Outside the time, p.10
Outside the time, page 10
We were joking and laughing together when Vanessa decided she'd watched enough. She pushed herself directly in front of me. I thought I heard her mutter, "stupid Nomag," but I dismissed it.
I grabbed a beer and stepped away, staying within sight of Mike, letting him have his moment with the pink-tailed Playboy bunny. Fighting back a chuckle, I watched as Mike's eyes kept darting from her face to the massive cleavage forced up by her tight outfit.
Vanessa was an exquisite Latina goddess. Her wavy, honey-colored hair curled neatly down to the middle of her back, while bangs curled just as neatly over her forehead. Even without heels, she had legs that wouldn't quit. With heels on, she was actually taller than Xavier and Mike both.
Her golden brown skin was flawless with no acne, or even a single mole or freckle. Her emerald eyes were surrounded by thick black eyelashes. I found myself envious of her full, plump lips. Claire skipped to my side and linked an arm through mine, distracting me from my brief moment of jealousy.
"Got ditched, eh?" she said as she looked over at Mike.
"More like got pushed out of the way," I joked. "New girl is pushy!"
Vanessa shot a glare my way. I smiled. I had intentionally said it loud enough for her to hear.
"I would say most girls are when they see something they really want. You've just been spoiled."
"How exactly have I been spoiled?" It was an honest question as I never thought of myself as spoiled.
"Because you don't care how many eyes fall on you when you enter a room, nor do you notice. You don't care if anyone actually likes you. You act like you do but you don't. You get what you want because you don't worry about the trivial crap. You know who you are and it's who you are that people are drawn to," she explained. I couldn't tell how drunk she was and started wondering if she was linked to my arm to keep herself upright.
"I don't know about that. I really have no confidence in myself and I have three friends in my life, not counting my brother, and one lives several thousand miles away. One is over there being hit on by a very hot girl, and you'll go off with my brother as soon as he gets out of the bathroom, leaving me here alone with my thumb up my butt." Annoyed, took a sip of my beer. Claire moved her arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.
"Xavier and I won't leave you alone, promise. But don't worry, we'll get Mike back before the night is done. She's got nuttin' on you!" She held up her beer to clink it with mine. We both laughed as I obliged even though I thought she was daft, if not completely drunk off her rocker.
Vanessa's cackles rose above the loud music. I had to hide my own laugh. She sounded like a hyena. Finally she was successful and pulled Mike out to the makeshift dance floor. He looked back at me and mouthed "Sorry."
"You know, if I wasn't totally head over heels for your bro I'd totally try and tap that," Claire admitted.
I spewed my beer. It promptly landed on some poor soul sitting in a chair in front of me. The kid was too drunk to realize what had happened and continued to chat with his friend. With the back of my hand I wiped the excess away and looked at Claire who was smiling at me.
"Tap that? Really?" I shook my head.
"What? I've always thought he was cute, but until you came along, we were lucky to get him to say even two words to anyone."
"What do you mean?" I asked. It dawned on me that everything I knew about Mike came from Mike himself. I'd never gotten information from anyone else.
"He was really shy when he first moved here. He started to open up a little bit last year, but not a whole lot. That first year all he did was walk quietly through the halls like a zombie, eyes on the floor, iPod ear buds permanently attached to his ears. He was obviously very sad about something."
"He's moved around a lot. I'm sure it can't be easy to move that much. I hated moving and we only did it once."
"Well, either way, I remember when I saw you walk up to him that first day, my first thought was" 'Good luck, girl, you're going to need it.' Then he lets you sit down next to him and you crack the elusive Mike code. He's been glued to you ever since." She laughed.
"So he never talked about his past with anyone?" I asked, tracking his progress across the floor.
"Nope. Most I ever got from him was like you said- he moved around a lot and learned not to open up to people as he just leaves them anyway." Claire nudged me toward him. "You should go rescue him. She's never going to leave him if someone doesn't rescue him."
"Why do I have to do it?" I whined.
