So I'm a Double Threat (Double Threat Series) (18 page)

“Excuse me,” I yell back. There is an immediate silence from the rest of the class. “Are you freaking kidding me? You’re lucky you have friends like us or maybe someday your parents would have found you with a needle in your damn arm. Nicole is not your friend. Is she the kind of friend you want? If it is, then what the hell are you still doing here with us? It would be a lot easier without you. At least my parents wouldn’t be making me take a fucking drug test every week, you ungrateful...” I turn my back on her. I can’t even finish my sentence but I think the whole class knows where I’m going.

I have to sit down because at some point while I was yelling, I stood up. I can’t believe she has the nerve to tell us it’s our fault.

The girls just sit there stupefied. It’s not like me to tell people off, especially one of my girls.

“Can we just chill and not be so loud?” Steph suggests, in a whisper. I laugh inside at this coming from her. I didn’t even know she knew how to whisper.

“I’m sorry, Keesh, but you’re not the only one who has to deal with all this crap. You brought me to your house where you were doing
drugs
. Some people think smoking weed is no big deal, but it’s still a drug. I got into the dumbass’s car and she had drugs in it. If we got pulled over, I could’ve been arrested. You could’ve been arrested. Don’t you get it? Did you think that I was gonna be like ‘cool, let me have some?’ It sucks you put me in that situation, so it’s not just about
you
.” I begin to choke up a bit.

Amy puts her arm around me and says to Keesha, “We’re not trying to gang up on you here. You said what you needed, and we should get the same chance.”

“Go ahead,” Keesha mumbles.

“I just want to say I called your mom ’cause I love you like a sister. You’re one of my best friends and I care about you guys a lot. I was worried about you. You were missing a lot of class. I know you’ve been missing a crap load of assignments, and then when I heard you were at that house I got scared. Some bad shit has gone down there, things I don’t even want to think about. I would do it again if I had to. I wouldn’t change a thing. I could tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

Steph looks to Amy for a signal she’s finished. “So are you done, Keesh? Are you gonna keep doing this shit with your other friends?” Steph asks.

Keesh is quiet. We all stare at her waiting for a response.

“I’m sorry I said those things before,” Keesh begins. “It’s over. I’m not doing it anymore. It’s not worth the grief my parents are giving me and it’s not worth losing you guys over. Plus, I’ve gained like five pounds and I run as slow as Meggie now, so I need to get my ass back in shape.” She glances at me, smiles, and begins to laugh.

“Whatever works.” I laugh.

Steph tackles Keesh and hugs her. Keesh hugs me, then Amy.

We’re such girls.

Now that things are okay with Keesha, how are Amy and I going to explain we’re going to
lunch
? We don’t have to worry about Steph, she never wants to leave with us. But Keesh, she’s a different story.

“So, are we still leaving for lunch?” I ask Amy, in front of everyone.

“Sure,” she says. “You wanna go now or after this lunch is over?”

“Let’s go now.” I can avoid Eric for, at least, a little while if we skip lunchtime.

“Where you guys going?” Keesh asks.

“We’re gonna hit the Steel Grill, wanna come?” I say, looking back and forth at her and Amy. Amy looks like she’s going to choke on her gum when she hears me invite Keesh.

“You know I would, but I think it would be better if I don’t draw any attention to myself right now,” she says.

“Just be good for awhile, then we’ll get back to dumping our bags in the bushes,” I joke.

“See ya later,” Amy links her arm in mine and we leave.

I look back at them and yell, “Tell Eric I went to lunch and that I’ll text him later.”

So this is it. We’re off to get our brown paper bag...our lunch.

––––––––

W
e’re all going to the backwards dance. This one is simple to figure out since it’s in the school cafeteria. We don’t have to worry about anyone taking us as we can all walk there together. The Backwards festivities are pretty much the same as Homecoming, but a lot more casual.

Since everything is backwards, the girls have to ask the guys to the dance. I, of course, asked Eric. Amy asked Alex. Keesha asked Jonathan, and Steph asked Josh. They aren’t all back together or anything, they just figured it would be easier to go with our group of friends rather than bringing some new people into the mix. Keesh and Steph save the experimentation with their hook ups for when the real couples aren’t around. It’s cool this way. We all get along really well. It would be annoying to deal with any
outsiders
.

