March 19th, 1984

I was sitting in math class, the whole room silent.

Kind of creepy.

It was finals week, which I barely studied for in this class. I felt I was prepared since I was even recommended to go to a more advanced math class. I didn't take the offer so I can continue to do well in regular math. Then I know for sure I'd pass.

I've been told that's kind of cheating, however, I say it's called strategy.

I was one of the first people to finish double-checking. I stood up and handed in my test, listening to the buzzing of the lights. We were allowed to take a bathroom break after our test, but we had to come right back.

I walked out of the room without saying a word and went to the closest restroom. I saw it was empty, so I took that chance to look at myself in the mirror. Lunch was after this, so I figured that would get rid of the tense feeling off of my back.

"I need a drink or a massage or a man," I said once I sat down with Jeena at lunch. "Or a drunken massage by a man."

"Have you ever drank before?" She asked.

"Oh, I never told you?" I said, mouth full of chips. "I went to a party once and got drunk. I forget who, but someone told me I tried to jump off of the dining room table, but your brother caught me."

Her eyes widened. "My brother went to a party with alcohol?"

I took a sip of my water. "Relax, he didn't drink anything. He was my ride home, so he couldn't."

"He shouldn't anyway. He's only sixteen." She started getting mad.

"I'm only eighteen. I shouldn't have either." I raised an eyebrow.

"Why did you do it?"

I was silent. This happened a few months ago. I was so freaked out and caught up in the idea that my foster parents were going to find me, so I did the stupid idea of going out to some party. I'm not even sure who's it was, but I just know that the parents were out of town, and there was a lot of alcohol. And, I somehow got myself horribly intoxicated. I think I forgot about hangovers because that next morning I could barely move.

"I think It was peer pressure or something, I don't remember." I lied. I can't have Jeena worrying again that I'm in trouble.

Because at the moment I feel safe.

At the moment...

I shivered, only making small talk throughout the rest of the day.

When we got home, I was shocked to see George and Andrew sitting on the couch. "Did you get them a key?"

"Yes, I did." She put down her car keys, walking over to Andrew to kiss him. Without a word, they went to the front door and left. I laughed, walking over to George. "Where are they going?"

"I think he's taking her out to a diner whether or not she's hungry." He softly kissed my cheek, and sat down on the couch with me, turning on the tv.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping today we could just relax," He turned my head, teasing me by just brushing his lips on mine a few times, waiting for me to make the move first. I giggled because I wasn't going to give in. He frowned, being the one to kiss my lips first. I wasn't giving up on this game I was playing. He was going to have to make that first big move. Whether that was turning on his super horny-attractive mode that I didn't know he had, or throwing and pinning me to the bed...

"DJ?" He snapped me out of my fantasies. "You okay?"

"Sorry," I said. "I was daydreaming."

"About?" George placed a hand on my stomach, making it erupt in butterflies again. I started leaning back, using my elbows and armrest as support to hold me up. "No one you need to know about."

He smiled, pushing his lips good and hard onto mine. I knew he loved it when I tugged on his hair.

"I forgot my wa- shit!" Jeena walked back in unexpectedly. "Not again! DJ, I'm so sorry I promise I'm not doing this on purpose." She picked up her wallet and left as fast as she could. I couldn't help but throw my head back to laugh, which turned into a gasp, mixed with a moan. George took that chance to suck a spot on my neck.

If he did know my plan, I wasn't going to let him ruin it.

I smoothly managed to get his lips back to mine, and pushed him back. "I thought you said we should relax today?"

I could tell he hated that I brought that up, but all I did was smile innocently. He sighed and sat back up. "Yeah."

"I have a few movies we can watch. Who knows how long they'll be gone." I offered, getting off of the couch and opening. The cabinet below the tv.

"You have Jaws?" He asked, coming to sit beside me.

"Yep, I haven't gotten a chance to watch it though. Jeena told me it was good though." I picked up the VHS tape case for Jaws and pulled out the plastic object. "Are you too scared to watch it?"

"No," he turned on the VHS player and stuck Jaws inside. "In fact, I love this movie."

"I haven't even watched it," I admitted as he helped me stand up.

I grabbed the wool blanket that was folded beside me and draped it over the both of us. He pulled me closer, kissing my cheek and forcing my head to rest on his shoulder.

I was seriously hoping that this movie wasn't too freaky. I had seen ads for it, but I never looked into what it was about. Jeena mainly got it for herself, since she loves gory movies.

It's not that I'm not a fan of them, but I prefer watching people fall in love. Since I love that feeling. Especially when you get to share it with someone. I looked at George from the side, making sure he didn't know I was watching him. I wanted nothing more than to brush my hands through his hair. I could play with it for hours on end if I had to.

