So I'm a Double Threat (Double Threat Series) (16 page)

“That’s where they found her?” I interrupt. “They do a lot more than just smoke pot there, so that just makes me worry like a mother hen more.”

“Yeah,” Amy continues. “Kendra actually called the school and the police. There were a lot of other kids from school there and a lot of the varsity soccer girls, too. A crap load of people are getting suspended, and kicked off the team.”

“You didn’t hear anything at practice?” Eric asks. “All the guys were talking about it on my team.”

“No. I left early, remember? Plus, nobody said anything,” I tell them. “I didn’t notice anything either. This is big. I can’t believe so many people are involved.”

“Don’t be so naïve, Meg.” Alex looks straight at me. “This school is full of drugs. Take a look around every once and awhile...really. Just because none of us are doing them, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Actually, there’s a statistic that says almost fifty percent of twelfth graders in the country have actually smoked marijuana before.”

“I’m not naïve, Alex,” I say, defensively. “I guess I just never paid any attention because it’s not like I’m interested in doing drugs. Damn. That stat means out of all of us here, at least two of us will smoke weed by the time we’re in twelfth grade.”

There is silence.

“I have already.” Alex looks each of us in the eye, one by one.

“Me too,” Eric admits.

“Are you guys kidding?” Steph screeches. “You guys aren’t bad kids. We’re not bad kids. We’re good students. We’re not supposed to do drugs.” I can tell this revelation is upsetting to her.

Steph hangs her head low. She looks sad. Disappointed.

“You guys are acting a little bit hypocritical.” Amy sneers. “You drink alcohol like it’s no big deal. It’s not like it’s any different than marijuana.”

“Uh, yeah. It kind of is.” Pot is illegal. Well, I guess underage drinking is as well. She raises her brow at me before I open my mouth again. “Okay, I get it.”

“I tried it last year,” Eric explains. “I was at a friend’s house and someone took out their stash. Everyone tried it, so I did it as well. I didn’t like the way it made me feel though. Just lazy, dead, and hungry. So I never did it again and don’t plan on it.”

I look at Eric, trying not to think of him differently. I’m glad he’s being honest. I trust he’s serious about not doing it again. I’m not sure how I’d feel if he was still doing it.

I think about what Amy said again. I don’t know why it bothers me so much—the marijuana smoking. It doesn’t bother me that we all drink at parties. Maybe I am a hypocrite. It’s just we’ve all been conditioned since we were born to “say no to drugs” as if they were some taboo thing that would either kill us or limit our options for the rest of our lives. I’ve never seen an ad telling us not to have a cheap beer with friends at a party. All I know is that it’s something different and unknown to me, and it scares me. Is that so wrong?

“Yeah, it was pretty much the same with me,” Alex begins to tell his story, “but Ben and I did it a lot our sophomore year. We got comfortable at school, playing football, and hanging out with seniors. We tried it after a game and I liked being relaxed, but we just did it too much. All I wanted to do was kick back and eat, everything was funny, and my grades sucked. I had to take summer school for the last two summers to make up for it. We both got lucky. We got sick of it and we just stopped. But a lot of my old friends still do it. Well, they’re not really friends anymore. People who smoke weed or do other drugs don’t hang out with sober people. It’s a buzz kill.”

Wow. I had no idea. “So what do we do about Keesh?”

“Nothing,” Alex blurts out.

“What do you mean, nothing?” Amy says.

“We can’t do
nothing
,” Steph says.

“I think Alex means that Amy already did all we can do,” Eric explains. “Amy told her parents. Now it’s up to them and Keesha—actually, just Keesh. She has to make the choice. We just have to wait and see what happens.”

“That’s gonna be hard,” I tell them. “I’m like the most impatient person in the world. It’s killing me not to call her right now or just go to her house. This sucks.”

“Be patient, Megan.” Alex offers a quick smile. “Everything will work itself out...I
promise
.”

Eric grabs my hand and squeezes it, looking from me to Alex, and back to me again.

“Alex, that’s not something you can just promise,” Amy says coldly.

“You’re right.” He pats her on the leg, “I was just trying to be optimistic and I am. I really think everything will be okay.”

“I hope so.” I look at him, meeting his stare. “I hope so.”

Eric pulls me closer to him and kisses my cheek.