"Because you're his bestie and he'll luv ya for it. Tell him you want his body and want to take him to the back room and…" I glared at her. "Fine, tell him we're gonna do shots."
I finished off my beer and sucked in a deep breath before gathering my courage to step in front of the lion. I forced my way through the dancing bodies. Some of them grabbed me and tried to get me to join them, but I pressed forward trying to get to Mike without getting trampled. His eyes lit up when he saw me. He stopped dancing. Vanessa turned and scowled at me.
"Claire wants you to do some shots with us." I took her excuse and ran with it. Last thing I wanted to do was pretend to be a jealous girlfriend and start some kind of pissing match with Vanessa. She had a thick Latino accent. Rumor on the gossip line, was her family was from Mexico, and they had just moved up from San Diego a couple weeks prior to the party. I had no idea if she was as tough as she acted.
"Excuse us, we were dancing," she snarled.
"Well then, that makes us even since you interrupted our talking earlier," I snapped back. Grabbing Mike's hand as he stifled a laugh, I led him back to the bar where Xavier and Claire were waiting with shots already poured. I didn't need eyes in the back of my head to know Vanessa was giving me the same death stare I received from Marsha.
"I love when you get all jealous," Mike joked. I shot him an angry glare.
"I'm not jealous! I just didn't appreciate her tone after she interrupted us first!"
"Oh…is that all?" He actually sounded a bit sad that I wasn't jealous.
The four of us returned to our secluded little square and began downing our alcohol, ignoring the world around us. As bad as the cliques were in high school, ours was no exception and we knew it.
Outside of the times we sat on the grassy knoll at lunch, we didn't let any outsiders into our small little band. That is how I was certain when Mike got a girlfriend, I would be left in the cold, even if they didn't intend for it to happen. I had to laugh to myself. I really needed to break out of my box and get some more friends. I was too dependent on the three of them.
Without intending to, I ended up having too much to drink, even with Mike's vigilant watch, and had to lean on Mike to keep myself standing upright. The world around me spun and I felt like I couldn't stop moving.
"You're wasted," Mike said as he helped me to sit down on a chair. He pulled another next to me. My head swayed and I couldn't seem to stop blinking as I tried to focus on Mike. Before I knew it I was poking his mouth with my finger while making weird noises for no reason.
"Is no drank!" I forced out. I tried to speak slowly and focus on my words but it wasn't working out so well. Even I had no idea what I was saying.
"I think they might be planning your death," Mike joked, discreetly nodding toward the corner where Marsha and Vanessa talked amongst themselves, their eyes glued to the pair of us.
"Pfht. Screw em," I said.
I grinned wickedly and leaned closer to him. My arms wrapped around him, and I playfully nibbled on his ear. One of my hands moved up and down his arm while the other ran through his hair.
I felt him tense with every move I made. I could see him grab his knees as his hands flinched with every nibble I made. I hooked one leg over his and moved closer until I was almost sitting on his lap. His breath began to labor and I felt the heat radiating around me.
"Is no me fault yer curzy." I whispered when I finally stopped nibbling on his ear. My face was still extremely close to his, and my glasses were slightly fogged. He cocked his head toward me. I had to bite my lip after I spoke to keep my playful banter from going too far. Making Marsha and Vanessa jealous was one thing, but he was so close, so inviting…
"Crazy? How am I crazy? You're the one pouncing on me right now." His voice had a slight crack to it.
"Cus ther both hot 'n wancha! Yit youse here wit me!" He didn't answer me, just pushed me off him, making sure I was sitting up straight before he stood up.
"Wait here. Don't move, understand? Don't talk to any strange guys or go anywhere with them. Just stay right in this seat."
I tried to salute him but ended up poking myself in the eye instead, which made me cackle like it was the funniest thing ever. Shaking his head, he ran over to a bucket that had several bottles of water. Grabbing two, he returned to me and gave me one of them.
"Drink this," he ordered. I rolled my eyes and pushed it away. "I will force it down your throat."
