Young Lust

31 - Welcome To The Jungle

Kirsten had given up on trying to get Erin down from the table. Still dancing, now to Welcome To The Jungle by Guns 'N' Roses, Erin was downing her vodka drink rather quickly.

"Wow," I heard the guy next to me chortle, "she is so fucked up!"

"Take 'em off!" Some jerk behind me started yelling out to Erin. Soon enough, a group caught on chanting "take 'em off!" and suddenly, I was listening to almost the entire room telling Erin to take her clothes off.

Erin was listening too. She quickly finished her drink, crushing the empty can and throwing it into the crowd. She slipped the blue top off her shoulders and launched it at Kirsten's head. Kirsten threw it on the floor and stormed out.

I noticed that Steven had left his doorframe, then I saw that he'd gotten closer to Erin. Too close. He was standing at the table, wolf whistling at her. My cheeks burned up and I finally tried to get out of the room.

I got about halfway through the flock of gawkers when I saw Joey and Brad come in from the other room and join Steven.

As I pushed through everybody, a number of horrified gasps and squeals came from the people closest to the table. Before Erin had managed to remove her bra, she projectile vomited all over Brad, Joey, a few girls, Johnny, and Steven. Honestly, I would have laughed at the event because of his accusations, but I was still angry, thanks to said accusations.

Everyone was now yelling disgusted slanders at Erin, who looked like she was going to pass out. I left the scene behind me and accidentally crashed into Joe.

"What the actual fuck is happening in there?" Joe was on his way to investigate.

As soon as I looked at him, the seal broke and out fell a stream of tears.

"Whoa, wh- what happened?" Joe sounded like he'd never dealt with a crying girl before. He awkwardly put his hand on my shoulder and bent down a little to make eye contact.

"Were you aware," I managed between sobs, "that you and I have been sneaking around together?"

Joe looked at me, void of expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Apparently, Steven knows about everything that we've been up to!" I brushed his hand away and rushed off to inform Tom of our fabled activities.

"Hold on a second," Joe said as he caught up and got in front of me, "start at the beginning."

I didn't answer, just ended up finding Tom, pulling him behind me by the arm, and went out the front door of the house.

Tom and Joe exchanged confused glances before looking at me to hear what I had to say. I filled the two in on the conversation from earlier.

Tom just frowned the entire time and kept shaking his head, while Joe's facial expression said that he was tired of Steven's shit.

"Right," Tom chuckled, "because you're the type of person who'd cheat, and we're the type of people who'd go after our friend's girl. Let alone Steven's girl."

Again, I was lost for words. I spied Steven through the front window. He was wearing a different shirt - Johnny must have let him borrow it after getting cleaned up. Steven glanced outside and did a double take when he saw us standing there together. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning away.

"I'm going." I announced my leave abruptly and turned on my heel.

"Wait!" Tom reached out to me. "Shouldn't we sort this out now?"

"He accused me of cheating on him without even hearing me say that I didn't."

I turned again and kept walking.

I knew this would end badly. I don't even know why I said yes to him. I kicked a stone along the dark road. Wait... Erin told Steven about Mitch and I... Maybe... Maybe she started this rumour, too...

"Man, you walk fast!" Tom puffed as he caught up to me. "You on a mission or something?"

"Yeah, a mission to get home." I kicked the little rock too far to the left, so I abandoned it. "Has this town ever heard of street lights?"

"Probably not," Tom sighed. "You okay?"

I stopped in my tracks and faced Tom. After opening my mouth to speak, I paused. "Actually, you know what? Yes. It was only a matter of time before Steven and I would break up, right?"

"Uh..." Tom looked somewhat surprised at my answer. "I suppose?"

"Exactly. It was just a stupid high school relationship, right?"

"Um..." Tom answered with a scratch behind the head, not unlike Steven.

I glanced down at the road beneath our shoes. It was very quiet down this street, making me wonder how far from Johnny's house we'd ended up.

"So, that's it then?" Tom asked cautiously.

I huffed, I shrugged, then I hit my hands to the sides of my thighs. "I guess that's it."

Without hesitation Tom swept in close to me. He wove his hand through the back of my turquoise hair and pulled me towards him, other hand around my waist. Before I knew what had hit me, Tom's lips were upon mine.

My arms were limp at the sides of my body for the short length of Tom's kiss. I didn't even have time to react before he broke it off. I looked up at him, surprised.

"Wow." I didn't know what else to say.

Tom looked almost crushed at my lack of reaction. He stepped back and looked at the ground.

"Sorry, I... I wasn't expecting that." I explained quietly.

"I've been wanting to do that for ages," Tom said, even quieter, with a little grin. It seemed like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

The street light to my right flickered. I could feel a smile forming on my own face, and soon I was giggling for no apparent reason.

"Wait," I said between giggles, "didn't you say earlier that you're not the type to go after your friend's girl?"

"If you recall correctly," Tom started with a toothy grin, "I said something along the lines of "we're the type of people who'd go after our friend's girl". And it may have sounded like sarcasm. But, Jade, it was not."