The House that I Grew up In

When Christy awoke the next morning, she found that she felt much better than she had in weeks. Despite Laura’s drunken breakdown the night before, she actually felt like things were settling themselves. Of course, she felt bad that her friend had thrown herself at someone who just used her and ditched her, but Laura was constantly putting herself in those situations. And she felt bad that Annabelle had had to be on the receiving end of the craziness, but her friend really did seem fine the night before.

The truth was, Christy felt more relaxed because of the freak-out. She was pretty sure that even someone as arrogant as The Wiz would try to steer clear of Laura – and all of Laura’s friends – for a while, at least until the girl got past sleeping with him. Which meant Christy wouldn’t have to worry about him being around – and causing her to involuntarily act like a lunatic; she wouldn’t have to worry about him being around – and hitting on – Annabelle; and she wouldn’t have to worry about him being around – and saying something to – Josh.

Taking a quick shower, Christy put on a sundress and did her hair and makeup carefully. She noticed that she looked better than she had in a while, as well, probably due to the fact that she’d slept well the night before. Skipping down the steps, she found Annabelle sitting outside eating breakfast with Quinn.

“Good morning, lovebirds,” Christy sang as she joined them at the large hardwood patio table, after pouring herself a glass of orange juice. “What have you guys got planned for today?”

Crinkling his eyebrows in confusion about Christy’s friendly demeanor, Quinn leaned over towards Annabelle and mock-whispered, “What’s she on?”

Rolling her eyes, Christy continued to grin. “Nothing, loser,” she told Quinn, but giggled in a way that let him know she was teasing. “Sometimes people are just in a good mood.”

“And I’m glad you are in a good mood,” Annabelle told Christy sincerely, swatting Quinn’s hand in reprimand jokingly. “After last night with Laura, I wasn’t sure you would be.”

Leaning back in her chair, Christy gave a guilty look at Annabelle. “I am sorry she was acting like that towards you,” she told her friend. “Laura has this tendency to get wasted, have random sex, and start fights. It’s all a fairly common occurrence; I’m just sorry she laid into you like that for no reason. I’m going to yell at her for that today.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Annabelle smiled at Christy. “It’s not a big deal. Everything worked out fine.”
“Almost everything,” Quinn interjected, looking decidedly less content than the two girls he was sitting with. “Christy, can you tell me a little more about this guy that was hitting on Annabelle? The Wizard or something?”

Feeling her stomach turn a little, Christy took a moment to compose herself. “There’s nothing to be jealous of,” she tried to make her voice sound teasing, but realized it was coming out as strained despite this. “He’s totally not Annabelle’s type. Just a jerk who graduated… well, I guess it was the year before you started at our school. And apparently, he has nothing better to do this summer than hang out with high school kids. Although, after the way Laura acted last night, I doubt he’ll be hanging out with any of us anytime soon.” With that last statement, Christy grabbed a piece of the toast off Quinn’s plate and took a big bite before giving the couple across from her a genuine grin.

Shaking his head but not commenting on the toast, Quinn smiled a little at Christy. “Well, good,” he replied, a bit amazed at how civilly he and Christy could get along now, at least with Annabelle around. “I don’t like the idea some big dumb oaf hitting on Annabelle, especially if I’m not around.”

“Don’t worry,” Annabelle squeezed Quinn’s hand and gave him a grin. “You’re the only big dumb oaf for me,” her eyes sparkled as she teased him, and she started laughing when he failed at trying to give her a disapproving frown.

“You too are almost sickeningly cute,” Christy said, rising from the table. “Which reminds me that I want to call my own boyfriend before the team’s tryouts start this morning. You kids have fun today! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Don’t!” Annabelle gave Quinn a dirty look as he went to open his mouth in response to Christy’s last statement. “Do not say anything, mister.”

