Chapter 6: Take a bite of my heart tonight

Maureen popped another handful of popcorn in her mouth, her eyes glued to the tiny screen on Virginia's mini DVD player. Her and I were lying down right in front of it, our faces only a foot away from the screen. Virginia was sitting at the back of the tent, snickering as our eyes welled up with tears. We'd biked into town and rented a movie, and even though we were in a happy mood, we decided on 'A walk to remember', which was supposed to be a rowdy tale about two kids who fell in love against all odds and sang together in a play! But getting past that part, Mandy Moore, the main girl, had cancer and was begging the boy, who's actor's name I do not know, not to fall in love with her because she was dying. But he had fallen in love with her, and it was so tragic! The movie was based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, who wrote other books that had movies that made Maureen and I cry. Like 'The Notebook' and 'Dear John'. With all the big group time we spent with all the boys and Tess, we'd decided to camp out in a tent on the beach for one night, just us three. The movie was playing in slow motion, and Maureen began to sob as Mandy Moore collapsed, looking out her bedroom window. I began to tear up, wiping my eyes with a tissue.

“Corny!” Virginia cackled, giggling wildly behind us. Maureen swung around to face her quickly.

“You. Are. Made. Of. Stone.” She scolded, narrowing her glare as she blew her nose. Virginia shrugged and smiled from ear-to-ear.

“Pey-Pey, dearest?” Virginia called softly. I glanced over my shoulder at her and crawled over to sit next to her.

“How can you not be even the tiniest bit sad?” I asked as she shook a few Mike & Ikes out of the bag and into my palm. I popped them in my mouth, chewing them until the flavour ran out.

“Because this couple is so la-dee-da-fairytale-land and it's not real.” Virginia deadpanned. She was always very realistic, but not really in a negative way. She just didn't like getting her hopes up or believing in things that were going to let her down.

“We know that,” I hissed, sticking my nose up, “but it's still sad.”

“So sad!” Maureen echoed, her voice cracking mid-sentence.

“Oh, poor baby, don't you wish Garrett were here to cuddle you and sing you a lullaby?” Virginia joked. Maureen didn't acknowledge the tease, though she normally would've joined in on it. I rolled my eyes.
“Get over it, he's hooked.” Virginia told me. They would not shut up about Garrett. They said it was so obvious he liked me the way he laughed at almost everything I said and always volunteered to do stuff with me when no one else would. I didn't understand their logic, but it didn't necessarily bother me thinking that he might like me.

“What about Conor? He's looking a bit unfaithful to poor Tess.” I nudged her.

“Shh!” Maureen spat angrily. I gazed at the screen, seeing that the boy in the movie was clutching Mandy Moore's hand as she lied motionless in her hospital bed.

“I know.” Virginia squealed quietly in my ear.

“I guess if he wants to break up with her he will. It's up to him. But it would be pretty awkward between you and Tess, don't you think?” I muttered under my breath.

“I don't care. I want me some Conor!” Virginia licked her lips.

“You guys are gross.” Maureen remarked, tearing her attention away from the movie for a moment.

“Sorry, babe. Your cousins are hotties!” Virginia sighed, and snuggled up in her sleeping bag. Maureen patted the empty space next to her and I lied back down.

“She lived and now he's helping her do everything she wants to do before she dies.” Maureen told me, her eyes weary. Mandy Moore and her faithful-perfect-unrealistic boy were under a wedding arch, and she looked so gorgeous, and they were married. It made me so jealous, because I was caught in the in-between stage of not even knowing who I wanted to be with. And it would be a long time, I was sure, before I met the man I wanted to marry. Suddenly I thought of Mr. Bryce, and I wondered if he was married. If I'd ruined the marriage. If she stayed up sleepless nights wondering about who killed him. If they had kids, who she worried were going to be next. It made me feel a bit melancholy, like my problems were stupid but it wasn't my fault because I needed to feel something. Suddenly on the screen they were putting a coffin in the ground, and the boy was standing there looking brave with his head-held high. And then it faded off, with him looking into the sunset. Maureen collapsed into a fit of sorrow.

“No! It can't end like that!” She sobbed, her pillow drenched in tears. I glanced back at Virginia, whose eyes were wide with shock.

“Oh my god.” She mouthed to me, and I giggled.

In the morning, we woke up late, which was frowned upon. Usually we all woke up at around seven, but since we'd stayed up late gossiping, we got up at ten, and everyone had already started their day. They'd eaten all the pancake batter so we were stuck with pop-tarts. Also, when we got out of our tent, they were all swimming in the pool without us.

