The Same Mistakes Club

Chapter Twelve

I was almost afraid to let Margaret drive the next night to Parker's house, for fear we'd be pulled over for Driving While Under the Influence of a Boy. She was looking in the rearview mirror so often to check her makeup that you would've thought she was driving backward, not forward.

When we finally pulled up outside Parker's house, there were already cars lining the entire left side of the street. We could hear music blaring from inside. I had a bad feeling about this.

"How do I look?" Margaret asked for the twelfth time. I looked out the window and saw a couple of sophomore girls wearing tight jeans and tiny pieces of fabric that I could only assume were supposed to be shirts. I glanced down at my longsleeved top and tan cords, feeling more and more unsure about all of this by the minute.

We got out of the car and walked to the house. Suddenly, some guy burst out of the front door, startling both me and Margaret as he ran toward the bushes and threw up.

Parker appeared in the doorway. "Dude, that is so not cool." Then he started laughing and gesturing for people to come and watch.

Margaret cleared her throat, hoping that Parker would notice that she'd shown up.

It worked.

'Hey, guys!"

He motioned us to come inside, and I felt my heart start pounding. The odor of cigarette smoke stung my nose. My mum was going to kill me if she smelled cigarette on me. And I didn't mean kill in a metaphoric way.

Parker grabbed a random plastic cup from the table in the hallway and took a swig. "Keg's in the kitchen. Help yourself," he instructed. Then he vanished among the mass of bodies in the next room.

I glanced at the door, hoping we could make a quick getaway. When I looked back, Margaret was already on her way toward the kitchen.

I hesitated, but began to follow her through the crowd of people. I scanned the the room for familiar faces, but only recognized the standard football players and cheerleaders who Parker hung out with. Over in one corner were those two freshmen girls from the cafereria, Katie and Ashley. Naturally, guys were all over them.

We reached the kitchen and saw the line for the keg. Margaret leaned in, and I couldn't make out what she was saying over the music blaring from the stereo in the living room. Then she screamed, "Are you going to drink?" I shook my head back and forth.

"Okay, good," she said.

I was glad to know Margaret still had some sense left in her.

"You can be the designated driver then."

On second thought...

My head started throbbing in time to the beat of the bass. As Margaret waited in line to get a beer, I tried to stand around like I belonged there, even though I felt so out of place, like I was on display.

"Woo! Who's gonna shotgun a beer with me?" Jacob screamed as he entered the kitchen. "Pina Colada!" He came over and placed his arm around my shoulder. "My girl Pina Colada is here, all right! Time for the par-tay to start!" He started doing what was probably supposed to be the robot, but he'd obviously already had one too many to pull off any dance moves.

Gabriel came into the kitchen and looked a little concerned when he saw Jacob grabbing me. "Hey, Jacob, I think there are some freshmen girls in there wanting to hear all about your interception that got us into the Regionals last year."

Jacob ran over and gave Gabriel a high five. "That's awesome! I don't want to disappoint the ladies." He left the kitchen as Gabriel shook his head.