***
“Attention, all staff and students. At this time, we are going under code green lockdown.”
Todd grabbed Jill and pulled her into the boys’ bathroom…
Suddenly Todd grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into the stall, shoving her against one of the walls and pressing up against her. Then, as suddenly as he’d done it, he pulled away laughing.
“Jeez, Jilly, seriously, that face again. When are you gonna learn I’m joking?”
When are you gonna not be joking? Jill asked silently.
***
I’m so glad you came over,” Brooke whispered.
“I’m so glad your parents went out to dinner.” Brady grinned mischievously and rolled back on top of Brooke.
“Brooke? You wanna go get some ice cream?” The door opened and Lindy peered in. Brooke’s eyes locked with Lindy’s as Lindy’s flew wide in horror.
***
Brooke’s stomach twisted into a knot. She’d been so stupid…she was just letting Brady use her more than ever….He probably knew she still liked him and was laughing at her behind her back….She needed to make him think she was really just using him too. Suddenly she smiled as an idea came to her.
***
“Don’t worry,” Brooke said. “Lindy won’t tell. I told her I was gonna end it. That I’d realized what I was doing was wrong.”
“So are you?” Brady asked. “Gonna end it, I mean?”
Brooke hesitated a moment, then dropped the comforter from around her body and pretended to look thoughtful. “I don’t know,” she said. “Do you think we should?”
wrong
all
along
“spin the bottle”
(part 2)
summers of sun, cedar point
laying out, more parties at the lake
best friends with the boys of their dreams
charming boys who said all the right things
i had that gut instinct all along
told me it was just too good to last
but i ignored it and
fell harder and harder instead…
summer
1998
best friends with the boys of their dreams
chapter 1) landon’s... last day of school
June 4 was the last day of school. It was a Thursday, and Landon was having a blowout that night. Jill couldn’t wait. She and Hilton quickly cleaned out their lockers after school and hurried out to the front parking lot, where Jill’s mom was picking them up to go hang out at Jill’s until the party.
“I’m breaking up with Reed,” Hilton announced emphatically as soon as they were in Jill’s room.
“What?! Why?”
“He wants to have sex and I don’t.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, not upset, just as if she were telling Jill it was sunny outside today.
“Oh...so is he like, pressuring you?”
“Well, no not really; I mean not in the sense that he’d break up with me if I don’t. But I know he’s had sex before, so he doesn’t really want a relationship where he’s not getting it, and I just think it’s gonna get really uncomfortable between us. So I just don’t wanna deal with it.”
“Who has he had sex with?”
“Jen Brown...you know...Taylor Brown’s younger sister.” Taylor Brown was graduating now and had been the quarterback last fall.
“Oh...she’s a junior, right? Did her and Reed go out?”
“Yeah, for like a year. When we were in eighth grade.”
“Oh. So...I mean, have you guys talked about it or anything? You’re just gonna break up with him? I thought you really liked him.”
Hilton shrugged halfheartedly. “Eh, I did really like him. But it’s kinda like, I don’t know, I’m not as into him anymore. I mean, he was fun, but he’s definitely not the one I wanna have sex with, you know? So I mean, why try to work things out and drag it out, if I never can see myself sleeping with him? It’ll never go to another level, so we might as well end it now.”
“Yeah, I guess so...”
Hilton cracked a small smile and lowered her voice. “Okay...don’t tell anybody, but I actually stopped being that attracted to him when we messed around the first time. He just wasn’t that...good.”
Hilton’s smile widened, and Jill’s jaw dropped in surprise. She leaned forward from her sitting position on her bed, eager to hear more. “What?! Are you serious? What happened?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I never really did that much with a guy before him, and so maybe it’s just ‘cause I’m not used to it, you know. But something about it...I don’t know, he was just going at it, kinda, you know– ” Hilton and Jill both gave embarrassed laughs. “And...it didn’t turn me on at all. Like when he would kiss me at first, I’d get this thrill kinda, through my whole body, you know, but then when we did other stuff, it was like I was just laying there thinking, This sucks, can we please be done soon?”
