Into the Light

61

I thought we were done drinking. He poured himself a glass, then held it up in the air. "To ghosts of the past, making our future," he said, smiling at me. "Ha freakin ha," I replied, rolling my eyes with a grin, and tapped my glass against his. I took a sip and let the sparkly beverage sit on my tongue for a second before I swallowed it. It was very sweet with the fruit flavor mixed in, but it was delicious. I looked at the burger and fries in front of me and giggled. "What is it?" he asked, putting his flute down and digging into whatever that was in front of him. "I'm having champagne with a burger and fries. I don't think this is how it's supposed to work," I giggled in response. He chuckled and shrugged. "You can make champagne go with anything, if you try hard enough. Besides, I thought we should celebrate." "What are we celebrating?" I asked, taking another sip of the fruit drink. "Us. You. Being here. Alive. The start of your new life, I guess," he replied. I smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "The start of my new life," I whispered, and sat back. "I couldn't be happier than I am right now." We continued eating and talking for a while longer. I was looking through the desserts when I heard laughter from outside the room. The door opened soon after, revealing Brennen and Corey. "Yeah man, thanks! And hey, don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" Brennen was yelling. "So, do everything," I heard Sam reply. "Got it." "Precisely," Brennen said, then laughed and walked inside with Corey behind him "How goes it, Lovebirds?" he asked, walking over to the food trays. "Looks like you guys got everything. Worked up and appetite, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows and Colby. "Bro, shut up. I have told you several times that it's not like that. Now, stop," Colby demanded. "Okay, damn. Was just having a little fun. My bad," Brennen said, holding both hands up in surrender. "I don't understand it though," he continued, swiping a sushi roll from Colby's plate. "You're both obviously into each other. You're kind of dating, right? So, what's the big deal about having sex? We all do it." He sat down on the other bed, facing us, with curiosity. "Just drop it, Brennen," Colby growled. My face grew hot and uncomfortable, so I looked down at the dessert in front of me. If this was my decision, then why was I embarrassed about it? Why did I feel like I should be embarrassed? I was a 22 year old virgin. So what? "Because we don't all do it," I said, looking  up and catching Brennen's hazel green gaze. He looked confused and dipped his head back a little. "Huh? Wait..." His eyes widened and darted between Colby and I. "Drop it," Colby said again. "But she's a-" he said, looking at Colby. Then looked at me. "You're a...virgin?!" He whispered 'virgin' like it was some dire secret that no one could ever know about. I lifted my chin stubbornly. "Yes, and what about it? It's my choice. It doesn't affect anyone else and it's my body." "No, yeah, you're right," he said, nodding. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was just surprised. You never meet someone our age that's a virgin anymore." "Mphacts," Corey said, with a mouth full of food. Brennen was staring at Colby now, with a look that I didn't recognize. His brow was furrowed, but his eyes were wide. Colby caught me looking and shook his head slightly at Brennen. "Can we move on?" he asked, and pushed his plate away from him. "Yeah, yeah, sorry," Brennen said. He snagged the bottle of champagne and looked at the label. "Oh, nice! Don't mind if I do." He turned it up, and took a few swallows. "That's good stuff. What is that, like a $400 bottle?" I sucked in a breath, and choked on the heavenly lemon meringue that was in my mouth. "What?!" I wheezed out, coughing simultaneously. "Oh yeah, this stuff isn't cheap," Brennen replied, taking another huge gulp. "So, stop drinking all of it, if you know how much it costs, asshole," Colby said, reaching for it. Brennen laughed and passed it to him. "Colby, I-" I started, unable to believe that it had costed that much, just for something to drink. "Nope," he replied, cutting me off and giving me a hard look. "Don't even say it." I held my mouth open for a second, then shut it and glared at him. "Hmph," I breathed out. "Yo, what time is it?" Corey asked. "Uh," Brennen replied. "It's a little after 2. Almost the witching hour. Anyone wanna do a séance?" He laughed, but Colby and I both cried "NO" loudly. "What is with you two tonight?" he asked, looking at us like we should be institutionalized. "Nothing, man, just tired of dealing with all of the haunted shit for a while. It was a hard Halloween," Colby said, scooting down further into the mattress. "I'm getting tired though, so I think I'm going to try and rest. Can y'all keep it down?" "Do you want me to change your bandages again, first?" I asked, trying to peek at them. He looked down, and I saw that they were still clean. "No, I think they're okay," he said, then gave me a soft smile. "Gonna lay with me?" he added, holding the blanket up for me join him. I smiled and nodded. "I think I'll crash too. We're getting up early to head back home, ri-right?" Corey asked, yawning. "Yeah, we're supposed too," Brennen replied. "Guess I'll get laid down too." They both kicked their shoes off and climbed under the blankets, leaving all of the lights on. I shook my head. "Really, guys?" I asked. I sighed and got up to turn them off myself. When I reached the lamp in front of our bed, I heard Colby breath out "whoa." I turned back to see what was going on, and noticed Colby and Brennen staring at me. Corey had already buried his face into his pillow, with his mouth open. "What?" I asked, looking down at myself to see if there was something on me. Then I remembered the small ass shorts. "Oh...crap," I whispered, then looked back up. Colby turned his head sharply to Brennen. "BRO!" he said, loudly.