Explosions of Grandeur.
Posted: 29 Jul 2019, 08:31
"I'm sure you did fine."
James briefly looked up before resting his head back on the dashboard. He lightly tapped his head against it a few more times before taking a deep breath and sitting up, "It's fine, it's fine. I'll be fine."
"My brother got his back and he got a 1640. You just need at least 700, right?"
"Verbal and math," James sighed, "What did he get in those?"
"Probably in the 800s," Vanessa shrugged, "We really focused on those and you were doing better on the math so you should be fine."
"When the fuck did he take it?"
"November," she answered, "It was after one of y'all game, his ass almost didn't wake up for it."
"Let me guess. You dragged his ass out here today, too?"
"You'll be thanking me," she said as she exited the highway, "I want a shout-out on Wednesday."
"I don't know about all that," James laughed, "Speaking of repayment though. Once I get these scores back and actually get into Fresno, I'm going to let it slip to Tyler that you helped me."
"We're in February," Vanessa shook her head, "I'm not buying your whole wait until the last minute approach."
"Fair enough," James shrugged, "You're going to need to leave the library and attend like an actual party. With alcohol....and drugs....and pre-marital sex, Vanessa."
"I'm not that much of a prude," she groaned, "I'm just not a nasty man like you."
"Say less," James smiled, "We're going on a road-trip tonight."
....
The house seemed a lot smaller this time around as Vanessa's car pulled up to the front of the house. There were a lot less cars parked out front with James quickly being able to pick out Iman's car. The duo appeared to be fashionably late as loud noises were already emitting from the house.
Vanessa parked the car and sat around for a while, keeping her head in her phone.
"You're not texting anyone," James pulled her phone and opened the door, motioning for her to do the same.
"We just spent almost two fucking hours in a car," Vanessa got up and spat at James as they walked to the door, "I have responsibilities so I need to check my phone, email."
"You're eighteen," James scoffed as he finally handed her phone back, "Stop acting like you're some 32-year old store manager."
"I actually am a store manager," she corrected him as she took a deep breath and adjusted her dress, "And I'm actually sixteen."
"Aren't you a senior?"
"Skipped a grade or two," she said with a sly smile as the door opened.
"Jamie!"
"It's James," James forced a smile, walking right pass Jessica's attempt at an hug.
The living room was viewable now and the decadence was all around with two TV screens that were well above 60 inches, a water-fall, a fire-placed and several almost life-size art pieces littered and surrounded the set of couches that everyone was sitting on. On the couches were similar faces in Skylar, Gia and Cassie from the previous party with Lexie sitting all over Iman's lap -- literally -- while Tyler just hung around in the corner.
"I'm Vanessa," James turned around to see Vanessa ensnared in Jessica's trap of a hug.
"Jimmy Boy!" Iman yelled, not bothering to even try getting up from Lexie's hefty legs.
"You finally came out," Skylar smiled, "I've been asking Iman here to bring you next time for like the last two months."
"Iman is more incentivized to make the trek out here than I am," James said with a coy smile directed at Lexie.
"That's your fault," Skylar responded in kind, "A lot of good things were supposed to happen last time."
"If I remember correctly," James tapped his index finger on his lips, "You were the one that couldn't hang and ruined it all."
"She just wants your weed," Cassie scoffed, "Did you bring any? We have that shitty shit up here."
"That was very direct," James took a seat before pulling out four, pre-rolled blunts.
"Manners!" Jessica exclaimed as she pointed towards Vanessa who had just been standing awkwardly behind James, "Everyone, this is Vanessa."
The group went around introducing themselves to her, some throwing in a half-hearted compliment on her dress, hair or skin tone. James focused on getting the blunts lit up and starting the rotation.
"Tyler," Tyler raised her hand, "You go to our school, right?"
"Yes, she replied softly.
"She's not with me," James looked up, "So she's fair game, boys."
Vanessa laughed awkwardly before shooting James a harsh look. While she did want it to be made clear that her and James weren't a thing, she also didn't want to be put out like a whore for bidding.
"What's up?"
James turned around to see a deep, familiar voice that he had not heard from in a while. Coming out of the bathroom was Jalen, donning Cuban links that were resting on his black tee along with a few other gold pieces. A short-haired, brown-skinned girl also came out of the bathroom a few moments later, not even bothering to try to hide their previous endeavor as she was out of breath.
