“Midnight?! But what if Cassidy stays later? Her mom’s giving us a ride! I have to leave whenever she does! I don’t wanna make her mom come early just ‘cause of me! I’d feel so stupid!”
“Well what time do you think Cassidy will come home?”
“I don’t know!”
“Well, find out and let us know. I suppose this time we’ll let you stay and see how it goes, but we do need to know a definite time that you’ll be home. It can’t just be whenever Cassidy feels like leaving.”
“Okay, I will, I promise!” Jill said excitedly. “I’m sure she tells her mom a definite time anyway, so her mom knows when to come get her. Thanks so much for letting me go!”
Her parents still didn’t look too happy about it, and Jill prayed they wouldn’t change their minds before Saturday.
***
Friday night Hillary slept over at Jill’s, and all they could talk about was the party and how fun it was going to be. Hillary helped Jill pick out what to wear – short jean shorts and a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a butterfly on it.
Jill’s parents were still a little skeptical of the party because it was at a lake cottage. “Are you sure Landon’s parents are going to be there?”
“Yes!” Jill said impatiently. “Hilton said they always are! Why would they let him have a party if they weren’t gonna be there anyway?”
“Well, you girls better be good. And remember, call us if there’s any drinking!”
“Please, Mom,” Jill groaned. “Like there will be alcohol there! He’s, like, a sophomore in high school!”
“Do you think there will be drinking?” Jill asked Hillary later when they were back up in her room.
“I bet so,” Hillary said.
“Are you gonna drink?”
“Oh, probably not...” Hillary had a small smile on her face.
“Hill! You think you really might?” Jill was surprised.
“Who knows?” Hillary said with a shrug and a grin.
For the first time, Jill felt a little nervous about the party.
chapter 2) landon’s
The ride up to the lake with Cassidy’s mom was somewhat awkward, since Jill barely knew Cassidy. Jill and Hillary and Lorylyn sat in the backseat, while Sam, who knew Cassidy and her mom from a summer swimming program, sat in the middle with Hilton and Kat.
Kat was from Caldwell and was really pretty with long black hair and a good tan. She seemed kind of quiet though. Sam and Hilton and Cassidy and Cassidy’s mom kept up a conversation the whole way, and Kat said something occasionally.
Jill hoped what she was wearing was okay. She was dressed pretty similarly to the other girls and had curled the ends of her hair under. Her shorts and shirt were tight and fitted, and she thought she had an all right body, but kind of boyish. She was really skinny and short, only 5’4, and a B cup. She knew Lorylyn had a smaller chest, but Hillary wore a C cup, and Jill thought Sam probably did too. Still, Jill was satisfied with the way she looked tonight, but she was bummed when she noticed Hilton wearing a swimsuit under her tank top.
Why didn’t we think of that? she thought to herself. Duh! It’s a lake! Oh well, at least Hillary and Sam and Lorylyn aren’t wearing one either…
“Have fun, girls. Be good…don’t drink too much!” Cassidy’s mom joked as she pulled into the driveway of a log cabin cottage. “I’ll be back around one, Cass. Call if you wanna leave sooner.”
“Thanks, Mom!” Cassidy called as she hopped out of the car.
Jill couldn’t believe what Cassidy’s mom had just said. Was she really serious about the drinking? Did she know there would be alcohol and still let Cassidy come to the party? Jill shook her head in bewilderment. She didn’t know any parents like that! How cool! But that meant there was definitely going to be alcohol....She hoped she wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to drink.
“Was she serious? She doesn’t care if Cassidy drinks?” Lorylyn whispered to Sam as they headed around the house to the lake. They could hear shouting and laughter coming from the direction of the water. Hilton and Cassidy and Kat were up ahead of them.
“Oh, yeah, she doesn’t care,” Sam giggled. “She’s soooo cool. I mean, she doesn’t want Cassidy to drink a lot, but she doesn’t care if she drinks.”
“Wow!” Hillary said. “That is crazy! My mom would kill me if she knew there was gonna be drinking here!”
“Mine too!” Jill said. “You heard her last night, Hill!”
“Hey, come on, you guys!” Hilton called back with an excited smile and a wave of her arm. “There’s Lindy and Brooke! Let’s go talk to them!”
