Chapter Eight

 

Back at the party, A.J sat down on a patio bench, looking at Christina talking with her date. A.J had suddenly realized what a jerk he was. Christina and I aren’t even dating anymore, so if she wants to date other people, I won’t stand in her way. I’d rather have her in my life than not have her in my life at all, he thought. I guess I want her to be happy.

There was only one thing to do. A.J got up and walked over to Christina and her date.

“Hey, um…A.J Gil. Sorry I was a dick before,” he apologized to the date, extending his hand to him.

The guy shook it, smiling. “It’s okay, man. My name’s Tyrone.”

Christina looked surprised. Wow! What happened here? She thought.

She turned to Tyrone. “Um, can you give us a sec?” she asked.

“Sure,” Tyrone replied.

After he left, Christina turned to A.J. “Look, you don’t have to do this. Maybe I was being selfish in wanting to be your friend. Maybe it’s just not gonna work.”

A.J shook his head. “Christina, I would much rather have you as a friend than not have you in my life at all.”

Christina grinned as she pulled A.J into a hug.

Yep, Christina, my friend, A.J thought. He returned the hug.

 

“I don’t know, from like, the lighthouse to all the way…” Ejay directed to two people from the party. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

What he didn’t expect was Tamyra Gray to be standing right in front of him, but that’s who was there.

“Hey, handsome!” Tamyra replied.

“Tammy!” Ejay replied, grabbing her in a big hug. He kissed her lightly. “What are you doing here? I was gonna pick you up at the airport in like, two hours.”

“I took an earlier flight, so I thought I’d surprise you.”

“Well, yeah. You did.”

Tamyra smiled. “Kinda weird without the phone, huh?”

“We’ll get used to it. Come on, I wanna hear all about it,” Ejay said, escorting her inside.

 

“Jim! This cop watch thing is horse shit!” Jim’s little brother complained into the walkie talkie. When no one answered, he put the walkie talkie back up to his lips. “Hello! Man, this sucks…”

A strange female voice suddenly appeared on the walkie talkie. “How is it out there?” she asked seductively.

The boy grinned. Oh, yeah! I’m in luck, baby! Thank you, Jim!

“It’s the Verrameister, baby!” he quipped.

“Is that so?”

 

Inside, Ryan was feeling miserable. I guess something to drink would make me feel better. Help me to forget all about Justin, she thought. She walked over to the drinks table and slammed two pieces of ice into a glass.

“Life’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Clay asked, watching Ryan. Ryan stirred the Pepsi in her glass, still looking down. When she didn’t answer, Clay sighed and poured himself a glass of soda. “That’s alright. You don’t have to say anything. I’m used to girls ignoring me…or making fun of me. Come on, Clay. Be the Aikenator.”

Ryan giggled. “Like the movie. How clever,” she replied.

“I get it, okay? Maybe I am a geek…whatever,” Clay replied, sounding bitter.

He’s a geek! I’ve found my geek! My search is over and fate has come! Ryan thought.

“Yes! Yes, you are!” she shrieked.

Clay brightened. “Alright!” he replied. “I am the Aikenator, a sophisticated sex robot sent back through time to change the future for one lucky lady.”

Ryan shivered with excitement and joy. “I am, lucky lady?” she asked.

“That’s right, Ryan. You’ve been targeted for Claynation,” he replied, extending his hand to her. “Come with me, if you want to live!”

Ryan took Clay’s hand as they ran upstairs. “Oh, no. Help, oooooh!” she breathed. Ryan grabbed Clay’s collar. “Fuck me, geek!” she yelled as she pulled Clay into a nearby bedroom.

“Affirmative!” Clay yelped, slamming the door behind him.

Jim, Vanessa, and Nikki were all standing, watching all of it occur. I can’t believe it! Ryan and Clay? They both thought.

“No fuckin’ way!” They said at the same time.

They all looked at each other. Maybe we could hook up. He does have nice eyes and wouldn’t the girls be jealous if I did hook up with him, Nikki thought.

Yeah, maybe we could have some kind of orgy or something, Vanessa thought.

Nikki and Vanessa are kinda pretty. Maybe we could hook up, Jim thought.

Wait a minute…Hell no! What am I thinking! Am I crazy? Nikki realized.

Oh, my God! Vanessa, what the hell are you thinking? Vanessa told herself.

I wouldn’t touch this trash with a ten-foot pole! I gotta get some air! Jim scoffed.

“Forget it,” Nikki said.

“Totally,” Vanessa agreed.

“Like you two have a chance,” Jim replied.

They rolled their eyes at each other and walked away.

 

I gotta find Kelly. I gotta find Kelly, Justin thought. He was on his way to Kelly’s band camp. The sign on the highway pointed out that it was only ten more miles.

Justin let out a whoop of excitement. I can’t wait to find her, he thought.

 

Back at the party, things were still in full swing. A game of strip poker was in progress and a few were taking shots of whiskey. Someone had even brought his or her monkey.

Jim was playing pool and he was deep into the game.

His brother tugged on his shirt. “Hey, Jim. Look what I found,” he said proudly.

