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When I looked back to Donnie, he was signaling to a waiter with an empty bottle but there was plenty of alcohol in the glass.
“Here you go,” he told me cheerfully, and handed me my drink laden with ice. It made a soft tinkling noise as it clinked against the glass. For a long minute, I stood wondering if I should drink it, I hadn’t seen him pour that one, but the girls weren’t around, and by then I couldn’t see another soul I knew apart from Donnie.
When my eyes met his again there was this weird connection between us that I couldn’t define, and suddenly I’d felt thirsty. I didn’t think twice about chugging the drink back after that. Kent’s words echoed back in my mind, and again I reminded myself I was safe with Donnie. He was hot, talented, and the girls fawned over him. He had no need to drug a girl unconscious to get in her panties.
We wandered back toward the poolside, drinks in hand, and for a while the weirdness between us subsided as each of us chatted about our dreams for college, which eventually led us back to Donnie’s worries about his scholarship offer and the math grade that stood between that.
“You’re doing well. It has started to make sense to you,” I said, placing my hand on his forearm and squeezing it sympathetically. “I know how much this scholarship means to you, and you know you’ve got my support. I think by showing your dedication the way you have, it’s gone a long way. Doing a little every day has made a huge difference to your grade. You’ll see how far you’ve come on the next test in the fall.”
Before I knew what was happening, Donnie grabbed me by my head and planted a kiss on my cheek. My heart leapt and fluttered erratically at his unexpected move, and I felt where he had kissed me for a few minutes later.
“What are you doing?” I hissed and glanced nervously around me to see who had seen him kiss me.
“Lighten up, my sweet little Patricia, I was only showing my thanks.”
“Saying thanks would have been enough.” I frowned and he stroked the crease in my brows with his index finger.
“Stop touching me,” I snapped.
“Don’t be mad, it’s your fault for being so kissable, and stop frowning, you’re far too pretty to scowl.”
I huffed, exasperated by his playful tone and his cocky attitude, but at the same time his words penetrated my defenses and fanned my neglected ego. As if he knew how awkward I felt, he immediately changed tact again.
“Drink up,” he said, nudging the glass toward my mouth. I did as he asked and by the time I had drunk it all down I had felt very intoxicated.
“You coming?” My mind felt fuzzy as I turned and saw Kent standing with his arm around a gorgeous looking girl.
“Coming?” I asked, confused at the open question.
“Home. Alice and the girls are changing; they’ve been swimming in the pool. As soon as they’re ready we’re heading off home. It’s almost 1:00 a.m. and I promised my dad I’d have Alice home by 1:30.
I stared at Kent, blinking as I absorbed that information, I nodded.
“Do you have room for one more?” Donnie asked. “I’ve had too much to drink, I had intended on calling a cab.
As Kent had his mom’s seven-passenger minivan, he nodded.
“Sure.”
We all piled into the minivan for home, Kent and his girl sat in the front, Alice, Sandra and Jenna in the middle, and Donnie and I got stuck in the back. Sitting over the back axle on the way home had made me feel queasier with every bump in the road. How I never threw up I would never know. Relief washed through me when Kent stopped the vehicle and opened the door at end of the lane to my home.
“See she gets home safely,” Kent instructed Donnie.
Donnie nodded. “You bet.”
Both of us thanked Kent for his kindness and stood watching my friend’s brother’s taillights disappear into the distance before Donnie turned his attention to me and flung his hand over my shoulder.
“Come on, my sweet little girl. I’d better get you back before Sticky Beak notices you’re not home.”
Sticky Beak was my nickname for my mom. I snickered but wished I’d never told him that, it had only given Donnie more ammunition to tease me with.
We half-strolled, half-staggered up the path toward home, neither of us talking, but it hadn’t felt awkward, more of a comfortable silence. My brain had felt woozy but I felt relaxed cocooned against Donnie’s side as we passed his parents’ land and continued toward mine. When we reached my parents’ driveway, Donnie stood in front of me, held me by my upper arms, and dipped his knees to look into my eyes.
“You’ve got a key to get inside, right?” My eyes bulged at his words, because my usual way of sneaking in was up the tree house and shimmying across the large branch that stopped just outside my bedroom window.
“I don’t know if I can make it,” I mumbled.
“Make what?” Donnie asked, his tone sounded confused.
