What We Do For Love.- chapter 5. Still looking for name suggestions...

For Jocelyn Taylor, men have always seemed to fail her, until...

Party: Chapter Five

“So I’ll see you at… Six?” I asked Eric.
          “Yeah, your mom’s making chicken and dumplings, right?” I smiled. It really didn’t matter what my mom made, Eric liked it. His mom died when he was three so he never really had that motherly-love thing; he got it from my mom. My mom loved Eric, so he ate at our house a lot. She didn’t mind and I know he didn’t.
          “Yes.” I confirmed.
          “Okay, great.” He said, “I’ll see you soon. Love you.” He pressed his lips against mine. I pulled my face away from his but still kept his body close, taking in his cologne.
          “I love you too.”
           If only I’d known then.

         
           When Eppie and I got to my house, we immediately went upstairs to my room. “Here,” Eppie said, taking a pair of shoes from her book bag, “I brought these for you to wear, remember?” She tossed the black Converse onto my floor.
           “Thanks.” I said. I grabbed the outfit I was planning on wearing from my closet. Eppie’s was there too.
           “Are you going to go ahead and get dressed?” I asked her.
           “Uh, no, I’ll probably get it dirty or something. I’ll wait until after dinner.” Part of Eppie’s charm was that she was a total klutz. She was constantly getting food and nail polish on her clothes. I grinned.
           “Okay.” I said. I laid my outfit out of my bed, taking it in, making sure I had everything in place. Tonight was going to be so much fun.
           “So,” Eppie said, “what’s going to happen tonight?” I looked at her quizzically.
           “What do you mean?”
           Eppie sighed. “You know, you, Eric?” I looked up at her from where I was digging through my jewelry box, a gift given to me by my father when I was three. It was the one thing that I had of him that we hadn’t thrown away in the move, Mom and I. It was so beautiful; it was the only thing I’d wanted to keep.
         “Eppie. Be serious! I’m fifteen!”
           Eppie laughed. “Chill. I know you wouldn’t do that. And neither would Eric.” I sighed. She didn’t really think Eric and I were going to do that, did she? Hopefully we would get married someday. Until then, we were keeping it completely vertical. For the most part. “What are you looking for over there?” She said, walking towards my jewelry box.
         “My pearl necklace with the black lace. It’s got to be around here somewhere.” I frowned and put my hands down by my sides. I hate to lose things.
         “Oh!” Eppie said suddenly.
         “What?”
         “I’ve got your necklace. Relax.” She quickly strode across my room and yanked her large, oversized, “Recycle” purse off my floor. She hurriedly dug through it and soon produced my necklace. Another one of my most prized possessions was my pearl necklace. Ever since my dad left, my mom has been giving me pearls for my birthday. Five years ago, she had given me a piece of black lace to string the pearls on. My dad left when I was five, and I was fifteen now; I had ten pearls on my necklace.
          “Eppie!” I said. How could she take my necklace without telling me? “Please don’t take it again. At least not without telling me first.” She looked down at the floor shamefully.
          “Sorry.” She said, “I won’t take it again.”
              I sighed, “You don’t have to sound like a five year old in trouble for being in the cookie jar, you know.” Eppie looked up.
          “Okay. But I am sorry.”
             I smiled. “It’s okay. I know you are.” I went into my bathroom and grabbed my makeup bag.
          “Did you by any chance return my blue mascara?” It wasn’t really that blue, more of a navy. You could only see it when you got really close.
          “Uh, yeah, I did. Check in your purple bag.” I dug through my purple Lancôme makeup bag until I found my blue mascara. “Ah. Found it. Should I wear blue or black?”
          “Black. Skip the blue tonight.”
          “Oh. Okay.” I flipped on my bathroom lights and positioned myself in front of the mirror, leaning forward. I carefully applied the black mascara to my lashes (I could do it with my mouth closed) until each one was to a satisfactory level.

          “That was really good. Really.” Eric said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. We had all just finished eating dinner, me, Eric, my mom, and Eppie.
          My mom laughed. “Thank you Eric. Your compliments mean so much to me.” My mom smiled so Eric knew that she was serious. “Are you guys ready to go?”
          I looked at Eppie. “Ready?” I asked.
          “Yeah. You?” She turned her head and looked at Eric.
          “Yeah, let’s go.”
          We rode to Chris’s party in silence. Eric had already told me at least three times how beautiful I looked tonight. Eppie looked great too. She was wearing lime green flats and a short black bubble skirt. Her hair was pulled up into a mini chignon and she was wearing silver teardrop earrings, a gift from Chris.

          When we got to the party, Chris greeted us all at the door. Well, he greeted Eric and I. He more than greeted Eppie by a long shot.

          “Hey, man.” He said to Eric.

          “Dude.”

          “Jo. What’s up?” He said, pulling me into a hug.

          I laughed. “Hey. You’re suffocating me.”

          “Oops. Sorry.” We all laughed.

          The rest of the night, up until it, was fun. We danced, lay on the couch, watched television and ate. Chris had a great turnout, he always did, and there were a lot of people to talk to.

          Then I decided to get my purse out of Chris’s bedroom.

          When I walked in, it took me at least fifteen seconds to realize what was happening.

          I started to just back out of the room, it looked like Marissa was “busy” with her boyfriend. But then, when they rolled over, I saw Eric’s face.

          No.

          “Oh my God. Eric.” I turned around and ran out the door.

          “Jody, no wait!” he called out after me, but I wasn’t listening. All the party sounds around me were rushing through my ears, but I couldn’t hear anything. As I ran through the living room, I saw Eppie jump up out of Chris’s lap and move towards me, but I ignored her.

          When I made it outside, I ran to the end of the street. I stopped at the stop sign and just sat there on the ground. My God, we’re only in ninth grade. Kids don’t… do it in ninth grade, do they? Hot tears were pouring down my face. Eric. Not Eric.

          After a few minutes, a tall dark figure was walking towards me. I immediately got chill bumps. Great, so not only did I just find out my boyfriend is doing it with the school skank, but now I’m about to get kidnapped, I thought.

          But the figure I presumed to be a kidnapper was Eric.

          “Look, I know you’re mad, but-“

          “I’m not mad.”

          “You’re not?”

          “No. I’m hurt. Hurt beyond belief, Eric. How could just do this to me? I really thought you loved me, and I thought I loved you. I did love you. Not anymore.”

          “Jody, please. I do love you. Just listen.”

          “I really don’t want to hear it.”

          “Please.”

          “No. I’m going home. Don’t ever call me, don’t come over to my house, don’t even look at me ever again. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

          And with that I began walking quickly back towards Chris’s house. Eppie was out on the front step with Chris, just holding his hand and looking sad.

          “Jo, are you okay?” She asked.

          The tears started again. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

          “Okay. Will you drive us?” She was directing her question towards Chris who had just recently gotten his learner’s permit. By law, he wasn’t supposed to be driving anyone other than immediate family members until the first six months were up, but I knew he didn’t care right now.

          “What about the party?” I asked.

          “It doesn’t really matter now. Marissa will be enough entertainment.” said Chris

          “Chris!” Eppie said.

          “No, really, it’s fine. We all know it’s true.” I smiled despite myself.

          Chris drove, while Eppie and I sat in the backseat together, my head on her shoulder. I knew I was soaking her shirt, but I also knew she wouldn’t mind.

          When we got to my house, I got out quickly. Eppie waited a moment, then kissed the back of Chris’s neck and told him thank you. When she got out of the car, Chris tolled down his window and looked at me.

          “I’m really sorry, Jody.”

          “Me too, Chris.”

 

Author's Note

Yeah, I still need a name but this will just have to suffice until then..