by Destiny Webb
I looked at him and began to cry even harder. He’d saved me, and after I’d been so awful to him, here he was comforting me.
He rocked me back and forth, again and again, whispering, “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Shh….” He repeated it over and over again in a chant, letting me cry on his shoulder until I finally fell asleep.
Chapter Nine
The next few days were quiet. Sean and I had gone into an unspoken truce. The morning after the party, I woke up before anyone else was awake and snuck out the window. I walked around the lake for a while, trying to clear my head. For the most part, it had worked. A few hours later, I walked back to the cabin and pretended nothing was wrong.
I spent a lot of time by myself the following days. On the third day of this silent pattern, my mother approached me.
“Sam, are you alright?” she asked me. “You seem so distant from everyone. I’m getting worried about you.”
I turned away from her and rolled my eyes.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
“That’s what every troubled teen says.”
Oh, great, she’s been talking to her shrink again. Kristi had a habit of putting ideas into Mom’s head, most of them bad. Like the day she told her that she wasn’t crazy for wanting more mother-daughter time. That sucked. Every Friday night after that for six long weeks, we got to sit in a knitting class. I sat in an old rocking chair set in a circle amongst little old ladies reminiscing about when they were young. It was horrid.
“You’ve been talking to Kristi again, haven’t you?” I asked her. She shot me a look.
“Just quit moping and get involved,” she ordered as she walked away. Not knowing where I was headed, I sighed and trudged off in the opposite direction.
Eventually I landed at the lakeshore, staring at the stupid island in the middle of it. When we were younger, my brothers, Sarah, and whatever friends were around would race out to the island. It was small, but it was still an adventure. We would spend hours out there, playing in the trees.
I had a sudden urge to be out there. The swim wouldn’t take nearly as long as it used to. I wasn’t much bigger, but I had more stamina than before. I pulled my shirt off and adjusted my swimsuit. There wasn’t much point of wearing anything different underneath clothes. Random swims became too much of a hassle if you had to go home and change every time. I went to pull off my shorts and my phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Sam?”
“Yeah Cara?” I answered shortly.
“Okay. So, before you say no, hear me out. A friend of a friend of mine has a houseboat, and only a select few get invites to his parties. Well, I got like four. It’s amazing.” She rushed the words out so I could barely understand them. I knew, though, that I would not be participating in social activities such as parties. All I wanted to do was lay in bed.
“Cara. Listen to me. I am not going to any parties.”
“Please, oh, please Sam. I really want you to go. It would be so much fun. Plus, Blake isn’t gonna be there. Pleasee…for me.”
It was more appealing knowing that Blake wasn’t going to be there. Of course, that didn’t mean that Sean wouldn’t be there either.
“I know what you’re thinking. Yes, Sean is going to be there.”
“How do you know everything?” I asked, frustrated.
“I have a little birdie,” she simply answered. “It tells me everything.”
“Sure it does,” I rolled my eyes.
“Is that a yes…for me?”
“Fine,” I conceded. “But, know that it is not because Sean will be there.”
“Who are you trying to convince?”
“You.” I hung up on her. I really was trying to convince her. I had been trying to avoid Sean as much as I could get away with. We were decent to each other, but that didn’t mean that things weren’t awkward. I picked up my shirt off the log bench and my phone vibrated.
Party starts at 5. Bring Brian. Ask Sarah. Look hawt!! ;] -C
I quickly replied.
Fine. I’ll let you know if Sarah is comin. I hate your guts. >=| -S
I pulled on my shirt and headed back to the cabin. Sarah was lying out in the sun when I walked up. She looked up at me and laughed. I stopped in my tracks and glared at her.
“What’s got you flustered?” she chuckled.
“You’re coming to a party on a houseboat with me tonight,” I told her. After laughing at me, she didn’t get an option.
“Uh…no. Not my scene.”
“Yeah, well I don’t want to go either.”
“So, let me get this straight…I have to endure your pain with you?”
“Sounds about right. Cara is making me go. She told me to bring you and Brian. So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Please Sarah. I need someone who is sensible to be there,” I pleaded with her.
“Fine. You’re lucky I have sense in me. What time?”
***
“Hey,” the guy who just walked up to me said. He was tall and looked like a surfer, extremely tan and buff.
“Hi,” I replied. It was nice to talk to someone I didn’t know. Everyone there seemed to go to our school. It wasn’t even that great of a party; it was only about an hour in, but I was bored out of my mind. Sarah was dancing with some guy she seemed to show interest in. Brian and Alisha were God knew where, and Cara was off schmoozing on Chad, the friend of a friend who owned the houseboat. He seemed to be enjoying himself with her.
I’d seen Sean a few times, all from a distance. He danced with a few girls, I danced with a few guys…as far away from each other as we could get. Things were still extremely awkward between us. We stayed away from each other, and when we were in close proximity we did not make eye contact, unlike this newcomer standing next to me.
“I’m Lance,” he introduced himself to me, smiling.
“Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam.” I smiled back at him.
“Well, now I know one person here besides my cousin,” he chuckled. “I was starting to get discouraged.”
