Page 70 of Absorbed

“Jimmy and Josh are straight-edge. Not really their scene.” He looked around. “Miles and Steve are around here…somewhere….”

Stacey nodded, remembering the first half-dozen times she’d seen the band play in church basements. Jimmy and Josh were also in Christian Club.

The guy in the circle with the mohawk called Martin’s name.

Martin lifted his index finger in the wait-a-second signal. “Hey, I’ll tell Gabe you’re looking for him if I see him. Let’s catch up later, ’kay?”

Stacey nodded, about to walk away.

“And, Stacey.” Martin stopped her, “It’s kinda cheesy to say this, but…well…be true to you.”

The second Juvenile Delinquents song on their album. The lyrics played in Stacey’s mind:Don’t get stuck in a stranger’s life. Authenticity is worth the fight. Be true to you.

Stacey bit her lip and nodded again. Martin waved over his shoulder and went back to his friends. When he wasn’t looking, Stacey put out her cigarette under her shoe. She picked it up and tossed it in a trashcan.

She made her way around the backyard, avoiding eye contact with couples rolling around under the oak trees. Eventually she found Mark by the keg, but Melissa, Desiree, and Chad were nowhere near. Mark was pounding a beer bong, and Stacey watched as the tube emptied down his throat. When he pulled the tube away, foam shot out from between his lips. Everyone shielded their faces.

Mark’s red, glassy eyes looked around hazily, eventually settling on Stacey. He smiled. “Staceeeee…How ya doin’?” He let out a long burp, wiped his mouth, and stumbled over to put an arm over her shoulder. “Guys, you know Staaaaceeey Chapp-munn?” he asked his buddies.

“Hey, Mark.” Stacey put her arm around his waist to steady him, and hoped he wasn’t about to be sick. “Seems like you’re having a little too much fun.”

“Yoouuu neeeeed a drink!” he said.

The guy at the keg handed her a full cup. She sniffed and sipped, then cringed. “Mark, this is the skunkiest beer on Earth! How did you chug this?”

He grunted and leaned harder on Stacey’s shoulder.

“Eeew!”

It was Melissa’s familiar squeal. She was about ten feet away and coming straight at Stacey.

“Gross, Stacey! PBR is rank.” Melissa took the cup from Stacey’s hand and sloshed it toward one of Mark’s friends. “Come on. We found Goldschläger. I want you to talk to someone.” She looped her arm through Stacey’s, pulling her away.

Mark anchored Stacey to her spot. She wriggled her shoulders against his dead weight.

“Hey, Mark?” Stacey snapped her fingers in his face to get his attention. “MARK! I’m gonna go with Melissa. Can you sit down or something, buddy?”

Mark blinked slowly. “I…gonna…lay down.” He burped after every word.

Stacey peeled his arm off her shoulder. Mark slumped into a heap on the ground.

Stacey turned to one of the guys Mark had been drinking with. “Can you make sure he doesn’t drown in the pool? Or choke on his own vomit?”

“Dude!” The guy looked at Stacey, repulsed. “Don’t kill the vibe! Mark’s cool. He’ll be fine.”

“Seriously, Stacey,” Melissa said. “You need to loosen up. Come on. I’ll get you a drink.”

Melissa led Stacey to the far side of the house. A bunch of girls were tightly huddled alongside the home’s air conditioning vent. Stacey took in the supermodel prototypes, their tight golden abs nestled behind rolled-down, half-buttoned, high cut Daisy Dukes. Her chest tightened.

Did Desiree cut these girls from theAbercrombiecatalog, too?

Stacey unlinked from Melissa, and crossed her arms in front of her waist, trying to cover the softness of her belly. She was at least a head taller than all the girls in this crew and felt like a zoo animal as they turned to look up at her. She swallowed hard, but forced a smile.

“Oh, THIS is Stacey? I know you,” Heather said. “You were in my physics class, right?”

“Yeah, first period.” Stacey nodded too enthusiastically.

Heather turned to another recent grad near her, explaining, “She’s like, hella smart. A genius or something.”

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