Standing In Shadows - 24. Chapter 24

SIS 24

I found myself staring at the clock on the microwave as the sky darkened. It wasn’t that far of a walk to the library for me, where everyone else would be parking. I didn’t know what we would be doing so I dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and shoes. This would probably be the only tradition that I could enjoy. Homecoming last year I had to present and escort the junior homecoming queen, which was Amber. The entire night Jenny had been frowning and shooting glares at her best friend for having won and not her. The other things I got to participate in were football sponsored pep rallies and bonfires, and Dad would always be there. This would be the first time it would be just me and some of the people I liked being around. I just hoped it wasn’t strange after what happened with Clinton. The thought of it caused my face to get hot, it happened in various degrees every time I thought about what he was wanting. What he was ready for and I wasn’t.

“Are you excited about tonight?” Mom asked, glancing over at the microwave clock herself. I hadn’t heard her come into the kitchen, but it wasn’t that far of a walk from the living room.

“Yeah,” I answered hoping my face didn’t give away too much of what I was thinking.

“Be careful ok, I don’t want anymore calls from the hospital,” Mom said while reaching over and patting me on the shoulder.

“There won’t be one,” I said rolling my eyes.

“I always figured there would be, since you are a boy,” Mom said smiling down at me. “And I knew your father wouldn’t keep you from football.”

“There won’t be too many people there, Jenny didn’t want a big crowd,” I said, but it didn’t seem to lessen her concern any. Instead she looked down at me, her mouth opening and closing twice before finally smiling. I could hear the, ‘be careful with girls,’ lecture she gave me a while ago in my head. It had been distinctly different from the, ‘if you knock one up you’re dead,’ talk Dad had with me over a cooler of beer the same year.

“If it gets too wild, I want you to leave,” she said, “I agree with your father on that one, I don’t want you in any kind of trouble.”

“I will,” I said, “I won’t do anything bad.”

“I wish you still had your cell phone,” Mom said looking over at the clock again. “Well you better get going. Do they still park at the Library?”

“Yeah,” I said shrugging, “nothing changes in this town, does it?”

“Not a whole lot,” she said smiling.

“I’m going to walk over, better not keep them waiting,” I said standing. Again she looked like she was about to say something, but thought better of it. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and moved around the kitchen table so I could walk to the door.

“Don’t get your ass into any trouble,” Dad bellowed from the couch. I looked over and saw him glaring at me.

“I won’t,” I said and I smiled at Mom then turned and started walking down the metal stairs. At night the sound of them screeching seemed bigger. If I really did want to sneak out of the apartment, I doubt I could. It was way too high up to jump and I would have been too chicken to try it anyway.

On the sidewalk I noticed most of the street lights weren’t turned on or working. It didn’t bother me though, there wasn’t anyone else on the street that I could see. The lights that were still on did cause the night to be cast a dim twilight, the only real darkness being in the shadows.

The public library was an old remodeled elementary school. There wasn’t much of a use for it until it finally got free internet, but even then I think I was only ever in there during the two or three class trips we took to it when I was in elementary school. It smelled of candles and old paper. It has probably changed some since, at least the sign outside has.

When I got there Jenny and everyone was already parked and gathered around the front of Jenny’s car. All of them were carrying something in plastic bags and Jenny was holding a flashlight. Then she turned it on me and I held my hand up over my face, the sudden light blinded me.

“Oh it’s Corey,” Jenny said, “we’re over here. You’re just in time!”

“Who did you think it was?” I asked, looking around at everyone.

“Can’t be too careful,” Jenny said, sounding excited. The excitement of sneaking into the school didn’t hit me fully until I was standing with everyone under the dim lights. “You didn’t bring any change of clothes or anything?”

“I didn’t know I had to?” I said looking around at all the bags. Jenny was carrying two and had a backpack slung over her shoulders. The girls seemed to have packed a lot more than the guys. Clinton and Bryan were standing off to the side, but they were holding bags as well. “I can run back and get some.”

“Don’t worry about it, I have extra,” Clinton said smirking, then he turned back to Bryan.

“Why would I need extra clothes?” I asked, but Jenny just shrugged and fumbled around for her cell phone. She hit a button lighting the screen to check the time.

“It’s time to get going,” she said and she handed me the flashlight. “I’m too scared to go first.”

“You big baby,” I said, taking the flashlight and pointed it towards the alley that led behind the courthouse. It would be a longer walk if we stayed on the sidewalk and too open.

“Boys like nasty stuff like spiders, but I don’t and we all know it is the first one in line that gets hit with all that,” Jenny said smiling.

“So I’m the one for that?” I said shaking my head.

“Well you have your cast, just knock the spider webs out of your way with that,” Jenny countered pushing me forward slightly. I started walking down the alley not glancing behind me to see if they followed or not. I could hear Jenny talking with Amber and Katy in short quick whispers that were too difficult for me to catch every word. It was mostly gossip about the other cheerleaders and girls at school. What they had been up to and who was still on vacation.

“Are you excited?” Clinton asked after he sped up to walk beside me.

“I guess so,” I said, “I told Mom and Dad what I was doing, so the excitement probably isn’t all there yet.”

“It’s nice having the house to myself,” Clinton shrugged, “but most of the fun is sneaking out on parents. I won’t tell anybody that you asked for permission.”

“I didn’t ask,” I said rolling my eyes. “I just told them what I was doing.”

“And your dad just let you?” Clinton asked, his eyebrows raised.

“After he growled at me about not getting my ass into trouble and if I did I’d rot in jail until they let me go,” I answered, causing him to laugh.

“I think the only reason they keep people is if they’re drunk, right?” Clinton said, glancing behind at everyone else.

