I just ignored him. The leader of the sorority girls was fending off her sisters’ comments at her technique.
“Phi Sigs are having a party tonight. You guys should come,” she said.
“Why would they let us in?” I asked.
If I were in a fraternity, I wouldn’t want a bunch of high school boys showing up at my party.
“Because you would be our guests,” she said.
I just shrugged and was about to ask the guys what they thought when she grabbed me and kissed me. I guess she thought I might just walk away and panicked. That was when Moose found us.
“Dawson!” he called.
“It wasn’t his fault this time,” Jim said to defend me.
I didn’t get the girl’s name, but my street cred with the guys raised up a notch. I hated to tell them that strange girls hitting on me was something that was becoming all too familiar. Oh, well. I just shrugged it off.
◊◊◊
When we entered the stadium, State was taking batting practice. Jim and Johan were standing behind the batting cages. They were suddenly in a heated conversation with several of the State players. Moose gave me a look, so I walked over to find out what was going on.
“We may be in high school, but we could kick your butts,” Johan said.
I about fell down when he issued a challenge like that. What I don’t think he realized was State had had a good year last year and returned many of their starters.
“Bring it on. You bunch of wusses couldn’t carry our jocks.”
“Did he just say that?” I asked.
Jim just nodded.
“I think we need to play a game to see who the best really is. We’re free Sunday afternoon unless you’re not man enough to back up your challenge,” I said to Johan’s tormentor.
“You do realize we’re in college. You wouldn’t have a chance,” the State loudmouth said.
“I have five hundred dollars that says we beat you,” I shot back.
That got their attention.
“Make it a thousand, and we’ll even come to Lincoln to play.”
“You better bring your money,” I said.
Moose picked that moment to separate us. He just smirked when he saw I was fired up. Cocky jerks.
◊◊◊
McCarthy didn’t know what hit them. I was in the zone and hit five home runs in five at-bats. Jim and Johan each hit two. We put up 16 runs and blanked them, so the mercy rule kicked in after they were up in the fifth. I was so ready for State tomorrow.
◊◊◊
The play went better tonight. Everyone was more relaxed than they’d been opening night. When we were done, my parents, Uncle John, and Aunt Bonnie came backstage.
“What did you think?” I asked.
“Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. I didn’t expect to,” Dad said.
“High school plays can be pretty bad,” Uncle John agreed.
“Now that I know you can cry on cue, I’m not buying your crocodile tears when you’re in trouble,” Mom piled on.
“You were great!” Aunt Bonnie said.
She just became my favorite aunt. Of course, I only had two aunts, one I never saw, so the bar was set rather low.
Halle, Trip, and Rita came over.
“Good job, man!” Trip said as he gave me a hug.
Halle winked at me. Wolf and Tim worked their way through the crowd.
“You two were awesome,” Wolf said.
“I didn’t realize it had such a sad ending,” Tim added.
“You guys want to go to the cast party with us?” I asked, putting my arm around Halle.
She gave me a look. It was supposed to be just cast members, but I wanted to have some fun with my friends. Trip surprised me when said he also wanted to go. The party was at one of the cast members’ house. Their parents had cleared out for the night.
When we arrived, Halle and I were handed homemade necklaces, each with a giant ‘V’ to indicate we were cast virgins. There were three other people there with ‘V’s on. Halle reminded me I was responsible for her when she did her first shot of tequila for the night.
I liked how she did it. She licked my neck and then sprinkled salt on it. She put a lime in my mouth, licked my neck, did the shot, and then kissed the lime out of my mouth. Tequila shots were fun!
“I’m next!” Trip called, taking it in the wrong direction.
Tim and Wolf thought it hilarious that Halle’s brother wanted to do a body shot on me. I pointed Trip at one of the girls who had a ‘V’ around her neck. She enthusiastically agreed. Trip was devastatingly good looking. I don’t think Rita James was capable of producing ugly kids.
Wolf and Tim soon had girls wanting to do shots with them. I could tell this party was going to get out of hand. As the shots piled up, the kisses became more intense, and hands began to wander. Halle was no help because she kept bringing girls over to do a shot with me. I think Halle liked watching me kiss other girls. She was rewarded with a kiss after each one, as encouragement.
I kept an eye on Halle, and she was having a good time. I got pulled onto the dance floor and found myself between four girls who each tried to out-sexy the others. At first, I would gently push them away if they became too physical—as in grind their butts against Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy seized control of my body when one of them rubbed her backside up against me, grabbed my hands, and put them on her breasts.
