FEELS LIKE TROUBLE

Nothing else to do anymore, and it being a Friday night, Lily knew it was time to go home.

The weekend already seemed more fun by the second. Being a wallflower was something she should stop doing. Pronto!

After one last glance at the party, she walked away from it all. With no regret or any hesitation. With her leaving, she might as well get the image of the love birds off her head. It was already a bit crowded in there, only for two people to take up all the space.

Without care for both the curious and accusing looks directed at her anymore, she was done pretending to fit in and proving she could be cool.

But Dan looked so good tonight, she confessed. Shaking her head, she further mused. Oh, boy! She loved looking at him.

Her best friend, Jean, was talking to Katie, another senior at Fram Hill High. Ever the party girl, Jean could just jump from one party to the next if she had all the time in the world.

Lily could not blame her. Mrs. Appleton always bragged about giving birth to a daughter with so much energy. She was proud that her daughter was like a walking battery.

On her way to the door, Lily passed by a group of cheerleaders and saw Milo surrounded by them. He was clearly overwhelmed with all that unexpected attention from the girls.

Noticing her, Milo clumsily waved his hand at her, but she only ignored him in return.

Sorry, Milo. Maybe next time. She knew he got the message. He was smart to let her go because she no longer had the time or interest for small talks.

The door looked so good to Lily's eyes. It looked like the magic door to her freedom, at last, an escape from a night better spent alone watching Netflix and drinking fine red wine after all.

Oh, there you are, door! Almost there, she was anticipating. Her freedom—Umpfh! She bumped into a guy and fell down with him to the floor. She thought she hurt her left hip a little in the process.

The guy was obviously drunk and all over the place. She was completely blindsided she didn't see him coming her way because their collision was strong enough to leave them both on the marble floor, one body on top of the other. Instinctively, she pushed him away from her, off of her. He was heavy.

Somebody, almost like a blur and wearing a black leather jacket, rushed to the inebriated guy, lying on the floor. Though too drunk as he was, the latter could still mumble and curse. He said he was perfectly fine.

The two guys obviously knew each other. Good friends even, by the look of them together.

Lily stared at the guy on the floor and noticed that he had brown hair and was quite tall. Maybe over six feet tall. Even in the dim light, she could see his dimples.

Hey, she knew him! She realized that he was Alas Cummings—the town veterinarian's only son.

***

"Don't be a loser, Alas. You're fucking drunk. Stop cursing about the family jewels. Come on. Get up," Ray urged Alas, nudging him to snap out of it.

Trying to stand on his own feet, Alas replied, "I'm up. I'm up. Jesus! You care so much about your family jewels. By the way, my dog hates you."

"Wrong. He likes me very much. And let's not talk about my family jewels. You are too violent tonight. I wonder. Is this how heartbroken people behave?"

Still wobbly, Alas stood up and opened the door by himself. When he was outside the door, he turned to look back at the girl behind him and shouted, "Hey you!"

The girl, Lily, was clueless. "Me?"

"Screw... screw you, Miss—" Then, he passed out, like a heavy sack of potatoes.

"What?!" Lily was flabbergasted, looking at Alas on the floor and, then, at Ray. She was waiting for an explanation.

Ray had no good explanation at that moment to Lily. Quite inconvenient for him. "Don't worry. He meant Missy," he tried to assure her. "He did not mean you. He meant Missy Finnegan. You know. The cheerleader? Both of you are wearing red. So figures. This loser got dumped big time tonight."

With a heavy sigh, Ray picked Alas up and tried one more time to talk to Lily, "Sorry, Stiff. Gotta drive him home to his dad." Then, he shrugged and walked away with his burden for the night, fireman carry and all straight to the car.

Alas goddamn felt like a heavy sack of potatoes weighing dead on his shoulders. He whispered to an asleep Alas, "You owe me real big time, asshole." It was more to himself than to his friend.

***

Lily's mouth was still agape. What the hell just happened? She was confused, and her hip ached. She shouldn't have drunk the beer. Dammit!

She was trying to get her composure back when Jean caught up with her.

"Lil, wait. You sure you can drive your way home?" Jean was worried about her friend.

Oh! Lily mentally slapped herself. Could she still drive safely home in her current state? Was she really drunk? God! She felt awful. It was just what? Two, three bottles of beer? No! She didn't want to puke. These thoughts ran around in her mind.

"I think I can. Slightly drunk. Juuuuust a bit, but I'm fine."

Shaking her head, Jean grabbed Lily's arm. "Goodness you. Okay." Then, she walked her friend to the latter's 1977 yellow beetle. "By the way, who are those guys?"

"Those guys? Alas Cummings and that super pale guy who loves leather jackets." Lily almost tripped on the pavement, searching for her car key in her jeans pocket.

An idea came into Jean's mind. A light bulb moment because suddenly her eyes lit up. She seemed sure. "Wait here."

Oh, god. What was she thinking now? Hopefully not something that would end up problematic for Lily.