“Or high,” Jenny said, “but we’re not going to get high or anything, that’s gross.”

“What are we doing?” I asked, but again she gave me an innocent shrug.

“They won’t tell us either, we’ve asked three or four times,” Clinton said, “I bet it’s going to suck.”

“It is going to be fun,” Jenny said, “we’re about there, turn the flashlight off.”

“Ok,” I whispered looking around. We had walked behind the courthouse and behind a few other stores. The only things apart from us out here were stray cats that darted around the dumpsters looking for rats and scraps of food. The heat had caused the air around the dumpsters to reek from the rotting garbage, but we were too far away for the smell to really bother us. The only one to complain was Amber, she grimaced with every step she took, even though the path wasn’t too dirty or littered with trash.

“I doubt anyone cares we’re sneaking into the school,” I whispered, glancing at Clinton. “Mom told me they’ve been parking at the Library for years, ever since she was in high school anyway, so they have to know what it means when there are a group of cars there.”

“Yeah,” Clinton said, “but it’s still fun, isn’t it?”

“You’ve been, I haven’t, remember?” I said as we entered the backside of the student parking lot. There were light poles, all of them bright and working. The campus stayed well lit most of the year, even in the summer. I never understood why they would keep lights on. Being out here in the open made me feel exposed though and maybe that was the reason. If we were going to get caught this would be where it would happen. Everyone else though seemed to relax like the worst was behind us as we made our way over the loose gravel and old pavement that had cracked and broken off over the years. The only parking area that was well maintained was in front of the football field and the school for staff and visitors.

Now that there wasn’t any danger from spider webs, Jenny took the lead and everyone followed her to the door. It was an old metal door that didn’t have a door handle on the outside anymore. It wasn’t meant to be an access, just an emergency exit. It had a few rusty dents on it, where people had thrown rocks against it over the years. The door was left slightly ajar, kept open by a rock that didn’t allow the latch to catch, like Clinton had explained yesterday. I reached up and pulled the door open and let everyone in. The hallways were dark, the only lights coming from the windows. It wasn’t as cold as it usually is in here, they probably kept the air conditioners on full blast to keep the girls from showing too much skin during the spring and summer after the weather got warm, but it was still cooler than it was outside. The air stunk of floor wax and spray cleaners.

When we hit the main hallway we kept walking towards the cafeteria. Every classroom door was closed and locked, their lights turned off. The quiet of the school made the place feel alien. I had only been inside the school a few times when it was mostly empty. Most of the time with Dad and we stayed in his office or after school to get ready for away games. It was always filled with a lot more people than the six people now. Our steps seemed to echo through the halls.

“Why are we going to the cafeteria?” I asked when we got to the doors, Jenny grabbed the handle and pulled the door open and was surprised it wasn’t locked like the classrooms. The bathroom doors swung open and didn’t lock, I figured they and the gym would be the only places that people could go once they broke into the school.

“Well we can’t stay here all night and not eat or drink anything,” Jenny said, “not anything good anyway.”

“You haven’t ever broken into the school have you?” Katy asked, her blond highlighted hair was pulled back into a ponytail that bounced as she walked.

“No,” I answered and she smiled at Amber. I wondered if they were just nice to me for Jenny’s benefit being her two close friends. I wondered if they really had stopped hating me for what I did last year, I thought they had though.

“We need drinks, that’s why we’re stopping here first,” Katy said and we followed them into the kitchen. It was the first time I’ve been back here. There were two large flat grills that took up most of one wall. On the other side of the room was a large double sink and a lot of counter space. The large freezers and refrigerators were on the back wall. Jenny opened her backpack and pulled out a bottle of vodka and a larger plastic bottle of strawberry flavoring.

“Strawberry,” Bryan said, wrinkling his nose. “You told me not to bring beer.”

“I brought six bottles,” Amber said, reaching into her own backpack. “They’ve been in the fridge all day, but they probably need to chill for a few.” She took the brown bottles out of her backpack and put them in the freezer. Then Katy pulled out four plastic ice tray molds and filled them with water.

“It won’t take very long for them to freeze in there,” Katy said as she placed them in the freezer on top of what looked like boxes of hamburger patties. “I wish Cam would hurry up with the pizza.”

“Cameron is coming?” I asked and she smiled.

“Of course he is, he should be on his way, he closed tonight,” Katy said smiling, “we’ve been dating for like six months.”

“Damn near married,” Amber said leaning against the counter. “Remember when we made him get into the freezer?”

“Yeah, I said I wouldn’t...” Katy started, then she glanced at me her face flushed. “Anyway.”

“Cameron told me what you said,” Bryan countered, smirking. “I would have done it too.”

“Men are easy,” Jenny said, “all you have to do is threaten to cut out all the sex stuff and you get whatever you want.”

“It is because they know we can,” Katy said, “I mean if they ever threatened us with it, it wouldn’t work.”

“Speak for yourself,” Amber countered, winking at Bryan. All three girls laughed and when Clinton started snickering Bryan shot him a glare and elbowed him. Clinton glanced at me and rolled his eyes rubbing his stomach.

“Jenny, do you still have all those mutts?” Katy asked, leaning against the cheap steel counter beside the large sink.

“I have a few people coming to adopt some of them,” Jenny shrugged, glancing at me. “Corey already has one.”

“They are cute,” Amber said, “but really Jen you need to stop driving down that road and collecting them.”

“They’d die!” Jenny hissed crossing her arms, it pushed her boobs up making them look larger than they were. I had thought it was just a tactic to distract guys, but maybe it was just her way.