Breaking into a wide grin, Quinn wrapped his arm around Annabelle’s shoulder. “Ok, I guess that one would have been too easy anyway.” He brushed a loose hair from her face and leaned forward to brush his lips against hers softly. “So what are we doing today? And if you’re looking for input, I have to be honest and tell you that I wouldn’t get bored to doing what we were doing last night, if that’s what you’re in the mood for.”

Rolling her eyes, Annabelle couldn’t help but grin at Quinn’s own dancing green eyes. “I thought we might try to do something outside today-” she began.

“We can do that outside,” Quinn interrupted, a wolfish smile still on his face. “That can actually make it much more interesting. Out in nature, the possibility of being discovered…”

“Quit it,” Annabelle finally burst into laughter at Quinn’s flirty suggestive talk and slapped his arm. “I’m serious. I was looking forward to spending the day with you, especially after what happened at Laura’s house last night. I am so ready to not hang out with those people for a while – Josh and Christy excluded, of course.”

“Of course,” it was Quinn’s turn to roll his eyes. Despite the fact that he and Christy were definitely getting along better, Quinn was still having a hard time finding Josh to be anything but a stereotypical egotistical dumb jock. Of course, he hadn’t spent any real time around the guy, but still…

“Whatever you want to do today,” Quinn’s voice turned low and genuine. “I’m up for. As long as I get to spend time with you, I’m happy.”

Kissing Quinn but saying nothing, Annabelle smiled to herself. Who would have guessed that getting unfairly screamed at by a drunken party girl the night before would have the effect of putting Christy in a good mood and having Quinn and Christy getting along better, all of which put Annabelle in a great mood? Sometimes a silver lining came out in the strangest of place.

The rest of the week went by in a blur for Annabelle – a fun, wonderful blur. She and Quinn had spent Wednesday in Manhattan, doing all sorts of touristy things. They wandered around the Met for hours, got hot dogs and pretzels from a street vendor for lunch and walked through Central Park, and capped off the day with a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. Thursday afternoon was spent with Forest and Katy at a miniature golf course – Katy was a closet fanatic – and then they all went out to eat that night. Friday, they decided to take it spend the day at the beach.

By the time they got home on Friday evening, Quinn and Annabelle were both exhausted from their week. They took the lazy way out and split a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese for dinner, and then wandered up to Quinn’s room to “relax”.

Immediately, they lay down on the bed. Quinn and Annabelle kissed softly for a long time, just enjoying each other’s touches. But Annabelle could tell something was bothering Quinn, and had been since that morning.
“What’s going on with you?” she asked gently, pulling her mouth from his but not breaking eye contact. “Something’s bothering you today. Do you want to talk about it?”

Quinn had tried to hide his bad mood all day, but wasn’t surprised Annabelle had figured him out. She was completely empathetic to those around her, and she seemed to read Quinn even more than she did with others. “It’s my dad,” he rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his arm. “He called last night, while we were out at dinner.”

There wasn’t an awful lot that Quinn had told Annabelle about his father, but she did know a little. She knew that he had left his wife for a much-younger pregnant mistress, and had basically turned his back on Quinn at the same time. She knew he had to be court-ordered to pay child support for years, despite the fact that he was rich. She also knew that, after the motorcycle accident, he had tried to reach out to Quinn and been spurned. Karen had told Annabelle that part.

It seemed that, after Quinn’s best friend died, Dr. Peregoy had a sudden realization of the fact that he had no relationship whatsoever with his oldest child. He had apologized to Karen about how he had treated her, and he tried to get Quinn to become involved in his new family (his second wife had had two children by then). But while Karen accepted the apology, Quinn had no interest in knowing his father or his step-family.

“My dad wants me to come out to see his family tomorrow night,” Quinn finally continued explaining. “And I’m thinking about doing it.”

Although this completely surprised Annabelle, she tried not to let the shock on her face show. “I think that’s terrific,” she said supportively, leaning over and placing her head on Quinn’s chest. “What made you decide to do that? I mean, you’ve never been there to see them before, have you?”

