My Love, My Drug, My Release

Chapter 48: Late Night Calls

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I don't know how I got the idea to invite Thelma to Paul's party. He'd suggested it the same evening he suggested I invite Gally, but it wasn't a genuine offer, it was a snide comment intended to humiliate me. Still, the idea snuck its way into my brain Friday night, and I slipped downstairs to phone her after double-checking that Paul and Linda were asleep in their room.

Dialing the number I'd known by heart for weeks, I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for Thelma to pick up.

"Who the bloody hell is this?" an older woman screeched into the phone.

"Um, L-Lorraine Foxwell," I stuttered.

"I don't know any fucking Lorraine."

"I'm a friend of Thelma's."

The silence on the other end made me worry the woman had hung up, but then she shouted, "Thelma, some posh cunt named Lorraine is calling for you!"

She then dropped the receiver (I could tell because it thumped against the wall, making my ears ache from the sound), but it was picked up again a few moments later. "Lo, why are you calling now; do you have any idea what time it is?"

I glanced up at the wall clock pinned above the kitchen sink: 11:40. "I'm sorry, I just needed to call you."

"What could possibly be so urgent?"

My cheeks heated up when I realized how stupid I'd been phoning her at this hour, but I couldn't turn back now. "Would you- um- would you like to-um, maybe, like- come to a party at my house tomorrow?"

After two beats of chilling quiet, she whispered. "What time?"

"It starts at six."

"I'll be there." She hung up without saying goodbye.

I had to sit down after that, my head spinning so fast I worried it might unscrew itself and roll down the hall. When I got a phone call from Keith, I'd be left with a throbbing between my legs, but talking to Thelma left me aching all over. I couldn't think, could scarcely breathe. My chest felt it was being torn in two having her so far from me. I wanted her here right now so I could snuggle up in her arms and smell her hair and ask her banal questions like what movies she'd seen lately. This didn't feel like mere infatuation, could this be...

After the whirlwind of emotions and sensations our thirty-second interaction left me with passed, doubt began to plague me. Did I really want my boyfriend and my girlfriend in the same house all night, with Paul breathing down our necks? But I needed to see her, and I couldn't uninvite her or Gally. No, I needed someone else there, someone who could act as a buffer, make it seem like I'd just invited a few friends so I wouldn't be bored.

Scurrying upstairs, I fished the slip of paper Rosemary gave me the other day at cheer practice, hoping she wouldn't be upset about me calling this close to midnight.

"Hello?" she asked in her lofty, soprano voice, though it was thick with grogginess.

"Hi, it's Lo, did I wake your family up?"

"No, I have a phone in my room." That gave me pause; her parents must be loaded if they gave her teenage daughter her own telephone. "What do you wan?." She didn't say the words maliciously, but I still felt stupid for bothering her.

"My stepparents are throwing this party- just a small get-together- and I was wondering if you wanted to come over."

"Me?" she said curiously. "Why me?"

"I like you. And you're right, I need to try and connect with people."

I could practically hear her smiling through the receiver. "Well, in that case, I'll be there."

We cleared up the details, I chewed the fat about our big cheer performance since she apparently forgot her tiredness after accepting my invitation, and then I hung up, opening the refrigerator to grab a beer.

"Who were you talking to?"

The voice behind me startled me out of my skin, the fridge door slamming closed on my head. "Ouch," I grumbled, turning around to see Paul standing in the middle of the kitchen, barefoot, in his bathrobe, arms crossed across his chest. "What the hell are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I took your advice and invited a few people to the party tomorrow."

"How many?"

"Three."

He snorted derisively. "You planning an orgy or something?"

Swallowing thickly, I fished the bottle opener out of the same drawer that housed Linda's address book and popped the cap off my beer. "It makes me really uncomfortable when you say things like that."

"Does it?" 

I turned around, trying to decide if he was making fun of me. "Yes."

He took two careful steps across the small kitchen, placing his hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention." His robe was tied tightly at the waist, so it was impossible to tell if he was wearing anything under it. His bare shins and exposed chest made it clear he wasn't wearing a t-shirt of pajama pants; he might have jockeys on, but he might not.

"What is your intention?" I whispered.

Paul's hands slid down from my shoulders to my waist, pulling me closer to him until our chests were pressed flush against each other's, his mouth lowering to mine. I forgot myself, wrapping my arms around his neck, lacing my fingers through his hair. He knew how to make me melt, hot desire bubbling his my stomach as his tongue slipped past my teeth.

I didn't stop him as his calloused hand slipped under my shirt, massaging my bare breast, but when it traveled down to the waistband of my shorts, I caught his wrist, pulling away to catch my breath. "I'm not going to sleep with you."

"Why, are you on your monthly, cause I don't mind."

That response almost got an endearing chuckle out of me- almost. "I'm going to be living with you for at least the next three years, how much longer do you think we can keep this a secret from Linda?"

"I don't care if she finds out."

"Yes you do; you're not in your right head. You're tired and horny and it's making you say silly things."

"I want to marry you."

I reached down to pinch the skin on my arm, making sure I wasn't dreaming. "No, you don't."

"Don't tell me what I want, Lorraine; I love you!"

I clapped my hand over his mouth, silencing him. "You don't even know me. You're in love with what you think you see when you look at me, but it's all an illusion. Don't throw away all the good things you have for a pipe dream."

 Funny story, while I was writing this, my computer finally conked out- I've had it since I was 15 and have been meaning to replace it- so I had to go to Apple to get a new macbook. I've been having a bit of writer's block, but I'm quite pleased with this chapter. I don't if any of you watched Avatar the Last Airbender, but it's an incredible tv show and I'm writing a fanfic about it. I have about thirty chapters prewritten and I'm updating it slowly while I finish my current stories. I know it's a different fandom, but some of you have joined me on my Star Wars and Stranger Things stories (which I really appreciate), so I thought I'd let you all know about this story too, it's called 'Kissed By Fire'. Anyway, thanks for reading, see you in the next one!