“You’ll get like rabies or something one of these days,” she said, “there is animal control.”

“I know, but they suck,” Amber said, “and besides these were puppies, I wish I knew who dropped them, I’d kick their ass.”

“I like to see a short shit like you kicking some ass,” Bryan said smirking, “it is pretty nasty business though, dumping stuff like that.”

“Didn’t Cj’s dog have puppies?” Katy asked and Jenny shot her a look.

“He didn’t say anything about it,” Jenny said, “what dog does he have, I only know of his Mom’s dog and she’d explode if she…”

“I don’t know, I don’t pay much attention to that jackass,” Katy countered causing me to smile, it was the first time I heard someone else talk bad about him, “but he is my neighbor and I thought I saw a dog with puppies.”

“Does he still have the puppies?” Jenny asked her hand reaching out, she grabbed Katy’s arm. Katy looked down at it like she wanted to pull away, but didn’t.

“Nevermind Jenny, I know how you get about these things,” Katy countered and she did pull her arm away. “And ouch, by the way.”

“Clinton, what kind of dog does Cj have?” Jenny asked, turning on him. Clinton shrugged, stepping closer to me. Bryan was laughing and Katy was still giving Jenny a hateful glare.

“Can we forget about it?” Amber asked, “I mean we are here to have fun.”

“Well I’ll just have to have a look tomorrow,” Jenny said walking over to her backpack she pulled out plastic red cups. “You’ll come with me, right Corey, you said you’d help.”

“I don’t know,” I said, but the look she shot me told me that I really didn’t have a choice. “Yeah, I will.”

“Whipped,” Bryan coughed and this time Clinton elbowed him hard enough to knock him slightly off balance.

“Don’t hurt him Clinton, I need him later,” Amber said, rolling her eyes. “I thought you would be off rock climbing with Cj anyway, when will he be back?”

“Few days I guess,” Clinton shrugged, “I pissed him off so he decided not to invite me.”

“I would have gone anyway,” Amber countered, “I hope he’s still having that party on his house boat.”

“Yeah, still is,” Clinton said, glancing at me.

“I’m not going,” Jenny said, “if what Katy said is true, I’ll not have anything to do with him.”

“I didn’t say it was his dog,” Katy said, throwing her hands up into the air as she walked over to the freezer and checked on the ice trays. “Hopefully when we get some liquor into you, you’ll turn back into fun Jenny.”

“Them three are better than television,” Bryan whispered, leaning closer to us. “All of them hot and all of them feisty.”

Then the kitchen door opened with a bang causing Katy to scream and Jenny to duck. I turned around to see Cameron struggling with the heavy wooden door and the boxes of pizza. He was also carrying a bag of ice. Bryan rushed over and took the bag.

“Finally,” Katy said, walking over to him. He was still wearing his work uniform. His cheeks were flushed and his sandy blond hair was messed up, the gel gone in most places.

“Ice, thank you sweetie,” Katy said as she grabbed hold of the front of his grease stained shirt and pulled him down to her level and kissed him hard on the lips. He grunted reaching out blindly with the pizza boxes trying to find a flat surface. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. The thought of greeting Clinton like that crossed my mind as well and when I glanced at him I saw him turning to glance at me. After Bryan took the pizzas from him, Cameron wrapped his arms around her as the kissing turned more sloppy and urgent.

“Get a room, there’s plenty to choose from,” Amber said, “who wants drinks?”

“I’m getting a beer,” Bryan said, “chilled or not it’s time to get this shit started.”

“Do you want one?” Clinton asked, looking at me.

“Yeah,” I said shrugging. It was either that or the vodka drink that Amber was preparing to mix in a bulky blender.

“I brought some water,” Jenny said, “I know you don’t like to drink.”

“It’s alright,” I said smiling. “Living with my Dad I’ll have to get used to the taste someday.”

“I can’t believe you don’t drink,” Amber said as she ripped open the bag of ice. She used a plastic cup to scoop it into the blender.

“Not everyone drinks like a fish Amber,” Jenny said, “besides could you imagine drinking in front of our history teacher?”

“I thought he was hot until he got fat,” Amber countered shrugging. “Sorry Corey.”

“It’s alright,” I said, trying not to laugh.

“He just filled out those cheap suits nicely,” Amber continued, “until he started filling them out a little too much.”

“He’s still in denial about all the weight,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He already busted out of one pair of pants.”

“Sucks that you had to move into those apartments,” Katy said, dragging Cameron along behind her, grunting when he crashed into her.

“It won’t be for long,” Jenny said as Clinton handed me the bottle of beer. It was really cold to the touch. Not wanting to talk about the apartment I took a drink, it was nearly cold enough that I didn’t mind the taste.

“Don’t borrow sugar from your neighbor, it might be coke,” Katy said, “how bad is it, I’ve never seen the inside.”

“Sucks,” I grunted offering her a smile.

“But at least you’re in town,” Katy said then she was drowned out by the sound of the blender starting. I looked over to see Clinton and Jenny both watching me.

When everyone had their drinks we grabbed the pizza from the box. It was warm, the cheese wasn’t melted and stretchy. After we ate a few slices the girls went back to get refills. Everyone was back to laughing and joking. I hadn’t felt completely out of place though, not like I did at the river.

“So, the arm really is broken,” Cameron said, frowning as he looked it over.

“Yeah, your team now,” I said and was surprised when he reached over and grabbed my hand. He flicked the plaster cast with his finger grimacing.

“How bad is it?” Cameron asked, “You won’t get to play at all?”

“Probably not,” I answered shrugging as he let go of my hand.

“Bum way to go out, your last year,” Cameron said and I knew he was genuinely upset about it even though that meant he got to start in my place.

