The Art of Life (77 page)

               
When I let go, I see Eric
staring at me.
 
I smile and he smirks
back.
 
I look back at Jeremy.
 
“Okay, I did it once, now you guys play.”

               
“That’s it!” He exclaims.
 
“You are going to do it once.”

               
“I think once is enough,” I
mumble, with my eyes widening.

               
Laughing, Jeremy walks past me
and whispers, “I love to make you blush.”
 
He stops in front of Eric.
 
“Are
you ready for some real action?”

               
“I am game,” Eric replies.
 
“You rack and I will break.
 
Or unless you want a turn, you can break.”

               
My jaw hits the floor.
 
Jeremy slowly turns and looks at him.
 
“Pretty mouthy for a
teenager.
 
Want to put money on
it?”

               
“Jeremy!” I snap.
 
“Stop it!”
              

               
“Sure, how much are we talking?”
Eric retorts.

               
“Eric!” I yell.
 
“Both of you stop it.”

               
Jeremy opens his hands, “My cash
flow is unlimited for the most part, so whatever a high
schooler
can handle.”

               
“Really Jeremy, don’t be rude!”
I shout.

               
“He is fine,” Eric
interjects.
 
“Fifty.”

               
Again, my jaw drops.
 
Jeremy nods his head.
 
“It’s on then.
 
You can break if you want.”

               
“I think I will,” Eric
replies.
 
I look at Jack and he kind of
looks at me like we are all nuts.
 
Eric
bends over and sends the cue ball sailing.
 
It breaks up the rest of the balls and a ball actually goes into a
pocket.
 
“You’re solids,” he says to
Jeremy.
 
Bending over, he shoots again,
sending yet another ball into a side pocket.
           

               
This will be a quick game.
 
I slowly move my gaze to Jeremy.
 
He is actually glaring at the table.
 
Why is he so dead set on beating Eric?
 
When Eric actually misses a shot, Jeremy
says, “Excellent.”
 
He walks up to me and
says, “A kiss for good luck.”
 
His lips
are instantly on mine, and it isn’t just a peck.
 
It makes me falter a little bit.
 
When Jeremy pulls away, he just smirks at
me.
 
I am in a kind of daze, as he takes
his shot.
 
He, of course, sinks
it,
and then the next three shots after that.
 

               
I bite my lip because I don’t
know who I want to win.
 
Isn’t that bad
of me?
 
Shouldn’t I want Eric to
win?
 
I watch as they go back and forth,
getting more and more serious as the game progresses.
 
Then it dawns on me.
 
This is actually thoroughly appealing.
 
I have no idea why, but it’s kind of
hot.
 

               
Finally, they are both down to
one ball and the 8 ball.
 
They take a
minute and study the table.
 
Jeremy looks
at Eric.
 
“You have one chance to do
this.
 
Remember its 50 dollars on the
line.”

               
“Money isn’t a problem,” Eric
retorts.

               
“We should up the ante then,”
Jeremy responds.
 
He turns and looks at
me.
 
“Isabelle, what could we possibly
put in the pot?”

               
My anger instantly shoots
up.
 
“I have no idea,” I hiss.

               
“Well, you are a beautiful
girl.
 
I say we bet that the winner gets
to take Isabelle out for the evening, on the other player’s dollar,” Jeremy
chimes.
 
Oh
my gosh
,
I am going to kill him.

               
Eric nods his head.
 
“Deal.”

               
My mouth drops open.
 
“Huh?”

               
“Go ahead my young man,” Jeremy
sighs.
 
“Isabelle and I want to go out
for the evening.”

               
Taking a deep breath, Eric bends
over.
 
He stares at the ball for a while,
moves his pool stick back and forth and then takes the shot.
 
He knocks his ball into the pocket.
 
“Now what?”
I ask.

               
“He has to hit the 8 ball into the
same pocket,” Jack replies.
 
“It’s a hard
shot.”

               
With a very serious look, Eric
takes the shot……and misses.
 
Jeremy walks
over to him and pats him on the back.
 
“Good try.
 
I hope there are no
hard feelings.”

               
Jeremy bends over and takes his
shot and sinks the ball.
 
Standing up, he
walks over to me.
 
“What do you want to
do tonight
toots
?”

               
“Jeremy,” I whine.
 
“Don’t.”

               
He just smirks.
 
“8 ball, corner pocket.”
 
He bends down and totally nails the ball
right into the pocket.
 
“Sorry Eric.”

               
Eric just gives him a look and
then smiles.
 
“It’s all good, only a
game.”
 
He reaches for his wallet and
takes out money.
 
“Here you go.”