Jill’s eyes widened in delighted surprise, and she covered her mouth, giggling. She couldn’t believe Hilton was telling her this; it was shocking and hilarious at the same time. It also made her a bit fearful. What if the same thing happened to her? Hillary had said fooling around was so great and Jill had to try it, but Hilton had been turned off by it. What if Jill didn’t end up liking it either?
Hilton was giggling too. “Seriously, I haven’t told anyone else that. But I mean, how funny is that, really? One of the most popular guys in school, and he thought he knew exactly what he was doing...and he completely SUCKS!” She raised her eyebrows and smiled a tad bit guiltily, but when Jill met her eyes they both cracked up laughing. Jill rolled on her side on the bed, clutching her stomach, and Hilton suddenly had tears running down her face from laughing so hard.
“Oh...my gosh!” Jill gasped. “The next time I see him...tonight!...that’s all I’m gonna be able to think!”
“Oh, shit!” More tears spilled down Hilton’s face. “Oh, shit, I’m such a bitch! Oops!” She rolled onto her back on the floor and pounded her feet into the ground, unable to stop laughing. “Oh, that’s gonna be so weird seeing him! I have to break up with him as soon as we get there! Oh my gosh!”
“Oh, that’s so hilarious,” Jill said, finally calming down a little. “It should be a fun night.” Then she burst out laughing again.
***
Jill and Hilton rode to Landon’s party with Cassidy’s mom, as they’d always done. Hilton and Cassidy had been friends since elementary school; Jill had just met Cassidy last summer. Since Cassidy’s mom had a minivan, she always gave several people rides to the parties. She also knew there was drinking at Landon’s, and most of the other parents didn’t, so she was the perfect one to take them there.
On the ride up to the lake, Jill and Hilton couldn’t stop looking at each other and giggling.
“What are you guys laughing at?!” Sam asked finally, looking at them with wide eyes.
“Nothing,” Hilton said quickly. Then she glanced at Jill, and they both lost it again. Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes at Kat, and Jill laughed even harder, feeling special because she and Hilton shared an inside joke and Sam obviously wanted to know what it was. Sam was on the outside this time...served her right for not inviting Jill, Hillary, and Lorylyn to that party last fall and trying to act all superior and popular and rub it in their faces.
It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and the temperature was in the seventies. When they got to Landon’s and went around back, everyone was outside and Brady was cooking burgers. Jill smiled. This was the way Landon’s parties had been last summer, when they were fun. All his parties during the school year had been too much drama! She hoped this one would be fun and nothing bad would happen. She looked around for Landon and didn’t see him.
Reed spotted them and left a group of guys to approach them, a beer in his hand. “Hey, baby!” he called easily to Hilton.
Hilton looked at Jill and scrunched up her face. Jill grinned, covering her mouth to keep from l
aughing, and turned away, practically slamming into Todd as he approached the trash can.
“Hey, Jilly!” He reached around her to throw away an empty paper plate and Coke can.
Jill looked up at him, shaking with silent laughter.
“What the hell’s up with you?” Todd gave her a weird look.
Jill shook her head helplessly, unable to talk, and turned to look at Hilton over her shoulder. Hilton had taken Reed’s arm and was leading him down by the lake to talk. Her eyes met Jill’s, and Hilton flashed a sly grin. Jill, thinking of what Hilton had said about Reed, shuddered exaggeratedly and stuck out her tongue.
Hilton stuck her tongue out too and pretended to be gagging. She pulled her hand quickly from Reed’s arm and wrung it out at her side, as though so turned off she had to shake off the grossness. Reed didn’t notice; he just put his arm around Hilton’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Hilton shot Jill a “save me!” look, and Jill turned back to Todd, laughing hysterically.
“What the hell is up with you girls?!” Todd said, looking bewildered.
“Nothing, nothing,” Jill said, wiping at her eyes.