***

Walking towards a vintage black Mercedes where the two guys were at, Jean immediately recognized Alas Cummings and that super pale guy with a penchant for leather jackets Lily talked about.

How Lily could forget an important detail about the super pale guy of all things in the entirety of Fram Hill baffled Jean.

He was none other than freaking Ray Carter! The Ray Carter, Lily, the Ray Carter! Jean wanted to scream at Lily.

"Hey, Carter!" Jean stood next to Ray, a good distance between them. She was smiling to impress, to be friendly.

"I'm Jean Appleton. I think you've heard of me as one of The Bugle people. Nice to meet you too. I don't really write. I just do some research and a few administrative tasks for the school paper. No biggie. I tried running for the Math Club's presidency, but I lost because, apparently, only students who understand numbers are allowed to win. So, I ran for the Foodie Club instead. That, I am not surprised I won. Boo-yah! Anyways, I have a friend over there. See that girl near the yellow beetle?"

She knew she was pushing her luck. If she was born with lots and lots of energy, then her younger brother was the one born with incredible luck.

Ray Carter looked in the direction of the said yellow beetle car. "Yeah. What about the Stiff?" He had a curious smile on his face.

Good god. Why wasn't he on her list of boys she liked? Jean stared at Ray. She was admiring him. Potential fangirl mode was on.

Up close, Ray Carter was nothing like the bad boy people say he was. He was bad news, they said. But to Jean, he was an exposé: Look At Him! It's Bad For Your Health If You Don't!

Jean caught herself staring for too long. Clearing her throat, she nodded yes to his question. "Yep. The Stiff! She's tipsy. She might get sick anytime soon from all the beer. She really can't hold her liquor, to be honest with you. Shame. But whatever. What I'm saying is that I'm worried about her driving home alone."

She could sense that Ray was skeptical, unconvinced about the entire thing. He was staring at her, maybe deliberating what to do or what to make of her deliberate and not-so-subtle attempt at negotiating. To him, she was clearly acting cute and all.

Jean understood the doubt. After all, they were not friends, just two kids who happened to go to the same high school. Ray Carter was no rescue driver. Still, she prayed he'd agree to give her best friend a ride home.

"How about you do the driving for her? My hands are already full because of this shit." Ray pointed at Alas, who was fast asleep inside his car.

Dang! Her first attempt didn't work. Charm was not her forte anyway, despite her family and friends believing it to be so.

Looking for another good excuse, she could only think of The Bugle, Duncan, and his weird assignments for her. "As a researcher and dedicated and proud member of The Bugle, I am tasked with a writing assignment tonight. I need to go back to the party and stay for a while. Apparently, Douglas' party tonight will be featured in the next issue under social activities. Really important news."

Please make it work, she mentally prayed.

"So you really want me to drive her home? You're insisting."

"So will you? Pretty please?"

Out of words, he trailed off, "Wow... I...." He looked at Alas to Jean to where Lily was and back to Jean. "That's something... I don't know. I am not sure."

"Why?"

"Why can't you anyway?"

"I told you I'm not leaving the party, that is. Assignment, remember?" she folded her arms to her body, persistent. She was not taking a no for an answer from him. This guy was unnecessarily tall, she complained to herself.

"She's your friend. You do it."

Ray turned his back to Jean and opened the car door, the driver's side.

Rushing to catch his attention again, Jean reached for his left forearm and said, "Your hands aren't really full. You can still give my friend a ride home. Please. Be her hero, a modern knight in a shining 1960's vintage black Mercedes. Public service! Or think of this as a favor. Or I promise I will vote for your grandfather when he runs for mayor again. I will pay it back somehow, someday."

The smiling and batting of eyelashes should do it, she was confident. She was plus-size, but she knew her way around boys. If girls were the curves, then boys were the angles.

Jean bet Ray couldn't think of any excuses why he couldn't drive a poor girl home. He was a guy, and Lily was a girl. They were strangers to each other. That was reason enough for him to decline Jean's request.

He was a good guy. He knew how to behave. That much, Jean believed.

Plus, in her opinion, he didn't look like he had better things to do after a party like Douglas'.

Jean was waiting for Ray to finally say yes. Anticipating.

Finally, he gave in, "Don't give me that look. Okay. I'll give her a ride. I don't have anything to do aside from dumping Alas' drunk ass in a gutter somewhere anyway. It won't hurt to help. So you trust me with your friend?"

Gotcha! She was right on one angle. Perfect!

She nodded. "Yes, I do trust you to do the noble thing. I know you are a good citizen of Fram Hill."

"Okaaay. Where does she live?"

She almost shrieked. "Thank you so much! So cool, Carter! She lives on 7th Rose Street. The house with those untrimmed trees. They are hideous. Don't mind them. You would know when you get there. Her house is quite distinct. It has... personality."

"Not far from Concord, I see. It's really late. Go ahead then and let your friend know she's coming with me."

"Perfect! I'll drive her car myself and go see her tomorrow morning. I promise!" She winked at him, grateful to him. "Nice Mercedes, by the way," and went to get Lily.

***