Chapter 3 - Fast Forward
Cali
"After that day I made him breakfast, him leaving for hours then coming back, things mellowed out. I don't know where he went or what he did but whatever it was, I had my friend back. We spent the rest of the summer at the beach, me, Chris, Jake and a bunch of randoms who Jake seemed to keep around. Sometimes Kyle and his Girlfriend would join us. They had been dating for about two years and she had started coming up every weekend, sometimes staying into the week. She was cool and there was talk about her moving here and getting an apartment with Kyle but it never happened. We all were pretty much content with our lives but I watched Jake and something felt off with him. His smile wasn't quite as full as when I'd first met him, like he had something weighing on him. That was when he met Anna, who was cool and gorgeous and they dated the entire next year, longest relationship he'd ever had. Then something happened, like it always does, and they ended it. I never asked him why but as he returned to his old self, our friendship kept growing. There was no more of us coming close to fucking. We just fell into a comfortable place with each other"
Jake
"Graduation should have been the happiest time of my life but it wasn't. Cali, Kyle, and Shawn were the only people that kept me sane. Anna helped me take my sights off Cali by turning them on her. We fucked all the time and it seemed like we were perfect for each other, til we weren't anymore. We broke up, she dumped me, and it had never happened to me before. I was lost for a while but me and Cali kept hanging out. We talked about almost everything and I found something I'd never had with any female. I had never thought about the feelings of a relationship until Anna. She showed me that even sex was better with emotions. Then Cali showed me that those emotions brought happiness, even without sex and relationships. Cali was like my emotional fluffer, there when I needed to open up to someone I could trust, then I found girls that I didn't really care about that just wanted to get off without getting attached. It was the perfect set-up."
Cali
"Jake is a cynic. He came up with this plan and I would be his emotional fluffer. Which was something that benefitted me too because I had broken up with Chris during my Junior year and hadn't started seeing anyone else. It really was a good plan, but there was something out of place with it because all the girls he used for sex kept getting attached. The plan looked like it fell through on his end, so by my graduation party, Jake hadn't had sex in almost three months."
Cali looked in the mirror, angry because her milky white skin hadn't seen the sun or a tanning salon in weeks and she looked almost translucent. She liked showing skin and she needed to look epic at her graduation party because Chris and some frat boys were coming. She had seen Chris twice since their break-up, both times he had a leggy blonde with him while she walked alone. She got action, not enough to be a whore but enough to keep her from going crazy.
Cali liked sex, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with that. She sighed a flimsy resolve as she pulled up a black and red, plaid mini skirt and a tight vest that covered her belly button but left the sides of her soft waist exposed. She threw her hair up into a high ponytail and slid on her red stiletto pumps.
Before waking out her door she checked herself in the mirror. Tonight would be memorable if it was the last thing she did.
The music in the club was loud, a perfect venue thanks to dear old dad. The place was packed when she walked in and she was sure most of the people were crashers, but it was irrelevant. There were two stages, one with the Dj and some space to dance, and the other across the room from the first with three stripper poles. The bar in the very center of the dance floor was wide enough to serve drinks and dance on. She walked up to the Dj and grabbed the mic.
The music stopped abruptly. "I want to thank everyone for coming tonight!" the crowd clapped and whistled. "I need for Kyle Hammond and Kayla Spalding, Jake James, Shawn Key and Asia Keller to take the stage." The bodies shifted letting then pass from the VIP area to the stage. "These guys are the only reason I've made it this far. They kept me sane through all the bull that I had to go through and I need y'all to show them some love!" The crowd roared as Cali hugged her friends and the music started playing again.
They walked back into the sea of people and she felt familiar hands on her hip. He leaned in to talk into her ear.
"You gonna dance with me?" Jake asked pulling her backwards to press himself against her.
"We don't want a repeat of last time." She said, and immediately prayed he didn't hear it.
"Last time?" he asked. Cali's stomach did flips and her breath caught. Her brain had completely stopped working. "What do you mean?"
She was trying to make her mouth formulate words when Chris, the leggy blonde, and their posse walked up to them. "Hey"
Cali pressed her ass backwards onto Jake, dancing to the music.
"Hey guys." she said to the group.
"Great party." said the blonde. Cali couldn't think of her name. "Congrats"
"Thanks. I'm really happy with the turn-out."
"Is this your boyfriend?" One hand extended toward Jake while she laced her fingers of the other hand with Chris'. Before Cali could form her sentences in her head Jake wrapped an arm around her waist and reached out a hand to the blonde.
"I'm Jake."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cynthia."
"You too." He spoke to Chris. "Good to see you again. Craig right?"
"Chris."
"Oh right. Well it's great to see you again. Glad you guys could make it out." Jake planted a kiss on Cali's neck just below her ear. "You owe me." He whispered. She smiled and nodded. "You ladies look like you could use a drink."