Running his hand over Annabelle’s back, Quinn kissed the top of her head. “No, I haven’t. I don’t even usually answer the phone when he calls,” he admitted. “But I didn’t check the caller ID before I answered last night. And when my dad first mentioned it, I thought that there was no way I’d go. Then he told me that my little brother had fallen off the monkey bars at the playground and had ended up with a concussion. It made me realize – I have a brother. I have a four year old brother that I’ve never even met. What kind of asshole move is that on my part? None of what happened is his fault, but I treat him and my sister – she’d two – worse than my dad ever treated me. It’s messed up.”

Annabelle’s eyes filled with proud tears as she listened to the emotion in Quinn’s voice. “Well, they are really young,” her voice was supportive. “You have plenty of time to get to know them…”

“I knew you’d understand,” Quinn squeezed Annabelle in his arms. “You don’t mind if I go there tomorrow night, then?”

Leaning up, Annabelle looked Quinn straight in the eyes. “I insist you go,” she told him. “I think it’s wonderful.”

Running a finger over Annabelle’s face, Quinn traced the curves and dips before replying. “It’s all because of you, I think,” he said softly. “I think that knowing you, seeing how great you are with people and also falling in love with you… I think you’re actually turning me into a better person.”

Eyes shining, Annabelle moved up a bit so her body was blanketing Quinn’s. “Thank you for saying all of that,” she told him. “But I didn’t do it. You just needed to open up your heart. And I’m so glad you are willing to try.”

Gently turning their bodies over, Quinn kissed Annabelle deeply before replying. “Well, then, thank you for helping me open up my heart. Now can you help me open up your jeans?”

Surprised, Annabelle burst into giggles but pulled Quinn to her. The idea of being with him right now, when he was happy and relaxed, sounded wonderful. As they began getting lost in each other, Annabelle could hardly believe how amazing the week had turned out to be.


“I really don’t want to go,” Annabelle told Christy with conviction the following night.

“Come on,” Christy begged, her blue eyes wide. “You said Quinn is at his dad’s tonight. Laura won’t be at the party. Just come for a little while, and if you’re having a bad time, you can take my car home and Josh’ll drive me back. Please?”

“Why do you want me to go so badly?” Annabelle asked her friend, trying to not sound too unhappy about the idea of going until she knew Christy’s reasoning. Annabelle had really been looking forward to a quiet night at home tonight, and another of Christy’s friends’ parties was actually the LAST thing she would have wanted to do that night.

Biting her lip, Christy wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth was, the two people she enjoyed spending time with the most in the world were Josh and Annabelle. But she knew that there was another reason; without Laura going to the party, there was a good shot that The Wiz would be there. And, for Christy, Annabelle offered a safe, comfortable support in the middle of a painfully uncomfortable situation. “I just want to spend some time with my best friend,” Christy finally replied, trying to turn on a little guilt. “You know, you haven’t been home once all week…”

Letting out a sigh, Annabelle felt defeated. Christy was right, Annabelle had been gone with Quinn all week. She and Christy hadn’t spent any time together. And since Quinn was away that night… “Ok,” Annabelle said. “But I’m holding you to the promise of taking your car if I’m having a bad time, ok?”

“Of course!” Christy squealed and threw her arms around Annabelle. “I promise. And thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

With that, Christy sped up the stairs to get changed for the party. Annabelle, in turn, sat on the couch and looked longingly at the book she had wanted to read that evening. “Well, if it makes Christy happy,” she said to herself. “That’s what friends do – they’re there for each other.”

As promised by Christy, Laura was not at the party. However, that did not mean that anyone else at the party was going to pleasant to Annabelle. Although she wasn’t having a bad time at first, talking to Christy and Josh about how tryouts had gone that week, things quickly turned sour.

First, Annabelle noticed that The Wiz was not only at the party, but that he had found a spot to stand directly across the room from her, and was now just staring and smirking. That wasn’t that big a deal, but Sasha must have noticed as well, as she shoved by Annabelle and called her a ‘slut’ under her breath. “I guess Sasha’s just acting as Laura’s best friend,” Annabelle rolled her eyes at Josh and Christy.