"Surprise," teased Iman as he took a sip of his drink before Lexie ate his face once more.
"Just hanging," James dapped Jalen up as casually as possible, "Your fly is open."
He quickly looked down before realizing that James was messing with him, "I forgot how funny you were."
"I forgot how handsome you were," James teased him, making a playful grab at his crotch area which Jalen quickly blocked, "How's he packing?"
The short-haired girl looked in amazement as she sat down, making a small wave towards Vanessa.
"I gave Iman the same speech months ago and I gave it to Tyler too," Jalen's face changed, "I really, really wished I handled the whole transferring things better. I just...things got caught up in the air and then it felt weird to double back and then talk to y'all."
"I got to start," James shrugged with a small laugh, "No problem, little bro. I'm just saying, though, you could have stayed here and got smoked in the quarterfinals too."
"We didn't get smoked," Jalen protested.
"31 points is getting smoked," Tyler added.
"Y'all got smoked and fucked," Jalen fired back, "J.T. made y'all boys look silly, man."
"Go suck his dick then," Iman was able to separate from Lexie's lips long enough to get a few words out. The football talk had sent the other girls into their own little circle as they started their own conversation but Lexie stood by her man while Vanessa just lingered around James.
"He can carry his nuts at SC," James quipped.
"You ain't hear?" Tyler sat up, "This motherfucker's going out to the Artic."
"Columbus isn't even that cold," Jalen shook his head.
"What happened to SC and UCLA?" James asked, taking a puff of the blunt that had made his way back to him before passing it to Vanessa who declined.
"I like Chip but they're still a dumpster fire so fuck that and I'm not sitting two, three seasons behind J.T."
"Only losers sit on the bench for three seasons," Tyler teased before James fired a bunch of playful punches towards his ribs section, "Fuck you."
"Speaking of bench warmers," James got back to his seat and was soon passed yet another blunt, "Where's Noah's bitch ass?"
"He's going to IMG," Jalen shook his head.
"For real?" James was shocked as were Tyler and Iman.
"His uncle apparently is friends with some admin over there and got him admitted," Jalen shrugged, "He hasn't even told the coaching staff, yet."
"What a snake," Tyler sucked his teeth.
"Jalen did the same shit," James replied, causing an awkward silence to fall, "Y'all did!"
"Fake news," Jalen held his finger up, "I told coach Butler two weeks before and he just wouldn't accept the answer. Same thing with Jason, I don't know about Leon and Noah but I kept telling coach, he just wouldn't take the answer."
"You ain't tell us," Iman correctly pointed out.
"Enough of this," Lexie said, feeling the tension, "Y'all fucking up my high."
"I thought y'all said we was good," Jalen stood up, "I'm not going to keep going back and forth about this shit."
"No one's asking you," James kept his demeanor calm, "We're....I'm just saying that you did the same shit Noah is doing now."
"It's not the same," Jalen shot right back, "We're an actual good team with a chance at winning state and he's running away from competition. I wasn't running away from shit."
"Maybe you need an all-star cast to win games," James shrugged as he looked up towards Jalen who seemed to have found his voice and his balls since moving, "I won nine games with a corner at running back and a safety at receiver. You won ten games with like ten Power-5 scholarship athletes on offense."
"Weak ass league," Jalen waved his hand.
"Shut the fuck up," Lexie groaned, "Y'all can get so annoying."
"Shut your fat ass up."
Iman stood up aggressively but Tyler quickly stepped in, placing his hand on his chest and creating a physical barrier between the two. Realizing that the lanky Tyler wasn't going to get the job done, James begrudgingly got up and got in the middle as well. The other girls were now engaged as they walked back over to the action, creating a circle around Tyler, Iman, Lexie, Jalen, James and Vanessa.
"Take that 'hood-rat' shit somewhere else," Gia scoffed, "We're just trying to get lit tonight."
"Everyone's good," James said, raising his voice, "Just a little too much testosterone."
"Let's get into the pool!" Jessica exclaimed, almost completely unaware of what had just transpired.
....
"I have some suits upstairs."
"I doubt they'll fit," snickered one of the dark-haired girls as Lexie shot them a middle-finger.
