Sliding (The Stone Series) (11 page)

I make varsity as a sophomore as
the starting point guard so the pressure is high. I have the best season of my
life though and we go undefeated. I am so nervous before the state championship
game that I spend most of the warm ups puking my guts out in the locker room. I
make myself suck it up and get out to the court knowing my father will notice
me not there during the warm ups and come looking for me. I’d rather face the
other team than my father on one of his rampages.

I play well; I steal the ball but
don’t get it stolen from me, not even once. I make my three point shots but get
some of my inside shots blocked by bigger players. I play great defense and the
coaches from the other team come up to me after the game and tell me that I’m a
great player. I’m glad my father is there to hear them until they make the
connection and realize who he is then the attention shifts to him and his days
of playing. I fucking hate when this happens and I wish my father would stop
the coaches and put the spotlight back on me. He had his time to shine and now
it’s mine but he doesn’t seem to notice when I walk away and head to the locker
room for a shower so I can head to the after party.

We party hard in the park across
from the high school with all kinds of alcohol and drugs. The stress of today’s
game is catching up to me and it finally gets the better of me. I start
drinking beer the minute I get there while I’m waiting for Brook to arrive. By
the time she does I am already on my way to drunk. She tries to get me to slow
down but fuck that, I’m not listening to what she tells me to do. Sometimes she
just doesn’t get the pressure I feel all the time. Right now all that pressure
has just floated away and I feel light and loose.

It feels good so I keep drinking
and when some of the kids start passing around some pot I can’t wait to take a
few hits. It makes me choke the first few times and it kind of burns in my
chest but I love the way it makes me feel…like I am floating and free.
 
I have no idea how long I keep up the
drinking and smoking but after a while I start to feel crazy, paranoid like
Brook is looking at one of the other boys, dressing like a slut, cheating on me
with some other guy.
 
I don’t know where
it all comes from but I can’t help it and I start yelling at her and accusing
her of doing all of it.

When I start to feel sick I grab
her and pull her into the woods. Thank God I get away from everyone before I
start puking. Brook is really sweet to me and she tries to make me feel better
by rubbing my back and for the first time I realize she’s too good for me and
she deserves better than a guy like me.

While I was puking in the woods
with Brook by my side Bobby was fucking Asia. He gives me all the details and
I’m envious of him. I wish it was Brook and I having sex instead of me puking
at her feet.

I take Brook into the woods again,
this time ready for some action. I start to kiss her and she complains about
the way I was acting when I was drunk and stoned. She says she doesn’t want me
getting like that again and I agree. I’ll agree to anything right now to get in
her pants. I pull her to me and we start making out. She tells me that she
doesn’t want to do it tonight. I don’t know what to do so I try my best to be
understanding. I figure it will happen sooner or later but if I pressure her
she’s just going to make me wait longer so I tell her we can do what we’ve been
doing or try something else, she agrees and I know I’ve made the right call.

************

Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Did I just have another wet dream? As
I wake up a little I sense that I may have had a little help. Tate is lying on
his side with that shit eating grin of his.

“What are you doing?” I ask him and without answering me he looks at me as
he puts his finger in his mouth and sucks on it while he moans.

“I’ve missed that taste; you are so sweet and salty.”

He puts his finger in my mouth while he kisses me and then he trails
kisses down my neck and onto my hard nipples.

“I still love these little pink nipples” he says as he takes one in his
mouth and nips it sending a chill down my spine. Tate continues kissing me
downward across my still flat belly, he dips his tongue into my belly button
and then he opens my thighs with his hands and I can tell the taste from his
fingers was not enough. The way he crazes me almost brings me over the edge
again. I know what he’s about to do and I’m powerless to stop him. I raise my
hips up to meet his mouth and his tongue finds my clit. He flicks it up and
down then swirls his tongue in a circle for an agonizing amount of time. He
then starts sucking on it, then he pulls on it with his lips but it’s when he
finally nips it with his teeth that the glorious feeling of building comes back
with vengeance.
 
As Tate slides his
tongue inside of me I explode and he moans loudly as he sucks my sweet cream, a
product of his masterful work.