“Oh my gosh, you’re crying? You girls are crazy.”
“No, no, it’s nothing, really. Just a little joke.” Jill giggled again, still wiping her eyes.
“Girls,” Todd said, shaking his head. He grabbed a beer from the cooler by the patio door and headed back toward Bennett and a couple guys from the baseball team.
Jill quickly caught up with him, not wanting to be left standing by herself. “So are you glad school’s out?” she asked, wiping away one last tear and managing to keep a straight face, even though her mind was still on Hilton and Reed.
“Hell yes.” Todd popped open his beer and took a sip. He offered it to Jill.
“No thanks.”
“Have you ever been drunk?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to.”
“Why? Are you scared?”
Jill was reminded of the conversation they’d had last winter in which he’d said she was too uptight. “No, just never really wanted to get drunk before.”
“Um...okay.”
“Um...okay,” Jill mimicked. She hated feeling like he was making fun of her or looking down on her.
Todd threw his arm around her shoulder and shoved his beer bottle up to her mouth, tipping it up so it spilled all over her face.
“Todd! Stop it!” she shrieked, giggling. She wiped her mouth and chin with the back of her hand.
“Yummy, yummy!” Todd said, raising the bottle to her mouth again.
Jill ducked out from under his arm and spun around out of his reach.
He held the bottle out and waved it tauntingly at her. “Come get it...you know you want it...come on.”
Jill glared teasingly at him and kept her distance. As she stared him down, she thought how hot he looked tonight, with his light brown surfer hair that angled down across his forehead and reached just past his ears, and his mesmerizing chocolate eyes that she’d gotten lost in more than once…
He stepped slowly toward her and she inched backward. He was still holding the bottle out and grinning. Jill was trying to keep her glare in place, but she was having trouble not breaking into a smile.
Suddenly Todd lunged at her and whisked her off her feet, tossing her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Jill’s stomach did a little jump, and she grinned into the back of Todd’s shirt. This was great! Then she started pounding on his back, pretending to be upset. “Todd! Put me down! Damn it, put me down right now!”
She expected him to carry her over to where Bennett and his other friends were standing and put her down there, since that’s where they’d been heading before he picked her up. Suddenly, though, she realized they were going downhill. Oh no! He was taking her toward the lake!
“Todd! Put me down right now! Seriously! I will be so pissed if you throw me in the lake!”
Todd was jogging now. The ground had flattened out again and Jill knew they must be almost to the water. Then suddenly they were on the dock.
“Todd! Stop! Don’t throw me in! Stop! Put me down!”
All of a sudden Todd jerked to a stop and dropped Jill unceremoniously on her feet. She glanced down and saw the end of the dock less than six inches behind her. When she looked back up, Todd was laughing, his eyes glinting mischievously. Jill reached out to shove him.
“Oh my gosh, Todd! What the hell was that?!”
He caught her arm as she tried to shove him and held it in place so she couldn’t reach his body. She swung the other arm and he caught that one too, still laughing.
Jill tried kicking at him, but she didn’t have a good angle, so she pulled her arms away and acted as though she were done fighting him.
“Aww, Jilly, you poor baby,” Todd said teasingly. “You actually thought I’d throw you in.” He took a sip of beer. “Ew, all foamy.”
“Serves you right! I can’t believe you almost did that!” Jill folded her arms across her chest and leaned away as he went to put his arm around her, but she purposely cracked a small smile, hoping he’d notice but think he wasn’t supposed to.
It worked. He drew her closer and started walking back up the dock with her. Jill unfolded her arms and moved as if to put one around his waist, then shoved him as hard as she could, putting all her weight into it. Caught by surprise, Todd was knocked off balance and he stumbled to the edge of the dock, tripping over his own feet and crashing off the side into the water with his beer bottle.
Jill giggled hysterically, grinning at him victoriously as he surfaced, beer bottle still in hand. She raised her arms and twirled around in a circle, gloating.
