He chuckled. "We're gonna head to a party over at The Creek. How 'bout you come on out?"
"Sure," I said. The Creek was actually an abandoned subdivision not far from my house. I'd heard of many a party out there but had never been invited to one. I dressed and checked my phone. Both Ash and Nyte had texted me congratulations. I shot back my thanks and went out to the Jetta. The parking lot teemed with players and fans celebrating the win. Most of the fans didn't seem to recognize me in my street clothes and that was okay by me. My fist was going to get pregnant if I kept bumping it with everyone I ran into.
"You were amazing!" Katie said as she came up behind me. She laced her arms around my neck as I turned and kissed me. Not a peck. Not on the cheek. She kissed me for real, just as she had earlier in the hallway.
A hot burst pinged on my radar. I looked up and saw Elyssa standing with Ash and Nyte several yards away in the sea of revelers. Something flashed in her eyes. Was it pain? Desire? Anger? She turned away and pushed through the crowd before I could make a guess. Ash and Nyte waved, huge grins plastered on their faces, apparently unaware Elyssa had left.
"What's wrong?" Katie asked.
I stared at Elyssa's retreating back. "Nothing." I took a deep breath to diminish the knot in my throat.
I arrived at the entrance to The Creek, Katie in tow, and located the party in question by the sheer number of pickups and cars parked along the road in front of a mostly finished house. The party house was almost fully built but the rest of the subdivision was filled with empty lots and wooden frames. Nathan shouted when he saw me and motioned me over to the beer kegs.
Katie looked at him and shuddered. Annie and Jennie squealed at her from an adjoining room. "I'll be with them," she said, eying Nathan warily. I couldn't blame her. It seemed like ages ago he'd groped her and tried to steal a kiss. In a sense, that had been the incident to kick-start my strange destiny. It was clearer now—the headaches and blurred vision had all been supernatural growing pains. I was no longer Justin Case. I was something else. Something inhuman. And all these people thought I was just a person like them.
"My main man, Case!" Nathan roared over the loud music. He handed me a plastic cup filled with pee-colored beer then pulled me to the back porch where a group of people were taking shots and playing drinking games. He eyed me for a minute and damned if he didn't actually look embarrassed, of all things. "We've been through some real crap, haven't we?"
I took a sip of the beer and grimaced before looking him in the eyes. "That would be putting it mildly."
He nodded. "I hated you."
"Are we best buds now?"
"I wouldn't go that far." He chuckled and gulped down half his beer. "I guess the point is, I'm…" he mumbled something.
I cupped a hand to an ear. "I didn't quite catch that."
A growl rumbled in his throat. "I'm sorry."
Hearing an apology from Nathan felt really good. At the same time, it hardly covered all the mistreatment he'd put me, my friends, and countless other kids through. Baby steps, I told myself. Baby steps. "I think the person who needs an apology more than me is Katie."
His face went scarlet and I thought for sure I'd just pushed the wrong button. But when his eyes focused on his beer I knew for sure it wasn't anger he was feeling but embarrassment.
"I—I suck with women." Nathan gave me a sad puppy-dog look. Actually it was more of a sick Rottweiler look considering how big his head was.
"But you're a football player," I said as if one of the laws of physics were being broken. Didn't women flock to football players?
"How do you do it?" He gazed wistfully at Katie through the sliding glass door as she gabbed with her friends. "You stole her right out from under Brad Nichols, and that dude gets chicks just for having a motorcycle."
I gave him a confused look. Was this the same Nathan I'd always known or had an alien scooped out his brains and replaced them with some random dork's gray matter? Katie had dragged me through hell and I still wasn't entirely sure why she'd suddenly fallen for me. "I can tell you one thing for sure."
Interest kindled in his eyes. "What's that?"
"Girls don't like it when boys try to force them into kissing them."
He blushed even redder. "Yeah, I figured that one out."
"Girls also don't like nice pushover guys no matter what they say. The way I see it, you have to be somewhere in between."
"Not a nice guy but not a total asshole?"
"Exactly." I honestly didn't have a clue what I was talking about, but if it made Nathan a better human being, who was I to argue? "But first I think you need to apologize to Katie."
"And that way, I'm not a total asshole." He slapped me on the shoulder. "Case, you're fricken devious, man. So we're good, right?"
I nodded. "Sure. Let bygones be bygones, I always say." I'd actually never said that once in my life, but figured it made me seem magnanimous.