Tate kisses me on the lips and pushes his tongue into my mouth so I can
taste myself, salty and sweet on his tongue. He has his hands on both sides of
my face and as he starts to sit up he brings me with him, keeping his hands on
my face and guiding my mouth onto him. I use my tongue to swirl around the tip
of his throbbing erection causing him to twitch and moan in ecstasy. Watching
Tate start to come apart under my touch is the best sight I have ever seen.

I continue the torture as I slide my tongue up and down his length on
each side one at a time. I cup him from underneath with my hand and he yells
out my name, “Fuck Brook. You are so fucking good at that. Suck me baby. Put it
all in your mouth.”

I hold his shaft with one hand keeping the other hand cupped around his
testicles. I put his penis in my mouth and I gum it making sure he doesn’t feel
my teeth…yet. I use my hand to stroke him up and down while I move my mouth in
the same motion swallowing so I can take him deeper with every movement.

“Ohh, yeah that’s it, deeper. Take it all” Tate begs.

I repeat the motion over and over again with my hand and mouth up and
down, up and down until I feel him swell even more and when my mouth gets back
up to the tip I nip it with my teeth and he releases himself down my throat as
he pulls my hair and yells my name, “Brooklynn, Aww yes, baby!”
  

Tate collapse next to me on the bed and he turns to look at me.

“What the hell was that?” I ask.

“You were having a dream and it seemed like you needed a little help” is
his defense. “I hope it was about me again. Was it?” He starts laughing, “Are
you complaining? Really?”

“No, but…oh, whatever.”

Tate grabs my hand.

“Come on; throw on your robe I want to show you something.”

We throw on our robes and Tate leads me out of the hut and I am witness
to the most beautiful sight, the California sunrise as a backdrop to my
beautiful husband. The colors assault my eyes. Everything for as far as I can
see is pink, blue and purple…it’s breathtaking. We sit on the beach with our
knees pulled up and Tate’s arms around me. He leans over, kisses me and says,
“I love you” into my ear.

Chapter 4: The Reestablishment

After the sunrise we collect our belongings from the hut and head back to
our suite to shower so we can go to breakfast and begin talking about our
future. We decide that seeing as how we are acting like the teenagers we once
were it would be best if we got ready separately so Tate gives me the shower
first while he makes some work calls. I hear him turn on the iPod and the
playlist picks up where it left off and while I shower I am transported back to
my cheer competition.

************

We did a routine to a mix that Tate made for us to “I Think We Are Alone
Now”, “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” and “Control”.
 
I was so nervous and having Tate and his
friends in the audience only made it worse. Over the last few months I have
been worried about him. He has broken his promise to me over and over; he’s
been drinking and doing drugs with his friends a lot lately. Jeff and David
have been hanging out again with him and Bobby, Eric has been hooking them up
with all sorts of things like beer, pot and more porn. Asia, Erica and Melissa
are sitting with Tate and the guys in the audience. When it’s our turn I hear
them yelling out my name before the music starts. I guess I block them out for
the rest of the routine because I don’t hear them again until the end where I’m
basket tossed into the air and I hear Tate’s voice yell, “Brook”.

By the time we are on the mats waiting for them to announce the winners
Tate is completely drunk as are all of his friends and the girls with them.
When they announce the third place then second place winners I am convinced
that we have not placed. When they announce that we won first place we all
start yelling and jumping up and down, I can’t believe we actually won. The
stands empty out and I am looking for Tate but before I see him I am approached
by a man and a woman from a cheer organization. They ask me if I would be
interested in traveling with them this summer teaching at cheer camps for young
cheerleaders. They tell me that many of the college’s send out their scouts to
the camps and that it would be great exposure for me. They give me their card
and ask me to have my parents call them. As I am saying, “thank you, I will.”
Tate comes up to me and lifts me into the air. “Call us,” they say and walk
away leaving me alone with my very drunk boyfriend. I have to help Tate, Asia
and the rest of them onto the bus. I can’t believe they are ruining this for
me. I get them situated in seats in the back as far away from the coaches as I
can and they either fall asleep or pass out so I go and sit with Wendy and
celebrate with the rest of my team.
 

Later that night Tate calls me and tells me that he had to beg his
parents to make this one last phone call. They knew he was drunk when they
picked him up from the bus and he’s grounded until further notice. I am so mad
at him that instead of offering him any sympathy I tell him, “Good because I am
not speaking to you anyway” and I slam down the phone. It took all the strength
I could muster to do this but it was time, I needed to stand up for myself.