––––––––

C
hristmas Day is just like usual. Since I’m the only child, my parents don’t bother to wake me. We open up gifts when I get up, which is usually around nine o’clock—not too early, not too late. When I was younger, I would wake my parents around four in the morning because I was so anxious to see what came from Santa. Now, I know better. I mostly get clothes from Aeropostale or Kohl’s; nothing fancy or too expensive. Every once in awhile, I might get a new CD, movie tickets, or some lip gloss in my stocking as a bonus. Don’t get me wrong...I love Christmas, but it’s mostly for the little kids. They’re the ones who get all the cool gifts. I miss the days of getting Barbies or little craft kits with markers, crayons, and chalk.

This year I’m surprised. Guess what I got? Santa—aka Mom and Dad—got me an iPod. A real iPod. Not a fake mp3 player like the one I lost in the bushes with Keesh’s tampons. This is a real freakin’ iPod. And it’s a good one. I jump up and down and yell like crazy before I even sit down to really look at it. I caught a glimpse of the box and freaked. When I finally settle down, I realize my parents bought me a 16gb iPod Touch. Yes...the one with a touch screen. The memory is huge. I can fit like a million songs and a ton of movies on it. Actually just a few movies, but thousands of songs. They also got me a $100 iTunes card.

I squeeze both my parents till they beg me to stop.

“We wanted to get you something extra special, Meg,” my mom gushes. “We wanted to let you know we’re proud of you for making the right choices.”

My face drops. They gave me this expensive gift because I’m not a pothead like my friend. Guilt starts to set in. OMG. They think I’m still their sweet little girl who can do no wrong. I look down at my new iPod and look at them. I smile wildly. I can live with the guilt.

I hug my parents again, “Thanks, guys.”

It’s tradition to go to Amy’s for New Year’s Eve. Her parents always have a huge party. I don’t think they have much fun, but I know they like to show their guests a good time. They cater the best food—appetizers, dessert, and all the courses in between—and have a huge bar full of liquor and beer. You name it, they have it.

It’s usually just the four of us girls who go to the party, but this year it’s a little different. Okay, a lot different. Keesha is still on lockdown. Her parents don’t let her out of their sight. Another change is the boyfriend factor. Amy has Alex and I have Eric. Josh and Jonathan also crash the party, but they’re like one of the girls. They aren’t hooking up with Keesh and Steph anymore—Keesh for obvious reasons. As for Steph and Josh...they both just started looking at other people.

Apparently, high school couples have a limited life expectancy when it comes to relationships. The fact that Alex and Amy, and Eric and I, are still together is actually rare. Boys and girls our age seem to be hookin’ up with different people every other week. Steph’s mom said, “you guys all change boyfriends and girlfriends like you change underwear.” It’s funny, and gross, but kind of true.

Being with Eric is so much better than seeing a ton of other guys. I can’t imagine going out with a guy who has already kissed or put his hands all over a hundred other girls. Gross. All my classmates are probably infected with all these diseases from playing tonsil hockey and sticky fingers. Seriously, it’s probably the least of what they’re doing—I know tons of kids who are doing a whole lot more than just feeling each other up, above and under the clothes. I’m pretty lucky I don’t have to worry about where Eric’s
parts
have been.

At the party, we just hang out upstairs in the loft. It’s this huge area with a giant entertainment center and big cozy couches. We all kick back, eat, and watch movies. In the past, we would sneak up drinks without the adults knowing, but this year, because of the Keesh thing, we decide to steer clear of the extracurricular activities. The adults probably wouldn’t notice this year, because they haven’t checked on us, not even once.

It’s just a half hour away from the New Year when Steph has to leave. She always leaves early so she can be home to do the countdown with her family. Her parents are weird that way, but I think she enjoys it just as much.

“Thanks, Amy,” Steph says. “I had a great time...like always. I’m gonna wait out front. My mom should be here any minute.”

“We’ll go with you, Steph,” Josh says, as he and Jonathan pull themselves out of the sofa.

“Where you goin’?” Alex asks.

“My cousin’s house for another party,” Jonathan responds. “It’s probably just getting started. My brother’s gonna pick us up. Thanks for inviting us, Amy.”

“Oooo.” Steph smiles. “Looks like it’s gonna be couples only.” She raises her brows up and down quickly.

