Before you guys start to read this chapter I told you I had a surprise that I would be announcing... There will be a second book to this one. Haha.. I already have the title and what's it about, but I can't give too much away. You'll find out the name the very last chapter of this book. You may read on now.
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Today is the best day of my life for two reasons. One being that Stephen is on crutches for the rest of the football season and two being that Midget's parents are going out of town for the rest of the week and won't be back until Saturday. She invited me over to stay tonight. I want to spend as much time possible with her, but I hope she isn't trying to hint at what I think she's trying to hint at. Every time we get carried away just a little, this small ounce of guilt comes creeping in and I can't do it. I love Midget and eventually I'm going to want to take it to the next level, but right now I can't.
I feel something bounce off my head and I'm snapped back into reality. It's lunch time now and I haven't been paying attention to half of the conversations going on around me.
"Did you hear me, Jordan?" Troy asks.
"No, sorry I didn't. What's up?" I ask.
"We're throwing a party at Abby's house tonight." He says.
I look over to Abby and raise an eyebrow, "Did you agree with that?"
"Nope, but Jake and Troy said they would clean everything up after the party so that's on them." She says.
I nod my head, "So much for us spending time alone together tonight." I joke.
"You and Abby can have sex some other time. Daniel needs to get out of the house for a bit and relax and what other way to relax than throwing a party." Troy says.
Abby's cheeks turn red at the mention of sex. She doesn't know that I told the guys about me fingering her. I think she kind of knew I told Daniel. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't.
"Okay, what time are we throwing this party?" I ask.
"Well, after school, we're going to start setting it up. I was thinking around eight o'clock?" Troy asks.
I nod my head, looking at everybody else. Every seems to agree on the time and I give Troy a thumbs up.
"Okay, now all we need is to let people know about the party." I say.
"How are you guys going to get people to come on short notice?" Abby asks.
Troy laughs, "Babe, that's what social media is for and plus I can do this."
I throw a french fry at him for calling her babe and he shoots me a bird before standing up.
"Everyone, listen up! Party tonight at my friend Abby's house! A lot of people are coming and if you don't show up, you're going to miss out on the biggest party of the year! I'll send out the address later on!" Troy yells before sitting back down.
Immediately everyone starts talking about the party like I knew they would. Anytime we say we're going to a party, better believe half the school if not the whole school is going to show up. My phone starts buzzing with people texting me about the party. I do a big group chat with the numbers and give them the address and what time the party will start.
"Wow, everyone is really excited about a party they just found out about." Abby says.
"Any excuse to get drunk and high on school night is okay with them." Ryan says.
"Well, that settles it then. Daniel, Ryan, and I will bring the beer and food. Troy and Jake, you guys are on clean up duty." I say.
"Alright, that's cool with me. Troy, don't get too drunk to where you can't help clean up after the party." Jake points at him.
Troy holds his hand up defensively, "That's what a party is for. It's to have a good time. No one is going to be worried about clean up duty."
I roll my eyes, "It doesn't matter who cleans it up, somebody just better clean the mess up after the party."
"Am I the only one that sees a problem with this plan?" Alyssa asks, raising her hand.
We all look at her, waiting for her to speak. She rolls her eyes as if it's the most obvious thing, what's wrong with the plan.
"You guys have practice after school. That means, Abby and I will have to set up for the party." She says.
Everyone groans except Abby and Alyssa. How could we forget about practice. I look at Troy, hoping he can spark up an idea because I really want this party to happen. Especially now that we've told everybody.
"Get Abby to get the beer and food. We'll give you the money, we just need you to pick up the stuff." Troy says.
"I'm not exactly old enough to get the beer." She says.
"Neither are we. We have a connection. Jordan will text you the address of where to get the stuff from and all you have to do is pick it up." He says.
She rolls her eyes, "Fine."
"Hey, this is just as much of your party as it is ours. If this party goes well tonight, people are going to be talking about how you threw the sickest party of the year." Troy says.
A small smile creeps on Midget's face and I know she's happy with the idea of being known for the best party thrown all year. She might not want to admit it, but she cares about what people think about her. She likes being popular and I can't blame her for it. When you're popular, things are just easier. Everyone loves you and you get your way most of the time.
