Double Time (Double Threat series)

by Prestsater, Julie

  “So are we,” Steph squeals. “That dance sucked something awful.”

  “Yeah,” Keesh adds. “It blew.”

  Yes, it did. I never realized this whole single ladies thing would separate us. It was supposed to be fun, going out with different guys. Meeting new people. But barely talking to each other at a dance is not what I had in mind.

  “Hey, Trav. I’m glad you’re here too,” I tell him as I unwrap myself from my friends.

  “Yeah, we all should’ve stayed home and saved ourselves the grief of getting all dressed up,” he says, pulling his dress shirt out from his pants and unbuttoning the cuffs before he sits down.

  Everyone plops themselves down and gets comfortable on a lounge. Josh shares one with Keesh and Steph who are on either side of them. Travis and I each get our own. He tosses me a blanket and I wrap it around my shoulders.

  “Yeah. I hate getting all frilled up. My tits feel like they’re being strangled right now.” Steph sits up, sticks her hands behind her back, and starts digging inside her dress. Seconds later, she whips out her strapless bra and tosses it over her head. It hits the fence with a slap and falls to the floor. “There. Now the girls can breathe.”

  There’s a moment of silence before we all start laughing hysterically, in utter shock that Steph sent her black lacy bra flying. Although I’m not sure what’s more shocking. The airborne undies or the black lace. The girl is definitely taking a walk on the wild side this year. This is totally out of character for her. She’s come a long way from flowered granny panties.

  I’m pleased to see Brody and Caitlyn walking hand in hand at school Monday morning after the dance. I’d hate to think I missed out on an awesome date for nothing. Oh, who am I kidding? I would have ended up staying at home watching New Kids videos with my mom. Or maybe Knocked Up. She loves the part when Ryan Seacrest does his whole spiel. It’s like two seconds long and she turns to mush every time. When that movie hits the DVD player, my dad grabs his things and heads to his room to watch TV in peace or read a book. I can’t blame him. I think I’d go a little cuckoo if my spouse was a celebrity junkie like my mom.

  When I finally make it to chemistry class, Brody is grinning from ear to ear. It’s kinda scary. I see a Slurpee and a KitKat on my desk, so I know things went very well.

  “So you’re a spoken for man again, huh?” I say.

  He stands, towering over me, and sweeps me up in a big bear hug. I slap at his arms.

  “Are you crazy?” I squawk at him. “You want Caitlyn to break up with you again?”

  He sets me down, looking confused.

  “Oh, Brode, you can’t be this clueless.” We both sit on our metal stools.

  “Why would she break up with me again?” he asks, completely puzzled.

  “Okay, I’m the girl she was jealous of. She got back with you because she didn’t want me or any other girl to have you. Now that she has you, you can’t just go hugging other girls. Not like that anyway. Limit yourself to side hugs. Like this.” I lean into his side and pat him on the back. “Now, you can put your arm on my shoulder and squeeze, but that’s it. No front hugging. You should not be pressing up against some other girl’s titties.”

  He shakes his head in distress. “This is way too complicated.” He puts his elbows on our lab counter and buries his face in his hands.

  “No, it’s not. Just be practical. And enjoy being with your girlfriend.”

  For the rest of the class, Brody drills me with questions on what’s appropriate contact with other girls. And when he should be worried about how she touches other guys. What have I done? I’ve created a monster.

  But he’s a monster in love. And if I’m not getting any lovin’, I’m glad someone is.

  Twelve

  The gang is all together at lunch, which is a rare occasion.

  The guys are always hanging on the other side of the quad with all the baseball dudes. Even though Travis doesn’t play baseball, any friend of Josh’s is a friend of theirs. And wherever Josh is, there are swarms of girls. You’d think once they talked to him, the cool factor would wear off because he’s such a goofball. But it doesn’t. The girls love him even more, no matter how many times he makes humping gestures and fart sounds with his armpits.

  So they’re here today and it’s nice to sit and chat.

  “Let’s do something this weekend. Just the five of us,” Josh says.

  “Like what?” Steph asks.

  “Strip twister?” Keesh throws out.

