Shark Bait (The Grab Your Pole Series) (32 page)

“Oh, I’m sorry for making you wait for so long, we just got home…um, are the guys here?” I asked, thinking that I really want to spend some time with Tristan tonight but I don’t want to be at a party without my wingman either, even if she seems to be in a horrifically bad mood.

“Sorry Camie, I just realized how bitchy that sounded. I’m not upset with you and yeah, the guys are definitely here, but that’s why I’m leaving.” She pointed to Tristan’s bus parked across the street as proof of their attendance.

I was having the growing realization that Kate and Jeff may be experiencing trouble in paradise again so I put my best friend hat on. “Okay Kate, tell me what happened.”

She sighed deeply in frustration and then Kate
raged
. “Not a goddamned thing actually happened but remember when I told you I need to try to be forgiving of Jeff’s bullshit?! Yeah, well this is me removing myself from a fucked up situation that would make doing that really fucking tough for me…I mean shit, Camie, they’re both
totally
fucking obliterated
…I mean
completely
baked out of their
fucking
minds!! At least
your
jackass is more or less passed out so he’s not being a
fucking asshole
like mine is!!”

Eesh! I’ve never seen Kate
this
angry before.

“I’m so sorry, Kate, I don’t know what to say…” I don’t either.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tristan actually drunk before, let alone high, so I can’t pretend to understand how she’s feeling and man, she’s
really
pissed.

“Don’t be and I’m sorry Camie, I know you probably really wanna see him, but I’ve had kind of a bad day and I just don’t wanna deal with this shit tonight,” Kate said with real understanding but quite a bit of impatience to be gone from here as well.

“No, I understand…I mean, I don’t know how you feel, but you know what I mean. Um, I’m gonna go with you but I told him I’d see him tonight…can you give me like maybe ten minutes just so I can at least say hi? I promise, I’ll just run in, say hi, and then we can go do whatever you want...”

I’m totally gonna back my best friend here even though my baby daddy (baby, kitten…whatever) is in the house and I really, really want to see him—stoned or not—but seriously, what kind of friend would I be if I let Kate go off all by herself? By the looks of her, I think she could really use some girl time, you know?

“Yeah, I can do that. I’m just gonna wait in the car though, okay? I don’t wanna give that
asshole
any opportunities to trap me here,” she spit out venomously in the direction of the house. “But Camie, be prepared…he might not even be conscious anymore.”

“He’s that bad?”

I started feeling my nerves and anxiety kick into gear. I just can’t picture Tristan passed out and for some unknown reason, trying to do so is kind of freaking me out.

“Well, when I was just in there he’d pretty much commandeered the whole couch in the family room and was semi-awake, but he’s got his earbuds in and his iPod on and he was keeping his eyes shut, so I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time before he’s totally out for the count,” Kate explained and then walked to her car, leaving me standing in the driveway—alone.

Taking a deep breath, I headed into the house, thinking that Kate’s big issue is how Jeff acts when he’s not sober, and her irritation probably comes from him being her boyfriend and being such a clown in the first place. Tristan isn’t like Jeff in either regard, therefore, maybe Tristan’s intoxicated state isn’t something I really need to worry about. I mean, how bad could it honestly be? After all, if he passes out, he’ll be the one to deal with a Sharpie mustache, not me.

I couldn’t have
been
more grotesquely wrong.

I made my way through the sea of bodies and into the family room where Kate said Tristan would be. Even though the room was more or less packed, my eyes found him immediately. Looking just as drop-dead gorgeous as ever, he was sprawled on the couch with his hands behind his head and his eyes were closed exactly like Kate had said. I could tell he wasn’t comatose, though, because there was a piece of red licorice in his mouth and it was getting smaller as he chewed on it. Before I could get anywhere near him however, I watched in absolute horror as some girl I vaguely recognize from school crawled across the arm of the couch to essentially cover him completely with her body, boldly take the licorice from his lips with her own, and then start kissing him.

Seriously, it was like witnessing a car vs. motorcycle accident that’s about to happen that you can’t tear your eyes from even though you know it’s going to be ghastly and brutal. I honestly thought I was going to throw up. Especially when the philandering prick actually brought one of his hands to the back of her head and slipped the other under her shirt and started kissing her back.