The bell rings and we throw away our lunch. I grab Midget's hand and we make our way to our Spanish class together. I hate that Stephen gets to sit by my girl and I have to sit by asthmatic Amie. She literally breathes so hard beside me that I can't focus on my work. I give Midget a quick kiss on the lips before going to my seat and taking out my Spanish notebook. Midget has somewhat made me more organized. Before, I would just have a binder full of random papers and I never kept up with my notes or anything. She bought me a bunch of notebooks; one for each subject. Now my notes may be out of order, but at least they're in one place.
Our Spanish teacher starts to teach and I zone out half of the time thinking about the party.
*****
"Alright guys, good practice today. Break it down and you're free to leave." Coach says.
Everyone puts their hand in the middle of the circle and we say our little chant before leaving off the field. Practice was rough today, but I still have enough energy for this party tonight. I go into the locker room and decide to take a shower here. I quickly rinse off before wrapping a towel around my lower half and going to my locker to put on deodorant.
A guy name Kyle from the team comes up to me. "You attending the party tonight, Collins?"
"Yeah, man. I'm practically hosting it." I say.
"Alright, then. See you there." We fist pound and he leaves out the locker room.
On his way out he passes by Troy and Troy tells him it's three dollars to get in. Kyle nods his head and Troy walks over to me.
I raise an eyebrow, "You're charging people to get in?"
"Yup. I'm having to pay for the beer and the food for these losers. Might as well get my money back." He says.
I laugh and shake my head before throwing on my shirt over my head. Troy puts his hand on my shoulder and I look over at him.
"Dude, this party is going to be packed tonight. People from other schools are coming. West High babes are going to be there. West High, dude!" Troy's smile is so big that I think the corners of his mouth are going to tear.
"It doesn't matter. I already have a girlfriend." I say.
He shakes his head, "Had this been three months ago, you wouldn't have been able to say that word without almost puking. The girls that are going to be there are going to be much hotter than Abby."
I shrug is hand off my shoulder and look into my locker, "I don't care. None of them compare to Abby to me. You and Ryan can have all the fun you guys want with them."
"That's the problem. I'm going to be the only one having fun with them. You know Ryan isn't going to really get with a girl because of his issues and what not." He says.
"It's not his fault. What happened to him had a big effect on him." I say.
"I know. Did he tell you the news?" He asks.
"No. What is it?" I ask.
"They found the guy that raped and killed Michelle. I don't think he really knows how to feel about it." He says.
"Dang. Is he up for a party tonight?" I ask.
Troy shrugs, "I guess. He claims he just needs something to get his mind off of it. He feels like it's his fault for not being there for his sister. I guess I can relate to how he's feeling."
"Well, we'll keep a look on him." I gather my stuff and sling my bag over my shoulder.
"I'll see you at the party." We do our hand shake and depart from each other.
When I finally get home, I immediately start to get dressed. I don't know if I should go with the laid back style or the I got dressed up style. I decide to do a mixture of both and I can't stop looking at myself in the mirror. I spray some of my Polo Red cologne on because I know Midget loves the smell of this stuff. I'm finally ready to go. I head downstairs and go into the kitchen where I see my mom and dad eating.
"Hey, guys. I'm going to go to Troy's house. I might spend the night if that's okay with you guys?" I ask.
"It's fine. Tell Troy's mom and dad we said hi." My mom says.
I nod my head before exiting out the door. I get into my car and head for Midget's house. Her house is going to be packed with the amount of people coming there tonight. Her house isn't small, but it isn't exactly big.
When I pull up on her street, a bunch of cars are in her yard and in her neighbor's yard. There are a bunch of people outside laughing, talking, drinking beer, and smoking what I presume to be weed. I find a spot next to Troy's car and get out. I say hey to a couple of guys before going inside the house to find my Midget. As soon as I get in, I'm greeted with more people. I see Virginia at the same time she spots me and I groan when she starts to walk over to me.
She places her hand on my chest, "Jordan, long time no see."
"You see me everyday in class and at lunch. It hasn't been that long since we've seen each other." I say.
She laughs, "You're so funny. I think we should hang out like we used to. You know, me and you in a bed. Those were the good days."
