Back in the comfortable embrace of Grimston House, door locked, coats dropped and shoes kicked off, without a word we fall into each other's arms. I guess the attraction between us has been building slowly and steadily to the point where it can't be stopped.
Some words are necessary though, so between the kissing and caressing I breathlessly ask, "Condoms?"
"Yeah," says Teddy and kisses me again.
Then he stops for a moment. "Upstairs?" he asks.
"Downstairs?" I ask, and we kiss again.
Neither of us makes a decision so we don't go upstairs or downstairs but stay right there in the hall, tightly entwined, kissing mouths, faces, necks, until our standing positions become intolerable.
Finally I lead Teddy by the hand downstairs to my little unfinished bedroom. There, confronted by the queen-size bed and little else in the way of furnishings, we hesitate, the passion dipping below boiling point for just a moment as I (maybe we) consider what's about to happen.
This bed... it's been my refuge, my private little sanctuary for the entire time I've lived here. Now suddenly it's about to be ours: our stage, or maybe our playing field, our altar perhaps, our circus ring, our scene of the crime... The reality of what we're doing seems to hit us both. Should we keep going?
There's no real debate though and, honestly, no turning back. I climb onto the bed and pull Teddy with me. We're lying side-by-side, looking into each other's eyes and smiling like idiots as, slowly, teasingly, our lips come together again. It's so good to be with Teddy, and I'm amazed to feel so excited! I seriously thought maybe this part of me was dead, like I might never feel this way again.
And right now, for some dumb reason, a thought pops into my head. Has Teddy has ever had sex before? I mean, he's eighteen. He probably has, right? He certainly seems comfortable with everything so far, but maybe that's just enthusiasm? He is a little socially awkward, so who knows? Am I about to introduce young Ted Aiken to the magical world of sex?
Just the faint possibility is a little overwhelming to me. The responsibility! If he really is a sex noob what will he even be expecting? What kind of distorted ideas do guys have about sex these days after probably witnessing every type of deviant weirdness the Internet has to offer? Will he just be disappointed with my thin little bod, my unaugmented boobs, my standard, non-deviant sexual preferences and my lack of pro-level technique? If I'm his first, he'll never forget me, right? God, what if the memory isn't good?
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Condoms, Teddy thought. They're up in his dresser drawer. Damn, he'd have to break away and run up to get some, but when? Now? Not now. When? God, his head was spinning.
Darwin.
How had she gone from being that sad meth-head they brought home all those weeks ago to this sweet, fun, sexy girl who could drive him wild like this? Her eyes had seemed so dull and vacant then but now sparked with life and mischief and mystery. He didn't want anything to go wrong, didn't want to rush it or seem impatient, but he had never felt this kind of passion.
Darwin was gently biting his earlobe and he felt her breath against his ear. Teddy thought the warmth of her breath and the soft, moist sounds from her mouth were pretty much the sexiest things he'd ever experienced. He pulled her closer.
He'd get those condoms soon...
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I want to straight up ask him if he's a virgin but, whether he is or isn't, asking would really spoil the mood. I keep quiet. As we're lying on my bed, Teddy's hand, which was in the region of my lower back, moves toward my upper ass and he looks at me.
"Is that OK?"
How sweet! Asking for consent to touch my ass! I almost forgot what it was like to be respected by a guy. So completely opposite from Kodi, and even from Ethan, who both sort of treated me like property. I reach up to gently brush Teddy's messy hair aside, then smile and nod.
Then... huh?
There was a short, sharp sound that definitely wasn't our hearts beating, our clothes tearing or any zippers unzipping. Teddy and I stop moving to listen.
"Wind?" whispers Teddy.
"Raccoon?" I whisper back.
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Then another sound, this time a slight scraping against the glass of one of the two small windows high up on the wall. With the bedside light on, Teddy and Darwin couldn't see anything at all through the dark windows.
A third sound. This time definitely a voice.
"Oh shit," said Darwin.
"What the hell?" said Teddy, his voice shaking with fear and anger. "Is somebody out there?"
"Daaaaarwiiiin!" came a taunting voice outside the window on the right, then laughter, seemingly from both windows.
Then a different voice said very clearly, "Mouse, are you gonna fuck this guy?"
"The light!" said Teddy, but Darwin was already lunging toward the switch to turn it off.
Even with the room completely dark, they could see nothing outside, but at least now no one could see in either.
"Who are they?" Teddy whispered frantically, but he was pretty sure who it was.
"Come on," said Darwin, and she and Teddy got up off the bed, crept out of the room in the dark and felt their way toward the basement stairs. Once on the stairs they ran up. Darwin raced around the main floor turning off lights while Teddy checked to make sure both doors were locked. Darwin went into the living room to look out the window that she figured was roughly above her bedroom in the basement. Teddy stayed in the kitchen, talking anxiously on his phone.
"They're in our yard!" he said loudly. They're right outside the house! It's like a gang. I think they might break in. Oh god, we're under attack!...Yeah, I'm trying to stay calm! I don't know. More than three, I think... Darwin, can you see how many there are?"
