Hoodies and Visors

4: The Boys

Finally, the weekend! This week has felt so long. My first day on Monday seems like ages ago. I've met so many people since then and so many changes from St. Peter. I started talking to the girl next to me in World History, I don't want all of my friends to be guys. Don't get me wrong, guy friends are cool and all, but sometimes you just need to talk to another chick. Anyways, her name is Hannah and we've been snapping back and forth a lot. She was very surprised when I told her about my new found "friendship" with Tiki. Apparently, we are at very different ends of the spectrum. I kind of saw that with all the skipping and the super senior factor, though. She was filling me in about his reputation before I came and oh boy, not what I was expecting. Let's just say he is definitely commiting to the true American high school experience and then some. Except, he has started coming to school everyday, well only during the periods he has with me. He still skips the other ones. I've tried inviting him over to my house but he says he isn't ready to stay for dinner and talk to my mom for that long, how hard is meeting my mom honestly? Instead, we've just been talking and facetiming all the time now. He already texted me this morning, I just haven't replied yet, I'm too busy overthinking everything.
"Hey wanna go hangout with the boys over in Stewie?"
I don't know what Stewie is? Is it a local restaurant? Is it a town? I would, except I have homework that I was gonna do today. But on the other hand, I want to hang out more with Tiki, plus his friends seemed nice. Do I want my mom knowing that I'm hanging out again with Tiki instead of focusing on my school work like she wants me too? I mean, I'll have time to do my homework tomorrow. And I'm 18 now, how much say does my mom have on me? A lot, I already know that. I'm still going to ask her, I'm too much of a goody goody not to. I still don't know what Stewie is, should I ask or just roll with it? I'll ask, wait will he think I'm stupid that I don't know what Stewie is? No, I'm new to Rochester, I have an excuse.
"What is Stewie?" I type it out but still wait about a minute or so to send it, contemplating if I sound stupid or not. Finally, I send it, it's just a simple question really. I shouldn't overthink so much, jeez. He replies pretty fast for how long it took for me to respond.
"Stewartville, Austin lives there." Ohhh, one of my guesses was right, a town. Which one was Austin, the one with wings? I think so. Yeah, that could be fun. I get out of my bed and walk upstairs to ask my mom if I can go. Call me whatever, I'm still going to be a good child.
I find her and my dad in the dining room while they're eating breakfast. "Good morning, are we doing anything today?"
"I don't think we had anything planned. Dad and I will probably work on unpacking the basement or the rest of our room. Why?"
"Christian asked me if I could hangout with him." I tell them.
"Will his parents be home?" My dad asks. I knew that I should have said I was hanging out with Hannah.
"Yes, they'll be home. Don't worry." We're not even going to his house, but I bet his parents are at his house, so it's not a complete lie. I feel bad for lying, but it's a harmless one.
"Ehhh, I don't like the idea of you over at a boy's house-" My mom cuts in.
"Oh, Peter. She'll be fine. His parents will be home. You can go, Amanda."
"Yay, thank you, Mom." My dad is looking over at her, not believing she just did that to him. That's what you get Dad for being an old man. I grab a granola bar on the way downstairs as a quick breakfast and I text Tiki.
"Yea, sure. When are you picking me up?"
"I'm like 15 minutes away."
"Sick." Okay, 15 minutes to get ready, can't waste too much time. I wash my face, put on the same simple makeup as always. I change out of my joggers and sports bra that I slept in. Definitely not going to hangout with Tiki and the boys in just a sports bra, oh my god they would go crazy. I laugh thinking of how he reacted to my underwear box. I put on a basic outfit: red sweatshirt with black leggings. I even have a few minutes to spare before he gets here so I scroll through TikTok, which I just downloaded on Monday when I was with the boys getting pizza. I followed all of their accounts, even Tiki's. He wouldn't give me his username, but Aaron tags him in any TikTok he's in so it was very easy. I love their posts, they are so funny.
As I'm scrolling, I hear a truck pull into the driveway, must be him. I run upstairs and yell goodbye to my parents as I'm heading out the door. I hop into the shotgun seat.
"What's poppin?" Tiki says to me as I buckle my seat belt.
"Brand new whip, just hopped in." I finish the lyrics. He looks over at me.
"Is that a Champion sweatshirt I see?" He asks. I don't even know. I turn my wrist around to find the logo.
"Oh, yea. It is. Why?" He nods in approval that it is in fact Champion.
"Good shit then. Best clothing brand out there."
"Oh, okay." I don't know, I don't usually pay attention to the tag. "So, who's all gonna be there today?"
"Probably everyone you met on Monday. Y'know, Aaron, Zack, and Austin. Just a few people." He answers as he is pulling out of my driveway. He hands me his phone. "Here pick a few good songs."
"Um okay." I hope he likes the same music as me. I queue Monica Lewinsky, Drew Barrymore, Dead and Gone, and Hard Times. "How many songs, like just a few or enough for the entire drive?"
