Zugzwang

Chapter 19 - Day Two

Day Two

        I sat at my locker beside Noelle as she ranted about anything that came to her mind. Kids walked passed us and did what they always did; stared. I never minded the stares.

        “Hey, are you listening to me?” Noelle shook me out of my daydream. I looked at her and took a sip of my coffee and nodded. With her preppy and happy voice, she continued talking, “You know how the whole world was talking about the ‘popular girl’ you and the ‘loner kid’ Nick going out? Yeah well things have shifted to Jordan’s pregnancy. What a slut.”

        I whipped my head towards Noelle. “She’s pregnant?” My eyes widened .

        “Yes. No one knows who’s the daddy but kids have been eyeing her hatefully. We should take her out for lunch today.” Noelle smiled wide.

        I opened my mouth to accept her offer but I was interrupted by the sound of the bell indicating we had to go to our classroom to take a final. Noelle and I rushed off to class so we could continue our conversation. When we sat in our seats, I immediately started talking. “I’d love. Starbucks?” The teacher fake coughed indicating we should be quiet. I turned towards the front of the room and took my final.

        When lunch started, we drove to Starbucks in three cars. We fit pretty snug. We ordered our drinks and filled the seats. The girls were talking and I finally got a good look at Jordan. Her usually brown curly hair was in a lazy ponytail. Her fake tan was fading. Generally, she looked like shit.

        “…and after this, we’re going to my house and getting some drinks.” I picked up on the end of Amanda talking.

        “You’re going to kill the baby!” One of the girls yelled.

        “That’s the point.” Amanda winked and looked at Jordan.

        Jordan’s face seemed skeptical but approving. “Let’s do it.” She mumbled. Most of the girls wooed while some gave Jordan a disapproving look. Noelle was one of the wooers.

        “So, after this, we go to my house. I have the type of drinks that could kill a kid. And I’ll announce this as a party so other people will be there too and we can all have fun.” Amanda winked. “Except for Anna and Noelle.” She looked over at me with a smirk on her face.

        “I could have fun without getting laid.” I laughed.

        “Anna and I could have fun together! Except not sexually.” Noelle retorted.

        The conversation continued with dumb jokes and Mean Girls references. When we all finished our drinks, we got back in the senior’s cars and drove to Amanda’s house. She had sent out a mass text about the party, claiming it started at 4; an hour after school ended.

During the party

        I spent some time thinking about Nick at the party. He still didn’t text or call me. Scott hadn’t heard from Gabriel or Hunter either. Scott didn’t care as much as I did. He seemed generally happy that they were gone; he could go back to a normal life.

        I sat on the cushioned chair in Amanda’s living room with a half empty red cup. It’s all I had to drink. I promised myself I wouldn’t drink more than 2 cups. I was going to keep that promise to myself. Instead of drinking and getting laid, I watched the people around me. The makeshift dance floor was crowded with people. There were alumni here too. From what I could see, there were people from 9th grade to college.