Bell Bottom High: Book 3: Junior Jewels Read online

  Less than an hour later, the night temperature had dropped a few degrees and turned chilly enough for a windbreaker. I was shivering in R.J.’s arms as we hugged up on one another outside between the high bushes outlining Jason’s house. It was a secluded, dimly-lit place in the backyard away from the prying eyes of our peers, or at least we thought it was. My mind was in a whirlwind as my spirit soared outside of my thin body. We had already passed the first kiss and were working on the lingering, sweet taste of the second one. With our hands caressing each other’s necks, our tongues danced in the moonlight, flickering together like two fireflies. What had started out as a gentle, loving kiss had turned into one filled with heated sexual passion. Suddenly, R.J. pushed his tongue down my throat to the point where I almost swallowed it whole.

  I broke off our simmering connection, because I had to come up for air. I wasn’t used to this type of intimacy, and it was scaring my young mind beyond belief. I’d never meant for things to get this hot or this heavy between us.

  With R.J. nibbling on my neck, making out was everything I had dreamed it would be except for the rapidly beating heart, sweaty palms, and weakening knees. R.J. was holding me so close in his arms that I couldn’t tell his heartbeat from mine. His hands were all over my short skirt, searching for the soft fabric underneath the hem.

  I couldn’t think straight, and I wasn’t even sure how we had gotten to this magical point. One minute I was inside sipping on more fruity punch, surrounded by almost fifty teenagers with thumping loud music, and the next minute R.J. had me by the hand leading me outside into darkness. Now, all I felt was the warmth of his hands rubbing against my lean thighs and the sharpness of his teeth on my neck, simulating a vampire’s kiss which was hurting so good.

  I was in the land of euphoria, and I could still hear the music, only it wasn’t so loud from where we were standing now. I could tell that “I’m in Love” by Aretha Franklin was spinning on the turntable as R.J. held me tighter and kissed me more deeply this time when his burning lips returned to mine. Matching fire with fire, I trembled with desire for my kissing partner as guilty thoughts flooded my mind. What am I doing? I’ve got to stop this, but it feels too incredible. I can’t believe this is actually happening.

  I was all into our exchange of affection until I felt a finger penetrating my private area. With bulging eyes, I retracted my tongue and snapped back to my common senses. Pushing him away with all my strength, I tried to recover from the shortness of breath I was experiencing from our kissing session. Suddenly, I was consumed with shame for being caught up in my present situation.

  “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” R.J. asked, stumbling back against one of the bushes. He almost fell down, but somehow he knew how to balance himself. I couldn’t see his face, but I heard the disappointment in his voice.

  “You had your hand under my skirt.”

  “Yeah, so what? Ain’t that why you wore that short thing?”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Well, then, why are you out here with me if you don’t want to get down?”

  “I—I thought you liked me.”

  R.J. moved closer to me and looked down into my eyes. “I do like you. That’s why I wanted to be alone with you, so I could show you how much I like you. Now, let me have some more of that sugar,” he cooed, leaning in towards my lips.

  I lifted my right hand and placed it over R.J.’s tempting mouth. “I think that’s enough.”

  “What the…” R.J. began, as we heard Joyce frantically calling out for me from a distance.

  Stepping into the light, I saw Joyce and Chubby walking in our direction with contorted faces. “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Joyce stopped in her tracks and suspiciously eyed us stepping out of the dark shadows. “We’ve been looking all over for you guys. What are you two doing back here?” she asked, surveying the scene for more teens.

  “Nothing,” I replied, pulling down my miniskirt.

  “Why are y’all looking for us, anyway?” R.J. asked.

  “Man, them fools that were fighting at school the other day over that chick are about to fight again,” Chubby interjected, dangling his car keys. “Let’s get up out of here before somebody call the pigs.”

  “For real. I knew something was gonna jump off when I saw both of them crazy dudes here,” R.J. said, following behind Chubby. Joyce grabbed me by the hand and pulled me alongside her.

