chapter 3

graduation party

CHAPTER 3

            Epic it was. We sat around the bonfire, drinking beers in red plastic cups, looking at our year books, listening to music, and just about everyone but me, was planning and talking about senior week down at Myrtle Beach. Time and again I was asked why I was leaving for Alabama so soon and why I couldn’t wait until after senior week.  No one understood, no one except for Madison and Hillary, and I was tired of trying to explain it to them. Sure, most of us had money, and even some other’s had divorced or absentee parents, but none of them had to compete with a chair in the Senate for affection from their father. Mama being gone didn’t help much, either. As much as I tried to remember, I couldn’t see her face in my memory anymore without having to look at a picture.  I just wanted to get the hell out of Cary and never look back.

            “Where are you going to be living down in Mobile?” Colt Black, our host, asked.

            I looked up at him and for a moment, our eyes locked, brown to green. I felt my blood boiling.

            “I�"uh�"I’m renting an apartment right on Mobile Bay, and then, I guess I’ll live in a dorm until sophomore year,” I said, my voice wavering a bit. How had I never realized how good looking this guy was? I have known him practically my entire life and never seen him in this light before. He had a nice build, muscles slightly bulging underneath his plain, white t-shirt. His broad shoulders tapered into a narrow waist, and strong, powerful thighs and a nice a*s that looked good in the pair of Levi’s he was wearing. Tanned skin and curly, shaggy, jet black hair completed the package. He looks somewhat Native American to me, and I wonder how I never noticed him until now. He sure is easy on the eyes.

            “Sounds like you have everything figured out,” Colt said, smiling. His voice was smooth and sultry, like worn leather, and he had a perfectly straight, pearly white smile.

            “I’d like to think so, Colt, as long as I don’t overspend and run out of money.”

            “I’m sure ol’ daddy the Senator would be glad to help you out if you needed it.”

            “That would be a no. We got into it tonight and he cut me off, indefinitely,” I said, laughing. “So what are you going to do before you head off to Florida?”

            Colt was an All State quarter back who had led our football team to the state championship four years running, and his arm landed him a full ride to Florida State, and it had been his dream growing up to play for the Seminoles.

            “Well, I really don’t have much time left here, either, tell you the truth. I am going on down to Florida after senior week to start tryouts,” Colt said. “South Alabama isn’t too far from Florida State, so maybe we can get together on the weekends when I’m not practicing, if you aren’t too busy being free in Mobile.”

            “I’d like that,” I said, smiling.

            “I’ll talk to you in a bit, I need to finish off my rounds so no one can b***h about me being a bad host,” Colt said, smiling as he turned and walked towards another group of our graduating class gathered around a dropped tailgate.

            “I think somebody likes you,” Madison said as soon as Colt was out of earshot.

            “He does not!” I exclaimed, and I already felt my face burning with embarrassment.

            “He does, Harleigh, he just invited himself to come and see you in Mobile on the weekends, by himself. Does he need to write it on his forehead?” Hillary asked, getting up to fill her cup from the keg a few feet away.

            “Maybe…” I said, draining my cup. “Bring me another, too, please. Has he always been that hot? I mean, I’ve known him for years and I just had the strangest reaction to him when he started talking to me, like my body was on fire.”

            “It’s called lust,” Hillary said, handing me a fresh beer. “Go ahead and bang him tonight and go on to Mobile in the morning. After that, if you still have the same reaction when you talk to him, go for him. He’s going to be the only living soul you know in a five hundred mile radius. He might be your lifeline down there.”

            “You know I can’t do that, I’m not that kind of girl,” I said, lighting up a cigarette. I had taken up smoking in the past few months, a nasty habit, I know, but something had to keep me sane.

            “Who cares what kind of girl you are, Harleigh? You’re leaving tomorrow and like you said, probably never coming back,” Madison said.

            “I don’t know….”

 

            Awhile later, Colt finds me again; this time talking to a bunch of girls I played volleyball with all through high school.

