The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates (12 page)

              “Thanks!” I called.

              He grinned at me. That happy, contagious grin. What had I been so worried about? This guy was great. He was good looking. He was funny. He was nice. Easy to talk to. Loyal. Understanding. This boy had no flaws whatsoever. Maybe Finn was right. If Ethan kissed me, then I should just put my arms around him and kiss him right back. What’s the worst that could happen? Heck, maybe
I
should kiss
him
.

              No. Definitely not. He could kiss me first. That was fine. There was no need to jump the gun on this one.

              We danced through four songs. The music was infectious once you got over how loud it really was. Ethan pulled me closer and closer every time the song changed, and that was fine by me.

              “Whoo! Look at you!” Shannon squealed, twirling by us. Charlie was laughing, gripping her arm and tugging her away. “Bye!” she hollered and was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

              Ethan laughed, and strangely enough, so did I.

              It was around two in the morning when people started to wind down. Cars began filing out of the yard as the various designated drivers hauled off their giggling and incapacitated charges. Some people had elected to stay the night. Shannon and Finn didn’t seem too pleased about this, but they couldn’t exactly let them drive either.

              “Do you want a ride home?” I asked Ethan.

              He shrugged. “I’ll be fine in a couple of hours. I’m already sober enough as it is.”

              “What if you get pulled over?”

              “I won’t.”

              “But what if you do?”

              He laughed. “Lighten up, Em. It’ll be fine.”

              “I’d still rather drive you,” I insisted, frowning.

              “Yeah, and then I’d get to live through the Inquisition when my dad sees that my truck’s gone. I’ll drive myself.” He was loosing points fast, now.

              I crossed my arms across my chest and settled back into the couch. Ethan had his arm around me now. Not just on the back of the couch, but around me. Shannon and Charlie were giggling in the kitchen. The TV was on low, and the dozen or so kids that were staying over were either asleep or absorbed in an
I Love Lucy
rerun. It was a dark, quiet, drowsy sort of atmosphere perfect for drifting off into an exhausted sleep. I glanced across the room and saw Finn and Margo. They were sitting on the hearth near the snack table and he had his hand on her chin. She was smiling up at him. She looked so sweet and good, which is why it was just so weird when Finn leaned down and touched his lips to hers. He came away, grinning, then leaned in and did it again. Longer this time, and a little more involved.

              I turned away, leaning into the curve of Ethan’s body.

              “What’s the matter?” he asked.

              I shrugged. “Nothing.”

              “Did you have fun?”

              Looking up at him I smiled. “Yeah. I really did.”

              “So it wasn’t quite the mess you predicted?”

              “Nah, I guess not.” I glanced around at the living room and what little of the kitchen I could see from my seat and frowned. The floor was littered with red plastic cups, chip crumbs, candy wrappers, and several spots on the carpet that looked suspiciously like spilled drinks and vomit. “Well, yeah. It definitely is a mess.”

              He laughed, pulling me closer to him. I looked up at his face again and felt myself blush. I was glad that the room was so dark. The only light came from the kitchen around the corner and from the flickering television screen. In the dimness Ethan’s already dark face was completely black. His bright eyes and white teeth were the only parts of his face that were visible. It was then, to my horror, that I started giggling.

              “What?” he asked, grinning.

              “Nothing. You just
looked like
the Cheshire cat.”

              “The what?”

              “The Cheshire cat, you know,” I explained. “Because it’s so dark I can only see your eyes and that big stupid grin.”

              “My grin’s not stupid.”

              “That’s because you’ve never seen it from someone else’s perspective.”

              “So look at it from my perspective.”

              “I can’t.”

              “Why not?”

              “Because that’s your perspective,” I said him matter-of-factly. “And you and I can never share the same perspective. It’s a physical impossibility.”

              “No, no,” he disagreed. “We can. You just have to lean in really close, like this.” He leaned down toward me so that our noses were inches apart. My heart started pounding so hard that I was sure he could hear it. He was probably fighting off laughter right now.

              “I don’t see it.” I cursed my shaking voice.

              He leaned closer. Our noses were touching now and he was still grinning. “How about now?”

              I fought the urge to back away. He was so close now that I could clearly see every pore in his nose. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to accomplish anything.”

              “You’re just not trying hard enough.” He grinned again. He was even closer now. Our noses were side by side instead of point to point, and his breath was hot on my face. He wasn’t smiling now.

              “Well to be frank you and I are in rather close proximity to each other and I’m finding it very difficult to think.” Oh hell, my breath probably stank and he just got a mouthful of it. I clamped my mouth shut.

              “There you go with your big words again,” he whispered. I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact. Time seemed to slow down in direct proportion to every single butterfly in my stomach. I even had time to be thoroughly grateful that I’d had the presence of mind to stay sober all night. Heaven knew my gag reflex didn’t need any help in that particular moment. Nerves had it all under control.

              It was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like hours before he finally kissed me. The instant his lips touched mine, my body relaxed and my baser instincts took over. I responded to his pressure with a little of my own. Everything seemed to focus into sharp detail. I could hear his too-loud breath like it was the only sound in the room. His face was still a little sweaty and hot from all of the excitement of the night. To be honest, I’d never considered that the skin on a guy’s face, especially perfect Ethan’s face, could be so gross.