"Pfth." I stuck out my tongue at him, blowing raspberries, but I followed his instructions.
"Now, why am I crazy again?"
"Cus you kip ditchin hot cheeks fuhme." My words slurred. I didn't know how he could be so sober when he had more to drink then I did.
"I'm not entirely sure I got that either but it sounded like you think I ditch hot girls for you." I nodded emphatically. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't, and maybe they're not that hot."
"Right. You blind." I leaned to the side in my chair and was resting on his shoulder again. But this time I didn't try to seduce him, though one hand went back to his hair.
I really loved stroking his hair when it was not globed with gel. He had long since pulled the bear hood off his head complaining it was too hot.
"I wesh I wuss hot like dem." I pouted as I stared at the goddess' eyeing me angrily.
"Oh man, that's a can of worms that you are way too drunk for me to open right now." He was laughing hard.
Whenever I stopped drinking, he put his hand under my bottle to get it up to my mouth. When I finished the first bottle he handed me another.
"Finish this and then I'll grab another and we'll get going."
"But I don…"
"I don't care if you don't want to. You're about a step away from passing out or throwing up on me." He laughed. "And if it's one thing that I know, passing out at a party is not safe, even with a watchdog by your side."
"Mmhm. You me dog?"
"Yeah I'm your watchdog." He laughed again and hurried to grab another bottle. I looked over at Vanessa, who growled at me. Without a thought I stuck my tongue out at her and burst into a frenzy of laughter.
Xavier and Claire had left the party earlier because of her curfew. We offered to leave with them, but I think they wanted to have one of those stolen moments. It might've been better had we left with them, as Mike almost had to carry me home.
That's the one thing about the party I can't remember- the how I got home part. All I knew is I woke up the next morning in Mike's bed… again. That was starting to become a bad habit. I started thinking alcohol and I didn't mix. Never again would I attend a party and get too drunk to remember even the smallest details. At least that's what I tried to convince myself.
Chapter 8 – Still thinking of you
I hadn't had that sex dream since before that first party. It had been replaced by a weirder, though less frightening, dream. I found myself in a hallway with doors lining either side and no apparent end.
Each door had something written on it. Fate. Destiny. Future. Present. Words like that- and all completely unique. Looking down the hall, I didn't think there were enough words to fill all the doors. Not that it mattered, because I never made it past the door that said "Past" written in big, bold, blue letters, anyway.
Every time I tried to pass, I found myself stopping at the door. My hand would reach out, and as I touched the glowing doorknob, a pulse extended outward into my body. It felt almost as if the door was electrocuting me. Before I ever had a chance to turn the knob, Mike would suddenly pull me away.
He'd grab my outstretched hand, draw me into his arms, and then we'd start to waltz. Only in the dream I was able to waltz without crippling him. Each time the waltz would pull me away from the door and back to where I started. It was neverending, like a broken record. Then Mike would hold me in his arms and look into my eyes.
I couldn't help but sink into his gaze. So deep, so pure, his eyes mesmerized me. Their golden halos would spin, as if trying to hypnotize me. If I tried to look away, he'd pull me back to face him.
"Not yet," he'd say before leaning closer.
As his lips were about to press against mine, I'd wake up. Every damn time! Sometimes I found myself wanting to finish the dream and see if we'd actually kiss, but I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my head.
It was bad enough that just about every time he touched me I started blushing. I wasn't going to allow myself to imagine kissing him.
The fog had become a regular visitor at night, getting thicker all the time. Meanwhile the black Lab perched itself by our tree just about every night. If it wasn't the black Lab, there was a Rottweiler and or a tPaula cat. Always in the same spot and always watching the fog. What was weird about the fog is there was almost an invisible force field outside my house that seemed to keep it away.
The line the fog couldn't cross seemed to be related to our property line. I convinced myself it wasn't real and that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. The only reason my house seemed clear was because it was in the center of the fog. If I had stepped across the street then that house would appear clear.
