Junior Year Box Set

Dad looked at both of us and just shook his head. He wouldn’t venture back into the deep end, now that Mom and I had locked horns.

“You saw the video. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I protested.

“I saw that. Next time you get an idea like that, think again,” Mom ordered. “Who was that girl you kissed?”

“Brook. It was all her idea,” I said.

I figured Mom wouldn’t be too hard on her. I didn’t even feel guilty about blaming her. I needed to get my mom off my ass, or I’d get grounded once again.

“I bet I can guess how she convinced him,” Dad mumbled.

He got ‘the look’ from Mom. I would have to thank him later. He didn’t have to distract Mom. The only reason that didn’t make me feel sorry for him was I suspected he would get make-up sex at some point. I know, I shudder to think about it, but for some reason, Dad liked that. Why else would he do it?

“I want to meet Brook,” Mom said, and that scared me again.

“Yes, ma’am,” was my automatic response.

What had I just done?

◊◊◊

When I got to school, Brook was waiting for me in the parking lot.

“Why did you post us kissing?” she asked.

“I didn’t. I uploaded the video and planned to edit it today. Lily must have found it and posted it. I forgot to turn off the video camera after we landed,” I explained.

Brook looked at me like she could read my soul, then spun around and marched off. I was smart enough not to chase her. She needed to cool off, or I’d be in trouble. My cell phone rang, and it was Kendal. I braced myself and answered it.

“What did you do? My phone started ringing at seven this morning. Apparently, Michael Reese and Tyler think that everyone should be out of bed at eight o’clock eastern time,” Kendal whined.

Michael was the vice president in charge of marketing for Jade, and Tyler was Adrienne’s life and business partner. They both followed my social media accounts.

“It’s no big deal. I kissed a girl,” I said.

“Is that all? Because they both want you to come to New York and model full-time. Tyler quoted me a ridiculous number and explained that you needed to make money now while you’re a hot commodity.”

“We heard the same stuff from Ford. I wouldn’t do anything like that until after graduation. It would have to be life-changing money to convince my parents that I wasn’t going to college. They wouldn’t agree to me dropping out of high school.”

Kendal knew all this, but it must have been an impressive offer if she called me. We talked some more, and I told her if she was able to convince my mom and dad, we would talk. I really just wanted to play ball and enjoy high school. How could one kiss change things so much?

◊◊◊

At lunch, Lisa Felton got me sent to the Principal’s office. I had been minding my own business in the lunch line to get a salad to go with my sack lunch when she walked up and kissed me. Before I quite realized what was happening, Mr. Happy had taken control of the body. I pinned Lisa to the wall by the cashier. Coach Hope separated us, and we looked up to see the whole lunchroom staring at us. Lisa found Brook and winked at her. I felt like a pawn in their little battle of who was the sexiest girl at Lincoln High.

I was lucky to end up only getting detention for the rest of the week. I shudder to think what would have happened if my mom had been called.

◊◊◊

In art class, I usually sat between Brook and Halle. Today Brook sat on the other side of the room.

“How mad is she?” I asked.

“What do you think, ‘stupid boy’? You posted your first kiss with her on social media. She’s worried that if you ever have sex, you’ll start a website,” Halle said.

“Would that be a bad idea?” I asked.

Halle just rolled her eyes at me.

“Can I come over tonight? I need to work on my art project.”

“We won’t have a lot of time. Cassidy and I don’t normally get done with our time at the dojo until around seven-thirty or eight. Would a couple of hours be enough?” I asked.

“I’m sure it will be. I’ll just come over and study until you get home.”

“Talk to my mom when you get there, and she’ll let you in.”

“I’ve got the code,” she said.

I was about to ask how the heck she had it when class started. Somehow, every girl I knew seemed to have the code to my apartment. I’d changed the passcode several times, but they seemed to know what it was somehow. I wondered if my mom shared it with everyone.

◊◊◊

“Duke!” I yelled as I came up the stairs.

I found him on the couch with his head in Halle’s lap as she read a book we’d been assigned in English. Duke knew he wasn’t supposed to be on the couch, and when he heard me, my hound bolted to his crate to hide. Not that I would lay a hand on him, but Labs are people-pleasers, and he got upset when he got into trouble. I knew that once Duke saw I wasn’t going to do anything, he would be back out, wanting to be reassured that he wasn’t really in big trouble.

“I need to take a quick shower,” I said and left Halle in the living room.