Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
I didn’t discount that. On the inside, the space looked as if many generations of high school students had used it. The first thing I noticed was the layer of graffiti—hearts with initials covered every inch of the walls. There were crates and camping chairs to sit on, an assortment of plastic coolers, and even an old ping-pong table. In the corner of the room was a pile of sleeping bags and blankets, along with a box that had the words “Survival Kit” written across it in Sharpie. Inside was a collection of supplies: batteries, candles, plastic cups, a bottle opener, Band-Aids, and a flashlight.
Someone had taken the time to decorate the place, probably for one of the parties. Streamers hung from the ceiling and Christmas lights lined the walls, but they didn’t work because the building didn’t have electricity.
I had no idea how long we’d been at the warehouse, but almost all of the sun had disappeared, and a battery-powered lantern in the middle of the floor was our only source of light. The dull illumination cast shadows on our faces, making everyone look sharp and spooky. I’d lost track of how many beers were running through my system, but they were enough to make my head buzz.
“I don’t think so, guys,” I said slowly, trying to clear my mind and concentrate. It was hard to think when my head felt so heavy.
“Oh, come on,” Nick said with so much enthusiasm that he knocked over the row of empty bottles next to him. “You have to play!” He was quite a different person when he was drunk. More friendly.
The group was trying to get me to play spin the bottle, and I felt uncomfortable.
Cole had introduced me to everyone when we arrived—two girls and four guys—but they still felt like strangers. There was Kate, the girl with the pink streak in her hair, and her friend Molly. Then, not including Nick, two of Cole’s friends from the football team had come. I couldn’t remember their names, maybe Ryan and Jim, but they also could have been Bryan and Tim. Then there was Molly’s little brother Joe who had a lip ring and insisted on being called Jet.
Besides the fact that everyone here was older than me, I didn’t want to play spin the bottle for one huge reason. I had never been kissed. Did I really want my first one to be some sloppy, tipsy train-wreck with a boy I didn’t know?
“I probably shouldn’t,” I said, shaking my head.
“Sounds like you’re thinking too much,” Kate said, grabbing me another can. It was her personal mission to make sure that there was a drink in everyone’s hands at all times. When I didn’t take it from her, she stuffed it into the cup holder on my chair.
“Maybe we should do something else.” It was Cole. He was lounging back in one of the camping chairs, and the way the light from the lantern hit his face, he looked sexy, dangerous.
“Why not? You love spin the bottle.”
“I do, but I don’t think it’s Jackie’s kind of game.”
“What do you mean, not my kind of game?”
“You’re a Goody Two-Shoes.”
“Am not.”
“Prove it.”
In the back of my mind, I knew he was baiting me, but the alcohol made words that I normally wouldn’t say come out of my mouth. “Oh, you’re so on.”
We all sat cross-legged on the floor in a circle and placed an empty bottle in the middle. Kate spun first, and when it landed on Ryan-Bryan, she laughed and spun again.
“Hey!” Ryan-Bryan complained. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m instigating an ex-girlfriend rule,” she said. “I’ve kissed you enough to know never to do it again.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a great kisser.”
“Ryan, you’re a biter. Seriously, what was with all the tooth action? It’s not like my face is a midnight snack.”
Jet was up next, and when he spun the bottle, I silently prayed that it wouldn’t land on me. When it came to a stop on his sister Molly, they both made a face, and he ended up kissing Kate instead. I was beginning to understand that people just kissed whomever they wanted instead of the person the bottle actually landed on.
Then it was Cole’s turn, and the bottle landed on Nick.
“Ah, hell no,” Cole said, looking at his friend in disgust. Everyone laughed. “I’m going again,” he said, giving the bottle another spin. It twirled on the floor in front of us, and I felt my pulse quicken. Did I want Cole to kiss me? Sure, he was attractive. There was no denying that, but I just couldn’t figure him out. What if everything Alex said about him was true? Even worse, what if I was falling for him anyway? What did that say about the kind of person I was?
When the bottle started slowing, making one last circle, I realized that it was going to land on me. However, just as the nose pointed in my direction, the bottle wobbled one last time and finally stopped between Molly and me.
“Well, now what do you do?” Jim-Tim asked Cole as we all stared at the bottle. It was quiet for a moment, but then Cole answered.
“I get to pick,” he said, before sweeping across the circle with a quick step and crashing his lips onto mine.
For one small moment I let him kiss me, his body pressed up against mine, and a wave of heat washed over us. Then my dulled senses kicked in. I could hear Riley’s voice in my head:
That’s boy’s gonna eat you alive, and you won’t see it coming…
Frightened, I shoved Cole away. “Get off,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
Cole laughed and moved back to his spot across the circle. “It’s okay, Jackie,” he said, winking at me. “I got what I wanted.”
It was quiet. Everyone looked back and forth between Cole and me as the boom box crackled in the background.
“God, Cole,” Kate said, breaking the silence. “You’re such a pig.”
“That’s not what you were saying the other night,” he shot back, without looking away from me.
“Dammnnn!” Nick jeered, covering his mouth with his hand. All of the guys were snickering.
Kate said something back, but it was like my ears had popped, and I could hardly hear what she was saying. Cole was still watching me with a look that I couldn’t figure out, at least not with how my head was spinning. I needed fresh air. With some difficulty, I pushed myself to my feet.
“Jackie?” someone said, but the words were muffled, barely there.
Standing up, I realized that I was drunker than I’d originally thought. My head was throbbing as everything around me reeled. I made it to the door without falling over, even though my steps were unsteady at best. Turning the rusty handle, I pushed open the heavy door to the warehouse and stepped outside.
The pavement was uneven, broken up in chunks. As I made my way to the truck where I planned to curl up until everybody was ready to leave, I stumbled on a crack. Suddenly it was as if the earth had moved, slamming into me as I stood still, not the other way around. Laying face-first on the ground, I could taste a trickle of blood where I bit my lip, but I was too dizzy to feel the sharp bite. I rolled over onto my back and gazed up at the sky. The sun was lingering just below the horizon and the sky was royal purple, but the stars had already come out for the night. Never in my life had I seen so many clear, sparkling dots against the dark canvas.
It was then that I finally let the tears flow. I wasn’t crying because my knee was surely torn up and bloody. I wasn’t even crying because of Cole. The tears were for the people I missed. I wanted to hear my sister laugh at this horrible situation, my mom to yell at me for my bad behavior, and my dad to hold me tight as I cried.
The warehouse door slammed shut as someone followed me outside. The crunch of the gravel warned me of their approach, but I continued to stare up at the sky, water slowly leaking from my eyes. For the first time since arriving in Colorado, I didn’t care if someone saw me cry. I was too worn out.
“Jackie, are you okay?” I couldn’t see him since he was standing behind me, but I knew it was Cole.