“Y'all didn't wake us!” Maureen exclaimed. I hurried past everyone, knowing that I looked awful in my pajamas with my hair wild and curly and no makeup. Usually in the morning, I put on a bit of foundation before I went down for breakfast, but now I was completely natural. Virginia looked confident in a tight t-shirt that made her b***s look really big and short shorts. Tess shrugged, her legs wrapped around Conor's abdomen and her hands tangled in his hair. Virginia sighed, kneeling down next to the pool. She stuck her hand in the water.

“It's cold.” She glanced over her shoulder at Maureen and I. When she turned, Conor grabbed her hand, pulling her into the water. She went under and swam back up to the surface, pushing her hair back.

“I'm gonna kill you!” Virginia yelled, grabbing Conor's hair as he disconnected himself from Tess. He pulled away from Virginia's grip, yelping in pain. He swam as fast as he could as she climbed on his back. Virginia put him in a headlock, squeezing his neck tightly between both arms.

“White flag, I give up. I am not worthy.” He coughed. She loosened her grip and he held up his hands in surrender. She smirked proudly, tousling his hair. Tess splashed out of the pool, stomping inside the house and upstairs.
“Uh-oh.” Virginia murmured, her left raised arched in curiosity

“Alright, kids. I've got to go tame the wild bull.” Conor clapped his hands together, awkwardly letting Virginia climb off of him. He swam to the shallow end and waded through the water to the side, pushing himself up with his toned arms.

“Why are you trying to break them up?” Jer asked Virginia, and she blushed shamefully.

“I'm not.” She lied, her voice soft and shaky.
“Yes, you are. You always flirt with Conor, even though Tess is right there.” He rolled his eyes.

“Well, it's only fair. I will probably never see him again after this summer, and she goes to school with him and sees him all the time. One month, I ask for, okay?” Virginia protested, crossing her arms stubbornly.

“She has a point.” Cam told his brother, and Garrett nodded. For the next few minutes Maureen, Virginia and I sat on the side, Virginia wrapped in a towel, fully clothed. Cam, Jer and Garrett all swam around, teasing eachother and climbing all over one another. It was quite a sight to see. Conor emerged from the beach house about ten minutes after he'd gone inside, with red cheeks and ashamed eyes. We all regarded him with pity, because we knew Tess was giving him hell inside. Jer snorted at our tongue-tied-ness, and began to ask Conor what happened, loudly and obnoxiously. I'd started to like him less the past two weeks we'd been at the beach house, just because he got a bit annoying being with him all the time for 14 days. Plus, Garrett had come into the picture, might-be-interested-in-me Garrett. Yum . Conor cannonballed into the water, and us girls gossiped on the side while they splashed around. The sun was hot and warm on my face when I let my head lull back, and Virginia shared her towel with us, and we all lied down, our legs from the knee down in the water, because we were all wearing shorts. It was bliss, just the natural aspects of that moment. Even without all the love and hormones and laughing and fun, it was just heaven being under the sun, at the beach, living life to the fullest. It was pure bliss.

That night, we'd been invited to a bonfire party, a college bonfire party. Jer had met a girl in her first year on the boardwalk in town, and she'd invited him and all of the rest of us to come. There would be roasting marshmellows, dancing, drinking and swimming. It was going to be epic. Virginia explained to Maureen and I that people dressed up a lot more at college parties. She'd, for some reason, packed a silk, dark pink mini dress with a swoopy, layer-y neckline. She had all kinds of shoes with heels, boots, wedges, sandals, and she chose a pair of black velvet pumps that made her legs look toned. She made me shave my legs, which my Mom had let me shave a few weeks after my period, because they were honestly getting too prickly. I'd wanted to be nature girl and let the hair show, but she said it was disgusting and shoved me in the bathroom with a razor and a hot shower. Afterwards I used her coconut body lotion which made my legs look shiny and tanned, and it also made me smell good. We all shared my watermelon deodorant, because it smelled better then Maureen's apple and Virginia's peony, we all agreed. Because Winifred was thin and had a petite, young body, she let me borrow one of her blouses. I wore my dark skinny jeans that had the cool sequined pattern on the back pockets, with a black tank top that had sequins along the v-neck. Over that I wore Winifred's white blouse, with the short, slightly puffed sleeves. I only did three buttons, leaving it open, showing off my tank top. The best part about the outfit was that Virginia loaned me her white, leather boots with the high heels. I had to practice walking for what seemed like forever but I finally got my walk to look slightly attractive to the opposite sex. Teehee. Maureen wore one of Winifred's blouses too, turquoise and silk, with a high-waisted black mini-skirt. The blouse poofed over the waist of the skirt, and it made her look even thinner, while hiding the fact that she was still un-developed. With that she wore black flip flops, which weren't as glamorous as mine and Virginia's shoe choice, but still, sophisticated. She was wearing makeup, less then Virginia and I, but still, makeup. Brown eyeliner with pinkish-gold eyeshadow and mascara made her eyes popped. She looked hot! The boys barely dressed up, or atleast Jer didn't. Garrett wore a white button-down with barely there baby blue vertical stripes and ripped jeans. Conor wore a grey v-neck long sleeved sweater and he rolled up the sleeves. He wore it with, again, ripped jeans. And Cam, holy crap, Cam, looked friggin' hot. Cam, Maureen's big brother, Stephen's friend, the boy I didn't notice, the boy who was cute but not as cute as Jer, looked amazing. He was wearing a navy blue button-down with, again, lighter blue vertical stripes that you couldn't see that well. He had on jeans that, surprise, weren't ripped, and his brown belt was showing over his shirt, which was half tucked in. Tess wore a spandex-y dress, purple with a v-neck on top and then an attached skirt a few centimeters under her chest. It was a mini dress and showed her legs, which were pale and slim, not nearly as attractive as Virginia's. And she had black wedge heels, which made her tower over all of us even more then before. Because the boardwalk in town was in walking distance, we waited until sunset to start our journey there, to prevent sweating and odour. We walked all bunched together in a crowd, looking spiffy like we were going somewhere important. When we saw the crowds of kids scattered all over the sandy beach, we hurried down off the boardwalk to where they were all mingling around a huge, wild bonfire. There was a big, white beach-house near there where other people were hanging out too.

