Liar

Chapter Two

"Okay, Kels. I think you've had enough to drink," Joe says, trying to hold me back from jumping into the lake. I pull against his arms, trying with all my drunken strength to get out of his hold.

"Aw, come hic on Joe! I hic don't want to go hic home. My dad will hic kill me!" I start giggling, not knowing why. I pull again with no success. Kevin, being almost as drunk as I am, comes over and helps me try to remove Joe's arms, but to no avail.

"C'mon Joe! Let 'er dance with me!" he whines. Joe shakes his head and gently pushes Kevin to the side. Even though it was a gentle push, Kevin is so drunk off his ass that he falls over. He doesn't make a move to get up as he lays down in the sand.

Joe turns and calls some people over. "Whitney go call Thomas and have him take her to my place. Hunter, when Thomas gets here, will you help Kevin into the car? I can't manage both of them." I hear some kind of response, but I can't really focus on it. Everything seems to be spinning. I tug on Joe's jacket, trying to grab his attention.

"Joe, I think I'm gonna--" Joe automatically turns me back to face the water as I fall on my knees. My hair is pulled away from my face as I empty the contents in my stomach. A hand rubs my back as I groan and hurl some more.

A couple minutes pass before I begin dry-heaving. I groan and crawl away from the pile in the sand, not wanting to be sick again. Joe sits down behind me and leans around my body to wipe my mouth with a wet washcloth.

"Hey Joe," some guy walks up beside us and squats down to our level. Once he comes closer, I realize it's not just some guy. His dirty blonde hair falls in his face and he flicks it away. He's wearing a dark color jacket, the fuzziness in my vision makes it hard to tell which color it is exactly. His slimming jeans follow his legs down to his black and white converse high tops. I look up to his face to see his forest green eyes staring back at me.

"Hey Garrett. Where's Thomas at?" Joe doesn't seem interested in the answer as he picks me up and starts walking me in the direction of Garrett's black 1969 Camaro SS. Yes, I know my cars. He motions for Hunter, who is carrying Kevin, to follow him.

Garrett walks ahead of us to unlock the beauty before he answers. "He couldn't come because he didn't want to explain to Andrea where he was going and he didn't have his truck." He says the last part pointedly at me before he moves the seat up. "I wonder how that happened, Shortcake?" I grunt at him as Joe puts me on my feet so I can get in the back.

Joe sticks his head in the car and reaches his hand towards me. "I need the truck keys." Without question, I reach into my pocket and pull out the keys, placing them in Joe's hand. He kisses my forehead and then he's out of sight. On the other side of the car, Hunter is trying to shove Kevin in the back with little success. Once he's in, Hunter waves and then, he too, is out of sight.

Garrett climbs in the drivers seat and starts the car, not so much as glancing in my direction. After 10 minutes, we are at Kevin's house and having his brother sneak him in. After another five minutes of silence, Garrett finally says something.

"So, that's The Barr, huh?" I groan and bury my face in my hands. I don't want a lecture, I just want to go home and sleep. "Didn't know you were the party animal and I definitely didn't know you dragged my sister with you."

"Hey, you know I can't drag that woman anywhere," I defend. "Either she wants to go or she doesn't and that's that." Whitney is the most stubborn person in the world, and when she makes up her mind, she sticks to it.

I can see Garrett roll his eyes in the rear view mirror. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure she didn't find out about 'The Barr' on her own," he states, turning left onto Joe's street.