Starting With You

7. Kissing friends is a messy business.

Jensen, age 16

COOL AIR WHIPPED THROUGH THE OPEN CAR windows as I drove my beat-up pickup truck my parents gave me for my 16th birthday a few months ago. Teddy sat between me and Kelly, and they continually battled over control of the radio. At a momentary truce, they both sang at the top of their lungs to an old country song. The truck was too old for modern day technology, so we were stuck tuning into whatever radio stations came in.

We were on our way to a party being thrown by a junior boy in our high school. Since I was the only one with a car, I was saddled with being the designated driver. They pre-gamed at my house, stealing a few shots of vodka from my parents' not-so-secret stash. I had a feeling tonight was either going to be fun watching my two best friends make fools of themselves or be a complete disaster. It was hard to determine this early in the night.

When the next song came on the radio, Teddy screeched and started dancing along in the seat, her shoulder bumping into me every so many beats. I glanced over at her and smiled. I loved seeing her carefree. It seemed lately she was less and less so. I couldn't figure out why and she sure wasn't dishing, even over endless games of P-I-G where I tried to trick it out of her.

Kelly reached over her to switch to a different station and she swatted his hand. "What the fuck, K? I obviously liked that song. Or wasn't it obvious, ya know, with my dancing and shit?"

He groaned, still flipping through the stations. "Come on, Teddy. I can only take so much of that garbage before my ears bleed."

I switched it back to the song Teddy liked, settling the debate. Kelly huffed his disgust but let it go. As the song was ending, we pulled into the circular drive of a farmhouse, the popular party destination, and we climbed out of the truck.

"Now remember, kids." I laced my arm through Teddy's as we walked toward the house that was lit up, loud music bumping through the open windows. "Let's make smart decisions, yeah?"

"Yes, Daddy." Kelly grinned at me before disappearing into the house, no doubt searching for Leah, his latest fling.

"I'm not calling you Daddy. That's wrong on so many levels." Teddy paused at the door as I held it open for her. "But I do promise to be a good girl." With that, she walked in and waded her way through the crowd of people.

I watched her until I could no longer see her and wondered if I should follow her. She didn't really have many friends outside of me and Kelly, but she had started hanging out with a group of juniors that I wasn't crazy about. When Kelly accused me of being jealous of her new friends, I waved it away. But maybe there was some truth in it. She'd always been my Teddy. I wasn't sure I liked sharing her.

Later that night, I happened upon a group of people forming a circle. When I saw Teddy sitting with the group, I wandered over. A bottle was in the center and a sophomore girl was about to spin it. Kelly noticed me lingering and made room on the floor to sit next to him. "Come play with us, J!" His slurred words alerted me to his level of drunkenness. Yep, it was probably going to be one of those nights where I lugged his heavy body back to my house, put him to bed with a bucket and some water and wished him well.

Cindy, a petite girl who had gone to school with us since preschool, spun the empty beer bottle and we all watched to see where it would land. When it stopped on a lanky boy I knew was a big deal on the football team, a smile lit her face. Apparently, she liked what the odds dealt her. She crawled over to him and practically assaulted him the minute she reached him, which set off catcalls all around the circle.

"Ok, ok, let's keep it PG13, guys." That was from the junior boy whose house we were partying at. He took his turn at the bottle and demonstrated the appropriate way to kiss during this game of Spin the Bottle.