A Hope and a Chance(12)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I signaled to Rylee where I was going, and she smiled at me before giving the new guy all of her attention. I pushed past a group of people mingling and made my way to the bathroom. When I got inside, the liquor was already burning in my chest. I leaned over the sink and looked at myself in the mirror.

It’d felt like Rylee put all kinds of makeup on me, but I really wasn’t wearing much. She’d made my eyes look more enhanced and my hair had settled down from the heat, making it appear relaxed. It was the dress that I couldn’t stand. It was so tight against my skin, and I never thought of myself as fat, but my curves were very apparent. I was used to wearing free flowing summer dresses that did nothing for a physique.

By the time I made it out of the bathroom, the dance floor had filled up. I looked in the center and noticed Rylee grinding all over her new friend. While rolling my eyes I made my way through the people dancing. Since she was my ride home, I had to at least appease her. The guy handed me a beer, and I noticed they each had one for themselves. I hated the taste, but after the two shots, I managed to down half the bottle before the first song finished. All I wanted to do was forget how uncomfortable I was in this environment, and high heels.

It had, at least, become so crowded that my dress issue wasn’t as worrisome. We were surrounded by a large cluster of people, and there wasn’t exactly room for anyone to stare.

Rylee and I had been dancing around together for years. We would do it in our pajamas until we literally passed out from exhaustion. As we got older, our practice paid off. We were always admired at the school dances and our boyfriends loved it. This new guy could be added to Rylee’s list of admirers. He was clearly into her, as she grinded her ass against his groin.

I started to relax and just let the music take over my senses. I could handle this. It wasn’t as terrible as I had feared it would be. If I could just go with the flow for a couple of hours, I may just have a decent enough time to get through it.

I followed Mark and Buffy to the bar on my motorcycle. The drive sucked because Mark drove his SUV slow as hell. If I had known where I was going, I would have passed them once we got out of the development.

I was surprised how packed the little establishment was. Maybe everyone in the entire town had come on this particular evening. I pulled out my driver’s license even before it was my turn. I’d just turned twenty-one a few months back, and it made me proud that I didn’t need a fake I.D. to get in anywhere. The bouncer at the door looked at it twice until he noticed my sister. She gave one of her million-dollar smiles and he forgot about little me. Once inside, we found a table in the back and started looking at menus. We probably should have arrived sooner if we wanted to eat without loud music.

After ordering something small, we watched everyone dancing. I was surprised how much my sister’s dress choice fit in. It seemed all of the women were looking pretty hot. I’d stopped being so protective of her a long time ago, but still didn’t like the fact that she wore such provocative attire.

One night a guy followed her out of the club. Before she could even scream, he’d managed to corner her in an alley. She said it only took her a few seconds to realize what was about to happen. He lifted her dress and started forcing himself on her. By the time she’d had the chance to scream, the dude was on the ground. She’d kicked him so hard in the balls that he fell to the pavement. Once he was down she used her stilettos as a weapon and beat him to a pulp.

When she’d threatened to call the police, he begged her not to press charges, claiming he was married and it would ruin his life. She told him if she ever saw him again she’d rip out his balls and nail them to his front door.

She never saw him again.

After that, I stopped worrying.

She’d always been able to handle herself. Guys had been coming on to her since kindergarten. For as long as I could remember my sister always had a boyfriend. In high school Buffy dated older guys, and it was clear that she still carried that preference. I couldn’t complain, she was in a happy place, and Mark adored her.

When we’d finished eating my sister yanked us both out to the dance floor. She and Mark immediately began grinding, while I was left to shake around alone. After a few minutes Mark held up his hand and we were brought another round of beers by a roaming barmaid. She smiled as she handed me my bottle.

I took my first sip and stopped dancing. In the center of the floor was something that caught my eye; something familiar. Two girls were bumping and dry humping all over this one dude, and they were wearing my sister’s dresses that Mark and I had secretly thrown away when she wasn’t home. They were the ones she wore when she’d been working as a dancer, and Mark wanted them gone. I’d gathered them up and taken them to a second hand store in town, figuring my sister would never know the difference.

Thankfully, Mark and Buffy were so caught up in each other neither of them noticed. As I finished my beer I found myself watching the two girls occasionally. They both filled them out, one of them even better than my sister had. They clearly had rhythm, and it reminded me of a couple wild parties I’d attended back at school.

When the song ended, and a slow one came on the couples started grouping together. I stood there alone while Mark and Buffy, as well as everyone else on the dance floor seized their partners and began to slow dance.

That’s when I realized the girl with the awesome body making her way toward the bar. I followed the back of her with my eyes, not realizing I was unconsciously heading in her direction.

I leaned in behind her. “Hey beautiful, can I get you something to drink?” There was no harm in asking. She didn’t know who I was, so it was all in fun.

What did I have to lose?

She never turned around. “Sure. I guess I’ll have a Bud Light.”

I slipped a ten over to the bartender. “Two Bud Lights please.”

When the server handed us the beers, she finally turned around to hand me mine. We both froze.

“What are you doing here?” We asked at the same time.

I took a big swig before responding. She wouldn’t stop looking at me, making me wonder what in the hell she was expecting me to say. I couldn’t believe she was standing in front of me. I’d dreamed about Hope since I’d met her, and now I didn’t know how to act.

“I came here with a friend. Please don’t tell my father?” That could only mean one thing.

She was under age.

I gave her a quick smile and got closer as I spoke. “I don’t have to tell him anything if he sees you for himself.”