“I’m sorry,” Christy had drank a few beers already and was feeling rather guilty suddenly for dragging Annabelle to a party she obviously didn’t want to be at, all for Christy’s selfish reasons. And now, the poor girl was even being called names. “Listen, if you want to go, you can go. I shouldn’t have dragged you here.”

Annabelle could see that Christy was being sincere in her apology and smiled. “It’s ok,” she said honestly in reply. After all, she had only wasted about 45 minutes of her evening. If she left now, she could slip into her pajamas and relax with her book for the rest of the night. “But I think I will take you up on the offer to leave. Do you have your keys?”

“I think she left them in the kitchen,” Josh volunteered. “Sorry to see you leave, Annabelle.”

Giving the large boy a warm smile, Annabelle nodded. “It was good to see you, Josh,” she told him. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon.” Looking over, she wrapped her arms around Christine in a quick hug. “And I’ll see you tomorrow morning, ok?” She waved once more and headed into the kitchen to get the keys.

“Don’t tell me you’re leaving already,” a smooth voice came from behind Annabelle as she spotted Christy’s keys on the counter and stuffed them into her pocket. “I haven’t gotten to talk to you at all tonight.”

Letting out a subdued sigh, Annabelle turned around to face The Wiz. “I’m not having a good time,” she told him honestly. “But Christy is, so I just want to head out and leave her here with Josh. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“Can’t you stay for a few minutes?” The Wiz gave Annabelle a lazy smile as his eyes searched over her. “The last time I saw you, Lauren was having a freak out. We didn’t even get a chance to talk.”

“Laura,” Annabelle rolled her eyes as she corrected The Wiz on the name of the girl he had slept with last week. While she tried not to judge people, it was hard to not have a negative opinion of a person that could obviously use people once and throw them away like garbage. “Her name is Laura, not Lauren.”

Shrugging, The Wiz obviously didn’t care what Laura’s name was. “Just stay for one drink,” he asked, giving Annabelle another grin that she was sure he thought was melting her. It wasn’t working.

Raising her eyebrows, Annabelle just shook her head. “I don’t drink,” she reminded him.

“I remember,” The Wiz replied. “I meant a soda. Let me get you one, and we’ll sit – outside, in public - and talk. I want to get to know you a little more. Everything J has said about you is so interesting. Fifteen minutes, I promise. If after fifteen minutes, I haven’t convinced you that you want to spend more time with me, than I will not put up a fight.”

Although Annabelle really wanted to leave – and even more than that, she really didn’t want to spend time with The Wiz, whose mere presence still made her feel yucky for some reason – her kind nature made her give in. “Fifteen minutes,” she conceded, and was given a grin from The Wiz in return for her compromise.

“Perfect,” The Wiz looked pleased. “Why don’t you go out front, on the porch? I’ll get some drinks from the cooler in the other room, and meet you there.”

It was a nice night outside, and a few people were milling around the yard. Annabelle overlooked the porch swing, where she knew The Wiz was likely to try to sit beside her, and took a seat in the single chair beside it.

“Here you are,” The Wiz came outside with a beer bottle in one hand and a Coke in the other. “A perfectly innocent drink for a perfectly innocent girl. Or so everyone says. I, however, am not so sure you’re quite that innocent.” The way he looked at Annabelle, with a hint of hunger, made her wonder why she agreed to speak to him for even fifteen minutes.

“If you’re going to say things like that for the next fifteen minutes,” Annabelle took a swig of her soda and shook her head. “Then I might as well go now.”

Putting up his hands in defeat, The Wiz raised his eyebrow. “No more flirting, I promise,” he told her, bringing the beer to his mouth and taking a deep swallow. “I’m sorry; I know it’s not acceptable around you. It’s just going to be hard to keep myself in check at all times. After all, I’ve been a flirt since I first discovered girls. But seriously, I’m done.”