              In truth, it was nothing spectacular. That kiss, my
first
kiss was tame at best, and pretty boring. The lead-up to it was about twenty times better than the kiss itself, and
that
wasn’t even all that great. When he finally pulled a few inches away, my nerves worked themselves up again. What were we supposed to do now?

              “Do you see it my way, now?” he asked, still grinning that stupid grin of his.

              The corner of my mouth twitched upwards. At least I could play along, right? “Fine,” I said. “It’s not a stupid grin.”

              “Thank you.”

              “So was your party everything you hoped it would be and more?” I asked Shannon later that night. The pair of us had retreated to her bedroom to try and get some sleep. We were both curled up in her huge bed now, completely unable to even pretend to be sleepy.

              “Yes, it was.” She laughed to herself and pulled the blanket up to her nose. “Everything was perfect.”

Charlie and Margo had left long before, and so had Ethan. He finally convinced me to let him drive himself home, against my better judgment, but he did seem to be completely normal by then. Even Finn agreed that he would be fine.

              “Good,” I sighed. “I have to admit, I didn’t have a terrible time either.”

              She squealed. “I know! I saw you and Ethan on the couch. I wanted to mention it earlier, but there was always somebody around. Finn didn’t look too happy about something, though. He and Margo didn’t fight, did they?”

              “No,” I said. “I think he was just worried about me.” I told her about our conversation in the library a few days before, and Shannon’s face turned suddenly somber.

              “Finn’s always been so protective of you and me,” she said. “He doesn’t like that Charlie’s always hovering around me, either. I think he feels responsible for my innocence or something.”

              “Well that just makes him a dirty hypocrite,” I said. “Didn’t you see him and Margo making out on the hearth?”

              “No! Good for him!”

              “Good for Margo,” I countered. “Finn may claim to enjoy his little forays into intimacy, but I’m still not convinced. There’s just something so very
not right
with Margo kissing him like that.” I leaned in a little closer and lowered my voice. “Finn told me that she’s not a good kisser.”

              “Emily!” she scolded, though she was grinning despite herself. “Spreading rumors like that!”

              “It’s not a rumor!” I said. “I had it straight from the horse’s mouth. She’s no good.”             

              “She probably just needs practice.”

              “Maybe.”

              I pulled the bulky blanket up to my chin and buried my face in the pillow. “So, how drunk did you get tonight?” I asked her.

              “I didn’t,” she said with a sigh, closing her eyes. It was almost four in the morning by now, and my eyes were feeling a little heavy. “I had maybe one drink that had anything besides orange juice or soda in it all night.”

              “Well you’ve got me beat.”

              “We’re both yellow.”

              I laughed into the pillow. “Jeez, Shannon. Don’t be such a hick.
Yellow?
”

              “Shut up.”

              “You shut up.”

              “You go to sleep and leave me alone.”

              “Fine.”

              “Fine.”

              I grinned at her in the dark and she smirked back at me. “So what’s the deal with you and Charlie?”

              “There is no deal with me and Charlie.” Her
half concealed giggles gave her away.

              “Well there’s gotta be something,” I said. “He’s been hanging around for a week now, and now you guys have gone out and most likely made out in the kitchen?” The last part was more of a question than a statement of fact.

              “So?”

              “So you
did
make out with him!”

             
She hugged her pillow. “I really like him,” she said.

             
“Really?” This I genuinely didn’t expect. Shannon had never once in her entire life “really liked” anyone.

              “Yeah. I mean, I know he’s been around forever, but this summer we kind of hit it off at camp.”

              I sat up. “At camp?”

              She nodded.

              “Charlie was at camp with you? Why didn’t you say?”

              She hid her face under pillow, muffling her confession. “I know! I’m sorry! I was embarrassed! I should have told you ages ago!”

              “Why were you embarrassed? Was he a counselor, too?”

“He was a lifeguard. And we kind of made out a couple of times behind the pump house.”

“Oh my god!”

“But then when school started, it was like nothing happened! I couldn’t figure it out!”

“Is that why you haven’t been dating all semester?”

She nodded. “I needed an excuse to ask him out.”

I stared at her. “So you threw a party.”

She nodded again.

“Why didn’t you just ask him to the movies or something?”

She glowered at me. “A girl can’t ask a guy out!” she said, affronted.

“Yes you can!”

“Girls shouldn’t chase boys. It makes you desperate.”

I frowned. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“Well it doesn’t matter. It worked. Me and Charlie are together now.” She giggled again and snuggled down into the blankets. “And it’s been perfect!”

I settled back down, too tired to disagree with her. “If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Good.”

“And you and Finn aren’t alone either. It’s all turned out okay after all.”

“After all what?”

“Hm?”

“It’s all okay after all what?”

“What?” she mumbled. “I don’t remember. Go to sleep.”

Her eyes were already closed. She could already be asleep for all I could tell. It didn’t matter. “G’night.”