Lessons of the Heart Read online

  “Good idea.”

  He’s wearing some sort of cologne and it smells like heaven. And it’s not overpowering like some of the other guys around the school. Walking near them is like walking by the Abercrombie store, just makes your head instantly hurt. But his is subtle, blending perfectly into him and whatever pheromones he’s giving off, making him that much more appealing.

  “So this is the main office. They’ll be able to help you out with anything else.”

  I look down at my boots and scuff them against the floor. For some reason, I don’t want to leave. I’m not sure why, though. Maybe because I don’t know his name yet.

  “Thanks for your help, um. I’m sorry, I guess I never got your name.”

  I laugh and hold my hand out to him. “Britta.”

  “James.”

  He takes my hand again and another round of tingles travels between our fingers. The sudden jolt of electricity surprises me, and I pull my hand back abruptly. James looks down at me with a slight concern on his face, but I force a smile, trying to play off my strange reaction.

  The bell rings again and I start backing away. “I better get going to class. Guess I’ll see you around.”

  He nods and flashes one last smile in my direction as I back away. “Guess I will. Nice meeting you.”

  I quickly turn and half-run down the hall toward my locker to retrieve my books for next period, which I’m already late for. But my sixth-period class I’m supposed to have Mr. Ward and obviously he won’t be there today so I think I may have a reprieve from punishment.

  As Mrs. Malloy warbles on and on about something that she’s reading directly out of the textbook, I can’t help but daydream about James. It’s been a while since someone has started my heart beating like this again. Okay, so I’ve never really had that rush of emotions toward a guy, making me all stupid and lovesick. Yeah, I’ve had a few boyfriends and some of them quasi-serious, one lasting a whole six months. But nothing permanent.

  Boys are a distraction I don’t need. My only focus this year is passing all my courses and graduating at the top of my class.

  “Hey, Britt?” Chase leans over and whispers to me.

  “What?”

  “You going to the party tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool. Want to hang out while we’re there?”

  I look around trying to find Penny, who is all the way on the other side of the room making goo-goo eyes at Travis Fishman. Gross.

  “Why not,” I reply, putting as much enthusiasm into it as I can.

  “Awesome. You look nice today, by the way,” he says, still leaning over.

  “Chase?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m trying to figure out what she’s saying. I’ll talk to you tonight.”

  He nods and leans back into his chair, leaving me alone again. Thank God. Now I just need to decipher what Mrs. Malloy is talking about because somehow I have a feeling it has nothing to do with the topography of Europe.

  AS I WRAP THE FINAL lock of hair around my curling iron, I sigh as I look at my reflection. After watching numerous YouTube videos about how to do the smoky eye and pouty lip, I think I’ve captured it. My shirt is dressy but casual with the infinity scarf wrapped around me and my skinny jeans are actually behaving themselves for once.

  “Damn girl you look hot!” Penny exclaims from the hall behind me.

  “Shut up.”

  “No seriously dude. Smoking hot.”

  I look over at her as I unplug the iron and lightly spray on my favorite perfume. She’s dressed to kill with her destroyed skinny jeans, off the shoulder shirt showing her electric-green bra strap, and messy side ponytail at the nape of her neck. She can pull off stylish better than anyone I know.

  “Speak for yourself. Looking good as always. Whose heart are you breaking tonight?”

  Penny smirks and leans against the doorjamb. “I was thinking about Travis, but I’m willing to keep my options open.”

  I head to my room, with Penny following closely behind. “Yeah I saw you making eyes at him in class today. But really, Travis Fishman?”

  She shrugs and sits on my bed while I dig out my boots from the closet. “What? He’s hot, he’s the captain of the football team, and I’m pretty sure he wants me.”

  I roll my eyes. “Exactly the kind of qualities you should look for in a solid relationship.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Love you.” I blow an air kiss and she sticks out her tongue.

  Liam walks into my room. Of course, his Penny radar is perfect as always.

  “Sexy lady…and Britt.”

  “Munch,” I reply, zipping up my boots.

