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October 19th~Freshman year
~Janae~
Going to a party was probably not the best decision Janae could be making at the moment, but, it was halfheartedly justified to her dad with the consolation that she would be back by at least 10:30. He hadn’t really cared, just nodded and went back to his reality tv show, where all the male leads walked around with a disgustingly minimal amount of clothes, and complained that their wives didn’t make enough sourdough.
It was very strange, and Janae wasn’t sure why it had 7 seasons.
It also stung a little that he didn’t mind her going to a high school party, where she had assured him that alcohol would be readily available, and he should probably not let her go, but it also sent a bit of a thrill down Janae’s spine. It had actually been her cousin Maria who had convinced her to go with her to said party. She had suggested that Janae just sneak out, but Janae already knew that would get her in much more trouble than if she just asked and got rejected. She knew her dad wouldn’t mind anyway. He hadn’t really cared much about anything she got up too, not since the divorce.
It had been exactly 5 months, 3 weeks, and 4 and a half days since Janae’s mom got sick and tired of them, and moved in with her much younger, much wealthier, boyfriend. Luckily for them, she didn’t take much, meaning that while Janae was still motherless for 6 months of the year, she still had all of her things, and she called that a win.
Janae was waiting on the stoop for Maria to arrive. She had said 8:30, but Janae knew better than to trust her cousins time keeping skills. She was a couple years older, and a senior at Bayview, so she had gotten invited no problem. Janae figured she probably wasn’t her first choice of plus ones, but Maria had just gotten woefully broken up with, and on their call the other day, while diving deep into her misery, Janae had made the mistake of mentioning the party.
She had heard about it from a few of the upperclassmen in her pottery class, and was just trying to see if Maria knew anything about it. That was the first mistake on her part.
Janae had then gotten told she was going as Maria’s backup driver, because while she loved her cousin dearly, she had a habit of forgetting she had to drive back home after said party, and tended to get tipsy if she had more than one drink.
And just as Janae was getting up to go inside after a good half hour of waiting, a car horn blared at the end of her driveway.
“Get in loser!” Maria’s singsongy voice carried through the yard, and her Jeep idled along in a constant hum. Janae could hear the musical soundtrack before she even got in the car, and Maria leaned over the center console to hug her as soon as the door shut.
“How’s life? Are you liking the high school? Is everyone nice?” Maria asked excitedly. She had flipped her sunglasses back onto her sleek blond ringlets, and Janae could see the massive brown eyes that bore into her own. It was kinda uncanny how much she looked like her Auntie Kristy—the same honey colored eyes, blond hair, and natural excitement over nearly anything.
“Good, sorta, and I think so.”
Maria backed out of the driveway, narrowly avoiding the mailbox. “Good, that’s good! I’m glad you’re having fun. God, I remember my freshman year.” Janae nearly snorted at the implication that she was having a good time at Bayview high. “What? Are you laughing at me?” Maria continued, “I, unlike some people, actually had a great first year of high school, thank you very much.”
Janae nodded. She had heard all about the ‘legacy years’, as she had dutifully called them. Parties and head club members and boyfriends and all that jazz. That could never be her, and she knew that. But, the rest of her family were still holding out hope.
The first couple of weeks hadn’t even been that bad, they were maybe even good. Janae had been able to cruise through the day, keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact with the lunch lady who always seemed to be picking a fight with 15 year olds. It went downhill after that, when she had been forced to work with Caddie Hill on a social-economic project for history, and they got the lowest score in the class because Caddie didn’t want to work with a weirdo. (Janae had inferred that information, because Mr. Hill got called in after they scored a 32%, and he was not happy to learn that Janae had been her partner for the project.)
“But..” Maria took her eyes off the road to look directly at Janae. “I know it might be hard, so please, make some friends tonight, have fun! Just, don’t drink anything that comes from a person you don’t know, and if you ever feel uncomfortable just tell me and we can leave, and if anyone starts to hit on you—“
“Ok! I get it! Don’t do anything you would be doing, and I’ll be fine.” Janae smiled, and Maria rolled her eyes. They drove along some back roads for a bit, Janae staring out the window of the Jeep.
The sun was just starting to set along the marina, and it cast the water in a whole rainbow of colors. Janae’s mom always said that ‘the sunsets here look like heaven on earth.’
They pulled up to the house, and Janae could already hear the music before Maria put the car in park. It was a stark contrast to pop musical tunes that blared from the Jeep. The bass thumped through the walls hard enough to make the windows shake, and every few minutes people erupted into cheers from the back deck.
Cars lined both sides of the street, parked at questionable angles. Someone had left their headlights on, and another had their front wheels halfway up the curb.
Maria threw the car into park. “Looks like a good time,” she said, stepping out of the car and onto the damp lawn.
“It looks loud,” Janae responded. Her voice was swallowed up by the chatter of Maria’s friends who had come to greet her.
“Maria! How are you?” A girl with long black hair and a red cup came tramping out of the house. Liquid sloshed from the sides, and she threw her arms around the both of them. Janae wriggled out of her grip.