She comes closer and I begin to feel cornered. What Virginia and I had didn't really mean anything to me. I didn't love her and I know for a fact that she didn't love me. She was just in love with the fact that we were the most popular couple.
I remove her hand off of me and I see the anger creeping onto her face. "Sorry, but I have a girlfriend. Maybe Troy would be interested."
"But I don't want Troy. I want you." She says through gritted teeth.
"Well, he doesn't want you." I look to see Abby staring between Virginia and me. She looks pissed.
"Well, if it isn't Abby the boy. Finally got yourself a guy. I guess I can understand why he went for you. You probably can tell him about all the new men's clothes that are in." Virginia snaps.
"Virginia." I warn.
She rolls her eyes, "Whatever. Jordan doesn't love you. You're just someone to keep him entertained for right now. He'll soon realize I'm the one for him."
"I highly doubt it." Abby says.
Virginia smiles before blowing a kiss to me, "Come find me if the nerd gets boring."
Virginia walks away at the same time Abby takes a step toward her, but I pull her back by the arm.
"Don't. She's not worth it." I say.
Abby sighs in frustration, "She's always testing my patience. Like why does she hate me? What did I do to her?"
I kiss her on the forehead before pulling her towards the make believe dance floor.
"Don't worry about her. Let's dance and have fun tonight. I miss you." I say.
"I miss you, too. I've been waiting on you to get here." She smiles.
I smirk, "Oh, really? In that case..."
I pull her closer to me before smashing my lips against hers. She let's out a moan that I intake into my mouth. Our lips move in sync and I can't help but want to be closer to her. She pulls back first, catching her breath and resting her forehead against mine. Every time we kiss, I'm left breathless.
"I can tell you missed me." She smiles.
I wink at her before wrapping my arms around her waist. She wraps her arms around my neck and we start to sway back and forth. The song Take Your Time by Sam Hunt is playing and I hear Midget humming to it. We do this for the next couple of songs, just enjoying being in the company of each other. It feels like it's just us two. Nobody else, but us.
Another song starts playing which is a bit more fast paced. I see Alyssa tearing through the crowd looking for Midget and when she spots her, she comes up to her smiling hard.
"Abby, this is the song I was telling you about. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE. You have to dance with me." She smiles.
Abby looks at me and smiles, "One song."
I smile, "Okay, I'll go find the guys. Alyssa, keep the guys off her."
She salutes me, "Yes, sir."
They both go deeper into the crowd and I go into the kitchen where I spot Troy, Daniel, Ryan, Jake, and some other people from the team. Ryan has a beer in his hand and I can't tell if he's drunk or not. His head is down and he doesn't really look like he's interested in what's going on around him.
"Jordan!" A guy named Chris calls my name.
Everyone looks up at me and everyone starts to get excited a bit. Troy walks over to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me over to the crowd in the kitchen.
"Did you just get here?" Troy asks.
"Nah, I've been with Midget the whole time." I say.
Troy smiles, "Of course. Nothing wrong with that. How about you have a drink with your friends?"
"Why not. One drink shouldn't hurt." I say.
He smiles before getting me a drink, "That's my buddy."
I go over to Jake and lean against the counter with him. "How long have you been here?"
"About forty-five minutes." He says.
"Anything big happen?" I ask.
"Some girls got naked and jumped into Abby's pool. I think they're still out there. Was even some girl on girl action." He laughs.
"Wow. Glad I wasn't here for that. Midget probably would have killed me." I joke.
"Probably? She would have. Daniel already got fussed out for taking a quick glance. In his defense, he didn't know the girls would get naked." Jake says.
Troy hands me my drink and I begin to drink the familiar taste of Vodka. When Troy knows I don't plan on drinking much, he tries to give me something a little stronger than usual. I don't mind it though. The guys and I start talking about football and some of the girls here. Well, they talk about the girls. I don't participate in the conversation, instead I wonder what Midget is doing. She said one song and it's been like three songs. I guess I know how she feels now. I left her to go dance with some girls and didn't even come back to find her until after the sixth song.
"Hey good looking." Some girl says, coming up to me.
The guys are looking at the girl, whistling at her. She rolls her eyes at them and returns back to me with a flirting smile.
"I'm Jessica. What's your name?" She smiles.