“Dude, don’t touch the shirt,” Jim replied, not looking up from the pool table.

“Just look!”

What could this little monster want to show me? He thought, not even wanting to know.

But when he saw Kimberly and Julia standing in front of him, he lost even more interest.

“Hi,” Julia replied.

“Hey there,” Kimberly said.

Jim groaned. “Brilliant. You found lesbians. Good luck trying to break through that force field,” he said, continuing his game.

Julia and Kimberly stared at one another with mocked shock. “We never said that,” Julia replied.

Jim stopped shooting pool. “What?”

“We never said that,” Kimberly repeated.

They completely played with me! I can’t believe it! Jim thought.

“Oooh, man! I will do anything…anything to sleep with you chicks. Okay, I’ll grab every guy’s ass in this room, I’ll caress it even!” Jim replied, getting louder. His brother and others began to look at him and give him questioning looks. “I’ll shave some ass if they need it. Oh, yeah! You heard me! It’s true! I’ll kiss everybody here! Dudes, chicks! Everybody! Because I am comfortable with my sexuality. Oh, yeah!” he replied. When Kimberly and Julia looked at each other, Jim offered, “At least have a drink with the Jimmeister!”

Kimberly nodded. “Alright,” she agreed.

Julia nodded in agreement. “That’s fair,” she replied.

Jim pumped his fist. “Alright!” he replied. He turned to his brother. “You truly are a Verrameister. Welcome back to the party,” he said. His brother looked extremely proud. Jim instantly pulled his brother away and walked off with Kimberly and Julia.

“Jim! They were my lesbians!” his brother protested.

“Oooh, ladies. Ladies, I am down with the funky shit,” Jim told them.

“Like what?” Julia asked.

“There was this one time, I was at this party, and I was drinking this champagne…”

 

At the concert, Kelly’s flute solo was underway. But she wasn’t really focused on that. She was more concerned with Justin. I can’t believe I let him get away. How could I have let him run off with Ryan? She thought miserably.

Samantha Cohen had finished her clarinet solo and Kelly was up next. Kelly suddenly didn’t want to go up.

“Thank you, thank you,” the band director said to the audience. “Our next soloist will be Kelly Clarkson.”

Kelly got up, looking sad and miserable. Oh, well. The show must go on, she thought. She put the flute up to her lips and began to play. About twenty seconds later, a horrible blowing noise could be heard from somewhere. Justin appeared, blowing on the trombone.

“Petey?” the band director wondered.

What’s he doing here? Kelly wondered. She shrugged and kept playing her flute. Justin kept blowing the trombone.

“This kid is killing me,” the band director mumbled, holding his head.

As Justin walked down the stairs, a kid got up and said, “You suck, retard!”

“I’m not retarded. I’m a very special boy,” Justin told the kid. He blew directly in the kid’s face, knocking him over backwards.

Kelly looked extremely happy as Justin made his way towards her. He ran up on the stage and picked her up in a big hug, whirling her around.

Kelly looked flustered. “Justin, what’s_” she began.

Justin smiled at her. “How’s this for a band camp story?” he asked her.

And before Kelly could answer, Justin had her in a passionate kiss. Kelly couldn’t believe what was happening to her. Everything’s a blur, she thought.

“Let’s hear it for Petey!” A man in the crowd yelled.

Justin and Kelly stopped kissing, suddenly realizing where they were. Kelly blushed as the two of them turned around. Justin took a bow and Kelly took a curtsy.

Justin grabbed Kelly’s hand and led her off stage, the audience applauding like mad.

I haven’t felt this happy in all my life! Kelly thought.

 

At the party, it was still in full effect without any signs of slowing down. The music was blaring with people dancing. Corey was doing Jell-o shots off of a girl’s chest and a kissing contest was underway, the two kissees slobbering all over each other.

Christina and A.J were watching all of it, laughing at the top of their lungs.

Tamyra and Ejay were dancing and Justin and Kelly had just walked in and began to dance.

“Good for them,” Christina replied, pointing at Justin and Kelly.

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” A.J agreed.

Justin and Kelly began dancing like two dorks. Christina laughed.

“Wanna dance?” she asked A.J.

“Yeah.”

Christina smiled. “We’ll be back,” she told her date, who was in his own world, bopping his head to the music. She took A.J’s hand. “Come on, baby,”  she replied.

 

“I haven’t talked to you in so long, so how’s it going?” Nikki asked R.J. She took a sip of liquor from his flask and passed it to Vanessa.

“Yeah, how’s it’s going, R.J?” Vanessa asked. She sipped some scotch and passed it to R.J.

R.J shook his head. “Not much, you guys. But I’ve missed you guys though.”

He grabbed his flask and took a sip.

“We’ve missed you too, R.J,” Nikki said.

R.J spotted each of his friends in the crowd. All of them raised their cups to one another in a toast.

Glad to have friends like those guys, he thought.

 

It was nearly the break of dawn the next morning. Most of the partygoers were gone and many others were leaving.

