Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (109 page)

Tory hid her face in Tony's shoulder.  She could feel herself blushing.  While she knew it was stupid because Carl obviously knew they were having sex, it still bugged her that Tony talked so casually about it.

It was like it was nothing to him.  And it was something to her.  She'd given her virginity to him, and that at least meant something she thought.  Tony gave her a kiss that left her even more embarrassed because he could never seem to keep his tongue out of her mouth when he kissed her, then went back to the bedroom to retrieve his wallet.

"Carl, I.  .  ."  Tory started.

"Don't let him bother you Tory.  Tony doesn't take much seriously.  And don't be embarrassed about all the sex talk.  We're all adults, or sort of." He gave her a crooked grin.

"You talkin’ about me kid?" Tony came out of the bedroom and handed his cousin two twenties.

"I was just trying to calm your girl down.  I think you embarrassed her."

"Nah, Tory's used to me by now, right baby?"

"Sure Tony.” She gave him a weak smile.

"You need some money for gas kid?"

"My dad gave me some last night.  And stop calling me kid asshole, or I might have to steal Tory away from you.  She's closer to my age."

"Hands off my babe, ki.  .  .  Carl or I might have to tell your dad that you didn't study for your history test and only got a C."

"All right," Carl relented, grabbing the jeep keys from the coffee table and going out the door.

"He got a C without studying?  That's not so bad.  I know a lot of girls at my school who can only barely manage a C when they study."

"Yeah, but he's smarter than that.  He's gonna do better than all of us.  He wants to be a cop but I think he should take it further.  If the kid put his mind to it, I think he could be FBI someday or some shit like that.  He's just gonna have to get out of this nowhere town to do anything, or he'll end up on patrol for the rest of his life like his old man.  Enough with the blabbing." He pulled her towards the bedroom.  "We got a movie to watch."

Chapter 4

Thanksgiving

"Shit," Tory, muttered, rolling over and crawling out of bed.  She had a hangover from spending last night at Tony's house partying.  Her head was pounding.  The outside halls were quiet, too quiet, she thought.  She felt like she was the only one who hadn't went home for the holiday, as Lindsey and Langston were out of town, supposedly on some sort of 'business' trip.  Tory figured they were on another cruise like last year.

Sometimes it really sucked to have a mother who didn't give a shit.  Not that Thanksgiving had ever meant anything to her mother she thought.  She didn't cook.  Thanksgiving dinner was usually prepared by a cook who probably had to go home and cook Thanksgiving dinner for their own family afterward.  Or at some restaurant where Tory always ended up being the only one who ordered turkey, trying to pretend she had a normal family.

Thanksgivings with her grandparents had been nice.  She'd been able to see her dad.  But since they were dead and her dad had chosen to cut himself off from civilization, she found herself alone for the "family" holiday.  Her dad had sent her some corny card, enclosing a beautiful picture of a starry sky and $50.

Her mom hadn't forgotten her allowance so all in all she guessed she couldn't complain too much.  She'd been invited to have dinner with Tony and Carl's family but she'd declined.  Even if Tony was being 'faithful' to her, she hadn't wanted to deal with the whole girlfriend meeting the family thing as she was still a little confused about their relationship.

The sex was still good, though she’d had a pregnancy scare right before Halloween when her period was late.  Tony's calmness had left her feeling warm and fuzzy about him for days afterward.  But even after her period had made an appearance much to her relief, she didn't like to think of their relationship as anything more than sex.

She'd used the toilet and while she was digging around in her bag for the bottle of aspirin she knew had to be in there somewhere, an idea struck her.  The school was virtually empty.  While she knew there were security guards around somewhere, none of the room doors locked.  She knew
where the rooms of certain girls were, girls that she would like nothing more than to wipe the smug smiles off of their faces.

What had looked like a boring day could turn into a hell of a lot of fun, Tory thought as she washed the aspirin down with a room temperature soda.

Molli's room was on the third floor.  She dressed in her tan running shoes, dark jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, and slipped out of the room, hands stuffed into her pockets to cover the gloves.

She stood still for a minute, and thought she could hear voices coming from the first floor.  Probably the security guards that were supposed to be out patrolling the grounds, chatting over coffee she thought.  Oh well, she didn't give a shit as long as they didn't catch her.  And she could probably play it off if they did.  The guards had little interaction with the girls, and would probably have no idea that she didn't live on the third floor.

