All Grown Up (2 page)

Our freshmen year went about the same except Mina was still at my side. To say I was shocked she stayed around was an understatement. She was envied by most of the school because of her money, fashion sense, quick wit and of course because they worshipped Leo Mackey. He quickly became the star quarterback, top contender for prom king, and overall top of the list as the guy every girl wanted to date.

By association
, I became less invisible to everyone. Mina decided to take over the school newspaper and news station, which she pulled me into. Typically, a senior was the chief editor in charge of the paper but Mina was determined. She didn’t get chief editor her freshman year, resolving that the title would be hers by the end of sophomore year. I, of course, handled the technical and computer stuff.

Mina tried to pull me into cheerleading, but after one session of trying to teach me how to do a cheer for tryouts she finally agreed to leave me alone about it. Instead
, I joined a computer group after school. So, while she had cheer practice I had meetings with my fellow geek squad.

Our freshmen year had gone by typically smooth for a freshmen year. Summer had come up quickly, and
there were a lot of graduation parties, including Leo’s. I remember the night of his graduation party. After our Moms shooed us away from the partying, Leo and his friends cranked the music and started in on the heavier drinking. My father – as mayor – had turned a blind eye. Mina and I crept out to our tree house to sleep. Okay, to spy on the party.

We saw Christy. S
he got to stay since she was sixteen. Though, by the looks of things, she wasn’t sticking to the no drinking rule Judith gave her. Christy was flirting with Randy, who seemed to be entertained by her. Then I saw Leo. He was away from everyone else in a corner of the yard on a blanket with some blonde girl. Even though it had only been a crush, it still hurt to see him. I knew it was the girl he'd been seeing for about a month, Charlotte.

That summer flew by quickly. Christy took
Mina and me to Lookout Beach every sunny day she could. It was an excuse to see Randy. I also met Jay Bennet that summer. He was eighteen, like Leo and K.C., but he wasn’t going away to college. Jay had decided to go to a local trade college for mechanics, the same school Randy attended.

Christy also
got grounded repeatedly for sneaking out to see Randy, though she never confessed to our parents. He was her first love, her first everything.

~ ~ ~

Sophomore year of high school started off much like freshman. Mina was the first sophomore girl to make varsity cheer and I was head of the computer group. I worked closely with the Computer Technologies teacher on programming, troubleshooting and other projects. I helped create the school’s new website and Mina pushed for the newspaper to use my computer knowledge to produce more efficient and interesting papers, as well as a school blog.

I have to admit
, by the end of sophomore year, I started to come out of my shell a little more. Most of this I owed to Mina and Christy. However, there was one more person to bring me out of hermit-like existence; my cousin, Veronica. She'd been living with Grandma Fisher, who passed away before the new school semester. So, she came to live with us. We moved her into my room since it was big enough for both of us and I loved having her around.

Veronica was a year older and absolutely gorgeous.
She was tall, fair skinned, had long, curly, strawberry blonde hair, bright hazel eyes and the body of a 1950's pinup girl. The summer she arrived every boy in town was using her as shower material. However, Roni was independent, feisty and ridiculously smart. She loved the mechanics of things, how things worked and had hit it off with Jay. Even though it was nothing romantic or physical, Mina and I teased her repeatedly about being alone in a garage with him.

~ ~ ~

Sophomore summer brought with it a little more chaos and trouble. Mina, Roni and I were a force to be reckoned with. I swore our parents were going to end up drowning us in the Mackey’s pool. We snuck out
a lot
, went to parties and had gotten more interested in guys.

It was a summer of first kisses and first loves. My first kiss was with a boy named Kevin. Mina’s was with a boy named Jason; both of them happening the same night at a beach fire. Roni was a little more experienced and it was her first night with a boy named Dan. After that night, Roni had a hard time shaking him off.

As with each year, the summer ended and it was time to prepare for the return to school. We were going to be juniors. It was exciting. Mina already secured her spot as the head cheerleader and editor of the school paper. Roni was a cheer co-captain, along with Christy.

