Assumptions - The Beginning- Chapter Three

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“Dude. You. Are. Fucking. Awesome.” Ash slapped me on the back. He was way more excited than I was about the whole football thing.

Yeah, so at the beginning of our ninth-grade year, we made the varsity team. I guess some people would be jumping around and fuckin going crazy, me, not so much. It didn’t matter to me, football wasn’t going to be my life. On the other hand, Ash had been the quarterback since he was five years old. His dad played for Bayshore, won the state title in his senior year, and demanded Ash do the same. I came to Bayshore at the end of May. I hooked up with Ash, as we both lived in the same community. He saw my skills and convinced me to come with him for the high school football tryouts.

“We all made varsity. C’mon, it wasn’t that hard. Did you see our competition?” I jerked my head towards the guys hanging their heads in the defeat of not being chosen. I wasn’t an ass, okay, maybe a little, but seriously, some of the guys trying out couldn’t catch a ball if they had super glue on their hands.

Ash raised his eyebrows, “Fuck, that’s harsh, man.” He glanced over at the guys packing up their gym bags to head out. “But, oh so true.”

We held our heads high as we walked behind some of the others heading off to celebrate being the ‘chosen.’ A couple of the other guys from our neighborhood, Stark, Levi, Jackson, and another new kid, Josh, made the team too. It was going to be a fuckin killer year.

“You know what being varsity means, right?"

I shrugged. Ash needed to clarify himself a little more.

“That means all the girls will do anything, I mean anything, to be with one of us.”

I never thought about it like that. I never had an issue getting a girl. No, not another asshole remark, just the truth.

The varsity cheerleaders, the hot babes of the school, were finishing up their practice when we reached the outside of the football stadium. They were primarily upcoming juniors and seniors, except for Reagan, Shelby, and Danielle, who happened to make the squad this year. They were freshmen like us and good friends with the guys.

I bumped Ash with my elbow and nodded toward the girls. “There’s Reagan.” His eyes automatically surveyed the grounds and locked in on the one and only Reagan Alverez. She was beautiful, more so than half of the other girls on the squad. She was Hispanic with long brown, almost black hair, deep brown eyes, and a fuckin killer body. But she wasn’t my type, and my buddy, Ash, had the hots for her even if he wouldn’t admit it. They have been close friends since elementary school, like most of the others in our group.

“Man, Ash, dude, tell me you’re hitting that.” Levi, the outspoken rebel of our crew, licked his lips as he took in Reagan showing the other girls how far down she could go in a split. She had on tight, little daisy dukes, a tye-dyed crop shirt, and neon-colored high tops. "I would be makin' her beg for me Every. Fuckin. Night.”

Ash punched Levi in the shoulder. “Fuck, don’t be saying shit like that about Reg," he went all on the defense for his girl. Well, not really his girl yet, but we all knew it was gonna happen.

"You ask her out yet?” I kept my voice low so the other guys didn’t hear me.

Ash shook his head. “Nah. We haven’t crossed over the friend zone.”

Reagan glanced over at us when Levi and Stark called out her name. She smiled and waved, but her eyes never left Ash.

It was then, I saw her.

Holy. Fuck.

She was the fuckin IT girl. The one every girl in school wanted to be like. The one who made guys, like me, go home and jackoff five times in a row. This girl had light mocha skin, curly, black hair hanging down to her shoulders, and the fuckin body, oh fuck. She was about Reagan’s height, somewhere around five feet five or something, and tight in all the right places. She had an outfit similar to Reagan’s. They looked like twinsies.

I gave a head nod towards the ‘girl’ who was now talking with Reagan. “Who’s that?” I mean, Ash had to know if Reagan was talking to her.

“Kennedy Dowling. Upcoming Junior. No boyfriend. Cheer and dance captain. A close friend of Reagan. Her dad’s some political person in the city. Lives in the upper echelon of our community. Not Bayshore wealthy and elite, but close enough. Why? You interested?” Ash gave me the complete rundown of the girl who was now watching us.

Was I interested? What warm-blooded male wouldn’t be? Fuck, even a dead, cold male would sit upright if she walked past their gravesite. “Nah. Just never seen her around before.”

Ash snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, right, whatever. Everyone is interested in Kennedy.”

