Vanessa pulled up in the driveway, arriving at Carmen's house a little after 6 o' clock. Only the porch light was on as she stood at the front door. The sound of the lock and door swung open as Carmen's mom stood smiling, waving Vanessa to come in, as she held a phone pressed tightly to her ear. Vanessa walked into the middle of the living room. Carmen's mom smiled again, walking away from her, as she headed off into the kitchen.
Carmen's feet were heard, making contact with the wooden steps that lead down into the living room. "Hey, it sure took ya long enough." Carmen laughed, teasing her about being late.
"Yea, my mom was distracting me. I tried to leave earlier but, you know how my mom is. She always wants to know what's going on." Vanessa said, giving her the typical answer.
"What did you tell her?" Carmen wondered.
"I told her we were going to do something fun to celebrate my birthday." Vanessa answered with a smile.
"Well, you're right!" Carmen said, turning to grab her leather jacket.
"Yea? Do I get to know what that is now or later?" Vanessa asked, pushing for answers.
"Well, it's nothing to crazy but, it will be fun." Carmen paused, "I have your present but, I can't give it to you here. My mom will shit kittens!" Carmen laughed, rolling her eyes.
"So... where are we going?" Vanessa asked, waiting for her to put her jacket on, as she noticed that one of her pockets hung low and heavy to one side.
Carmen reached in, grabbing from the inside of her pocket. "We are going to get drunk for one thing!" she pulled a bottle of Malibu Rum out, just far enough so Vanessa could see the label. Carmen giggled, whispering as quiet as she could, praying her mother couldn't hear her.
"You're crazy Carmen! I've never been drunk before. How would I know if it's fun?" Vanessa laughed a little too loud, as Carmen's mother walked in, finally off the phone.
"You guys getting ready to leave?" her mom questioned, studying the two of them closely.
"Yea mom, we don't want to be late for our movie." Carmen said, winking at Vanessa as she turned her head.
"You girl's stay out of trouble, you hear." that firm motherly voice, sounding so familiar. Carmen smiled as she always did, "You worry to much mom." as Carmen kissed her on the cheek. She grabbed the gift wrapped package and put it between her arm and the bottle that she tried so hard to hide from her mother.
Vanessa shut the heavy door to Carmen's Monte Carlo, staring out the wind shield looking back at Carmen's mom. She stood in the kitchen window waving, waiting for Carmen to give her that last wave goodbye. Her mom would be fast asleep by the time they got back, Vanessa was sure of it.
"You'd better wave, I think she's waiting for you to notice her." Vanessa said, tapping Carmen on the shoulder. With a quick wave, Carmen laughed and then started the car.
They drove for awhile, talking about school, parties and the latest buzz around campus.
"I saw Dan again on campus today." Carmen suddenly spoke, tapping Vanessa on the leg, "He was hittin' on me big time." she said, grinning from ear to ear. "He's so good at playing the game." Carmen bit at her lower lip just enjoying the attention.
"You're playing with fire, Carmen. If you don't want to sleep with him, then why do you toy with him?" Vanessa said, beginning to wonder what he looked like, since she hadn't ever seen him.
Carmen described how tall he was, perfectly lean but, not overly buff. Just your typical guy or all American, she called it. Carmen said his eyes trapped yours when you looked at him and that his voice was the icing on the cake. Which is one of the reasons, toying with him was so much fun. Carmen just loved his quick flirty comebacks and reactions. They were always trying to one-up each other. She told Vanessa how Dan came up with interesting ways to get her attention but, Carmen just wouldn't budge and go out with him.
"Nah, I know exactly what will happen. As soon as he's got me into bed, the games will end and then there would be no more fun." Carmen said, tapping the steering wheel with her finger tips.
"Don't be too sure of yourself. Maybe he can see that wild streak in you and that's why he's not giving up." Vanessa laughed, because she'd seen that streak in her clearly, sometimes being so transparent with her body language.
Carmen was bold, daring and tried anything once. She had a fire that Vanessa wanted to capture but, was shy. Vanessa wasn't sure that she could ever bring herself to do the things she wanted to experience. She saw Carmen as her ticket to get there.
"Maybe you and I should attack him together." Carmen turned briefly catching Vanessa's reaction. "He wouldn't see that coming!" Carmen laughed hard at that, looking back at the road.
"You're out of my league Carmen!" Vanessa felt her stomach tighten at the idea as she watched Carmen go off into that secret place, somewhere inside herself. Carmen's eye's burned while watching the road as a small hiss came from her breath, enjoying the idea's that she spoke of.
"You aren't seriously entertaining the idea? Are you?" Vanessa studied her face. Without even a flinch, Carmen smiled back at her without a word.
"You arrrre serious!" Vanessa gasped, her mouth dropped open, as she sudden felt a burst of adrenaline.
"I haven't even had anal sex yet! And not only do you want me to jump in bed with my best friend but, with another man in it too!" Vanessa felt her heart racing, thinking of all the possibilities. Too many to wrap her head around, she suddenly became quiet.
"Okay, I've officially just freaked you out." Carmen smiled, studying look in Vanessa's eyes, watching her mind get lost in thought. Her cheeks became flushed pink in color, almost looking as though she had a sun burn.
"Wouldn't you rather it be with someone you trust?" Carmen said, testing her.
"Well yeahhh. That would probably be a good idea." Vanessa said, humoring her.
Pulling into the parking lot, they looked up at the billboard and found the times for the movies.
"Gimmie that bottle, I need a drink!" Vanessa said, her face once red, now turning pale.
They pulled into a parking spot and Vanessa leaned forward yanking the bottle from her jacket, after Carmen un-clipped her seat belt. Unscrewing the cap off, she took three big swallows and then dropped her mouth open, making a horrible face.
"Ooooohhh!!" Vanessa coughed, putting her hand up to her lips, feeling it warm her all the way down to the pit of her stomach.
"Easy!! Jezz, you'll be drunk before the movie is over!" Carmen laughed, as Vanessa tried to collect herself.
Carmen reached in the backseat and grabbed the package, tossing it into Vanessa's lap. "Come on, open it." Carmen turned off the car, throwing the keys into her purse.
Vanessa pulled the bow on the small box. Breaking the tape on the side with her finger nails, slowly, she uncovered the tissue paper that concealed the waiting surprise. Carmen sat restless in the seat next to her, almost wishing as though it were her gift instead.
What lay folded was pink ribbons as she began to lift it out of the box, more material following it. "Oh my!" Vanessa said, as pink lace and smooth satin material shimmered against the light that came down into the car window. Vanessa found a small slit through the middle of the material as she turned and look at Carmen oddly.
