As Jessica finished putting gas in her car, she walked into the gas station’s small convenient store to pay with cash. Kayla returned to the front passenger seat, while Angela just watched from the back.
Angela glanced out the window to see Jessica inside the store browsing around. “I thought Jessica was just paying for gas.”
“Oh,” Kayla began as she looked at herself in the mirror, “she also said that she was going to score us some drinks to enjoy back at her place.”
“Like soft drinks or something?” Angela asked naively.
Kayla looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Something a little more exciting.”
Angela peered inside the building just in time to see Jessica approach the counter. She placed a pack of glass bottles beside the register and started talking with the clerk. He pointed to a sign that had two numbers on it, 21.
Jessica just smiled and flipped her blonde hair a little, as if she was trying to flirt with the college-aged clerk. He seemed to not buy it at first, but then she took out a piece of paper from her purse, scribbled something on it and handed it to him. He smiled, rang her out, and then Jessica left the store with the pack of glass bottles.
She rounded the car, opened the door across from Angela and set down the pack of bottles beside her. As Jessica did so, Angela noticed a word on the side of the cardboard package, Beer.
“You rule,” Kayla said to her best friend. “You always manage to pull it off.”
“It took a little practice,” Jessica admitted obviously pleased with herself, “but, I got it down now.”
Angela was disconcerted. “I thought you had to be over twenty-one to buy alcohol?”
“If you have enough charm you can do whatever you want,” Jessica flippantly answered.
Kayla raised a brow. “But, you didn’t really give him your phone number, did you?”
Jessica laughed and replied, “Of course not. I’m not desperate.”
Angela did not feel comfortable sitting beside the alcohol, and as Jessica drove away, the sound of the glass bottles tapping against each other annoyed her. She tried to ignore it the best she could. On the ride to Jessica’s house, Angela stayed fairly quiet, and Jessica and Kayla were busy singing along to some pop music on the radio.
“Welcome to Upper Grove Heights,” Jessica said to Angela. Her pride in her neighborhood was obvious in her voice.
Angela admired the well constructed townhouses lining both sides of the street, and it was very apparent that the owners were well-to-do. Many of the wide, two-story homes had intricate landscaping all around. Their walkways and stairs were lit by decorative light posts and their front doors had large stain glass windows in them.
“Very impressive,” Angela said with sincerity.
“Thank you,” Jessica began, “it’s the best place to live around here.”
Kayla turned in her seat to stare at Angela, “Oh, you’ve never been here before?”
Angela quietly responded, “No, we’re always so busy hanging out at the malls together.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Well, I just live a mile away, so I come over all the time. Where do you live?”
Before Angela was forced to answer that, Jessica kindly said, “Angela lives a little south of here.”
“Okay.” Kayla glanced at Jessica. “There are some really nice homes there too.”
“Yes,” Angela agreed. Just not all the way south in Bottom Grove.
Jessica pulled into her driveway and parked in the garage. As they all got out of the car, Jessica said, “My parents are still gone, or their car would have been parked in the garage too. I think they went to a play or something.”
“Do your parents ever watch you cheerleading?” Angela asked semi-wistfully.
“They used to,” Jessica replied trying to act indifferent, “but they would rather go out instead. Honestly, they stay out of my business and I stay out of theirs. So, we should have no problem hanging out upstairs and drinking.”
Angela thought it was sad that Jessica’s parents would not spend time with her, but mostly she was worried about the beer that they had.
Jessica carried the bottles inside, while Kayla headed to the kitchen. Angela walked inside the clean home and loved the spacious living room. She then followed Jessica upstairs into her bedroom.
The room was twice as big as hers was, the bed was a queen-size, and the closet was over four feet wide. As Jessica set down the pack of bottles, Angela crossed the room. On the wall above the desk were pictures of Jessica and in many of them, there were different guys posing with her.
“I wouldn’t recommend any of those guys,” Jessica said with a laugh.
“Friends of yours?” Angela asked.
Jessica rolled her eyes and said, “They wish. No, just former flings. Why waste too much time with any one of them? Once they’re boring, you can just find a new one.”
Angela decided not to comment, because she did not want the conversation to shift to her. But, unfortunately, Jessica then asked, “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
“No.” Angela replied so fast that she wondered how it just came across. “I mean, not right now.”
