As we pulled up to the house, I saw a sea of cars outside and heard music. I just knew it was going to be fun. Looking back, I don’t know if I would describe it as fun. It was certainly interesting, though. After that night, a lot changed for all of us. Four invisible sixteen year olds walked into that house, and four very noticeable men were going to walk out of it.
Chapter 8
Fight!
When we went inside, I quickly got the guys involved in a few drinking games. I figured it would loosen them up a little, and people can’t help but talk to you when you’re involved in an active thing. It seemed to be working. They were actually talking to people. Stan might have been enjoying his drink a little too much, but I wasn’t judging. I was just glad to be there instead of sitting in Mike’s bedroom.
Time passed slowly as I sipped my drink and got to know a few new people. Finally, what I had been hoping for happened. Olivia walked in. There was one minor problem. Richard was with her. I wanted to approach them, but I didn’t need to start any trouble. Eventually, I decided to say hello. After all, there wouldn’t be any harm in that, would there?
“Hey, Olivia. It’s nice to see you. Let me get you a drink,” I said and grabbed a cup off the kitchen counter.
“That’s all right. We were just leaving,” Richard said while glaring at me.
“What are you talking about? We just got here. I’ll take that drink. Get something for Richard, too, if you don’t mind,” Olivia said.
I nodded and got them a couple of drinks. I won’t lie. I was tempted to do something to Richard’s, but I didn’t. Wasn’t it already enough that I was kind of in a secret . . . um something with his girlfriend? If I were him, I probably would have hated me, too.
“Here you go,” I said and handed them their drinks.
Olivia thanked me, and we exchanged pleasantries for a minute. Olivia had heard about our exchange in the parking lot, and she said that we should try to be friends. She had done her best to convince Richard that nothing was going on, and he acted like he believed her. As she went to talk to a friend, he told me exactly what he thought, though.
“What part of stay away from Olivia don’t you understand?” he asked.
“What part of no don’t you get? She’s my friend, and I’m not avoiding her because you have control issues. Everyone might kiss your ass in this town but not me. If you’ve got a problem, get over it.”
“I’m actually a nice guy, Eric. You can do just about anything to me, and I won’t care. You don’t mess with my girl, though.”
“What happens if I do?”
“Then you’ll be lucky if you’re still breathing afterward. I guess I shouldn’t worry so much, though. It’s not like she would ever be stupid enough to show interest in a creep like you,” he said and started to walk away. That last comment bothered me, though. I knew I didn’t need to respond, but I had to.
“Hey, Richard, I wish you had told me that before because it’s a little too late for me to not mess with your girl.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“For starters, she was my first kiss a couple of years ago. We shared the best week of my life back then.”
“She told me that you dated a long time ago. Do you think that worries me? So what? She decided to spend some time with you a few winters ago while she had nothing better to do. Face it. You can want, and you can stare. You can even talk to her when I’m not around, but she’s never going to see you as more than you are.”
“And exactly what do you think I am?”
“A loser. She told me about why you’re in town. You come from trash, and you have nothing that makes you anything special. Those losers you’ve been hanging out with tonight . . . you belong with them. You’re no one from nowhere, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.”
“Okay. You can have your opinion about that, but let me ask you a question. Do you always know where Olivia is? Do you know where she was last night after you dropped her off?”
“I don’t need to.”
“Yes, you do. She was with me, and we’re definitely more than friends. I do have one thing that you don’t, Richard, and that’s the ability to actually give her what she wants.”
In that moment, Richard shot me the most hateful look I had ever seen. That’s when his face started to turn red. I don’t know if he believed me, but I do know that admitting I had been with Olivia the night before was a big mistake. He clenched his fist and threw a quick punch that landed to my right eye. The blow lifted me off the floor, and I fell a few feet away from him. I looked over at my friends to see if I was going to have any back up in this situation. Mike and Rusty immediately put their hands up as if to say you’re on your own. Stan, however, took a step forward.
“Stay right where you’re at, fat boy!” Richard spat at him.
In his drunken state, that only made Stan angry. He was tired of his weight being a joke to everyone, and Richard had just picked the wrong time to insult him. Meanwhile, Olivia stepped between us.
“What are you doing?” she asked Richard.
“Move, Olivia,” he said.
“No, I’m not going anywhere. You need to think about . . .” she managed to say before Richard pushed her out of the way.