And maybe they would feel sorry for her she thought, because circumstances sometimes being what they were, the girls were allowed to remain at the school at all times during the school year.  There was always somebody's parents who were away even during the holidays being the mostly rich folk that they were, though Tory had a feeling that if she wasn't the only girl still at school she was pretty damn close.

She went to the stairwell and made her way to the third floor.  Coming to the door that opened onto the dorm rooms, she paused for a moment, opening the door about halfway and peeking out into the hallway.  There was no one in the hallway.  She could hear none of the telltale music or chattering that usually signified that someone was around.

Taking a deep breath, she moved out into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind her.  Standing still for a moment, she glanced down the long hallway to Molli's room; which was at the end on the right hand side.  Moving silently, still on the alert for any sound indicating that the guards were coming, she made her way to the room that Molli shared with Mellenda; one of the few girls in the school who was beautiful and not stuck up about it.

Tory had tutored her in English the year before.  She figured that she wouldn't touch anything of Mellenda's since the girl had been nice to her, though they weren't exactly friends, only saying hello if they ran into each other in the halls or sometimes chatting a bit in class.

She figured that it wouldn't be too hard to tell which side of the room belonged to which girl as Mellenda was always neat and Molli was a little messy at the least.  She paused once more to check behind her, and opened the door quietly, stepping into the room.  She switched the light on above the desk, and closed the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief.

She was in she thought, now all she had to do was get out without getting caught.  She noticed the picture of Jude and Molli sitting on the dresser, and picked it up figuring that probably meant this was Molli's side of the dresser.

She scowled at the picture, fighting the urge to drop the frame on the floor and step on it, break out the glass and rip the picture out and tear into a thousand tiny pieces.  Then she happened to glance in the wastebasket beside the door.  She set the picture back on the dresser, and bent to take a closer look into the small brightly colored plastic wastebasket.

Was that a pregnancy test she thought?  With a little wince, grossed out by the idea that either Mellenda or Molli had pissed on the thing; she picked up the small plastic stick.  Holy crap, it was positive, Tory thought, as she placed it back in the trash can.  But Mellenda wouldn't be stupid enough to get knocked up-she had plans for her life.  Then it had to be Molli, though why she would be stupid enough to leave the damn thing out in the trash can like that Tory had no idea. 

Oh god she thought, slumping down to the floor beside the dresser.  "How could you Jude?"  She whispered.  "You fucking idiot.” She reached up to take the picture from the dresser and stood up, smashing it beneath her foot.

She went to Molli's side of the dresser, going through the drawers carefully until she found a slinky negligee of the kind that was expressly forbid in the school regulations.  Tory shook her head at the slinky red and black teddy.

"Whore.”

She took great satisfaction in ripping the lingerie in two.  She hawked up a loogie and spit on it before she placed it beside the picture in the trash.  She scrawled "Whore" across the mirror in what had to be Molli's lipstick because it was such a hideous shade that she thought Mellenda probably wouldn't be caught dead in it.

Tory sighed, and then felt herself smiling.  While Molli wouldn't appreciate her efforts being the twit that she was, she'd just run crying into Jude's arms when she found the mess in her room.  If she did notify someone at the school how could she possibly explain the positive pregnancy test in the trash can and the shredded lingerie Tory thought?  She'd just come out looking bad herself. 

And Molli couldn't afford that she thought.  Tory knew that her grades were dismal, and if she created trouble she'd probably get bounced out on her ass.  Feeling quite satisfied with herself, Tory switched the light off and stood still for a moment, listening for any noise in the hallway.

She quickly exited the room, heading toward her room.  She had gotten rid of the sweatshirt and was headed down the hall to the shower with her towel and other hygiene products in her arms when a voice stopped her.

"Everything okay miss?"

She turned to face the security guard who she hadn't heard coming.  Geese she was slipping she thought.

"Yeah, everything's cool," she said, though her heart was thudding in her chest.

“I thought I heard somebody walking around up here so I decided to investigate.  Figured you girls were all at home with your families."

"My parents are out of town.  I was just on my way to shower before I went over to my boyfriend's parents' house for dinner."

"Okay.  You take care and be safe.  Make sure you check in with us when you get back so we'll know that you're here."