  By the time we made it to the front of the house, people were scattering across the lawn, heading to their cars or running down the street to their homes. The party had spiraled out of control, and we didn’t waste any time hurrying to Chubby’s car parked down the street. “Man, I’m glad I parked away from that house,” Chubby said, turning the key in the ignition. He moved the gear to drive and gunned the gas pedal like he was driving the getaway car for notorious bank robbers.

  Once we made it about a block away from the party house, everyone in the ride was laughing except for me. “I’m not feeling well. I think I had too much punch.”

  “What? How many cups of that spiked stuff did you have?” Chubby asked, raising his voice. He was staring into the rearview mirror trying to see my face.

  “I had about three cups of punch,” I replied, holding my head. “And what do you mean by spiked?”

  Joyce turned toward the backseat, and said, “That means it had alcohol in it, girl. I thought you knew that.”

  “What? Oh, no, I can’t believe I was drinking alcohol! R.J., did you know that?”

  Doubling over in his seat with laughter, R.J. replied, “Sure, I knew that. It wouldn’t be a party without spiked punch, baby.”

  Now I felt like the dumbest girl on earth. This was supposed to be my big coming out event, and here I was feeling like a prized fool with a splitting headache. “My parents are going to kill me if I walk in the house smelling like alcohol.”

  “No, you mean my uncle is going to kill me for bringing you home smelling like a barrel of liquor,” Chubby said, turning into a Seven Eleven convenience store. He killed the engine, and said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you some peppermints to suck on.”

  The second Chubby stepped out of the car, Joyce and R.J. started laughing. I didn’t see anything funny, so I just stared at them. “This is great. I’m glad to see you two having fun at my expense.”

  Joyce sat up in the front seat and looked back at me. “I’m so sorry, but you have to admit that this is pretty funny. Everybody knows that they serve spiked punch at parties.”

  “Well, I didn’t know or else I would not have touched it! And it would have been nice if someone had bothered to tell me.”

  “Okay, okay, calm down,” Joyce begged, stopping her laughter. “Dang, it’s nothing to be upset about. After you have a few peppermints, you can slip on past your parents and go to your room.”

  I crossed my arms, slammed my back against the seat, and said, “Yeah, right. It’s gonna be a piece of cake.”

  Glancing out the front windshield, I saw Chubby heading back to the car carrying a small brown bag. He got in the vehicle, tossed the bag to me, and started the engine again. “I’m going to drive around for a few minutes before I take you home,” he said, checking his watch. “It’s still early, though, anybody want to get a bite to eat?”

  We all agreed that was a good idea since no one was in a hurry to get home on a Saturday night, especially since we had almost an hour left on our curfew. “So what will it be, Dairy Queen or Sonic?” Chubby asked. “I’m so hungry, I could go for either one.”

  “Man, why don’t you just whip into DQ? I hate them sorry Sonic hamburgers,” R.J. replied, smacking his lips. “I could use me some fries and a shake, too, and everybody knows DQ got the best when it comes to that.”

  While we were sitting in the car waiting on our fresh cooked orders to arrive, R.J. pulled out a sandwich-sized plastic bag filled with green, grassy-looking tobacco and ran his fingers through it. “Anybody want to get high?” he asked, r
otating his eyes from one person to the next.

  Chubby turned around so fast, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin. “You better put that away! I’m not trying to get arrested tonight. No way, good buddy.”

  “What is that?” I asked, stunned at my cousin’s reaction to tobacco. I had never heard Chubby speak to anyone with such intensity.

  “It’s dope!” Chubby shouted. “Girl, don’t you know nothing?” he asked, lowering his eyes at me.

  “Man, be cool. This is just a little weed. You don’t have to announce it to the whole doggone world,” R.J. said, scanning the parking lot. He closed up the bag and returned it to his jacket pocket. Pulling out a Kool’s cigarette, R.J. lit it up instead. “There, you happy now?” he asked, tilting his head. R.J. flashed a frown in Chubby’s direction.

