Liar Liar GirlxGirl

Chapter 4

School on Friday went slow. Government seemed to take two hours instead of an hour. Mr. Cutch didn't make being new any easier. We finished the Declaration of Independence yesterday. Now we were on The Articles of Confederation. We were "talking to the text." Otherwise known as, marking down things that confused you. I highlighted something in Article Three when Mr. Cutch appeared next to me. "Did you have a Government class in your last school?" he asked.

I looked up. "No," I answered. "My last school, Pius X, didn't require seniors to take a Government class."

"I see," he said. "You need to highlight more than that."

I looked back at my paper. I hightlighted some stuff in Article Three and Articlie Four. "This really is the only stuff that requires me to 'talk to the text.' Everything else I understand."

"You need more," he said shortly before walking away

I sighed. I was done with this class.

In band, Mr. Bender called me over to his office in the back of the band room. "I spoke to your old band director," he said.

"Oh?" I replied.

"Yes. He told me you were very good. First row, first chair. He said that you had most of the solos."

"That's true."

"I'd switch you to first chair if it wouldn't cause so many problems. However, I would like you to have a solo in our second song. I never assigned someone to it yet."

I was surprised. "I'll take it. Thank you very much."

We walked out to the band room. I got my flute assembled. "What did Bender want?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, he's giving me to solo for our second song," I replied.

"Shit, really? Melinda's going to kill you."

"Wincock?"

"Yeah. She's very petty and competitive."

"She's my neighbor."

"My condolences."

Mr. Bender tapped his conductor's stick on his stand. "Before we warm up I would like to announce that I have decided who will get the flute solo for our second song," he said.

Everyone grew quiet. I noticed Melinda had a smug look on her face. I laughed quietly to myself.

"The solo will go to," he said. "Riley Minister."

"What?!" Melinda yelled.

All eyes turned to me. Melinda's with a glare. Most with surprise. Even Aysha rose her eyebrows in shock.

"Congrats Riley," Bender said, ignoring Melinda.

We started to play. I played my solo perfectly. I was happy.

After the bell rang, Sarah and I went to my locker to grab my backpack and my clothes. We walked to her apartment, where she lived with her brother.

"You'll like Xavier," she said while we were walking. "He's cool, even if we don't see eye to eye."

"Cool," I responded.

Her apartment was only five minutes away. We walked up to the second floor where she opened the door. "Hey Xavier," Sarah called as she tossed the keys on the table.

A tall, young man came out from a room. He looked like he was in his twenties. He had short brown hair. "Hi Sarah," he responded. "Who's this?"

"This is Riley," she answered. "Riley, Xavier. Xavier, Riley."

"Hello," I said quietly.

"Hi," he said. "What're you two doing tonight?"

"We're going out," Sarah answered.

He nodded and went back to what he was doing. Sarah and I walked into her room.

We spent the next hour getting ready. We washed our faces and fixed our hair. As we were going to leave I asked, "Who's going to be there?"

"Well, Luke, the one in band who plays the timphony. He's hosting it. Melinda probably. Stay away from her. Aysha. A bunch of other kids," she answered.

"Oh great," I muttered.

When we arrived to Luke's, the party was already going. "Stay near me!" Sarah yelled over the music. "Do you drink?"

"Never have before! I'll give it a try though!" I responded over the music.

We found a table with drinks. I grabbed a beer and sipped it. It wasn't too bad. Sarah smiled.

Several drinks later, Sarah and I wandered over to a group of kids sitting on the floor. "Hey Sarah," a boy said. "Wanna play?"

"What're you doing?" she asked.

"Spin the bottle, minutes in heaven," he replied. "You know, each spin over seven is every minute more you have to spend kissing or doing whatever with who it lands on."

"But pairs are going in the guest room," another boy, Luke I presumed said. "I am not cleaning puke out of the closet again because of claustrophobia."

"This is so middle school," Sarah said. "Do you want to play Riley?"

"Sure," I slurred. I had too many beers. I was a lightweight. I really didn't process who was sitting in the circle.

We sat. They handed the bottle to me. I spun it a little too hard. It went around ten times before landing on a girl. Her face was kind of blurry, but familiar. Everyone laughed. "Off you two go," Luke said.

He led us to the bedroom. "I'll be back in ten minutes," he said.

The familiar girl sat down on the bed. I sat next to her. "So I have to kiss you," she said.

I shrugged. "I guess," I slurred. 'But it's against my religion."

"So is getting drunk," she pointed out.

I shrugged.

"Do you care?" she asked. "Cause I won't if it really bothers you. We can just say we did."

I shrugged again.

She sighed. "Come here," she said.

I moved closer to her. She moved my hair out of my eyes. Then I felt her kiss me.

I didn't object. I kissed her back. It felt different, better than a guy. The last tiny sober part of my brain screamed for me to stop. This was wrong. Leviticus and Romans forbade it. The Church forbade it. Most importantly, God forbade it.

The drunk side won. We kept kissing. After another minute, she pulled away and someone knocked on the door.

We walked out into the hall and someone handed me another beer. I walked back over to the group. I chugged my beer down. "So," Sarah said. "Did you kiss her?"

I nodded then passed out.