Reagan and Kennedy were heading our way. Time to put on the ‘so not interested’ vibe. But in reality, I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

“Hey, Ash. Colton.” Reagan acknowledged our presence. “Y’all know, Kennedy, right.”

“Not yet.” I looked Kennedy up and down, as she did me.

Ash rubbed his stomach. “You girls wanna grab something to eat.”

Reagan and Kennedy looked at one another, shrugged, then turned their attention back to us.

“Sure. Why not.” That was the first time I heard Kennedy’s voice. It was as perfect as she looked. “Let us grab our bags.” She tugged on Reagan’s wrist for her to follow. I couldn’t hear what they were whispering to one another, but I knew it was about us since both girls kept glancing back over their shoulders as they walked.

The rest of our group went to one another’s houses. Me, Ash, Reagan, and Kennedy walked to the burger place two blocks from the school.

One hour later, Reagan and Ash left. He was walking her home. At the same time, I was walking back to the school with Kennedy. I was a gentleman, making sure she got there safely. Plus, she offered me a ride home since she had her license and a car.

On the way back to my house, I found a little information about Kennedy. She was a new driver. Her birthday was in July, making her barely sixteen to my almost fifteen. Her father was a control freak, her mom did whatever her dad said, she couldn’t wait to get out of school and move to some college campus, and during cheer camp, she and Reagan became instant besties.

“So, Colton,” Kennedy said, putting her hand on top of mine. “Do you wanna hang out this weekend?”

Like I would say no. “Uh, yeah, sure, why not.”

Kennedy ran her thumb lightly across my hand. “Cool. There’s a kick-ass party happening. Think it’s the soccer or baseball guys throwing a kegger. I’ll get with Reagan, and we’ll set a time with you and Ash.”

“Sounds good. Let me know.” I opened the door and got out. “Thanks for the ride.”

Kennedy licked her lips. “Any time. Bye, Colton.”

I shut the door and watched as her car sped off down the street.

This year was going to be interesting.

Two days later, it was party time. Ash and I were hanging out at my house, waiting to get ready. In other words, change our t-shirts. Ash’s dad, the local Clint Eastwood wannabe cop of the community, would kick his ass from here to fuckin Miami and back if he knew Ash wasn’t staying here all night. My parents knew we were heading out, but they didn’t think it was going to be a raging party at some kid’s house whose parents left for the weekend. Like fuckin really, what dumbass parents leave their sixteen-year-old home alone on the weekend and not expect a fuckin party to happen.

Reagan texted Ash around seven in the evening letting us know Kennedy would be picking us up in ten minutes.

“Ready?” I threw on a clean black t-shirt, my old favorite faded ripped jeans and a new pair of Nike.

Ash threw on his baseball cap and walked toward my bedroom door. “Epic. It’s gonna be fuckin epic tonight.”

How could it not be? Us, Girls. Beer. Music. Summer. What fuckin more did we need?

The party was pretty amped up by the time we got there—good thing the house was set way back in the woods away from other homes. No neighbors meant no cops, which meant a fuckin hell of a good time.

Kennedy kept her hand with mine, making a statement, as we made our rounds to everyone, finally making it to where the beer kegs were located. All eyes were on her, as expected. She looked f’n hot tonight. She and Reagan must’ve teamed up together, as they were both dressed in tight black mini-dresses.

Most of our team was here, including the rest of the upcoming freshmen who made varsity. We were the talk of the town right now. Me and Ash were the top shit of the school. We had it made, and now we had the hottest babes with us.

For the first hour, it was beer game after beer game until I didn’t think I could take another swig from my cup. Someone started a game of truth or dare, in which we all readily took part. Ash got a bit pissed when some other guy—I think he was a soccer player for the school—got a dare to kiss Reagan. I heard a low growl and thought for sure Ash was going to knock the kid out. But he held his cool, and Reagan only allowed the guy to have a quick peck on the cheek.

“My turn." Reagan took charge of the game, announcing she was going next with a question or dare. “Kennedy, truth or dare.”

Kennedy licked her lips and smiled. “Always the dare.”

A smile spread across Reagan’s lips. “I dare you to do one minute of heaven with Colton.”