“I’ll have it easy, you’ll be the one dealing with Dad,” I said and he smirked.

“We should kick Cj’s ass the first day of school,” Cameron said, glancing at Clinton. “His too.”

“He apologized,” I said hoping that Clinton didn’t hear him, if he had he didn’t show it.

“At least when we lose they won’t blame me,” Cameron countered smiling. “Dad took the news pretty hard until I told him that I’d finally get some real playing time, but he still thought we’d win it this year.”

“We still can,” I said shrugging, “you’re just as good as I am.”

“Finally someone agrees with me,” Katy said, coming up to lean into Cameron.

“But you say it differently,” Amber said, smirking. “You say, what’s so great about him? Cameron is just as good, everyone thinks so.”

“Shut up Amber,” Katy hissed, turning to me. “I have to say it like that, Cameron is my boyfriend.”

“The truth!” Cameron said, “I knew it’d come out after you had a few.”

“Shut up,” Katy said, slapping him on the stomach. “Go change, you smell like burnt cheese.”

“We’ll all go to the gym,” Jenny said and we followed her back down the dimly lit hallway to the other side of the school where the gym was. The bleachers were all pushed back away from the basketball court, they were the color of our school, a dark shade of green. The practice basketball goals were folded towards the ceiling, but the two stationary ones on either side of the court were left down so the basketball players could come in and practice during the summer. Tape had also been put down on the floor to outline a volleyball court. Every sport had a summer camp scheduled throughout the summer vacation months.

“Go get a basketball,” Jenny said, turning to Bryan.

“I never would have thought we’d actually play basketball,” Clinton said rolling his eyes. “We can do that anytime.”

“Not what we’re going to do,” Jenny said, stepping closer to us. “You’ll thank me later.”

“I doubt that,” I said, offering her a smile. “Not if you and the other two planned it.”

“Oh right,” she said cocking her head, “maybe it is all about me.”

“This is going to be so fun,” Katy said, bouncing up to us followed by Cameron and Amber who was on her fourth cup, “and so interesting.”

“Take your shoes off guys,” Amber said when Bryan returned from the storage room with a basketball tucked under his arm.

“Why?” I asked, but we all started stepping out of our shoes.

“Because girls get an advantage, only fair,” Amber answered, “socks too mostly because we don’t want you breaking your necks.”

“Advantage for what?” I asked as I tucked my toe behind the heel of my other shoe and pushed on it until my other shoe slid off. Then I bent over and removed my socks since the waxed floor would be slicker with just them on.

“We’ve all played that silly letter game, right?” Katy asked, “you get a letter if you miss.”

“Yeah?” Cameron asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well instead of a letter, we strip,” Katy said shrugging. “Makes it all the more serious, right?”

“This idea sucks,” Bryan said glancing over to where I was standing. Somehow throughout the conversation the guys and the girls had split. All three girls had the same proud and expectant look about them. Like they knew we would complain, but still do exactly what they wanted.

“If you don’t do it,” Amber started then glanced at Cameron, “we’ll invoke the Katy rule, you do remember, right?”

“Don’t call it that,” Katy hissed, rolling her eyes. “But yeah, no, you know what if you don’t.”

“Doesn’t hurt me none,” Clinton countered, crossing his arms.

“It will when you finally get a girlfriend,” Amber argued, shrugging her shoulders. “Look we already know we’re going to, so let’s get started, I’ll go first.”

“Can you even see the basket?” Jenny asked, watching Amber grab for the ball still tucked under Bryan’s arm and miss. “How many are there?”

“One and a slightly blurry other one,” Amber answered, “shut up Jenny.”

“See I don’t know why you’re so scared,” Jenny said, “she’s drunk and Katy and I probably suck at this.”

“How far do we have to go?” I asked and Amber looked over her shoulder. She was lining up at the free throw line.

“As far as you want before you chicken out, stud,” Amber answered, then she spread her legs and then tossed the ball in a high arch towards the goal. When it landed squarely behind the backboard on the support rails before falling to the court everyone laughed.

“Call it at underwear,” Jenny said, “your choice though.”

Katy took the next shot and banked it in against the backboard just beyond the foul shot. When no one started moving to challenge her spot, Cameron finally sighed and stepped up. When the ball missed terribly, I smiled thinking he did it on purpose. He took off his t-shirt revealing a white shirt underneath.

“Cheater,” Katy whispered as Bryan tried a straight on shot behind the three point line and missed. Then I sighed walking over to the ball, I scooped it up. It felt odd holding it with my off hand and the bulky cast made it worse.

“Maybe we should give Corey a first round pass too,” Katy said standing with her hands on her hips. She looked like a chicken, her chest and ass both poking out, to a straight guy the stance probably looked inviting, but to me it just looked uncomfortable. The intention was obvious though, Katy was proud of her body and wanted Cameron to notice it too.

“I’ll be alright,” I said and lined up my shot and smiled when it rolled around the rim and fell in.

“I’ll go next,” Jenny said as Clinton started towards the ball to follow me. “It didn’t look like a difficult shot.”

“Have it your way,” Clinton said smiling, “I was going to bite the bullet like a gentleman.”

“Ha,” Jenny said as she lined up her shot where I had stood and when we all watched as it bounced on the rim, but it did go in.

“Good shot Jenny!” Katie squealed, slapping Jenny on the ass as she walked by. Then Clinton took the shot and made it as well.

“If everyone makes it, you lose the round,” Bryan said, smirking at me and I shrugged not really remembering all the rules of the game. The last time I played it was during recess in grade school. Then Bryan cussed as his shot sailed completely over the rim, landing on the court. He pulled off his shirt as he chased after the ball.

