So I'm a Double Threat (Double Threat Series) (25 page)

“How so?” I ask, hoping I can stop the flood from restarting.

“Well, you, Amy and the girls, have been friends for a long time. I know it hurts to know she could do something like that to you.” His fingers caress the back of my hand.

“Yeah, but you guys have been together for nearly a year.”

A subtle grin plays across his lips when I look up at him. “Let’s just say it wasn’t really the relationship that everyone thought it was, so I don’t think I’ll lose too much sleep over this. Not for me, anyway. I’ll still worry about you.”

Wow. Not what I expected him to say. Not at all.

I stare at his hand covering mine, and place my other one on top of his.

“Some night, huh?” I tell him again.

“Yeah. But no so pathetic after all.”

––––––––

T
he news is all over school. ‘The easy freshman cheated on her senior beau with her best friend’s man.’ It pretty much sucks for Amy, because she looks really bad any way you look at it. In a few years, people won’t remember me or Alex, or even Eric, they’ll just remember
that Amy girl
, who was some skanky ho-bag.

I’m okay with that. It’s kind of sad how little I care about Amy, but I’m not over it yet. It sucks I lost one of my best friends, but who needs a friend like her? I sure don’t.

Everyone called or texted me for the rest of the weekend; everyone except for Amy. She didn’t try to contact any of us. But what could she really say? I explain over and over again how I’m fine, but none of them believe me. I said what I needed to say to Amy in the limo. I’m ready to move on.

School will be a little awkward since we all have so many classes together. Mr. Mitchell is already up on the gossip so when we all arrive in class, he sends Amy on an errand that takes almost the entire period. He’s so cool. I need to get to sixth period early to fill Ms. Gelson in with the details. I hope she lets me change seats.

Lunch is weird...I’m not sure what to expect. Amy’s probably hanging out with her sister. Maybe Eric even tagged along.

“I’m glad you guys are still here,” I say, as I approach our tree. Josh and Jonathan are already there.

“He’s whack anyway,” Josh says. “We wanna hang with you guys still. Is it cool?”

“Sit down, Grand Slam, you guys aren’t goin’ anywhere,” Keesh says, as she practically tackles Jonathan with a hug.

So it’s settled, we’ll all still hangout, with the exception of the outcasts, Amy and Eric.

“Do you wanna talk about it, Meg?” Keesh asks, as she puts her arm around me.

“Not really, but I’m sure you guys are dying to know what happened.” I know I would be.

“We already know. Ben gave us the low down after you and Alex left,” Jonathan explains.

“Just so you know, we didn’t know anything. If I did I would’ve told you,” Josh adds.

Jonathan snickers, “And I would’ve slide tackled his ass on the soccer field.”

“Next year, babe. You can get him next year.” Keesh smiles at her sweetheart.

“So, what’s up everybody?” Alex mutters. He sits down across from me on the grass.

I lift my head to look at him. “Not much.”

What the hell am I supposed to say?

“So, has anyone talked to Amy or Eric?” Alex asks.

“I talked to Eric,” Josh says. “He’s a dumbass. He’s pissed ’cause Jon and I still want to hang out with all you guys. He’s gonna have to get over it. What he did was stupid.”

“Give me a break,” Keesha cries. “Guys do stupid crap all the time.”

“Not all of them,” Alex argues.

“And not in the same group of friends.” Jonathan swirls his index finger in a circle gesturing to each of us.

“Good point,” Keesh agrees.

“Heeeyyy,” Steph yells.

Steph and Dominic join us. The guys take turns doing the guy handshake. Steph sits down next to me, opposite of Keesha. The guys start talking about sports crap and Memorial Day Weekend parties.

Steph and Keesh huddle in close to talk to me about Amy.

“So what do you want to do about Amy?” Steph asks.

I don’t even have to think about this one. “Nothing.”

Keesh leans in to bump me with her shoulder. “Really, Meg, you’re not going to talk to her?”

“No, I’m really not. There’s no excuse for what she did, so what’s there to talk about? She could say she’s sorry a million times, which you know she won’t, and it wouldn’t matter. Do you guys want to be friends with someone like her?”

“No, not really. I trust Dominic but I wouldn’t want her anywhere near him,” Steph explains. “I kinda feel bad for her, but I can’t stick up for her. You’re right. There
is
no excuse.”

