From The Wreckage - Complete (2 page)

"Would you look at this place?” Katie buzzes, “Half the teenage population of Tyler is here tonight."

"Maybe we should start going someplace else?" Jules suggests; tapping out a text to her mom.

"Girl!" Tanya and Katie snap in sync, and Jules lifts her head.

"What?" She shrugs her shoulders and catches Tanya's glare in the rearview mirror.

"After game tradition, remember? Senior year…we can't quit now." 

Jules’ only reply is an over-exaggerated eye roll. Evidently Stuart’s attitude was catching.
Didn’t I just fuss at him thirty minutes ago for making the same statement?
The annoying realization hits her. Katie leans out of her window and waves at people like the Homecoming Queen she hopes to be crowned; her blonde bob blowing in the breeze and the over-sized cheer team bow sitting on top comparable to a crown. The girls survey the parking lot, taking in the many students from Hillsdale, all of whom are still dressed in their school colors from the game.

"Crap…the Shack is
hoppin
’."

Tanya taps her horn as three guys walk in front of her car's path, causing her to hit the brakes and all three girls to curse as they jerk to a sudden stop.

"Move, Tommy!" she shouts out the window; flashing her lights at them.

Jules mutters under her breath and reaches down to recover her cell from where it shot across the floorboard. 

"You've
got
to be kidding me," Tanya hisses angrily; her fiery Latin heritage starting to show itself.

Curious, Jules peeks between the seats and is greeted with a most comical sight. Standing there in the beam of Tanya’s headlights is Tommy Wilson, ever the showboat, dirty dancing. Tragically, his moves don’t time well with the techno-pop dance song currently blaring through Tanya's car speakers. He pulls his shirt up slowly, revealing some relatively nice abs, and waggles his brows as he calls out, "Hey baby!"

A quick check of Tanya reveals a volcano full of anger about to explode. Jules sinks down into her seat and tries to cover her laughter with a fist. Tommy certainly knows how to push Tanya's buttons, and right now he’s pushing away, perhaps against his own safety as she revs her engine. He flicks his tongue out, licking over his lips, and Katie joins Jules in her suppressed giggles. Tommy hams it up as appreciative whistles and comments are thrown at him from some of the guys watching the show.

When Ruben spreads his arms and joins Tommy's spotlight dance, Katie laughs harder. "They're such idiots," she gasps; watching the boys’ antics.

"You're not talking about me, I hope." A blond head pops into Katie's window and she jumps as Tanya lays on her horn.

All around the vehicle, shouts of laughter at Tommy and Ruben’s dance moves ring out, followed closely by curses for them to move streaming from Tanya's mouth.

The blond whose head has now popped through the window is Jeff, a.k.a. 'the DB', and Katie's on-and-off-again boyfriend. His dimples sink into his cheeks as he peers around Katie, saying hi to Jules with a manly head nod.

"’Sup, Jules. Where's Stu?" Before she can reply, he shouts at Tanya, "Knock off the horn, Ya-ya!"

Tanya earned the nickname ‘Ya-ya’ back in middle school when she accidentally flashed half the football team at a pool party. She dived into the pool and came up with her top around her middle. The boys, mostly immature seventh graders, came up with Ya-ya because they didn't want to get in trouble by calling her ‘Ta-ta’. It took the girls a month to figure out what Ya-ya stood for, and by then the name stuck. Tanya never minded much. She was proud of her 'Ta-ta's’; both back then and more so now. She likes knowing the guys remember them.

With a disgusted groan, Jeff pops his head out of the window and shouts at the guys. "Dude! Move out of the way, T! Ruben!" Once he finishes, he ducks his head back in and fixes his gaze on Jules. "So, where's Stu?"

"Coach held him back for a meeting. He should be here soon."  

Tommy and Ruben finally saunter out of the middle of the parking lot, accompanied by applause and cheering, and Tanya turns her ire on the boy hanging in the window. "Hey Jeff, you wanna get out of my car so I can park now?" 