The biggest change for
me was me. That summer I became more confident, had grown into my own person, and embraced my geek side. Mina’s past two years of fashion tips and makeovers had rubbed off a little as well.

My physical appearance changed as well
. Well, more like I finally developed. I was no longer all knees and elbows. Now, at almost 5’7", my body curved, but remained lean – especially with the help of morning runs.

Mina
first brought the changes to my attention when I stepped out of her house in my bathing suit to jump in the pool. She stood in front of me just staring, and then yelled for Roni and Christy.

"Chloe, when did you get to
be such a hottie?" Mina smirked. I pushed her into the pool.

And when I caught guys actually checking me out,
I didn’t know what to do. It was all new to me and made me feel ridiculously self-conscious.

I wasn’t sure what junior and senior year would hold for us.

Chapter
Two
High School the End Part I

Chloe

Junior year was different than previous years. Mina, Roni, Christy and I seemed to be the more popular girls now. It was weird because we were
still the same as we’d always been. The overbearing Barbie doll, the wild hottie, the tough exotic girl, and the geek. Yet, somehow we still ended up being popular on certain levels.

Junior year was also the year I learned to really, really hate guys
, except for one that I really liked. I could not get Aaron Clooney and Will Vaughn to back off. Every Friday was the same thing, I would have to turn them down for whatever date they tried to plan.

When
Lucas Giles moved to Tillamook and started going to school here, we instantly hit it off instantly. About a month after, we were dating. Lucas was great. He was my first real boyfriend and my first physical relationship. It also helped that with Lucas, Aaron and Will backed off.

Half
way into my junior year, Christy found out she was pregnant. Randy proposed marriage almost immediately after finding out. Kenneth and Judith, however, would have none of that. Christy was eighteen and angry, vowing that as soon as she graduated, she was moving in with Randy.

Randy wasn’t a bad guy
. He had a job and stood by her, but K.C. almost came back from college to kill him. Kenneth and Judith had calmed him down. After the Christy debacle, my curfew took a hit, becoming stricter. With the Mayor for a father, you really had no other choice but to comply.

I thought Christy’s pregnancy would be the big
gest event of my seventeenth year of life.

~ ~ ~

"Chloe!" Mina’s yell pulled me out of my thoughts. I closed my online journal and headed to my balcony.

"What?" I yelled back. Mina came walking across the tree house
path toward my balcony with two different outfits held up.

"Which one do you like best?" She rotated the dresses in front of her. Mina had cut off all her hair at the beginning of the year. Now she sported a short fringed bob that barely touched her shoulders. It really brought out the fine features of her thin body as well as those gray eyes.

"Umm…the gray one," I pointed and turned to head back into my room. Kenneth had to reinforce the tree house as we got older. Mina and I refused to let them tear it down. It was our quick and easy passage to each other. It also came in handy for sneaking out. Hence, Christy’s current six-month condition.

"Are you sure? You don’t think
the pink one is more me?"

I turned back to the doors.
"If you are not going to listen to me, then why do you ask?" I cocked my head to one side. My phone rang and I took it out of my pocket, smiling.

"It’s Lucas
," I grinned to Mina. She waved to me as she headed back over to her house.

"Hey, Luke."

"Hey, Chloe. Are you guys still coming tonight?"

Tonight was the first beach fire since winter
had passed and everyone from school would probably be there.

"Yep, I even got Kenneth to extend my curfew."

"How did you do that?" He questioned.

“
Begged, pleaded and signed a contract in my own blood that I wouldn’t come home knocked up.”

He laughed.
“Cool. So when are you guys planning on showing up?”

“
Hmm…I’m not sure. You know Mina will try to force a makeover on me, so I’ll text you when we get close to leaving, okay?”

“
Sounds good. And, Chloe, don’t let her make you over too much. I like you the way you are.”

S
woon. He was so sweet sometimes.