Lindy and Brooke were sitting on a stone wall overlooking the lake with their backs to the water. They were both wearing bikini tops and short jean shorts and were eating cheeseburgers.
“Hey, guys!” Brooke called as they approached. “Do you want some food? They’re getting ready to put some more burgers and hot dogs on.” She motioned to the grill.
Jill looked over and saw Landon standing beside the grill holding tongs and laughing at something one of his friends had said. He was gorgeous. He had sandy blond hair and was wearing a swimsuit with brightly colored Hawaiian flowers all over it. He was really tan too. Jill had to force herself to look away so she wouldn’t get caught staring. She didn’t know the two boys he was talking to.
“Yeah, we’ll have some burgers!” Hilton said. “I’ll go tell them. Do you guys want one?”
“Sure!” Hillary said, and everyone else nodded.
Hilton dashed off to tell the boys. When she went up to them, Landon gave her a hug and one of the other boys tugged on her ponytail. Hilton playfully batted his hand away.
Jill and Hillary shared a look that said, I’m so jealous!
“Hey, look, it’s Brookie and Brooks,” said a voice behind them. Brooke and Lindy laughed at the use of Lindy’s last name, and Jill turned to see two boys approaching.
One of the boys went up to Brooke and took her cheeseburger out of her hand.
“Hey!” she cried jokingly as he took a big bite. “Did I say you could have a bite of that?”
“I didn’t bother asking, ‘cause we both know you’ll let me have whatever I want, Brookie,” he said with an adorable grin. He raised his eyebrows at her, then chomped down on the sandwich again.
Brooke grinned and smacked him lightly on the arm, then grabbed her burger back.
The other boy had wandered over to the grill. The one talking to Brooke gave Lindy a high five and then turned and looked at everyone standing around. “Oh, hey, Kat, Cass. What’s up?”
Kat and Cassidy smiled at him. “What’s up, Brady?”
Brady smiled. He was really cute with dark brown eyes and black curly hair that came down to his ears. Jill thought his smile made him look fun and kind of ornery or something, like a troublemaker.
“Who are all your hot friends, Brookie and Brooks?”
Brooke lowered her cheeseburger from her mouth, chewing and holding her finger up to indicate she couldn’t talk yet.
“This is Sam, Lorylyn, Hillary, and Jill,” Lindy said, pointing at each of them in turn. She picked up a plastic cup sitting beside her and took a long drink.
“Nice to meet you guys,” Brady said. “Starting early, huh?” He nodded toward Lindy’s cup.
“No, you ass, it’s Coke,” Lindy replied with a laugh.
“I don’t know if I believe that. I think I need to taste it and see.” Brady took a couple of quick steps and grabbed Lindy’s cup as Cassidy and Kat stepped out of his way. He took a long drink. “Okay, I guess it’s Coke.” He grinned and ruffled Lindy’s hair and said, “Well, see you guys later,” then walked over to the grill to join Landon.
“Who was that?” Lorylyn asked, staring after him.
Brooke and Lindy giggled.
“Brady Cash. He went to Caldwell. He’s a sophomore,” Brooke said between bites. “Do you think he’s hot?” She grinned at Lorylyn.
“Oh yeah!” Loryly
n turned back to Brooke and giggled. “There’s tons of hot guys here! Who are those guys with Landon?”
Lindy and Brooke glanced over toward the grill.
“Oh, that’s Kevin and Matt and Brad,” Lindy said. “They’re on the football team with Landon.”
“Wow, you guys had all the hot boys at Caldwell!” Lorylyn said to Cassidy and Kat. “We had nobody at BJ!”
The girls all giggled.
Brooke jumped down from the wall and brushed off her shorts. “I need another burger!” Kat and Sam moved apart so Brooke could get through, and she went to join Hilton and the boys at the grill.
“This is so fun,” Hillary said to Lindy. “Are there parties out here a lot?”
“Oh, yeah, like all summer long, and sometimes on weekends after school starts. And he has the best New Year’s parties.” Lindy finished her burger and winked at them before taking another drink of her Coke. “Hey, did you guys bring swimsuits? We all usually go swimming later, and go out on the boat.”
“No, we forgot,” Jill said with a glum look.
