They call me The Conductor.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Part 2 of Party


Inspiration for my Party Clothes

She and Matt sat on the porch waiting for Lena. She could tell Matt was drunker than she. Even sitting down he was leaning side to side to side to side... and like a pendulum he put her in a bit of a trance. She watched him and she almost couldn't hear the country music blaring (who blares country music?) or the shrieks of laughter from girls pretending to be drunk. All she saw was his body moving, moving... it didn't stop, and she noticed things she hadn't seen since they had been in a relationship. He had a funny freckle right on his left earlobe. She put her arm around his shoulders, trying to stop the swaying; it was making her a little sick. She placed her hot head on his sweaty shoulder. He smelled like hairspray, whiskey, and cheap perfume. Ashley.
She thought about that party. She didn't think she'd ever party there again. She was wrong. It was bad music, girls wore cowboy boots to look hot (they don't actually do labor in those boots; they're for the show), the boys were all over her just because she didn't look like those girls and because she was a mystery (they all wanted the bragging rights for her), and she didn't like that she'd have to see those kids Monday. Mostly she thought about how the night was a lot colder than the day. Her shorts weren't doing much to keep her warm, and neither was her sheer, polka-dotted shirt. She pulled her black hair out of her ponytail to give her a little warmth. It didn't do a lot. While they waited, she sang Matt a song to drown out the twang behind them.
Well my mama look down
and spit on the ground
every time the name gets mentioned
,
My papa said "Oh if I get that boy--"

"I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention."

A different voice finished her line for her. The Girl had come out of the house and sat next to her. She figured The Girl was probably DD. The Girl pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. A red ring was left by her lipstick. The Girl raised her eyebrows and offered it to her. She took it graciously. "Who're you?" she asked The Girl.
"Haha, I'm in your German class. There are 9 of us in there."
"Shit. I'm sorry."
"No prob, gr." The Girl was dressed better for the weather. She didn't come for the party. She was probably dragged away from conjugating verbs or something. "Why did you come here?" The Girl asked. It wasn't an accusing question; there was no hostility, just genuine interest.
She was still feeling warm from her drink, but she was shivering in the cold anyway. "I uh. Um this is Matt--" she gestured, but he was passed out. "The parties I usually go to aren't happening right now, and my mom pissed me off, so I left. And we uh. We just came here. Only place I could think of." The Girl nodded and said, "Do you have a ride?"
"Yeah. It's coming. Can I have your number? I mean. You're cool."
"Sure. If you answer one question for me."
"Shoot." And then The Girl kissed her on the neck. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react, so she put her hands in The Girl's hair and brought her face to her own. The warmth her body had craved seeped into her skin when The Girl touched her. And she's not drunk? she thought.
They pulled apart suddenly when they heard tires coming down the gravel road a-ways off. The Girl's red lipstick was on both of their lips now... it was a pretty kind of mess. The Girl pulled out a pen, took her hand and wrote her number there just as she said she would. "Thanks for answering my question."

Headlights pulled up. The Girl pushed a very confused girl's hair away from her ear and kissed her neck again and whispered, "Me too, gr. You're not the only one that hates this fucking town, Kylie." As The Girl walked away she held onto a strand of her hair as if she was afraid letting it go would mean forever, then let go as she reentered the madness. No goodbyes were said. Kylie and Lena weren't together anymore after that. And school on Monday didn't seem so bad anymore.

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