Chapter 14: Trials of Being an Adult
It’s probably too early to call Elli right? Right; it’s too early. I don’t want to sound desperate or clingy or something like that. Oh f**k! This girl is only seventeen years old and I’m…. I’m acting like….I’m hooked on her. This is just f**king wrong.
I can’t get her off my mind. I keep replaying last night over and over in my head. I barely slept at all. I need to talk to somebody about this. I need to just forget I ever met her.
“You’re still in bed?” I roll my eyes at the sound of Trace’s voice and pull the covers over my head. I’m not ready to talk right this second. “Get up man; you have to get to the studio.”
A wave of cold air hits my body when that f**ker, Trace, yanks the blankets right off my bed. I throw a pillow in his general direction and curl myself in to a tight ball to keep warm. “Go away.” I mumble.
“Fine, stay the f**k in bed.” He concedes, “I’ll just go tell Johnny to forget about your album because you would rather stay in bed all day.”
He’s such an f**king drama queen. I groan loudly as I slide my legs down to the end of the bed stretching my sore muscles.
Begrudgingly I make my way past my best friend and into the bathroom to start the shower. I stick my hand underneath the cascade of water and wait for it to warm to the correct temperature before slipping off my boxers and sliding in. I moan as the water kneads at my aching muscles. How can something as simple as a shower feel so damn good?
Lathering up my blue loaf my thoughts drift back to a certain someone and our almost kiss last night. God, we ere so close I could practically taste her lips…..and standing between her warm thighs was….I moan as my hands slip down my chest and stomach to my lower region. I’m a pervert aren’t I? I’m getting off to thoughts of an underage girl I’ve only known for a couple of weeks. Shaking myself of my thoughts I finish washing and get out, quickly dressing and meeting Trace downstairs.
“Let’s go.” I call grabbing my bag and keys.
“Oh, hey”uh some girl called while you were in the shower. She sounded kinda upset.”
“Can I get a name?” I ask. Sometimes I wonder why I put up with him.
“Uh”” He pushes air out of his mouth rather loudly as he ponders. I always tell him that if he can’t take a message not to answer the phone. “Oh! Elli. I can’t remember her last name though.” He smirks like the smart ass you all know he is. Don’t you just love how he pretended not to remember her? Sometimes I don’t know why I’m f**king friends with him.
Wait.
He said she sounded upset? Elli called and she sounded upset. Is she hurt, was her house on fire, what? I’m starting to panic. I drop my bag and run upstairs taking the steps two at a time.
I grab her number off my bedside table and quickly dial her number. It’s ringing. Shit! I got her machine. I can’t leave a message; her mom would hear it she’ll ask questions that Elli won’t be prepared to answer. Maybe I should go over there. But then her mom might be home and she’ll wonder what the hell I’m doing at her house. Maybe I’m just overreacting. She has other people she can call if she needs help. That’s what Liz is there for right?
“Justin!” Trace calls from downstairs. I’ll just go to the studio and try to call Elli again when I get a break. I run back down the stairs and past a clearly confused Trace. I’m just as confused as he is.
“Let’s go T.” I swing open the door and stop in my tracks when my eyes meet those of the one person who seems to consume all of my thoughts lately. “Elli, how did you get through the gate?”
She clears her throat and shift uncomfortably. “Trace let me in.”
I look back at Trace who is smiling widely at me. He moves to stand next to me and reaches around me to shake Elli’s hand.
“It’s nice to see you again.” Elli takes his hand timidly and returns his smile. “Well I’m gonna go call Johnny and tell him we’re going to be even later than normal.”
“If you have somewhere to be I can go.” She says quickly as I pull her into the house. “I tired to call but you were in the shower.”
“It’s fine really,” I assure taking this time to look her over. She’s dressed nicely in a flowery pink sundress with her brown wavy hair pulled back in a neat braid. Must be her church clothes. “Shouldn’t you be at church?”
She sighs and runs her hand over her face. “I told my mom I wasn’t feeling well so I left early. I tried to get a hold of Liz but she’s grounded again so I can’t talk to her so I came here. I don’t even know why. I just started walking and this is where I ended up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say interrupting her ramblings. I usher her into the living room were we both sit comfortably next to one another on the couch. We sit in silence for a few minutes.