“Well, it’s okay, don’t worry, you can still go out on the boat. It’s so fun!”
Jill smiled. Lindy seemed really nice, which was what Jill had always thought in junior high. This was the most she’d ever talked to her though.
A delighted squeal pierced the air behind her, and Jill turned back toward the grill to see Hilton and Brooke jumping out of the way as Landon tried to poke them with the tongs.
“Ew, they’re all dirty!” Brooke giggled.
Jill longed to be in the position Hilton and Brooke were in and have all the hot guys flirting with her.
“Hey, my boyfriend’s here!” Lindy said excitedly. She was looking up toward the house. “Andy!” She waved.
Andy jogged down toward her. He was wearing a T-shirt and swimsuit, and Jill realized she knew him. He had been a year ahead of her at BJ. She had always thought he was really hot. He had long shaggy dark hair and he looked very surfer-ish, Jill thought, except he wasn’t blond. In junior high he had worn his hair short and gelled, but she liked this look even better.
Andy hopped up on the wall beside Lindy and gave her a quick kiss. “Hey, babe!”
“Burgers and dogs are ready!” Landon called just then. Kat and Cassidy turned and headed toward the grill, and Sam, Lorylyn, Hillary, and Jill quickly followed. Jill glanced back at Lindy and saw that she and Andy had their heads close together and were giggling.
She was so jealous of all these girls! She wanted more than anything to fit in and be a part of this crowd.
***
Later, after they ate, everyone went out on the pontoon. When they were in the middle of the lake, almost everyone went swimming.
“Come on, guys!” Hilton called to Jill, Hillary, Lorylyn, and Sam from the water. “Just jump in with your clothes on!”
The girls glanced at each other, then shrugged and giggled. It was no fun sitting on the boat by themselves.
Hillary went first and the other three followed. They all came up from underwater giggling and squealing.
“It’s freezing!” Hillary cried.
“Woohoo!” Kevin yelled. “More hot girls in the water!” He splashed at them, and the four girls all looked at each other and grinned.
***
When they came in from the lake Landon and several of the boys disappeared into the house, and when they came back out they all had beers.
“How does he get the alcohol?” Jill asked Hilton, who was sitting with her and Hillary at a picnic table.
“Oh, his older brother buys it for him.”
“Do his parents know? Like what if they show up?”
“Oh, they won’t show up. They know but they don’t come up when he has a party, ‘cause that way if it gets busted they won’t get in trouble for buying kids alcohol. As long as Landon cleans up though and doesn’t, like, break a bunch of stuff, they don’t care.”
“Wow, that’s crazy!” Jill exclaimed. “I can’t even imagine!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
“So are you gonna drink, Hilton?” Hillary asked her.
“Probably not tonight. I did once earlier this summer; it was the first time I ever drank, and I ended up puking and stuff. It sucked so bad. I had to stay at Cassidy’s so my parents wouldn’t find out, but I think they suspected something anyway. So I’m gonna make sure I can go home tonight so they won’t make me stop coming out or something.”
“Wow, that sucks that you puked,” Hillary said, scrunching her nose up. “I kinda wanna try a drink though.”
Jill’s stomach clenched. She didn’t want Hillary to drink, because then she’d feel left out. There was no way she was going to drink. She’d feel so guilty when she saw her parents.
“You should, then. Just ask Landon; he’ll get you one.” Hilton motioned in the vague direction of the house.
“Oh, I don’t know, I’d feel weird asking him.”
“I’ll go get one for you.” Hilton stood up and went off to find Landon.
While she was gone, Lorylyn and Sam came out from using the bathroom, and Sam was drinking a beer.
“It’s so gross!” she giggled as she and Lorylyn sat down at the picnic table. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to drink it!”
“Yeah, it’s really gross. I tried it,” Lorylyn agreed.
Jill and Hillary each took a small sip. Jill leaned back and scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue. “Yuck!”
“It’s not that bad,” Hillary said, but she made a face. “I have to drink one now though, ‘cause Hilton went to get me one!”
As Hilton came back with the beer, Kevin and Matt walked past the picnic table. “All right! The freshman girls know how to party!” Kevin said, grinning at them. “Hey, everybody’s gonna go skinny-dipping after it gets dark, if you girls wanna join.” He winked playfully, then he and Matt continued down the hill toward the water.