I knew what that entailed—making out. This was going to be a piece of cake. Who wouldn’t want to kiss Kennedy?

Please raise your hand.

No one.

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Kennedy stood and held out her hand for me to take. I practically leaped up from the floor. Well, more in an ‘I’m cool with this’ manner. She guided me to the far wall of the room, still in view of everyone who was playing the game.

Reagan looked at her cell phone. Most likely, she had the stopwatch to keep track of the time. “In three, two, one, now.” And all eyes were on Kennedy and me.

Kennedy slowly leaned in and brought her lips nearer to mine. I closed the gap and welcomed her aggressiveness when kissing. Everything about this girl was fucking perfect, right down to the way she kissed. I put my hand around the back of her neck and brought her snugly against my body. She circled her arms around my waist and ran her hands up and down my back.

Ugh. This girl was driving me fucking crazy. I wanted more and knew that wouldn’t be happening now, later, or any time soon.

“Time.” I heard Reagan’s voice faintly call out in the background. But neither Kennedy nor I stopped our assault on one another’s lips.

“One minute is up.” Reagan tried to get our attention once again.

Kennedy’s lips pulled into a smile mid-kiss. “I think they’re trying to get our attention.”

We kept our heads pressed close together as we sneaked a peek at our friends. Only Reagan was paying attention as everyone else chugged down another drink. I guess Truth or Dare was over, and they were onto another game.

Reagan waved us off as neither of us moved. She went back to fiddling with Ash’s hair and whispering in his ear, which he was probably getting hard as a rock over.

Kennedy intertwined her fingers with mine. “Let’s get out of here for a while.” I wasn’t going to put up any protest. We walked past our group without saying anything. I was sure they had a pretty good idea of what was happening.

After that night, Kennedy and I were the it couple. I didn’t score a homerun but got to second base if you know what I mean. We never proclaimed the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing, that was too elementary school. It was just understood that we were together.

Ash was still working on Reagan, but she seemed hesitant. I didn’t know why. Maybe she was trying to see how much of a player he was going to be once school started and the other girls threw themselves at him for being the starting quarterback.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Kennedy tugged on my hand to get me to move faster. “I can smell the smores.”

Really. The only thing I could smell was stale alcohol, someone smoking weed, and saltwater. The party tonight was on a private section of the beach that backed up to someone’s house.

But hey, if my girl wanted to go to this party, the sixth one this summer, then that was what we were going to do. It was only mid-July, and so far, Kennedy, Ash, Reagan, and I went to a party every other weekend. It felt good to be at the top of the food chain. Everyone, no matter what group of partiers it was, welcomed us.

“Grab me a beer.” Kennedy gave me a quick kiss and took hold of Reagan’s hand. “We’re gonna grab the goodies before they’re all gone.” They walked over to the bonfire that some others were roasting smores and hotdogs on.”

Ash faked a cough into his hand. “Pussy-whipped.”

I shoved his shoulder. “Nah. Ain’t like that, man.” We went the opposite way from the girls. Our hangout was the place that had mostly all guys standing around with red Solo cups and a keg in an ice bucket. “At least my girl asked nicely. I bet you’ll get Reagan a cup even without you getting a kiss for it.”

Ash shook his head. “Reg hasn’t drunk any alcohol in the past couple of parties. Her mom is binging again.”

I knew exactly what he was referencing. Reagan’s mom had a slight drinking problem. She was single, dated guys who didn’t have a stellar reputation and never paid much attention to her only daughter. Reg’s dad passed away eight months ago, right before Christmas and me coming to Bayshore. Some type of shooting about gangs or drugs, or maybe both. I didn’t know. He and Reagan were supposedly close, and it tore her up when he died.

Over the bass booming from the music playing, I heard a loud whoop from the guys. I looked over to where Kennedy and Reagan had gone and saw what the commotion was all about. Our girls were putting on quite a dancing show, putting their booty cheer moves to good use.

“Yep, right with you, bro.” Ash grabbed his cup as I did mine and Kennedy’s. We made our presence known to the group, who were following every move our girls made.

The rest of the evening went okay. Not the best party we’d been to, but not the worst, I guess. I wasn’t too familiar with some of the guys, they were going into their senior year of high school, and there were also a few heading off to college. Kennedy knew them, which was the only reason we all went.

