Cole

Pep Party

I was both curious and nervous about Lance's party, so when Friday arrived I went off to school not knowing what would happen. I wondered if there was a lot of whispering going on during classes or between classes as to what was expected. I was not part of that scene because I did not know anyone going to the party, except what little I knew of Lance. That was both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage was that I was not part of the relationship status system or politics so I could do whatever I wanted and ask naive questions of anyone I wanted to. The disadvantage was that I was flying blind. For all I knew there were some real weird or messed up people that I would not recognize that I might unwittingly get involved with. In any case, I was extremely shy, especially with girls, so I really did not expect much to happen. I probably would not do anything. I would not dance or drink. I would just walk around. I really just wanted to see what was going on. 

Surprisingly, the school day itself went pretty quietly, without incident. Some people were pretty excited about it being Friday, anyway, but I did notice that there was some talk and excitement of the importance of the football game on Saturday. I did not hear anyone talking out loud about Lance's party, which surprised me. It was like it did not exist and was not important. The school team was pretty good and usually won, but the rival school that we were facing was our biggest rival, even though it was scheduled near the beginning of the year. The kids were saying that If we could get past them we might have a chance at an undefeated season again. Lance's team already provided two undefeated seasons over the past two years. A lot of kids were pretty pumped up. At one point during the day I noticed some hot looking cheerleaders in their little short skirts with pom-poms bouncing down the hall and giggling. Their uniforms featured the maroon and blue colors of the school and they had maroon and blue ribbons in their hair. The colors went great with their Hawaiian beach tans. I hadn't seen our school cheerleaders before. I wondered if Amanda would ever want to be a cheerleader. I fantasized about that and thought she would look cool. 

Ever since talking with Lenny earlier in the week he was just constantly wishing me good luck at going to this party. He did it again after home room. Its almost like he thought I was heading towards my death, or he was at least teasing me that way. You never knew with Lenny. He was a bit of a prankster. 

In Spanish class Ray double checked with me that I was going to the party and I again said yes. He wanted me to be ready exactly at 7:00 so the others in the car would not have to wait for me. He even recommended that I wait out by the curb in front of my house, which I said I would do. 

The ride home on the bus gave me one last time to look at Amanda before the party. She was wearing ripped skinny jeans and a sleeveless layered top. She was not reading this time. She was just looking out the window. She was facing away so I really could not see her well. Of course she would not be going to the party as she was a good girl and everything I was told about these parties indicated that they were pretty bad. I hoped to go to the beach the weekend. Maybe I would see her there. 

When I got home my mom wanted to know about the day, as usual, and I gave her the run down about it, and told her about the enthusiasm in the school for the football game. The rest of the story I never told her. That was only for me to know. Both mom and dad were not too keen on me going to the party, but they knew about it because I had mentioned it and they eventually agreed. They urged me to just stay in the background. The wanted me to have some fun with my adolescence, but within limits. They thought it was just a small get together of a few football kids and jocks. Again, I never told them the parties would be wild. 

The wait for 7:00 to arrive was agonizing. I relived some of the tension by pushing my weights just after I got out of school. I was again at the point that doing my bench press would half lift my bench press machine off the floor. The new weights my parents gave me were losing their effectiveness. The thing that impressed me the most, though, was that I could now do 15 of the one-handed, hand-stand push ups. I had seen some olympic gymnasts do that for about five repetitions and I could now do it well beyond them.