Nothing much has changed since Amy and I went to get our lunch. My brown paper bag is still intact in my closet, in a box. I haven’t experienced the need to take it out. I can’t believe how easy it was to get the stuff in the first place. If I didn’t care about people knowing I got condoms, I’d make flyers and spread them all over campus so everyone would know there’s a free clinic for teens, so all my ridiculous classmates can stop getting pregnant. Buuuuttt, I don’t want anyone to know. I don’t even want
Eric
to know or he’ll be trying to jump my bones every chance he gets.

Eric can be such a sweet guy. He does all these things like hold my hand, carry my soccer bag, walk me home from practice, he calls me babe and sweetie...stuff like that, you know? He gives me quick pecks on the cheek or kisses the top of my head, but when we start kissing...I mean, really kissing, he gets all crazy on me again. We haven’t had another night like New Year’s Eve, because I get all tense and we stop.

I’m kind of bummed. I started out the school year thinking about
Thunder from Down Under
and having some hot guy’s naked body all over me. But now, I go running when my cute boyfriend starts to put his hand on my ass. I’m good with the kissing and even a little bit of rubbing, like New Year ’s Eve, but it’s not enough. Eric won’t want to stop there. I know he wants more. So this is where I’m at. I don’t want to eat
lunch
yet. I’m just cool with the appetizers. Why can’t guys be okay with appetizers? Why do they always want to jump on the juicy steak first?

Did I just compare myself to a cow? Good one, Meg.

As for Amy, she hasn’t opened her lunch yet, either. I don’t know much more because she gets all irritated whenever we start talking about it. It’s like she wants to know everything about Eric and me, but doesn’t want to even mention Alex—which is actually okay with me, because I really don’t want to know the steamy details about her and
Alex,
either.

It’s a good thing our lunch hasn’t been opened yet. We all survived our first semester of high school without getting pregnant, diseased, beat up, or caught ditching. We’ve been through some crap with Keesh, but it is all good now. When grades came out after finals, it’s no surprise we all manage to get at least a 3.6 GPA. The stat would’ve been higher if Keesh hadn’t missed so many assignments because she was off getting high.

Like Homecoming, Backwards events include a rally, a football game called Powder Puff. The girls play football and the guys don cheerleading uniforms. The king is crowned during halftime at the game. And, of course, there’s a dance.

I can’t wait for the game because I’m dying to see if Alex is going to win. He didn’t even want to run but we all convinced him to sign up. I spent hours making posters for him, putting them up all over school, and passing out rally tags to everyone I know. He’s going to win. I know it.

I sure as hell don’t want
Ben
to win.

Seriously...Ben actually made the King’s court. I guess it’s one of the perks of going out with a cheerleader. Vanessa probably showed some boob to all the boys to get them to vote for Ben. Well, I’m just guessing, but I wouldn’t put it past her. Ben wouldn’t have cared, either. Actually, what would I know? I haven’t talked to Ben in such a long time. I see him at school and he gives me his smart-ass smile or makes some rude comment to me, or Eric. He’s just a sore loser. He thought he could play me and it didn’t work. Not entirely.

As long as Ben doesn’t win king, I’ll be happy.

But if Alex wins, I’ll be ecstatic.

I’m surprised to see Alex as I pack up my soccer stuff. Soccer is almost over and I can’t wait to be free. I feel like my life has been taken over. It will be great to be able to go straight home after school and just veg out if I want. I can actually take a nap like most other teenagers or go to the mall or something.

“Hey, Alex,” I shout. “What are you doing here?”

He walks over to us, and smiles. “Hi Keesha. Hey, Megan, can I talk to you when you’re done?”

“Uh. Sure, give me a sec.” He walks away and I look at Keesha, confused.

“What’s that about?” she asks.

“I have no idea.” But I’m eager to find out. I quickly throw all my crap in my bag, put a piece of gum in my mouth, and slip on my flip-flops. “I’ll be right back.”

As I walk over to Alex, I’m nervous. This is totally out of the blue. He’s never met me at my soccer practice before. He’s been to my games, but with the rest of our friends. We talk all the time, on the phone, email, texting...but this is not normal. What does he want?

“So, what’s up, Alex?” I ask nervously. I smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to ask you something.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks at me with his killer smile. “But I wanted to ask you in person, and not in front of everyone else.”