  Liam looks over at Penny like she’s a shiny new toy. She loves getting attention, and even more so when it’s from him.

  “Wow Pen, looking hot tonight. You sure you want to go out with her?” he says as he leans against the door.

  She raises an eyebrow to him. “Why? You have a better idea?”

  He clicks his tongue and nods. “Oh yeah. A way better idea. One that will take you on a ride you’ll never forget.”

  “And now we need to leave,” I announce, putting the seduction scene to a halt.

  Liam shakes his head and laughs. “God you are such a pill, Britt. I’m just having some fun.”

  I look over to Penny and don’t miss the wince that crosses her face.

  “Well, we’re off to have some fun of our own. Don’t wait up,” I sing as we pass him.

  He shakes his head and follows us out.

  “Britta, remember! Home by one o’clock, please,” my mom says from the couch.

  My dad puts in his two cents “No taking rides from strangers either. Liam said he’d pick you up.”

  “Yes, yes I know, but thank you for reminding me.” I throw on a light jacket and turn to Penny. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” she says. “Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Fosse.”

  “Have fun, girls. Be safe,” my mom says as I shut the door.

  Liam follows us down the driveway and stops at his car. “I’ve got my phone on me if you need me.”

  “Don’t worry, we won’t need you. Where are you headed off to?”

  “Douchenozzle’s place. We’re going to play some poker and the new Call of Duty game Vince just picked up,” he says, swinging his keys around his index finger.

  “Wow, and you call me a pill? Fun.”

  “Shut up.” He looks over at Penny as she climbs into my car.

  “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine,” I whisper.

  “Just watch her please? And try not to let her go home with anyone.”

  “No promises but I’ll do my best. Thanks, Liam.” I hug him quick and climb into my car.

  As we pull up in front of Travis’s house, I can see the street is lined with dozens of cars. Thumping music wafts out from the open door.

  Immediately I feel on edge. “Wow, this party is huge. What time did it start?” I ask, shutting the car off.

  “An hour ago maybe?” She checks her watch and shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe he started early.”

  “Who knows? It’s Travis and his parents are out of town for the weekend. He probably started the minute he got home from the game. Hell, people probably started partying during the game.”

  “Probably. But it’s our night tonight so let’s go party!” Penny loudly exclaims, throwing her arms in the air.

  As we get inside, I spot our group of friends. After we push through the throng, we get to Cami and Dez, who are chatting animatedly with Drake and Lyle. They pause to wave us over. Penny rushes toward the girls and flings her arms around them in greeting.

  “You made it! Happy birthday, bitches!” Cami yells and hugs me tightly.

  “Thanks, Cam.” I point at their red Solo cups. “You guys already started?”

  “Yep. The punch is in the kitchen and the keg is in the basement.”

  “Dare I ask?” Penny asks before taking a drink from Drake’s glas
s.

  “Coors Light. It’s actually decent,” he says and then reclaims his cup.

  Penny turns to me and shrugs. “What do you want, beer or punch?”

  “Neither. How about something diet?”

  “Lame!” Dez screams at me. “It’s your birthday. Have a shot or seven, in addition to your drink.”

  I shake my head. “Not big on the shots Dez, you know that.”

  Lyle drapes his arm around my shoulders. “Come on Britt. You just turned eighteen, right?”

  I jab in him the side with my elbow. “Still in high school, still living under my parents’ roof. I don’t want to be grounded until college.”

  “Well tough shit, you’re drinking tonight,” Penny says as she drags me to the kitchen.

  When we get there, she grabs two red plastic cups, fills them with some red concoction, and hands me one.

  “Drink and have fun. It’s our birthday party. Cheers,” she says, clinking her cup to mine.

  I take a sip and lean against the center island. “One drink. Remember I’m driving so I can’t get drunk.”

  “We’ve got Liam to drive us if it gets out of hand. I’m sure he’d be willing to bring us back to pick up your car tomorrow morning.”

  I take a sip and contemplate my actions. According to Liam, he paved the way for me to be slightly crazy without Mom and Dad going overboard. And it helps that they trust me and my judgment.