            “Harleigh, will you walk with me down to the lake?” he asked.

            “I-uh- yeah,” I said, and I turned to the girls. “I’ll make sure I catch up with y’all before I leave for the night.”

            Colt and I walked out away from the rest of our classmates and down toward the manmade lake on his parent’s property.

            “What’s up?” I asked, nonchalantly.

            “Why are you really leaving so soon?” Colt asked. “Do you not want to spend your last summer before college with your friends?”

            “I do, Colt, but I am so tired of being here, living in a big empty house, I’m just leaving. I’m tired of fighting with Washington for my daddy, and you know about my mama. I just want to go and start over fresh, where no one knows my name.”

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

            Colt led us to a spot on the bank and motioned for me to sit down and then he did.

            “It’s not your fault. Daddy and I haven’t gotten along in years, he’s in Washington more than he’s at home, and you know he’s a damn Southern Democrat and progressive and all that kind of s**t. We have nothing in common but our name.”

            “Yeah, I can’t say I really understand how you feel, my parents and I get along great, we always have. As for your daddy being a liberal, there’s not much you can do about that, he is who he is, Harleigh. I don’t agree with them either, hell, I think my entire family are Republicans.”

            “I’m not worried with it, honestly. I have a good bit of money saved up, and I already have my mail forwarded to Mobile, so if I get any more graduation money, it’ll come to me there. I’m just ready for something new.”

            “Well, new is just on the horizon for you, literally. I have a feeling you’ll be hauling a*s out of here and hitting the South Carolina line before the rest of us even figure out where we are at in the morning. You have a lot going for you, Harleigh, and you are going to make something of yourself, even if it isn’t what your father wants of you. Who cares about him anyway? It’s not his life, screw him. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful and one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. Anyone who treats you like s**t is a damned fool, Harleigh.”

            “Do you mean that, Colt?” I asked, turning to look him in the eye.

            “I do. I’ve always kinda had a little crush on you, but you have always been way up there,” Colt said, pointing towards the sky.

            “I’m sorry.”

            “It’s not a bad thing, Harleigh, I promise. You just have always struck me as a girl who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t rest until she got it, even if it is a crazy dream. I like that,” Colt said, leaning in closer, until our noses are practically touching.

            He’s about to kiss me. Do I want this? Of course, I do. It’s Colt Black, all star quarterback, and good ol’ southern boy, who just happens to be drop dead gorgeous. My heart races, but I relax the rest of my body and lean into him. His scent is intoxicating, beer, the smell of his deodorant and a faint smell of musky sweat. He smelled like a man. When our lips connected it was like a bomb exploded inside me. My entire body was tingly and on fire. I had never felt like this before. Was it really him? Or the alcohol? Both? At that point, I didn’t care. All I cared about was his lips on mine, and the way he tasted like Miller Lite with a hint of something sweet underneath. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

            “Harleigh?”

            “Yeah?” I said, panting when he pulled away.

            “I really do want to spend time with you down in Mobile, and you can come visit me in Tallahassee, too. If that’s alright with you.”

            “I think that sounds great, Colt,” I said, smiling at him.

            “Good. We should be getting back. I don’t want anyone spreading rumors about you.”

            “You’re right, we should. I bet Hillary and Madison is wondering where I am. Thank you for the walk and the talk and the kiss,” I said, standing up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

            We walked back to the party hand in hand, comfortably silent. When we got back to the clearing in the field, we saw just what we had when we left, dancing, singing, and drinking, except more people had shown up by this time. It looked like the underclassmen and caught wind of the party and decided to join in.

            “Let me go talk to these other people, but try to find me before you leave. If not, please call me tomorrow?” Colt asked, looking at me with a shy grin before he let go of my hand.

            “I will,” I said, and I felt myself blushing and smiling back. What is with this guy that he is making me blush? I never get embarrassed! I ran off to find Hillary and Madison.