“Ya know, there’s only one word for that party: Bitchin’! Corey exclaimed.

“Out of control,” Charles agreed.

“Dude, am I gonna have a hangover, ‘cause I want one,” Corey said. He and his Charles laughed.

 

Later, there were people who were still in bed or just waking up. Jim’s little brother walked out of the house with a stack of porn in his arms.

“Later,” he told Christina and A.J.

“Bye,” Christina said.

“See ya,” A.J said.

He turned back to Christina and the guestbook they’d made.

“Alright, let’s go back to our page,” Christina replied.

“Oh, my gosh! We have to write about this party,” A.J said, looking excited.

“This party was big! Look at my date, he’s passed out…” Christina said, grabbing her pen.

 

Meanwhile, everyone else was sleeping. Ejay snuggled up with Tamyra. Justin and Kelly were all cuddled up. Clay was in bed with Ryan, with him awake with a big, triumphant grin on his face. Jim was in bed with both Kimberly and Julia. Jim looked at both of the sleeping girls and then shook his head in happy amazement. Thank you! He silently thanked.

 

In the afternoon, the guys were all packed up and ready to go back home. This had been a summer they’d all been dreaming of. They’d all had sweet memories to last them a lifetime.

“Best summer ever, huh, fellas?” Ejay asked.

“Absolutely,” Justin agreed.

“Sorry things didn’t work out for you, R.J,” A.J said sadly.

R.J waved his hand. “A.J, things are great. I have all the time in the world.”

“So are we gonna do this every summer?” Justin asked.

“Ooooh, yeah. We are,” Ejay said.

“Of course we are, gentleman,” R.J replied.

“Well, we’re gonna try, anyway,” A.J said.

At that moment, a sleek, black car pulled up in the driveway. The windows were all black and nothing could be seen.

In curiosity, R.J walked up to the car.

“Sweet car,” Justin remarked.

“Yeah, it is,” Ejay agreed.

“Where’s he going?” Justin wanted to know, watching R.J

R.J looked into the window. When it came down, he held in breath in shock, reveling a face he’d wanted to see for ages.

“Jim’s mom!” he said.

“Hey, R.J,” she said, using sign language.

“How did you know I was here?” R.J asked, signing back.

“I called a couple of weeks ago…Didn’t Jimmy tell you I was gonna drop by sometime?”

R.J suddenly remembered all the phone calls that had been made recently. It dawned on him that they’d all been from Jim’s mother and Jim just didn’t want R.J to talk to her.

“I guess it…slipped his mind…. Hey, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Nina,” she told him.

Nina.  “Nina, okay. Um…well, I’ve been thinking and you know, I’m 19 years old and there’s a whole world out there…I can’t be obsessed with one woman. It just can’t be.”

Nina sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re learning, R.J,” she said.

R.J nodded. “Good, good,” he muttered.

Nina grinned. “You wanna get it on?” she asked.

R.J returned the grin.

“You better clear your schedule,” he replied.

He ran around to the other side of the car and jumped in. “I’ll see you guys later,” he said.

“Where you goin’ man? What about McKenna’s?” Justin protested.

“Um, give me about…three days,” R.J shouted as the car drove away.

“Wait…was that…” Justin began to ask, trailing off.

“Nooo!” Ejay said.

“Yes,” Justin replied.

“No,” Ejay replied.

“Yeah!”

“I think it was,” A.J said.

“I think so, too!” Justin replied, “Son of a…”

The guys laughed. At that moment, Jim walked outside with his possessions. “Who the hell was that?”  He asked.

The guys snapped back to attention. “That was…um…that was someone who was lost, looking for the lake,” Justin lied.

“Yeah,” A.J replied.

“Turned around,” Ejay added.

Jim burst out laughing. “What a dumbass! The lake’s right there!” he said, pointing to the lake.

As the guys loaded up into the car, Justin stared at the driveway in astonishment. “Incredible. How does R.J get so damn lucky?”

“What are you worried about? You got a girlfriend now,” Ejay said. “Everything’s in! Let’s go! Pony up, McKenna’s awaits!”

Girlfriend. I like the sound of that, Justin thought. “Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do! I have a girlfriend now,” he shouted.

“Yeah, you do,” Ejay replied.

“She’s my girlfriend!”

“Alright, J-Man!” A.J shouted.

“Alright, let’s go!” Ejay said, driving away.

“Hey, where’d Shitbreak go?” Jim asked.

“At the movie,” A.J said.

“Took the bus,” Justin replied.

“Coffee,” Ejay added.

Jim frowned. “Wait a second…WHO THE FUCK WAS IN THAT CAR!?” he demanded.

 

Meanwhile, R.J was with Jim’s mother in the car, the car rocking back and forth with each motion.

“Oh, R.J, I missed you,” Jim’s mother breathed heavily.

“Oh, god. Nina, Nina…” R.J’s muffled voice replied.

“Call me Jim’s Mom,” Nina demanded.

The car alarm sounded and R.J hollered out, “Ooooh…OOOOOOH JIM’S MOM!”

 

 

 

The End

 

 

 

 

 

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