The night had went on and James' ability to pick them out -- similar to his previous trip to the Hills -- had went awry, right along with his sobriety. There was a loaded bar alongside the pool deck where James had eagerly indulged himself while the girls changed into their swimsuits and the guys awkwardly waited around as Iman and Jalen gave each other the death stare.
The girls -- whatever their names were at this point -- were all in the pool except for Lexie and Vanessa. Tyler and Jalen had also joined with Iman keeping his girlfriend company on the outside while James would rotate in and out between the bar and the pool.
"Get me something," Skylar said, running her finger against James' leg as he walked towards the edge of the pool and got out, "Something dark and strong."
"Iman's taken," James joked, "Jalen looks pretty busy with your girl Gia over there and I wouldn't call him dark and strong either."
"That's Cassie," she corrected him, "What about your boy Tyler then?"
"Off limits," James smiled as he was now completely out of the pool, "Rum and coke fine?"
Skylar gave James a thumbs-up, sending him waddling to the pool as the temperatures outside the pool were considerably lower. It was deep into the night, perhaps even wee-hours of the next morning, and a chilly evening had came and went but the chilly part stayed. James shot Vanessa a look to make sure that she was still doing okay but instead of just nodding back, she joined him at the bar.
"Having fun?"
"The whole point of this," she took the bottle of Flor de Cana from him, "Was for you to set me up with Tyler, I don't know, a fucking lob like you like to call it. Not get shit-faced."
"First," James grabbed it back, "Every time you come next to me and start talking really intensely after being a mute all night, people assume we're an item. Secondly, the point of this was for me to get shit-faced and most importantly, I can't make a horse drink the water, I can only bring it to it."
"That's not how the saying goes."
"You know what?" James put the bottle down but not before taking a final swing, emptying his second bottle for the night, "Let me see your phone."
"Why?"
James sighed before reaching into her pocket and taking it out, along with taking out her wallet from her back pocket.
"What are you doing?" Vanessa said with confusion.
Before she knew it, James had lifted her up, saddling her in his arms like a baby as he approached the pool.
"Oh my god!"
"Incoming!" James yelled as with a single swing, he threw Vanessa into the pool.
She landed right in front of Tyler before she came up in a panic. Tyler grabbed at her, unsure if she knew how to swim.
"Just wrap yourself around me," he said as he tried to hold back his laugh.
"I'm fine," she stood up inside the pool, wiping her face, "Thanks, though."
"Not for nothing," Tyler got closer to her, "You're the only one here who can actually do that and not have makeup smeared all over your face."
"Thanks," she laughed awkwardly before turning around and facing James who was besides himself with laughter, "Fuck you!"
"I love you too, sis."
....
"You're not getting into my car soaked."
"What do you want me to do?" James shrugged as he stood outside in the driveway, unable to open the passenger side door.
"I don't know," Vanessa said plainly, "Figure it out."
"I get you your first kiss and this is how you treat me?"
"It wasn't my first kiss," she said, trying not to smile, "I don't want my seat to be soaking wet and then by the time we get home, it'll probably be in the morning and I'll need to go to work and I don't want my car stinking."
"I told you to let us spend the night," James shook his head, "You and Tyler could, you know."
"Fuck you," she flipped him off, "Go change!"
James sighed before turning around and walking back inside the house. The midnight sky was now getting some color which created the perfect backdrop for the glassed-wall living room. A scatter of teenage bodies were sprawled on the couches, some with phones emitting light above their faces.
"You got any clothes?"
"You're not about to stretch my shit out anymore," Iman responded.
"Tiny little bitch," James scoffed, "Where's your shadow?"
"She's getting changed."
"Which is what I'm trying to do but your bitch ass ain't helping me."
"I got you," Jalen said from across the room. James turned around, unaware that he was still awake.
Jalen got up and headed downstairs which James followed suit. They headed all the way towards the floor with the set of guest rooms before walking into one which had a few bags inside.
"Appreciate it," James said as he waited behind Jalen who went through one of the bags before pulling out a few shirts and shorts.
"I'm about to crash," Jalen said as he took a seat on the bed, "That's me politely asking your to change elsewhere."
"You got funny," James with a laugh before dapping Jalen up.
"My fault about that whole thing with Iman," Jalen said as James made his way to the door, "I know that's your boy and all."
"Don't sweat it," James waved him off before closing the door behind him.
