Tangled Youth Chapter 31
Tangled Youth
Chapter 31
Boone awoke early the next morning after a not-so pleasant sleep on his new dorm room mattress, which was both too hard and too soft at the same time. But this was a minor adjustment to get used to compared to the fact that he was now living with a bunch of people he barely knew, was in a city he had no idea how to get around, and attending a whole new school.
He was the first one awake, luckily, so he took the chance to monopolize the shower before any of his roommates got there. The moment he looked at the shower, he was extremely glad that he had remembered to bring flip flops. The lock on the bathroom refused to lock, so he just shut it very tightly and prayed that no one would come in. After taking a hasty shower, he put on a t-shirt and jeans.
Lilly greeted him when he stepped outside of the bathroom, clad in a long gray bathrobe and pajamas. “Hey,” she smiled, as if she had known him her whole life. “Coffee?” She offered him a cup of steaming coffee in a blue mug. “My parents got me a coffee machine as my going away present.” Boone took a tentative sip of the coffee, and tried to smile, although it was the most vile tasting, bitter coffee he had ever tasted.
“It’s…” he tried, but he knew his expression was close to a grimace. “It’s good.” Suddenly his voice sounded like that of a 10 year old boy. A few moments later, Ted emerged from his bedroom, wearing boxers, and his hair messily covering his eyes, and accepted the coffee that Lilly offered him as well.
“Holy shit, this is terrible,” he said frankly.
But Lilly wasn’t insulted. “Are you one of those people who never wash or brush their hair because they think it’s a homage to their inner suffering?”
“What’s this about inner suffering?” Ben had emerged to hear the tail end of Lilly’s remark. “I think it’s called before 8 AM on a Monday.” Boone chuckled.
“So whose ready for the cafeteria?” Ben asked. “Everyone got your food cards ready?”
“Yeah,” Boone agreed, but then remembered something. “Wait… did that new girl come in last night?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ben wondered. “I wonder where she is.”
“Oh, she showed up last night, I think she’ still asleep,” Lilly said nonchalantly.
“Wait… she’s staying in your room with you and you haven’t spoken to her yet?” Boone raised his eyebrows.
“She came in at like 3 AM, and I was like half asleep, and I wasn’t going to wake her up.”
“Well if we don’t, she’s going to miss orientation,” Boone said, concerned.
“Why don’t you just go wake he up, then?” Ted said coolly. “I’m going to head over to the cafeteria.”
“I’m not quite ready yet, actually,” Lilly said. “So I guess you can go ahead.”
“I’m gonna stay here a little while, too,” Ben agreed. So Ted left the dorm room alone.
Boone cautiously made his way towards the door to Rebecca and Lilly’s bedroom. “What did you say her name was again?” He asked.
“Rebecca,” Lilly replied, making her way towards the bathroom.
Boone knocked on the door twice, and waited. No answer. “Rebecca?” He said. “Rebecca?”
“Hold on a second!” Answered a muffled voice. About thirty seconds later, a girl wearing jeans and a plain sweater opened the door. She had glasses, frizzy blondish hair, and wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Hi,” she said meekly.
“Hi, I’m Boone.” He held out his hand to shake her hand, and tried not to judge her by her appearance.
“I’m Becky,” she replied nervously. That was when Boone remembered how his looks sometimes intimidated people.
“Sorry to wake you up, but I was afraid you would miss orientation, which starts in less than an hour.”
“Oh, thank you. I must have forgotten to set my alarm, I didn’t get in until 3 AM.”
“You’re welcome. So…”
“So,” she squeaked. “I guess I’d better finish getting ready.”
“Okay,” he smiled. Becky gaped at him. “See you.”
“Yeah, see you,” she said.
“Boone!” Lilly yelled from the bathroom. “Would you get your razor off of the damn counter?” Ah, the joys of college dorm life, Boone thought.