“Oh my god, Casey, hi!” Maria gave an equally enthusiastic hug back, and Janae stood awkwardly off to the side. She checked her phone, the time reading 8:57. So she had a little over an hour before she needed to find Maria and get back home.
Maria turned back to her, waving off Casey for the moment. “Ok, find me when you need to go back home, don’t so anything dumb, and have fun!”
And with that, Janae was forgotten.
She sighed, stuffing her hands into the pocket of her oversized hoodie, and followed the stream of people meandering toward the front door.
The house smelled like cheep cologne, pizza, and beer. The music was louder in the house than outside, and Janae could barely hear her own thoughts. Laugher echoed from an open doorway, and she peaked her head inside to find a game of strip poker happening.
Shuttering, Janae made her way over to the kitchen, one of the only rooms that wasn’t packed with people, surprisingly enough.
There was one kid though. A boy about her age, with messy dark hair and a dark hoodie that matched her own, peering into the open refrigerator.
“Yes!” He exclaimed softly.
Janae inched closer to the kitchen island, and the kid didn’t seem to notice her.
“Hey,” he said, not looking her way. “Can you check the top cabinet for tortilla chips?”
Janae spun around, looking for anyone behind her, but there was no one. “Me?”
She saw him nod. “Yup, I swear Jake had some the last time I was here.”
Janae pulled up a chair, feeling very weird to be opening up someone else’s pantry, but sure enough, in the back corner, sat a half eaten bag of tortilla chips. She set them gently on the counter, and put the chair back at the laminate island.
The boy had closed the fridge, and busied himself with pouring salsa into two glass dishes. He handed her one.
“You wanted one?” He asked.
“Not particularly, but thank you,” Janae set the glass down on the counter, and the boy popped open the bag of chips.
He had jet black hair, the darkest she had ever seen on a person, and a strong nose. Also, interestingly enough, he had one thin sliver hoop in his right ear.
“Simon,” he said, sticking his hand out.
Janae declined the handshake. “Janae.”
“Well Janae, congratulations, you are the first person I’ve met with that name,” Simon shoved a salsa covered chip in his mouth, chewing loudly. “These things honestly blow, I just come for the gossip,” he gestured to a couple making out in the stairwell that Janae hadn’t even noticed.
He took a swig out of the red cup sitting at his elbow. “Like, them over there, Maddie Holden, that’s not her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is in New York right now, and that’s a guy from Balmoral High.”
Janae raised an eyebrow. “How in the world do you know that?” She pushed out from the table, and opened the fridge, pulling out a soda.
“Oh, you can have mine, I’m done with it,” Simon offered the red cup, not answering her question. Janae shook her head, “Uh, no thanks. I-I don’t drink.” She leaned back onto the door frame, wrapping her arms around herself like a protection.
“Oh, me either, it’s Dr. Pepper. I tried one of my dad’s beers a while ago and I threw up.”
Janae nodded slowly. Why in the world was this kid telling her all this?
“Can…I ask you something?” Janae asked.
“Shoot.”
“Are you…on something? Please don’t take that as offensive!” Janae wanted to eat her words. Simon stared at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
“No, I’m just like this,” he laughed.
Janae wanted to curl up and die. “I’m so sorry! That was such a terrible question!”
“You know what Janae? I really like you,” Simon took a sip of his soda. “You’re not half bad.”
An hour later, they were sitting on the quiet porch, Janae nursing her one and only cup of fruit punch and vodka, and it was Simon’s turn to ask her truth or dare.
“Uhhh, truth,” Janae responded.
Simon narrowed his eyes, “Huh decisions, decisions. What should I ask?” He tapped his fingers on the arm of his lawn chair. He smiled wickedly. “Why are you here tonight?”
Janae smiled back, “Oh that’s easy, my cousin dragged me here. Why are you here?”
“You didn’t ask truth or dare.”
Janae rolled her eyes. “Truth or dare.”
“Truth.”
“Why are you here?”
Simon sighed slowly. “It’s Jake party, and he asked me to come—“
The screen door to the porch slammed open. Maria stood in the light of the doorway, her eyes softening when she saw Janae. “Oh my god, thank goodness I found you! Have you checked the time, your dad is going to kill me!”
Janae pulled out her phone.
10:14.
Shit.
She turned back to Simon, “Uh, sorry, I-I have to go.”
“I’ll see you around Janae.”
Janae scooped up her cup, “See you around.”
On the drive back home, Maria spent the whole time lamenting about her ex. Janae nodded at all the right times, but her mind kept wandering back to Simon.
“So,” Maria pulled into the driveway, her keys jiggling. “You have fun?”
Janae thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad. There was this weird boy though.”
Maria grinned. “Oh?”
“Not like that,” Janae groaned.
“Sure, sure. Well, you better get inside before it gets any later, or your dad might not let me take you anywhere anymore.”
Janae climbed out of the car, waving as Maria pulled out of the driveway. She dug through her pockets to find her house key, wondering about the new friend she might have in class on Monday.