The Unfortunate Occurence at Shenandoah High 2020 - 13. Chapter 13

Jon-Jon lets loose a string of expletives as he and Leah scramble to put their clothes back on. A part of me wants to find the nearest rock and climb under it. The other part wants to laugh but if I start laughing right now I'm pretty sure I won't be able to stop.

"Where's my bra?"

"Who cares? Let's just get out of here."

Wow - I can't believe it. Jon-Jon and Leah are hooking up? The two of them are always going back and forth with each other. I figured they hated each other.

"I think it fell in the lake."

Leah appears in front of me and Finn. The light from Finn's phone illuminates her face. She levels a glare at the two of us.

"No one can find out about this," she says.

Jon-Jon appears at her side wearing a pair of jeans and a leather jacket. Unlike Leah he looks more annoyed than pissed or nervous.

"Can't find my T-shirt," he deadpans.

"I think I may have thrown it in the water," Leah says.

"I got that T-shirt in LA." Jon-Jon rolls his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair. "It was seventy five bucks."

"You spent seventy bucks on a T-shirt?"

"It was vintage."

"Can you just take me home?"

Before Jon-Jon can answer, Leah is walking off in the direction of Finn's house.

"You can borrow one of my shirts," Finn says. "Thanks, man," Jon-Jon says.

He then locks eyes with me. "Um, can we pretend this never happened." I slowly nod my head.

"We won't say anything," Finn says.

"Thanks," Jon-Jon says. "Guess I better go after her."

Jon-Jon breaks into a sprint and starts after Leah. Finn keeps the flashlight leveled on him until he disappears into the woods.

Neither of us say a word as we stand here on the dock. The crickets and cicadas are so loud it reminds me of being at my grandparents' house. My grandpa used to call it night music. Behind us I hear the water gurgle.

Finn looks over at me and asks if I want to sit down. I tell him yes and the two of us walk to the end of the dock and sit down on the edge.

A few moments pass and Finn sighs. "Jon-Jon and Leah," he says.

"I'm still in shock," I say.

"I guess it makes sense."

"How does that make sense? I thought they hated each other."

"Exactly," Finn says. "Apparently there's a very thin line between love and hate when it comes to those two."

"I guess so. I still think I'm gonna go home and wash my eyes out with soap."

Finn laughs and sits his phone between us. The screen is lit up and I notice his background is a photo of him and his ex. I recognize the photo from his Instagram. The screen finally dims before going black.

I swallow back the fist-sized lump in my throat as I stare out into the darkness. Finn leans back and reclines on his elbows.

"You're awfully quiet," he says.

I look over in his direction. I can barely make out his face in the dark but I can see he's smiling. I shrug and start fiddling with my hands.

"A penny for your thoughts," he says. "That's what my grandmother would say any time she caught either me or one of my brothers staring out into space."

"Huh," I say. "My grandpa used to say the same thing."

"Maybe it's a grandparent thing."

"And if I didn't tell him what I was thinking about, he would come up behind me and start tickling me until I finally gave in and told him. Worked every time."

"So you're telling me, all those years you walked past me in the hallway and didn't say anything, I could've just tickled you and you would've had no choice but to say 'hello'."

I laugh and say, "I don't think that would've been necessary."

"I sat two seats behind you in homeroom freshman year," Finn says. "And I used to throw little pieces of paper at the back of your head, hoping you'd turn around and actually talk."

"What? That was you? I thought that was Robby Hunter."

"Well, it was Robby's notebook paper but I was the one doing the throwing."

"Wow," I say. "Now I feel bad."

Finn leans forward and asks, "Why's that?"

"I've spent the last four years thinking Robby was an asshole when it was you all along."

I let the awkward silence that follows linger a bit before I let loose a loud laugh. A few moments later, Finn follows suit.

"Why I oughta ..." Finn lunges at me to begin his tickle assault but I scoot away.

"Hey," I say holding my hand out between us. "We are close to an open water source and I can't swim."

"Well, I can't have anyone drowning at one of the most epic Montgomery parties ever," Finn says. "Especially someone I like."

I slowly crane my neck in his direction. Finn's now laying flat on his back staring up into the darkness.

"You like me?"

He slowly turns his head in my direction and says, "Well yeah. Figured you already knew that."

"Um - well, I didn't."

Finn turns so that he's laying on his side. He stares at me with such an intensity I swear I could disintegrate underneath his gaze.

"Well now you know."

I'm so glad we're near this lake or creek or whatever it is because I think I'm going to be sick.

"You okay?" Finn asks sitting up. His hand is on my back and my every nerve ending in my body is tingling.

I nod my head up and down.

"I didn't mean to freak you out."

"You didn't freak me out," I say immediately. I inhale through my nostrils and let the air slowly slip from between my lips. "I-I just can't believe it."

"Believe what?"

Instead of answering I ask, "What about Emily?"

"What about her?" he asks.

"I thought - I mean, you two were ..."

"What me and Emily had has absolutely nothing to do with you and me."

Finn reaches out and places his huge hand on top of my much smaller one.

"Tristan, I've spent the last few weeks trying to make sense and I promise we will have a really important conversation soon but right now all I want to do is kiss you and I want to know if you'd be okay with that.

"Would I be okay Finn Montgomery kissing me?

My head leans forward without me even thinking about it and I'm so relieved when Finn meets me halfway. His lips are so soft and like two pieces of a puzzle they fit so perfectly with mine. I'm surprised by how soft they are.

This isn't a dream nor a fantasy. This isn't some story I stayed up to 3AM writing.

This is real. Finn is kissing me and it is better and wetter than anything I've ever imagined.

When we separate, only milliseconds past before he's crashing back into me. This time his hand reaches for the back of my head pulling me even closer.

This kiss is bolder. Needier. His tongue pries open my lips and he's tasting the inside of my mouth. Even though I have nothing to compare it to, I know for a fact this is the best kiss I've ever had.

We separate again and both of us are panting like two dogs on the hottest day of the year. Finn is still cradling my head in the palm of his head. The chill in the air does very little to cool my skin. My back is damp with sweat. I rub my hand along his back. So is his.

"What. The. Fuck."

This time it is Finn and I who are the deer caught in headlights. We both jerk around at the same time to see Jon-Jon standing a few feet away from us. The flashlight on his phone is aimed in our direction.

Before either of us can speak, Jon-Jon darts off towards the woods again.

"Shit," Finn says, scrambling to get to his feet. He kneels down and grabs his phone and without a word starts off after Jon-Jon.

I sit there, feet dangling off the edge of the dock. This is the most alone I've ever felt.

I wrestle my phone out of my pocket so I can text Keisha but somehow it manages to slip from my sweaty fingers and into the water beneath my feet.

Birds scatter overhead as my resounding shiiiiiiitttt startles them out of their restful slumber.