The graduation party was at Paul Ford's. There were three things you could count on at Paul's parties- loud music, warm beer and a bonfire. Yep, even in the summer. Bonfire's were Paul's specialty.
This party was no different. The temperature hovered around a hundred by the fire but most were too drunk to care. The guys had shed their shirts long ago, even the ones that shouldn't have. The girls were barely dressed to begin with but soon that might go further too. That's what happens when you mix heat and alcohol.
The entire senior class had shown up- as was expected. Half the junior class and a smattering of sophomores had crashed earlier but Paul had run most of them off. No point giving parents a reason to stop the fun.
It was tradition to party all night after getting your diploma. One last big blow out before college, jobs, and adult responsibilities. Parents, and the local cops, overlooked the excess for this one night. Barely.
Paul's place was perfect. It was so far out in the country that no one could hear the loud music or the buzz of hundreds of voices. Paul's parents had agreed to take everyone's keys to ensure no one drove home drunk. It was an arrangement that had pleased most everyone. If nothing else it gave people the impression that it was a chaperoned party.
Like most teenage parties, high school hierarchy still applied. The cheerleaders were being overly excited and hanging out with the loud, obnoxious jocks. The nerds and such were huddled together around one beer, making faces and watching the cheerleaders with looks of longing. The wannabe Goth's were over by themselves, rolling their heavily lined eyes and sipping from a bottle of red wine. Everyone who's ever been a teenager understands- like with like. No one crosses the lines. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.
Brenna McLeod and her friends, Nicola Warren and Jackson Brandt were those exceptions. Brenna's Dad owned his own company and that made her rich in most people's eyes, instant inclusion to any group. Nicola and Jackson were her best friend's since kindergarten and so they were also automatically included. They mostly stayed together, but always got invited to all the parties and functions any group came up with.
Jackson and Nicola were a couple. They'd been dating off and on, mostly on, since eighth grade. The dynamic confused most of the other teenagers, but it made perfect sense to the threesome. They were all friends before any romantic notions had come along.
Still, the arrangement had its ups and downs. Brenna often felt like a third wheel on their dates, and she hated having to go back and forth with her friends when they were on an off cycle. Making it all worse was the fact that Brenna had been in love with Jackson since kindergarten. It had strained their relationship when Jackson had first started dating Nicola but she thought she had done a pretty good job of hiding her feelings. Only her Dad was clued in as far as she knew.
Tonight was one of those nights when Brenna was tuning them out. They weren't fighting, there was just a lot of silence and tension in the air that Brenna did not want to be part of.
Never one to be a big partier, Brenna was going for broke tonight. Her life had been more than stressful the past year since her Mom had gotten sick and she just wanted one night where she could be a typical teenager.
She'd let Nicola dress her in what she considered skank wear, super short mini skirt, tank top and cowboy boots. She had on very little makeup, her skin much too sensitive for the stuff. She'd also had three beers already and was feeling it down to her toes.
Oblivious, Brenna let her body sway to the music, unaware that she was getting some pretty serious attention from boys that had never seen her looking like that. Even Jackson couldn't look away.
Nicola noticed however, and took her chance to make things right. She loved Jackson, but not the way that most people thought she did. Actually, she'd been dating Ryan Murphy on the sly since the beginning of their senior year. Jackson knew and had agreed to keep it secret from their far too sensitive friend Brenna. Now was the time to change all that though. Pulling on Jackson's arm to get his attention, Nic motioned him away from the crowd where they could talk privately.
"She looks good tonight doesn't she?" Nic asked quietly.
Jackson startled, looking away and down at his former girlfriend and shaking his head. "She needs to put some clothes on," he grumbled, unable to stop himself from looking back over to where she was dancing.
"Don't be stupid Jackson. She looks good and you know it." Nic crossed her arms and gave him the eyebrow. "How long are you going to act like you two don't belong together? That you're 'just friends'?"
That shocked him. His mouth dropped open and he immediately began to shake his head no. "It isn't like that Nic and you know it. We're friends. Best friends. Her parents took me in when I needed a place and helped me find a real home. I love her, but not the way you're thinking."
"You know something that I've learned being around you for so long? You're cheek twitches when you're lying. And right now you're cheek is doing some serious dancing."
"Knock it off Nic, really. It isn't like that-" Nicola cut his words off with a harsh laugh that doubled her over. "What's so funny?"
"The two of you. Really. It's hilarious. You've been in love with Brenna forever and she's been in love with you since forever and both of you claim that the other doesn't feel the same way. It's really quite tragic."
"Are you drunk too?" Jackson asked caustically. "You've lost your mind, Brenna loves me as a friend, a brother even, but nothing more."
"You're both as blind as you are stubborn. Hell, even Brenna's Dad knows. So, why don't you take a chance and see if I'm right. If worse comes to worse you can pretend to be drunk and say it was all a mistake. No harm, no foul."
"Brenna's drunk. I won't take advantage of her while she's blitzed out of her normal straight-laced gourd."
"Excuses, excuses, excuses. Brenna's buzzed but far from drunk. She's had three beers in two hours." With a huff, Nic shook her head, getting frustrated with all the hard-headed people in her life. "Look, honestly, I'm getting real tired of playing pretend with you Jackson. I love you, but not like that. I want Ryan and tonight is my big night. I don't want to have to sneak around anymore. And I don't want Brenna to get her panties in a twist thinking she has to defend you to me. I want our breakup to be out in the open so I can make out with Ryan. 'K?"
"That doesn't mean I have to make a play for Brenna. Look, I'll break the news to her. You go on and be with Ryan. Just be careful. Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," she said, making the motions. "And Jackson? Just give it a shot. Just one. That's all I'm asking." She said the words over her shoulder, skipping happily away to where Ryan waited for her.
"Yeah, right." Jackson muttered. "Make a total fool out of myself. No problem." Sighing, he moved quickly across the field and looked towards his very sexy best friend dancing alone in the crowd.
Why couldn't she have worn one of her big t-shirts and jeans tonight? She looked too good for words. He hadn't seen her legs in years, since they used to go swimming at his old house. Back then they hadn't looked quite so long or so perfect. Her skin had always amazed him. So perfectly milk pale and soft. Tonight there was far too much of it on display. In fact, her entire body was far too much on display for his taste. Not that his body was complaining, just making his jeans feel tight in a certain spot. Still, he had to get this over with.
More than a little tipsy, Brenna jerked and almost fell when Jackson tapped her on the shoulder. She grabbed hold of him to keep from falling, her body pressing back into his for a long moment before she righted herself and moved away. She heard Jackson groan and automatically assumed she'd hurt him. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry Jackson!"
Jackson shook his head, "Stop apologizing, you didn't hurt me. I need to talk to you for a minute. Can we go somewhere quieter?"
Brenna knew that tone. Something had obviously happened between Jackson and Nicola- again. So much for her night of stress-free fun. "Sure. Uh, we could go sit over by the pond."
Nodding his head, Jackson waited while she pulled on her boots. As they walked he pondered the best way to break the news to her without upsetting her too much. She was so sensitive, too caring. It would probably break her heart to find out that they had been lying to her for so long. Oh, well, he could take the brunt of that. It was something he could do for Nic.
"So, what did she do this time?" Brenna asked as they neared the trees. She couldn't quite hide the frustrated tone of her voice, but she hoped he wouldn't notice.
"Nothing. I just need to tell you some stuff and well, maybe you should sit down."
"I don't want to sit down Jackson. Just tell me what's going on. You're starting to worry me."
Jackson watched her shove her hands into her pockets, swallowing hard at the way it pulled the skirt down enough for him to see the smooth skin of her belly. And the glint of something sparkly- a belly ring? No way, Brenna was too straight-laced for body piercing. Right? "Uh, I don't mean to worry you but I don't want you to get upset either." He shoved his hands down into his pockets too, subconsciously mirroring her movements. "Nic and I broke up at the beginning of the school year," he finally blurted out.
Brenna felt her head spin once, then twice. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. "What? What did you just say?"
"I'm sorry Brenna. Nic wanted to tell you but I convinced her that we shouldn't. I didn't want you to spend your senior year worried that you'd have to choose between us."
"Why would I have to choose between you? Are you two mad at each other? How the hell have you hidden this for so long? Why the hell did you hide this for so long?" She was yelling but it didn't matter. She was so mad she could spit bullets.
Jackson had never in his life heard Brenna curse. Hell was a pretty tame curse word but still, it was a first. He was so shocked that he didn't say anything for a long moment. "Nic and I were pretty sure that we weren't right for each other last year but we didn't know what to do about it. Then she met Ryan and we talked about how we felt and realized that we were more friends than a couple."
"So you two decided you weren't going to keep dating and then came to the harebrained idea to hide that from me? Why?" Brenna was so mad that she began to pace back and forth, long legs making angry jerky steps.