            “Harleigh! Where the hell have you been?” Hillary asked when I walked up to refill my beer by the bonfire.

            “Yeahhh, weee have been looking alllll over for youuu!” Madison piped up, slurring her speech a bit.

            “Colt asked me to go for a walk with him and we sat down at the lake and talked for awhile,” I said, sitting down on the ground beside them, trying to hide my grin, and the heat that was creeping up on my cheeks. Damn him. I was blushing again.

            “Is that all?” Hillary asked, knowingly.

            “He kissed me and he told me that he has had a crush on me forever and he really does want to hang out with me down in Mobile and invited me to visit him in Tallahassee,” I replied, flashing my friends a brilliant smile.

            “We told you!” Hillary said.

            “Sooo what did youuu say?” Madison slurred.

            “I told him I’d like that, and he told me that if I couldn’t find him before we left tonight to make sure I called him tomorrow,” I said.

            “Sucks that you’re leaving tomorrow and you can’t spend anymore time with him for awhile,” Hillary said.

            “It’s fine, really. It won’t be but a few weeks and he will be down that way, too. I’m not going to get my hopes up too much, anyway. He’s going to be a quarterback for the Seminoles. S**t like that tends to change people,” I said. “I’m just going with the flow.”

            “Gooood idea,” Mallory said.

            “She’s drunk as a skunk. You about ready to go?” Hillary asked.

            “Yeah, I want to try and get an early start in the morning,” I said.

            “Okay, go try and find Colt to tell him bye and I am going to call my dad,” Hillary said.

            “Alright. I’ll meet back up with you in a few minutes,” I said, lighting up another cigarette and heading off into the field to find Colt.

            I spotted him across the field, standing beside a Ford F-250 with a group of guys from school and my heart skipped a beat. I smiled and started toward him.

            “Colt.”

            He turned around with a slight frown on his face, but as soon as he saw it was me, his face brightened and he smiled.

            “Harleigh,” he said, motioning me closer. “What’s up?”

            He slipped his arm around my waist. In front of his friends! My skin burned where he touched me.

            “Maddie is drunk as hell…like done for. Hillary is calling her dad, so we will be leaving in a few minutes,” I said.

            “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Colt said, turning us to his group of friends, all of which I knew, but with Colt’s arm wrapped around my waist, I couldn’t have remembered who was standing there to save my life.

            “Y’all, Harleigh is heading out, she is leaving us for Alabama in the morning, so I am going to walk with her and I will catch back up with y’all later,” Colt said, and we turned and walked away.

            I heard a chorus of ‘Goodbye’ and ‘We’ll miss you’ as we walked back towards the fire, but all I could do was turn and wave.

            When we got back to the fire, I saw Joe Sanders’ car and he was helping Hillary get Madison up from the ground. She had already passed out.

            “Oh my God! How much did she drink?” I asked.

            “I don’t even know. She is a lightweight, you know,” Hillary said, laughing as she and her dad stuffed her in the backseat of his car.

            “That’s true,” I said. “Well, Colt, I guess we are going back to Hil’s. I had a great time tonight.”

            “So did I,” Colt said, and he grabbed me by my hips and pulled me closer and kissed me senseless. I think I heard some jaws drop by the people around us, but I didn’t give a damn.

            “Wow,” I said when he finally released me. I know it sounds lame, but that’s all I could say.

            “Call me tomorrow, it doesn’t matter when. I’ll be up early. Have a safe trip and I will see you very soon,” Colt said, opening the car door for me.

            “I will,” I said, looking up to him.

            He smiled and closed the door. Joe waved and pulled away.

            “Harleigh Caroline Robinson! I don’t know what you have done, but that boy has it bad for you!” Hillary exclaimed, turning around from the front seat.

            “Yeah..well…” I said, smiling. “I think I have it bad, too,” I muttered under my breath.

