The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates (11 page)

              “I dunno.” My heart was hammering now, and my nerves about this weekend returned with full force.

              “Because if you don’t want to kiss him, you don’t have to.”

              “I know.”

              “Just push him away.”

              “Okay.”

              “And if he gets drunk and handsey when you don’t want him to, don’t let him. Don’t just go along with it because you’re overwhelmed.”

              “I won’t.”

              “And if he doesn’t listen, just call me. I’ll take him down for you.”

              “Okay.”

              “Good.” He leaned back and opened his mouth for another M&M. “Hit me.”

              I tossed one in and smiled shakily. “Maybe this party won’t be so bad.”

              “Nah.”

Nine

              “So what time are you going to Shannon’s?” Mom asked Saturday afternoon.

              I jumped, fighting the guilt that washed over me. “I dunno. Around dinnertime I guess.” Mom was under the impression that I was just spending the night at Shannon’s place tonight. She didn’t know that Mr. O’Malley had left for Little Rock early the morning before. She didn’t know that there would be several dozen other teenagers there. She didn’t know that there would be
lots
of people spending the night–about half of them belonging to the opposite sex.

              “Are you eating here or there?”

              “Here.”

              “How about potato soup? We’ve got a whole bag of the stupid things in the pantry that I completely forgot about. They’re gonna go bad if we don’t eat them.”

              “Sure. Potato soup.”

              Mom looked at me curiously. “Are you all right?” she asked.

              “Fine.”

              “Is Finn gonna be there tonight?”

              “He lives there, Mom.”

              “I know.” She pulled the sack of potatoes out of the pantry. “I’ve just never been fond of you staying at Shannon’s place. It’s too much like a co ed sleepover.”

              “Whenever I stay at the O’Malley’s, I sleep in Shannon’s room and Finn sleeps in Finn’s room.”

              “I know.”

              “And me and Finn are just friends anyway.”

              “I know.”

              “Besides,” I said, and then gritted my teeth. “I’m kind of seeing Ethan, now.” I winced. Saying the words out loud made the whole thing seem far too real for my own comfort.

              “Really?” she asked, impressed, then a look of suspicion crossed her face. “He’s not going to be there tonight, is he?”

              “No, Mom!” The lie tasted bitter in my mouth, but it came out convincingly enough.

              “Fine. Help me peel these potatoes.”

              “Okay.” I was eager to help, anything to assuage the guilt.

              The afternoon passed without incident. We ate dinner, and Aaron didn’t call me stupid once. That was nice. Dad called just before I left for Shannon’s and Mom bragged about me and Ethan for a whole ten minutes. Aaron left the room gagging.

              “I’m going, Mom,” I called. “Tell Dad I love him.”

              “All right honey. See you tomorrow.”

              “I might be late,” I told her, thinking fast. “I think me and Shannon were going to go shopping.”

              “On a Sunday?”

              “Uh, yeah. The Internet’s always open.”

              “Very funny, dear.” Her eyes drifted to the floor. “All right, all right!” she yelled into the phone. “Your dad says he loves you too.” She looked away again and spoke into the phone. “Are you happy now?”

              “Bye,” I called, rolling my eyes. 

              She waggled her fingers at me, disappearing into the kitchen with the phone glued to her ear.

              My stomach was turning in knots the whole way to Shannon’s house. Oscar creaked and groaned every time I pushed on the gas and I feared that he was on his last leg. Finn still hadn’t taken a peek under the hood like he’d promised. I made a mental note to ask him about it again later.

              “There you are!” Shannon cried when she answered the front door. I stepped inside, and my jaw literally dropped to the floor.

              “Holy crap, Shannon!” I almost shouted.

              “That’s what I said!” Finn’s voice floated in from the kitchen, though he didn’t make an appearance.