I look at Eric, then at the other remaining guests. My stomach does a backflip. I’m not sure I want to be here alone with my boyfriend, Amy and Alex.

Steph starts toward the stairs. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Well, that doesn’t leave me much,” I joke.

“You got that right.” Josh smacks Steph on the ass. “This girl is tight with her shit.”

She socks him in the stomach. “And you wonder why.”

We all laugh hysterically.

“Let’s bounce.” Jonathan scoots them both down the stairs, still chuckling.

“Bye, guys.” Steph yells.

“Bye.” We all yell back in unison.

I can hear Steph and Josh still play fighting all the way down the stairs. Steph doesn’t care about a graceful exit. Those two are so cute together. It’s too bad it didn’t work out.

When we can no longer hear Steph, it’s eerily quiet for a minute. The silence is uncomfortable. We’re all alone. It’s just the four of us. It’s never been just Eric and me, and Amy and Alex. It feels weird. What is even more weird, or sick, is I can
hear
them kissing.

I look over and see Amy already sitting on Alex’s lap. He has one hand on her thigh, which is draped across him, and the other is at the top of her back. I can’t see their faces—thank god—just Amy’s hair shielding them like a screen. But I can definitely hear the smacking of their lips.

Kill me now...seriously...kill me now.

Eric pulls me closer. Damn...I hope he can’t feel my heart racing. It’s ready to explode out of my chest right now. I’m just slightly uncomfortable. We’re sitting closely side by side. He has his arm around me and he’s running his palm up and down my arm. I have my hand on his leg, which is crossed over his other knee. I love stroking his lower leg. His hair is a little curly and coarse, and its texture feels so cool against my fingers. I can sit here all day just dragging my fingertips back and forth over his leg hair. There is something about this sensation that I can’t describe. It’s mostly just fun to do, but also, maybe a tad bit sexy.

Eric kisses the top of my head and I look up at him. He leans in for a kiss and I try to forget Amy and Alex are just a few feet away doing the same thing. Shouldn’t they come up for air? Are they part fish or something? Do they have gills we don’t know about?

I kiss Eric anyway, a long open-mouthed kiss with
Alex
right next to me. I focus on the softness of Eric’s lips. I usually love kissing Eric. It makes me feel good, too good sometimes, like raging teenage hormone good. But hold on a sec. Kissing Eric isn’t like the romance smut my mom reads. It isn’t anything like the pages of a romance novel. Not at all like “I loved the sweetness of his breath as his lips parted mine, and the warmth of his tongue thrust into my mouth forcing moisture to flood between my legs.” The stuff my mom reads is borderline porn.

Beside, does that really happen?

Definitely not with high school boys.

Boys my age don’t have
sweet
breath. Okay, so I’ve only really, really, kissed one boy, but have been near enough to know their breath is
not
sweet. It’s more like a combination of a Monster drink and Hot Cheetohs. Where are these guys with sweet breath? And what about the thrusting tongue? That sounds so
seductive
. Teenage boys are
not
seductive. More like messy and clumsy. The
moisture between the legs
thing is the only thing I can relate to. But that has nothing to do with Eric seducing me. It’s just hormones. Hormones. Just good ol’ hormones making me want to jump into his lap and straddle him like you see in the movies.

I have to hold back. Amy and Alex, remember? Although, it doesn’t seem to bother either one of them that we’re here.

Or maybe it does? Because just as I’m thinking this, Amy and Alex get up and go to her room. OMG. Are they gonna do
it
? Have they done it
already
? She’s a pretty bold bitch to take her boyfriend into her room alone with her parents just downstairs. I can’t believe Alex is not more respectful. I’m a little disappointed.

Oh well. What the heck? I jump up and onto Eric’s lap, facing him with my legs bent on either side of his thighs...just like a movie.

“Whoa,” Eric says, his eyes wild with excitement. “What are you doin’?”

He puts his hands low on my hips and squeezes.

“Shhh.” I kiss him.

I kiss the shit outta him.

And I kiss him some more, with my hands under his shirt, running up and down his bare back and his on mine. Our tongues dance together perfectly. I suck playfully on his lower lip and go back to his kiss. He traces my lips with his tongue and then lowers his head to kiss my neck first gently, then with more force. Oooo...maybe this
can
be like the books. This is as close as we have ever been. Normally, we just kiss, but not this much and
not
in this way.