  Travis and I look at each other all wide-eyed. He says, “Let’s not.” I agree.

  “We can watch a movie at my house,” I offer. Dang, I’ve gotten boring.

  “How about a party?” Steph suggests. “But we go together and we leave together. No hooking up with anyone else.”

  “But we can hook up with each other?” Josh wiggles his brows.

  “Honey, that ship sailed a long time ago.” Steph flicks her hand at him, and we all laugh.

  “What? You two together?” Travis asks. I chuckle. Steph and Josh were pre-Travis.

  “Freshman year, before he met Erica and I met Dominic,” she explains.

  “And before you two were together?” Travis gestures to Josh and Keesh, and she looks away, embarrassed. “Dang, Josh, you get around.”

  Josh’s boyish grin spreads across his face, looking proud. “Can’t help it. I got skills.”

  Keesh throws her empty water bottle at him. And Steph whacks him in the chest and says, “Yeah, that’s why you wanna go out with us this weekend. Those skills are running dry.”

  “Hey, if you don’t wanna go out, that’s fine. I got plenty of girls waiting for all this.” He runs his fingers down his body.

  “Shut the hell up,” Travis tells him, chuckling. Josh pretends to look hurt for a split second and then starts laughing right along with him.

  “But no, really. I just miss us getting together. I miss you guys,” Josh says.

  “So a party it is?” I jump in before Josh has us rolling some more.

  Everyone nods. A party it is.

  Ethan told Steph about the party we’re going to tonight. I like the idea of going with the crew. Less pressure. I don’t feel the need to get all dolled up. In fact, it’s tempting to throw on a hoodie, stretchy jeans, and some Chucks so I can really get down. But I won’t. Who knows? I may run into someone I’d like to go out with later.

  “What are your plans for this evening, honey?” Mom asks.

  I flop myself down on a stool at the kitchen counter. “We’re going to a party. The football team is having a get together, and Steph is kinda dating one of them.”

  “Will parents be there? Some kind of adult supervision?” Really? She’s never asked before.

  “Wow, why you getting all parental on me?”

  “I’m serious, Megan.”

  “Yes, Mom. There are always adults at these things,” I lie. “What kind of parents let their kids have people over unsupervised?”

  Her face tenses up. “We do. Your friends are always here when we’re not home.”

  “And we’re fine, right? We’re all alive, nobody’s on drugs, and nobody’s gotten pregnant. We’re all peachy.”

  “Huh. Now I’m worried. Maybe we shouldn’t let all of you hang out without us.”

  Oh goodness. She’s killing me. “Everything is fine, Mom. It could be worse. We could be throwing our panties on stage at some boy bands.” I raise my brow at her, waiting for her response.

  She giggles at the thought. “There aren’t any boy bands nowadays worth throwing underwear at.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  “All right, well, have a good time. Just not too good. And call us if you need anything.” My mother looks worried for some reason.

  “What’s up, Mom? Why are you stressed? I’ve been to plenty of parties.”

  She bites her bottom lip. “I don’t know. It’s finally occurred to me you’re not a baby anymore. You’re almost out of h
igh school. This time next year, you’ll be applying to colleges. I just want to make sure you don’t do anything to get in the way of that. All parents worry.”

  There’s a knock at the door, and that’s my cue.

  “Don’t worry too much, okay? I promise I won’t do any body shots tonight. I’ll just stick to the beer.” I wrap my arms around her waist and squeeze as she lightly smacks me on the shoulder.

  “Keep up with the jokes, and you’ll be staying home,” she says.

  I unwrap myself from her and leave the kitchen shouting, “Bye, Mom. I’ll be back before dawn.”

  I close the front door as I hear her yell, “Megan Miller, don’t you dare.”

  This is the biggest party we’ve ever been to. It’s a huge property. Nice two-story house. Not a mansion by any means, it’s just there’s room for another three houses to fit in between the one that’s already there. Their lawn seems to stretch on forever. It must be pretty cool to live in a house where it doesn’t feel like your neighbors are right on top of you.