I laughed lightly. “I was just thinking the exact opposite. I know almost everyone here.”
He laughed with me.
“So, who’s your cousin?”
“Chad Lancaster. So, you know them all how?” Lance inquired.
“Most go to my school.”
I explained the students and their families; how our school wasn’t a private school, but it could easily be misconstrued as one. It was the most highly acclaimed school in the northern area of Nevada.
Lance lived on the coast of California with his parents, who after twenty-two years were still happily married. He had a few brothers and sisters. Every year they could choose anywhere they wanted to vacation. Lance, tired of all the fancy living and the expensive overseas trips, told his parents that he wanted to go to the mountains with his cousin.
I told him about the fight I put up to not come, and that I rarely came up to the cabins, but my father made me this year.
“I’m glad,” he said sincerely. I liked Lance. He was easy to be around. Lance wasn’t absorbed with the high class living like some rich kids were. Surprisingly, he was down to earth, and to top it off, he was a surfer, just as I’d guessed. I loved it when I was right.
The music was up enough to dance, but not too much so that conversation was impossible. By now, we were dancing while we were sharing stories.
“So, we slip through the door real quiet. Just when I think we’re in the clear, Brian slams the door, waking my parents up.” I laughed at the recalled memory. “Needless to say, we both were in huge trouble.”
He joined in my laughter a short moment before stopping mid laugh.
“Wait a second…you’re the girl from the other night!”
I racked my brains for a time that we had been together in the last few days. I would have remembered, wouldn’t I?
&
nbsp; “The one that got in the middle of that fight,” he added.
I turned a violent crimson.
“You saw that, did you?”
“I think everyone saw it,” he chuckled.
I shuddered.
“It was a kick ass fight. I couldn’t believe you got in the middle of it. That took guts.”
“Thanks… I guess.”
“So, you think this is a good party?”
Crap. What do I say to that? His cousin is the one putting on this stupid party. I hated being put on the spot.
“I didn’t think so. I don’t either.”
“Things just need to get shaken up a little.”
“So, let’s shake things up.”
We were standing close to the edge of the boat. Lance pulled off his shirt and kicked off his sandals, got up on the edge of the boat, and dove in. Everyone looked over at me with shocked expressions. I laughed freely, pulled off my clothes, revealing a bikini, and jumped into the lake.
Many gave us looks of insanity, but we were quickly joined by Cara and Chad. The rest of the party quickly assumed that swimming was alright and jumped in after us. Few stayed on the deck and danced. Some were too prissy to get wet. As it was, the real party had begun.
Chapter Ten
I stood across from Cara, a table between us.
“You’ve never been able to handle A Short Trip to Hell, Cara. You might as well stop now, while you’re not ahead,” I egged her on. I hadn’t been so involved in drinking games in a while, but tonight, I had thrown everything out the window and decided to have some fun. Of course, if—more likely when—I had a hangover, I wouldn’t be having so much fun.
The drinking games had started about an hour earlier. Different games were being played and some were just drinking, but Cara and I were being watched by almost everyone.
“Trash talk isn’t attractive, Sam,” she scolded.
“Yeah, well neither are you. So, we’re all even.” I smiled at her taken aback face and she shrugged it off.
“Let’s just get on with it.”
Chad poured our drinks and handed us our shot glasses. Lance put his hand between us as our marker.
“On the count of three. One…two…three!”
I dropped the shot glass in the cup and chugged. The watchers were cheering profusely. I emptied my glass quickly and slammed it on the table. I waited for Cara, who wasn’t even close to being done. When she sat her glass down, she scowled at me, and I gave her a glittering smile.
“You win this time.” She turned to Chad. “Come on Chad, this is ridiculous.”
“It’s only ridiculous to you Cara, and that’s only because you never win,” I teased her. She flipped me off as she walked away. I laughed at her sourness.
“Always the sore loser,” I said.
Lance excused himself to go find his cousin. I was watching the party, which had ended up being pretty fun, partially thanks to Lance and myself. I was glad to be enjoying myself, and extremely glad that Lance was around or I probably would’ve gone insane. I really liked him. I hoped that we would get together again after this.
All my thoughts were crashed by Sean, roaring drunk, stumbling over to me. I was shocked. I had never seen him even the slightest bit drunk. He could usually hold his alcohol well.
“Sammy, you need to shot race me,” he slurred.
“You’re drunk, Sean. You don’t need any more to drink,” I tried to reason with him. He shook his head and almost lost his balance.
“I am not drunk. You are just chicken. I am not going to leave you alone until you race me.” He tried to stand firmly to make a point, but failed miserably.
“Who’s this?” Lance walked up and put his hand on the small of my back. Sean’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“This is my father’s best friend’s son, Sean. He has convinced himself that I am going to shot race him.”
“So, do it. It’ll keep him busy. We won’t be on here much longer.”
“Why?” I asked.
“We’re headed back to shore. Chad and I came to the conclusion that there were too many drunks on one boat to be good.”
He glanced at Sean, who was staggering. I could see Lance visibly sizing him up and being content with what he saw, probably feeling that he wasn’t much competition. I felt a pang of guilt…if only he knew our background. I quickly shoved down that feeling of guilt and put on a look of frustration.