“There's Stephie!” Jer cheered, letting his chill facade melt away as he bounded over to her. Stephie was the college girl who had invited us who he apparently had a fair chance with. There was music blasting everywhere, loud, clubbing songs and people were fist-pumping like on the Jersey Shore. Ahh, Jersey Shore. Virginia and I had many marathons of that show at our sleepovers. We liked laughing at the scum of people that were on the show and practicing our Italian accents. Virginia, right off the bat, grabbed Conor's hand, who had announced he was single after dinner, and led him over to where the group of dancing people were. Virginia's eyes sparkled in the light of the fire as she grinded up against him. I was proud of her for being hot, and for taking what she wanted. Even if Tess felt like dirt. The guilt set in, and I invited everyone, including Tess, to come with me inside the house to get something to drink. It wasn't chaperoned, and I expected Stephie's parents were nowhere near us. Tess glanced around, and skipped over to where a bunch of older kids where doing crazy, party stuff. Like making out, and taking shots. She settled in next to a tanned boy with shaggy blonde hair and began to flirt with him, hardcore.

“Jeez, my brother's ex is a hoe.” Garrett rolled his eyes. Tess leaned over in a way that I was sure she knew showed off a ton of cleavage. Ick. At least Virginia had some class.
“I wonder what base they got to.” Cam suggested to Garrett.

“I think two. They didn't go all the way.” He replied. I stuck my tongue out in disgust, and Maureen looked completely clueless.

“I definitely want to wait until I'm at least eighteen.” I blurted out, and then suddenly felt exposed to all of them. Like I'd thought about sex, and when I wanted to have it. I flushed red and gazed at my boots shamefully.

“Ew, I want to wait until marriage.” Maureen spoke, in a tone that said she hadn't even considered that I thought about the stuff I did.

“You're going to be a nun, I swear.” Cam rolled his eyes.

“I don't really care.” Garrett shrugged, apparently reverting back to the 'when we want to lose our v-card' topic.

“What about Virginia?” Cam asked curiously, cocking his head to the side.

“She acts like a s**t, but she's really not. She's just having fun.” I assured them, and Maureen nodded, meeting my doubtful eyes. Virginia was just having fun. I hoped.
“Let's go back outside.” Garrett remarked, as we grabbed some plastic cups of what surely was pepsi, not alcohol. He led the group back out onto the beach, and we met up with Virginia and Conor, who were talking in a civilized manner.

“Peyton, Maureen, darlings! What might you foxy ladies be drinking?” She raised her eyebrows curiously, glancing at our drinks.

“Pepsi, 'cause we're cool like that.” I nudged Cam, and he grinned.

“What do you want to drink? Pinacolada?” He smirked suggestively. Virginia slugged his shoulder lightly.

“No. I'll have orange crush.” She pondered, and I was proud of her for not being easy like the girls on Jersey Shore. A boy that looked about fourteen came up to us. He had a big smile and his brown hair was gelled up.

“How'd you guys get invited to a college party?” He asked Garrett, projecting his voice over the loud music.
“My brother, knows the girl who's throwing it.” Cam explained. The boy nodded, bobbing his head to the music.

