The O'Briens live in a modest home in a neighborhood between Dawes and Evarts. It's a home that Bridget's seen too many times to count as more often than not Bridget has always found her way over to play or hang out, eat dinner and sleep over. But for the moment you drive past it to another modest home a few houses down, pulling into the driveway and killing the ignition. You give yourself a moment to settle in because now you can't just be Will Prescott colored by Bridget Atwater, you'll have to pass yourself off fully as the girl for most of the rest of the evening and night.
Once you feel comfortable you hop out of the truck and head through the front door where you're almost immediately greeted by an old lab who pops his head up from the couch. "Hey to you too ya old mutt," you say as you walk by and rub his head.
"Oh you're back?" asks Cody, the second oldest of Bridget's brothers and a freshman at Keyserling, as he pops his head out from the kitchen. "Thought you were going out."
"I am but not right this second. Plus I wanna grab some stuff," you reply. "Got any beer I can jack?"
"Not any for you. You're still a kid, you shouldn't be drinking that stuff anyway."
"Fuck right off," you fire back as you walk by him and open the fridge and begin rooting around. "You're still underage too. I'm taking this by the way," you say as you pull out a barely used twelve pack.
"Be my guest. Have fun telling dad you took his shit. Or that you were drinking," he responds and immediately you put it back.
"Guess I better hope Catherine's got something better than wine coolers," you grumble as you head out of the kitchen.
Down the hallway you curse at Jonah, Bridget's younger brother, as he emerges from the bathroom just as you're walking by causing a minor collision. You mentally sigh at the fact that you can't do much more than that to him anymore as he hit a growth spurt some time last year so now, despite being in the eighth grade, he towers above Bridget leaving any sisterly bullying off the table.
In her room -- unsurprisingly unfeminine -- you flop down on the bed and let her phone charge though you still take the time to look through it to get a better idea of what, or rather who, you've gotten yourself into. In her phone and on her social media you see lots of pictures with lots of people. The most surprising being Bridget with other girls -- softball teammates, other JV athletes, some Eastman girls and other assorted types -- at Courtney's pool party last weekend because you'd half-expected her to be in shorts and a shirt instead of the swimsuit that she, admittedly, fills out nicely.
But you're really only killing a few minutes while your phone charges and once that's done you make a trip to the bathroom to relieve yourself and grab your stuff. As you walk out into the living room you see Cody on the couch, controller in hand with an open beer on the coffee table in front of him.
"Have fun with dad," you tease him as you walk by.
"It's what I was keeping in the garage. I'm not stupid," he says before realizing his mistake.
He shoots off of the couch but Bridget's the athlete and closer to the door besides so he has no shot at even coming close to reaching you before you're through the door, locking it from the other side (a design flaw that everyone's been too lazy to fix). You beeline towards the mini fridge where you see two unopened twelve packs. You grab one and head back into the house pulling your wallet out of your purse (one of Bridget's few feminine concessions).
"Here," you say as you toss a twenty onto the coffee table. He barely looks up from his game and doesn't say anything by the time you're out the door.
* * * * *
"What's up smelly boy?" Blake asks as he opens the front door.
"Not much, knuckle dragger," you answer as you step into the house.
"Kelly's in her room," he states and you roll your eyes.
"No shit," you reply sarcastically before noticing the red shirt. "You going out?"
"They've got me on security tonight," he says as he walks into the kitchen and digs through the refrigerator. "You're not going out there are you?"
You notice the trepidation in his voice when he says it. You'd love to needle him, and not in the friendly way Bridget normally would, but it would be way too out of character so you have to hold your tongue. "Nah, Catherine's," you answer.
He grunts at that as you hear a microwave door close. "Guess that's better then. She's more responsible," he states. More seriously though he adds, "Just make sure nothing happens."
But you don't say anything else. Oh Bridget and Kelly's older brother get along fine. So fine in fact that the relationship between the two isn't wholly different from the one she shares with her own brothers (which is why, despite being handsome and, ugh, nice she finds it impossible to view him in a romantic or sexual way). But that doesn't mean that you want to maximize the amount of time spent around him before absolutely necessary. So you're quick to go to the end of the hallway and knock on the door.
"It's me," you say in response to a muffled "yeah" and let yourself in. Immediately you feel disheartened. "You're not even ready?" you ask when you see that Kelly's dressed as if she's done for the day.
"I don't really feel like going," she mutters as she swipes away at her phone.
"Too bad Kel, you already said you were," you reply. "You already backed out of Courtney's and I'm not letting you do it twice in a row."
"Parties aren't my thing," she says.
"Nothing is your thing," you say in frustration, "but you've gotta get out some time."
"Ngh," she grunts as she pushes herself up into a sitting position. "There's going to be too many people there. It's going to be way too crowded and way too noisy and way too annoying. You can't just call up a few people to come over here?"
"Most of them are probably out doing other shit," you argue, "probably at Catherine's. But I can see if Zelda's free if you're so desperate for some people to hang out with."
Kelly glowers at you but pushes herself off the bed. She can't stand Zelda McPherson, a pink-haired bohemian freshman who feels incongruous with the rest of the team, because Kelly is a serious girl who takes everything seriously.
Though it's something deeper than that you realize as you take her spot on the bed while Kelly rummages through her closet. Bridget's known Kelly for a very long time -- not surprising as they live on the same street -- and the two are close enough to practically be family but the two could not be any more opposite otherwise. Where Bridget is laid back and outgoing, Kelly is moody and introverted.
Bridget is the type who can jump into conversation and keep it going easily enough but Kelly is just too socially awkward and more prone to hanging back and keeping quiet than saying something. It's really only on a court or a field, too caught up in the heat of the moment and hyped up on adrenaline, does she allow herself to feel looser.
"I'd still rather hang out here," Kelly says as she slips off her sweatpants for her own pair of jeans.
"Just the two of us?"
"Maybe Shannon, Candice, just a few people."
"Look, Catherine's parties are fine. She doesn't tolerate shitbags," you tell her. "You need to start getting out more."
"You know I've never really liked hanging around a bunch of people," she grumbles as she throws a sweater over her head.
"Yeah but you've never been this bad," you state. "If you're that uncomfortable we can go to the Warehouse. Your brother's playing security tonight." You snicker at that as you watch her tense up though quickly you alleviate things. "Joking, fuck. Look we don't even need to stay all night, okay? Just hang out for a few hours. Get loosened up. They're not gonna bite you just because..."
"I'm getting dressed aren't I?" Kelly fires back. "Just stay close by alright? I really don't want get swallowed up in a crowd."
* * * * *
Though you try to stay true to your word for most of the night that you'll keep her company, you eventually do get quite literally pulled away when James Randolph, a sophomore on the JV basketball team, bring you into a quieter corner. He fondles you and his tongue wrestles with your own and the part of you that's Bridget thrills as he's seriously handsome and one of the few guys on the team he's not a douche.
"Why aren't we going out?" you ask during one of the times he pulls back.
"Because I'm still dating Tiffany" he answers referring to his girlfriend Tiffany Kinyon.
"Dude, that relationship is going nowhere," you say in a huff. "Fucking two-faced bitch is just clinging on for social status."
"She's not like that," he sighs.
"Yeah, okay," you roll your eyes. "That's why you're always finding me at every party."
He doesn't respond to that exactly. "You actually got Kelly to come out?" he instead asks. "David's into her you know," he says referring to one of his buddies, David Harrell. "Help him out and then we can see about..."
He leans in and starts to kiss you again when your phone buzzes. You push him back for just a second so you can check it and your mood sours a little when you do.
It's a text from Kelly saying she wants to "get the fuck out of here" right now.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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