About two hours in and somewhere after my fifth beer or so was when shit went downhill quick. Stark, Levi, and Josh showed up, as did two of Reagan’s friends, Shelby and Danielle. We were all dancing—well, the girls, not the guys—but we were watching, and we all played some drinking games, except Reg. She played but only drank from her water bottle. She didn’t trust anyone to refill for her. I guess she was playing it safe, the whole date rape drug was still going strong. I never saw or heard of it used at our parties, but there were always stories told.

Anyway, Kennedy and Reagan walked a bit into the woods that bordered the beach from the main property of the house. They were on a pee break, and that was the only place they could go that wasn’t exposed. Ash and I were going to follow to make sure they would be safe, but the girls’ insisted they would be fine and didn’t need us looking after them.

I lost all track of the time of how long Kennedy and Reagan were gone, talking, and hanging out with the guys until I heard my girl screaming that she needed help.

Ash and I sprinted down the pathway Reagan and Kennedy had entered and found Reagan being assaulted by two guys. We both went into beast mode and pummeled both attackers. They didn’t stand a chance.

The other guys from the football team had to tear us off the two older guys before killing them. Luckily, all the guys did was corner Reagan against a tree. She was behind Kennedy when they walked back to the party, and the two assholes stepped in between them without Kennedy knowing. As soon as Ken realized Reg wasn’t behind her and heard a muffled cry, she screamed for us. It was only like a minute, but a lot of shit could’ve happened if the two guys weren’t drunk off their asses and Reagan didn’t fight back.

Outside of two broken noses and black eyes from Ash and me, they had numerous bloody scratches all over their faces where Reagan clawed them every time they came close to her, and I was sure their backs were hurting from the stick Kennedy used to beat them.

Reagan didn’t want the cops called or press charges. She didn’t want all the attention and just to be left alone, except for us. It was that day that she and Ash became a couple. She realized he would do anything for her. They went from being close childhood friends to one of the most popular couples in the school.

For the rest of the summer, we didn’t do any big group parties. The four of us were inseparable—two best friends dating two besties, as Kennedy and Reagan referred to themselves as such. Outside of football and cheer practice, Kennedy and I did everyday things like movies, beach time, walks, and the regular shit guys and girls do together, but no sex yet.

I never got to meet Kennedy’s parents. She said they were always off doing their thing. Her dad was into politics in the city, and she always complained that her mom was forever at the country club. I went over to her house occasionally, mainly so we could have some alone time, if you know what I mean.

My parents wanted to meet the girl I was spending so much time with, but Ken always had some excuse for not stopping over or having other plans for us. But that was okay, I wasn’t going to push it, things were going well for us.

Bayshore Academy — Nine Months Later — End of Freshman Year

“I can’t believe freshman year is done. Over. We’re going to be sophomores.” Ash was way more excited than needed at the end of our first year of high school. “We broke records in varsity football. Made it to the playoffs. Have the two hottest babes as our girlfriends. Fuck, man, we have the life everyone wants in this school.”

“Fuck yeah.” I didn’t have much more to say. I wasn’t all that excited. Football was cool, but just a game, in my book. But he was right concerning our girls. They weren’t just hot, they were f’n hot.

“What’cha doin after school.” Then Ash laughed to himself. “Nevermind. I already know it’s not what you’re doing, but more like who.”

I just rolled my eyes and gave him a shove. We decided to walk home after school today just for the hell of it. Kennedy was giving Reagan a ride home, girl talk, so they said. “Yeah, I’m heading to Kennedy’s in about an hour.”

“Gimme a text when you get back.” Ash’s house came up first as we walked into our community. I gave him a thumbs-up and continued home.

Kennedy rolled over and draped her arm across my chest. “You good?”

My eyes were closed, and I was about to fall asleep, but I managed to get a ‘hell yeah,’ out. We just got done with our ‘intimate’ moment, as girls liked to say. It was bareback this time, so I was twice as worn out from too much excitement. We’d only not used a rubber once before, and believe me, it was fan-fucking-tastic. She promised it was a safe time of the month.

Fuck, I hoped she was right.