               
I snatch it and shove it back in
his wallet.
 
“We are not taking
that.
 
This is silly!”

               
“No, he won,” Eric says, “he
gets the money.”

               
Shaking his head, Jeremy says,
“I am not really going to take your money.
 
It was fun.
 
I will have to bring
you out more often.”

               
Suddenly, I am picked up from
behind and I hear, “MY ISABELLE!” yelled in my ear.

               
I instantly freeze.
 
When I am set back down, I turn around to
see…. “JOSH!”
 
I leap into his arms and
give him a hug.
 
“What are you doing
here!?”

               
“We actually just got here.
 
This is Sam and my brother Luke,” Josh
explains, pointing to two other guys.

               
“Hi,” I wave.
 
“We went to the car show today, and I learned
I like imports.”

               
Josh high fives me.
 
“Awesome, I like you more every day.”

               
“Oh, these are my friends, Eric
and Jack.
 
They went to the car show,
too.”

               
Jack and Eric wave and say, “Hello.”

               
“Hey, you are the brother that
owns the nightclub,” I say.
 
“Kent told
me about you.”

               
“Yes, I own the nightclub.
 
Have you been there?” Luke asks.

               
I shake my head.
 
“No, not yet.
 
Hopefully soon, though.”

               
“She isn’t 21,” Jack interjects.

               
Jeremy closes his eyes.
 
“We know that Jack.”

               
Eric looks at his friend, “There
is a night when they let people between the ages of 18-21 in the lower section
of the club.”

               
“You are free advertisement,”
Luke laughs.
 
“You guys should come.
 
You would have a good time.”

               
“I plan to dance with Isabelle,”
Josh exclaims, picking me up off the ground.

               
Giggling, I smack him.
 
“Put me down.”

               
“No,” he laughs.
 
“Are you guys done playing or what?”

               
“We should do teams,” Jeremy
says.
 
“I will take Eric.”

               
Eric looks at him and gives him
the most mischievous grin.
 
I roll my
eyes, and spend the rest of the night watching a whole lot of male
bonding.
 
They all buy me enough soda and
then pizza to make myself sick.
 
Finally,
it’s late and I yawn.
 
Jeremy comes
walking over to me.
 
“Are you tired
babe?”

               
“
Mmmhmmm
,”
I reply, sleepily.
 
“I want to go home
and crawl into bed.”

               
“Sounds good to me,” Jeremy grins
in reply.

               
“ALONE,” I emphasize.

               
Jeremy grabs his chest.
 
“Ouch, why the sudden change in heart?”

               
I look away.
 
“There hasn’t been, but….we aren’t
together….we shouldn’t be doing that.
 
Eric has laughed it off this whole time, but what if he wanted to go on
a date?” I whisper.
 
“I couldn’t do that
after spending two nights sleeping in your bed.”

               
“Since when do we care about
what ANYONE thinks?” Jeremy asks quietly.
 
“It’s you and me babe.”

               
The tightness forms in my
chest.
 
“It is not you and me Jeremy,” I
sigh, looking into his eyes.
 
“We aren’t
together.”

               
He stands there for a second
just staring at me.
 
Then he brings his
fingers up on the side of my face and slowly strokes them down.
 
Jeremy’s mouth opens to say something, but
suddenly Jack is beside us.
 
“Dude, I
realize I am 18, but it’s a Sunday and I need to be home soon.”

               
“We can go,” Jeremy says
quickly, dropping his hand.
 
I very much
wish he kept it there.
 
“Come on
babe.”
 
I hop down from my stool and
follow him to the group.

               
Later we say our good nights to
Eric and Jack when we drop them off at home.
 
They both said they had a great time and would see me tomorrow.
 
That made me happy.

               
When Jeremy and I get home, we
are quiet.
 
I go into my room and change
into pajamas.
  
Next, I go into the
bathroom and start to wash my make-up off.
 
Jeremy comes walking up next to me.
 
He has no shirt on again.
 
Why
does he do this to me?
 
I rinse my face
and dry it on a towel.
 
“Do you need to
brush your teeth?” I ask.

               
He nods, reaching for his
toothbrush.
 
I get mine too and we brush
our teeth in silence.
 
When I am done, I
look at him.
 
“Thank you so much for
today.
 
I had so much fun and it was
great to hang out with Eric and Jack.”

               
“Especially Eric,” Jeremy adds
quietly.

               
“Yeah,” I reply.
 
“I had a good time with you too.”
 
I nudge him with my hip.
 
“My day would not have been complete without
you there.”

               
That seems to make him
smile.
 
“As long as I know that I am not
totally losing you.”