Friday, August 25, 2006

Entry #33

Chances
by Mary E. Strand


As clouds churned overhead and a bright, creepy moon peeked through, my stomach curdled. I’d blown my entire summer’s pay, two hundred bucks, on a couple kegs and enough Doritos to satisfy even Mary Jane Simmons.

“Is it gonna rain?”

“I don’t know, MJ. You keep asking me stuff I don’t know.” She never asks me what I do know, like whether I’d like to get laid. Like, with MJ.

“Rain would wreck my hair.”

I started humming as I tapped the first keg, trying not to think about MJ’s long blond hair or various body parts, even though her boobs were straining at the tiny pink leash she’d strapped on them tonight. MJ was hot. Dumb as a rock and whinier than I remembered from last summer, but hot. And we didn’t have to talk.

As I bent to fiddle with the keg’s nozzle, the first fat raindrop splattered the back of my neck. Damn. More drops hit, like a spray of bullets, and I glanced around at a couple dozen friends, hoping they somehow didn’t notice. Praying MJ didn’t notice. A few people held their palms skyward. A few more headed toward cars.

MJ just stared at me, her eyelashes thick with black goop, her lower lip thrust out almost as much as her boobs. “It’s not gonna happen, is it?”

Not tonight, even though I’d planned and saved and waited forever. For this party. For MJ.

Hell. Being fifteen sucked.

10 comments:

Joni said...

What a monumental disappointment for a teenage boy! :D You got the voice down. I was a little confused by the "tiny pink leash." Are girls leashing their boobs these days? Good job.

Anonymous said...

Heh, sounds like some of the guys I grew up with.

anne frasier said...

heeh!

loved it, mary!
his age was the big surprise that really worked for me. when i read back over it i thought of course he's fifteen. you did nothing to trick me. that just shows how a reader brings her own perceptions to a story.

nicely done!

Anonymous said...

Good job, Mary. I really enjoyed reading your story.

Bernita said...

Cackled over that
"tiny pink leash" - great image.
Good voice, good job.

Anonymous said...

I liked this. It just moved along at a great pace.

It's sort of Brighton Beach Memoirs - kicked up a notch.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like part of a larger piece - this could be a "long" short story, or a really geat book!

Anonymous said...

$200.00 that is a stiff price to pay. Just kidding.
I am still laughing this is so funny. "Dumb as a rock"

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Wonderful. Really enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

Oh man, that hurt. Rain killing the biggest party ever! High marks overall.