            Suddenly, I didn’t want to leave in the morning. I could stay at Hillary’s until Colt went down to try-outs; Joe loved me and was more of a daddy to me than my own father was. No, I have to go in the morning, I’d risk seeing dad, and besides, I’ll only be down there about a month by myself. What was four weeks? Plenty of time for me to settle in and find a place, get a job if need be.

            When we got back to the house Hillary and her dad lived in, we woke Madison up and laid her in the bed in the main floor guest suite.

            “I think I am going to go upstairs and get some pajamas on and go on to bed. Thank you for being our DD tonight, daddy,” Hillary said.

            “No problem, sweetie,” Joe said, giving his only daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

            “You comin’ Harleigh?” Hillary asked.

            “Yeah, in a few minutes. I’m going to raid your refrigerator real quick,” I said.

            “Okay, goodnight, y’all,” Hillary said.

            “Goodnight,” Joe and I said.

            “You know, I think I will join you for that late night snack, I’m a little hungry myself,” Joe said, putting his arm around my shoulder as we walked into the kitchen.

            We munched on cheese and strawberries and gulped down a couple bottles of Fruit20 at the kitchen island.

            “So, Colt Black?” Joe asked between bites. “When did that happen?”

            “I don’t know if it is going to be much of anything, Joe, I am leaving in the morning. He told me he has always had a thing for me and, you know, I have known him all of my life, but tonight was the first night I actually noticed him.” I confessed. “And it was like rockets going off or something, I don’t know how to describe it.”

            I have always found it easy to talk to Joe, he has always been so kind and understanding, not at all like my father. He never judges me and always shows he cares. He probably holds more of my secrets than even Hillary.

            “Well, I hate to break it to you, Miss Harleigh, but it sounds to me like you might be in love,” Joes said, laughing.

            “Just like that? I mean, we have always been friends, and not even good ones at that, but, all of a sudden, tonight, it was like I was meeting him for the first time.”

            “Sometimes that’s the way it goes. It creeps up on you when you least expect it.”

            “How did you and Molly fall in love?”

            Molly was Hillary’s mama, who lost her battle with breast cancer our freshman year of high school. I was just as torn up about it as Joe and Hillary was, I looked at Molly like the mother I lost. She was one hell of a woman.

            “We were high school sweethearts, had known one another our entire lives, like you and Colt, and we started dating our sophomore year of high school and other than a few short breakups here and there, we were together until she passed. We got married two days after we graduated from State.”

            “That’s sweet, and y’all would still be together now if the cancer hadn’t taken her.”

            “We would. I miss her everyday. That’s not to say I’ll never remarry, but that’s here nor there,” Joe said, washing his hands. “I think I’ll go on up to bed now. What time are you planning on leaving in the morning?”

            “Probably around eight or so.”

            “Well then I will see you in the morning,” Joe said, walking around the bar and giving me a kiss on the forehead. “Love you, sweetie.”

            “Love you, too, Joe,” I said, and I finished up my bottle of water. A few minutes later I made my way up the stairs and to the bedroom beside Hillary’s that has been mine since I was a little kid. It was painted a pale green, with white crown molding, white wood furniture and a white four-poster queen sized bed. The linens were green and pink. I loved this room. I had pictures up, clothes hanging in the closet and a toothbrush in the en suite bathroom. This was more my room than the one down the street at my own house.

            I pulled the covers back and lay down, putting my cell phone on the nightstand beside me. I tried to go to sleep and couldn’t. I looked at the clock on my phone. It read 12:30 AM. I had to be up in six and a half hours and had to drive almost twelve hours, but my mind wouldn’t let me sleep to save my life. All I could think about was the kiss Colt gave me. I had tingles just thinking about it. I wanted to call him, but I knew the party was still going on and he probably wouldn’t hear his phone anyway. I’ll wait until tomorrow.

            I tossed and turned for the next hour and finally fell asleep. 

Reviews

[Justin]

this is awesome, how it talks about high school love!!! how someone might want to leave but something holds them back for leaving!!! awesome story so far tabitha!!!!!!