Forever Friends

Chapter 4

Savannah found her shoes and peered up at her cousin. She saw the dejected look on her face and forgot about her clothes. Climbing up on the bed, Sav sat down beside her best friend. "Look, Mark's a jerk. Beside, why would I go out with a guy who was stupid enough to pass up a chance with my amazing cousin?" She cupped the side of her face, smiled and then slid off the bed. "Besides..." She went to her vanity and sat down so she could start playing with her hair. Definitely down, she thought. "I love him. I've loved him for years. And one day he's going to open his eyes and realize that he loves me too. It's fate, and I'm just trying to help fate along."

"Fate." Georgia scoffed then picked up her book again, reopened it to where she'd left off. "No such thing."

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The clock on the wall ticked twice before the big hand clicked on the big number five. Kaleb had dropped off some more bags of ice that Randy was busy emptying into the cooler in the back yard. The house was almost finished being party proof. Though lucky for the boys, the Kaideen house was one hundred percent void of parental supervision. Mr. and Mrs. Kaideen were currently away for the week enjoying their twenty five year anniversary in Costa Rica. It took a lot of convincing but Kaleb was finally allowed to stay home alone.

Someone had to pick up the slack when he had to leave for practice before the big game. He'd run out a half hour earlier, which left Conner Martin, a dark haired semi bookworm who was dating Annie, TJ Wolfe, Sara's older brother, and Randy Foxx who had the life all his friends wished they'd had. His parents had tons of money, which they gave him unlimited access to, and were constantly traveling. He had the freedom to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it. And in the mind of the teenager, there was nothing better in the world.

TJ had just taken an antique clock down from the wall and chuckled, "I didn't think people still had cuckoo clocks." He poked his finger against the little door and looked at the finely carved wooden bird inside. Then he smirked, looked up at Conner and held it up to him so he could see it.

Conner just grinned as he finished loading some antique plates into a box. They'd stuff it in a closet somewhere so nothing broke. To be honest, Conner really wasn't into the party scene, but Annie had wanted to go. Pretty much that whole group of friends had grown up together so even if it wasn't Annie's scene, she was always there. Maybe even part of her was playing escort to her best friend Sara and sister Savannah. The two tended to get a little crazy, he'd noticed.

"So Annie said that the party starts right after the game. What time does it go until?" He was already thinking of what to tell his parents. They wouldn't exactly send him to a high school party with the amount of booze that was sitting in the backyard with a kiss of approval. But maybe if it was over early, he could just say he was hanging out with some friends.

Boxing up the cuckoo clock, TJ snickered and turned to look at Conner. At first he was sure that Conner had to be joking. What time did an after game party last? But the look on Conner's face made TJ's fall. He wasn't lying. He coughed a little and then put his hands on his sides. "Well, usually we have them at Randy's but..." He shrugged, "The last one ended sometime between one and two."

"In the morning!?"

TJ stared for a second and then shook his head 'no.' "The next day. Sometime during the night people usually pass out for a little while but..." He shrugged like it was no big deal. And to him, it wasn't. They'd always started partying like this during the season. Then they'd back off mostly until next season. It was just par for the course. Conner hadn't always been in their little group of friends, but once he and Annie had started dating, it was mostly TJ who went out of his way to try to make Conner feel like he was welcome around them. Though sometimes it was still a little weird, like seeing a fish with a pair of wings. Okay, maybe a little more than weird.

After closing the box of plates, Conner sighed and walked them into the other room. He couldn't stay all night. He wasn't a party person so why would he even want to stay all night?

In the kitchen, he put the box down on the counter, then opened one of the cabinets on the island counter and slid it in. There, safe and sound. Maybe not for him but at least they wouldn't get broken this way. Leaning his hands on the counter, he sighed and tried to think of an easy way to tell Annie that maybe he just wanted meant to be part of their group. Drinking all night, wild parties, it wasn't his scene. He didn't really even have a scene, but he did know that he didn't like doing these things.

The sliding glass door opened and Conner looked up to see Randy walk in. He walked in and looked like he'd have an attitude, but he'd found out that Randy was one of the most accommodating people he'd ever met. "Hey."

Randy nodded his chin in Conner's direction. "What's up?" Then he went to the fridge and pulled out one of the beers that sat inside on the top shelf. Nothing wrong with a little pre party warm up. Warm up... With his mouth full of Bud Light, he spit it out and cursed. "I'm late!" He cried out. He put the beer on the counter and then looked around for the clock. "Where the hell... what time is it!? Where the hell is Kaleb?"

Technically Kaleb was supposed to give him a ride to warm ups before the game tonight.

TJ strolled in, looked at Randy curiously and then pulled out his cell phone from his pocket to check the time. "Dude, shouldn't you be at the school?"

"No shit." He grumbled, and then held his hand out. "Let me borrow your car." He asked TJ. Conner was happy to sit in the background and just observe. He was more a member of the audience, then a center stage actor. He didn't make the news, he'd report it. And he was at home to do it. Leaning on the counter, he just watched, amused at the two of them.

Shaking his head, TJ took a step back. "No way! Not after the dent you left on my fender."

"Seriously. Dude, come on. I need to get to warm ups."

TJ chuckled, "Then warm up by running. You'll get there in ten, tops. What happened to your car?"

With a huff, Randy looked towards the door. At least he was already dressed in his jersey and shorts. "In the shop. Are you seriously not letting me borrow your car?"

After grabbing the bag of chips from atop the refrigerator, TJ dug in and stuffed some in his mouth. "I can't afford to get it fixed again. And the last three times you took my car, it came back broken."

"You're such a dick." Randy commented, and he sighed. Yeah, definitely looking like he was going to have to run. "Fine, whatever. I'll see you at the game." He turned and was about to leave when Conner jumped up. Maybe there was a little part of him that really wanted to fit in. And it wasn't like he couldn't handle another ding in his hand me down Honda.

"Wait, Randy. Here" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. "You can take mine. It's the blue one."

The keys were tossed in the air and he snagged them with ease. He was honestly surprised. He hadn't totally treated Conner like he was one of the group. To be truthful, it didn't feel like he was one of the group. But he'd already promised Annie he'd try, so he smiled and nodded, "Thanks. You're a lifesaver. Annie picked a good one. And don't worry; TJ's just a drama queen. I won't wreck it or anything." Then he jumped towards the door with a parting goodbye. His sneakers hit the pavement as he ran towards the car and took off towards school.