“My turn!” Amber said and took her second shot. It was the same as her first one, but at least this time she hit the rim. “I suck at this.”

“At least you went first,” Katy said, “or your drunk ass would be shining by now.”

“I know,” Amber said shrugging and Katy took her shot and missed. Then Cameron made a three pointer and I missed and removed my t-shirt. I didn’t have a shirt underneath so I was the first one showing skin.

“Hot,” Katy whistled and I jumped when Amber’s hand reached out and her fingers slid down my stomach. I took a step back, afraid she wasn’t going to stop at the waistband of my shorts.

“Sorry,” Bryan said, offering me a smile. “Should have cut her off before her fourth cup.”

“Your shot Jenny,” Clinton said and I looked to see Jenny staring at me. She smiled and took a shot and made it.

“Wow Jenny!” Katy said, “I thought you said you sucked at this.”

“I thought I did,” Jenny countered as Clinton missed terribly. He glanced at me, winking as he pulled off his t-shirt. Like me he wasn’t wearing an undershirt.

“This is not how it’s supposed to work,” Cameron said, handing the ball to Amber after he chased down the rebound. “The guys are the only ones getting naked.”

Amber tried the same shot for a third time causing everyone to laugh when it bounced off the back of the rim and came back towards her. She tried to dance out of the way but it hit her on top of the head anyway.

“Why don’t you try to shoot it normally and not grannying it?” Bryan asked as Clinton ran down the ball on the other side of the court. The sound of bare feet instead of shoes made an echoing clapping sound against the hardwood.

“Leave me alone Bryan,” Amber said, “and it’s like the only skill I have.”

“No I believe missing is the only skill you have,” Bryan countered, reaching over and tickling her side. She grabbed his hand smiling up at him until he reached up and messed up her hair. Clinton was handing the ball over to Katy, but he glanced at me smiling.

As the game went on the guys did catch up by getting Amber down to her underwear. Bryan had to convince her to stop though, grabbing her hand before she could unclasp her bra, moving to stand in front of her in case she succeeded before he could get her stopped. Then Cameron got me down to my boxer briefs.

When it was all over Katy won when Cameron missed a shot on purpose. I rolled my eyes when she squealed and ran over to him and he allowed himself to be tackled onto the court. She had lost her shirt by missing a shot Clinton made. By the time the game was over everyone was sweaty and Amber had sobered up considerably.

“Let’s go shower,” Jenny said, grabbing hold of Katy and Amber’s hands and led them towards the locker rooms. It was off on the left side of the gym, the rooms separated by a narrow hallway.

“We better shower too,” Cameron said, “if they’re getting clean they won’t let us touch them if we’re not.”

“Good idea,” Bryan said and they both looked at Clinton and I because we had made no move to stand.

“Come on,” Cameron said and Clinton stood helping me to my feet.

“Let’s go find some tape and some plastic for your arm,” Clinton said and we walked towards the drama stage. Their storage room was the most likely place to have tape. When we entered the door automatically closed behind us leaving us in the dark. I heard Clinton cuss as he fumbled around searching with his hands for the light switch. When he found it I had to blink a few times before my eyes adjusted to the light. When I looked at him he was smiling at me. Both of us were still only in our underwear. He took a step closer to me. I sighed when he reached up and put his hand on my shoulder.

“I thought you’d be mad at me,” I said watching his expression change from the easy smile that I was beginning to like to a more careful one that I had seen him have more often around me than I liked.

“Why would I be?” He asked, pulling me towards him. He wrapped me into a hug, our sweaty chests sliding together. After a moment he let go and traced his fingers down my stomach like Amber had earlier, but this time I didn’t jump back as his hand got to the waistband of my boxer briefs. He stopped there though and let his hand drop down to his side. When I looked up his smile had returned. “Let’s look for that tape.”

“Alright,” I said and turned around. It was easy enough to find, since the shelves and cubby holes were meticulously labeled. Then Clinton ripped off a strip of protective plastic that was draped over a video projector and wrapped up my arm.

When we got to the locker room, Bryan and Cameron were standing under the two shower heads farthest apart. Clinton smirked as he stepped under one in the middle the farthest from the other two guys he could get. Being more used to showering around Cameron I claimed the showerhead between him and Clinton. I stripped off my boxer briefs, tossing them behind me to the bench on the other side of the locker room where towels had been stacked. Turning on the water I jumped out of the spray until the hot water kicked in. Not having any soap or shampoo I just stood under the shower rubbing my hand over my chest and stomach to help wash away the sweat.

Then the locker room door opened causing all of us to jump and cover ourselves as all three girls walked in dressed in shorts that barely covered their asses and t shirts. All of them had wet hair and all of them were drying it with towels.

“What’s taking you guys so long?” Katy asked as I felt my face flush. I wanted to duck behind Clinton, but he hadn’t left any room between him and the wall.

“Out!” Cameron yelled nodding towards the door.

“You’re holding us up,” Bryan added and I was thankful that the bulky plastic covering the cast at least allowed me more coverage than what the others had.

“Doesn’t look like any of you are holding anything up,” Amber said, causing the other two to laugh.

“Bets on which one bolts for the towels?” Jenny said looking over at the white folded towels at the end of the bench.

“Corey,” all three of them said at once and Katy darted towards the towels and I was the only one that didn’t rush towards them at first. She squealed as she dodged around Cameron as he slid and fell on the wet floor. It tripped up Bryan and Clinton causing them to fall on him. I tried to quickly dodge the others on the floor and cut Katy off from the exit. She had stopped running though and laughed as the other three squirmed over one another trying to quickly stand without touching.