"Jordan." I say plainly.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me." She says, coming a bit too close.
"No thank you. I'm just hanging with my friends." I say.
"No, go ahead Jordan. We don't mind." Kyle laughs.
I give him a death glare before returning back to the girl who is still standing in front of me. Does she not know what no means?
"You're friends don't mind. Just one dance." She smiles and begs.
I sigh, "I can't. I have to go find my girlfriend."
Jessica's face falls flat at the mention of the word girlfriend. I guess she thought she would have some type of relationship with me coming over here. She was sadly mistaken.
I walk around her, leaving her there to pout by herself. I hear the guys calling my name, but I ignore them. They have pissed me off for the night. Why can't they respect that I'm in love with Abby and that I don't want anybody else. It's like they want me to cheat on her or break up with her. They want me to be the old Jordan. I don't think I could ever return back to the old Jordan.
I finally spot Abby and what I see makes my temper go through the roof. Some guy is touching on her, trying to pull her close to him. I can tell she is uncomfortable and that she's looking for help. I look to see Alyssa in the same situation with another guy who I'm assuming to be his friend. I quickly walk over to them and as I approach them, Abby's eyes go wide. She either thinks I think she was trying to hook up with this guy or that I'm about to beat his ass.
I remove his hand from her arm, "Don't touch her."
I move her behind me and I'm face to face with the guy. He looks like he's had one too many, but that's no excuse for trying to force yourself on a girl. On my girl.
"Who are you? I think if she wanted me to not touch her, she would have told me so." He pokes me in the chest, only making me angrier.
"I told you I have a boyfriend and that I wasn't interested." Abby says from behind me.
"Oh, baby, you were only shy. Let me take you to my car and show you a good time." He purrs.
He takes a step toward us and I start to see red. I'm not in control of my actions because my fist goes flying into his face. The guy stumbles back before completely falling. It's not enough. I get on top of him and start pounding his face in. Everything around me drowns out until someone kicks me in the side. I fall to the side of the guy in pain and I look up to see his friend advancing towards me. I try to get up, but he punches me in the face. It isn't that hard of a punch because he's drunk. He tries to punch me again, but I prevent him from doing so. I can't flip him because he's heavy, but I'm definitely not letting him punch me again.
A crowd has formed around us and I try to find Abby while trying to get the upper hand on this fat idiot on top of me. I see a fist connect to the dude's jaw and I look up to see Troy. I smirk because I know my brothers are here now. The guy starts to fall slightly to my side and Troy tackles him to the ground the rest of the way. I see Troy punching the guy in the face and I see Ryan running over to me. At least I thought he was, but he runs pass me and hits someone. I turn around to see the guy that was hitting on Abby, trying to do a sneak attack on me. Thankfully, Ryan was there for me. Daniel comes over to me and helps me up. I immediately groan in pain and clutch my sides.
"What happened, man? Are you okay?" He asks.
"No, that fat fucker kicked me in the side." I say, hunched over.
"Hold up, let me get Troy and Ryan off these dudes before they kill them." He says.
I see him run over to Troy first and pull him off of the guy. Troy's nostrils are flaring and I know he's still wanting to finish his job. Daniel says something to him while pointing at me. Troy nods his head before going over to Ryan and pulling him off the guy. They all come over to me, looking at me like I'm some type of science project.
"Dude, you okay?" Ryan asks.
"Yeah, the guy kicked me in the ribs. I think they might be bruised." I say.
"Let's go in the kitchen and get you some ice." Troy says.
Ryan lets me throw my arm over his shoulder and helps me into the kitchen. The crowd around is talking about the fight and probably showing people the video. I lean up against the counter and try to stand up straight, but I can only stand up partially. Troy hands me the ice and I place it on the side of my ribs. I wince a little before taking it like a man.
"Where's Abby?" I ask.
"I think in her room, crying." Daniel says.
"Crying?" I ask, confused.
"Yeah, her and Alyssa are the ones that came up to us and told us you were fighting. I think she was just scared because she was panicking like crazy." Ryan says.
"I have to go see her. I'll be back." I say.
"Are you sure you can walk by yourself?" Ryan asks.
I nod my head, "Yeah."