Yeah,
way
ghastly and brutal…I’m beyond devastated.

Holy fucking hell…I really think I’m gonna be sick…

Even though it all happened in a flash and not much more than thirty seconds could’ve passed, I knew I had to get the hell out of there and fast. I’m starting to shake and sweat, the tears are gonna come any minute, and I know I’m suffocating because my throat is burning and closed so tight that it’s making breathing impossible. I turned on my heel to flee the gut wrenching scene I wish I would’ve never witnessed in the first place and ran right into the last person in the world I wanted to see; she was teetering on her feet and holding a wine cooler of Canadian Spiced Whisky...

“You din’t ashlly (Ashlly? Was that supposed to be actually?) tink he liked
you
? Tris-
hiccup
-tan sfar outta your lea—” Teresa drunkenly slurred before I cut her off. She’s totally hammered; you have no idea.

“Teresa, get outta my face…I don’t want your fleas and frankly…you reek,” I told her and tried to push past her.

Honestly, the air in the house is so stale and there’s a sickly alcoholic stench wafting around her that my queasy stomach can’t handle, and if she doesn’t back the hell off, she’s gonna end up with my aunt’s pumpkin stew all over her, which I’m pretty sure won’t taste or smell nearly as fabulous after being in my digestive system for a few hours.

Barely keeping the tears at bay, I’d just managed to edge around her but before I could even make the hallway and beyond that, freedom, I ran headlong into a brick wall of another person. I looked up in nauseated shock and anger at Zack smiling down at me. Even as distraught as I was, I got the distinct impression that he’d impeded my progress on purpose.

Jesus, this is a fucking nightmare. All I want to do is get the hell out of here so I can fall apart in private, is that too much to ask?

“Hey Camie, where you headed off to so fast? Come on, stick around…we’ve never really had a chance to get to know each other, which
I
think is a damned shame,” Zack said with what appeared to be good natured intent and a smile.

“Uh, sorry I can’t…Kate’s waiting for me,” I choked out and shouldered my way by him, finally escaping into the cool and merciful evening air.

Once outside I took a brief second to collect myself. However, a sudden fear of being followed or discovered had me abandoning the porch and hurrying on wobbly legs down the street to Kate’s car. I wrenched open the passenger door and then threw myself in the seat.

“Okay, please get me the fuck outta here…in fact, just take me home.”

Kate took one look at my face, cranked the ignition and peeled out in her haste to get us away. “He wasn’t passed out, was he?”

I covered my face with my hands and through the onslaught of tears that finally slipped their leash I said, “No. I just caught the live show of him being self-destructive and I’ll never eat licorice again.”

I’ll have to try to remember to thank her for promptly turning the stereo off; I still caught part of “Cryin’” by Aerosmith before she did though. I really like the song, but it’s just not what I should be listening to right now if you get my meaning.

Kate pulled up to my house, turned the car off and looked over at me. “Why don’t I stay the night? I think we could both use a big, fat tub of ice cream and I
know
I don’t wanna be alone.”

I nodded my agreement, wiping the tears from my face. Then taking a deep, calming breath, she and I got out of the car. Unlike my mind, the house was silent and utterly still. I quietly entered my parents’ room to whisper to my dad I was home and that Kate was sleeping over. He grunted his acknowledgment and was out like a light again before I exited the room and closed the door behind me.

Walking into my bedroom, I flipped on my bedroom light, put my keys and phone on my dresser, and then I fell into Kate’s open arms, bawling again.

“What happened?” Jillian asked after opening my door uninvited and then closing it again behind her.

I couldn’t even appreciate the comedy of the t-shirt she was wearing. It had a picture of a guy in a suit that had no sleeves, revealing the man to have hairy, bear arms; a caption under all of it read, “The Second Amendment.”

“It wasn’t a good night all around,” Kate told her while rubbing my back.

Jill placed herself down on the edge of my bed. The look on her face, of the utmost concern and compassion, was one I haven’t seen her wear in a very long time. “Was it Teresa again?”

