The Nerd Herd

Chapter 12

Fate

“No you can't leave!” I pull on Andrew and Chase’s hands, dragging my feet in Andrews’ driveway.

“We’ll be back Monday afternoon.” Says Andrew.

“Fine. Go shoot your innocent deer.”

“Aw Fate don’t be that way. Hunting is good. It’s a guy thing and it helps to thin the deer population so that they don’t come to live in your backyard.” Chase talks to me like I am a little kid. To be fair I act like one.

“Whatever just leave me.” Chase wraps his arms tightly around me and rests his chin on my head. I squeeze him back. Andrew hugs me from behind so I am sandwiched.

“Group hug!”

I crack a smile even though I am still disappointed. The boys always did fun things without us girls. It’s not fair.

“Bye girls!” They get in Chase’s dad’s truck and wave goodbye.

“We’ll miss you!” Jocelyn shouts. The red vehicle goes out of sight around the corner and I look at the girls.

“Are we hanging out tonight or do you have other plans?”

“I am going to sleep over at a friends’ house.” Velvet quietly tells us. She is absorbed in her phone.

“Okay. Jocelyn?”

“Count me in baby.” She has the most evil grin on her face. “What are we going to do?”

“Bye guys.” Velvet looks up from her phone just as an old junky car pulls up. Shelby Jack sits in the driver’s seat and waves Velvet over. She races to the door and hops in after yanking it open. The loud squeak is hard on my ears and I cringe. The car speeds off leaving a trail of black exhaust pipe smog behind. I just watch fascinated.

“I didn’t even know they were friends.” Jocelyn huffs.

“Me neither.”

“Oh well. What’s the agenda for tonight?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just start somewhere and see where it goes from there. I kind of want to do something rebellious.”

“I know the perfect thing to do.”

We wait until it is dark before we go out. I am wearing a skimpy black halter top and skinny jeans. It’s a little chilly outside so I have a cute leather jacket on over my shirt. Jocelyn has a metallic shirt with rips on the back and a black mini skirt. We sneak out of the house before my parents can see us and get in my car. I am excited.

The plan is to go over to the convenience store and bribe some guy to buy us a bottle of pink lemonade vodka and some wine coolers. I drive there and park in a slot. We sit there and scope out who our pray will be.

“Him.” Jocelyn points to a guy who looks about 25. We scramble out of the car and follow him into the store. I look in the candy isle and let Jocelyn work her magic. She is so persuasive. A few minutes later I catch him look up at me. He smiles and looks back at Jocelyn. She puts her hand on his arm flirtatiously and he nods his head a little. She walks behind him to the alcohol section and throws me a wink over her shoulder. Her pointer finger curls twice, telling me to come over there with her. I grab some gummy worms and head over.

“Helen, this is Kevin.”

I give her a puzzled look.

“Kevin, this is my friend Helen. She’s kind of quiet.” Oh right, fake names. I’m Helen and she’s Nicole.

Kevin has a giant smile showing off his perfect teeth.

Time to play the game.

“Hi, I'm Helen.”

“Kevin.” No duh.

“So what kind did you girls want?” he asks.

“Pink Lemonade vodka and Piná Colada wine coolers please.”

“Sure.” He grabs what we need and walks it to the counter. Jocelyn stands with him while he pays and shows his ID. I wait behind them to pay for my candy, then I go and meet up with them outside.

“Here you go.” I come up to them just as Jocelyn hands him the money. She leans in and kisses him on the lips. He is a smiling freak.

“Goodnight girls. Be safe.” He goes over to his car and slides in. I think he forgot what he originally went in for.

I sit in the passenger seat and wait for Jocelyn to get in. She does and we buckle up. I pull out of the lot and get onto the road going out to the beach. The alcohol sits on Jocelyns lap.

“So what did you say to get him to help us?”

“That you were my girlfriend and tonight was the night we were going to have sex for the first time together.”

“But you introduced me as your friend. And you were flirting heavily with him.”

“I told him you didn’t want society bugging us about being together so you liked to keep it on the down low. And I was flirting because I said if tonight went well I’d call and include him sometime.”

“He bought that?”

“He’s 23 and driven by his man-hood. Of course he bought it.”

“Where’s his number?”

“The funny part is he was so distracted he forgot to give it to me.”

I can't help but die of laughter. So much so that I swerve a little and as I am correcting myself I see the red and blue lights light up. Uh oh.