Orientation was overwhelming, to say the least. First, the entire freshman class sat in a huge auditorium, where the president of the school gave a speech. Boone was going to take notes, but then he got some weird looks when he took out a pen, so he decided against it. The dean welcomed them, and then rattled off a bunch of rules, and told them that class sign ups would start that evening. Boone wasn’t sure which classes to take yet, so he would have to think about that further.
When he got out of the auditorium later, he went back to the dorm and checked his messages on his cell phone, noticing that he had one missed call from Shannon. He called her back, anticipating hearing her voice. His decision to stop being in love with her had definitely been futile, as he had already completely forgotten about it. “Hey, Shan,” he said warmly. “What’s up?”
“Boone!” She exclaimed. “Hey! How’s college life?”
He tried not to overanalyze the fact that she was excited to talk to him. “Pretty good, thanks. It’s overwhelming, though. I have no idea what classes to take.”
“How are your roommates?” She didn’t want to talk about academic plans.
“They’re pretty good. There’s this one guy, Ben, who’s really cool - “
“Is he hot?” Shannon interrupted.
“Shannon!” He reprimanded. “And then there’s this girl named Lilly who’s really snarky like you - “
“Answer me, is Ben hot?”
“I don’t know! And then there’s this other guy named Ted, who is… well, I don’t really think we exactly complement each other.”
“You hate him,” she interrupted him yet again.
“I don’t really know him enough to hate him, Shan.”
“You know I love it when you call me that,” he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Um, thanks?” He tried to be nonchalant.
“No one else calls me that, but you always shorten everyone’s names. It’s sweet.”
“Thanks.”
“I miss you,” she said weakly.
“I know Shan, me too. You should come visit soon.”
“Yeah, maybe during Thanksgiving break. But I want to see you now, you know?”
“Yes,” he replied shortly. He was clenching onto the receiver of the phone, wishing that the plastic of the phone would somehow turn into her.
“I can’t like, touch you over the phone. I can’t look at you.”
“It sucks,” he answered. There was a pause.
“I love you,” she finally said. “Oh, wait, hold on, Sabrina wants to talk to you.”
“Okay,” he replied, worried about what his mom had to say.
“Boone!” His mom said harshly as soon as he answered. “Don’t sign up for classes until you’ve approved them with me!”
“Oh, thanks, I’m good. How are you?” He asked smugly.
“Very funny, Boone. Now seriously, what classes are you considering?”
“I dunno, I was thinking like calculus and some science class and some English or Humanities class.”
“That’s very vague, Boone. Any further ideas?” She asked coolly.
“Well, I’ll just take Freshman English, and Calculus II, and…”
“I think you should take a business class,” she interrupted.
“Mom,” he argued.
“Look Boone, who’s paying your bills? I want you to sign up for a business class, alright?”
“Fine,” he agreed.
“So, what else?”
“Look Mom,” he said, frustrated. “I am eighteen years old, I think I can figure it out by myself!”
“Boone, I’m only trying to help you find what’s in your best interest.”
“Oh, since when have you cared about what’s in my best interest? You didn’t even ask me how I was, how I’m settling in, nothing like that, you just want me to take classes that’ll look good.” He knew he was being nasty, but she had provoked him.
“I have work to do.” She ignored all of his accusations. “Goodbye.”
“Um, bye?” He hung up, confused. But he didn’t have time to think about what Sabrina had said, because just then, Ben, Ted, and Lilly appeared in the room, whispering and talking to each other in hushed voices.
“Hey, California Boy!” Lilly exclaimed. “We just picked up some pizza, hope you like Pepperoni,” she approached him, holding two boxes of pizza.
“Look at what we scored,” Ben held up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. Boone gaped.
“How’d you… we… what?” He tried to create an intelligible sentence.
“We decided to play some getting to know you games,” Ted smirked.
“Wow, okay,” Boone smiled. This was going to be fun. “Where’s Becky?”
“Oh, we already asked her, she didn’t wanna play,” Ben shrugged.
“Really?” He wasn’t surprised, but he was a little disappointed, because Becky seemed lonely. “Come on, we should convince her to.”
“I’ll go ask her again…” Lilly said, and disappeared into her room.
“So, what kinds of getting to know you games did you have in mind?” Boone wondered.
“I Never, Truth or Dare, that kind of thing?” Ben answered.
Just then, Lilly appeared. “Well, I got her to come play. Come on boys, let’s sit.” She sat down near the couch, on the floor, and Becky cautiously sat next to her. Boone didn’t know what had been on this floor, but no one else seemed to care, so he sat down as well.
Soon, they were lounging around on the floor, eating pizza on paper towels. Ben was reclined against the front of the couch, Ted against the wall. Lilly was sitting cross-legged in between Boone and Ben, her weight shifted towards Ben. Becky was sitting on the couch uncomfortably, looking like a dear caught in headlights. “So, whose gonna start?” Boone asked.
“I will,” Ben said. “I’ll start with something boring. Um, I’ve never been to Australia.” Boone reached over towards the bottle, opened it, and filled his cup, taking a small sip.
“I went last summer with my family,” he explained. “Uh, do I go next?”
“Yeah,” Lilly said.
“Okay. I’ve never… I’ve never smoked pot.” Ted quickly downed his cup, as did Ben, and even Lilly took a tentative sip. “Wow, you guys are all druggies,” he joked.
“No, you’re just a goody-goody,” said Ted. “Can I go next? I’ve never kissed a guy.”
Lilly drank, and they all looked over at Becky expectantly. She squinted, lifted the cup to her lips, and quickly pulled it away. “You didn’t even drink!” Lilly accused.
“Yeah I did,” Becky said meekly. “I guess I’ll go now. I’ve never… you know… I’ve never…”
“She’s never fucked someone,” Ted finished. They all drank, except Becky. “I think we’re gonna need explanations for this one.”
“Oh, stories!” Lilly squealed. “Um, it was last summer, actually, I had this boyfriend named Dan, and he was nice and stuff, but then we broke up.”
Ted yawned exaggeratedly. “Boo-ring,” he said. “I was sixteen, and it was this really hot girl, and I lied about my age - I think she might have been like twenty-something.” Boone grimaced. “Oh shut up, California. What’s your story?”
“Her name was Anna - “
“She hot?” Ted interrupted.
“Extremely,” Boone answered, lackluster. “Kind of annoying though. All loud and clingy.”
“Well was she good in the sack?” Ted was just the king of classiness, wasn’t he?
“Yeah, I guess. She was my sister’s best friend.”
“That’s awkward. Is your sister hot?” Ted asked, interested.
“Yeah,” he blurted out. “I mean, sure, I guess,” he tried to retract his previous enthusiasm.
“Ew, you think your sister’s hot,” Lilly laughed. “Boys will be boys.”
“My turn,” Ben interrupted. “Okay, I’ve never gotten a blowjob.” Boone drank appreciatively, remembering the time when Anna had gotten a little overzealous. Ted also drank.
“What if you’ve given one?” Lilly asked, but didn’t wait for a response, just drank anyway.
“Can we play something else?” Becky complained.
“You know, I think I like Truth or Dare better, too” Boone said, defending her. “Can we do that instead?”
“I guess,” Ted shrugged. Becky looked relieved. “But then how are we gonna drink?”
“I’m sure we’ll find a way,” Lilly said, and took a sip of her drink, peeling off her second cup. “Mm, I’m starting to feel it.” She refilled her glass.
“Let’s play it so that we all have to answer it,” Ben suggested.
“Okay,” they agreed. Lilly finished her third shot, and giggled, inching closer to Boone. “Lilly, you may want to slow down with that,” he warned.
“I think you should hurry up with yours, Boone,” she smiled. He finished his and filled another. “Becky, my question is just for girls. Who do you think is the hottest guy in here?”
“Oh, this is embarrassing,” she laughed uneasily. “Do I have to - “
“Just spit it out,” Lilly told her.
“Well, okay, I guess Boone.”
“Way to be predictable,” Ted scoffed.
“Hey, Boone can’t help being sexy, can he?” Lilly said. “You’re so gorgeous Boone, you know that right?”