“Oh, you better run, Jill!” Todd yelled as he began to pull himself out of the water. He dumped his beer bottle on the dock. “It’s on now!”
Jill squealed, then turned and took off for the house as fast as she could. He caught her when she was barely off the dock, grabbing her around the waist from behind. As his arms encircled her waist and closed tightly around her, Jill felt that thrill again, the one she’d felt course through her whole body when they were hiding in the pantry in the coaches’ lounge so they wouldn’t get caught skipping SRT, or when he’d pressed up against her jokingly in the bathroom during lockdown.
Todd lifted her, kicking and screaming, and hauled her the couple steps back onto the dock. “Bet you’re wishing you would’ve thought twice about pushin’ me in now, huh?” he asked smugly. “Payback’s a bitch!”
Jill still struggled against him, pretending she wanted to be free. “Let me go now, you jackass!”
“Okay, fine, I’ll let you go,” Todd said. He released his arms from around her waist, and just as Jill was getting back into a normal standing position, Todd shoved her from behind and sent her toppling into the lake.
“Ahhhh!” Jill screamed as she surfaced. “Todd! I can’t believe you!” She pushed her hair out of her eyes and tried to smooth it down in back.
Todd stood on the dock with his arms folded across his chest, grinning smugly. “Told you payback’s a bitch!”
***
Hilton approached the lake with Reed, suddenly uncomfortable. She knew she had to break up with him, but she hadn’t even thought about what to say. Damn it! She looked out at the water, trying to think quickly.
Reed suddenly pulled her close and put his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her butt. Hilton practically shuddered, she was so turned off by him now. At least he’d just made it a lot easier. She stepped back, out of his grasp.
“Reed, I’m breaking up with you.”
“What?” Reed asked, narrowing his eyes and sounding pissed. Hilton figured no girl had ever broken up with him before.
“Yeah. I just...we want different things.” She decided to be honest, at least partially. “I’m not gonna have sex with you, Reed. And I know that’s important to you. But I’m just not ready. So I
don’t want either of us to waste our time.”
Reed was still frowning, but he didn’t look as angry. “So...you’re not mad at me about it?”
“No.” Hilton shrugged carelessly. “I mean, if I was a guy, I’d probably want it too. Especially when you’ve had it before, I understand it’d be hard for you to be in a relationship now where you’re not getting it. So no hard feelings, okay?” She touched his arm lightly and smiled.
“All right, cool...well, thanks, I guess.” Reed looked baffled now, but he smiled back at her.
Just then Hilton heard loud shrieks behind her and turned to see Todd running toward the lake with Jill draped over his shoulder and pounding on his back.
“Todd! Stop! Don’t throw me in! Stop! Put me down!”
Hilton’s jaw dropped in surprised laughter. This is great! she thought. I bet Jill’s loving it!
Reed started back up the hill toward the house, and Hilton stayed where she was, laughing out loud as Jill shoved Todd in the lake. Hilton raised her arms in the air in victory, but Jill didn’t see her. She was already squealing and running as Todd climbed out of the lake and chased after her.
They are so cute together, Hilton thought. And based on the way Todd acted around Jill, Hilton was sure he must like her, or at least be attracted to her. Hilton had plenty of experience with guys flirting and being all touchy-feely; she knew all the sophomore guys like Kevin and Matt who flirted with her found her attractive, and most of them would probably date her.
But Landon was another story. For some reason, while she felt most of the older guys looked at her as an equal, she felt like Landon looked at her as a younger sister, or a younger friend to look out for, not a potential girlfriend.
But who knew, maybe she could change that.
Suddenly a boat sped by far out on the lake, and Hilton squinted, putting her hand over her eyes. A blonde girl flew behind the boat on water skis, ripping through the waves like a pro. Hilton grinned. It was Lindy. She and Landon must have taken the boat out. Hilton looked up at the sky and imagined Landon waterskiing; she’d seen him do it once last summer when she’d gone out on the boat with him and Lindy and Brady and Brooke and a couple other people. He’d looked so hot.