“
Thanks, Luke. See you later.”

“
Later.”

Mina showed up completely dressed and ready for the party carrying an outfit over her arm, which I knew would be for me. Roni also appeared from our bathroom ready to go in tight black jeans. Looking at the both of them made me want to just stay h
ome and not even bother trying.

Thank
God I already had Lucas.

Mina had on a tight gray tube dress with black leggings on underneath and black flip flops. Roni was in a tight red tank top and dark black skinny jeans with red sandals. Both of them had perfectly coiffed hair and strategically applied make-up. Why do they attempt to do that to me? I won’t look anywhere near the way they look.

“Come on, Chloe. Get this on.” Mina threw something dark blue and khaki at me.

“
What is this?” I asked, shocked.

Mina huffed.

"What’s wrong with this outfit? I thought you would be ecstatic that I picked out a casual outfit for you?"

"No, no, I’m just shocked. You mean
, I get to wear a blue tank top and wide-leg khaki’s? Seriously?" I pretended to faint onto my bed.

"Well, you still have hair and makeup that we need to do, so hurry up
, smartass!" Mina spat out at me while Veronica laughed at our exchange.

I quickly changed. The top was a little tight, but
, hey, I got to wear comfy clothes. I wasn’t going to complain. Mina curled my hair so that soft waves flowed down my back and gave me light makeup, enhancing my eye color and shape. It was truly magic what she could transform me into.

"You know, we should get some highlights done to your hair next time." Mina finger combed the hair at the sides of my face while she spoke.

"Whatever, you know I don’t care." I rolled my eyes.

"You should care. It’s your hair, goon." She stood back and looked me over, "Just a couple more things."

I groaned.

She threw me a dark blue hoodie and a dark blue and khaki
, plaid, page boy cap. I slipped on a pair of blue flip flops before we all darted out the door and jumped into Mina’s car.

On her last birthday,
Mina had asked for a yellow Porsche. She got a yellow Volkswagen convertible. It was more than either Roni or I had, so we told Mina to just be happy. It was the end of May so Mina put the top down, just because she could.

By the time we arrived, it was eight o’clock. Mina parked and we all hopped out, walking towards the music blaring
from a DJ stand set up courtesy of Will. Christy was sitting on a large driftwood log close to the fire next to Randy. I immediately ran over and hugged them both.

"Let the fun begin!"
Mina declared, appearing at my side with a beer in each hand. She handed me the drink and tapped her cup to mine.

A few beers in
, Mina, Lucas and I were sitting side by side singing as loudly as we could with the music. Will was taking all our requests and even took my IPod to pull some songs off of it. If I hadn’t felt the vibration, I would have never noticed my phone. Elaine.

"I’ll be right back."

I stood up and walked away from the noise. Mina followed me. "Hello."

"Chloe
, is Mina with you?"

"Yeah, we are down at the beach
. Is everything alright?"

"Oh
, yes, dear. Is she close by?"

"Yep," I handed Mina the phone. "It’s your
Mom."

"Yes
, Mommy dearest?" I could tell that she was trying to suck up in case she was in trouble.

"What?
When?" I thought something was wrong until I saw her smile. "Really? Well tell him to hurry his ass down here! Oh…umm…sorry, Mom. Uh huh…I won’t. Love you too, bye." She flipped my phone shut and shoved it back into my pocket for me, a huge grin remaining on her face.

"Well
? What’s going on?"

"Leo came home to visit!" She was still smiling too large.

"And that has you so happy, why?" I was curious to the real reason behind her happiness.

"He brought friends home with him!" I must’ve still looked like I hadn’t caught on, which I hadn’t.
"College boys, Chloe! College boys!" She grabbed my hand and we headed back to the group.

Mina went straight to Will and set up a play list that ‘she could dance to’
. He laughed at her and obliged, setting her playlist. Lucas brought us a couple more beers before Mina’s songs started up. I looked around for Roni, who had disappeared when we arrived. She was probably with Dan.