"No, I can't see anyone from here," she said. "The bushes are in the way."
"We don't know how many," said Teddy. "Why does it even matter? Just send a car, OK? Multiple cars! Yeah... Yeah, fine. Sorry, I'm just stressed..."
Teddy went to look out the front door, to see if any of Darwin's street friends were out there, and also to watch for the police car. He was pacing by the front door when Darwin came over to him.
"I can't see them at all. I think they might have taken off," she said.
"Daaaaarrrwiiiiin!" came the taunting voice again. This time from the front yard. Bigley started barking in the house across the street.
"Oh god!!" said Teddy.
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Teddy is pretty much losing his shit right now. I've never seen him like this. He's scared half to death of Kodi and the guys. He's trying to hide in a passageway between the front hall and the kitchen near the basement stairs out of sight of all of the windows. I go toward him to try and make him feel better. "Don't worry, Ted. They'll disappear as soon as the cops show up."
"Yeah, but what about the next time, Darwin? Huh? What'll they do then? Are the cops just supposed to stay here to keep them away?"
Goddamn you, Kodi. This is just so stupid and pointless. Teddy and I should be under the covers right now and instead we're under siege. Why can't you just leave me alone? I want to be done with you! What do you want from me anyway?
Somebody's banging on one of the front windows. God, they're up on the porch now.
"Fuck!" says Teddy, his voice a high-pitched shriek.
"Hey Mouse!" someone shouts. This time it's Bryn. "What's his name? Is he your boyfriend?"
I go to the front door and Teddy yells out in total panic, "Don't open it!" as if I had any intention of doing that.
"Fuck you, Bryn!" I shout through the door.
She puts her stupid face near the window. "Aww, did we ruin your night? Did you finally find a guy who doesn't throw up when he looks at you?"
Bryn thinks this is hilarious. Now P. L. is sneering at me through the window, "Were you gonna fuck him, Mouse?" Then at Teddy, "Sorry for the cockblock, bro!"
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They heard the approaching sirens. Everyone outside started to run off except for Kodi. He just stood there, locking eyes with Darwin as she stared out the front window. Finally, he raised his hand, middle finger extended, then loped away.
Two police cars pulled up in front of the house in quick succession, all sirens and flashing lights. Darwin opened the front door and gave the officers a little wave.
Teddy turned on the front hall light and then came up behind Darwin as two police officers, one man and one woman, climbed the porch steps. The female officer said, "You reported some prowlers?"
"I did," said Teddy. "I called. They were here. They just left when they heard you guys coming. I think they ran up the street that way. You should go after them!"
"Did they try to break into the house?" the male officer asked.
"No," said Darwin. "They were just making noise and causing trouble."
"They would have!" said Teddy. "I think they would have if you hadn't shown up. One of them broke in before! Go after them!"
"Really?" said the female officer, ignoring Teddy's order. "Did you file a report at that time?"
"Yeah, my Mom did." Teddy said.
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I'm honestly not sure what's bothering me more right now, Kodi and the guys pulling that stupid shit outside or Teddy in here reacting so hard to it.
The police asked a bunch of questions, wrote down a bunch of notes, then left and now Teddy's sitting at the kitchen table with the laptop open, figuring out the precise location of his mother's plane using a flight tracking website. Neea's flight left Vancouver over an hour ago and right now she's 34,000 feet over northern Saskatchewan and that means it's still, like, six plus hours before she gets to London when he can finally call her.
"Maybe you shouldn't even call her," I suggest. "I mean, she's got a lot to worry about already with your grandfather, right?"
"She'd want to know about this," Teddy says flatly.
I shrug. "OK."
So now it's just the two of us again. There's a chance that Kodi and the guys will come back and harass us some more, but my gut tells me no. Kodi knows the cops will be keeping an eye out, plus they've had their fun for tonight. They're probably hanging out somewhere right this second having a huge laugh about it.
I put my hand on Teddy's back and massage his neck and shoulders a bit. "I'm really sorry I caused all this trouble for you," I say.
He's staring at the computer screen, watching the little airplane cross the map. Every few seconds it jumps ahead by a millimetre. After a few more jumps he says, "I was thinking we should spend the night at Jello's place."
"Teddy, I don't think we have to worry about those guys coming back," I say, in my best calming voice.
"How do you know?" he says, his panic rising again.
"Because the cops will be watching the house. Kodi doesn't want to get arrested, trust me."
That seems to calm Teddy down a little. I rub his back with both hands, and play with his hair a little. It's unlikely that I can kindle the passion again after all that, but it's worth a try. Teddy stands up. "OK, we'll stay here. You shouldn't sleep downstairs though. Take my Mom's room."
He folds the laptop and heads upstairs without even saying goodnight.
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Teddy woke up to a ringing phone. Without opening his eyes he reached over to his bedside table for his cell, fumbled with it, then finally answered.
