The Choice (a Painful Past)

9

     "Wow," he breathed. "You look hot." She giggled and spun in a circle for him. "Really? That's so sweet. Thank you," she replied. "You gorgeous ladies ready to go have some fun?" he asked. "Absolutely," Katherine said, stepping towards the window.

 I was positive that she would have flashed him an eyeful in that short purple dress, if it hadn't been so dark next to the house. He helped her out, then held out his hand to Sherri, who I had let step in front of me. "I got it," she said, sitting down on the ledge, turning, then hopping to the ground. "Okay then," Mitch laughed. 

He turned back to me and held out his hand again. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans, then placed my palm in his. I tried to pay attention to what I was doing, instead of the warmth that I felt from his hand. "Wait!" I exclaimed, when I felt his hands on my waist, but I was too late.

 He lifted me and set me down on the ground. I was mortified that he had felt how much I weighed. "You didn't have to do that," I muttered. "It was only like a 3 foot jump." "I didn't mind," he said, flashing me another heart stopping smile. 

Then, he was gone, running ahead of us, so that he could open the front door for Katherine.

 "Lucky bitch," I grumbled, so that only Sherri could hear me. "Isn't she though," she murmured back. 

We watched as she gushed a thank you out, then struggled to sit in the low riding car, without showing him everything between her legs. "Is she even wearing underwear?" I whispered. "Probably not," Sherri giggled, quietly. 

Mitch's car, as beautiful as it was, was only a two-door, so we had to crawl into the backseat, after shoving his seat forwards. Sherri managed to go in before me, so that I was left with my ass up, as Mitch waited for me to sit, so that he could fix his seat. 

Once he was behind the steering wheel, he started up the amazing car, which roared to life. It was a really good thing that Mrs. Haire had taken her sleeping pills, because we would not be able to get away with this if she hadn't. 

The music blared to life, and off we went. 

It felt like we were flying down the dimly lit roads, taking the curves at speeds that were probably really dangerous. I didn't care though. I was finally having a night out with my friends.

 After not having anyone for the past few months of my life, I felt like my body was super charged. I was laughing with Sherri, as we sang along with whatever song happened to play. 

I didn't even mind that much, when I saw Mitch reach over and take Kat's hand in his. My chest had this hollow ache in it, but it wasn't unfamiliar to how I had been feeling, so I barely noticed it. 

I saw the familiar Dairy Queen sign up ahead and silently prayed that Mitch would slow down a little to turn in. Thankfully, he did, and we bounced across the entrance to the Lot. The business was a couple of miles out of the major part of town, leaving it relatively dark after they closed.

 While the sign may have been dark, the parking lot was anything but. Headlights from several different cars lit up the night, along with the neon colors that beat with the music, that Travis Waters had installed in his truck. He also had two spotlights in the truck bed, along with a few different coolers. 

Once Mitch parked, and we all climbed out, I looked around to see who all was here. I recognized mostly everyone and waved back to a few of them. I smiled when I saw Johnny but held my finger up when he waved me over. 

I wanted to get over the initial awkwardness, that I always got when I came to a party. 

I leaned back against Mitch's car and continued taking in the scene in front of me. People were dancing, or just grinding on one another. Same thing at these parties, in my opinion. I never had the confidence to act like these other girls. So carefree and sure of themselves. They knew that these guys were attracted to them. I wondered what that felt like. 

My gaze moved away from them to the large circle of people passing a few blunts around. That was more my speed. I didn't really like to drink much. I didn't like to feel like I wasn't in control. Plus, I had just seen and read too many horror stories about what could happen to girls when they drank too much. The mere possibility terrified me. 

"Here we are." I looked over and saw Mitch handing out red solo cups with God knows what kind of mixed drink in them. He smiled and passed me mine. "Thanks," I replied, then took a sip. The liquor taste was super strong. I knew I would just be holding mine, until I got the opportunity to pour it out without anyone seeing me. That's what I usually did. 

Kat started to grind on Mitch, who was now leaned back against his car, on the other side of Sherri. "Um, I'm gonna go say hi to Johnny," I said, blushing with how hard Kat was going at it. "I'll go with you," Sherri replied immediately. I guess she didn't wanna stick around and watch them dry hump each other either. 

We made our way over to Johnny's truck, where he was sitting on the back of the tailgate with a smaller guy that I didn't recognize. He seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't see his face, since he had it turned. Johnny stood when we reached him. 

"Hey, my favorite girls!" he exclaimed, before giving me a giant bear hug. I squealed when he picked me up for a second, then set me back down on my feet. I slapped his arm when he let me go. "Ow! What'd you do that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm. "You know why!" I exclaimed. "I don't like people picking me up. You know that." He rolled his eyes but smiled. "You're so cute when you're angry." "Shut it," I replied, making my voice hard. 

He laughed and turned to Sherri, who he delivered another of his amazing hugs too. I admired his features freely, while he was distracted. He was part Native American, so his skin was naturally tanned. He had this dark brown, almost black hair, with chocolate brown eyes. They had little specks of gold dusted in them around the iris.