He needed another beer.
Now, either Prudence would arrive to help her friend, or he wouldn’t see Ree again. Either option was … enjoyable to him.
Chapter Three
It’s not fair
“You know I hate horror movies, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but come on, this one isn’t so bad,” Sean said.
Prudence grabbed a handful of popcorn then shoved some into her mouth, chewing as the gore factor increased. She wrinkled her nose and wished there was some way to avoid what was going on. Sean had won at rock, paper, scissors, and now on her first night of school vacation, she was terrified.
“Ugh,” she said. “This is so gross. I’m going to go and grab us sodas.” She climbed off the bed, leaving Sean to continue watching his horror.
Her parents didn’t have a problem with Sean staying the night. He was strictly friend-zoned and she had made sure her parents were aware of that. She loved Sean. He was her best friend, but she didn’t think of him as someone she’d want to … date.
Sean had also never made a pass at her. Not that she wanted that. It would be too awkward and then she’d have to consider what to do as they were supposed to be best friends.
She was grabbing two sodas out of the fridge when her cell phone went off. She’d left it downstairs. The house was all closed and locked up.
Seeing Ree’s name on the screen, she rolled her eyes. “What can I do for you?”
The first thing she could make out was the sniffling.
“Ree?”
“Prudence.”
“What’s going on, Ree?” She didn’t like to see Ree upset and also the feeling something bad was going to happen.
“He … he won’t let me into the party and I don’t get it. He wants you to come or I’m not allowed to come.”
Prudence closed her eyes. “Have you ever for a second even thought that maybe Drake is not worth this bullshit?”
“I like him, Pru. I want to be his girlfriend.”
She rubbed at her temples, really not getting the attraction. Drake was a dick. “Then go and see him at the party or whatnot.”
“But he kicked me out,” Ree said. “I mean it, Pru, he’s not letting me in until you come and it sucks. I’m so bored. Please, come and help me.”
“Ree, I’m not going to the party. Sean and I are enjoying a movie. You were invited to come.”
“As if I want to spend all of my time watching movies. Wow, you guys are so pathetic. Why do I even hang out with you in the first place?” Ree hung up the phone.
“Because no one else would hang around with your bitchy ass anyway.” She slammed her phone on the counter and growled as the screen cracked from the impact.
“Ree?”
Prudence gasped as Sean entered the room. “The one and only.”
“I thought I’d come and see what was taking the sodas so long to arrive.”
“You paused the movie?”
“I paused it.”
“When will this nightmare end?” She held out a soda to Sean and he took it.
“Are you wanting to go to the party?” Sean asked.
“No. I’m wanting to stay at home and watch the horror movie. Eat my weight in popcorn and pass out from a sugar rush. Our standard end-of-school ritual.”
Sean held his soda up and she clinked hers with his. “But our ritual has to change for Ree.”
“Does it really? I mean, does it make me a bad friend for not wanting to drive over there and let her go into a party? It’s Drake’s party.”
“I know.”
She leaned against the counter, crossing one leg in front of the other. She opened her can of soda, taking a large gulp as she looked past Sean’s shoulder.
“You know he’ll hurt you if you go to his place,” Sean said.
“I totally know that.” She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I fucking hate this.”
“Just leave it alone. So, she can’t get into one party. Boohoo. If you ask me, Ree’s too used to getting what she wants.”
“If I drive over there, I can literally escort her into the bastard’s den and leave. I can, like, deposit her, like a letter.”
Sean laughed. “You’re really considering this. Entering the lion’s den. What if his parents are home? You’ve been lucky to have survived this long going against Drake.”
“I know. His parents sound scary. She’s still our friend and I don’t want to be a total bitch to her. I know you don’t agree with everything she’s done, but come on, she at least deserves to have some fun.”
“You do know she calls us names regularly and pretty much hates us.”
“Oh, I know, believe me, I know.” She sighed. Even as she knew what a total bitch Ree could be, that didn’t mean she should be the same, regardless of what her friend did to her. She wasn’t made that way.
Sean groaned. “Seriously? You’re going to ruin years of our tradition because she wants to screw one guy?”