He walked down a few steps before opening the door into another one of the guest rooms. This one was a little bit more spacious and had two twin beds. James took his clothes off and changed out of them, smiling to himself as he donned a blue, UCLA shirt that was clearly part of some swag bag that Jalen had received.
James was startled by the sound of a woman screaming. He jumped before turning around to see Lexie scrambling to cover herself up with the towel that she had dropped.
"Holy fuck," she took a deep breath, "You scared the shit out of me!"
"You scared me!"
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm fucking changing," James was now able to laugh about the situation, "The room looked empty."
"Empty?" Lexie walked over and picked up the purse that was laid down a the feet of one of the beds which James hadn't noticed.
"I didn't see that little ass bag," James shrugged, "I'm surprised everyone hasn't barged down here after that loud ass yell with Iman leading the charge, fists swinging."
"Yeah," Lexie scoffed, "Iman, the real tough guy."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it means."
"No, I don't. I wouldn't ask you if I did," James shook his head.
"You saw that little fake stunt he pulled upstairs. He wasn't going to do shit."
"I'm not getting into this," James let out a dry chuckle, "Sounds like some built up, relationship shit that ain't my business."
"I've dated some soft dudes," Lexie didn't heed to James' request, "Look around, it's the fucking Hills but Iman easily takes the cake."
"Iman's not soft," James defended his friend, "He's just not a fucking jock, a fucking meathead like us."
"He doesn't even be wanting to fuck."
"Be glad he's not fucking around on you," James interrupted her, "Trust me, he could clean up at Poly if he wanted to so stop looking a gift-horse in the fucking mouth."
"His dick doesn't even get hard half the time," she got closer to him, "Even when it does, it doesn't stay hard for very long and it's not even that hard. Not like yours."
Lexie reached at James crotch, grabbing his penis before he was able to pull away.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm just saying," she plopped herself down on the bed which caused the towel to drop, "He's not fucking me, not the way I like to be fucked, the way you fucked me. Shit, he fucked me pretty good that night with you. I'd settle for that again but he's not going to be down for it and I'm not going to up my body count by fucking another nigga."
"You're a whore," James spat at her before grabbing his wet clothes and making a go for the door.
"I know you think about it!" she screamed out before the sound of the door slamming brought the room to a silent pitch.
James briefly looked up before resting his head back on the dashboard. He lightly tapped his head against it a few more times before taking a deep breath and sitting up, "It's fine, it's fine. I'll be fine."
"My brother got his back and he got a 1640. You just need at least 700, right?"
"Verbal and math," James sighed, "What did he get in those?"
"Probably in the 800s," Vanessa shrugged, "We really focused on those and you were doing better on the math so you should be fine."
"When the fuck did he take it?"
"November," she answered, "It was after one of y'all game, his ass almost didn't wake up for it."
"Let me guess. You dragged his ass out here today, too?"
"You'll be thanking me," she said as she exited the highway, "I want a shout-out on Wednesday."
"I don't know about all that," James laughed, "Speaking of repayment though. Once I get these scores back and actually get into Fresno, I'm going to let it slip to Tyler that you helped me."
"We're in February," Vanessa shook her head, "I'm not buying your whole wait until the last minute approach."
"Fair enough," James shrugged, "You're going to need to leave the library and attend like an actual party. With alcohol....and drugs....and pre-marital sex, Vanessa."
"I'm not that much of a prude," she groaned, "I'm just not a nasty man like you."
"Say less," James smiled, "We're going on a road-trip tonight."
....
The house seemed a lot smaller this time around as Vanessa's car pulled up to the front of the house. There were a lot less cars parked out front with James quickly being able to pick out Iman's car. The duo appeared to be fashionably late as loud noises were already emitting from the house.
Vanessa parked the car and sat around for a while, keeping her head in her phone.
"You're not texting anyone," James pulled her phone and opened the door, motioning for her to do the same.
"We just spent almost two fucking hours in a car," Vanessa got up and spat at James as they walked to the door, "I have responsibilities so I need to check my phone, email."
"You're eighteen," James scoffed as he finally handed her phone back, "Stop acting like you're some 32-year old store manager."
"I actually am a store manager," she corrected him as she took a deep breath and adjusted her dress, "And I'm actually sixteen."
"Aren't you a senior?"
"Skipped a grade or two," she said with a sly smile as the door opened.
"Jamie!"
