The Twenty Year Triangle

Chapter Nine

Late fall 1999 

Tonight, is the night of my first party and I'm a little nervous, it's at a junior's house, Wade, a guy Brandi has been seeing for a few weeks. I'd feel better if Olly or Hunter were here, but Olly wouldn't want to go to a party, and Hunter's lame girlfriend Mary Beth warned me about going so no way was I going to tell him about it.

As Brandi and I walk up to Wade's door, I'm nervous; my heart is all fluttery, and my palms are sweating. I went with a casual look in a pair of jeans and borrowed one of Brandi's fitted tee shirts; it's short and shows a little of my belly. I wear a cardigan over it left unbuttoned, as Brandi insisted, but I'm starting to button it as we walk to the door.

Brandi is wearing low-rise jeans with a big brown belt, they flare at the bottom, and she's wearing a pair of brown boots. With it she has on a tiny red baby tee that shows off a lot of her flat stomach.

When we reach the door, it opens as a guy and a girl come out, holding cigarettes. He lights hers and then his all casually, and Brandi and I walk right into the big puff of smoke as we reach the door. Good thing I'm sleeping at her house. Mama would kill me if I came home smelling like smoke.

"Kinsey don't be nervous!" Brandi whispers loudly as she pushes the door open, and I follow her.

We walk right into a kitchen, a big one, I start to kick my shoes off, but Brandi stops me; I glance down at the stained green linoleum and wisely keep them on. They have the same metal square table as Hunter's mom, and a handful of guys are sitting around it, including Wade. I glance towards the adjoining living room and see more teenagers sitting on the couches, and some standing around. Everyone is just... talking; I thought it'd be like a school dance or something.

Wade looks up with a smile as he sees Brandi. It's one of those big white toothpaste smiles, he's got sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, Brandi thinks he's a hottie. I think he's alright, he pales in comparison to some of the guys in our class, in my opinion. I wouldn't dare tell Brandi that though.

"Hey baby girl, come on over here," he drawls out, making Brandi giggle. I stand there awkwardly as she goes and places herself on his lap.

"Cory, be a gentleman and give Kinsey your seat," Wade pushes at the guy next to him, a tall, slightly stocky kid with black hair.

"My apologies," Cory flashes me a cute smile as he gets up, making a show of holding the chair out for me. "Nice to meet you, Kinsey."

"You too," I offer a nervous smile.

Brandi sets her purse down on the table and pulls her Polaroid camera out, she got it for her fifteenth birthday and it's fun. It spits the picture out right away, and in a few minutes, you can see it.

Wade pics it up and snaps a photo of me, as Cory comes up behind me and yells, "boo!" I yelp and nearly leap off my chair.

"Ha! That one will be great," Wade laughs as the photo spits out. "Make these girls some drinks, Cory."

I find myself as tongue-tied as I used to get when Olly and I were twelve and thirteen, hiding from the bullies. I know I shouldn't drink and don't want to, but if I say no, they'll surely make fun of me. It's been so nice since Brandi took me in, and people stopped picking on me. The fear of it all coming back is big for me. I've even had nightmares about it.

Brandi told me on the way here that if I only have one or two, it'll just relax me and just make me feel more confident. Right now, I could sure use that.

"Whatcha' making us?" Brandi asks, she shoots me a, be cool, look, and I smile at her, doing my best to ignore my racing heart.

"So'Co and coke, it's good." Cory puts a tall glass in front of each of us. Brandi takes a big slurp of it, and Wade looks amused as her face puckers.