“Stephie? She's my sister. This is our parents' beach house, but they let us come here alone for the summer. My friend was supposed to come with us, but he bailed, so now I'm stuck socializing with the locals. No one cool hangs out around here.” He rolled his eyes.

“We're not locals.” Maureen replied, and he glanced at her with shy-Eeyore eyes.

“I observe.” He nodded, gesturing to Maureen's pale arms. She didn't tan, even if she lied in the sun for seven hours, she'd only burn and freckle. I, on the other hand, was as brown as a berry. I could've passed for a local any day.
“I'm Luke. Do you want to dance?” He spoke smoothly, like he'd been planning that for months. He held out his hand to Maureen and it was like I could see her brain turning off. Then, her eyes went wide and blank, and she stared at me in shock.

“She'd love to.” I shoved her toward him, and he backed up. She straightened herself out, glaring at me, and brushed her skirt off. He held her hand and led her over to where everyone else were dancing.

“That was epic.” Virginia gasped, as surprised as the rest of us. Maureen was, no offence, just not the type of girl boys asked to dance. She was a tomboy, the girl the boys don't realize is a girl. I was happy for her though, and I was grateful my two friends had both gotten romantic that summer. But I still wanted to brew up some romance for myself, despite it all. And lucky Maureen got to stay at the beach house all summer, so she could see Luke, if he turned out to be the one, as much as she wanted. Jill and Winifred couldn't care less if she had boys over. She took it for granted, I was so jealous.

“Just us.” Virginia mumbled awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her heels when Conor came back with two cups. He handed her a plastic red cup of bright orange soda, and she took a sip, entangling her fingers with his. He had a bottle of beer, and I wasn't surprised. I glanced over and saw that Jer was also drinking it up with Stephie.

“Don't drink too much.” Virginia's brow furrowed as he offered her a sip. She pushed away his hand shyly, and shook her head 'no'.
“Let's go inside.” Virginia dragged him past us and up to the beach-house.

“I've got a wild idea, why don't you two party poopers go dance?” Garrett suggested, shoving Cam against me. Cam blushed, backing away quickly.

“Us?” I laughed, and Cam's doubtful eyes made me wonder. It all made sense! Garrett didn't like me, Cam did! And Garrett was his wing-man! Jeez!

“Shut up.” Cam agreed, nudging Garrett forcefully with his upper-body.

“Well, whatever, you know? We might as well live life, after all, tomorrow we may be dead!” I tried to act casual, grabbing Cam's hand and running over to the crowds of people who were dancing.
“Garrett's just trying to make trouble.” Cam muttered quietly as we stopped near the huge speakers and DJ podium.

“That was 'Fall for you' by Secondhand Serenade, our first slow song of the night. Here is 'Hallelujah' by Rufus Wainwright, and then we'll get back to our clubbing music!” The DJ spoke into the microphone enthusiastically. The music began to play, and it just barely drowned out all the yelling, partying kids. I took both of Cam's shaking hands and placed them firmly on my waist.

“Why are you so nervous?” I asked, smiling sympathetically at him. I locked my wrists behind his neck, keeping our chests far apart but our legs pressed closely together. We swayed back and forth slowly, and he slowly reached around my entire waist, his hands meeting against my spine. He held them together, pulling me slightly closer to him. I was surprised at what an adrenaline rush it was. It was un-real. I was not the kind of girl who would grab my guy friend and ask them to dance and then get all intimate. It just wasn't my thing. But it'd come naturally, and it felt like heaven on earth. I finally built up the courage to and rested my head on his shoulder, facing his neck. I breathed slowly on his neck, letting my eyelids flutter open and closed as they pleased. It felt good to be held, and just to be warm in the ocean air. Jer was nearby talking with a group of older girls, looking ravished, and he stopped to take a double-take of Cam and I. I smiled, my eyes half-open.

“Oh, s**t! That's my brother!” He exclaimed, and they all stared at us, letting out choruses of awwww's.

I always pictured my first slow dance to Rufus Wainwright's sweet voice. Not with Cam, but of course, now I couldn't imagine it any other way. I gazed at Cam, feeling sleepy as he swayed me. My body felt numb, in a good way.

“Hallelujah...” He hummed, laughing in my ear. I giggled, breaking my trance.

“Way to ruin the moment, you brute!” I teased. We fell into hysterics, and he pulled me close.

Author's Note

teeheehee has been my plan all along >:)

Reviews

[violet michelle]

-hint- expect there to be nudeness in the next chapter O.O

[J.A.N]

YAY!

[violet michelle]

:D
Lmao.
Writing..

[J.A.N]

last lines, their so epic.
did he kiss her, did she kiss him back?
CLIFFHANGER!
how dare you, Violet.
tehe. more, more, more.
must know more. write, write, write.