Looking suspiciously at him, Annabelle took another drink of her soda while she thought about how to respond. “Well, ok,” she finally said slowly. “So what did you want to talk about?”

Leaning back into the porch swing, a more restrained version of the arrogant smile that he usually wore returned to The Wiz’s face. “Tell me about your life. Tell me about Mexico, and what it’s like to live there with your mother.”

Annabelle was surprised two-fold. Firstly, she didn’t realize that Josh had already told The Wiz so much about her. Secondly, he actually did seem interested in what she had to say. She suddenly felt a little sheepish for having been so harsh on The Wiz in her mind; fifteen minutes of this would be fine. With that, she began explaining about her mother and the work that she did…


Christy was pretty drunk, but Josh didn’t mind it too much. She wasn’t a mean drunk, like Laura could be. She was just giggly and sleepy. Oh, and she tended to lose things, which is why Josh was now moving from room to room in the house checking for her purse. He’d already checked the kitchen and bathrooms, and was now stuck opening doors to rooms that Christy may have left it in.

Not finding the bag anywhere, Josh was getting frustrated. Wandering down the hall to the last door on the right, which had a “Do Not Go In My Parents’ Room!” sign on it, Josh thought about it for a minute before pushing open the door, just to glance in and check for the purse. He jumped a little at what he saw. Lying on the bed was Annabelle, asleep. And sitting beside her was The Wiz.

“What’s up, J?” The Wiz looked over his shoulder with a cool glance. If he was surprised to see Josh or to be caught in this particular situation, his face didn’t show it.

“I thought Annabelle went home a while ago,” Josh asked with uncertainty as he glanced between The Wiz’s composed expression to Annabelle’s sleeping form. He wasn’t getting a good feeling from the scene before him, although he wasn’t positive why.

Shrugging, The Wiz looked at Josh in the eye. “I guess she changed her mind. Stayed to have a few drinks, you know. A few too many, I guess,” he tilted his head motioning towards Annabelle’s unconscious body. “I was just putting her down to let her sleep it off.”

“Annabelle doesn’t drink,” the conversation wasn’t making any sense to Josh. Neither was the fact that The Wiz’s hand was on Annabelle’s waist, under the hem of her t-shirt. If he was just lying her down to sleep, why… “I think I should get Christine. I mean, Annabelle’s really her responsibility this summer.”

“Annabelle’s fine,” The Wiz’s voice grew hard. “And I know she doesn’t drink normally – which is why a couple probably hit her so hard. But I’m taking care of this, J. Now, why don’t you just go back to your little girlfriend, and forget all about it? She’ll get some rest, and then I’ll drop her off home. I’ve got it under control.”

It was clear from The Wiz’s sharp tone and aggravated stare that Josh’s presence was no longer welcome in the room. And Josh usually did whatever The Wiz told him to; after all, if it hadn’t been for him, Josh would never have gotten a chance to play varsity basketball as a freshman. The Wiz had convinced the coach to give him a try, and he’d won his place on the team, ushering in all the great things that followed – games, parties, popularity, scholarships, and most of all, Christy.

Thinking of Christy made Josh remember why he had originally entered the room. He glanced at the bureau and saw Christy’s purse there. He reached over and grabbed it, still unsure how he should proceed. “I just came in because Christine misplaced this,” he mumbled, holding up the bag.

“And now you found it,” The Wiz’s voice was gravelly and almost threatening at this point. He met Josh’s befuddled stare head on with a look of complete irritation. “So you can go now, J. You and Christine go have a good night, ok?”

“I, um,” Josh was at a loss as to what the right thing to do was. The Wiz was aggravated with him and just wanted him to leave the room; Christy was probably already asleep on a couch downstairs, ready for him to drive her home; and Annabelle did look like she could probably use some sleep…

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THANKS TO THOSE WHO READ AND REVIEW. I'M SICK TODAY, SO I APOLOGIZE IF THIS ISN'T THE GREATEST CHAPTER. NOW I'M GOING TO SLEEP!