“Oookaaay.”

“The rally is next week and I have to have an escort to walk me on stage, right? So I asked Amy...but...but...but I’d like to know if you will also be my escort?”

My mouth drops open. I’m standing here in shock. Did I just hear correctly? Do I need to clean out my ears? Did I get hit in the head with the soccer ball today?

Is he crazy?

“You’ve done so much for me, especially through ASB. I probably wouldn’t have even run or made court without you. This is my way of saying thank you. So, what do you think?”

I’m still in shock. I need to gather my thoughts before I can answer. “Hmm. You don’t need to thank me. It was fun, like being a campaign manager, or something. Don’t you think it’s kind of weird to have two escorts? What did Amy say?” I’m full of questions.

“Uh. People have two escorts all the time. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I want you to do it,” he answers, looking giddy.

“And Amy?” I wait.

“I haven’t told her yet. I wanted to see what you’d say first. But trust me, it’ll be okay.” He winks at me and flashes another grin.

His smile can get me to do anything. He stares down at me and I melt. This boy is a dream. I can’t help but be mesmerized by his sweetness, his big eyes, his beautiful full lips, moist and kissable, his gorgeous smile.

“Sure. It sounds like fun,” I say. “If it’s okay with Amy, it’s okay with me.”

“Cool, Meg.” He throws his arms around me and flings me off the ground and spins me around.

OMG. I have never felt these arms before. I just sink into his hug and enjoy the moment. The tingling sensation I sensed that time in his car is back, and it pierces my body from head to toe, like tiny little sparks igniting up and down my skin.

“Ahemmm.”

Alex stops suddenly and we turn to see Eric and Keesha standing there. Eric looks me in the eye, then down at my feet dangling in the air.

Alex puts me down. “Hey. What’s up, Eric?”

“Not much. Just came to pick up my girl,” Eric says, raising his chin and acting a little standoffish for my taste. “What’s up with you?” His eyes may as well be shooting daggers at Alex right now. If looks could kill.

“Just came by to talk to her about something, but I’ve gotta go now,” he says. “Meg, I’ll talk to you later. After I talk to Ames, okay?”

“Yeah...yeah...sounds...good,” I stutter.

“See ya later.” He walks away quickly. Maybe he is as uncomfortable as I am right now.

“Late,” Keesha says.

I take my bag from her and start walking as well. “Let’s go,” I tell them.

After a few steps, Eric asks, “What was that all about?”

“Oh.” I hesitate. “Alex just came by to talk to me about the rally. He wanted to see if I’d be his escort.” I don’t have to wait long to see the wild expression on both their faces.

“What?” Eric shouts. “Isn’t his girlfriend supposed to escort him? What the hell, Meg?” I’ve never heard him raise his voice...till now. He sounds angry, puffing out air, and waiting for a response. He doesn’t say anything else. He doesn’t need to. The fury in his eyes says it all.

“What are you trippin’ for, Eric?” I try to calm him, holding his hand. “Amy
is
gonna escort him. He just asked me too, as a kinda thank you for helping him with his campaign.”

“Amy is gonna flip,” Keesha blurts. She begins to chuckle and shake her head. I think she’s enjoying this too much.

“Why?” I ask, trying to sound innocent. Isn’t this innocent?

Keesha stops suddenly and stares at me. “Uhh...never mind,” she says, and continues walking, gesturing at Eric, and letting me know we’d save this conversation for later.

Eric is just silent. I can see the wheels turning in his head, but he still doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. Now, his ears are lava red, his nose is flared, his breathing is intense. I look up at him and there go those eyes again. This time I’m the victim of the assault.

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.

The rally is awesome. The theme is “America’s Best Dance Crew.” You can imagine how excited Keesh and I are, since that’s our favorite show. Alex’s skit is off the hook. He does this dance with all the football guys like the
Jabbawockeez
with white masks and glowing gloves. Who knew these big beefy guys could dance? It is awesome.

Ben’s skit is supposed to be like
Step Up 2 To The Streets
—you know, their dance at the end of the movie. Ben does the whole
Moose
thing, and he does it well. Damn, he looks hot even. That part sucks, but I can be mature, and admit his skit is good. And he looks good.