Within an hour the countdown is almost ready to start and knowing that I
won’t have Tate to sleep with on the phone tonight makes me sad and I feel bad
that I hung up on him like I did. The DJ comes on and says, “We have a
dedication to Brooklyn. Brook, someone very special wants to tell you that they
love you and are so proud of you.” Michael Jackson’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”
comes on. For someone who is grounded and not allowed to use the phone Tate
sure has been very busy making phone calls.

I have the most sleepless night of my life that night and by the morning
I am just plain old mad again. I can’t believe that Tate got drunk and probably
high before my cheer competition. He knew I would be mad so he never said
anything to me on the bus ride there, Tate and the rest of our friends just
waited to be away from me to drink and do whatever else. I am so mad at all of
them I can scream. I spend the rest of the weekend alone locked in my room
listening to sad love songs while I cry my eyes out.
 

Katrina makes me so mad trying to find out what’s wrong that I actually
smack her. Of course this gets my mother involved which is the last thing I need.
I don’t know what to tell her is wrong so I lie and say, “Tate and I broke up”
to shut her up and get her out of my room. Well, big mouth Katrina overheard
this and went and called all of her friends to tell them.

By Monday at school word was around that Tate and I broke up. I am still
not speaking to him, his friends or Asia and my friends. When I see him in the
hallway I duck into a bathroom or a classroom to avoid him. By lunch the break
up rumor has reached Tate and unfortunately Steve, the senior who Tate replaced
for the State Championship game. Steve decides to use this against Tate to piss
him off; he’s been waiting for an opportunity like this. Steve has hated Tate
since the fall when he got hurt and Tate took his spot on the team. It wasn’t
Tate’s fault but Steve seems to be blaming him for it.

Steve comes up to me when he sees Tate close enough to hear and says, “So
are you ready now to be fucked by someone who can give it to you like a real
man?”

Tate goes completely ballistic. He has to be pulled off of Steve by the
teachers on duty.

Steve is yelling, “You’re a fucking dead man asshole”

Tate yells, “Fuck off pussy” right back at him.

Tate and Steve both get suspended and Tate gets benched from the baseball
team.

I feel terrible like this whole thing is my fault even though to be
honest its Tate’s for getting drunk and maybe stoned, for breaking the promise
he made to me. I know he must be in the office somewhere and I decide to try to
find him. When I get there I hear his father yelling at him through the
principal’s door and I decide against going in.

Later that night the phone rings and even though I know it can’t be Tate
I run to answer it. It’s Tate’s mother asking if she can please speak to one of
my parents. I ask her how Tate is and she just asks to talk to my parents again.

“Please tell him I am so sorry. This whole thing is my fault and I never
meant for it to happen like this. My stupid sister and her big mouth…”

Tate’s mom cuts me off, “Honey, please I need to speak with your mom or
dad. It’ll be fine; we’re going to straighten it all out.”

I get my mom on the phone but she takes the call in another room when she
realizes what’s going on so I can’t hear what she’s saying. When she hangs up
she tells me we need to talk and I run to the bathroom and throw up, my nerves
getting the best of me.

My mom picked me up and knew I was
loaded and when we got home she told my dad. He came into my room and grabbed
me off of my bed and slammed me up against the wall. He grabbed me by my throat
and told me if I didn’t get my fucking shit together I was going to blow all
the opportunities he has made for me. He said if I am hell bent on throwing my
future away maybe he should just help me end it all right then. I thought he
was going to beat the shit out of me but instead he just let me drop in a heap
on the floor crying.

My mother grounds me for the rest
of my life but after hours of me begging her she lets me call Brook to tell her
that I won’t be able to call her for a while. Instead of her being nice to me
and understanding that this sucks she’s mad at me too and hangs up on me. I
feel out of control and I don’t know what to do to gain that control back.

I sneak into the family room and
hide the phone under my shirt. I take it back to my room and call the radio
station. I know Brook will be listening to the countdown. I dedicate “I Just
Can’t Stop Loving You” and I have the DJ say that I love her and am so proud of
her.

By Monday at school word was around
that Brook was dumping me. I am out of my mind and don’t know what to do. I’m
sure it’s just over the being wasted at her cheer competition but a part of me
is worried that she’s found someone else.
 