              Along the back wall near the fireplace stood a folding table. There were three bags of plastic cups stacked on one end, and the tabletop was crammed with liquer bottles of all shapes and sizes. A large metal tub filled with ice housed the biggest keg I’d ever laid eyes on–in the movies
or
real life. And two ice chests, after further investigation, ended up holding dozens of sodas and waters. Another card table was filled with junk food of all sorts. Chips, dip, candy, and crackers.

              The family portrait over the fireplace seemed oddly out of place now. It seemed like Mrs. O’Malley could see us and knew everything that was going on, and she didn’t like it.

              “Where did you get all of this?” I asked.

              “Margo’s brother,” she said. “Like we planned.”

              “But how did you
pay
for all of this?”

              She shrugged, nonplussed. “I’ve been saving up for a while. Babysitting, allowance. You know.”

              “You’ve been saving up to have a party?”

              “No, I’ve just been saving up. I’m glad I did, now.” She smiled, very satisfied with herself.

              Finn appeared, handing me a cold soda from the ice chest. He was working on a half-eaten tuna sandwich. “The makings of a fine mess,” he said, admiring the alcohol. “A
fine
mess.”

              “How are you going to get all of this cleaned up before your dad gets back?” I asked.

              Shannon shrugged, an excited grin on her face. “He’s not getting back until Monday afternoon. We’ll have all day tomorrow.”

              I glanced back up at the still image of Mrs. O’Malley. “Hm.”

              Someone knocked on the door. “Yo! Where’s the party!” Ethan called from the doorstep, and my heart jumped up into my throat.

              “Coming!” Shannon called. She disappeared into the foyer to let him in.

              “You remember what I told you?” Finn asked under his breath.

              “Uh huh.” I tried to remember how to breathe properly.

              “I’ll be here all night. You just have to say my name.”

              “Okay.” I smiled up at him. “Thanks.”

              He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “No prob.” He took another bite of his sandwich and disappeared back into the kitchen before Ethan and Shannon came in. They were lugging several good-sized speakers inside, and I rushed to help them.

              Everyone arrived at once. One minute, it was just the six of us–Margo and Charlie arrived shortly after Ethan–the next the entire house was crammed with loud, sweating teenagers that smelled like Vodka and Cheetos. It was my own personal Hell.

              Ethan’s stereo system proved to be everything he’d boasted. Rock and hip hop pounded through the speakers and, combined with the constant shouting, it was impossible to hear yourself think. Fortunately Shannon and Finn didn’t have any close neighbors, so nobody was really worried about a noise complaint. As I’d feared, Ethan was one of the first to make himself a drink. He offered me one too, but I declined. He didn’t push the issue. Score one for Ethan.

              Where I was in Hell, Shannon was in Heaven. A huge grin was plastered across her face all night. She drank and danced with Charlie, laughing and screaming and having an all around good time. I envied her a little bit. I wished I could really enjoy myself in a crowd like she could.

              The instant people started to arrive, I hunkered down on the love seat across the room from the speakers. Ethan sat with me loyally. Even when his buddies on the basketball team dragged him over to the card tables, he always returned immediately to my side. Score two for Ethan.

              After the initial twenty minutes of Hell, though, things seemed to find a groove. Though I was determinedly staying put on the love seat, Ethan seemed to have a gravitational pull. People started gathering around us, laughing and joking. These were people that I recognized from school, but I’d never given any of them a second thought. Now they were all convinced that I was their best friend. It may have had something to do with the fact that they were all getting progressively more and more drunk (and loud, and smelly, and stupid). Maybe it was that Ethan, one of those guys that everybody loved to hang out with, was holding my hand on the couch. Maybe it was that I had finally loosened up and was joining in on the general banter. Perhaps it was that no matter what, I could always see Finn somewhere close. Within earshot. He wasn’t really paying much attention to me all the time, but just knowing that I had a rock to hold onto in that sea of bodies made me feel a little better. Whatever the cause, my stomach finally let go of its butterflies. I ate some chips, had a few sodas. I laughed and joked around.             

              “So did you notice the cute couple that just walked in?” Finn asked me quietly at one point. When I say quietly, I mean he leaned in and spoke in my ear so that no one else could hear him over the stereo.

