TAP TAP TAP
It was 6:30 in the morning.
There was some loud tapping coming from my bedroom window.
I stood up from the couch and made my way across the controllers and empty pizza boxes laid scattered on the living room floor. Mark, Bear and James were laid across the couch with pillows on their face to block out the sunlight peeking through the blinds.
Opening the door my bedroom, I tried to stay quiet not to disturb Cherise who was snuggled up in my bed sound asleep. I popped open the blinds in there to see who it was.
It was Pebbles.
I went to open the door and she looked surprised to see me still up and about. She just got back from clubbing all night in Juarez with her friends.
"Shh" I hushed her and let her in.
Pebbles giggled and was surprised to see Boss and Victor eating at the dining room table with 2 boxes of cereal and an almost empty gallon of milk.
All of our eyes were sunken and bloodshot. Boss had make-up smeared across his eyes and lips, but nobody had told him anything yet. We were still waiting for him to find out for himself.
"God. Don't you guys ever sleep?" She questioned while trying hard not to look at Boss's ridiculous face.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Victor grumbled as he stuffed a spoonful of crunch berries into his mouth.
Pebbles noticed Cherises belongings still there and the door to my bedroom was closed.
"She still here?" She had a very questionable look.
A sat down on the table with them and served myself a bowl. "Mhmm. I gave her my bed while I got the couch with these chuckle fucks."
Pebbles raised her eyebrows. "Eww. She's pretty scandalous."
All 3 of us agreed as we shoveled cereal into our mouths.
Everything about last night was very chaotic—and Memorable.
(You're probably wondering what exactly happened between that first kiss to this moment. Lot's of misfit mischief is what happened. Let me rewind this for you...)
------
After the kiss
The guys erupted into wild cheering. I buried my face in my hands, half from shyness, half because I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face.
We both sat back down on the couch near each other.
Cherise laughed and gave my knee a playful nudge before leaning back into her seat like nothing had happened.
"Congratulations!" Victor cheered drunkenly from the couch. "Alfie's a man now!"
"Shut up, Victor," Cherise said, laughing.
"Who's next?" Bear joked.
Cherise opened her arms and beconed him with her fingers as an invitation.
Bear froze and went back to looking through the game collection. There was a brief moment of contemplating upon his face.
I noticed Pebbles grimace out of the corner of my eye. She is definitely not fond of Cherise.
I just sat there and was reflecting on the whole thing.
While the kiss itself was physically enjoyable, it felt— empty. There was no meaning to it other than being a new experience.
Just a kiss.
Is this what it truly felt like? Is this what all the fuss is about.
"I remember hearing someone say something about Bloody Roar 2?" Bear grabbed the disc from the Binder.
Victor had a villainous laugh and grabbed the controller.
"What about some magic?" Mark casually suggested as he shook around his little deck box.
Pebbles rolled her eyes. Too much nerdiness going on around here.
"I mean... I'm down for whatever." I shrugged. "But we only have his friends console for tonight."
"Hmm." Mark grumbled and was curious to see what other games were all in the binders.
Cherise had her head resting on my shoulder as we watched those 2 fighting on another game. I didn't mind this gesture.
This new game, however, caught my Interest. The fighting style was very fluid and fast paced. Best of all, each character had the ability to morph into a beast form.
Pebbles turned around to look at us then started to scan the rest of the couch. She suddenly started to pay extra close attention to Boss.
I looked at her curiously.
She tapped my leg then pointed over to Boss.
Boss had his arms crossed and his head was laying across the shoulder of the couch.
I bit my lip and giggled. I tapped Cherise on the forehead and pointed out Boss to her.
My sister has a very mischievous look on her face.
Cherise reached for her bag and pulled out a disposable camera. She stood up and snapped a photo of him and giggled.
The flash had caught everyone's attention and Victor quickly paused the game to observe.
Pebbles had gone to her room and retrieved a make-up bag.