I slowly walk to the stairs. It takes me even longer to walk up the stairs and each step causes me pain. I don't know how I'm going to deal at practice tomorrow. Maybe this is Karma getting me back for laughing at Stephen. I knock on Abby's door and Jake opens it.
"Is Abby in there?" I ask.
"Yeah. She's a little shook up right now." Jake says.
"Well, can I talk to her?" I ask.
He looks back into the room before looking back at me. He opens the door wider for me and I limp into the room. Abby looks at me with swollen red eyes and my heart breaks a little. I didn't mean to scare her. I was doing it to protect her.
"Could I have a few minutes alone with Abby?" I ask.
Alyssa looks at Abby and Abby nods her head. Why are they acting like I'm the bad guy? Like I'm going to just go on a punching people rampage. Jake and Alyssa leave out the room and I go sit beside Abby.
"Midget, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." I say.
She sniffs, "I thought you were going to kill that guy. I was so scared of you. It was like you just snapped."
"I know. I'm so sorry. I was doing it to protect you. I guess I let my temper get the best of me. You do know I would never hurt you, right?" I ask.
She nods her head and I sigh in relief. I don't think I would have been able to make it knowing she thinks I would hit her. She looks down and grabs my hand, examining it.
"Your knuckles are bleeding and busted." She says.
"It'll be okay." I say.
"No, let me clean you up." She says.
She goes into her bathroom to get a rag. She comes back into the room with a wet rag and starts to dab it over my bloody hand. She stays focused on my hand the whole time and I stay focused on her. She's so beautiful. Even when she's crying.
"There, all done." She says.
"Thank you." I say.
"You're welcome. Next time will you try and control your anger?" She asks.
"I tried this time." I smirk.
She sighs and rolls her eyes, "Try harder?"
I nod my head, "Yeah, I will."
I lay down on her bed and wince when a sharp pain comes to my side. Abby notices and comes by my side.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
"I was kicked in the ribs. They're just bruised, that's all." I say.
"You should probably go to the hospital. It could be serious." She says.
She lifts up my shirt and she gasps. I look down to see a huge purple bruise on my side. It looks gross. She puts my shirt back down and gives me a "You need to go to the hospital" look.
I shake my head, "No hospitals."
"You're going to make it worse. You need to go." She argues.
"No, I don't..." I'm cut off by Jake abruptly coming through the door.
He looks panicked. "Abby! You're parents are here!" He says.
She stands up, "What?! Why?"
"I think my parents called them and told them because they're downstairs with them. They're making everyone leave and they're looking for you." He rushes out.
Abby looks at me, "Go into my bathroom and stay there until I come get you."
I nod my head before limping into the bathroom and shutting the door. I hear the music stop all of a sudden and I hear Abby's dad shout. He tells everyone to get out his house. My phone vibrates in my pocket and it's a message from Troy.
From Troy:
Where are you? Abby's dad made everyone leave.
To Troy:
Hiding in her room. I need you to climb up her balcony and come get the keys to my car. Get Daniel to drive it to your house.
He replies with an okay and I wait for him. A few minutes later, I hear a knock on the balcony doors. I silently curse at how stupid Troy is. I walk out of the bathroom and open the balcony doors.
"Are you stupid? Her parents are downstairs right now." I say.
"Ah, shut up. How are you getting home?" He asks.
"I was going to stay here." I say.
"On a school night? You don't even have any clothes. You're also pretty banged up right now. You're girl can wait. We need to take you to the hospital to make sure you're okay." He says.
I shake my head, "No. I can't go to the hospital. My parents will find out and wonder what happened. I know they're tired of my shit. I've gotten in too many fights already."
"I'll take the fall for it if they do find out. You need to get yourself checked out. I don't care if I have to carry you myself down the balcony and into my car." He argues.
I sigh, "Fine, but I'm staying at your place tonight."
"Alright, can you climb down the thing?" He asks.
"Do I have a choice? I do not want to run into her dad." I say.
We start to walk towards the balcony doors and I leave Abby's room. I climb down the ladder and jump the small distance down, hurting myself even further. Troy helps me to the car and gives Daniel my keys. Daniel and Ryan are going to follow Troy and me to the hospital. I really hope it isn't anything, but a bruised rib.