Part 3 (2/2)

”Nah. Are you kidding? She's got enough to last her ten New Year's. She won't know it's gone.” Beth put the opening to her lips, and with a deep breath took a drink. I had to grab the Rum from her as she began to cough and stammer, almost dropping it to the carpet.

”You okay?” I asked as I thumped her back, concern filling my face.

”Ugh! Yeah, I'm fine. Try some.” she said, her voice low, and rough from the coughing fit and the burning liquid, indicating the bottle in my hand. I gave her one last glance to make sure she wasn't going to keel over, and took a swig. The sweet fire filled my mouth, and I clenched my eyes tightly shut so I wouldn't spit it all over my bed. I managed to swallow it down, feeling the Rum sear my insides as it went to finally land squarely in my stomach with a whoosh.

”Good G.o.d!” I cried after my own coughing fit. I handed the bottle back to Beth. ”That stuff is awful! Your mom actually drinks that stuff on purpose?” Beth laughed at me.

”I know. It's better when you have it in something like a daiquiri.”

”How would you know?”

”I've had them before. They're really good.” I eyed her with a raised brow, then shrugged.

”So what do you think of that new kid, what's his name? Scott something?” I asked looking at her profile as she took another drink. She closed her eyes as she swallowed, not looking at me as she handed over the Rum. She swallowed a couple of times, but did not cough or show any other sign of discomfort. Finally she took in a mouthful of air to cool off her tingling mouth. Something told me that that was not her first time with straight Rum.

”Scott Mathews?” I nodded as I took a drink. ”I think he's a dork. Why?”

”Darla likes him. He's all I heard about last week. Scott this, Scott that. Isn't Scott cute, he's got a cute b.u.t.t.” Darla Newman had become one of my close friends, completely against Beth's will, but it pleased my parents. They did not get along that great, but Beth tolerated her for my benefit. Darla thought Beth was weird because she did not like make-up, nor did she do anything with her hair. Many of the girls our age wore their hair at shoulder length or shorter, but Beth, as usual, went against the crowd. She wore her dark hair long and straight, though usually pulled back in a ponytail, or smashed down by some hat. Her long bangs were constantly being pushed out of the way by her hand or mine. She did not constantly talk about boys, and she had no interest in clothes. She just did not fit in, and she relished her differences. She said that this made her unique. I thought it just made for hard times with people snickering behind your back, and making jokes about you. Beth didn't mind the names they called her, most of which I really didn't even understand what they meant. One of the favorite names that came from the boys was dike. I mean, what does a water embankment have to do with her? I didn't understand it. Once I told Billy how silly and strange it was for Beth to be called that. He turned bright red, and walked away mumbling about homework. All the same, I thought it was interesting that all the reasons people didn't like Beth, were exactly the reasons I did.

”I think he's a dork, too. I mean, he's not even cute.” I said. I looked over at Beth and waited as she took a drink.

”Ahhh!” she exclaimed smacking her lips together with a smile.

”You've got to be joking. That stuff is awful.” I took the bottle from her outstretched hand and looked at it with drawn brows making an impromptu decision that I did not like Rum. ”What is this stuff supposed to do to you, anyway?” No sooner were the words out of my mouth when I felt a surge of energy run through my body making it tingle from the soles of my bare feet to the end of my ponytail. My eyes opened wide as I tried to stifle a giggle that sprouted straight from my gut.

”You were saying?” Beth grinned.

”Whoa.” I breathed, turning to her. ”I feel reeeeally strange.” I grinned. It felt as though my head were as light as a feather, strange thoughts floating around like billowy clouds in a clear, blue sky.

”Really?” Beth said, trying to hold back her own giggle. ”You don't look strange.”

”No?” Beth shook her head, her bangs falling into her eyes. I reached out to try and move them out of the way, but my eyes weren't working as well as they usually did, and my perception was off. ”Sorry, Bethy, honey.” I snickered as I poked her in the eye.

”Quite all right.” she giggled, rubbing her red right eye. I would always be a lightweight when it came to alcohol. I couldn't keep my head still so it began to bob on my neck like it was hooked to a spring, which made us laugh even more.