"Ehh, just do a few." Tiki says. "I'll decide if you have good enough taste to aux the whole way."
"What? Oh please, I obviously have the better taste in music." I try to fight back with him. I have no idea what kind of music he listens to. Monica Lewinsky starts with Bill Clinton's quote.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
"Ooo Monica Lewinsky, maybe you do have decent taste." He cranks up the volume. We both sing along together, straight vibing.
"Molly and that whiskey. That's Monica Lewinsky. Molly and that whiskey. That's Monica Lewinsky." We recite every word to each other until it ends.
The entire drive to Stewartville is basically just us jamming out, which was further away than I thought it would be. That's fine, that means more alone time with Tiki. We pull into what I'm assuming is Austin's driveway and there are at least six other cars parked in front.
"I thought you said it was just gonna be a few of us. Who are the other people?" I ask him.
"I don't know, he told me it was just gonna be our group." He starts pointing at the vehicles. "But that's Hunter's and Ryan's and Zac's. Not the Zack you know, this is a different Zac."
"There are two Zacks? This is going to make things harder. I barely know anyone here except for you. I mean, I only met Austin and Zack that one day and I only know Aaron through class basically." That is a lot of people for just a little gathering. What if they all hate me? I'm going to be the only girl too, great. Tiki tries to make me feel better.
"You'll be fine, you have to meet people somehow. Do you want to just go through your entire senior year only knowing me? I know I'm a pretty cool guy, but not that cool. Wow." He jokes a bit to make me smile. Surprise, it works. As if Tiki needs to try hard to get me to smile, I mean he is Tiki after all.
"Pfft don't be too flattered, I just haven't found anyone to replace you yet. Maybe that boy is in there right now." I shoot back at him, feeling better about all the people.
"Well then I guess we have to go inside and find that boy so I can beat the shit out of him." We laugh as we step out of his truck and walk towards the front door. We just walk right in without knocking and head down to a basement area where a bunch of guys are sitting around on couches and the floor. A few of them are just chilling without their shirts on, wack. They're all busy talking to each other, but that doesn't stop them from staring at me when we enter.
"What's poppin?" Tiki greets everyone.
"Oooo Tiki brought his girlfriend." A boy with long hair teases. My face turns bright red, great. I just smile at him, I don't know what to say to that. Should I correct him that we are not technically dating or just let it slide? Thankfully, Tiki pipes up so I don't have to say anything.
"She's not my girlfriend," he points to everyone around the room, "but that doesn't mean you can try anything okay? She's mine, lay off." Oh wow, protective Tiki is kind of hot, not gonna lie. It feels good when he calls me his.
"Well, you took long enough to bring her to meet us. An entire five days of you telling us every little detail of when you guys talk really didn't paint the picture for us." I can't believe that he talks about me, really? That's so sweet.
"Hey! I was just making sure." Tiki replies. He goes to sit down on an empty couch. I just follow him because I have no idea what I'm doing.
"Who are all of these people?" I whisper.
"Oh yea, you don't know everybody." He says louder than I want and he starts pointing at people. "Hunter, Zac, Ryan, Ty, Owen, Kaleb, Chandler." So the boy who called me Tiki's girlfriend is Zac, he'll be easy to remember with his long hair. Hunter is pretty tall so maybe that will help? Too many names, I have already forgotten all the other ones. Why are there so many people here?
Austin tosses Tiki a can of something and continues talking to everyone else. I look at the label, Bang. Like the energy drink? Why does he need energy right now, we're all just doing nothing? Do people just drink them like regular pop, just like all the time? He sees me looking at his can.
"Oh, you want one? Hey Austin, sauce me another one." He gives it to me, I open it and take my first sip. Not bad, okay, okay. I guess I should say something, though.
"Thanks...I've actually never had one before." I confess to Tiki. He just looks at me dumbfounded.
"Never? Like this is your first one?" He opens his mouth a few more times without saying anything. "I'm speechless. How have you never had one?"
"I don't know, I just usually drink water. I don't even drink pop that often." Austin must be listening in because he cuts in.
"Wait have you ever had a Red Bull? They're better than Bang." He asks me.
"No way, Bang is so much better, idiot." Tiki fights back and looks at me for my answer.
"No, should I have? Are they any good?" Austin just looks at me like Tiki did when I said that I've never had a Bang but multiplied by like 10. He quickly throws me another can from the stash next to him. The label says blueberry. By now a few of the other guys have overheard this new experience of mine since more eyes are on me now. I pop it open and try it. "Oof, no. Bang is better." I don't think Austin likes my answer based off of his face. I turn to Tiki. "Do you want to finish this for me? I don't need both drinks."