“Oh God, that’s right…she saw the whole thing and just couldn’t resist adding insult to injury…” Sighing and wiping at my cheeks again, I told them everything about my misadventure with Tristan, the bitch, and Zack.

“Do you want me to make an example out of him? I will if you want me to…just give me the word and I’ll teach him
and
everyone else what happens when they mess with
my
family,” Jillian declared, resolute—her eyes on fire and an eagerness for justice pervading from within her, proving her to be my stalwart champion in times of distress.

They’d met briefly before, but this being her first
real
introduction to my sister, Kate looked nervously back and forth between Jillian and me, finally witnessing and therefore
believing
all I’d shared about the genius standing righteously justified before her.

On a painfully tight sigh, I shook my head and firmly said, “No Jilly. Even though I feel like there’s a huge gash in my chest from where he ripped my heart out, I can’t accept your offer, but thank you.”

“What about the waste of lip-gloss?” She asked hopefully.

“Dispose of her as you will,” I replied.

Please understand something, I know Jillian isn’t about to physically hurt Teresa or anyone else. She might take some of her cues from the movie
Heathers
and Teresa might wish she’d never been born, but Jill’s not psychotic on
any
level.

“Alright, now we’re talkin’!” She enthused as her eyes lit with excitement before she looked at me with concern again, her exhilaration fading to a simmer. “And how are you gonna handle ah…things?”

“Honestly, I don’t have a freaking clue. I’m really hurt but the more I think about what just happened, the more mad I get and then I start thinking about all the really great stuff that’s happened between us which just reminds me why this hurts so much…it’s like a never ending cycle and it’s making me nauseous. I know there’s no possible way for me to face him for awhile though, so I think I’m gonna act sick to get outta school…” I started sniffling again as Jillian stood up and gave me an uncomfortably intent look that I couldn’t decipher.

“Uh-huh… Okay, well I’m gonna get packed and get outta here…where’s the party?” She asked while still giving me the incomprehensible look.

Truthfully, I have no idea what’s going through her head right now, but it’s giving me the creeps. It’s almost like she’s peering into my soul and doesn’t like what she sees.

“Um, do you want me to come with you?” Kate offered. So maybe Kate didn’t
quite
grasp what kind of person my sister is. True, a twelve-year-old girl sneaking out of the house late at night by herself isn’t the safest thing, and maybe Kate hasn’t noticed Jill’s shirt or she just doesn’t know what the second amendment of the Constitution is, but truth be told, I’d be more fearful for anyone who might come across my sister than the other way around.

“Oh, that’s nice of you to offer, but I prefer to work alone,” Jillian replied with a wink and then left us to wallow in self-pity.

Deciding that we didn’t want to talk about the events of tonight any longer, our pity-party commenced. We raided the freezer of all the ice cream it held, grabbed the new package of Double Stuff Oreos and watched a couple of chick flicks. We fell asleep in the middle of the second one and never heard Jillian return home. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep soundly with everything playing through my head like a broken record, but I must’ve because when Kate and I woke up Sunday morning, there was post-it note stuck to my forehead that read:

For Your Listening Pleasure,

Please Push Play on Your Stereo.

Knowing this was Jillian’s way of trying to communicate something to me, I climbed out of bed, walked over to my stereo and pushed the play button as per requested and immediately heard her voice; it was followed by a
slew
of songs…

Jillian: “Camie, I’m not even gonna pretend I know what you’re feeling right now because…well, I’m twelve and I still think boys are stupid. And I know you didn’t ask for my opinion or advice either, but before you go running to Mom claiming to have a heartbreak induced stomach flu, please hear me out… You’re stronger than that and you have options. The following selections are meant to be inspirational and motivational, so pay attention, and, enjoy.”

As Kate and I listened to Jillian’s encouragement and suggestions made by way of music and lyrics, I was thinking how truly amazing my sister is. I also believe my parents have done a damned good job of indoctrinating her in music appreciation as well. The music she chose made it clear that some of the options she’d mentioned are things like; making him miss me, getting even, making him jealous, confronting him, being strong and persevering, and showing him what he has in me. I also thought you might like to know how she communicated that, so here are just
some
of the tracks she included: