The Choice (a Painful Past)

10

His white t-shirt almost seemed to be glowing against his skin, and was stretched across muscles that I wasn't used to seeing on a 16-year-old guy. Yeah, I still really liked him, but there was no way that I was going to make the first move. 

I knew that I was crushing on Mitch too, and I had agreed to go on a date with Will, but I was a boy crazy 16-year-old girl. Most of the time, all I ever got were crushes.

 Almost like he heard my thoughts, he glanced over and caught me staring. I blushed when he sent me a wink that almost had my knees falling out from under me. It was innocent and friendly, but I didn't know how to handle it. 

"I'm so glad you guys finally made it," he said. "I was getting bored." Sherri and I giggled and rolled our eyes. "Hey kid, get up so the ladies can sit down," he told the kid that looked way too young to even be there. 

I gasped when the kid turned his face in my direction. "Colby?" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" His big blue eyes were holding mine, as he stood up to make room for Sherri and I, with Johnny in between us, on the back of the truck. "I'm staying the night with my friend. We walked over with his sister. They live right back there," he replied, pointing towards the woods behind the Lot. 

"Wait," I said, realization hitting me. "Is his sister's name Dana?" He nodded and grinned, like a super excited puppy. "Yeah, how did you know?" I smiled and shook my head. "Just a lucky guess. Be careful staying there, okay? Just because other people are doing something, doesn't mean that you have too, ya know?" He looked confused but nodded. "Yeah, sure." 

Johnny got my attention then, when he slung his arms over mine and Sherri's shoulder. I was never jealous of Johnny and Sherri because I knew they were just friends. He wasn't her type.

 Hell, Mitch wasn't even her type. I wasn't sure that I even knew what her type was to be honest. I thought about Will, with his slightly larger than average nose and his strawberry blonde hair. No, that definitely wasn't her type, even though she dated him. I thought through the other guys that I knew she had dated and found no similarities between any of them. It was like she was tasting the rainbow and trying every flavor. 

"Hello? Anybody home?" "Huh?" I asked, coming back to reality when Johnny pulled me against him to get my attention. He laughed at my bewildered expression. "Sorry,"I  murmured, getting lost in his incredibly white teeth for a moment. His tanned skin made them seem even whiter than they actually were. 

"I asked if you need a refill, but then I saw that you've barely touched your drink. Do you want me to get you something else? There's an entire bar on the back of Travis's truck," he replied. "Oh," I said and shook my head. "No, I'm okay. You know I'm not much of a drinker." 

As if on cue, a tall guy with curly blonde hair showed up in front of us. "Whassup dudes?" he asked, before bringing a blunt to his lips and inhaling hard a few times. "Hey Chad," Sherri replied, smiling shyly at him. 

No...really? She liked Chad? Well damn. I hadn't seen that coming. They were, like, best friends, and had been for a couple of years now.

 I watched her take the blunt from him and hold his gaze while she hit it. A small smile crossed his lips. Okay, I was all for this! I felt Johnny nudge my shoulder, so I looked over at him. "You see what I'm seeing?" he whispered, nodding towards Chad and Sherri. I smiled and nodded. "Never saw it coming," I whispered back. He rolled his eyes, like he had known it all along, then took the blunt that Sherri passed him. 

"So, are you guys going over to Dana's when this is busted up?" I glanced over and saw Colby speaking to me again. I had forgotten he was there. "Yeah, probably. That's what we usually do. I'm not too crazy about it though. People just get way too drunk...and I'm not talking about the kids," I replied, with a wry grin. He smiled back, a big toothy grin that lit up his young face. He really was going to be a knockout one day. 

"Ew, what are you doing here?" Colby's face dropped, when he looked up and saw Katherine standing in front of us, with Mitch holding onto her waist. "Hanging out," Colby replied, stonily. She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something else rude. 

"Hey, leave the kid alone, Katherine. He's just hanging out," Mitch said, before he kissed her cheek. She glared at Colby, before leaving back into Mitch. "Whatever. I just think he's too young to be here," she replied. "Yeah, we kind of all are," Johnny laughed. He passed me the blunt and winked. 

I felt my heart skip a beat and found myself wishing that he would just fucking ask me out. This was the way we had always acted around each other, so he probably just thought of me as a friend. UGH, this was so fucking confusing! 

I brought the sweet tasting cigar wrap to my lips and inhaled the thick smoke, until I couldn't breathe in anymore. Shit, this was strong! Chad always had primo weed. I felt the urge to cough, but I fought it down just to hold the smoke in a little longer. 

"Damn, hittin' it like a champ," Chad said, nodding while he watched me I exhaled and watched the cloud of smoke flow out into the dark night, flowing in and out of the headlights. 

I started to pass it to Mitch, but Colby nudged my arm. "You're not gonna let me hit it?" he asked. I started giggling and shook my head. "Nope. I feel like you should be older," I replied. "Are you actually serious right now?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in shock. I giggled again and shook my head. "Nah, if you wanna smoke, smoke. I'm not your mom." 

I held the blunt out to him and watched him put it to his lips. He started to cough automatically, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Bro, pass it. Don't let us corrupt you," Mitch said, holding his hand out for it.