Jill smiled awkwardly, hoping they didn’t notice she didn’t have a beer. At least Hilton and Lorylyn weren’t drinking either. And everyone really liked Hilton, so if she wasn’t, it must be okay not to.
***
Brooke, Lindy, Hilton, Kat, Ashley, Amy, and some other girls Jill assumed were sophomores all went skinny-dipping with the boys. Jill knew a few of the girls because they had gone to BJ, but she wasn’t really friends with any of them, and she felt like they were looking at her the whole night thinking, What the hell are you doing here? To Jill and Hillary’s dismay, Tiffany and Stacy showed up too. Everyone was already skinny-dipping, and Tiffany and Stacy headed straight for the water.
“What’s wrong, are you girls scared?” Tiffany asked with a smirk as she and Stacy walked past the stone wall, where the girls were sitting watching everyone.
Right then there were several loud whistles and yells from the water as the boys saw Tiffany and Stacy approaching, and the two girls laughed and ran the rest of the way to the water, stripping as they went and leaving their clothes in a trail behind them.
“I kinda wanna do it!” Hillary said.
“I know, me too!” Jill agreed, eager to get in on something. She felt like a total wuss for not drinking or skinny-dipping. She wished she were brave enough to do it, like Hilton and Lindy and Brooke. She wanted to be more outgoing like them. “But I’d feel so weird!”
“Not me!” Lorylyn said, shaking her head. “There’s no way I could do it!”
“Oh, it’s fun. I do it sometimes,” Cassidy said, leaning back on the wall and sipping her beer. “It’s not like anybody sees anything; they always do it after dark.”
“Why aren’t you tonight?” Sam asked.
“I’m on the rag,” Cassidy said.
“Oh.” Sam giggled, and so did the other girls.
Jill felt a little embarrassed at Cassidy’s frankness. She couldn’t believe Cassidy said that in front of people she barely knew. Jill wished she could be a little more like that too, but she couldn’t ever imagine feeli
ng comfortable being so open, except with Hillary.
“You guys should try it sometime though,” Cassidy said. “Or the guys will think you’re not any fun.”
“I’ll probably do it next time,” Jill said quickly. “Just not tonight.”
“Yeah, me too,” Hillary agreed.
“Hey, we should play spin the bottle when everybody comes back!” Cassidy exclaimed suddenly, holding up her empty beer bottle and flipping her nearly waist-length light brown hair over her shoulder. “It’d be so fun! I haven’t played for like, two years!”
“Oh my gosh, let’s do it!” Hillary exclaimed.
Lorylyn jumped up and down. “I hope I get to kiss somebody hot!”
They all giggled.
Jill felt butterflies in her stomach. She really wanted to play, but she was afraid none of the boys would want to kiss her because she wasn’t hot enough or cool enough or something.
When everyone started coming in from the water, Cassidy told Hilton and Brooke her idea, and they both loved it.
“Yeah, that’ll be so fun! I’ll get the boys!” Brooke giggled.
Hilton and Cassidy started deciding where there was room to make a big enough circle, and they pushed the picnic table over so there would be room between it and a big oak tree for everyone to sit on fairly flat ground.
Cassidy sat down holding her empty beer bottle, and Hilton joined her, waving the rest of the girls over. “Come on, guys!” she called excitedly.
Jill, Hillary, Lorylyn, and Sam all eagerly joined the circle.
“I hope Tiffany and Stacy don’t play!” Jill whispered to Hillary, and Hillary nodded.
“Oh my gosh! I hope I get to kiss Landon!” Lorylyn whispered with a giggle. “Or Brady. He’s so hot. I hope they play.”
Brooke came back with several boys in tow, and, unfortunately, Tiffany and Stacy.
Jill saw Stacy glance in the general direction of the freshman girls and whisper something to Tiffany and Brady. Tiffany snickered and followed Stacy’s gaze. Brady laughed and slapped Stacy lightly on the back, then sat down on the opposite side of the circle from Jill.
“Okay, are we ready?” Cassidy asked after a few more people sat down. “I’ll start!” She giggled and placed her empty bottle on the grass in the middle of the circle, then spun it. It stopped on Kevin.