I smiled as I ran my finger over the glossy faces in the picture. We were so young. Then my smile began to turn bittersweet. The year I turned fifteen would also be the year that our friends.h.i.+p would take a severe turn for the worse. But I didn't want to think about that. My thoughts turned back to the first night Beth got me drunk. After many silly attempts at playing cards, acting out scenes from our favorite movies, and singing, we decided to go to bed, the alcohol draining the energy out of us both.

Beth turned off the wall light switch, and stumbled her way back to bed, hissing a curse as she smacked her foot on something. I laid on my back staring up at the ceiling, my mind caught between a state of total exhaustion, and utter clarity. It was a strange feeling. I felt the mattress s.h.i.+ft as Beth laid down next to me on her back, her eyes on my profile. She was quiet, but I could hear her breath come in quick bursts. She turned on her side facing me.

”Em?” she asked, trying to whisper, but not quite making it. I grinned.

”Yes, Beth?”

”You're a fun drunk.” she giggled.

”I am not a drunk. You're the drunk. You drank a way lot more than I did, you fish.” She giggled again.

”Na ah. You did.”

”No, you did.” I rolled over on my side facing her and stuck my finger in her side. She yelled out and moved her body away from me.

”Shhh,” I laughed as I began to attack again. ”You'll wake up my parents.” I reached out with both hands, groping for her most ticklish parts.

”You better quit,” she said through clenched teeth, grabbed my hands to still them and give her aching sides a reprieve. ”I'm warning you, Em. You'll be sorry.” I giggled as I looked into her eyes that held an evil gleam in the darkness of my bedroom. I stuck my tongue out at her. She raised her eyebrows, and leaned up on her elbow, looking down at me. A burst of heat roared through my body landing squarely between my legs. I swallowed. ”Are you gonna stop?” she asked quietly.

”No.” I croaked. Why did I say that? I could end this all right now, and get her to stop looking at me that way if only I'd agree to behave. Then we could go to sleep.

”No?” Say yes! Say yes!

”Do you think I'd actually listen to you, Miss Smarty Pants?” I could actually hear a groan come from inside my head somewhere. I shoved it away, and glared playfully back at her. I reached an experimental hand toward her stomach again, only for it to be taken in hers. She pushed me on to my back and rolled on top of me, holding both of my hands now securely over my head. My head was in a daze from the alcohol that still ran though my system, and also from the heat, and weight of Beth's body stretched out on mine. Wherever her skin touched mine, my body flamed. I felt like I had a full-body fever. Our legs were bare, leaving only a barrier of our underwear and T-s.h.i.+rts between our blazing bodies.

”Are you still going to fight me?” she breathed, her lips just inches from mine. I could only shake my head. She smiled vaguely. I'm not sure who finally bridged the gap between our mouths, but the next thing I knew her lips were pressed to mine. She let go of my hands and ran her own down to my shoulders. My hands automatically flew down, and reached out across the expanse of her back, her immense body heat nearly burning me through the thin material of the T-s.h.i.+rt she was using to sleep in. Our bodies s.h.i.+fted slightly, and I nearly cried out as I felt her leg go between mine, her thigh pressed to the throbbing between my legs. I had no idea what was happening, but I was enjoying it thoroughly. I felt wet as if I had peed my pants. I could feel Beth's own strange wetness against my own thigh. I began to pull away from her, but she grabbed me tighter. Then I felt the wetness of her tongue against my swollen lips. I had heard about this from Billy. French kissing. Curious, I eagerly opened my lips to her. Her tongue was soft, and wet, and I could faintly taste Rum mingled with Crest toothpaste. She ran her tongue over mine, and seemed to search for something just out of reach in my mouth. I heard her whimper as she pressed her lower body into mine. I gasped as her thigh rubbed against me, and then she started a slow, rocking motion with her body. She pulled her mouth from mine, and buried her face into my neck. I closed my eyes, my hands reached down to press her more into me, deepen the contact. She reached a hand down and grabbed my thigh that wasn't between her legs, and raised it so it rested near her hip. I sucked in my breath at the intensified sensation. I couldn't help it as a moan escaped my throat. This seemed to affect Beth as her rhythm quickened. I felt hot breath on the side of my neck followed by her lips. I arched my neck in response as I noticed additional sensations coming from my b.r.e.a.s.t.s as hers rubbed against mine. I could feel a tight, tingling feeling, almost painful, throbbing from my nipples that were hard like when I got out of the shower. I reached my hands up and put my fingers between our bodies and onto Beth's nipples. They were just as hard as mine felt. She groaned into the tender skin of my throat at the contact.