  Shaking his head, Chubby turned around. Tapping the steering wheel, he mumbled, “You’re really working my nerves, man. You better hope they bring out my food real soon or you might be walking home.”

  “Man, please, what’s wrong with smoking one doobie? You country boys get uptight about every little thang,” R.J. fired back, slapping one of the headrests.

  “Look, Doofus, I don’t want you smoking dope in my ride, and you got one more time to call me country,” Chubby said, fuming.

  “Would both of you please shut up? My head is aching,” I snapped, stroking my temples. I had heard of people smoking marijuana, Mary Jane, or whatever you wanted to call it, but this was my first time seeing it up close and personal. The only tobacco I had ever laid eyes on was Prince Albert in the can, and it didn’t smell anything like this green stuff R.J. had just pulled out to irritate my sinuses.

  At this point, I was wondering how long my relationship with R.J. would last after all I had learned about him tonight. But for the time being, I had a more pressing issue to worry about as R.J. blew another puff of smoke past my distorted face. Great, now I can go home reeking of alcohol and smoke. My parents will never let me out of the house again.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “How was the party last night?” Mama asked, standing in the doorway of my bedroom early Sunday morning. She was wearing her favorite floral housedress and staring down at me as she waited patiently for an answer.

  I opened my eyes to the rising sun creeping through the closed window blinds. With the handmade quilt pulled up around my shoulders on a crispy cool day, I managed to answer Mom in a groggy voice.

  “It was good. What time is it?” I asked, lifting my head.

  “It’s time for you to get up and get ready for Sunday school. We have to be out of here in about thirty minutes.”

  “Mom, do I have to go today? I’m not feeling well,” I sighed, leaning my head back against the soft pillow. I had a headache like none I had ever experienced before. The throbbing pain mixed with the growing sunlight was making me feel worse with each passing moment.

  “Young lady, you know the rules in this house. Regardless of what time you go to bed on a Saturday night, you have to go to church on Sunday morning,” she said firmly. “Why aren’t you feeling well? What all happened at that party?”

  “Ah, nothing, I’m just still sleepy, that’s all,” I replied, turning over to face the wall. I was praying that Mom wouldn’t ask any more questions and allow me to steal a few more seconds of precious sleep.

  “Well, you need to get on up. You know when your father gets ready to go he wants everybody else ready to go, too.” Mama turned on her heels and exited through the doorway.

  Closing my eyes, I said a silent prayer. Thank God she didn’t smell any smoke or alcohol in my room. Now I’ve got to get out of this bed and deal with this headache. I’m never going to drink again.

  I tumbled out of bed and stepped over to the white dresser mirror, checking to see if my puffy eyes were bloodshot. To my surprise, they weren’t red, but I had a round red mark on my neck courtesy of R.J.’s sharp teeth. Oh, my goodness, how am I going to hide this hicky?

  I stared at my reflection in horror while gently rubbing the bruised area. I started thinking real fast about how to cover it up. That’s when I pulled out the top dresser drawer and searched for a clean turtleneck top. At the bottom of the neatly-folded blouses, I spotted the cream-colored knit fabric and yanked it out.

  Rushing over to my closet, I opened the door and tried hard to remember whether or not my navy jumper was in the dirty clothes. I slid one hanger down the rod staff after another until I spotted something blue. There it is. Thank goodness I didn’t wear it to school last week. Now all I have to worry about is getting changed and my parents will never know what happened.

  The second I made it home from church, I scrambled out of the jumper and pulled on a pair of form-fitting jeans. Although the weather had warmed up significantly, I kept on the knit turtleneck. After making myself comfortable at the kitchen table, I called Joyce, and asked, “Hey, what are you doing?”

  “Girl, I’m not doing much, just getting my clothes ready for school tomorrow. By the way, what happened between you and R.J. last night? I was surprised when you disappeared with him.”

  “I’ll be happy to answer your question as soon as you stop smacking that gum in my ear.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry about that,” Joyce said, giggling. “You know how I love that Juicy Fruit.”

