Chapter Two

“Oh. My. God. You are going to totally rock the night.” Ashlyn slipped her arm through mine. She’d come over early so we could get ready for the big Tori party together. We did the two-hour shopping trip last weekend to get all the things that we would need to make our appearance known. The thigh-high stockings, high-heeled ankle boots, and of course, the tight little black dresses that clung to our bodies like a second skin.

“Yeah, but this is like the most uncomfortable outfit I have ever worn.” I twisted and pulled the skirt part of the dress down so that maybe it would cover another half-inch of my skin. I don’t know why I allowed Ashlyn to talk me into getting matching outfits, but she always seemed to have that effect on me. I say no and she gives me some reason my answer is wrong, and why I should listen to her. Her rationale was that if I dressed like this, there would be no reason for Vance to have wandering eyes.

“It’s not supposed to be comfortable. Maybe you should go ahead and get some sweat pants and a t-shirt on. You know comfort comes before hotness.” She grabbed my hand as I walked towards my closet. I thought she had a great notion there about the whole being comfortable thing. Guess I was wrong because she quickly got me out of my room before I could make any changes.

*  *  *

Suri’s house was packed by the time that we got there. We were right on time with our nine o’clock arrival, but it looked like a vast majority of the other kids had been there for a while. There were beer cans and red solo cups tossed about on the porch, and when we stepped inside the slightly ajar front door, there were even more on the floor.

“Looks like we’re late.” Ashlyn headed straight back to the kitchen where the coolers of booze were usually kept.

We had to push our way through, but we finally made it to where the party began. The kitchen contained all the alcohol. 

“Hey, Ms. Greene,” Ashlyn greeted Suri’s mom before I got past the last person and into the kitchen.

“Ashlyn and Renko.” Suri’s mom stumbled over to us and put her arms around both our shoulders. “It is so great to see you again.” Her words were slurred, her breath smelled like she’d been drinking something other than beer, and her clothes, or what was left of them, were hanging halfway off her body.

“You too, Ms. Greene.” I ducked underneath her arm, so I could get away from becoming intoxicated just from the alcohol on her breath alone.

“Oh, you girls can call me, Linda.” She dug her long red painted fingers nails through the ice in the cooler and pulled out two cans of beer. “Here you go. Now, have fun.” She handed the bottles to me, and Ashlyn then stumbled off into the next room.

“Now, why can’t my mom be that cool?” Ashlyn snapped the tab on the can and took a long swallow.

“I think if my mom acted that way I would move out.” I set my beer on the counter. I just wasn’t in the mood to drink right now. Maybe later, but that all depended on how Vance was acting. Plus, I needed to drive the two blocks back home, so I couldn’t drink too much.  

“Renko, you need to loosen up a bit.” Ashlyn drank the rest of her can and tossed it into the trash barrel. “Now, let’s find our men.” She picked up my full can on the way out of the kitchen.

Then before we got halfway down the hall, I heard the snap of the top. Looked like I was going to be the reasonable one tonight.

Thirty minutes later, and two more beers later for Ashlyn, we finally found Vance and Reese. He was Ashlyn’s main man for the moment, even if it was for just the night. They were hanging out with the basketball team out on the deck that was on the backside of the house. There was the team and of course, there were the b-ball cronies or whores as Ashlyn called them, just chilling and in my opinion, getting a little too close for comfort with our guys.

I walked over to where Vance was standing. He had his back towards me and was chatting with some girl who I remembered was in a lower grade than us. She looked all glassy-eyed and it could either be from the alcohol, or the fact that she was getting quite chummy with one of the famous basketball players. My guess was both those factors since they both had beer cans and his hand was on her hip.

“Hey, Vance.” I lightly touched his back.

In less than one second, his hand fell away from her side, and he spun around to face me. “Renko, baby.” Vance’s arms circled my waist and drew me closer to his body. Of course, his hands automatically went down to my ass and began to massage my cheeks. “Baby, you look good. I love the new outfit.” He lowered his hand down to my leg and let it travel up the thigh highs I was wearing.

“Yep. I’m sure you do.” I had stopped his hand before it got any further. I hated when he did all this type of caressing in the view of everyone. I heard Ashlyn tell me she would see me later, and she went off with Reese back into the house.

“Oh my God, baby.” Vance walked me backward until I was up against the railing of the deck. “You’re killing me here with that dress on.” He took hold of my hand and pulled it towards his crotch. “Let’s grab a room before they’re all gone.” His body slammed against me as his lips crashed into mine.

“Vance.” I managed to pull my mouth away from his.

He automatically went to my neck and began to suckle.

“Vance, stop it!” I wiggled my head around until he finally pulled back.

“What?” Now, he sounded totally pissed. Still drunk, but now a pissed-off drunk.

“I didn’t come over here to be raped by you on the deck in front of everyone.” Okay, there weren’t a lot of people still around us. It seemed everyone moved their little party someplace else once Ashlyn and I showed up, but I still didn’t want to be felt up and undressed while we were out here in the open.

Vance held up his hands and moved away. “It wouldn’t be rape; you’re my girlfriend. But fuck Renko, why the hell did you wear that outfit if you didn’t want to get something going with me?”

I took a deep breath and tried to control my anger. I wasn’t going to explain to his drunken self that yes, it would be rape if I said no, even if he was my boyfriend. “I was just hoping that maybe you would say that I looked good, not want to fuck me on the deck with everyone watching.”

Vance picked up a beer can that was left on the railing. He took a long drink then tossed the empty over the side. I hoped that was his, because who knows what some people would put into one as a joke. “You know what, Renko,” he said my name in a sarcastic manner. “Why don’t you get yourself a beer, loosen the fuck up a little bit, and then maybe come looking for me. I’m outta here.” He walked back to the house and disappeared into the crowd.