Chapter 2

“Oh my God!” I said suddenly.

“What?”

“I forgot the shoe box in Jason’s car! Shit Mom is going to be so mad! We need to go to Jason’s now!”

Sophie cocked a brow. She threw my gown carelessly on my bed. “Why? He is coming, right? He can just bring it along.”

“Maybe I can call him.” But after 5 unsuccessful calls, I threw my phone on the bed. “It’s no use. Can you come with me?”

I hope he hasn’t forgotten about the dinner?! He did seem a bit distracted this morning so I gotta make sure my boyfriend makes it for my birthday. Also, I was way too distracted by his distraction that I forgot the box of shoes Mom asked me to pick up from the store that morning.

“Do I have a choice,” Sophie asked with a roll of her eyes. The side of her lips tilted up.

“No, you don’t.” I kissed her cheek. “You are the best.”

“Of course I am.”

I changed my clothes and wore a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt. Still an hour until dinner, that’s enough time to get Jason, and maybe hang around for a make-out session before the real deal tonight. As soon as I was dressed Sophie and I sneaked off to his parent’s house. It was a short walk from my house. His car was parked in the drive just outside the garage. Sophie grumbled about lovesick people as we made our way to the front door. I rang the bell.

Jason’s mother answered. “Chantelle.”

Since Jason and I started dating his mom made it no secret how much she liked my influence on her son. I helped Jason study in between make-out sessions and in return, he brought home good grades. “What are you doing here? Jason isn’t ready yet.”

“I forgot my shoes in his car. I need to get them or my grandma would be mad.”

She looked uneasy. “Oh okay…I’ll call him down.”

But I was already making my way up the stairs before she could stop me.

“Chantelle!” she called out.

Jason’s room overlooked the drive which meant I had to turn a corner to get there. But halfway down the hall, I heard him laugh. Then another voice muffled by the door joined in.

“Hurry up, Jason. Your girlfriend will be mad if we’re late.”

“I need more than 5 minutes for you sexy minx, you know?”

I - I recognize that voice.

Laughter drifted to the hallway.

My heartbeat sped up. What was she doing here? She should be on her way to my house. It couldn’t be. I ran the rest of the short distance and the door opened to my worst nightmare. There on Jason’s bed was Lurane with her jeans and panties around her ankles and Jason with his face buried between her thighs. Lurane’s eyes flew open and met mine. She tapped Jason’s shoulder and he drew back in shock with her juices coating his mouth.

My vision blurred as pain so sharp and intense pierced my heart. The air in the room felt thin. My best friend and my boyfriend.

In a daze, I turned away from the sight doing my best to hold the bile threatening to rip its way out of my throat. I ran blindly down the stairs. Behind me, Jason called my name. His footsteps pounded the stairs as he rushed to catch up with me. When he caught my hand I drew back and slapped him across the face.

“How dare you?!”

“Cha-Chantelle listen to me it’s not what you think…”

I jerked my hand away from his, my sight blurring with tears. From the corner of my eyes, I saw his mom watching, her face awash with guilt.

I finally understood. “How long, Jason? How long have you been cheating on me?!”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Lurane walked into view looking smug and pleased with herself. Unable to take any more of it I ran out of the house choking on my sobs.

I was out of the door in a flash, running into Sophie’s arms.

“What the fuck, Coco…” she halted. Her arms wrapped tighter around me when she saw the tears in my eyes.

“L-let’s go h-h-home,” I stammered. My throat was tight with pain. The tears in my eyes pooled but refused to drop. It was so painful! I couldn’t get rid of the image I just saw.

“What happened?”

“Lurane…Jason…”

That was all I had to say because Sophie immediately understood. She held me close against her and led me away from Jason’s front porch muttering ‘Bastard’ under her breath.

The door opened and Jason ran out calling my name. Sophie whirled on him, a murderous look on her face

“You fucking pig! Don’t you call my best friend’s name from that shithole of yours again or I will cut your fucking dick off and feed it to you.” She practically carried me when she said, “ Let’s go, Chantelle.”

Jason trailed after us calling my name but we ran. Sophie wanted to fight him but I couldn’t bear to stay there and look him in the face any longer.

I hiccupped all the way home unable to contain the hurt in my chest. Six months of my seemingly perfect relationship wasted. Sophie managed to get me upstairs without alerting anyone. She went downstairs to get me a bottle of water. I sat on my bed holding my chest in my hands trying to wipe the terrible image from my mind. My door opened and Grandma walked in. She stopped and took in my pitiful appearance.

“Coco? What happened to you? Your mom told you not to think about your dad at a time like this. I know you miss him but…”

“Jason…Jason cheated on me with…L-Lurane,” I blurted out. The tears burst free. Grandma came to sit on the bed with me and pulled me into her arms. Sophie returned with a bottle of water.

“A bottle of water?” Grandma queried. “Bring that wine from the dinner table silly.”

I hiccupped and blinked my tears away. Grandma always fought Yolanda for drinking wine and she forbade me from having anything alcohol related. “Wine?” I asked.

She winked at me. “Yes honey, boys are stupid. Wine doesn’t solve problems then again neither does milk,” she smiled.

Sophie slowly clapped. “Facts, Grandma. Fucking facts.”

She hurried off and a short while later returned with the bottle of wine which Grandma opened. She took a long swig from it and passed it to me. I gulped the strong wine and coughed, gasping for air. It burned.

Grandma patted my back and encouraged me to drink some more which I did until a warm fuzzy feeling spread through my veins. My tears stopped following. I took another gulp of wine until Sophie snatched the bottle from my hand. With a cheer, she polished off what was left in the bottle.

Grandma caressed my back and kissed my cheeks. “How do you feel?”