  “Yes, I do. But we weren’t doing nothing. We were just outside talking, that’s all. The music was so loud in the house that we couldn’t hear one another so R.J. suggested we go out back and rap for a minute.”

  “Yeah, right, you all were rapping for a long time, because Chubby and I were looking everywhere for you two. I was starting to get worried that maybe you’d left the party without me.”

  “Nah, I would never do that. Where would I go without a ride?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just saying I got a little scared after that fight broke out, and we didn’t see you anywhere.”

  “That was a trip. I can’t believe those same two boys ended up at the party fighting again. They ruined it for everybody,” I chimed in. I was truly glad Joyce had changed the subject. If she had pressured me a little bit more, I might have spilled all the beans.

  “They sure did. It wasn’t even eleven o’clock and everybody was gone. I bet Jason heard an earful when his parent’s got home, because I’m pretty sure they broke up some nice stuff in that fancy house.”

  “Needless to say, he won’t be having another house party anytime soon. That’s a shame.”

  “Yes, it is. But tell me something, girl, did you guys kiss last night?”

  So much for changing the conversation. “What? Why would you ask that?”

  “Girl, please, don’t try to play innocent with me. R.J.’s lips were shining like the sun, and you had lip gloss smeared all over your face. How else would they get like that?”

  “Well, maybe we did kiss a little bit, but that was it,” I whispered.

  I heard Joyce laughing and began giggling myself at the reminder of what had occurred between R.J. and me. Just the thought of my first romantic encounter had me daydreaming and feeling confused. I wanted to tell Joyce, but I was afraid one of my parents might overhear our conversation, so I ended it. “I’ll talk to you at school tomorrow. See you in the morning.”

  “You bet. And you better tell me everything,” Joyce added, right before hanging up the telephone receiver.

  *

  “So, when are you going to give me all the details?” Joyce asked, checking the bathroom stalls on the second floor of Bell High School. She wanted to be sure we were alone before making me spill the beans.

  I checked out my floral top in the mirror and shrugged like I didn’t have a whole lot to share. As much as I had liked necking with R.J., I didn’t want to kiss and tell. But I was afraid that if we hadn’t been suddenly interrupted, things might have eventually gone too far. And I definitely wasn’t ready for an intimate relationship, even if it was with the finest guy at Bell High. Placing my books on the counter, I turned to fa
ce Joyce, and said, “You know I like R.J., right?”

  Joyce nodded several times, leaned in closer, and begged me to continue talking.

  “Well, he had his hands all over me, and I was digging it until he touched my privacy.”

  “What?” Joyce gasped, jumping back. “You let him touch you down there.”

  “No, I didn’t. I had just pushed him away when you and Chubby showed up calling me.”

  “Okay, you better tell me the truth, girl.” Joyce’s bulging eyes remained on me.

  “I am telling you the honest to goodness truth.” I held up my right hand like I was being sworn in as a witness at a jury trial. “I could never go all the way with a boy, regardless of how good he looks.”

  “Did you enjoy the kiss?”

  “Yeah, of course, I enjoyed that. But I’m a little scared to continue rapping with R.J. now, because I know he expects more than I’m willing to give. Maybe he needs to go with one of the faster girls at school like Leslie or somebody.”

  “Girl, what are you talking about? I don’t want my cousin anywhere near that funky, stuck-up Leslie.”

  “I’m just saying, I don’t think I’m ready to do it. Can you tell me again what it’s like?”

  “Well, I just did it that one time, and it really hurt. I heard some of the older girls say that it gets easier after the first time, but I haven’t tried to find out. What you need to do is…” Joyce began at the sound of the bell. She held her mouth opened until the ringing stopped. “Never mind, let’s get on to lunch. I’m starving.”

  I snatched my books off the counter and followed Joyce through the door and down the hallway toward the lunchroom. We were about to turn a busy corner when I heard someone calling my name. Without turning to look, I knew it was R.J. He was hustling to catch up to me. “Hi, pretty lady, how are you doing today?” he asked, falling in step beside me.