“Get your hand out of there Bryan,” Cameron groaned and Bryan’s hand shot out from under Cameron and slapped Clinton on the thigh as he was standing. Katy threw me a towel and I wrapped it around myself. As the others untangled and stood she threw them towels as well.

“That was dirty,” Bryan groaned as the girls doubled over still laughing.

“You could have killed one of us,” Cameron added, “I mean I nearly died of shock when I saw Bryan’s junk slide right by my head before he fell.”

“Pretty sure I nearly lost my ass cherry to Clinton,” Bryan countered causing Cameron to laugh.

“Not my type,” Clinton said tucking the corner of the towel in to keep it tightly around him.

“Get out so we can get dressed,” Cameron said and the girls walked out the door. When they were gone Bryan walked over and locked it. Clinton handed me his extra clothes then we all started getting dressed. I ripped the plastic and tape off my cast and tossed it into the trash before we left the locker room.

When we were back into the gym the girls had dragged out the large cheerleading tumbling mats, putting two side by side they were more than wide enough for all of us to sit together. Clinton’s shirt was tight around my chest and rose up slightly if I stretched or reached above my head. I could have put my old clothes back on, since I hadn’t really sweated while wearing them, but I didn't. Part of me wondered if he brought them knowing I wouldn’t bring any with me.

“Drinking again girls?” Cameron asked, noticing the cups filled and the empty vodka bottle sitting on the mat between them.

“It’s not good to waste perfectly good liquor,” Amber answered while taking a sip. “Besides we needed the bottle to be empty.”

“For what?” I asked sitting down on the second mat. Clinton sat beside me and Cameron and Bryan sat beside Katy and Amber. Bryan was eyeing Amber’s drink, but didn’t say anything when she finished it off.

“Spin the bottle,” Jenny said as she put the clear glass bottle on it’s side. The paper label had been ripped off, the glue scrubbed away.

“You guys have been busy while we were in the shower,” Clinton said, “these mats weigh a ton too.”

“We’re used to hauling them around since we’re the ones that use them,” Katy said flexing her right arm.

“Alright let's get started,” Bryan said and Jenny spun the bottle. It quickly spun for a few moments before slowing and finally rolled to land pointed towards Cameron.

“You better pretend not to like it Cameron,” Katy said, crossing her arms.

“It’s just a game Katy,” Amber countered, rolling her eyes. Then Jenny leaned across the small circle and pecked Cameron on the cheek.

“First kiss is a quick one,” Jenny said, “if I land on someone else the kiss has to be on the lips, and they get hotter each time you spin.”

“Gotcha,” Cameron said and spun the bottle with as much force as he could. We all watched, it taking a lot longer to slow down than Jenny’s spin. When it finally did come to a stop it landed between Clinton and Amber. Amber scooted closer to Bryan smiling.

“Keep your hands to yourself Dude,” Bryan warned, smiling.

“No it’s closer to Clinton,” Jenny said, reaching over to stop Cameron from crawling across the circle.

“Dude no,” Bryan said his eyes wide, “opposite sex only.”

“Do it Cameron,” Jenny said, “come on it’s just a peck on the cheek this time and us girls will kiss each other.”

“Liars,” Bryan whispered his eyes narrowing, “kiss once and show good faith.”

“Fine,” Jenny said and crawled across the circle and Amber met her. My mouth fell open when their lips touched and it wasn’t a peck either.

“Damn,” Cameron whispered when Amber kissed Jenny back before they separated and sat back down.

“Now go,” Jenny said pushing Cameron’s shoulder. Cameron grimaced and my heart leapt when he crawled in front of me. I leaned back and watched as Cameron tilted his head and quickly kissed Clinton, who had turned his cheek towards him. Cameron didn’t make any gagging sounds or anything like I expected, but sat back down and Clinton reached for the bottle and spun it. Watching it, I hoped it didn’t land on me. I knew the thought was foolish, that anyone would know apart from Jenny that Clinton and I were together. Most people here probably thought Jenny and I were working up to being a couple again, it happens all the time. People breaking up and then getting back together over summer vacation. It was the best time for people to get together since they had so much time to kill and not a whole lot of things to do.

When it landed on Amber I let out a breath and I saw Jenny glance over at me, but most people were watching as Clinton leaned over and kissed Amber’s cheek.

“Oh soft lips,” Amber said looking at Bryan, “you have competition.”

“Nice,” Bryan countered, rolling his eyes. Amber landed on Bryan and instead of kissing him on the cheek quickly grabbed hold of his face and turned his face towards her and kissed him hard on the mouth. Then she reached down and grabbed Bryan’s hand and moved it up over her chest and held it there until she broke the kiss.

“Slut,” Katy whispered and Bryan’s face was beet red as he grabbed the bottle and spun it.

“I hope it lands on you, babe,” Bryan said, his voice cracking as he looked at Amber. “Can’t wait for round two with you.”

“Gets any worse she’ll end up pregnant,” Jenny said and Katy coughed as she choked on her drink. The bottle stopped on me though and I stared at it until I heard Bryan crawl to his knees. I turned my head and felt his lips graze my cheek then he backed off.

“Wuss,” Jenny said and I spun the bottle hoping it landed on Jenny, for some reason she was the only person in the circle that felt safe in this game. She seemed to be watching the bottle more closely as well, leaning slightly forward. Then it slowed and I willed it on, but it stopped in front of Katy.

“Oh goody I finally get some action,” she said, “probably more action than what Jenny got at prom.”

“Katy,” Jenny hissed and I felt my face flush. I had already started leaning towards her, but stopped.