“Fine, Sean. Line them up.” I turned to Lance. “After this, don’t let me drink anymore.”
“Why?”
“I know when to quit,” I answered simply. I was already pretty buzzed. These shots were sure to send me to the edge of getting drunk. I knew that being drunk would not help anything tonight. Lance wasn’t drinking. He told me that he would make sure I got home safely. Despite only knowing him for a few hours, I trusted him. So, I had let go a little, but I wanted to remember anything that might be important.
We lined up the glasses and I had Lance pour the weakest drink there was on the boat.
“I thought you were the heavyweight,” he joked as he poured the alcohol.
“It’s not for my sake. It’s for his,” I muttered darkly. Sean was barely standing as he threw back his row of shots. I went through mine faster than he did, of course. When he looked up after his shots were finished, his eyes were filled with scrutiny.
“You cheated,” he accused.
“I did not.” I got defensive.
“Yes, you did,” he pointed a wobbly finger at me.
“How?” I said incredulously.
“I don’t know, but I know you did. I want a rematch,” he pouted.
I walked around the table, put my hands on his shoulders, and steered him to an empty space to sit.
“I’ll tell you what,” I reasoned with him like a child. “You sit here and think about the ways I could have possibly cheated. If you guess right, I’ll give you a rematch.”
I turned back to Lance.
“He’s not gonna guess right, is he?” he smirked.
“Nope.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Rather buzzed and a little tired.”
We found a place near Sean to sit and talk. Lance explained to me what surfing was like since I had never been near a surfboard. In detail, he told me how to get up, and to watch out for waves that you didn’t want to get hit by. At one point I asked him if he had ever seen a shark while surfing. Lance laughed and said, “No, and if I ever did, I would probably never surf again. I’m terrified of sharks.”
Every now and then, Sean would burst out with an idea. The ideas ranged from me dumping out the drinks to me having an evil twin. My personal favorite: I stole Santa’s elves to do my drinking. Each idea was quickly dismissed with a resounding “no” and he went back to thinking. He stayed focused on finding a way so I would have to rematch him. With no interruptions, it made it very easy for Lance and me to talk.
The boat pulled up to the dock and the guests piled off, heading to their transportation. I had to help Sean get off the boat without falling. Lance helped me without complaining. We dragged Sean over to where Sarah, Brian, and Cara were standing with Daniel, a boy Sarah had met that night, Alisha, and Chad. They were discussing modes of transportation.
“I can take two more in my Jeep. So, I’ll take Alisha and Brian.”
“We’ll take one of the quads. Sam and Sean can take the other one. There, everything is taken care of.” Sarah had Daniel’s arm draped over her shoulder. They all laughed when they saw Sean leaning on me.
“Brian, take Sean home, please…,” I begged as I stumbled up to them.
“No can do, little sis.” He knew that bothered me. I needn’t remind him that he was only a minute older than me. He smirked as I glowered at him.
“Brian, I can barely even hold him up!” I protested.
“I’ve got plans,” he shrugged as I stared hopelessly at him.
“You have got to be kidding me! I am the sma
llest one of the four of us. How do you expect me to get him inside quietly? He’s the biggest!”
“You touched him last. You know the rules,” Cara interjected, glad to get payback from her losing streak earlier.
“Yeah, we were all the same size then!”
“You still agreed. Sucks to be you,” Cara laughed.
“We’re leaving, Sam.” Brian wrapped his arm around Alisha and headed towards the Jeep. Everyone went their separate ways.
“Yeah, well…you can all kiss my ass!”
Brian turned back towards me.
“Remember Sam, if one goes down, we all go down. Then, you get your ass kicked.” He tossed the keys at me.
“Whatever,” I grumbled as I grabbed the keys out of the dirt. I turned to the quad and started her up.
Lance had his own quad and offered to follow me home. We made our way awkwardly through the woods. Sean, who could barely keep anything coordinated, was placed between the steering column and my body. I had problems trying to steer and the buzz didn’t help. Although the cool air blowing in my face cleared my head, I drove slowly. Lance kept pace along with me with no complaints. We drove mostly in silence.
We pulled up to the quad shed and I stopped near the side that faced away from the house. I pushed Sean lightly and he fell with a soft thud and a groan onto the ground. I got off and dragged him out of the way of the quad. Lance helped me move him to a bench placed against the wall.
I moved the quad inside the shed. When I came out, Sean was lying on the bench and Lance was standing there, waiting for me.
“I wish I could hang out longer, but I got the short end of the stick. I need to make sure he gets in quietly.”
“Why?” he asked sincerely; no agitation, no anger, just simple curiosity. Man, he was amazing.
“It’s a part of a pact we made when we were kids. We cover up for each other. And when one goes down…we all do.”
“That’s cool. That camaraderie.”
“Yeah, I guess. It’s also a hindrance sometimes.”
We both laughed. I looked up at him and he took a step closer. He lifted his hand to sweep a strand of runaway hair out of my face, then leaned his face down towards mine.