the summer?” I asked and took a drink of my beer, glancing over at her over the rim of my glass. “Does she have a boyfriend?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure. From what I’ve heard, she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but I haven’t seen her in probably seven or eight years.” He looked over at her. “She was cute when we were kids, but she’s gotten fucking hot. Maybe I should go talk to her and ask her out.” He left me before I had a chance to ask any more questions. Damn, there goes my chance. Chase seemed to have a way with the ladies; every time I saw him he had a different one on his arm. It bothered me he would use her that way.

  I watched him walk over to her and my shoulders slumped when she greeted him with a hug. I chugged the rest of my beer and went to get a new one. A few girls smiled and said hi to me as I walked by them, but I wasn’t interested in any of them.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t like girls and I certainly had my fair share of dates, but I was never interested in much more. I didn’t believe in love; my dad still pined for my mom even after she left us years ago and he was miserable. I made a vow I was never going to let a female do that to me.

  I kept to myself for the most part, watching everyone around me. I made small talk with a few people and continued to watch Kara. I almost laughed out loud when I noticed the way she brushed off Chase. I loved that she was immune to his charms.

  I thought about heading home but the guys would never let me hear the end of it. It had been a long week at the shop and I had to get up to work tomorrow. It was only Dad and I and we were fortunate enough that business was good. Dad bought the shop from a friend of his. I think he was hoping if we moved from our home town, he would finally forget about Mom. I doubted it, but I wasn’t going to let him do this alone and didn’t have anything keeping me in Athlestane anyway.

  The sun was about to set and I had a good buzz going. I went over to the keg to get a beer and my heart started to pound when I saw her filling her cup. There was no one else around and this was my chance to introduce myself.

  I came up behind her and opened my mouth to say something when she turned around suddenly. She ran into me, spilling some beer over the front of my shirt. She looked at me horrified, but all I could do was laugh. “No worries.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled and scurried back over to her friend before I could say something else. I smiled and poured myself some beer. She was over with the black-haired girl she arrived with, whispering and glancing over at me. She must have been telling her what had happened.

  An hour later, the sun was down and the party was in full swing. Matt turned on some lights around the field and turned up the music. Luke Bryan’s song “That’s My Kind of Night” came on over the loud speaker and the girls all screamed and started dancing.

  Before I knew it, Kara was dancing near me. She must have forgotten our earlier run in because she was singing the song at the top of her lungs and looking at me with a smile. I couldn’t look away, loving the way she moved her body; man she looked fucking sexy swinging those hips in time to the music. The song ended and the girls all moaned in disappointment.

  “Play it again!” she cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to him.

  Matt laughed and shook his head. “Ok, but only for you this one time, City Girl.”

  She squealed and clapped her hands together, jumping up and down. Matt winked at her and soon the song was playing again. She began dancing by me again and before I knew it, she had grabbed my hand and pulled me out to dance with her.

  I panicked immediately; I didn’t dance. At all. I didn’t even like to slow dance much. I only did it sometimes to cop a feel on a girl.

  I couldn’t refuse this girl singing and holding me close. She let me go and starting grinding on me a little bit, pressing her body into me. I hoped she didn’t get close enough to feel the erection she had given me.

  The song ended and she stopped dancing. Her cheeks got red when she realized what she had just done and she stood motionless in front of me.

  “Thanks for the dance,” I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn’t be scared off like she was when she spilled her beer on me.

  “You’re welcome. Sorry to grab you like that. I love that song and I have to dance when I hear it,” she said shyly.

  “I see that,” I grinned. I noticed her cup was empty. “How about I get you a beer?”

  She laughed and nodded. “This time I’ll try not to spill it on you.”

  We walked over to the keg and had to wait in line to get our beer. Good, now I had a chance to talk to her some more.

  “My name is John Thomas but everyone calls me JT,” I introduced myself.

  “I’m Kara.”

  I held my hand out and she took it. Her small hand felt so soft in mine. “Nice to meet you, Kara.”

  “You too, JT,” she replied and I loved the way my name sounded on her lips. I wanted to hear her say it over and over again.

  “Are you from around here?” I asked her, not wanting her to know I got the scoop on her earlier from Chase.


  She shook her head. “No, I’m from Madison. My grandparents live here. They have since I was young. I used to come up here all the time, but then got busy with school and activities and was way too cool to hang out with my grandparents.” She rolled her eyes with a smile. “They own that small diner named Moe’s. I recently graduated from college and I don’t have a job yet so I was nominated to come help out because Grandpa had knee replacement surgery.” She leaned down and started to fill her cup before looking up at me with a smile and eyes as brown as rich, Belgian chocolate. “What about you? I’m pretty sure you’re not from around here either. I would have remembered you from all the time I spent here.”

  A college girl, huh? There’s no way she would be interested in me. I looked down at my hands, still dirty from work today. In fact, they were never really clean, despite the fact I washed them at least twenty times a day. This city girl probably thought being with me was slumming. I ran into girls like that before. I was fun for a weekend or a couple of months, but never anything more serious. That was always more than ok with me.

  She motioned for me to bring my cup closer and started to fill it. “My dad and I moved here a few months ago. He bought the auto shop near the beauty shop. I work there and help him run it.”

  “So you’re good with your hands, huh?” She teased me.

  “Something like that,” I flirted back.

  We stood there, an awkward silence between us. I was about to ask her more about herself when a short brunette came over breathless. “Kara! I’ve been looking all over for you. I need to talk to you.” She grabbed her hand and pulled her away from me. She turned her head and gave me a sheepish smile and a wave but I was disappointed my time with her was cut short.

  Chase came over, his hand curled into a fist, ready for a fist bump. I reached out and gave him one, not sure why. A huge grin was plastered across his face. “Dude, I saw you dancing with Kara. Nice work!”

  I shrugged, but I couldn’t hide the smile on my face. “It was nothing.”

  “Nothing? She was totally grinding on you!”