Chapter One
A loud ringing filled my ears and eyes flickered open. After a few seconds I got my bearings, and I quickly realised I had fallen asleep in English Class once again. Not that I was surprised with myself. English Literature had never interested me, and spending weeks gruelling through "Of Mice and Men" could put the most avid reader to sleep. I could feel Mr. Philips eyes on me as I quickly gathered my things and slipped out the door behind my peers.
"You were snoring pretty loudly Jeff!" laughed Henry as we made our way towards our lockers. "I poked you with a ruler a dozen times but you didn't budge!"
"Sorry. Had a rough night!" I smirked back at Henry.
"Well?" He asked with anticipation.
"Well what?" I teased.
"Your eighteenth birthday. That's what. Tell me all. What happened with Megan?"
"Nothing really happened, I was out with family, hopefully see her tonight!"
"Wait so you didn't see her? What about your big plans?" Henry slammed his locker shut and watched me with a huge smile on his face as I rubbed my eyes in tiredness. "You do look pretty out of it! A bit too much to drink last night? Or maybe you had other things on your mind instead of sleep? I guess you're glad it's Friday!"
"A bit." I murmured as Henry ran off to his next class.
The truth is that I really couldn't remember much from last night. I remember going to that new Greek restaurant on the high street with my parents and sister. I remember a huge selection of food, and my dad ordering me my first beer! Well at least what he thought was my first beer. He only let me have one, and I was sipping on coke for the rest of the meal. I know my parents had bought a birthday cake to the restaurant for desert, but I couldn't remember eating it or being served desert at all! Did I really get drunk of a single beer? I was supposed to meet Megan after dinner, did I make it? I would have to try and piece together the night.
I checked my phone as I walked to maths class, and there were thirty two unread texts from Megan. Yes thirty two. 'Where are you?' 'What time shall we meet?' 'Where are you?' 'Shall I come over?' 'Hello?' 'Jeff what is the plan?' 'Call me now!' The messages became more and more aggressive and worried as the night went on. I must have been really out of it! Seeing Megan last night had been my top priority for the last month. She was six months older than me and absolutely stunning. Her body was growing in all the right places and her smile was completely infectious. Just laying eyes on her made my heart jump, and nothing made me happier than spending time with her.
Her parents were on holiday in Spain and her brother was out of town for a few days. Last night she was home alone, and she wanted me to come over. We had talked about taking our relationship to a physical level for a long time, but she had finally decided about two weeks ago to take the next step the night of my birthday. Last night. For both of us it would be our first time.
Maths class was as just as boring as English, but for a very different reason. I absolutely loved maths. It has always been my favourite subject, one I am fortunately very gifted in. It had always felt like the Maths work being taught was at a level that I mastered months ago, and I never felt challenged or motivated. Our maths teacher Mr Simmons didn't help things either. He was enormous, loud, hairy and his breath stunk like a skunk.
I quickly finished my work then began composing an apology text message to Megan, although I wasn't entirely sure what I was apologising for. Near the end of class Mr Simmons started talking once again so I slipped my phone back into my bag. He was a very old fashioned teacher, one who often wished things would go back to the days of corporate punishment. I knew if he caught me using my mobile phone he would confiscate it for a week. Those were his rules, and no amount of pleading or excuses would change them.
"Gentlemen, today is your last lesson with me for the next three months I am afraid to say." My ears suddenly perked up in interest. "Next week I am having an operation and won't be back at work for a while, but a substitute teacher will be coming in and taking care of your lessons until I return." The rest of his words fizzed into the background as the whispered voices of sixteen students gossiping took over.
*
That evening my sister Lucy couldn't contain her laugher every time she walked into the living room where I was sitting. After a while it began to feel like I was the centre of a joke I didn't know about. After a lot of sibling wrestling and tickling, I eventually pried out of her what she was hiding. Last night after the single beer dad had bought me, she had slipped a double shot of vodka into every one of my eight cokes. Now things started to make more sense. How she did it without my parents and myself spotting was a mystery I am still trying to figure out.
Apparently I was pretty drunk by the end of the night and my parents believed it was due to the single beer. They sent me straight to bed when we got home. My sister is twenty six; eight years older than me; which proved very useful for purchasing alcohol and the occasional pack of cigarettes. Now being eighteen I wouldn't need her services anymore! Like me she was naturally gifted in mathematics and had followed the subject through to degree level. She often helped nurture my numerical skills by setting me difficult problems to solve or letting me work through some of her old text books. We have always had a very close relationship. After her university days she moved back home and got a job in a local bank working as an actuary. She had a long term boyfriend, Andrew, who died in a car wreck three years ago. Moving home gave her support and time to focus on herself and her healing. She has been single ever since.
Megan ignored all my calls and texts through the day and night and I decided I would go by her house after dinner. She only lived a five minute walk away so it was very easy to pop in and out.
I knocked on her door for ten minutes but she didn't answer. I was about to walk away when I tried to call her mobile phone once again. I could hear the phone ringing inside the house before she quickly disconnected the call.