When she sees me in the hallway I see her try to avoid me. By lunch I am
ready to blow and kill the first person who comes near me.

Steve decides to be that person. I
watch as he goes up to Brook and I hear him say, “So are you ready now to be
fucked by someone who can give it to you like a real man?”

I jump on the fucking douche bag
and start punching him in the face. He gets in a punch or two to my kidneys but
I do way more damage to him. I am so angry I just want to keep hitting him like
I do to my punching bag to make me feel better. Eventually someone pulls me off
of the fucking dickhead. I get suspended and benched from the baseball team. I
know this is going to really make my dad fucking nuts when he hears about it
and it makes me smile.

My father gets called and has to
come and get me. He pulls all his lawyer talk bullshit and acts like father of
the fucking year. As soon as we get in the car he lets loose.

“I can’t believe you are such a
stupid son of a bitch. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Don’t call mom a bitch. Or did you
mean you?”

“Don’t be fucking cute with me. I
can’t believe you are trying to self-destruct. I don’t get it. You are such a
spoiled brat, you get everything you want. You work for nothing, everything is
handed to you and this is the thanks I get for working my fucking ass off for
you. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Did you ever think that maybe I’m
trying to destroy myself because of all the fucking pressure you put on me to
be perfect, it’s just too much and I can’t take it anymore. Getting drunk and
high makes it all go away. It’s the only time I don’t feel like puking from the
stress. And I never asked you for anything. I didn’t ask to be spoiled. Stop
giving me stuff, don’t give me shit anymore. Just leave me the fuck alone and
I’ll be happy.”

I jump out of the car as he pulls
in the driveway and when I run into the house I am slapped across my face by my
mother who is holding my porn and condoms. Fuck!

My father sees what she’s holding
and he shoves me up against the wall. When I tell him that the porn is not mine
he shakes his head in disgust. He asks about the condoms and instead of making
up a story I admit their mine. He tells me I’m going to ruin my life.

I want to scream at him that having
sex with Brook would not be ruining my life but I know it’s a useless endeavor.
I finally decide to keep my mouth shut and head to my room.

************

Tate comes into the bedroom and asks me if I’m ready yet. He’s already
showered and ready but I am still putting on the finishing touches. He picks up
on the look my face holds and asks me what I’m daydreaming about.

“The first time our parent’s all met, remember?” I ask him.

“Don’t remind me. If I remember correctly when she opened the door and
asked your parents if they wanted coffee or tea my mother was holding some of
my porn she found when she searched my room in her hands.”

“I think she also had your condoms in her hand too, that went over really
big with my dad!”

************

After Tate’s father nearly killed him in the Principal’s office he took
him home to begin his week’s suspension. Tate was lucky that his father somehow
talked the Principal into not placing this infraction on his permanent record,
telling him it could hurt his chances of getting into one of the top ranked
sports programs for college. His father used some of his lawyer charm to smooth
things over, explaining that if Tate got into a division one school to play
basketball or football it would reflect very well on the sports program of our
high school. Tate’s dad may have been rational with the Principal but he was a
lunatic with Tate.

By the time we got to Tate’s that night Tate’s eyes were as puffy, red
and bloodshot as mine and this time I don’t think it’s from smoking pot. When I
see him I want to reach out and hug him but my father grabs my arm and won’t
let me go to him. We sit down in the living room, my dad and I on one couch
while Tate sits in a chair unable to make eye contact with me. Tate’s dad sits
on the other coach. Tate’s mom leads my mom, Katrina and Michael to the family
room in the basement so they’ll be out of ear shot of the conversation. When
they return my mom sits with my dad and I and Tate's mom joins her husband. I
feel like it’s all of us against Tate. I hate that he’s sitting alone in that
chair. I want to be cuddled up safe in his lap. I want to go to him to show him
I’m on his side; I’ll always be on his side.

Tate’s father interrupts my thoughts when he begins explaining how and why
Tate was suspended and asks me if what he said was accurate. I tell him yes and
no. I explain how Tate and I didn’t break up that it was all Katrina’s fault. It’s
the first time that night that Tate looks at me. I continue to explain that Take
got into a fight with Steve but that he’s a jerk and was being rude to me, Tate
was just protecting me.