Page 59 of Jar of Hearts
“I wasn’t really drinking. I just had some fruit.”
He frowned, not understanding what she meant by that, but he didn’t ask for clarification. “It’s late. Where does your dad think you are?”
“Her house,” Geo said, looking at Angela. Her best friend was watching them with a small smile on her face, but behind it there was something else.
Jealousy. And Geo liked it. Because, just like the day they met Calvin, it was role reversal. She was never the girl who made other girls jealous, and she was enjoying being that girl, for once.
“And where do her parents think she is?” Calvin asked. He was looking at Angela, too, but his expression was hard to read.
“My house,” Geo said.
It was warm in the apartment, and the alcohol was making her warmer. She reached down to pull her ankle boots off. Angela already had her shoes and jacket off and was wandering around, taking it all in, not that there was much to see. Small kitchen with a fridge, stove, and a few cabinets. The bathroom was only large enough for a shower stall, tiny sink, and toilet. Calvin’s bed was in the living room-slash-bedroom, covered in a red plaid comforter, and the wall unit with the stereo and TV was across from it. The love seat was against the side wall. This little apartment was nothing special, but Geo loved it.
Angela reached into her bag and pulled out her camera. “Come on, kiss again. I want a picture of you two. You’re both so fucking hot.” She pointed the camera at them and it flashed. “Come on, you guys. Kiss.”
Calvin kissed her, and the camera flashed again. “Creep” byRadiohead was playing and Angela turned the volume up. The studio was soundproofed, so there was no risk of disturbing the other tenants or the neighbors next door. Geo finished her drink, and Calvin made her another. The room was beginning to spin again. She’d only been drunk once before, sophomore year, at Angela’s when her parents were away and her dad’s liquor cabinet was left unlocked. She finished her drink, then climbed up on the bed to lie down. No more, she was cutting herself off. She was one sip away from puking.
The camera flashed a few more times, and then it was in Calvin’s hands. In the center of the small apartment, Angela twirled. The short skirt of her tiny dress billowed up around her as she spun, showing more of her thighs, her skin the perfect shade of golden thanks to her last tanning-bed session. Geo caught a glimpse of Angela’s white lace bikini panties, but before she could get upset, Calvin pointed the camera at her, and she forced herself to smile.
She coughed into the back of her hand, tasting something sour. Calvin noticed and came over to the bed, rubbing her bare leg. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” Geo said, but in truth, she was beginning to feel queasy. Grabbing his T-shirt, she pulled him closer to her and said into his ear, “Stop fucking staring at her.”
“She wants to be stared at.” Calvin shrugged her off. “It’s no big deal.”
“You don’t like it when other guys stare at me.”
“Because you’re not asking for the attention. Therefore, it’s my duty to defend you.” The music was loud, and he leaned over to speak into her ear, his breath hot on her neck. “But girls like your friend here, they wither and die if guys don’t validate them. I knew that from the minute we met. She’s the girl guys fuck. You’re the girl guys marry. You’re the one I want, Georgina. Only you.”
Sure, they were only words, but they did make her feel better. Geo kissed him. He kissed her back, hungrily, his hands running up her thighs and under her dress as he pushed her back onto the bed.
“Oh my god, you guys,” Angela said. “Get a room.”
“We have one already,” Calvin said.
Angela finished her drink in one gulp, her second one since they’d been here. Or maybe it was her third. Some of it dribbled down her chin, and she wiped it away sloppily, almost losing her balance in the process.
“Sorry, we’ll stop,” Geo said with a giggle, her queasiness under control for the moment. But they didn’t stop. Calvin’s erection pressed against her hip, and she subtly rubbed against it as he continued to kiss her neck. The vodka was making her uncharacteristically uninhibited. Or maybe it was becauseshewas the one with the hot guy who couldn’t keep his hands off her, and Angela was the third wheel. For once.
Radiohead ended, and the song changed to Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” a sexy song if there ever was one.
“Dance for us,” Calvin said, lifting his head long enough to smile at Angela. “Come on. You know you want to.”
Angela laughed, swaying a bit. The heavy beat was easy to dance to and the perfect tempo, not too fast, not too slow. She set her glass on top of the stereo, turned up the volume another notch, and began to move. A trained dancer after years of jazz and ballet classes—same as Geo—she raised her arms up over her head, her long hair trailing down her back all the way to her waist. As she moved, she mouthed the lyrics.
YOU LET ME VIOLATE YOU
YOU LET ME DESECRATE YOU
She slowly moved her hips, then lowered an arm and cocked a finger toward Geo. “Come dance with me.”
Geo laughed and shook her head, but Calvin seemed to like the idea. He cupped her breast, then kissed her again, a lopsided grin on his handsome face. “I know I’d enjoy that.” Leaning closer, he spoke into her ear again. “You’re hotter than she is any day of the week.”
HELP ME
I’VE GOT NO SOUL TO SELL
Bolstered by the booze and Calvin’s words, Geo got up off the bed and joined her friend in the middle of the room. Angela grabbed her around the waist and turned her so that Geo’s ass was pressing into her crotch. She ran her hands down Geo’s shoulders, stopping at her breasts, which she massaged for a few seconds. Shocked but too drunk to protest—she and Angela had never touched each other like that before—she looked over at Calvin. There was no doubt he was loving every bit of it. Lying back on the bed, propped up on a pillow with arms behind his head, his grin said everything. Geo continued to dance with her best friend, the music wrapping around them like a blanket.