  The guest list for this soirée is just as massive. I thought we were going to be early, but now I’m thinking we should’ve gotten here two hours ago, like we’d need to for a midnight showing of a highly anticipated movie. Cars line up and down both sides of the street. We end up parking two blocks away.

  The music can be heard as soon as we step out of the car.

  “This is insane,” Steph says, looking around.

  We all nod in agreement.

  “Let’s hurry up and get in there before it gets broken up,” Josh tells us. He’s right. A party like this is not likely to make it past ten.

  As we get closer to the house, we can hear the chatter of people coming from all directions. I can’t make out anything in particular, but the voices are plenty.

  “Who are all these people?” Steph whispers in my ear. Clearly, they don’t all go to our school. Some look younger, some older. Some look sweet and innocent, others look downright rough and dangerous.

  Josh and Travis give each other a nervous look that I’m fairly sure I wasn’t supposed to notice. They sandwich us girls between them as we walk into the party. Cute. They’re protective.

  The music isn’t my favorite. When I go out, I want to dance. Shake it with my girls, get playful and dirty sometimes. Or if I’m dancing with a guy, I want to feel the rhythm of his body moving next to mine. I sure as heck don’t want to be jumping all over the place, shuffling all night. It’s fun for like two seconds but gets old real quick.

  When we make it to the backyard, or should I say gigantic meadow, that’s what these fools are doing. A bunch of guys are stomping all over the patio, sliding from one side to the next, bouncing on their knees and back up again. Girls are holding drinks, just watching. A few girls join them.

  When did this become the fad? Last year, we were all bumpin’ and grindin’ and practically dry humping on the dance floor. This year, it’s like a game to see who can bust a kneecap the fastest pounding on the ground. No offense to these expert shufflers, but I’d rather take my boys out there and get busy.

  “I’m not going to stand here all night and watch this,” I tell them when we finally come to a stop.

  “Me neither,” Keesh says. “I wanna dance too.”

  “You mean you don’t want to watch these guys play ‘my dick is bigger than yours’ with all their tricks?” Travis asks, making us all laugh.

  “How are you supposed to get any action dancing like that?” Josh adds.

  True. Yet we all bolt ourselves to the ground and continue to be entranced by this fish-out-of-water skipping routine.

  I’m waiting for them to play I’m Sexy and I Know It so I can at least sing along.

  “This isn’t what I had in mind,” Steph grumbles.

  “Come on,” Travis tells her. “Let’s go find some drinks.”

  Surprisingly, she follows him. Maybe tonight’s the night. She’s finally going to let her hair down and have the same kind of fun Keesh and I have been having for the last two years.

  “I thought Travis was driving,” I say to Josh.

  His eyes go wide. “Oh, he is.”

  Steph and Travis come back with a red plastic cup for each of us.

  “They’re charging three bucks a beer. Shots are five,” Steph mutters.

  “So beer it is,” I tell them.

  Travis and Steph nod.

  Keesh and I each take one and toast each other. “To beer breath,” I shout.

  I toss back the stinky brew as quickly as possible. No need to nurse the thing. If I want a buzz, it has to come quick because I’m not dishing out a lot of money for this dirty water and I sure as heck am not going to keep tasting the mud. I don’t know how Josh does it.

  He finishes his first beer with a loud burp.

  “Nice, Joshie,” Keesh tells him. “Very sexy.”

  “Not trying to be. It’s just us tonight, remember. None of you are gonna put out so I can let it rip all night.”

  “Just don’t let it rip from the other end, all right?” Steph snaps at him.

  “I’ll try,” he says, throwing an arm around her. Steph fights him at first but eventually settles in next to him.

  Two beers later, the music finally changes from techno to hip-hop. I’m relieved. Without saying a thing, I grab Travis by his shirt and drag him to the patio to dance. The others follow, tossing empty cups in a trash bin along the way.

  Steph takes the lead and parts the crowd so we have a little space. The patio went from just a few stomping fools to a can of packed sardines. I keep getting bumped by the person behind me. I turn around and all I see is a big mess of blonde hair. It smells burnt. Someone’s flat iron was too hot.

