Anything For A Friend

Chapter 3 - The Fourth of July Picnic

Rhiannon

My parents loved to have Fourth of July parties. I remember the party they threw when I was twenty-five. I invited my friends Kelsey, Katie, and Jocelyn to the party that year.

It was particularly hot that day, the kind of day that feels like each breath you take is saturated with moisture. It was one of those days when a thunderstorm can erupt almost out of nowhere. The sun was trying to shine through the haze, though, and it was holding its own.

My parents were barbecuing, and my friends and I had been swimming the majority of the day. It was hard to imagine leaving the comfort of the cool, clear water. The smell of the hot dogs and hamburgers grilling were enough to eventually convince us to leave our cool spot.

Somewhere around lunchtime, my brother Joey and his friends pulled up in two cars in front of my parents' house. He was seventeen, and would be a high school senior that fall. Accompanying him were Brent, Jake, and Max. They seemed to be examining something on Joey's truck.

I hadn't seen any of those guys for quite some time. They were turning into young men now, and I couldn't help but try to catch a better glance at Max. After all, he had crushed on me for long enough. I was curious to see what kind of man he was turning into. He was sixteen now, a year younger than Joey.

"Who is that?" Jocelyn exclaimed, looking toward the teenagers. Jocelyn was twenty-five, but thought she was eighteen. She swore that every young boy was looking at her. She was somewhat pretty, with short brunette hair and coal black eyes. She stood about five foot three, and was extremely thin. It was rumored that she had an eating disorder in middle school, but I didn't know what to think. Her shape was boxlike. I really didn't see where many guys found her attractive, unless they were into waifs.

"That tall one is my little brother, Joey. You've met him before. The pudgy one is Jake, the short skinny one is Brent, and the other one is Max," I explained.

"Max?" Kelsey squealed, almost loud enough for the guys to hear. "Your Max?" She asked.

"He's not my Max, but yeah. He's the little guy that liked me," I answered.

"Little?" Katie said, "There is nothing little about him!" she giggled.

I looked at him. It was true. He was turning into a stud. He had jet black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a nice, tight butt. His arms looked strong, yet not overly muscled. He was gorgeous. He turned around as I was admiring his young adult physique, and looked right at me. He quickly shifted his gaze to somewhere beyond me, like he did when he was little. He might look confident on the outside, I thought, but he's still that same insecure kid on the inside.

"He looked at me. That hot one looked at me!" Jocelyn practically screamed. Really, I thought silently. I could have sworn he was looking at me. Maybe he did look at her. Maybe it was after he looked at me. Maybe he likes waifs now, I thought. Maybe his crush on me has disappeared, I thought disappointedly.

What was I thinking? Sure, it was nice to be admired, but it wasn't the end of the world. Nothing was ever going to come out of Max's crush on me. I think I just figured he'd replace me with a girl his own age, and not someone like Jocelyn.

If he wanted a cougar, I wanted the job. I wouldn't have been jealous of a young girl diverting his attention away from me (at least I didn't think so), but Jocelyn? Ick.

That day, she was wearing a tankini. She couldn't pull off a regular bikini. She didn't have the boobs to fill out the top. Of course, she was not wearing any type of cover up. She claimed it ruined her tan. The rest of us were wearing cover ups.

She walked from the picnic table to the side yard, where the guys were. I'm not sure what she said. She twirled her hair a lot, and I'm sure she batted her eyelashes. She was sporting her new violet contacts, too. She was talking to all of them, but seemed to be focused mostly on Max. He wasn't even eighteen!