Forcing Gravity (7 page)

“Those
pants are just bad,” Ethan said, tossing
the magazine back to me.

“Claudia
Dill
on didn’t seem to think so,” I said
,
pointing to the pop star next to Garrett
. “I
bet he’s sleeping with her.”

He probably wasn’t, but
saying that was a good way to get Ethan riled up, and since he was already being ornery that day, it was fun to see how far I could push him.

“Lucky bastard,” Ethan murmured, seemingly jealous. Like he had any problem getting girls who looked like Claudia
or who were even better looking
.

“She pro
bably gave him Chlamydia,” I said, and Ethan burst
out laughing.

“That’s disgusting,” h
e said, but I could tell he agreed
with me.

The girl on
Garrett
’s arm is
what we like
d
to call ‘dirty-sexy’. She was
sultry, underfed and half-dressed. She probably g
ave
one hell of a blow job,
but she most likely also left
you with a nice present when s
he went
home the next morning.
I hoped Garrett didn’t sleep with her.

“I’m totally going to give him shit when I see him
,” I said
, and wondered if that was really true. I had a feeling I’d
probably
clam up when I next saw Garrett after what had happened
between us
.

“Not if
I get to him first,” Ethan challenged
, a grin spreading across his face.
             

I
just
smiled back to hide my growing anxiety.

-
4
-

“We’re going to a party tonight,” Ethan
said a few days later when he called me at home
.

“
A party
?”

I was in Skylar’s room
letting her give me a pedicure
when he called, so she looked up at me expectantly when she heard the word ‘party’. I knew she dreamed of the day she’d be old enough to go to a real party and secretly hoped I’d bring her with me
that night
. Yeah right. That was so not happening. Because I loved my sister, I would not expose her to that kind of debauchery.
I would wait until she was at least sixteen.

“Yes,
a party,
” Ethan
said definitively, knowing I was likely to back out.
“And before you say no, you don’t have an option of not going.”

I groaned
loudly
.

I wasn’t a big fan of parties with Ethan’s friends. They weren’t really my kind of people, and he knew it, but I’d gone with him to a few
parties
each summer as we’d gotten older. Usually I just hung out with his friend Lauren who was a surfer and a lesbian, which was good fun
since she always d
ated the most melodramatic girls
. She’
d tell me all ab
out her latest girlfriend dramas
, and I’d realize how lucky I was to not have a significant other. Male or female, I was pretty sure the drama of relationships was the same
, but Lauren
always seemed to date crazy-ass girls who would stalk her or slash her tires or get in fights with other girls, so it was quite entertaining to hear her stories
.

I’d only had two boyfriends in my life, if you can even call them that. Each relationship had lasted around three months,
and neither guy made my toes curl. I wasn’t sure if they would even be memorable in the grand scheme of my life. I was still waiting to meet someone that could set my
heart on fire, but my hopes of
finding that person at one of Ethan’s high school parties were slim.
Hopefully Lauren would be there.

“E
-
than,” I whined.

“Lo
-
gan
,” he fake-
whined in return, and I knew he was grinning.
Dammit, he seemed to have
shifted
out of his cranky mood and was back to cheerful, playful Ethan. It
made it hard to be sullen like I really wanted to be.

“Fine,” I said, acquiescing to his demands and knowing
all too well that if he had to
he’d drag me out of the house
against my will
.

I needed to get out anyway. I’d stayed in the past few nights watching movies with Skylar, so I needed to be social
with someone other than my twelve year-old sister
.

“Good. Be ready in an hour,” he commanded. “
I’ll buy you sushi first, and then we’ll head to the party.
”

“
That’s a dirty trick, E,” I s
aid, impressed with how well he could manipulate
me. Sushi was
a
sure
fire way
to get me in a good mood. H
e knew it was my favorite.

I hung up to the sound of him laughing.

“I wish I could go to one of Ethan’s parties,” Skylar said wistfully, her attention back on my toes, which she was painting an electric shade of lime green.

“No you don’t,” I told her, shaking my head. “Ethan will be
surrounded b
y girls giggling and ogling him, and I will be bored out of my mind within fifteen minutes
, because every guy there will be a self-indulged, pretty-boy, douchebag
.”

Skylar raised her eyebrow at me in a very-adult way. “I don’t think every guy there will be like that.”

I raised my eyebrow right back at her. “How would you know? When was the last time you went to a party in which all the attendees graduated from the same private school in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in L.A.?”

Skylar rolled her eyes.
“
Duh, never.
That’s why you should bring me.
You should try to at least have fun.
I’m sure there will be
some
normal guys there, right?”