“I think my mom was out with a man last night.” She blurts out. Is this is a bad thing? “She didn’t get home until almost four this morning and she reeked of men’s cologne and cigarette smoke.”
“I’m sorry?”
She stands and starts pacing the small space between the coffee table and the couch. “She looked like she just had sex! I mean not that I really know what that looks like. She just”I’ve never seen”and her clothes were”this is not the first time she’s none this!”
“Elli,” I interrupt softly taking her shoulders and turning her towards me. “Take a breath sweetie.”
She inhales deeply before exhaling loudly. “I would have gone to Liz but she’s grounded because she got drunk last night and the last time I told her about this she didn’t really act like she cared and””
“Elli,” I interrupt again this time pulling her by the hands to the couch. “Just try to relax honey okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now your mom isn’t married anymore right?” She nods reluctantly. “And you want her to be happy right?” Again, she nods. “Well maybe this guy makes her happy.”
“I don’t want some man to make her happy. I don’t want a new dad Justin.”
“Just because your mom is seeing some guy doesn’t mean she’s going to marry him and if she does ever remarry no one will ever replace your dad. You can’t expect her to be alone forever.” I try to reason softly. The poor girl looks like someone killed her best friend.
“Why not?” She pouts cutely.
“Because you’re an adult and the adult thing to do is to let your mom be an adult.”
(Elli’s POV)
I stare at him blankly for a few moments repeating that sentence over in my head. He used the word adult like three times. How much of a ditz am I that it took me so long to get what he said? I bite my tongue to stop myself from saying that he’s wrong and that I’m only seventeen so technically I’m not yet an adult. I’m just a naive child who has yet to lose her baby fat.
You’ll have to excuse my self-loathing….I’m a little upset right now.
“It’s just so disgusting to think about my mom….” I trail off with a shutter. “Having sex.” I barely whisper the last part. Can you say prude? It’s all my mother’s fault that I feel ashamed to even say the word sex let alone think about it or have it before I’m married. I never had the ‘sex talk’ my friends speak so fondly of.
After my dad passed away my mom dove into her religion and basically shoved it down my throat. I mean we were always a religious family but my mom just took it to the extreme. This is why I don’t drink, smoke, swear, or do anything remotely fun or exciting. She’s just really protective I guess. I’m not even allowed to get my license until I’m eighteen. It’s like I’ve never proven to her that I’m a responsible teenager”which I have may a times. Ugh, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
Justin’s light laughter shakes me from my thoughts. Apparently he found my last comment rather amusing. He drapes his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to him in a sort of side hug. My first instinct is to tense up and pull away but I refrain and try my best to relax into him. He really does put me at ease. I guess that’s part of the reason I came here. I’m sure Liz’s mom would have let me see her if I explained the situation I was in but to be honest Justin was the first person I thought of. Is that bad?
“Don’t worry sweetie,” He coos sweetly, “everything’ll work itself out.”
I sigh and surprise myself my wrapping my arm around his middle and squeezing myself closer to him. His smell is so intoxicating and soothing. I inhale deeply just as his friend Trace enters back into the room with a big cheesy smile on his face.
“Sorry to break up this lovey-dovey moment,” What lovey-dovey moment? We’re just sitting here….and I’m being comforted. I don’t like how he feels the need to read into things like that. He did that at the party last night too. “But, Jay, you really need to get to the studio. Johnny said that as soon as you get there he’s going to personally kill you with his bare hands.”
How sweet….this Johnny character doesn’t sound very nice. A rush of cold air surrounds me when I feel Justin’s arm leave me. I release him and he stands up with a stretch. Luckily he’s wearing an undershirt so that when his shirt rides up I can’t see anything. I know what you’re thinking: Are you crazy? Why is that a good thing?
Maybe you all haven’t been paying enough attention”I’m a bumbling idiot when he’s fully covered….need I say more?
“I’m sorry but I really have to go.” He explains apologetically. I’m the one who should be apologizing, I’m the reason he’s so late that ‘Johnny’ is going to kill him. “How about I call you later and we can meet for lunch and finish talking?”
I really shouldn’t. I mean I shouldn’t even be in his house right now….my mom would freak. Then again my mom is being deceitful to me so why not give her a taste of her own medicine?
“That sounds great.”
TBC....
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