From time to time to time I would sneak outside and put out a plate of leftovers or a bowl of water for whatever animal happened to be there that evening. The animal would always look at me, but only the black Lab would ever have the courage to come up to me. A couple of times I sat wrapped in a blanket on the porch with the dog. Its head lay in my lap while its eyes moved from one edge of the fog line to the other.
As I stroked the dog's fur, it would whimper, and its leg would thump when I scratched behind its ear just right. Every night I kept waiting for one of my parents to wake up and catch me with the animal, but they never did.
The Lab's fur was incredibly soft, almost like the finest silk, and I loved petting it. When my fingers ran over it the first time I honestly thought I felt a slight spark before the dog's tail started thumping against the ground.
Happily, the dog would sometimes reach up and lick my neck. The first time I pushed it away, jokingly scolding it for slobbering on me. But the dog was the closest thing to a pet I ever had, so I actually enjoyed its slobbery licks. Some nights I fell asleep with the dog curled up against my stomach, but when I awoke I was always in my bedroom.
My parents never asked me about sleepwalking, so I knew they hadn't moved me. But I never really felt uneasy about how I got to my room. It seemed right somehow.
This continued as fall turned to winter and we were coming up to our winter break. Three weeks of no school—boy, was I looking forward to it. Especially since one of those weeks would be spent with Xavier and Mike down in L.A with Mike's brother. I would finally get to meet Sam.
It took a lot of convincing and badgering to get our parents to agree to let us go. Originally, Claire was supposed to go with us, too, but her parents adamantly refused. Considering how heavy she and Xavier were getting, I honestly didn't blame them. It was only a matter of time before they branched out to the "forbidden zone" as my Dad liked to call it. It was so hot and heavy one night I heard Dad up in Xavier's room giving him "the talk." When they came down, I am not sure who was more mortified, Xavier or Dad.
Let's face it, while it is a necessity in life, the sex talk with your parents is just as uncomfortable for them as it is for you. I dreaded the day it would be my turn.
The only reason our parents agreed, is because they spent an hour on the phone with Sam, getting to know him a bit, and also because it was for Xavier's birthday. It was all he wanted.
Xavier had the unfortunate luck to have a birthday that fell four days after Christmas. This meant he didn't get many presents and almost everyone was out of town, so even birthday parties were hard to plan.
But before all that we had the Winter Dance. It was the last dance before school let out, and naturally everyone was all in tizzy about it. I didn't think that it was possible for a dance that didn't have the word "prom" in it to get that much hype.
Maybe it's because I knew nobody would ask me- nobody had asked me to the three smaller dances prior, why would they ask me to that one- but I just didn't get it. It was just a stupid dance! Prom I could get behind. Prom I really wanted to go to. But a Winter Dance? Really could not care less.
Okay, so that was a lie. I actually wanted to go. Badly.
"You really aren't going?" Mike asked as he helped my brother straighten his tie. Xavier was hopeless with dressing up. I sat on the bottom of our stairs watching them get ready. Mom had already done her rounds of taking obnoxious pictures before excusing herself.
"I don't have a date," I said.
"Seriously? I thought you did…" Mike seemed overly shocked by that stunning news. I shrugged and pulled myself into a standing position. I walked over to Mike and brushed my hands over his shoulders to smooth out his suit jacket.
"Nope. Not a single invite." I grinned at him as he eyed me.
"You could always go stag," Xavier added. I shook my head.
"Yeah, no. Let's see, only single person at a dance full of happy couples, yay me!" I replied sarcastically. "You boys go and have fun. Eat cake for me, or whatever they do at these things."
I waved my hand at them as I headed to my room, trying hard not to show I was jealous.
"She really didn't get anyone to ask?" I could hear Mike ask through my partially open door. "What about that Brad guy? I thought he had asked?"
"Brad's a douche," Xavier answered. "Come on, Claire and Vanessa are waiting.
"I can't believe nobody asked her."