“This isn’t like she broke my favorite earrings or flirted with my boyfriend. She had sex with him. A lot of sex with him, and she still let him kiss me afterward. It just pisses me off and grosses me out.”

Ben, Vanessa, and Erica join our little party too. Erica cuddles up to Josh, and Ben and Vanessa plop themselves down near Alex.

“Well,” Ben says, throwing his arms around Alex and Vanessa, “looks like we’re all here now. One big happy family.”

We all grin at him and laugh. Family maybe, but happy? That’s a stretch.

“No. We’re not all here,” Amy whimpers, tears coming down her eyes.

Keesh swoops to her feet in a split second. “Amy, this isn’t a good idea, so just go somewhere else.”

“Meggie, can we talk?”

Everyone quickly turns my way.

I look up at her and say, “Don’t you dare call me, Meggie. And no, I don’t need to talk to you.”

“Come on, Meg. Don’t be like this.” She turns toward Keesh and Steph for support. “What? Are you guys never gonna talk to me again? We’ve been friends forever. This is it? You’re just gonna ditch me?”

Steph stands up. “Meg’s not interested in being your friend anymore, and neither am I or Keesh, so you need to go away. But just remember one thing, we didn’t ditch you. You ditched us. Real friends don’t do shit like you did. Now just go,” Steph cries, her hands shaking and her mouth quivering. Dominic jumps to her side. He puts his hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“Come on, Amy. You’re just making yourself look more stupid,” Jen says to her sister. She grabs her sister’s hand and yanks her away.

Ben mumbles under his breath, “I doubt that’s possible.” Alex smacks him in the back of his head and tells him to shut up.

Amy stomps off with Jen, leaving us in peace, in silence.

“Well, that was fun,” Ben says.

––––––––

M
emorial Day Weekend is filled with possibilities. Since Prom, everyone has been preoccupied with thoughts and talk about Amy and Eric. It finally seems to be dying down. Amy’s parents came to school and convinced her counselor to switch around her schedule—so, we don’t have all the same classes anymore. For any other student, switching classes at the end of the school year would have been unheard of. But for Amy, the daughter of the president of the school booster club, a schedule change is a piece of cake. The only class we have the same is ASB, but she found another group of people to kick it with, and it’s fine with me.

This weekend has given me, and my friends, a chance to start over.

“You guys ready?” Alex asks, when I open the door.

“Hi, Alex,” my mom gushes. “So nice to see you again. You’re taking the girls to a party?”

Keesh and I can use some cheering up. We just found out we didn’t make the dance team. It’s okay though. I kind of expected it. I was so caught up in dealing with Amy I didn’t have my mind right. We still have two more years. Maybe if we do well in intermediate next year, the teacher will bump us up to team. We’ll see.

“Hi, Mrs. Miller.” He gives her a hug. She loves it. “Yeah. We haven’t done much since Prom so we thought we’d have some fun before we all have to study for finals.”

She adores Alex. She knows that every time I’ve had a hard time this school year, he’s been the one to put the smile back on my face. He could say he’s taking me to the mountains to sacrifice me to a cult and she’d be fine with it.

Keesh, Steph, and I pass my mom, and are out of the house.

“Bye, Mom. Love ya,” I shout.

“You all have a great time,” she yells to us.

“Bye, Mrs. Miller,” Alex calls back to her. “We’re gonna lap it so we only have to take one car,” Alex explains as he slides open the door to reveal the rest of the crew. Ben, Vanessa, Josh, and Erica are squished in the far back seat of the van. Steph, Keesh, Jonathan, and I take the middle seat, and Alex and Dominic sit in the front. I know Steph wants to sit with Dom, but there’s no way he’ll fit in the back with three other people, he’s even too big for the front.

The party is already crowded when we get there. The guys were hungry so we stopped at Denny’s first. I would seriously hate to work there, with high school kids coming in all the time. We aren’t the best patrons. We’re so loud and obnoxious, always laughing, cussing, and yelling at each other across the table. And we always take a souvenir—a menu, ketchup bottles, silverware. Once, Jonathan actually took a booster seat.

The DJ plays
Walk It Out
as we arrive. It’s almost too perfect. We all shake our way to the dance area and get our freak on. The song finishes and the place goes wild with
Get Low
. Everyone’s swaying their hands in the air to Lil’ Jon’s lyrics. The song is so dirty, but I love it. Keesh cracks everyone up as she
backs it up
into Jonathan. The poor guy looks scared. It seems like forever before we take a break. Little by little, some of us migrate from the dance floor to get some drinks.