"What are you all doing?" James whispered to her.
Pebbles held her index finger across her lips to keep quiet. She slowly and gently brushed some blue eyeshadow over each of his eyelids.
"That's fucked." Victor said quietly but still laughing.
"He's so pretty." Bear said in a lispy baby voice.
Cherise couldn't stop giggling.
Mark even found some laughter in this.
Pebbles started penciling in his eyebrows with an over exaggerated way.
Boss flinched and everyone held their breath and completely froze in place.
Once it was apparent he didn't wake up, Pebbles backed off to admire her work.
"What about his lips?" Victor asked.
"Ooh. I got it." Cherise went to her bag to retrieve her cherry lip gloss. She handed it over to Pebbles who started to apply it on heavily.
Boss's lips were shimmering and glazed over with that thick lip gloss. The blue eyeshadow and penciled brows were beyond outrageous.
"Oh my God. He looks like a cheap ho." I started to chuckle.
"Mmm. Them some perdy lips right ther'." James said with a deep southern accent.
Cherise started to laugh and went for another snap.
"Shh" Pebbles giggled.
"Ooh ooh." James bounced with excitement. "Don't say a damn thing about it. Don't even react to it."
I bit my knuckle. This prank was just too good.
Pebbles looked out the living room window to see a car pull up. "Eyy. I got to go. Don't fuck around too much, Okay."
"I won't. Don't be too late." I scooted down to the gaming area to call dibs on next challenger.
She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.
Victor leaned back to watch her walk out the door. "I love you."
"Pshh!" She said as she shut the door behind her.
I scolded him by throwing my shoe.
He just started to roll on the ground and giggle.
Victor had passed the controller to me so I could try the game out. Mark and James were scavenging through the boxes for more pizza and Boss was still snoring away.
As we were playing, there were some smacking sounds coming from behind us. I turned to see Cherise and Victor in the middle of making out.
"Not surprised." Mark muttered quietly under his breath.
This led me to believe the reason he was so bitter with her was for a similar instance. She didn't like strings attached.
A true libertine.
I couldn't believe it—but I also couldn't condemn her for it. After all, she wasn't attached to anyone either. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to scam with her.
This was just another thing I have accepted that I may never be able to understand.
It was starting to get really late and into the early morning.
Boss did eventually wake up. During his sleep, he smeared the makeup across his arm, making it look worse and funnier than before.
He had the brilliant idea to do a full playthrough of Metal Gear solid. We each took turns playing certain areas and passed the controller whenever we failed.
Cherise grew tired. Her eyes were getting heavy and glossy, so I led her to my bedroom to sleep. She gave me a hug and a quick peck on the lips before cozying into the comforter.
That little peck didn't even phase me.
While I stayed in the living room with the guys, mom arrived some time around 3:30am.
I normally would have started to panic, but was too tired to care.
She squinted into the leaving room and was surprised to see all of us and the mess of pizza boxes.
"Hi!" She called out to everyone.
"Mijo. Y esto que? Por que tanto chavalo? (Son. What's all this? Why so many guys?)
"Ayy ma. Domas era por hoy." (Ayy mom. It was just for this night.)
She sucked her teeth and scolded me. "Despues hablamos, Entiendes? Y Baja esa chingadera."
(We'll talk later, understand? And turn that shit down.)
I just sat there silently shaking my head.
Everyone looked over at me as my mom made her way into her room.
"You gonna be good?" Boss asked.
I just nodded without a care. "Yeah. I'm definitely going to hear about it. I'll take care of it, though." I let out a deep sigh. "For now, let's just ...power through this and keep the noise down."
One by one we took our turn and a few had tapped out. Some of us went to refuel and reload.
As for me, I was stealthily maneuvering Solid Snake through that cold Alaskan bunker into the night, the glow of the TV painting all of us in soft blue.
I was tired. I was buzzed. I was happy.
And most of all—I was making memories.
Where do we go from here?
TAP TAP TAP