I turned to Mina

"Where's Roni?"

"Probably with Dan."
She rolled her eyes.

I smirked and got on my tiptoes
, spotting her by the fire with Christy.

"I’ll
be right back."

She nodded.

Lucas kissed my cheek and I walked over to Roni.

"Hey slut, where you been?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

"Jealous much?" She winked and took my beer from me.

"Hey!"

"I just want a drink," she tried to hand it back to me.

"No way, I don’t know where your mouth has been tonight!" I laughed.

"That’s right, you don’t," she licked the whole rim of the cup. "Guess it’s mine now." She smiled.

I shoved her arm
as Mina’s songs started playing.

"Mina?" S
he looked at me, knowingly.

Mina appeared in front of us dancing seductively
. Abruptly, she stopped, her attention focused on something behind us. A smile spread across her face. Roni and I turned our heads.

Walking up the b
each was Max, even bigger than I remembered him, Leo, in all his wonderful, glorious hotness, and another ridiculously attractive guy.

Mina jumped between Roni and me in the direction of her brother who opened his arms at her approach.  The amount those two loved each other was so endearing.  He lifted her off the ground and hugged her. I could hear Mina squealing in happiness. Max pulled her up over his shoulder
and carried her all the way back to the fire.

"Put me down
, Max!" Mina screamed. Roni and I were laughing hard when he placed her down by the fire near us.

"Who is that exactly?" Roni whispered into my ear.

"That’s Max Gallagher. His parents live down the street from us."

She smiled and
began checking Max out.

"Damn it
, Max, don’t do that!" Mina pretended to pout.

"I can’t help it. You’re so tiny that I thought you were a doll!" He patted her head and headed over to where Leo and his other friend had gone to grab a beer
, making a few stops to say hello along their way.

Mina grabbed Roni and me, pulling us out to dance.
It wasn’t long before others started to join us. We were having fun, being goofy, dancing like we didn’t have a care in the world and laughing. Hard. Mina had set the playlist, so I knew it wouldn’t be long before the ass shaking songs made their appearance. Classic Mina.  

Dancing between Mina and Roni was always hysterical because they would sandwich me and start grinding
like I was the man of their dreams. It would garner the attention of every guy around us, which is what they wanted. I, on the other hand, wanted to bury my head in the rocky sand. I had my guy. I looked over to Lucas who was smiling widely as he watched. I smiled and winked.

Roni bent forward in front of me and pushed back, grinding her ass into me.
I had to grab her hips just to keep balance while Mina grabbed onto mine. Clearly, we had had too much to drink. With that little move, Max appeared next to us.

"Mina you better chill before your brother starts spitting fire," Max laughed loudly and
jerked his head back toward Leo. He stood scowling at Mina and me.

"Oh
, Max, he can shove it! I’m just dancing and with a girl for God’s sake." Max had already checked out of the conversation, his eyes focused on Veronica's swaying ass.

"You want me to pick your tongue up for you
, Max?" I teased. Mina giggled.

"Who is…" he leaned
toward my ear and paused. “Chloe? When did you get so damn hot?"

Mina started laughing. Embarrassment heated my chest and face.

"Nice, Max. By the way, this is my cousin Veronica." Redirecting his attention, I hoped the blush would disappear from my face soon.

"Veronica. I like." He
slipped right behind her and started dancing, hands on her hips. I could only imagine what was going to happen between those two. Max had always liked women, a lot of women.  And Roni, well, she wasn't known for being conservative. Mina and I laughed and continued to dance with each other.

I was spinning Mina around when I glanced over her head and saw Leo watching us. I shrugged it off and kept dancing with Mina. Another song came on and Mina convinced me to start doing ‘tramp moves’
, as I so lovingly called them. They were fun, slutty, provocative dance moves. We started dropping to the ground and shaking our hips around. Lucas joined me. Will got his hands on Mina. Well, he had them on her until his hands dropped lower than her hips and Leo appeared next to them.