“Um,” he took a sip of his drink in response.
About an hour later, the bottle’s contents had lessened significantly, and what they were saying was becoming a lot less guarded. Ben, Lilly, and Boone were extremely tipsy, but Becky had retired to her room after only one shot, and Ted was remarkably good at holding his drink. But for the most part, they were all so drunk that they were leaving out the “truths” and “dares” and just saying and doing whatever they felt like.
“Hey, Lil?” Ben said. He was currently lying on the floor on his back.
“Yeah?” She didn’t even notice the nickname that she had been christened.
“Wanna make out?” Ben asked
“Yeaaaah, okay,” she giggled, and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek.
Ben sat up and wiped the slobber off of his face. “Gross, maybe we should hold off,” he muttered.
“You can make out with me, Lilly,” Ted said. He was the only one still sitting up.
“Alright,” she crawled towards him, and sat in his lap, and turned around and kissed him, full-on.
“God, get a room,” Boone blurted out. “Ewwwww.”
“Yeah, get away from me, slut,” Ted joked, pushing her away.
“Boone!” She exclaimed, leaning against the couch.
“What?” He responded.
“Defend me, he called me a slut!”
“You are a slut,” he said lazily. This resulted in him being slapped. “Okay, okay, you’re not a slut.”
“I’ve got a question,” Ben interrupted. “What’s the grossest thing you’ve ever done?”
Ted laughed. “I don’t think you want to know.”
“Yeah, we do,” Lilly exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement. “We do, we do, we do!” Then, splat, she fell on the floor. “Ow, shit.”
“Girl, you can not hold your liquor,” Ben laughed at her.
“Shut up,” she pouted.
“Okay, once I got really drunk, and I was… um…” Ted hesitated. “You know, I was… jerking off, and then I…” Lilly grimaced. Boone wondered in fear how this statement would end. “I puked and I came at the same time.”
“Shit, man, that’s sick!” Ben yelled.
“Seriously, that’s twisted,” Boone tried to laugh, but was too grossed out. Lilly was speechless for once, her mouth wide open in shock.
“Well, what’s yours?” Ted was unfazed.
“Uh,” Boone answered, sounding stupid. “Once my sister gave me a hand job.” Ben choked. Lilly’s eyes widened even more. She had yet to recover from what Ted had said.
“Like, on purpose?” She squeaked.
“Wait, that’s cheating,” Ted said over her. “That’s not something you did.”
“Actually, it kind of is. Because I was feeling her up at the same time.” He was seriously drunk, otherwise he wouldn’t be telling them this.
“Dude!” Ben cried. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Wait, you were feeling her up at the same time as she gave you a hand job? Woah, you must have excellent concentration skills,” Ted sounded impressed.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ben repeated.
“We were pretty wasted. So, Lilly, what’s your dirty dark secret?” He turned the attention to her. Lilly looked at him, looking woozy, and suddenly threw up. “Oh shit,” he swore, and picked her up, dragging her towards the bathroom. She knelt down in front of the toilet, and he held her hair back for her. He turned away, not wanting to watch her.
“I wannnt my mommmmm,” she cried, turning to him when she was done.
“Um,” he said uncomfortably. Luckily, just then, Ben appeared in the doorway.
“Do you want me to take over?” He asked, and Boone agreed appreciatively. He stood up, and started making his way back to the living room. He could hear Ben telling Lilly, “It’s okay sweetie, just calm down. You’re just a little drunk. Sssssh.” Suddenly, he felt a gnawing pain in his stomach, realizing how much he missed Shannon.
He went back to the living room, and tried to clean up the throw up as well as he could (Ted had coincidentally went to sleep), thinking about the time when he had walked in on Shannon throwing up in the bathroom, but for an entirely different reason. When he got back to his room, he called her on her cell phone, knowing it would be off, because it was the middle of the night where she was.
“Hey, you’ve reached Shannon’s voicemail…” said her answering machine message. The sound of her voice made him feel more at home, and lulled him to sleep.