"It's James," James forced a smile, walking right pass Jessica's attempt at an hug.
The living room was viewable now and the decadence was all around with two TV screens that were well above 60 inches, a water-fall, a fire-placed and several almost life-size art pieces littered and surrounded the set of couches that everyone was sitting on. On the couches were similar faces in Skylar, Gia and Cassie from the previous party with Lexie sitting all over Iman's lap -- literally -- while Tyler just hung around in the corner.
"I'm Vanessa," James turned around to see Vanessa ensnared in Jessica's trap of a hug.
"Jimmy Boy!" Iman yelled, not bothering to even try getting up from Lexie's hefty legs.
"You finally came out," Skylar smiled, "I've been asking Iman here to bring you next time for like the last two months."
"Iman is more incentivized to make the trek out here than I am," James said with a coy smile directed at Lexie.
"That's your fault," Skylar responded in kind, "A lot of good things were supposed to happen last time."
"If I remember correctly," James tapped his index finger on his lips, "You were the one that couldn't hang and ruined it all."
"She just wants your weed," Cassie scoffed, "Did you bring any? We have that shitty shit up here."
"That was very direct," James took a seat before pulling out four, pre-rolled blunts.
"Manners!" Jessica exclaimed as she pointed towards Vanessa who had just been standing awkwardly behind James, "Everyone, this is Vanessa."
The group went around introducing themselves to her, some throwing in a half-hearted compliment on her dress, hair or skin tone. James focused on getting the blunts lit up and starting the rotation.
"Tyler," Tyler raised her hand, "You go to our school, right?"
"Yes, she replied softly.
"She's not with me," James looked up, "So she's fair game, boys."
Vanessa laughed awkwardly before shooting James a harsh look. While she did want it to be made clear that her and James weren't a thing, she also didn't want to be put out like a whore for bidding.
"What's up?"
James turned around to see a deep, familiar voice that he had not heard from in a while. Coming out of the bathroom was Jalen, donning Cuban links that were resting on his black tee along with a few other gold pieces. A short-haired, brown-skinned girl also came out of the bathroom a few moments later, not even bothering to try to hide their previous endeavor as she was out of breath.
"Surprise," teased Iman as he took a sip of his drink before Lexie ate his face once more.
"Just hanging," James dapped Jalen up as casually as possible, "Your fly is open."
He quickly looked down before realizing that James was messing with him, "I forgot how funny you were."
"I forgot how handsome you were," James teased him, making a playful grab at his crotch area which Jalen quickly blocked, "How's he packing?"
The short-haired girl looked in amazement as she sat down, making a small wave towards Vanessa.
"I gave Iman the same speech months ago and I gave it to Tyler too," Jalen's face changed, "I really, really wished I handled the whole transferring things better. I just...things got caught up in the air and then it felt weird to double back and then talk to y'all."
"I got to start," James shrugged with a small laugh, "No problem, little bro. I'm just saying, though, you could have stayed here and got smoked in the quarterfinals too."
"We didn't get smoked," Jalen protested.
"31 points is getting smoked," Tyler added.
"Y'all got smoked and fucked," Jalen fired back, "J.T. made y'all boys look silly, man."
"Go suck his dick then," Iman was able to separate from Lexie's lips long enough to get a few words out. The football talk had sent the other girls into their own little circle as they started their own conversation but Lexie stood by her man while Vanessa just lingered around James.
"He can carry his nuts at SC," James quipped.
"You ain't hear?" Tyler sat up, "This motherfucker's going out to the Artic."
"Columbus isn't even that cold," Jalen shook his head.
"What happened to SC and UCLA?" James asked, taking a puff of the blunt that had made his way back to him before passing it to Vanessa who declined.
"I like Chip but they're still a dumpster fire so fuck that and I'm not sitting two, three seasons behind J.T."
"Only losers sit on the bench for three seasons," Tyler teased before James fired a bunch of playful punches towards his ribs section, "Fuck you."
"Speaking of bench warmers," James got back to his seat and was soon passed yet another blunt, "Where's Noah's bitch ass?"
"He's going to IMG," Jalen shook his head.
"For real?" James was shocked as were Tyler and Iman.
"His uncle apparently is friends with some admin over there and got him admitted," Jalen shrugged, "He hasn't even told the coaching staff, yet."
"What a snake," Tyler sucked his teeth.
