Page 16 of Fighting the Tide
“Brooke Eastham.Back in the courtyard and still suicidal, I see.”I point at the cigarette between her lips as she pulls it out and starts to laugh, the smoke billowing up from her mouth.
“What class do you have now?”she asks as she drops the cigarette to the ground and puts it out.
“Biology.”I wrinkle my nose and shrug my shoulders.The thought of Avery sitting there and waiting for me to come in only has my stomach souring.
“No.I think your schedule has changed today.”Brooke saunters over to me, her uniform skirt swaying around her thighs, the length a little too high to be school code.“I think we’re going to turn around and leave the school, and go for a joy ride in my car.And if you really want a lesson in biology, I can give you one of those too.”The look she gives me is pure seduction, and I can feel myself reacting with the way my blood begins to boil and my cheeks heat.
“Are you suggesting we skip?”I try to keep my voice even, not letting myself betray how uneasy I feel.How completely thrown off guard I am that Brooke is here talking to me and asking me to skip class with her.
“See?I knew you were smart inside that big head of yours.”Her hand slips into mine as she gives me a tug, forcing me to follow behind her as she leads the way back into the main building and away from my second-period class.
Not a single protest leaves me as she drags me all the way out to the parking lot and toward her Pink Cadillac convertible.We stand in front of the passenger side door and she huffs when I don’t make a move, pulling my bag down off my shoulder to throw it into the back seat.“Get in the car, Nolan.”
I don’t skip class.I’m a good kid, but I’ve been a good kid for sixteen years and there’s a part of me that knows I’ve been missing out.What’s one day?So when she opens that passenger door, I slip into the seat and watch as she closes it behind me.She walks around the front of the car, her uniform skirt bouncing dangerously high, revealing the dip where her thigh and ass meet.I avert my gaze, praying my dick doesn’t deceive me.
Brooke gets into the driver’s seat and pulls down the visor as a joint slips out, falling into her lap.She pushes the key into the ignition and Monica’s “Don’t take it Personal” blares from the speakers, making me jump in my seat.Her head turns to look at me as she drops the volume, her mouth turning into a smirk.“Are you nervous, Sears?”
“I don’t really want the principal coming out here to see what all the noise is,” I huff as I quickly put on my seat belt.Then to my utter astonishment, Brooke puts the joint between her lips and grabs a lighter out of her breast pocket to light the tip.“Brooke!”I hiss and look around the parking lot.
She takes a long drag and then passes me the joint.“Stop worrying, Nolan.No one cares about the kids in this school.”I take the joint and hold it out away from my body as she pops the gear shift into reverse, not bothering with her seat belt, and squealing her tires as she pulls out of her spot.
“Fuck!”I snap as I grip the door with my right hand, my left still holding onto the joint, suspending it between us.
“Take a hit and calm the fuck down.”Brooke laughs as she turns out onto the road, her tires once again burning with protest.
I don’t know if I’ve completely lost my mind or what, but I put the joint between my lips and take a deep inhale, letting the burn settle in my lungs.This is the second time I’ve smoked weed in the last few weeks and both times were because of Brooke.It’s not lost on me how easily I give in to her, or how my inhibitions are forgotten when she’s in my presence.I can’t blame her for any of it though, this is all me and I will have to face the consequences soon enough, just like with what’s happening with Avery.
But all of that disappears from my mind when I take another hit, letting my head hit the back of the seat with a relieved exhale as my eyes shut.I worry too much, I let everyone else’s problems take over my mind and I push mine to the back burner.Not today.
Brooke pulls into the parking lot of the movie theater in town and reaches for the joint, smoking it until it’s nothing more than a roach before tossing it outside.“Want to see a movie?”
I can feel how heavy my head is as I move it from side to side, the movement slow and unsteady.“No money, remember?I’m poor.”Why didn’t the usual shame come with those words?How is it I’m sitting here smiling over how poor I am while I’m in Brooke’s Cadillac with her and she smells more expensive than all my possessions combined?
“Good thing we don’t have to pay.”I watch as she gets out of the car, her skirt flipping up a bit and showing me the black lace of her underwear.My groan is immediate and loud enough that she turns and tips her head to the side in question.“Are you getting out?”Her hands hit her hips, accentuating just how much of an hourglass figure she has, and I swallow down another groan.
“Why don’t we have to pay?”I ask as I clumsily open the door and get out of the car.“Everyone has to pay at the movies.”Her hand slips into mine again, her silky skin like velvet beneath mine.Electric currents zip along my palm, and if I weren’t stoned right now, I’d bet my heart would be jumping from my chest.
“Just trust me.”She pulls me to a back door that stands ajar, a soda can propping it open and preventing it from closing.“See that door?The day manager smokes like a chimney and hates having to punch the code into the keypad every fifteen minutes.”
She yanks open the door and pulls me in behind her, then bends down to make sure the can stays steady.She leads me down a narrow hallway and then we slip through another door and end up in the middle of the theater, well away from the ticket booth at the front.
“What do you want to see?”She points to the different posters hanging on the walls.“Bad BoysorA Goofy Movie?”
“DefinitelyBad Boys.”I grin as I look down at her.Would she think it’s strange that I’ve only ever been in a theater once before?Would she be disgusted with just how little money I have and leave me here in the middle of the theater?“This is my second time at the movies,” I blurt out, my filter officially gone.
“Nice.”She laughs as she drags me into a room.“I wasn’t the one to pop your cherry, but I’ll still get to see your excitement like it’s the first time.”
The movie’s opening credits have already started and the room is pitch-black when we ascend the stairs and go to the very back row.The theater is mostly empty given that it’s not even noon yet, but I’m still excited to be able to experience the surround sound and the large picture.Brooke must see it on my face because she leans in close and pokes my cheek.“You look like a kid in a candy store.”
“I feel like it,” I admit to her and turn so that we’re face-to-face, our noses a mere inch apart.“Thank you.”
Her eyes flick between mine and then lower to look at my mouth.The air around us grows heavy with tension and my heart begins to beat faster, the sound mixing with the music on the screen.
She leans in a fraction more, the tips of our noses brushing, and the touch pulls me out of the moment as some of my senses return.I fall back into my seat, keeping my eyes on the screen as Brooke does the same beside me.I didn’t come here to make out with her or to take advantage of any situation, and besides, I may find Brooke Eastham attractive, but our budding friendship is more important to me.No matter how much I wanted our lips to touch.
Is it weird that I just don’t want to be another one of her conquests?Just another guy she sneaks around with or hides in the courtyard between classes with?I know there are many guys who would jump at this opportunity, but I’m not one of them.I’m not looking to mess up my life right now with a complicated relationship.I’ve seen what it’s done to my parents and to other people around me.So instead, I get comfortable in my seat and enjoy the movie because that’s what I’m here for.
“Will Smith is so hot,” Brooke groans as we walk out of the theater with the crowd and right out the front doors.It’s still so weird to me that we got away with it and no one stopped us to ask for a ticket or anything.