"'Carly-Jane'!" Jello said, excitedly.
"Huh? What time is it?"
"Oh, sorry. Is it too early to call?"
"Dude, it's 5:30. Yeah, it's too early!"
"Well, sorry. But yeah, it's Carly-Jane!"
"What the hell is 'Carly-Jane'?"
"C. J.! That's her real name!"
"Oh."
"That's it? 'Oh'? Come on, this is epic! It's worse than every one of our guesses!"
"Hmm, so, how'd you find out? Her driver's license?"
"No... but, uh, should have thought of that. No, I made her tell me."
"How?"
"Well, I told her that since we're lovers now, she had to."
"What?" Teddy sat up in bed. "You two hooked up?"
"Yeah. Oh God. It was so great!"
"So great that you had to call me at 5:30?"
"Yeah, I couldn't wait. I just left her place."
"What, this just happened?"
"Yup, well, it was kind of an all-night thing, not to brag or anything. Does it always take that long?"
"Wow. You tell me, dude. You're the master."
"Well, I guess you can just wham-bam it if you want, but jeez, it's so great taking it slow. Damn, I had no idea."
"You never took your time before?"
"I never did anything before! This was it, baby! First time ever! So glad it was with C. J., Carly-Jane. God, I'm so in love right now..."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I am. For real!"
"No, you never did it before?"
"Nope. Never... Oh, I guess maybe you guys thought I did?"
"Yeah we fucking thought you did, cuz you've been telling us for years about all the girls you did it with! Dude, what the fuck?"
"No, I never said I did. You guys just assumed."
"Shut up! You did so! Or, if you didn't exactly say it happened then you sure as hell didn't exactly say it didn't happen! Shit, I don't even know what I'm saying right now..."
"No, you're right. I guess I did let you guys believe it. Sorry about that. It was kind of like a persona that you two needed to believe in. I didn't want to let you down."
"Persona? Are you insane?"
"Dude, calm down. You're crapping all over my moment of joy."
"I just don't like being lied to!"
"All right. Sorry!"
The two of them didn't say anything for a while. Finally, Teddy shoved the covers aside and turned to sit on the edge of his bed, sighed heavily, then said, "Aw, whatever. I'm happy for you. C. J.'s great. You guys are good together. I just had a really shitty night. Sorry. But lying to us was messed up, I gotta say."
"I didn't lie!"
"Whatever. You know what I mean."
"So why was your night so shitty?"
"Oh man... Darwin," Teddy lowered his voice, remembering that she was sleeping across the hall in Neea's bedroom. "We've been getting along great and last night things just seemed to be going in, you know, that direction. But then suddenly her psycho drug-addict ex-boyfriend and his friends showed up and were, like, knocking on the windows and yelling at us."
"No, really?"
"Yeah, I thought they were gonna break in. It was pretty terrifying actually. I called 9-1-1, but of course they all took off by the time the cops got here."
"Damn!"
"Yeah. It was so crazy. Those guys are seriously messed up... Sounds like your night definitely went better than mine."
They chatted for a few minutes more then Jello had to drop off so he could try and sneak into his house without waking anyone. Teddy debated whether to get up or try to go back to sleep. His mother's plane would still be in the air on the way to London. He could call her around 7:00. Maybe he shouldn't even call her, like Darwin said. He got up to go to the bathroom. On the way back to his room he noticed that the door to his mother's room was ajar so he quietly peeked in. He expected to see Darwin sleeping peacefully, but she wasn't even there. The bed was empty. Not just empty but completely untouched as if it hadn't been slept in.
Probably spent the night in her own room after all, he thought, and crawled back into his bed. What a crazy night. It had been going so well between them. What would happen now? Would they get another chance?
He replayed the moments they spent down in Darwin's bed before Kodi and his stupid friends interrupted them, remembering Darwin's kisses and feeling her body pressed against his. He decided to get up and check the basement to make sure she was OK.
He crept down the two flights of stairs and crossed the dark basement. It was still too early for morning light so he turned on his phone, using it as a dim flashlight. He turned the light toward her bed.
She wasn't there. This bed was untouched too, and worse, none of her stuff was there eitherâher backpack, her clothes, her shoes, all gone. Teddy shone the light around the room. Every trace of her was gone.
He felt his panic rising again. Kodi and his gang... They must have come back and taken her! But that made no sense. He would have heard them, and they definitely wouldn't have left the place so tidy.
No, Darwin must have decided to leave. Had she gone back to live on the street? That seemed crazy too. She was so glad to be off the street and off meth! Why would she go back?
Was she still in love with Kodi? The guy was obviously a psychopath. How could she possibly love him? And what about us, Teddy thought. Don't we have something now?
Why did she go? Was it him? After Kodi and his friends came last night, Teddy had been pretty upset. Maybe he could have handled it better, he thought. Had he been mean to Darwin? Oh God, did he push her away?
He trudged up the basement stairs and into the kitchen. A piece of paper on the counter caught his eye. It was a note.
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â D.B.