"Jalen did the same shit," James replied, causing an awkward silence to fall, "Y'all did!"
"Fake news," Jalen held his finger up, "I told coach Butler two weeks before and he just wouldn't accept the answer. Same thing with Jason, I don't know about Leon and Noah but I kept telling coach, he just wouldn't take the answer."
"You ain't tell us," Iman correctly pointed out.
"Enough of this," Lexie said, feeling the tension, "Y'all fucking up my high."
"I thought y'all said we was good," Jalen stood up, "I'm not going to keep going back and forth about this shit."
"No one's asking you," James kept his demeanor calm, "We're....I'm just saying that you did the same shit Noah is doing now."
"It's not the same," Jalen shot right back, "We're an actual good team with a chance at winning state and he's running away from competition. I wasn't running away from shit."
"Maybe you need an all-star cast to win games," James shrugged as he looked up towards Jalen who seemed to have found his voice and his balls since moving, "I won nine games with a corner at running back and a safety at receiver. You won ten games with like ten Power-5 scholarship athletes on offense."
"Weak ass league," Jalen waved his hand.
"Shut the fuck up," Lexie groaned, "Y'all can get so annoying."
"Shut your fat ass up."
Iman stood up aggressively but Tyler quickly stepped in, placing his hand on his chest and creating a physical barrier between the two. Realizing that the lanky Tyler wasn't going to get the job done, James begrudgingly got up and got in the middle as well. The other girls were now engaged as they walked back over to the action, creating a circle around Tyler, Iman, Lexie, Jalen, James and Vanessa.
"Take that 'hood-rat' shit somewhere else," Gia scoffed, "We're just trying to get lit tonight."
"Everyone's good," James said, raising his voice, "Just a little too much testosterone."
"Let's get into the pool!" Jessica exclaimed, almost completely unaware of what had just transpired.
....
"I have some suits upstairs."
"I doubt they'll fit," snickered one of the dark-haired girls as Lexie shot them a middle-finger.
The night had went on and James' ability to pick them out -- similar to his previous trip to the Hills -- had went awry, right along with his sobriety. There was a loaded bar alongside the pool deck where James had eagerly indulged himself while the girls changed into their swimsuits and the guys awkwardly waited around as Iman and Jalen gave each other the death stare.
The girls -- whatever their names were at this point -- were all in the pool except for Lexie and Vanessa. Tyler and Jalen had also joined with Iman keeping his girlfriend company on the outside while James would rotate in and out between the bar and the pool.
"Get me something," Skylar said, running her finger against James' leg as he walked towards the edge of the pool and got out, "Something dark and strong."
"Iman's taken," James joked, "Jalen looks pretty busy with your girl Gia over there and I wouldn't call him dark and strong either."
"That's Cassie," she corrected him, "What about your boy Tyler then?"
"Off limits," James smiled as he was now completely out of the pool, "Rum and coke fine?"
Skylar gave James a thumbs-up, sending him waddling to the pool as the temperatures outside the pool were considerably lower. It was deep into the night, perhaps even wee-hours of the next morning, and a chilly evening had came and went but the chilly part stayed. James shot Vanessa a look to make sure that she was still doing okay but instead of just nodding back, she joined him at the bar.
"Having fun?"
"The whole point of this," she took the bottle of Flor de Cana from him, "Was for you to set me up with Tyler, I don't know, a fucking lob like you like to call it. Not get shit-faced."
"First," James grabbed it back, "Every time you come next to me and start talking really intensely after being a mute all night, people assume we're an item. Secondly, the point of this was for me to get shit-faced and most importantly, I can't make a horse drink the water, I can only bring it to it."
"That's not how the saying goes."
"You know what?" James put the bottle down but not before taking a final swing, emptying his second bottle for the night, "Let me see your phone."
"Why?"
James sighed before reaching into her pocket and taking it out, along with taking out her wallet from her back pocket.
"What are you doing?" Vanessa said with confusion.
Before she knew it, James had lifted her up, saddling her in his arms like a baby as he approached the pool.
"Oh my god!"
"Incoming!" James yelled as with a single swing, he threw Vanessa into the pool.
She landed right in front of Tyler before she came up in a panic. Tyler grabbed at her, unsure if she knew how to swim.
"Just wrap yourself around me," he said as he tried to hold back his laugh.
