The Price of Falling

Chapter 19

I had tossed and turned my tense body all night. So, when I walked downstairs the next morning, Molly took one look at me and said, "you look like you got run over by a truck."

"Thanks," I replied to her, sarcastically. I went to the cabinet that Felix and Ferguson's girlfriends had stocked the evening before. Their names were Angela and Taylor. I silently thanked them for getting Fruit Loops, and picked the box up, taking it over to the counter so I could grab a bowl, a spoon, and the milk. Molly and I were the only ones in the kitchen. "Where is everybody?"

"Some are still asleep. Or pretending to be asleep," she waggled her perfectly tweezed brows at her own innuendo. "That Ashley girl is on the back deck tanning, and Jase is getting our lake floats out of the car."

My stomach tightened involuntarily at the mention of Ashley's name, but I shook it away, reminding myself that she was Conner's cousin. I finished pouring the milk into the cereal bowl and putting it back into the refrigerator before sitting down at the breakfast bar beside Molly. "So how was your night?" she smiled at me knowingly.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, feigning innocence. I gathered that she had put two and two together when both Conner and I went missing from the group.

She nudged my shoulder with her own, "You know what I mean, Ruthie. Come on!" she whined at me. "Don't hold out!"

"Fine, okay. But nothing really interesting happened. We made out a little, and then he got up and left," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"What?!" Molly practically screamed in my ear. "What do you mean, 'he left'?"

"He stood up, and walked out of the room. He said we need to take it slow, since I have no clue what I'm doing."

"Awww," she gushed. "How romantic!"

"Yeah, sure. And seriously messed up. I am now tense as all get out," I said, putting another spoonful of Fruit Loops into my mouth. As I chewed, Molly giggled.

"Sexually tense," she snorted then, and I glared at her. "My baby's all grown up!"

"Okay, thank you Captain Obvious," I said.

Molly looked at me then, and I could tell an idea was brewing in her mind. "I know how you could speed things up a little, if you wanted."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was slightly annoyed, but mostly curious.

"Well, we're going to be out on the lake today. And you have that smokin' hot bathing suit now, thanks to me," she patted herself on the back.

"And ...?" I asked. What was she getting at?

"And, when you wear that, he'll be so hot in his pants, he'll probably speed things up on his own!" She said excitedly. I couldn't help but laugh at her, but I put my face in my hands at the same time. If I hadn't been self-conscious about wearing a bikini in front of everyone, I was now. "Now let's go upstairs and get changed!"

I groaned and took my dish over to the sink. I rinsed everyone's breakfast dishes and loaded the dishwasher before going anywhere else. Everyone called me the "group mom," because I did responsible things like putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and cleaning up after people at parties.

Once the dishwasher was started and the kitchen was tidy, I walked upstairs to get ready for the day.