Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Author:Meredith Zeitlin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2012-03-01T08:00:00+00:00

22

The second I get home from school, I grab the Wicked score, head to the living room, and plunk out my song on the piano. Not bad, if I do say so myself. But after about fifteen very intense minutes of rehearsal, I get bored and decide to head over to JoJo’s for the night.

I get to JoJo’s around seven. She and her parents just finished eating, and of course JoJo is having a glass of wine, so I figure I’ll have one, too. It must be so weird having parents who don’t have any rules. I mean, awesome, but … weird.

After her parents go upstairs, we lounge around in the living room, flipping through channels. I take a sip from the bottle of Skyy vodka JoJo brought from the kitchen—it’s not so bad on its own, actually. The taste reminds me of how nail polish remover smells, which I’ve always sort of liked. Besides, I’m starting to feel buzzed.

JoJo is sprawled in front of the TV, thumbing through DVDs. She asks, “Do you want to watch something funny or serious?”

“Whatever, I don’t care.”

“We could watch my parents’ pornos. They’re hilarious.”

I practically choke on a mouthful of vodka. “Um, thanks, but I’d rather just chew my arm off. How about a nice slasher film instead?”

“Suit yourself … but you never know, Kelsey, you might learn something. Which could come in handy next time you and Keith—”

“Okay—that will be all, thank you,” I interrupt hurriedly. “As you may recall, he’s not ready for a ‘comitment.’ Thank God—I have enough to deal with as it is.” Ugh. Keith Mayhew. That’s an error in judgment I won’t be making twice. I decide to swiftly change the subject.

“So,” I say slyly. “How’s my former friend Cassidy doing, anyway? I shared a lovely moment with her in the hall today….”

JoJo gives me her patented raised eyebrow. “Kelsey, I’m not having a Cass-bashing session.”

“I didn’t say anything mean!” I protest. “I just asked how she was!”

JoJo chugs a few swallows of vodka, then says, “She’s okay. Yes, she’s still dating Jordan, and no, she doesn’t believe you about Lori Soler.”

“Didn’t you tell her it was true?”

“Well, I didn’t see them together like you did … and anyway, I don’t want her to be pissed off at me, too. She asked him about it and he said it was a lie. So … she believes him. But I think she feels bad about what went down with you guys,” JoJo explains.

Ah, excellent. The wonderful, wonderful vodka is loosening JoJo’s previously impenetrable tongue. I push on. “Please. If she feels so bad about it, how come she parades around school acting like I don’t even exist? It’s beyond childish.”

“Childish? Like … trying out for a play you couldn’t care less about just to try and make her feel bad?”

“Um, that is a totally different situation! And I do so care about the play. I told you months ago, this is the year I’m going to mark up … I mean, make a mark! I didn’t say it had to be through soccer, you know.

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