He leaned against the brick siding. "What ever happened to you and that Goth chick?"
"Things didn't work out," I said, my voice rough with emotion.
"Women," he said, as if that explained everything in the universe. Maybe it did. His face brightened. "Hey, I want to try out your advice." He led me to a group of cheerleaders who were giggling and talking about shopping for shoes. There were some older girls there too, alumni who were in college but had apparently not made the cut as college cheerleaders.
I started talking to a pretty brunette named Mandy. She had a strong Italian nose, huge eyes and smelled of vodka and peach-scented perfume. She gabbed excitedly to me about college and rushing for a sorority while she slammed down shot after shot. I mostly nodded and said "Uhuh" and "Mhm" to whatever she said.
Nathan, meanwhile, was trying out my patented "Not a Total Asshole" approach by alternatively complimenting a girl and then telling her that her shoes were ugly—or something like that. Amazingly, it seemed to be working on at least one of them. Or maybe the rollercoaster of emotions had simply short-circuited her brain.
Katie appeared from nowhere and grabbed my arm. "Who are your friends?" she asked in a slightly slurred voice. The odor of something like cough syrup lingered on her breath.
I introduced her.
"Justin is amazing at football," Mandy said, struggling to keep her balance. She'd taken four shots in the space of ten minutes. "He ran over those huge guys like they were nothing. Pow!" She smacked one hand off the other for illustration and nearly toppled her drunk little self in the process.
Katie smiled, holding onto my arm for support. "He's amazing all right."
Mandy grabbed my other arm around the bicep. "Flex it!"
I suppressed a sigh but flexed.
"Girl, look at that body," she said with an appreciative note to her voice.
Katie's smile turned venomous. "He works out."
"When are you graduating?" asked Vanda, one of Mandy's college friends.
"Same time I do," Katie said as I opened my mouth to speak.
"We're going back to my parents' place for a more intimate party," Mandy said. "You should come, Justin. It'll mainly be a college crowd, but you're totally cool."
"Come, please," Vanda said, blinking her big eyes flirtatiously.
Katie's grip on my arm intensified. "We have other plans."
Before I could ask her what those plans were, she dragged me away and out the front door.
"We have other plans?" I asked.
"Yes…we do." She wobbled a little as we stood in the chilly air.
"How much did you drink?"
"Ugh. Too much. Someone gave us shots of something green. Annie threw up all over Jenny."
"Good times," I said, trying not to chortle with glee.
Katie kissed me. She was a good kisser. She tasted like an apothecary's mixing bowl, thanks to whatever the heck had been in those shots. I didn't care. I still cared about her and wanted her despite the rough journey to this moment.
Elyssa's lips are so much softer.
I squeezed my eyes shut and banished her from my traitorous mind. Elyssa had dumped me. She had blown our chance to have something amazing. I could still have that with Katie. After all, it hadn't been too long since I'd thought I was in love with her. Maybe the universe was making things right for me this once.
"Are your parents home?" she asked.
"Nope."
"Want to…"
I nodded.
I drove the short distance to my house while Katie nipped my earlobe and kissed my neck. My mind reeled with what we were about to do. She slept with Brad Nichols. My stomach twisted at the thought. I was a virgin. She wasn't. Should it matter?
"Was Brad your first?" I asked. The question surprised me because I hadn't meant to voice it.
She nodded and snuggled up to me. "We only did it once. It was a horrible mistake, Justin."
Yeah, no kidding.
We reached my house and went straight toward the bedroom. Katie wanted to sleep with me and I wasn't even using my supernatural persuasion on her. She was the first girl who wanted to be with me for real.
Except for Elyssa. A barb of pain stabbed my heart. I ignored it.
We went inside. Dad didn't seem to be around. His bedroom door hung wide open and aside from the smooching noises Katie and I were making, the house was silent. We slipped into my room. Katie pushed me on the bed and lay atop me. She grinned wide and kissed me.
The image of her and Brad Nichols flashed into my mind again. I banished it and pressed her harder against me. I ran my hand down her back and to the back of her thigh. She shivered. I trembled. This was what I had always wanted. Tonight, Katie would be mine and I would be hers. This was meant to be.
Katie sat up and pulled her shirt off. Her breasts, still trapped in a lacy black bra, jiggled. Is this for real? I had to be dreaming.