"I'm fine," she stood up inside the pool, wiping her face, "Thanks, though."
"Not for nothing," Tyler got closer to her, "You're the only one here who can actually do that and not have makeup smeared all over your face."
"Thanks," she laughed awkwardly before turning around and facing James who was besides himself with laughter, "Fuck you!"
"I love you too, sis."
....
"You're not getting into my car soaked."
"What do you want me to do?" James shrugged as he stood outside in the driveway, unable to open the passenger side door.
"I don't know," Vanessa said plainly, "Figure it out."
"I get you your first kiss and this is how you treat me?"
"It wasn't my first kiss," she said, trying not to smile, "I don't want my seat to be soaking wet and then by the time we get home, it'll probably be in the morning and I'll need to go to work and I don't want my car stinking."
"I told you to let us spend the night," James shook his head, "You and Tyler could, you know."
"Fuck you," she flipped him off, "Go change!"
James sighed before turning around and walking back inside the house. The midnight sky was now getting some color which created the perfect backdrop for the glassed-wall living room. A scatter of teenage bodies were sprawled on the couches, some with phones emitting light above their faces.
"You got any clothes?"
"You're not about to stretch my shit out anymore," Iman responded.
"Tiny little bitch," James scoffed, "Where's your shadow?"
"She's getting changed."
"Which is what I'm trying to do but your bitch ass ain't helping me."
"I got you," Jalen said from across the room. James turned around, unaware that he was still awake.
Jalen got up and headed downstairs which James followed suit. They headed all the way towards the floor with the set of guest rooms before walking into one which had a few bags inside.
"Appreciate it," James said as he waited behind Jalen who went through one of the bags before pulling out a few shirts and shorts.
"I'm about to crash," Jalen said as he took a seat on the bed, "That's me politely asking your to change elsewhere."
"You got funny," James with a laugh before dapping Jalen up.
"My fault about that whole thing with Iman," Jalen said as James made his way to the door, "I know that's your boy and all."
"Don't sweat it," James waved him off before closing the door behind him.
He walked down a few steps before opening the door into another one of the guest rooms. This one was a little bit more spacious and had two twin beds. James took his clothes off and changed out of them, smiling to himself as he donned a blue, UCLA shirt that was clearly part of some swag bag that Jalen had received.
James was startled by the sound of a woman screaming. He jumped before turning around to see Lexie scrambling to cover herself up with the towel that she had dropped.
"Holy fuck," she took a deep breath, "You scared the shit out of me!"
"You scared me!"
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm fucking changing," James was now able to laugh about the situation, "The room looked empty."
"Empty?" Lexie walked over and picked up the purse that was laid down a the feet of one of the beds which James hadn't noticed.
"I didn't see that little ass bag," James shrugged, "I'm surprised everyone hasn't barged down here after that loud ass yell with Iman leading the charge, fists swinging."
"Yeah," Lexie scoffed, "Iman, the real tough guy."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it means."
"No, I don't. I wouldn't ask you if I did," James shook his head.
"You saw that little fake stunt he pulled upstairs. He wasn't going to do shit."
"I'm not getting into this," James let out a dry chuckle, "Sounds like some built up, relationship shit that ain't my business."
"I've dated some soft dudes," Lexie didn't heed to James' request, "Look around, it's the fucking Hills but Iman easily takes the cake."
"Iman's not soft," James defended his friend, "He's just not a fucking jock, a fucking meathead like us."
"He doesn't even be wanting to fuck."
"Be glad he's not fucking around on you," James interrupted her, "Trust me, he could clean up at Poly if he wanted to so stop looking a gift-horse in the fucking mouth."
"His dick doesn't even get hard half the time," she got closer to him, "Even when it does, it doesn't stay hard for very long and it's not even that hard. Not like yours."
Lexie reached at James crotch, grabbing his penis before he was able to pull away.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm just saying," she plopped herself down on the bed which caused the towel to drop, "He's not fucking me, not the way I like to be fucked, the way you fucked me. Shit, he fucked me pretty good that night with you. I'd settle for that again but he's not going to be down for it and I'm not going to up my body count by fucking another nigga."
"You're a whore," James spat at her before grabbing his wet clothes and making a go for the door.
"I know you think about it!" she screamed out before the sound of the door slamming brought the room to a silent pitch.