Just as he was about to reach me, Stan walked up behind him and landed a blow to the back of his head. It obviously hurt Richard, but he was sturdy as an ox, and it didn’t move him. He turned and exchanged a couple of blows with Stan until Stan fell backward onto the floor. I knew it was now or never. I had to do something to turn the tide or Stan was about to get the beating of his life, and then Richard was going to take care of me. I wouldn’t be graceful in this fight, but I would get the result I wanted. I stood and grabbed Richard from behind. I spun him around and did the only thing that could actually bring him down to my level. I kneed him in the groin. It temporarily stalled him, and I used that moment to deliver the hardest punch I could to his neck. It took his breath, and he fell to his knees. He was mine for the next few seconds. I didn’t waste a moment. I delivered blow after blow until he hit the floor. Once he was on his back, Stan stood and delivered a few kicks to avenge what was likely a broken nose. When Richard went limp, he stopped. We had accomplished what we set out to do, but things could quickly turn ugly once Richard recovered. I decided that it was time to go. There was no sense in not walking away with a win on this one. I motioned for Mike and Rusty to come with us and pulled Stan to the door. I took one last look back as we were leaving to see Olivia staring at me with disgust. I didn’t get it. Richard had attacked first. Why was she mad at me? It didn’t make sense. Then again, I did cause the whole thing. She didn’t know that, though. I sighed as we walked to the car.
The other guys were in a much better mood. On the way home, Mike explained that he had gotten a girl’s number who he had liked since he was in the second grade, and Rusty was just happy that he got to go to a party where he was actually relevant. Then there was Stan. He was so drunk that he barely even noticed the broken nose he was sporting. He was just blissfully happy. I should have been, but it seemed like this was the type of thing that was going to bite me later on.
When we got back to Mike’s house, I let everyone out, and just as I was starting to pull away, Mike stopped me.
“Hey, thanks for convincing us to come out tonight. It was actually fun, and boy was I wrong about you and Richard. You gave him a proper beat down,” he said.
“Yeah, but I don’t think any of that would have been possible without Stan jumping in. I was pretty much out for a minute there.”
“I don’t know what came over him. He’s normally not that brave. Sorry about not having your back, by the way.”
“No problem. We haven’t been friends long enough to take beatings for each other, and that’s how it looked like things were going to turn out.”
“Well, I’m glad they didn’t. Who knows? Maybe you actually have a shot with Olivia, too. Go home, and get some ice on your ey
e. It looks terrible.”
“Not as bad as his,” I joked as I drove away.
When I got back to the house, I found that Olivia was waiting on me. She didn’t look happy. I braced myself for what was probably going to be an incredibly uncomfortable conversation and got out.
“Before you even say anything, I’m sorry. I lost my temper after he said some things about me. Things went out of control from there,” I said.
“You should be sorry. He told me what started the whole thing. Did you actually tell him about last night?”
“I did, but that’s not what started this. He’s been all over me since I met him. Why do you want to be with a loser like him anyway?”
“First of all, he’s not a loser. He’s actually a good guy when someone’s not threatening him. Secondly, I’m not with him anymore. After everything you said, he broke up with me.”
“I’m sorry. Wait . . . actually I’m not. You deserve better than some guy who everyone thinks is right for you. I want you to be with someone you know is right in your heart. I’m that guy.”
“You’re so stupid. You know that, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was going to choose you. I decided last night, but I needed time to do things the right way. I had to let him down easy and explain to my mom why I was dumping my future millionaire boyfriend for you. Why couldn’t you have just waited a couple of weeks for me to figure out how to do this?”
“I would have, if I had known you were going to choose me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it made me crazy to see you with him. When everything happened tonight, I just lost it. I really am sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“Yeah, I suppose I can. I mean, option B is gone now, thanks to your conversation with Richard.”
“Oh, so there was still a chance of you choosing him?”
“I said he was option B. What more do you want from me,” she joked and smiled for the first time that night.
“Well, I’ve got to go try to explain to my mom why I won’t be seeing Richard anymore. Will I see you tomorrow?” Olivia asked.
“Definitely. Maybe we could get some lunch and figure all of this out.”
“That sounds good because things are going to be really complicated moving forward. You know he’s going to hate you. I guess he’ll hate me, too, but I’m pretty sure he’s not going to want to bash my face in. How are you going to deal with that?”
“I’ll avoid him as best I can. If things get too bad, I guess we’ll just have a round two.”
“Promise me something. Don’t ever punch him again unless you absolutely have to. As a matter of fact, don’t say a cross word to him. It’s just going to make things worse, and it could get one of you seriously hurt. It’s already bad enough that thanks to me, you have a black eye, and he’s missing a tooth.”
“He’s missing a tooth?” I asked with a hint of a smile.
“Oh, don’t look so excited. I think your friend probably did that. The most damage you did was kneeing him in the groin. Did you really have to do that?”
“No, but I wanted to insure that no one would have to suffer through two minute sex for a while, so I put him out of commission. See, I did all women a favor tonight. You should be thanking me.”
“Ugh. I’m already starting to regret this,” she joked and started to step away, but I took her hand and pulled her close. Then I gave her a soft goodnight kiss.
“Hey, I’m really sorry that I wasn’t patient enough. I hope we can put all of this behind us, though, because I think we’re about to have something really special,” I said.