“You want something?” Alex asks me.

“Yeah. Why not? Surprise me.”

I watch as he splits his way through the crowd, and I keep dancing.

“Can you believe the year is almost over?” Ben speaks loudly into my ear.

“No way.” I laugh. “It seems like yesterday we were at a party and you were trying to get me liquored up.”

He smiles. “Yeah well, that was a long time ago. I’m sorry I hurt you, Meg.”

“Don’t trip. It’s all good now.”

“Well, I’m glad we’re friends again. I’m gonna miss you.”

I laugh. “It’s not like you’re dying, you’re just graduating.”

“Don’t remind me,” he shouts.

Vanessa and Alex return with drinks in their hand.

“You’re not drinking, are you?” I ask Alex.

He rolls his eyes. “I’m Designated Dave. It’s a Coke, nerd.”

“Just checking,” I shout, taking a swig of my drink. “Umm, yummy. A Diet Coke.”

He winks. “Just thought you’d want to
remember
the last party of the year.”

I smile at him, hypnotized by his presence, and we dance for the rest of the night.

I’ve never been to the drive-in. I didn’t realize they still
existed
. Alex texts me, to see if I want to go out tonight. I, of course, text him back with a yes. I thought we were just going to go to the movies. But when we get here, it isn’t a movie theater...it’s a drive-in.

“I brought some popcorn, licorice, Kit Kats, and a Diet Coke for you and Coke for me.” Alex starts digging the goodies out of a bag.

“Cool...but didn’t I see a snack bar back there?”

“Yeah, but the line is always long and you end up missing part of the movie.”

“This is interesting,” I mutter, as I look around.

“You’ve never been here before?”

“Nope.”

“They show two movies and we’ll hear the sound through the radio.”

Hmm.

We get situated with snacks and drinks before the movie starts. I unbuckle my seatbelt and move the seat back to get comfortable. I think about how sweet Alex is. He got all my favorite snacks. I’ve never told him these are my favorite. He’s just noticed from all the times we’ve been around each other. Or maybe they’re his favorites. It doesn’t matter. We’re here. I’m here...with Alex.

Previews show first and I feel like talking. It’s weird because at a movie theater, you know you’re not supposed to talk, but here, in Alex’s little car, I just want to talk to him.

I look at him and he catches my gaze.

“You know, I’ve never sat in the front seat with a girl at the drive-in before now,” Alex snickers.

“Ooookaaay.”

“Usually, I’d be in the backseat all cuddled up already.” He chuckles.

“And you’re telling me this, why?”

“I don’t know. I have mixed feelings right now.”

“Explain.” Curiosity is killing me.

“Well, you know I have feelings for you, Meg. I have for a long time but I’ve been holding back,” he confesses.

“Why...why would you hold back?”

“Because I’m leaving. I’m graduating.” He pauses. “I don’t think it would be fair to you to have some college boyfriend while you’re in high school.”

“So you are leaving. I can’t believe we’ve never talked about this before. I was actually hoping you’d be going to college since that’s my goal too. So, where’re you going?”

“Berkeley,” he says, a cocky grin spreads across his face. “It’s pretty far away, like a nine-hour drive. I won’t be coming home a lot. Only for holidays.”

“Oh.” I was saddened by the news, to say the least.

“See? That’s why we can’t be together. You need to experience all the things I did in high school. Well, not all of them. But I don’t want to hold you back. If you go to a party and meet someone, I don’t want you to have to worry about me. If some guy asks you to homecoming, I want you to go. I can’t be here for all that stuff...” He trails off.

“Oh. I understand.” I want to cry but I don’t. I don’t want to sound like a baby. I understand what he’s saying, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

“I really want to be with you, but I just don’t think it would be fair, to either one of us,” he explains.

“So what does this mean? Are you saying we’re not gonna be friends anymore?” I ask, in almost a whisper.

He touches my face softly with his fingertips. “No way, we can email, text, call. I’ll visit when I come home if you want me to. We just can’t be a couple, not
now
.”

“Explain that.
Not now
.” I’m not shying away from this conversation. I’ve been waiting for this for way too long to walk away from the details.