uncool, stanley barber

10

10 - not even mosquito repellent could keep me away

it was..surprising. yeah sure, i'd touched myself before, but nothing could compare to that feeling. i understand the big deal now.

it's seen as a romantic gesture. when you're both so close with each other, it just happens naturally. and i spose it did.

stan kept asking if i was okay and if everything was right. to put it short, we were both virgins and it seemed off at first, but then stanley grew confident and everything fell into place.

i wake up, lying on stanley's bare chest. he's not asleep, he's watching me snooze peacefully. "mornin'" he grins down at me.

i freak out to see if i'm naked, but i'm in one of his printed t shirts and i've got my frilly pink pants on. "good morning" i snuggle closer to him as i feel the arm, i didn't realise he had on me, hold me tight.

"last night was, pretty good" he smirked, pushing back his curls and drawing shapes into my hip with his finger.

"we'll get better" i sigh against the small amount of chest hair he's got.

"oh, we will? nice" he laughs. "i thought you'd be put off me for life."

i rest my face on my hands and gaze at him. "not even mosquito repellent could keep me away."

"what're you saying?" he chuckles, brushing my brown locks back. "are you saying i'm a mosquito?"

"well," i show him my collar bone "you did bite me." the hickey glares at him in the face, but stanley only smirkes at his marking.

"it's a bit of stanley lovin'" he says to which i scoff and get up. "wanna get high?"

"it's 8:30 in the morning" i laugh as i stretch out my arms. while yawning, i smell my unbrushed teeth and think of mixing weed into the scent, gross.

suddenly, stanley's hands are on my waist as he whispers into my ear, "i hope you had a good birthday."

"i did" i mumble back, turning around and pecking his lips. he lengthens the kiss and snogs me good and hard. "come on, stan" i pull away "let's get ready for school."

3rd period was gym. so, i replace stanley's printed shirt that i'm borrowing with the grey sweats. and black, booty shorts, apparently.

as we run by where the boys are kicking footballs, i get catcalled and wolf whistled. these fucking shorts.

"so, what did stan get you?" dina asks as we're running side by side on the track.

"a scrapbook" i say to which she looks at me and hugs my side.

"what?! that sounds like..serious. are you two like boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asks. i stop and think as syd, beside her, stops to catch her breath.

"he hasn't asked me. and i don't call him my boyfriend so i guess, no" i say as the two girls look deflated if the same knowledge they knew yesterday. "but, we kinda. did it."

their faces drop as they jump around. syd tries her best efforts to match dina's enthusiasm. "YOU FUCKED STANLEY BARBER!"

"sure, shout it from the fucking rooftops" i let out a light laugh.

"you gave him your p card?" dina asks, with a question i look. she doesn't know stanley as well as i do and i get it, she's being cautious.

i smirk at them, "he gave me his."

they both awe at me as we continue the rest of the lap before showering and changing. the girl's locker room is always a great place to gossip, but syd was more occupied in dina's plans.

"isnt the pep rally for people like?" she asks dina, a little bit of judgement in her voice. looks at me and gestures slightly. "pep."

"i know it's stupid, but it's a pretty big game, you know?" dina says as she fishes for bradley's letterman jacket.

"that jacket" syd stares at it with envy.

"he's never given his jacket to anyone before" dina defends him. i can tell she's frustrated with syd's attitude.

"it's sweet" i chime in, supporting dina. i know that's all she wants right now, a bit of support and approval from her friends.

"thanks" dina nudges me in the shoulder. "come on, let's go."

stan takes us to work as today i'm polishing bowling balls and stanley's disinfecting the shoes. the atmosphere around us is excitable and fresh.

"oh, the honeymoon phase" gladys sighs as she watches us both. "i remember it, best time of your life with the one you love."

love. we haven't even put labels on ourselves, let alone love. i begin to polish the balls faster when syd walks in at great pace.

"hey, i need your car" i hear her tell stanley. i feel guilty. stan gets used for his car.

"oh hey, syd" stan places the spray can onto the counter.

"not for long. maybe just like, an hour" she says. i know what's coming.

"are you kidding? my dad would murder me. he doesn't even know that i drive that piece of shit around" he scoffs.

stanley's car isn't a piece of shit. i can tell he loves it, so why's he talking so badly about it?

i focus on getting rid of any scratch on the marbled balls until i see syd storm out of the alley and stanley shout "gladys, i'm taking 20!"

he looks back at me before he goes and winks. it doesn't ease me at all. what if all this time, it's been syd?

nah, shut up ella. you know she's got a thing for dina. wait, what? that could actually make sense..