The first time Kennedy and I had sex was a few months ago. It just happened. It wasn’t planned, but it was well worth the wait, the long cold showers I had to previously take, and many nights of blueballs and jacking off. It was my first time, but not hers. It was something along the lines of an older guy a year ago or something like that. It wasn’t a story I was too interested in hearing. I mean, really, what guy wants to hear about his girl being with another guy? Not me, that’s for sure.

Today, I don’t know, it felt real. I almost said the ‘L’ word but didn’t. I wasn’t sure if I was in love with her. I liked Kennedy, and she was great in bed, but there just seemed to be something missing. We had fun together, and hardly ever fought, but I couldn’t see myself with her long-term. Dating during high school was cool, but not sure about afterward. We definitely weren’t an Ash and Reagan sort of couple. Those two, I could see marriage and little quarterbacks and cheerleaders in their future.

As soon as I finally dozed off, I heard a door slamming.

“Fuck’n hell.” Kennedy jumped off the bed and ran over to her bedroom door, locking the handle.

“Who is it?”

Kennedy ran back to the bed and crawled back under the covers. “My dad.”

Fuck.

Shit.

And fuck again.

I’d never met her parents yet. It was gonna be kind of awkward to have the first meeting with the parents while I was laying here naked and just got done fucking their daughter.

“Will he come up here?”

Kennedy shrugged. “He usually goes into his office. You left your bike in the front, didn’t you?”

I nodded.

“Fuck. Now he knows someone's here.” Kennedy was just about to roll out from under the covers when a loud bang hit her bedroom door.

“Kennedy.” A male voice boomed through the heavy wooden door.

Kennedy held up a finger, indicating for me to be quiet. But before she could answer the door, we heard a key being inserted and the door slammed open. A man, about six feet tall, well built, somewhere in his late thirties or early forties barged in, not looking happy at all. “What the hell is going on?”

“Daddy.” Kennedy wrapped herself in the sheet a ran to her dad. he draped his arm around her shoulders.

The man held up his hand, indicating for her not to talk. “Boy,” His hate-filled eyes glared at me. “I suggest you get back to wherever you just came from.”

I quickly crawled out on the other side of the bed and slipped on my shorts, shirt, and sneakers. Kennedy wouldn’t even make eye contact with me as I hurried past her dad and made my way down the steps and out the front door.

I hopped on my bike and peddled away as fast as I could. I would text Kennedy later to make sure everything was good. I hoped she would get us out of this mess we sort of had ourselves in with her father.

I was winded as I turned the final bend leading to my house at the end of the cul-de-sac. I think I made it back from Kennedy’s in record time today. She lived in another part of town, a more affluent section. It only took me about twenty minutes today as opposed to the usual thirty to forty.

I glanced up once I was on my street, and my peddling started to slow. Two police cars were sitting outside my house.

What happened?

Was my family okay?

As I got closer, Mom and Dad stepped out around the vehicles. And as I got even closer, I could tell Mom had been and still was crying.

I jumped off my bike and ran toward my mom. “What happened? Is Kade, Lil, and Ez all right?”

Before Mom could answer me, a police officer stepped into my line of vision and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you Colton Grey?”

“Uh. Yeah.” I tried to peek around to see my parents, but the cop was too round, and all I heard was my mom’s sobs.

“Do you know Kennedy Dowling?”

“Yes.”

Fuck, what happened after I left?

“Did you just leave her residence?”

“Um, yeah.”

The cop turned me around and placed my hands behind my back. “You’re under arrest for….”

I didn’t hear what he said, or maybe I just blocked it all out.

What the fuck was happening?

It was obvious my parents knew, but even they couldn’t talk with me right now. Mom’s sobs grew louder as the officer led me to the waiting police cruiser. I saw my dad holding mom, nodding to whatever the other officer was saying.

I was placed in the backseat, wondering why the hell was I there. All I knew something happened after I left Kennedy’s. What, I didn’t know. I hoped she was all right.

What the fuck was going to happen to me now? I was only fifteen.

I wanted to scream out to my parents. To tell them to come and get me. I didn’t commit any crime. But all I saw were our neighbors watching from the sidewalk, probably wondering what the fuck did the Grey kid get himself caught up into now.