I shrugged. “Probably
, and no, I’m not bringing you.
”

“
I think you should put on a cute dress and some pretty heels and show off those long legs you always cover up with jeans. Guys like long legs. Besides,
when was the last time you had a real boyfriend – not a fake one like Garrett?”

Dammit.
I hated when my
little
sister was smarter than me.

I mumbled something incoherent
in response to her
.

“What was that?” she prompted, as she switched from the polish to the top coat.

“I said it’s been a few months.

“Try six,” she blurted, shaking her head. “I swear Logan, if my love life is as depressing as yours when I’m eighteen, I’ll throw myself off a bridge.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She shook her head. “Hey, I just call them like I see them.”

“Bite me,” I responded, knowing I was stooping way below even her maturity level.
“
Ow
w
!”

The little bitch actually bit my ankle, and then she had the nerve to grin up at me like a smart-ass.

“Love you,” she said sweetly, so I kicked her with the foot she was holding and succeeded in smudging the polish she’d just applied.

***

I wasn’t sure if I needed to clear it with my mom that I was going out, so
after Skylar fixed my toes,
I ambled downs
tairs to see if I could find my darling mother
.

“Mom?”
I asked tentatively as I walked outside. She was on the
deck,
face down on a massage table, while a very ripped
, shirtless
man kneaded the muscles in
her back.

Both the masseuse and my mother looked up at the sound of my voice.

“What is it, Logan?” she asked curtly. “You know I don’t like to be interrupted during my massage
s
.”

Actually, I do
n’t know that,
because I don’t normally live here,
but okay.

“Um, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going out with Ethan tonight. We’re going to grab some dinner and go to a party. Is that cool with you?”

My mom had never really imposed curfews on me, but I was so used to checking
in
with my dad before doing anything
with friends
, that it felt normal to ask.
The look on her face told me I shouldn’t have bothered.

“You’re eighteen. Do whatever you want,” was her response before she buried her head back in the
face hole of the
massage table.

Okay, well that stung just a little.
I really
wished she’d care just a tiny bit
.

“Do you w
ant to know when I’ll be home?”

“Not particularly,” she said, from the hole in the table
, not bothering to look up
. She sounded annoyed. I could read her hidden message that said, ‘now go away and leave me alone’.

“I might stay
the night
at Ethan’s,” I said, just to see if it would get a reaction from her.

Her head snapped up. Mission accomplished.

“Logan Nicole,” she cautioned. “Don’t you dare come back
pregnant.
Do you hear me? You will regret it for the rest of your life!”

Gee, thanks Mom.

I didn’t even have the energy at that point to argue with her and remind her that I was not sleeping with Ethan.

“Fine, we won’t have sex,” I said instead, turning away from her and rolling my eyes because she couldn’t see me.

“You’ll thank me later,” she called out as I started to walk away, not even realizing how much her words
had
hurt me.
Did she really have to constantly remind me that she regretted getting pregnant with me?

-
5
-

“That’s a lot of sushi,” I commented when the waitress walked away, having noticed how many rolls and pieces Ethan had ordered.

“I’m hungry,” he said, shrugging and looking over toward the front
entrance
of the restaurant
where there was a bit of a commotion going on
. We were at
Katsuya
in Hollywood
, so celebrity sightings weren’t rare
, and it seemed we were in the midst of someone noteworthy
.

“Then be prepared to eat all of it,” I said
, looking back from the loud group at the front of the restaurant
.
I couldn’t tell
who the celebrity was, but he or she
sure had a large entourage.
“I’m good for two, maybe three roles, but the rest is all you.”

Ethan didn’t respond. His
eyes were trained on the slew o
f half-naked
women s
tanding by the hostess station. I watched him as he checked them out and noticed that around the restaurant
other guys were taking notice
– and rightfully so. All of the women
were rail thin, gorgeous
,
and had an air about them that said they knew they were being watched.

They were all sporting
heels that were at least four inches high and short, tight dresses,
making their legs go on for miles. A
nd
they all looked to be around my
age. Not that I was trying to compete with them, because truthfully, I’d fall over if I tried to take one step in shoes that high, but I suddenly felt completely
underdressed
in my skinny jeans, layered boyfriend tanks and flip-flops.

I should have listened to my sister.
Not that Ethan cared what I wore, or
that
I cared what he thought, but I suddenly felt
so
out of pla
ce. It seemed my Florida surfer
girl u
niform might not cut it out in L.A
.

“Hello, earth to Ethan,” I called out,
when he didn’t look back after a few seconds.