Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Joy pushed the gear shift into park completely unbothered by my concern. Her newish Mercedes C-Class also didn’t fit here. She cut the engine and physically turned the headlights off, not waiting for the automatic dim.
We stared quietly at the large party happening maybe fifty feet away. I was living a scene from every teenage movie ever aired. Who had any idea these gatherings were real and actually took place?
The girls sat to the side in short skirts and halter tops. I couldn’t tell from this angle, but I bet there were lots of flip-flops on their feet. Didn’t they know the dangers of wearing flimsy sandals out in the middle of nowhere like this?
“Stop fretting,” Joy finally said, releasing an unsteady sigh as she dropped the visor. The small mirror lights flashed bright as she checked her lipstick. “It’s fine. We’re invited.”
“I don’t believe a casual afterthought from a local guy, inviting you to the party, was an actual invite. These people hate us,” I reasoned, digging into my unwillingness to leave the car.
“Stop, Dasham. Granddaddy’s handling all that. I promise you, these people don’t care. They want to hang out, drink beer, smoke, and hook up. They live by the code of the teenage handbook. We need to get you a copy so you can learn to have a little bit of fun,” she said flippantly and reached for the key which I ninja’d out of her hand.
Since I doubted the handbook existed, making the code nonexistent, I decided to keep the key with me, then all I had to do was outrun Joy to the car.
She’d deserve to be left behind for agreeing to come here in the first place.
As if Joy read my thoughts, she laughed at me and pushed the button to open the trunk. She bounded from her seat as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
Country music blared from the various trucks. I left the car at a much slower pace than Joy. Once I got to my feet, I took everything in from my new angle.
At least the music had a decent beat.
Still cowboys and gay city dwellers didn’t usually mesh well together before factoring in the local animosity toward my family and the resort. I scrubbed my hands down my face as the anxiety of the moment got the best of me.
I wasn’t overt. My sexuality didn’t define me. I came out to my father when I was twelve years old. He explained that certain people would rather do me harm than allow me to be myself…
“Let’s go, Dasham. Or stay in the car. I’m going to the party,” Joy said with a six-pack of Heineken in hand. Who knew where she got those from?
Joy walked away, leaving me alone in the middle of nowhere, all the darkness turning eerie fast. “Wait. I’ll go.”
The walking path was barely recognizable with the ruts and grooves made naturally rather than by vehicles. I bookmarked the information in my mind just in case I did have to run for it.
Screw television teen dramas, how many horror flicks had I seen where this kind of party was the moment everything went south for all the people there? Chainsaws and hockey masks picking off drunk and rowdy kids who always made very bad decisions in their fear.
My thoughts shifted again.
How many babies would be born nine months from now?
Stop.
“I thought you said there was a keg,” I said, pretending to be comfortable while heading into hell.
“Have you forgotten how disgusting the keg hose is?” Great response. She knew me too well. My thoughts diverted again. No, I hadn’t remembered. I don’t think I even knew.
Joy’s hand came to my shoulder, a beer bottle followed. “Here. Hold it so you fit in and probably best to get that freaked-out look off your face. We’re in Sea Springs for three months. We’re gonna need something to do.”
Okay, another great response. She wasn’t wrong.
“Remember, you’re the DD tonight.”
I stopped in my tracks. “I can’t be the DD, I don’t have a driver’s license yet, and you’re not twenty-one. I have to have someone twenty-one years old or older in the car with me.”
“Then you better be extra careful driving home,” she teased and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, leaving me in her dust. She was on the prowl.
Wait. Did I really know I’d been invited? Joy had a thing for a server at the resort. If she took me with her to the party, her parents wouldn’t ask too many questions.
Dang, I’d been played. Why had it taken me so long to figure it out?
I scrubbed a palm down my face then dropped my chin to my chest as I started forward again. Maybe if I hung out in the periphery, I wouldn’t stick out. Joy owed me big for this one.