"Yea, sure. Gimme it." I hand it to him and he takes a sip. Wow, we're at the stage where we share drinks now, not complaining here. A couple of the guys start this game where they are in a push up position and then try to yank the other's arm out so they fall. Is this what boys do all the time? I get pressured into participating and now I'm going against who I think might be Ryan, but he definitely looks bigger and stronger than me. I don't have high hopes for me. Just like I thought, within the first few seconds he yanks my left arm out while my other one is trying to push him down. I fall right on my face in front of everyone, great.
"Oh c'mon, Amanda you can do better than that." Zack says. "Try it again but this time slap away his hand when he comes for your arm." I have to do this again? Oh god. I get back up in the pushup position and we start. I try to hit Ryan when he's attempting to get my arm, but he still makes me fall in about 15 seconds. Not bad, longer than the first. I don't want to be coaxed into another round with Ryan who can obviously beat me without trying, so I convince Tiki to go against me. Hopefully, he'll go easy on me. Not a chance, I'm down before I know it. I'm sure he wasn't trying as hard as he would against the guys, since there were moments when he was just laying there with one arm holding him up and not trying to push me down at all, but it's a lot harder said than done.
"Ugh, no. I'm done. I'm tired of falling on my face." I chuckle a little. "Someone else can have a go." I stand up and brush myself off while the guys laugh with me.
The rest of the day is just the boys goofing off, strong crackhead vibes coming from this group. Definitely not a boring day. There was a lot more fighting and wrestling. I was really surprised that guys just do this when hanging out, like what? Also, boys just hanging out without a shirt on. What is up with that? I'm not complaining, but it just blows my mind that they do that. The male brain just amazes me sometimes. I was really worried about there being so many of them and only one of me, but it seemed like they liked me. At least, I hope they liked me. I'm thinking all of this over in Tiki's truck as he drives me home, and it dawns on me that I can ask him.
"Hey, do you think they all liked me?" I question. "Do you think I was intruding?" Tiki looks over at me.
"Yea, I mean they fo sho don't hate you. Why would you think that you're intruding?" He tries to make me feel better.
"Oh, I don't know." I pause and then continue, "I just feel like I overthink everything. Are you sure they liked me? Do I care too much about this?" He glances between the road and me.
"Yes, they liked you." He says sincerely. "It's normal to overthink, you're good." He places his arm down on the center console between us.
"Okay, thank you, Tiki." I'm feeling better now, so I decide to do something. I put my hand down next to his and sneak mine into his. I start smiling and he just looks over at me. "Hey! Eyes on the road, I want to actually get home tonight."
"Pfft bullshit. You'll get there one way or another." I keep smiling like crazy, holding his hand as he drives to my house.
"How did you even meet Austin if he doesn't go to Century?" I ask him.
"Oh, he's Zack's cousin. They're pretty close, so he's around a lot."
"Wait, which Zack? The perm or the long hair?" Why does there have to be two Zacks, it makes life harder.
"The perm boy. His last name is Lilly." He answers.
"Ooo Lilly, that's a pretty last name. Definitely better than Thicke, not gonna lie." I joke.
"Hey, it is a very sophisticated last name. My ancestors survived through so many hardships to carry on this name, not just for you years later to shit on it."
"Wow, okay. Just saying." I laugh at his seriousness.
"Are we not even gonna talk about the shit name Tollefson? I mean, can you talk coming from where you are?" He tries to fight back.
"Oh please, what is wrong with Tollefson? Literally nothing." I argue with him.
"Well maybe that's it. It is such a boring ass name. Everyone who is a nobody has that last name."
I gasp at his comment. "Wow, are you really calling me a nobody right now?"
"Ha! Well, you aren't famous." I can't believe him!
"I could totally be famous." I try to argue. "What if you just didn't know about it, huh? Oh you know the fastest way to get super popular, I'll just follow what Mia Khalifa did." He looks over at me like I grew a second head. I just have to laugh at his astonished face.
"You know who Mia Khalifa is?"
"Duh. I don't live under a rock." He is still just as surprised when I first said her name, this is so funny. Oh my god.
"And you would be willing to do what she did?"
"Sure, if it means everyone knows my name." Honestly, no, but messing with Tiki is way too fun to just stop here. "Maybe I'll even get my own song that everyone can sing." It's obviously working because he takes a while to process everything and respond.
"Oh Amanda, you always amaze me. I don't know what I'm gonna do with that information."
"Well, I can think of one thing you might do." I laugh at him, he just turns red. "Y'know? Alone-"
"No, I understood what you were getting at the first time. Yep, this just got weird. We're changing the subject." I burst out laughing at him as he turns up the music. I love pushing his buttons, he is so easy to mess with.
He drops me off at my house and leaves after I invite him inside multiple times. He still uses the bullshit excuse that he isn't good with parents, whatever. I greet my mom and dad and talk to them about how Tiki's house was. Basically, a whole conversation of constant lies. I don't want to get myself in too deep so I excuse myself and go down to my room. It's not super late so I hammer out some of that homework I was planning on doing this morning, better late than never. I stay up until about 12 doing assignments while also snapping Tiki. I doze off sometime during our conversation.