The pain of Jason and Lurane’s betrayal eased off my chest but the sadness lingered and I told her so.

“You will get over him. There are many fishes in the ocean waiting to be caught.”

Sophie slowly clapped again. “Grandma is throwing some facts tonight. Forget that snake, Lurane. What a pretentious bitch.” She cast the wine bottle aside and took my dress which was spread out abandoned at the foot of my bed. “Forget those idiots and don’t let them spoil your day, Coco. You deserve happiness today and they deserve to die.”

“I can’t believe I am agreeing with Sophie but she’s right.”

My head buzzed and a warm feeling settled in my stomach. I tried to smile. I am lucky Sophie is a good friend and I have my precious grandma here with me. They are right. Jason and Lurane are not worth crying over. I washed my face, put on my dress, and let Sophie put makeup on my face.

“Hook up with a random guy at the club tonight if you wish. You’re single and free,” she whispered in my ear while hooking my earrings.

By the time I got downstairs, Mom and Yolanda were dressed and waiting at the foot of the stairs for me. There was one more guest. Nolan Pierce, our next-door neighbor.

I never really gave Nolan a second glance in the one year that he lived beside us. He lives with his mother. He was the awkward kid on the block and he didn’t even attend school. Today he wore an oversized shirt and sweatpants, not exactly the attire for a birthday dinner.

“I invited Nolan over. His mom is out of town on business,” Mom explained.

“I can see that.”

We sat down to eat. The warm feeling from the alcohol lingered and I began to notice things I never noticed before. For example, were Nolan’s eyes always this green and beautiful?

He noticed me staring and shyly looked away. Beneath his shoulder-length hair, his skin turned a dark shade of red. He blushed up the roots of his hair. When he glanced at me again I winked and he choked. The wine made me bold. I rubbed my leg against his and “accidentally” brushed my hand against his. No one else at the table noticed, everyone was busy with the buffet spread out. Mom passed dessert around and I held Nolan’s gaze while I licked the chocolate icing off my fork. His shyness made me bolder so when he excused himself from the table to go home after dinner I suggested walking him home. Mom thought it was a good idea.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Jones.”

Sophie waited in my room getting ready for our night out later.

Outside Nolan shoved his hands into his pocket walking stiffly. Only a white fence separated my house from his but until today we never said anything but hi to each other.

“H-happy birthday,” he stuttered. “You look pretty.”

I channeled my inner Sophie and blurted what I hoped was a seductive laugh, leaning against his arm and pretending to stumble. His arms instinctively wrapped around my waist to hold me up and I slipped my arms around his waist looking directly into his eyes. His face burned red again and his eyes darted up and down the empty street.

“Uh…”

“Your mom is away right?”

He stuttered. “Yes.. why?”

I rose on my toes and pressed my lips to his. His body tightened and the hands around my waist tightened but his mouth remained shut. I drew back and pouted my lips.

“Don’t you want to kiss me?” I asked. When he wouldn’t answer I pulled away. Great. Even the geeky kid doesn’t want me.

He laughed nervously. “Wha…what…” he held me back. The cool breeze blew against my flesh exposed by the open back of my gown. “I always thought…I want to kiss you. I always thought you didn’t like me.”

I fluttered my lashes too dazed by wine and blinded by revenge to care about anything he said. Rising on my toes I pressed my lips to his again. This time his hand gripped my face, holding me against him. He kissed awkwardly but it felt good. When I slipped my hands under his shirt he shuddered and broke the kiss.

“Do you…do you eh…” he stammered.

“Want to come in?” I finished for him.

We stumbled backward until we were inside his house. I pressed his back to the closed door and ran my lips from his mouth to his jaw. He sighed, and his body shuddered with pleasure. I channeled more and more of my inner siren until I was digging my fingers into the waistband of his pants. Nolan jerked and took hold of my hands his eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Let’s uhm…the couch. Let’s go to the couch.”

His hands slipped to my ass. I took the cue and locked my arms around his neck. We almost fell backward when he lifted me off my feet. This wasn’t how I imagined my first time. I imagined sex in Jason’s strong arms, I imagined his mouth doing those things I read in Yolanda’s many romance books, and I imagined curling my toes as Jason’s mouth trailed down my body not struggling to hold on to a lanky youth.

We finally made it to the couch without accident. I undid the zip of my sequin gown and slipped it off. Nolan’s eyes bulged. For a second I thought he would cry and ask me to put my clothes back on. But he undid his cords and brought out his cock.

Oh well.

I slipped my panties off waiting for the foreplay when he climbed over me and slid in.

A dull pain was the only indication that something that was supposed to be life-changing was happening. I lay on my back waiting for the sensations of pleasure those romance books praised to the high heavens. Nolan thrust in and out and I remained motionless on my back. Suddenly he jerked and groaned.

Did he just…?

“You came?!” I shrieked.

He pulled out. In the dark, I saw him lower his gaze in shame. “I’m sorry.”

Suddenly feeling stupid I swung my legs to the edge of the couch and put my dress back on. Well, what difference did it make whether or not he came? What’s the worst that I could expect from someone who only had to thrust 4 times to come?

“Forget it,” I bit out through my teeth. I wanted revenge against Jason but I was served with disappointment. “I should be apologizing. This was a mistake.”

He paused halfway pulling his sweatpants on. “A mistake?”

“Yes, a huge mistake. This, us, you…all of it. This never happened okay? Let’s pretend this never happened and go back to our lives.”

I zipped up my gown, found my shoes, and showed myself the door. The worst of my life happened on my birthday. I was ready to put it behind me when I crawled into bed later that night after a miserable time at the so-called club.

A week later Nolan moved and I found myself pregnant.