  I’ve never actually been drunk before. But this punch tastes like Cherry Kool-Aid, and that’s bad.

  I whip out my phone and text Liam.

  DRINKING THE KOOL-AID. NEED A RIDE.

  NO PROB. BE THERE AT 12:45. U OWE ME.

  I let Penny know about Liam.

  “WOO!” she says, way too loudly. “All right! Time to party!”

  She refills our cups before dragging us back to our little group of friends, huddled over on the couch. Justice and Chase have now joined them and I silently groan to myself. Not Chase. Can I avoid one person all night or would that be rude?

  “Happy birthday, Britta,” Chase says, slinging his arm over my shoulder. I wince as his beer breath falls on my cheek.

  “Thanks.” I try to wiggle out of his hold, but he doesn’t take the hint and moves closer to me. I bump into Justice.

  “Happy birthday, Britta,” she says, taking a sip from her cup.

  “Thanks.”

  “Anything special planned tonight?”

  I shake my head. “Nope.”

  “Other than I’m getting her plastered,” Penny chimes in from the couch.

  “Yes, apparently turning eighteen is the magical age to get trashed.” I pause. “Oh wait, that’s twenty-one.”

  “So who do you think Mr. Ward slept with? My money is still on Krista Baker,” Penny says, finishing off her drink.

  “Not Krista. She’s too smart for that,” Cami slurs.

  “Besides, isn’t she screwing Wes?” Dez asks.

  “That’s what I heard, but you never know. Maybe she was failing her class and needed the extra credit,” Penny says.

  “Like anyone would have sex with Mr. Ward,” Lyle says, chugging his beer.

  “He wasn’t sleeping with anyone at school,” I say. Everyone’s heads turn toward me as if I’ve sprouted another one.

  “How do you know?” Drake asks.

  “I overheard a couple of the teachers talking while I was working on Mrs. Davis’s papers. They said that he was sleeping with Mr. Leonard’s wife, Melissa.”

  A collective gasp sounds and then everyone scrunches their faces together.

  “Dude, that’s messed up,” Chase says.

  “The principal’s wife? Holy ballsy. He really must not have wanted his job,” Dez mutters.

  “Or he was really in love with her,” Cami says.

  I shrug my shoulders and finish off my cup. “Either way, it wasn’t a student.”

  “Could you imagine what would happen if a teacher slept with a student? I mean, none of the teachers in the school are that good looking,” Penny says.

  “There’s a few though that could be worth it. Mr. Sanchez isn’t bad. He’s got that Latino thing going for him,” Dez says with a smile.

  “What about Mr. Johnston? He could be hot,” Justice adds.

  “Yeah, if you add more hair and take off ten years,” Penny says back.

  “All you girls have it wrong. The teacher to sleep with is Ms. Alpine. She’s fucking gorgeous,” Lyle says.

  The other two guys nod their heads in agreement.

  “The only reason you say that is because she’s got huge boobs,” I respond.

  “And? Is there any other reason to have sex with a girl?” Drake wiggles his brows suggestively.

  We all laugh and I look down at my empty cup.

  “I need more alcohol for this conversation. I’ll be back.”

  As I walk away, Chase catches up. “What are you doing?” I say.

  “I just want to spend time with you.”

  Chase could be considered sweet if someone was attracted to him. He’s good looking enough, with that classic All-American high school football charm. But he’s just not my type.

  “You want to come downstairs with me so I can grab more beer?” he asks, leaning close to me.

  I contemplate my answer. I don’t want to lead him on, but I have a hard time telling him no.

  “I, um…”

  “Please, Britt. It’s just downstairs. Then we’ll come back and join everyone else.”

  I sigh. “Okay, lead the way.”

  He smiles and grabs my hand, pulling me through the crowd to the basement. I steady myself on the walk down, holding onto the railing before Chase releases me at the bottom. It seems like the entire school is here. A thin film of smoke hovers at the ceiling and the distinct smell of something that isn’t cigarettes assaults my nostrils. Even if I didn’t know what it smelled like, the bloodshot eyes and zombie stares would have given it away.