"Nope!" He leans in further and Jules moves to the right; looking out of her window to see his feet come off the ground. 

"Hold me tight, baby," he orders Katie as Tanya rolls forward.

"Geez, Jeffrey!" Katie gasps; wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he teeters on the door half-in and half-out of the car.

Luckily for him, Tanya pulls into a parking spot straight ahead with nothing on the passenger side; otherwise he might have lost a leg.

"You're an idiot," Katie mumbles loudly enough for Jules to hear before her mouth becomes occupied with his.

With a groan, Tanya pulls her keys from the car, hops out and walks towards Tommy with purpose. Jules' eyes follow her as she walks up to Tommy and punches him in the arm. A scowl crosses Tanya's face as she exchanges heated banter with Tommy. His face, however is the complete opposite of hers, and he keeps trying to grab Tanya's hand. Jules laughs when her best friend hits him again. 

The very unpleasant suck and smack from the front seat reminds her of the extracurricular activities going on, and she hurries to exit the vehicle. As she closes the door, her phone vibrates to indicate a text. She swipes the screen, expecting to see a message from Stuart.

Mom: Be careful and see you in the morning. What's your curfew?

Jules: Midnight, geez mom, i'm never late u know that <3

Mom: I know, just checking ;)

Jules: You know i'm a senior now i should get a later curfew, prepare for college

Mom: Nothing good happens after midnight, Jules. Plus you're not going to college remember, you're going to stay home and be my baby forever

Jules: Not on your life! But i love you too

She replies to her mom’s text and hits ‘Send’ with a smile as she heads towards a group of friends a few spots down the parking lot. Sticking her phone into the waistband of her short cheerleading skirt, she exchanges pleasantries with various students she knows before stopping to talk with a few friends sitting on the tailgate of Ruben's truck.

"Where's Stuart?" asks Candy Crenshaw; her curly brown hair flying around her face in the light breeze.

"On his way," she replies with a shrug. This is the typical hello she receives nowadays. Anywhere she goes, it’s, 'Where's Stuart?' It’s aggravating to be Stuart Daniels’ girlfriend. She supposes it’s harder being Stuart. After all, in the state of Texas where the only things bigger than high school football are beef and God, being an All-American QB on his way to a second division-one state title makes you a celebrity. 

Jules yelps as strong arms wrap around her body; locking her arms to her sides as the big body behind her lifts her feet off the ground. She takes in the thick, dark brown arms squeezing the life out of her and howls, "Let me down, Ruben!"

"Shoot, girl! How'd you know it was me?"

"Dude, I can smell you. Didn't you hit the showers after the game?" 

"Damn, baby. Why you gotta be so cold?" he whines; setting her down and spanking her rear as he asks the million dollar question of the night. "Where's Stu?"

She spins around with a frown, but can’t dig up the energy to yell at him. He’s a three-hundred pound teddy bear with a heart of gold, so instead she repeats the generic, "He'll be here soon,” again and leans against the tailgate next to Candy's swinging legs.

Tanya, with Tommy following closely behind her, finally joins them ten minutes later as Jules and Candy are discussing the opposing team’s cheerleaders.

"How do you play nice with them, Jules? That redheaded chick resembled a raccoon with all her sloppy eyeliner. I could see it all the way from the stands…"

Candy keeps chirping away as Jules takes in Tanya and Tommy's entwined hands.
'T & T'
, she chuckles to herself. 

"This humidity is downright miserable," complains Candy as she keeps talking and talking, and Jules feels her brain turning to mush. She switches her attention to Ruben and a few of the other football players the first chance she can, preferring to listen to anything they are saying, compared to the whiny, high-pitched tone of 'Randy Candy'. The guys are engrossed in recapping their individual highlights from the game tonight, and she eavesdrops.

"That holding call on Marco was bunk, man. You kidding me? But when number eighty-eight blasted D-man with that late hit? Nothing!" Grunts of agreement go out. 