“Too soon?” Katy asked and I hoped my face didn’t sell me out. It felt somewhere between a smile and a grimace. Blinking, I kissed her on the cheek and sat back down. When I did I felt something slide over my hand that rested beside me on the mat between Clinton and I. When it slid back over my hand I looked down to see Clinton’s pinky finger. I smiled looking down at my folded legs. When I looked up the bottle that Katy spun had just started slowing down and when it landed on Amber, Cameron and Bryan reached across the circle and high fived one another.

“No funny business Amber,” Katy warned as she crawled across the circle and instead of doing the peck on the cheek, Katy kissed Amber on the mouth, like Jenny had before. It was clear that the girls were far more comfortable kissing one another. They knew guys liked it and girls always tried to get as many guys interested in what they were doing as possible.

“That’s everyone, right?” Jenny asked smiling, “round two.”

Like before she spun first. The first round was interesting enough, but I could see that at least Amber and Bryan were losing interest. She had snuggled closer against him whispering something to him and playing with the bottom of his shirt. When I turned to look down at the bottle my heart skipped and I heard Jenny let out a short breath. It had landed on me. I looked up to see her cheeks flushing and her mouth open slightly.

“Well, you going to kiss him?” Katy asked and Jenny seemed to snap out of it, blinking a few times she got on her hands and knees and crawled over to me. I watched as she closed her eyes and seemed to be unwilling to come the rest of the way. Not wanting to seem like I was hesitating, I tilted my head opposite her’s, knowing that this round was supposed to be a level higher. I didn’t close my eyes at first, but I got close enough to feel her breath on my face. The closeness of her caused me to slow and when our lips touched, I felt her relax into the kiss. Then she slightly opened her mouth and kissed me again.

“Wow,” Amber said, “this is finally not boring.”

Jenny abruptly broke the kiss and I sat back down, my own face feeling warm. My lips seemed to tingle with small electric pulses. Like me she probably felt like everyone else was staring. Everyone there knew our past together and how badly it ended. They didn’t know why or I didn’t think they did. Part of me wondered if Katy and Amber figured it out like Jenny did. I figured they would say something if they had, though. Or maybe even put the thought of me being gay in Jenny’s mind to begin with, maybe as a way to console her after I dumped her, but that wasn’t likely either. They hated me enough after it happened not to spare me anything and would have started rumors. I wouldn’t have held it against them, it was what people did.

“Are you going to spin or hold the bottle all night?” Bryan asked, smirking. “You and Jenny can hook up later.”

“Shut up Bryan,” Jenny said, shaking her head. I put the bottle back down and was about to spin it when a loud noise echoed through the hallways into the gym. I heard Katy let out a little scream and I jumped.

“What the fuck was that?” Cameron asked, but then we heard the voices of a lot of people coming towards the gym.

“Uninvited guests,” Jenny said sighing. Then the first people came into view, they were carrying large metal kegs, followed by more people carrying coolers.

“Hey Jenny!” One of the girls carrying a blanket screamed.

“Hi Heather,” Jenny greeted, glancing towards us.

“No one says anything about the kissing stuff,” Bryan muttered, “I kill any of you fucks.”

Heather jogged awkwardly towards us in a pair of flip flops, she was on the cheerleading team like Amber, Katy, and Jenny and probably would have been invited if Jenny wasn’t keeping the crowd small.

“What are you doing here?” Jenny asked standing up. We all followed her, breaking the circle.

“Cops broke up our party at the old farm place, it’s about to storm too, anyway,” Heather said, “so the guys thought it would be better to come here next.”

“You’ll probably get ran out of here too, this is probably the next place they’ll check,” Cameron said as the gym kept filling with people. Some of them already running around the place and grabbing basketballs. They were mostly current students, but there were also a lot of people that had graduated before us here too.

“What were you guys doing here anyway?” Heather asked, glancing down at the empty bottle and the mats.

“Drinking game,” Jenny answered shrugging, “we just had finished it when you guys crashed in on us.”

“Oh, well, it will be better now with more people,” Heather said then I looked around seeing people setting up beer pong and someone else setting up a stereo system.

“I better go,” I said, turning to Clinton. “Dad told me if it gets too wild that I better not stay.”

“Ok,” he said, “I’ll walk you home.”

“No, don't leave,” Amber said, rolling her eyes. “We never get into too much trouble, even if the cops come.”

“At least we don’t have to play your stupid games anymore,” Cameron said smiling as he led Katy towards a group of football players that were wrestling one another under the basketball goal.

“I don’t feel like staying either,” Jenny said rolling her eyes. “I wanted a quieter evening.”

“Fine you losers can go on back home,” Amber said waving her hand she started walking in the direction of where the kegs and coolers were being set up.

“They’ll probably fuck up the floor with them kegs,” Bryan said watching Amber go. “I wish she’d leave before they do show up, if there’s any damage we will be in some shit.”

“You don’t have to stay,” Clinton shrugged, “she’ll be fine by herself.”

“No, she won’t,” Bryan countered offering a small smile, then he shook his head and followed her.

“She’ll be needing a new liver before college,” Jenny said and she looked worried about Amber as we watched the party take shape around us. Even Heather got bored and drifted away leaving the three of us the only ones standing on the mats. I grabbed the bag that Clinton brought his clothes in, they now had mine and his clothes mixed together.

“Ready?” I asked and Jenny reached down and picked up her things as well.

“Yeah,” she said and I led the way out of the gym. Once in the hallway the noise died significantly as we kept walking.

When we were finally outside the wind had picked up and you could smell the rain in the air. I looked up to see angry clouds rolling across the sky and lightning in the distance. I shuddered not wanting to be caught out in it.