”Oh, Em.” she breathed.

I could feel a pressure building in the pit of my stomach, and was working its way down with every move of Beth's thigh against me. It moved quickly to spread out like a blanket of warmth spreading into my b.u.t.t and tops of my thighs, and was sailing like a comet through the sky to between my legs. My breathing started coming faster as the wave of heat began to turn into a pulse like a heartbeat. My hips arched up as if they had developed a mind of their own to meet Beth's rhythm. I dug my fingers into the hem of Beth's s.h.i.+rt as I felt that pulsing pressure explode out of my body with a blast of light behind my eyes. My mouth opened as my eyes closed, my breathing and heart stopped. I could feel Beth tense against me, her breaths coming in gasps against my neck, her hands curling into the sheet on either side of my head until her hips stopped all together.

Slowly, slowly the world returned on its axis, and I could again breathe. Beth pushed up so she was above me with her weight on her arms. We stared into each other's eyes, not sure what else to do. She opened her mouth as if she were going to say something when we both started as a knock sounded at my bedroom door.

”Emmy? Beth? Are you two okay?” my mother's voice said quietly from the other side. I swallowed, hard, but managed to bring my voice to its normal level.

”Fine, mom.”

”I heard a noise.” I looked up at Beth who shrugged her shoulders, her eyes looked as mortified as I felt.

”Uh, Beth fell out of bed. She had a bad dream.” I closed my eyes at how lame I knew the lie sounded. But my mother seemed to buy it.

”Okay, sweetie. See you in the morning.”

”Night.” I heard her soft, slippered steps fade and disappear altogether.

To my doleful relief, Beth moved off of me, and laid on her side of the bed on her back, careful not to touch me in any way. My body felt chill in the cold January night air when she took her body heat from me. I stayed where I was, but looked over at Beth, noticing that her breathing still had not completely returned to normal. She put her forearm over her eyes.

”I am so drunk.” she whispered.

”Yeah.” I groaned dramatically. ”Me, too.” I actually had never felt more sober in all my fourteen and a half years. I swallowed as I could still feel a faint pulsing between my legs. What had we just done? Was that normal between friends? Between girls? Darla Newman and some of her friends had told me stories about how they lay down with a pillow or a teddy bear and rubbed against it. Is that why they do that?

I turned to look at Beth expecting to meet eyes made dark by the night, but I met her back instead. Her breathing was fairly normal now, and I couldn't tell if she was asleep or not.

”Beth?” I whispered, barely audible to my own ears. Her only reply was a slight moan as she resettled her shoulder against the mattress.

The light of the morning came quickly, its brightness stirring me out of a restless sleep. I glanced over at my alarm clock that sat on the dresser top across from the bed. It was only eight-fifteen. I laid my head back down on the pillow with a sigh. My head hurt, and I didn't feel like my feet were completely on earth yet. I looked over at Beth. She lay on her stomach, facing me, arms crossed underneath the pillow. She was still very much asleep, her breathing slow and deep. I studied her face as last night came back to me. Her mouth was relaxed with a slight smile upon her full lips. Maybe she was reliving the experience in the land of sleep? I closed my eyes as a now familiar heat shot to between my legs. No, no. Never again. We can never do that again.

I stood at the counter with my hand on the top of the coffee maker as it perked to life, my mind and eyes a million miles and years away. I saw ourselves that morning as we dressed for breakfast. Beth and I joked around as usual, both complaining about our common headache, and shared a giggle or two about getting away with getting drunk. To the untrained eye it would have seemed as if nothing was wrong or different. But I knew. I could not meet Beth's eyes. I thought that if I looked into the ocean-blue depths of those expressive eyes I would see something that would scare me, and that I wouldn't be able to turn away from it. Our usual, easy connection was gone, and I missed it.

I jumped slightly as I felt arms encircle my waist, and warmth along my back, but then relaxed back into the familiar body.

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