“I do, too. I wouldn’t be so quick to forgive you if I didn’t. I thought a lot last night after we came home, and I always had this picture in my mind of when you would come back. We would be a little older, and just when I couldn’t stand this place any longer, you would give me a reason to leave. I almost didn’t want to pick you because nothing in our situation seemed right. Then I realized that maybe you’re not supposed to be the person who rescues me from this place. Maybe you’re supposed to be the one who actually makes it somewhere I want to be. I have fun when you’re around. You get my humor, and I feel like I can just be me when we’re talking. That’s a rare thing. Thanks.”
“No, I should be thanking you. It’s not every day that you meet a girl who won’t hold what happened tonight against you.”
“Well, I was going to really lay into you, but then you apologized right off the bat. That was pretty selfish, you know. It kind of makes it hard for the person to yell at you.”
“I’m glad it worked. Somehow I don’t think I would like to see angry Olivia.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t,” she said and walked across the street.
I smiled as I walked into the house. My smile quickly vanished when I noticed that someone was waiting on me in the kitchen. My uncle was sitting at the table.
“What happened to your eye?” he immediately asked.
“It’s a long story. I’m sorry about coming in so late. I didn’t know if you guys would mind. I probably should have called.”
“It’s okay. We expected you to be in a little earlier than one, but I’m not going to complain, as long as you have a good reason for being out that late. So what did you do tonight?”
I didn’t know where to begin. I was coming in late, I had a black eye, and to top it all off, I was speechless. What must my uncle have been thinking?
“Well? You’ve got to give me something. I know I’m not your dad, but it’s my responsibility to make sure you don’t get into any trouble. That bruise says that you definitely got into something,” he said while standing and grabbing me an icepack.
After he had put it on my eye, I began telling him everything. I told him about the party and how I had gotten into a fight with Richard. When I was done, he looked troubled. He took a second to collect his thoughts, and then Uncle Gary said something that made a lot of sense.
“So let me get this straight. He hated you because he thought you were after his girlfriend, which you were. Then you taunted him with the fact that she was with you last night. Afterward, he punched you, like most guys would have. Then your friend attacked him, and when he finally fought him off, he turned around to feel a knee in his groin. After that, you and your friend beat the crap out of him, and at the end of it all, you ended up kissing Olivia in our driveway.”
“Yeah, that pretty much covers it.”
“You need to apologize to him.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you were wrong. You’re the one who stole someone’s girlfriend, and you and your friend beat him up. You need to try to make amends.”
“I don’t regret it, though. I actually care about Olivia.”
“Let me tell you something. Sometimes we do the wrong thing for the right reason. We make a choice to do something that we normally wouldn’t because it gets us someone we love. I understand why you did what you did, but it still doesn’t make it right. He’ll probably never forgive you, and he might just punch you again, but I think it’s important for you to explain why you did it and how you know you were wrong.”
“That’s the thing. I wasn’t wrong. Olivia deserved someone better than him. She doesn’t even care about him. The only reason she was with Richard was because everyone around here loves the guy.”
“That might be true, but let me ask you something. What if someone comes along who’s a little better for her than you? Do you think that gives them the right to step into your relationship?”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know, but . . .”
“If I don’t ever teach you anything else, learn this. In life, you should always weigh the cost of right and wrong in every situation. I’m sure you did that in this one. That girl meant more to you than wronging someone you don’t even know. That’s somewhat understandable. Here’s the thing. You still have to own the things you do to others. T
hey have an affect on them and you. If you don’t at least try to make those things right, then you’re not much of a man. Then again, you’re still growing up. No one would expect you to already be the man you should be, but part of growing up is owning what you do, even if you don’t regret it. Do you understand?”
“I think so. I suppose I was wrong on some level. Are you disappointed in me? I’m not that same kid you and Aunt Kristen got to know before, am I?”
“I’m not disappointed at all. We do strange things for the women in our lives. I would literally kill for your Aunt Kristen. That doesn’t make it right, though. I might have done the same thing in your situation. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m sure you’ll do the right thing when this is all over. I’ll explain why you have a black eye to Kristen so you don’t have to do it in the morning. For now, get some rest. It sounds like you’ve had some night,” he said and gave me a pat on the back.
He had shared a lesson that I wouldn’t forget. Everything we do has consequences. The key is learning what we can live with. For Olivia, I would have done anything, and if you asked me now what I would have done differently, the answer is simple. Not a single thing.
Chapter 9
The First Date
The following morning, I woke up late. In fact, it was almost lunchtime. I quickly got ready and headed for the door. My aunt stopped me and examined my eye for a moment. She gave me an earful about getting into trouble so soon, but she let me go so I could take Olivia out.
When I got over to Olivia’s, a new challenge presented itself. Her mom answered the door. She didn’t look happy to see me either. She actually looked like she wanted to kill me. I understood. In her eyes, I was messing with her daughter’s future.
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