The Girl in the Basement by Eoin Dempsey

Author:Eoin Dempsey [Dempsey, Eoin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

Jeremy’s house was on the edge of town, near the river Josh’s mother had died in, but further out, where the woods were thicker. Maddie pulled up outside. The street was so packed with cars that she had to park a hundred yards down. The neighbors were away—Jeremy had paid for a night in a hotel in the city with dinner thrown in. Not many seventeen-year-olds could afford that, but he’d inherited a fortune from his grandfather the year before. Jeremy’s parents were progressive types who believed it was better to have their son and his friends drink in the house than in some field somewhere. He had been barred from drinking alcohol during the season on pain of being kicked off the football team. The entire squad had been, but the shackles were off now. The only players not allowed to drink now were the ones playing in college next year—Josh and four others. Ellie was determined not to be the nagging girlfriend but had to make sure he didn’t succumb to temptation. If the cops came, he could lose his offer from LSU, which was already feeling less certain than before their crushing defeat.

The girls were under no such pressure, however, and had a beer from the keg in the corner as soon as they walked in. The party was packed already. Britney Spears blasted from the stereo in the living room. Kids were all over, drinking beer from red Solo cups. Ellie saw one of Josh’s friends from the team and asked where he was. He directed her to the kitchen, where she found him by the massive, granite-topped island with a few of his friends drowning their sorrows. Ellie was disappointed to see he was holding a plastic cup just like the rest of them.

“How are you feeling?” she said, kissing him as they turned away from the group.

“Pretty sad.” His face was pale, his movements tense and uneven. “It’s just been a tough few weeks. I honestly don’t know what happened to me today. I’ve been waiting for a game this big for three years, practicing and practicing. But I blew it.”

“You didn’t blow anything. When are you going to give yourself a break? None of the other players have been through half of what you have these past few weeks in their entire lives. And you expect to go out and perform miracles? Did you speak to the scout from LSU?”

“Yeah. He told me not to worry about a thing. The school is there for me. He said I’m a tiger now.” He smiled, but there was no joy behind it.

“I’m glad. You deserve it. And so much more.” She paused, looking down at his plastic cup. “Just one thing—don’t go drinking with the other boys tonight. You’ve been so disciplined all season. Don’t blow it now.”

“That’s only if I get caught. Jeremy paid off the neighbors. They’re in the city living it up. I could really use a few beers tonight.”

“At what cost?” So much for trying not to be a nagging girlfriend, she thought.

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