“We’d better hurry,” Clinton said, putting his hand on my lower back he gave me a gentle push forward. He hadn’t said anything about the kiss and neither had Jenny. It seemed like more than it ought to have been to me. I wondered what it looked like for the rest of them. The only person that had said anything was Amber. I glanced over at Clinton to see him looking ahead as we made our way over the parking lot to the tree line. It seemed darker in the woods now that the clouds and the swaying trees were blocking out the moon. There was only a small strip of forest between the school and the town though. Jenny had her flashlight out and shining the path we finally hit the alleys behind the stores that lined Main Street.

The heat and humidity caused us to sweat as we kept up the quicker pace. Then we all jumped when a loud crack of thunder rumbled overhead. Then I heard what sounded like wind blowing towards us. Jenny stopped walking ahead of me and Clinton and turned to look at me.

“Take your shirt off,” Jenny said, “quickly!”

“Why?” I asked, but Clinton had already grabbed his own shirt and pulled it over his head. Then when he grabbed my arm I felt the large cold drops of rain falling on my face. I helped him wrap my cast with the shirt, but the thin cotton wouldn’t keep the rain from soaking through.

“Shit,” I hissed and I untied the plastic bag and stuffed as much as my arm into it.

“Well that was a better idea,” Clinton said as he crossed his arms. All three of us were already soaking wet as we started walking again. I would have liked to run, but Jenny had the only flashlight and there wasn’t a clear path through the alley.

When we finally got the cars Jenny turned off her flashlight and turned to look at us. We were all standing under the streetlight when more lightning and thunder caused us to jump. Here storms always cropped up in the summer. They were always violent, but never lasted very long. There were a lot more cars parked in the library’s parking lot now.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Jenny yelled over the rain. Her eyes were squinted and her bright red hair looked black now that it was soaking wet. “Clinton don’t let Corey walk home, ok?”

“Alright,” he said and she waved and ran to her car. Then I quickly followed him to his truck, it was parked under a streetlight that wasn’t working. It would only flicker every few moments and then go black again. I opened the passenger door and crawled as he ran around the truck and got in himself. He started the truck and turned on the windshield wipers before carefully backing out of the crowded parking lot.

We rode in silence, I watched the lightning strike the ground in the distance as the storm rumbled through the country. Green leaves ripped from trees blew through the air only illuminated by the beams of the headlights. He drove slow, the pouring rain didn’t allow a lot of visibility. When he drove by the apartment I looked over at him.

“You’re not taking me home,” I said, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. Clinton had his air conditioner running and my wet shirt was getting cold. Looking over and noticing he turned off the air.

“I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to bust in on your parents this late,” Clinton said, shrugging looking back towards the road.

When we arrived I made sure my cast was still covered in the plastic. I hoped there wasn’t any holes that caused it to leak, but everything was so wet I didn’t want to take it out to check until I was inside. Instead of parking out in front of his house he drove into the covered carport before he killed the engine. Then we got out and I followed him to the door. The security lights came on while we were parking so he didn’t have to fumble with finding the right key in the dark.

After we were inside he closed and locked the door behind us. Then he smiled as I carefully pulled my arm out of the bag. The cast was the only thing dry. When I looked up lightning flashed through the windows briefly lighting the empty house.

As the thunder cannoned overhead we stepped farther into the house. Then he grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. Then he grabbed the back of my head and in the darkness of the house I only saw the outline of him as his mouth found mine. When I kissed him back he let out a small sigh and grabbed my waist pulling him closer to me. He shivered, jumping back he let out a small laugh.

“You’re so cold,” he said, but I hadn’t felt the cold until then. He found the bottom of my shirt and I raised my arms as he pulled it over my head. The lightning was so frequent it looked like a slow flashing strobe light, only illuminating him every few seconds.

“I could have busted in on my parents,” I said smiling. “They probably expected me to at some point tonight.”

“I know,” he said, “but I couldn’t stand thinking that Jenny was going to be the last person to kiss you tonight. And that you looked like you liked it.”

“What?” I said and he grabbed my hand ignoring me and started leading me towards the stairs to his room. After this morning I didn’t think I’d be going back there so soon. When we got to his room, I saw that the bed was still unmade. I looked out his large window through the sheer curtains to see the storm still raging on.

“Don’t be scared,” he whispered. If I wasn’t standing so close to him I probably wouldn’t have heard him.

“I’m not,” I said as he bent down and pulled off his wet shorts and underwear. Then he tossed them into the hamper just inside his closet. Then he stood naked by his bed. I wasn’t lying this time though, I wasn’t scared. I bent down and awkwardly pulled down my shorts and underwear then put them in the hamper. When I turned around I saw him slide into bed and hold the covers up for me. When I slid in beside him he draped his arm across my chest and kissed my cheek.

“Goodnight,” he said as his thumb started rubbing a small circle in the center of my chest. The sensation was probably meant to be soothing, but it sent small jolts through my body. The dampness of the rain caused me to smell him and only him. His scent wasn’t masked by his soap and there was only a faint trace of his deodorant left over from our shower earlier.

“Clinton?” I asked and I felt him turn his body towards me on the bed.

“What?” He asked as his thumb stopped the small circle, but the ghost of his touch still caused a tingling sensation. I knew I couldn’t answer him the way I wanted to. Every response that came to mind only caused my face to get hotter. So instead I turned to face him in the dark room. When the lightning flashed I saw that his eyes were open and I smiled searching with my hand I heard him suck in a breath when my fingers brushed across his hip bone. “You don’t have to do…”

“I want to,” I countered and then his lips found mine in the dark.