I have done it before, but only for a few minutes before I got caught. Sometimes when he was sleeping, and I couldn't, I would explore every inch of his thick, beautiful hair. George's eyes would flutter open and he would smile at me and eventually pull me into his arms so we could go back to sleep.

I was still looking at him. God, how I hope to do that again soon.

A familiar low cello sound began to play. I used to hear it while I was in my room, as Jeena used to watch it a lot. I would get so curious and almost peak out into the living room myself, but I never did. I was tense, knowing there was about to be a shark attack.

However, the music slowed and the shark began to swim away, making my muscles relax. I did not like the silence that followed it though. The guy in the cage that was submerged underwater had brushed a sharp piece of metal that I assumed was used for stabbing fish.

All of the sudden, the shark came back and bumped into the metal cage in which the man was still. It was loud.

I screamed, jumping onto George a little more. He laughed and rubbed my arm. "Relax, it's only a movie."

"Yeah, a movie with a lot of suspense and loud noises." I was annoyed.

The shark managed to open up a side in the cage, making me completely freak out. "Why aren't they bringing him up? Don't they see that the contraption he's in is shaking like crazy?!"

"The water is probably too cloudy." George got me to relax again. "They know something is wrong eventually, but they can't see under the water."

I sighed in frustration. "Stupid, stupid! Why would anyone want to do this?"

George kissed me. "Because people are crazy."

I was all warm and fuzzy now from the kiss. "Makes sense."

Just toward the end of the movie, Andrew and Jeena came back. "Aw, cool! You're finally watching Jaws?"

"Jeena." I hissed.

"What? I've been trying to get you to watch that for years. You've been too scared." She went into the kitchen to get a drink.

I sighed. "Jeena! Do you ever know when to shut your mouth?"

George laughed. "It's no big deal. I mean, who would find so much entertainment in someone being eaten by a shark?"

Andrew and I looked at each other in synch. "Jeena."

He laughed, patting my head. "Alright, we have to go. We have another meeting."

I sighed, hugging him tightly. "Why do you have to leave so often?"

George hugged me back. "Because like I've said,  Andy and I decided to embarrass ourselves on tv and now people actually enjoy it. We're pretty big in the music industry."

"That's an understatement." Jeena came back. "You guys are bad boys."

"Stick together, never sad boys. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, woo woo!" I went up to Jeena as we started to sing.

The men laughed watching us impersonate them. "Alright, we get it."

"Oh, we're not done," I said. "Good guys, they make rules for fools, so get wise! Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo."

George came back up to me and trapped me in his grasp, tickling me to make me giggle like an idiot. "Oh-okay George we'll stop! Oh my god p-please stop I'm g-hAh-I'm gonna pee myself."

He stopped and attacked me with kisses again. "I love your laugh."

"Not nearly as funny as yours." I smiled.

I watched him leave, making me a little disappointed again.

"So how was it?" Jeena asked.

"We didn't have sex." I rolled my eyes.

She scoffed. "I was talking about the movie, silly."

My face pinkened. "Oh. It was... interesting. Not my favorite though."

"No surprise there." She went out onto the deck and started playing with the fresh patch of snow that piled on the railing.

I got up and went into my room, groaning when I remembered I had to study for the English finals. I really enjoyed English, but for some reason, this school really loved to stump you on these tests.

Although, Miss Smith truly loved to act like she didn't know me when testing. It was funny to see her acting as she normally would with all students. I have made her laugh a couple of times though.

I definitely couldn't study with Jeena. She gets me distracted very easily by bringing up old memories. It's really aggravating. She only does it because she never wants to study. Which, makes sense, but I do my best to keep up with grades. I'd seriously rather not repeat a year.

Just as I turned a page to open to the unit I wasn't as familiar with, Jeena walked in. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get some studying in before I have to go in for work." I sighed. "Are you leaving?"

"Yep, I'll be home after you get off though. Don't worry when I'm not here." She patted the door frame and walked away. I truly was thankful that she wasn't here to get me off track.

When I finished seating another table, I went to the drinks station to get a good, cold glass of water.

"Hey Amanda, how come I didn't see you when I came in?" I asked.

"I was hiding in the back. I'm sort of recovering from a hangover since I went out last night." She rubbed her head laughing.

"My God, why didn't you call in sick?" I asked.

She began to walk away. "I like my money. Plus, people think I'm good here."

"Valid."

I went back to the front seeing a new table that was sat. I picked up the jug of water and walked over to the family of three. "Hello, my name is DJ. I'll be your waiter for tonight. Can I get you anything besides water?"

The little boy that was sitting next to who I assumed was his father, looked at me with a shy face. "Can I please have apple juice please?"

I smiled, finding it cute how he said 'please' twice. "Absolutely! I'll be back. "

I could tell this family was going to be very, very kind customers.

Original Publish Date: August 18th, 2021