"Sure, no problem."  She gave him what she hoped appeared to be a carefree smile.

"You have a nice dinner."

"You too, I mean." She realized that the man probably wouldn't be going home for a while at least.  "Have a nice day."

She showered quickly wondering if Tony would be home from his aunt and uncle's yet.  Probably not she thought.  So what the hell was she going to do for the next couple of hours?  She would have to walk to the nearest bus stop, which was further than Tony's house and then catch a bus the rest of the way to downtown, see a movie, take a bus back as close to Tony's as possible, hope he had returned home by then and beg a ride off of him back to the school.

Maybe he could take her all the way there, because she had told the guard that she was going to dinner with her boyfriend.  She just hoped that the buses were running at halfway decent intervals with it being a holiday and that Tony would be at home by the time she could make it back there after the movie.

She dressed in a decent pair of jeans and a light green long sleeved shirt, grabbed her coat out of the closet and started out, hoping that the security guard wouldn't wonder why her boyfriend wasn't picking her up.  But the same man was standing outside smoking when she went out the door.

"Waiting for your boyfriend to pick you up?"

"Nah, he's picking me up down the road a ways.  He wasn't too sure how cool it would be to come all the way here to pick me up.  And if I meet him out a little ways, it's on the road to his parents' house so he won't have to go out of his way."

"He could have picked you up here.  They're not that stringent on the rules.  No guys in the rooms.  But other than that it's okay for a young man to pick you up here.  I'd offer you a ride to your meeting spot but I have to stay here until my relief gets here."

"Oh, it's okay.  Thank you, though."

"You be careful out there young lady.  You never know who's going to be out there, looking to take advantage of a pretty girl.  You make sure that you don't take any rides from anyone besides your boyfriend, you hear?”

"Oh, of course not.  You have a good night."

"You too.  And you make sure you tell your young man that it's not a problem for him to bring you all the way back here.  As long as you have permission to be gone, which all the girls do being that it's a holiday, it's not a problem for him to bring you here.  If the next security guy gives you any trouble you tell him that it's all been cleared with Ron.  A young lady shouldn't be out alone by herself after dark any more than she needs to be."

"Okay, thank you."

She gave him a wave and started down the road.  It was a long walk and she really wished she had a cigarette.  She dug in her purse thinking that maybe she had stashed one at some point when she was with Tony, and came up with a single cigarette and an almost empty book of matches.  She lit it and took a deep drag.

She took out her cell phone and glanced at the time.  It was a little after six, so there was a possibility that he might be home she thought.  It wouldn't hurt to check especially considering the fact that she was going to be going by there.  She knew she could probably call him and have him come pick her up but she really didn't want to cut dinner short for him.  It didn't seem right.

Tony's family was all local but who knew how long they spent together she thought.  For all Tory knew they were all sitting around smoking pot.  It didn't seem likely with most families but she had learned that his family wasn't like most families.

She brightened as she neared his house and noticed that there were lights on and his car was in the driveway.  She went up the steps, fighting a sudden urge to knock.  She tried the door and it was open, so she stepped into the living room.  The only light in the front of the house was the light over the stove.

She heard nothing, and walked down the hallway to the bedroom, suddenly getting a bad feeling.  She knocked lightly on the door.  Tony said "Yeah."

"Tony." The bad feeling didn’t leave her.

"Come in Tory, don't just stand out there."

She walked into the room on legs that felt shaky, not knowing why she suddenly felt so out of sorts, and saw Tony discarding a needle in the trash can.

"Jesus Christ Tony, when the fuck did you start shooting up?"

"Since when did you become my mother?"

"Damn it Tony, you aren't stupid.  You sell to junkies who are probably going to die before they quit.  Tony I am begging you, don't do this to yourself.  Please."

"Why do you care Tory?"  He reached for a cigarette.  "I'm a joke to you.  You were too good to eat dinner with my family.  You're still in love with that moron Jude.  I'm never gonna be good enough for you.  So why don't you just get the fuck out and leave me alone?"

"Tony I.  .  ."

What the hell was she supposed to say to him she wondered?  Was he saying what she thought he was saying?  That he wanted an actual relationship with her, that he had found her refusal to have dinner with his family so offensive that he had gotten the idea that she thought she was too good for him?

"I'm sorry Tony."

"That's what all the bitches say.  Have a nice life Tory."