“Well,” Jessica began teasingly, “I saw you flirting with the quarterback at the game.”
“We were just talking,” Angela said as she blushed.
“Sure you were. I think you two are a good match. Besides, he is very muscular. If you don’t date him, I just might.”
“Hey!” Angela started, but then fell silent.
“Oh,” Jessica said her eyes wide with fake innocence, “so you do like Carmen?”
Angela replied quickly, “It’s Carson.”
Jessica just laughed. “I see.”
As they heard footsteps coming up the stairs, Jessica tossed a shirt over the beer. But, when she saw Kayla with a pizza, she smiled.
Jessica closed the door and locked it. Kayla set the pizza pan on the dresser along with some paper plates. Each girl grabbed a plate and a few slices of pizza. Angela took hers, said a silent prayer, without doing the sign of the cross, and then ate.
Kayla took a beer bottle, popped the cap and started gulping it down. Jessica grabbed one and held it out towards Angela. “Do you want one?”
Angela’s first instinct was to say no. Her parents did not drink, and they had warned her of the dangers of drinking alcohol. She watched as Kayla guzzled the first beer like it was cold water on a hot day. Angela knew that drinking was addictive, and that being drunk impaired your thoughts and self-control. Jessica appeared to think nothing of offering her the beer, like she was offering her candy.
“No thank you,” Angela said, waving a hand in refusal.
Kayla said, “Oh come on, Angela. It’s just a beer. I started drinking around your age.”
Angela replied uneasily, “I don’t drink.”
Jessica took a few swigs. “Really? Do you have a weak stomach or something?”
“No, my stomach is normal,” Angela said, getting slightly annoyed at their persistence.
“All the Grove Girls drink,” Kayla insisted vehemently. “You don’t want them to think you’re afraid or anything.”
“Kayla, let’s not pressure her,” Jessica cut in. When Angela heard that, she was glad. She did not want to be peer pressured to drink, and she was happy that Jessica realized that. However, then Jessica said, “She can decide to drink when she’s ready.”
Angela’s stomach flip flopped. “I don’t feel that great.”
“I’ll take you home,” Jessica said as she downed the beer. “It was your first game. You’re probably exhausted from all the cheerleading.”
Kayla gave her a smile and added, “You just need some sleep.”
“Yeah,” Angela said as she gave a weak smile in return. “I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Jessica asked Kayla to clean up the room while they were gone. Kayla waved to them as they left the room and headed to the ga
rage.
The ride home was fairly quiet. Angela was a little sore from cheerleading, especially the halftime show. She leaned back in the passenger seat and just closed her eyes for a bit. Angela was glad that she did not drink, and was upset that the other girls were into drinking. But, she did not feel like questioning Jessica about it, knowing that they still had the rest of the cheerleading season together.
Jessica soon said, “We’re here.”
Angela opened her heavy eyes and saw the house. Billy’s vehicle was not there, which made her smile. She grabbed her backpack and got out of the car.
Jessica leaned out the window. “Oh, there’s something I forgot to tell you.”
Angela came closer. “What’s that?”
“Julia is currently dating one of the football players,” Jessica began with a smile, “and she said that after the game, Carson was telling the guys in the locker room about you.”
Angela tried not to sound too interested, despite her heart picking up a beat. “Oh, yeah?”
Jessica nodded encouragingly. “Maybe you should talk to him next week at school. He obviously has a crush on you. Why not give him a chance?”
Angela rolled her eyes and replied, “I’ll think about it.”
Jessica waved and drove away. When Angela unlocked the front door and entered the house, it was the quietest it had been in a long time. With Uncle Billy gone, the television was silent. As she walked upstairs, she tried to listen for Andrew’s radio in his room, but she could not hear any music blaring.
She was relieved that she did not have to say anything else to her brother that night. Angela was still very upset with him, but she was not interested in another fight. After preparing for bed, she closed her door, turned off the light, and laid down. While Angela rested, she thought of how exciting cheerleading was, and then she recalled how she felt when Carson flirted with her.
He really has a crush on me? Angela thought. He seems like a nice guy. I wonder if he would ask me out. What would I say if he did?
17