Where We Begin

Chapter 24 - We Should Do Something Fun

Sept 13th, 2002 - Taylor

As I waited for Busta to get to the lunch table, the last one, as usual, everyone else was chattering.

"It's Friday the 13th! Seen any black cats or broken mirrors?" Amber was saying. 

"Oh please. That's crap!" Kiki exclaimed.

Jake playful poked her ribs. "I think you're a little scared, don't try to act so tough." Kiki giggled and pushed his hands away. 

I shook my head at all of them. Finally, Busta appeared with his food and plopped down next to me. I nuzzled right up to him.

"Your first week at Mt Blue is almost over! Congratulations." I gave him a slow kiss. 

He bit his lip. "High school drop outs would be non-existent if everyone got a kiss like that on Fridays." 

"Ahem!" Brandy interjected. Ever since Brent and Amber started showing some interest in each other, Brandy had been particularly sensitive about being the only one in the group not paired off. 

"Sorry B," I pouted. "Hey, do you guys all want to do something fun this weekend and celebrate our first week as juniors?"

"That's something to celebrate?" Brent frowned.

Brandy lightly smacked his shoulder. "Any reason to celebrate is a good reason." She let out a sigh. "I swear, trying to teach you to have fun is like potty training a toddler."

"That makes absolutely no..."

Brandy lifted a hand and cut off her cousin. "To answer your original question, Taylor, yes. We should do something fun," she said, and shot Brent a look. "All together. And I have the perfect idea. Look what I found." 

She reached into her purse and pulled out a lime green sheet of paper and handed it to Kiki, who was sitting on her other side. Kiki's nose crinkled immediately, and she looked to Jake as if for help. I reached past him and plucked the flyer from her hand.

"A frat party," I said, reading aloud. "Tomorrow, at Cal State Long Beach."

"That's kind of a hike, isn't it?" Amber asked.

"Oh here, you all go. You all probably just want to stay home and make out with each other. I need to get out and meet people!" Brandy huffed.

"Maybe we could think of something else to do as a group?" Jake suggested. Brandy rolled her eyes.

"Let's go bowling," Brent said, out of no where. Everyone looked at him, confused. "Brandy is going to make me go to whatever it is we do, and I kind of feel like bowling. We drive past a place on the way to school everyday."

Brandy looked at him, dead pan. "That is so random, Brent."

"I'd like to go bowling," Amber smiled. Busta lightly nudged me under the table, as if to say "duh". Brandy kept rolling her eyes.

"How about we all go bowling tonight, and then the party tomorrow can be 'to be determined'. We'll figure it out later." Jake said, trying to come up with a diplomatic solution.

"I'm down for that!" Busta chimed in, with a grin. "Just be warned, I will kick all your butts."

I gave him a look. "Oh, it's going to be like that? You wait and see what I can do. We should play boys versus girls!"

"No fair, you have an extra girl!" Busta said.

Kiki raised a hand. "I guarantee most of my balls are going straight into the gutter. I hardly count." 

"I can vouch for that," Jake nodded. 

The first bell rang and I started to gather my things. "OK, so bowling, tonight. Call me. I have to run and get to English a little early."

"How come?" Kiki asked.

"Oh, I'm working on this extra research paper about Dickens and I wanted to ask if I should be focusing more on his social commentary of the Victorian era or on his use of realism and..."

Kiki waved me off. "I'm sorry I asked."

I shrugged and turned to go. Busta grabbed his bag and tray and followed me. "Can I walk you to class?"

"Of course," I smiled. 

Sometimes I couldn't get over how sweet Busta was. Little things like walks, or holding my hand, or those little nudges under the table made my heart flutter. It had been over two months since we got together, and he still made me nervous. In a good way. So good, that sometimes I almost can't help myself. I have to remind myself to take things slow. I don't want sex to spoil the good thing we have going right now.

Speaking of which, as we walked down the hall, I was reminded of something Kiki told me on the phone last night. Before I could ask, Busta turned to me. 

"So... frat party?"

"Yeah, I don't know. It kind of sounds like trouble to me. But I don't blame Brandy for wanting to go, and she can't go alone."

"I just don't know if I feel like being the chaperone," Busta replied.

"Maybe she'll make Brent and Amber go with her, and that will be good enough. Whatever. Let's worry about it later." I stopped in front of a classroom. "Well, this is my stop."

I kissed Busta on the cheek. "See you in a couple hours," he said.

Before he could turn to go, I couldn't help myself. I grabbed his wrist. "Hey. I heard about what Kit pulled in the locker room on Monday."

Busta smirked. "I'm surprised the Jake-Kiki-Taylor information train was so late to the station on this one."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"It didn't seem important. Kit's a dick. It's not breaking news."

I frowned, dissatisfied with the non-answer I was given. "OK."

"Why do you care so much?" Busta was actually starting to look annoyed. 

"I don't, not about what happened. I just want you to remember that you can talk to me about anything," I squeezed his hand. "It's you and me, right?"

"Yeah," Busta said with a half smile. "You gotta go, talk to your teacher. I'll see you after school."

I watched him walk away, still feeling like there was something he was keeping to himself. That's how things were when we first met, and it was terrible. Thanks to things like AP classes, I'm familiar with the law of averages. Busta and I spent half a summer in a solid honeymoon phase. I hoped with all my heart that it wasn't coming to an end.

For some reason, I couldn't get all the Friday the 13th talk out of my head.