  We turn into the laundry room where the keg sits in a bucket of ice. Two guys from the football team are manning it, sitting on bar stools and talking with several busty girls.

  “Hey, Britt. Happy Birthday,” Travis says.

  “Thanks, Trav. Nice party. Thanks for the invite.”

  “You’re welcome. Glad you could make it. Penny with you?” he asks.

  I nod. “Yep, she’s upstairs with the others. You going to head that way?”

  A slow smile creeps onto his face. “Oh yeah, I’m heading that way.”

  “Well, I’m heading up.”

  “What about Chase?” he asks. I glance over at Chase and he’s deep in a conversation about the game today with the two meatheads manning the keg.

  “I think he's all right on his own. Come on, let’s get upstairs. The smoke is bothering me.”

  He nods and we walk back up, weaving through the crowd until we find the group. Penny’s face brightens instantly when she sees Travis next to me.

  “Hey Trav,” she says, batting her eyelashes.

  Travis looks her up and down and flashes his panty-dropping smile.

  “Hey, Pen. You enjoying yourself?”

  Penny stands from the couch and moves next to Travis. “Yeah, this is a great party. So much fun.”

  While Penny and Travis carry on together, I take her seat next to Dez, thankful that maybe Chase will leave me alone.

  Travis starts talking about their win tonight against Fairfield with Penny hanging on his every word. Drake and Lyle join in, giving us the rundown of each play and Dez and Cami join in, giving their intake on it since they’re both cheerleaders and watched the whole thing.

  Another red cup appears before my eyes and I look up into Chase’s smiling face.

  “Thought you could use another one,” he says.

  “Thanks.”

  I take the cup and place it in my empty one. I watch Travis lean down and whisper something into Penny’s ear. She nods and wraps her hand into his, allowing him to lead her away from us
and toward the staircase, presumably to his bedroom.

  “Someone’s getting lucky tonight,” Drake says.

  “I think that was her plan anyway. She was flirting kind of heavy with him during class today,” I say, my words getting thicker. What in the hell was in that punch?

  Chase moves to sit on the armrest next to me and presses his hand lightly against my shoulder. My body feels heavy and I lean into him, looking for stability. Either that or he’s pulling me. I can’t tell, due to the haziness of my brain.

  The conversations around me turn into muffled noise and my eyelids become increasingly heavier.

  “You okay?” Chase whispers in my ear.

  I turn my head to him and smile. “I feel good. Kind of funny but definitely good,” I slur back and lean even more into him.

  He runs his hand across my shoulders. I look around and see everyone still engaged in conversation, oblivious to the hand that’s wandering around my upper body.

  Chase moves and pushes me towards Dez to wedge himself between me and the couch. Dez moves to make room and I sway in my seat.

  “You look so beautiful tonight, Britt.” He fingers the scarf around my neck, using it to his advantage when I feel his hand slide underneath it, teasing the top of my shirt.

  “Chase?”

  He turns to me with glassy eyes. “Yeah, beautiful?”

  My stomach jerks and the blood drains from my face. “Find me a bathroom. Quick.”

  “Oh shit, Britt’s gonna puke,” Lyle says, clearing a path as I bolt from the couch.

  I push several people out of the way while Lyle helps me into the bathroom just in time for me to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

  “Dude, how much did she have to drink?”

  “Not that many, but the couple I gave her I added a little more vodka to it.”

  Lyle smacks Chase across the head. “You fucker! She doesn’t drink very often and you know that. You trying to kill her?”

  Lyle crouches down next to me, rubbing my back reassuringly. “You okay, babe?”

  I cling to the porcelain with everything I have. A few strands of hair are plastered against my face, but Lyle pushes them away. He tears off some toilet paper, giving it to me so I can wipe my mouth.

  “Yeah, I think I’ll live.”

  He laughs but keeps rubbing my back. “Happy birthday to you I guess.”