  The crowd lets up and we carve out a bit more space to move around in. But the bumping still continues. I try backing up into this chick to give her a hint.

  “What’s wrong?” Josh asks.

  I gesture behind me, just as this beeyotch bumps me again.

  Josh puts his hand over his mouth, and Travis pulls me closer to him.

  As tempting as it is to turn around and say something, I haven’t had that much to drink yet and I’ve never been one to start anything.

  Apparently, Steph has had enough because she pushes me out of the way and taps the girl on the shoulder.

  “You need to back the fuck up and stop pushing my friend,” she shouts.

  Oh shit.

  The girl turns, whipping her long yellow hair around and slapping Steph in the face with a few strands.

  “Bite me, Stephanie. Are you Meggie’s bodyguard now?” Amy shouts back.

  “She should’ve kicked your ass a long time ago but since she didn’t, I’ll do it for her.” Steph flips a scrunchie off her wrists and starts tying up her hair.

  “Whoa, Steph, just chill,” Keesh says.

  I jump in front of her. “Thanks, Stephie, but this really isn’t necessary. She’s not worth our time.” And she’s really not. I don’t know why she continues to insert herself into our lives in any way she can. It’s pathetic.

  “Oh god, Meg, you’re such a wimp. ‘She’s not worth it,’” Amy squeals, mocking me. She’s obviously drunk. Her eyes are glazed over and her nose is all rosy.

  “Yeah, well, you’re a bad drunk,” I tell her. Thankfully, I’m sober as hell now, or I might just sock her.

  “Fuck you,” Amy slurs, and then pulls back an arm to swing at me.

  Whoa. Shit. Is she kidding me?

  Before her fist connects with the side of my face, Josh catches her by the wrist, and Steph punches her in the jaw.

  Oh shit. Oh shit.

  People start to gather as Amy and Steph start swinging for the fences. Voices get louder, but I can’t make out what anyone is saying. I try to stick myself between them, and Travis tries to get a hold of Steph. Arms are still flying. Amy has a fistful of Steph’s hair. So much for putting it up. Then, one of Amy’s friends grabs Steph. Oh, hell no. Keesh jumps in before I can and starts
pushing that bitch back. Amy scratches my neck while I continue to try and part these ultimate fighters.

  “Come on, knock it off,” I scream at them.

  Ow. Ouch. Son of a fucking bitch, she’s pulling my hair. She’s seriously pulling my hair. My scalp burns and my eyes start to water. So I do what any other girl would do. I grab a handful of her precious hair and yank on it with as much force as I can.

  Amy falls to the floor, and I stand there with a row of blonde extensions in my hand. It’s like time freezes. Keesh and the other chick stop fighting. Steph is right next to me breathing hard, huffing and puffing. And all eyes are on Amy.

  I toss the horse hair at her. “Who’s the wimp now, bitch?” I yell at her.

  Roars of laughter belt out. Travis whisks me away, with Josh and my girls not too far behind.

  We’re back in the car driving away before anyone speaks.

  “Do me a favor, ladies. Next time you start a brawl, wait for me to get the mud ready,” Josh says through giggles.

  “Omigod, we just got in a fight,” I say.

  Steph is shaking her head. “I know. That was crazy. I’m sorry, ya’ll.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Travis tells her, looking in his rearview mirror. “That was the most fun we’ve had all year.”

  “Right,” Keesh says.

  “Are you guys okay?” he asks.

  Josh turns around to inspect us. The goofy grin on his face makes me laugh inside. I know he’s concerned but he’s even more amused.

  “Steph, you have a little scratch on your cheek,” he tells her, reaching out his hand.

  She slaps it away. “Don’t touch it. I swear, if it scars, I’m gonna kick her ass again.” She pauses. “I did kick her ass, right?” She flits her eyes to each of us quickly.

  “Hell yes,” Travis shouts. Keesh pats her leg, nodding.

  “Not a scratch on you, Keesh,” Josh tells her. “You either, Megster.”

  “My head hurts though.” I rub the side of my head where Amy pulled on a handful of hair. “And my neck stings.” I pull my hair to the side.