And so the conversations continue; on one side of her the girls’ gossip, and on the other the boys compare game notes. That’s until the deep bass of a rap song vibrates through the air and everyone swivels to see a black sports car turn into the parking lot, followed by a white pick-up truck. Tanya curses when she spots the car and knocks her shoulder into Jules.

"Rossview players," she whispers, and Jules peers at the cars; wondering how she knows who it is. She turns a raised brow to Tanya, looking for an explanation. 

"That's Carter's car." 

"Carter?" she mumbles thoughtfully and then, "Oh! Carter." 

Carter was a summer fling of Tanya's who she kept pretty secret. They met back in June and had two hot and heavy weeks before BAM! they were done. Just like that. Tanya didn’t mention him until cheer camp a few weeks ago, much to Katie and Jules’ surprise, since they typically share everything.

The two cars roll through the lot slowly until they pull up to where Jules and her friends are hanging out. All around the Ice Shack, people stare and conversations stop as the Hillsdale players realize who the occupants of the vehicles are.

"Hey Ruben," the passenger in Carter's car calls out, and all eyes go to the teddy bear as the person in the car waves him over.

"What? We played Rec together, don't get all excited." 

"Hey, losers — go back to your own town," someone in the crowd heckles, and the three guys sitting in the back of the truck behind Carter's car stand with their chests puffed out.

Acutely aware of the fight coming on, Jules decides to remove herself from the over-hyped crowd.

Making her way to the Shack, she is about to approach the window and order a cone before she remembers she left her bag and money in Stuart's car back at the school. Frustrated with how long he is taking, she stomps her way to the picnic table sitting to the side of the Shack, pulls out her phone and throws herself down on the bench.

Jules: Where are you?

She stares at her screen, expecting a quick reply. It is almost eleven o'clock. Too late for them to have time to go back to his place now, unless she wants to break curfew. She's done it before, but hates to start the school year off in trouble if she gets caught. With a sigh, Jules crosses her legs and flicks her long hair over one shoulder; absently twisting a piece around her finger as she looks across the lot. The Rossview students’ cars are now surrounded by her friends. Ruben is hunched over, talking to the passenger in the sports car, and Tommy — with Tanya in tow — is laughing at the driver, Carter. 

"Poor Tanya, that can't be comfortable," she mutters out loud.

"You always talk to yourself, cheerleader?" 

Startled by the voice behind her, Jules checks over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Sitting there, alone in the dark, is West Rutledge; his dark shirt and hair blending in with the shadowed surroundings as he gives her the once-over.

"You're excused, Buffy," he drawls; tipping his head to the side.

Jules fights the urge to laugh at his comment. She's barely spoken to West since middle school. Once upon a time they were friends, but then the hormones hit, cliques formed and West quit football. A Rutledge boy who doesn’t play football is a rare commodity in Tyler, Texas. His father and two older brothers are all former Hillsdale players, and the middle son is currently a sophomore star at A&M. 

"Does that make you Spike? Sitting here brooding in the dark with your flask?" she inquires; raising her brows with a nod to indicate the small flask he holds.

A sly grin slips across his lips and Jules can’t help but fixate on them as West takes a long sip from the flask. He is sitting on the opposite side from her, on top of the table, with his heavy boots on the seat. Clearly he'd been facing out away from the parking lot when she first walked up, because while she noticed someone's presence, she didn't notice it was him when she first sat down. His body is now angled towards hers, with his arms resting on his knees and the flask dangling from his fingertips.

With a small shake of her head to remove the pleasant vision of his lips from her brain, she forces herself to look away and stands as she finally spots Katie and Jeff in the crowd. She can barely make out Jeff's raised voice over the crowd, and notices how he is between Tommy and Carter with a hand on both of their chests. A few steps behind him stands Katie; her hands fisted on her hips, looking pissed. Deciding to rescue both of her best friends from another Friday night fight scene, she begins to take a step forward when West speaks up again.

"I think I could live with you calling me Spike."