Melanie, the oldest at eighteen, and Dylan, seventeen, were already smoking the pot they had found on the body of one of the waiters the day before. It had been the big news yesterday amongst the “shorties,” as they called themselves. At first, it had just been cool that Melanie, Dylan, Shelley and Jason were allowed to work with the adults, but when there was a discovery of contraband, it had been pretty exciting.
“What’s up?” Dylan asked as Jason reached out for the joint.
“Just a bunch of old people listening to country music so far. The food looked good,” Jason answered.
“We grabbed munchies,” Melanie said, sweeping her red hair out of her face. Handing over a bag of chips to Shelley, she added, “We were thinking about setting off fireworks later. Dylan bought some off that asshole Shane yesterday. ”
“Sounds like fun,” Jason decided. He felt kinda old up here with the kids, smoking dope and swilling cola. He could feel Shelley’s hand lying on his leg. It made him nervous. Nerit’s talk about taking advantage of the moments of life they had now had really affected him. He was thinking about a lot of things in a different way. He had even made himself scarce when it was obvious in the early evening that Juan and Jenni needed time alone. It was time for him to chill out and try to enjoy life.
“Has your Mom remembered it’s your birthday yet?” Melanie asked.
Jason shook his head. “Not yet. I keep waiting, but I’m not sure she even knows what month this is. She’s kinda an airhead at times. ”
Shelley took the joint and inhaled deeply and swatted her brother’s hand away when he reached for it. “You’re too young. ”
Ricky frowned. “I’ll tell Dad. ”
“Go ahead,” Shelley dared, and thunked him on the head.
“Bitch,” Ricky said sullenly, then sipped more cola.
The other kids joined them one by one. Soon, they were all joking and laughing. Drinking way too much soda and candy, the younger kids were soon very hyper, while their older, stoned counterparts just giggled.
Jason was feeling pretty good when Shelly gave him the first kiss of his young life. It wasn’t expected so he blew it a little by trying to ask her what she was doing. Her lips pretty much hit his teeth and tongue.
She drew back, leaving him startled.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“No, no, try it again,” Jason said quickly, and flung his arms around her.
This sent Melanie and Dylan into guffaws of laughter, but Shelley smiled sweetly and kissed him firmly on the lips for about two seconds. It was enough to make him blush and grin.
“Ugh, no making out in front of me,” Jenni said from above him.
Jason looked up to see her standing over him wearing a bright red tank top, a knee-length cotton skirt with black abstract designs on it and sandals. Her long hair flowed loose around her face. Juan was lingering at her side, his new cowboy hat looking far too neat on his tussled curls. Jason had seen him earlier trying to get it to look more worn. It had been funny watching Juan throwing it around and smacking it against things to break it in.
“Uh, busted,” he decided.
“Yeah, you are. ”
“Oh, gawd,” Jason moaned.
“I’m sorry,” Shelley said quickly. “It’s his birthday so…”
Jenni laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. ” She hugged Jason tightly and kissed his cheek, embarrassing him as only a mother could. She handed him a small brown bag as Juan sat down across from them.
“Open it. ”
Jason smiled and opened up the bag to find a copy of “Ender’s Game,” his favorite book.
“I grabbed it a few weeks ago when scavenging the library,” Juan explained.
Hugging his Mom, he kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. ” To Juan’s surprise, he hugged Juan, too. “Thanks, Dude. ”
Juan nodded. “No problem. Hope you enjoy it. ”
Jenni leaned over and snagged the joint from Dylan, who was trying to hide it. “What’s this?”