              “Who?” I asked, and he pointed toward the hearth. I suppressed a laugh. Tom Noll and Jeff Sweeny, the two shy nerds from Lit class, were standing awkwardly near the fireplace, looking very desperate indeed. No one else seemed to notice that they were there.

              “I don’t believe it,” I said, grinning. “They can’t be having a good time.”

              “Nope,” Finn said. “What do you say we do our good deed for the day?” He excused himself from Margo’s side, grabbed my good hand, and pulled me through the crowd towards Jeff and Tom. Ethan watched me go, but my absence didn’t seem to hinder his buzz even a little bit. Maggie Hanson, a blond senior with half of her drink spilled across her front, took my place on the love seat almost immediately after I vacated it. I glared at Ethan, who suddenly seemed just as happy charming Maggie as he had ever been charming me.

              “What’s the matter?” Finn asked. He turned to follow my glare and saw Ethan and Maggie talking and laughing on the love seat. He pursed his lips, annoyed. “See? Casanova!” he muttered in my ear.

              “It’s nothing!” I insisted. It’s nothing. It’s nothing. He’s just having a good time with another human being. That’s allowed, isn’t it?

“Hey guys!” I said, forcing my mouth into a smile when we’d made it to the fireplace. “Fancy meeting you here!”

              Tom and Jeff nodded, smiling nervously. “We wanted to socialize a little,” Jeff said a little too enthusiastically.

              “Well you picked the right time and place,” Finn said. He stuffed both of his hands in his pockets and flashed them a friendly smile. “Glad you came, guys.”

              Their smiles grew a little wider, and Jeff even looked up at the lanky Tom with a look that plainly said I-told-you-so. Nobody knew what to say after that. We all kind of stood there for a few minutes, looking around awkwardly. I was just starting to wish that we’d never come over in the first place when Jeff finally broke the silence.

              “So how’d you break your arm?”

              “Huh?” I asked. “Oh, I fell off of a step ladder at the library. Do you want to sign my cast?”

              “Sure,” Jeff said, pulling a pen out of his pocket. I held out my arm so that he could find a blank space more easily.

              “I like that quote,” Tom said suddenly. “The one by George Bernard Shaw.”

              “Oh yeah?” Finn asked. “That was one of my additions. ‘If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance.’ It’s a good one. Although I always say that if you’re going to make your skeletons dance, you’d better do it with flare, you know? Teach them to salsa.”

              Tom nodded. He didn’t make a move for Jeff’s pen when he was done with it, so I lowered my arm. Jeff hadn’t written anything particularly creative, just his signature. It looked very out of place amongst all of the scribbles and doodles all around it.

              “Okay, well have fun, guys,” I said, desperate to get away from the awkward silence.

              “You, too,” Jeff said.

              Finn took my arm, and led me back through the crowd. “Feeling better about yourself now?” I asked.

              “No, but you should ask Margo. It was her idea.”

              “I see!” I said, grinning. “So you’re whipped already!”

“Shut up,” he said with a grin and shoved me playfully. I stepped away from him and sat back on the sofa where Ethan was waiting for me. Maggie had disappeared somewhere and my spot next to Ethan was vacant once more. He grinned up at me and held his arm out so that I could sit under it. I smiled and complied happily, all thoughts of keying Maggie’s Toyota gone.

              It was a couple of hours into the party when Ethan finally got sick of sitting on the couch. He leaned toward me, his mouth close to my ear and I froze. What was he doing?

              “Let’s dance,” he said. “I love this song.”

              Oh. Of course. He would have to get close for me to hear him without having to shout. Score three.

              “All right!” I called back. My feet were going to sleep, sitting on them like I was for so long. Maybe the crowd wouldn’t be too bad.

              Ethan took my hand and led me into the center of the crowd. Someone shouted and fell on me as I got up, but Ethan pulled me closer, putting his arm around my waist to keep me from going down with them.