“Everett,” Jake says, nodding his head in my direction with a cocky smile. “The new guy. I heard you made varsity,” he adds, folding his arms across his chest.
Josh pats Jake’s shoulder. “Word travels fast.”
“Come on,” Jake urges, turning toward the thick of the crowd. “Let’s get you guys a drink.”
We walk into the kitchen where it’s crazy crowded. There’s knocked over Solo cups, chip crumbs, and used shot glasses all over the kitchen counter. People don’t seem to bother attempting to clean up, their attention more focused on the loud music and the game of beer pong off to the side in the dining room.
Jake reaches into a cooler and pulls out two cans of Heineken before handing them to us. “There’s a keg out by the pool, but you guys can warm up with these.”
Josh waves his hand in his direction. “I’m driving.”
“I’ll drive,” I offer.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” I extend my hand, silently requesting Josh’s keys as he takes them out of his pocket.
“Well, since he’s designated driver, you can have both.” Jake shoves both beers into Josh’s chest and walks away, hooting into the crowd that welcomes him with cheers and open arms.
The entire house starts to get even more crowded. Josh starts adding to the two beers he finished, harder stuff like Jameson and Jäger. People file toward the pool outside when it gets cramped inside, and I lose track of Josh. I wander around, finding myself near the pool where most everyone is occupied in drinking games or circles of rowdiness and even more drinking. There are a few chairs scattered throughout the concrete area by the pool, and I sit in one, leaning forward with my elbows resting on my knees.
“Hey.”
I turn to see Teeny sitting in an empty chair next to me with a red cup in her hand.
“Breaking the rules?” I ask, nodding at her cup.
“It’s strawberry Fanta.” She extends it in my direction, waving it under my nose. “Happy, officer?”
I smirk. “Want to jump in?” I jerk my head toward the pool where a group of people are playing a game of chicken fight while onlookers cheer them on.
“No, thank you,” Teeny responds flatly. “So, not having a good time?”
I shrug. “I’m okay. You?”
“My friends found an interesting game of truth or dare, and I lost interest after one of them got dared to use the kitty litter in Jake’s laundry room.”
That draws a chuckle out of me. Teeny stares into her cup, and a soft draft blows between us, pulling her hair back and exposing the darkening freckles lining her cheekbones and nose. She’s wearing a little bit of makeup tonight, a swipe of lip gloss and a light layer of blush and eyeshadow. She looks less like Josh’s baby sister and more like Teeny. The Teeny I sit next to in French class and share glances with when I run into her while taking out the trash or pulling into the driveway. In fact, I’ve unknowingly been looking for excuses to be outside my house during the day. Get something out of my car, help my mom with the groceries, check the mail. Whenever I hurriedly slip on my flip-flops and step off my front step, I glance toward Teeny and Josh’s house without realizing it, hoping to see her.
“Come on, new guy,” she instigates, nudging me with her elbow. “Let’s ditch this party.”
“I’m designated driver,” I tell her. I whip out the keys in my pocket and dangle them between us.
“We’ll come back,” she says pointedly. “Josh won’t even know we left.”
I look around like we might get caught doing something we aren’t supposed to and look back at Teeny. She’s got these big round puppy eyes peering up at me, and I shake my head.
“All right,” I surrender. We both stand, slinking off to the side door leading out to the front of the house, making our way to Josh’s car. We quietly get in, almost like we’d burgled the place and we’re trying to make a quick getaway, and buckle up. “So, where to?”
“Just head out to the main road, the same way we came in, and I’ll tell you where to go.”
Jake’s house isn’t far from ours, so the roads aren’t too foreign, but I still need Teeny’s guidance to know where I’m going. After a few left and right turns followed by a big curve into a residential area, we’re face-to-face with the beach. I parallel park in an empty spot along the curb and we both exit the car.
It’s about ten degrees cooler out here, most likely from the stronger coastal breeze this close to the water, and Teeny wraps her arms around herself. I peek into the back seat of the car where I saw a blanket hiding and get it for her, wrapping it over her shoulders as we reach the sand.
“It smells like stinky boy.”
I laugh. “What does a stinky boy smell like?”
