The Circle of Friends

V - The Holidays-1

V - The Holidays

Immediately after Thanksgiving, Lori’s parents began to send out invitations to their annual Christmas party. It was a formal affair held on the Saturday night a week before Christmas. Lori always enjoyed socializing with her parent’s friends and associates, playing the part of a proper young lady. This year however, she wanted to entertain her own friends in the game room instead.

“Well, I think that’d be okay,” her father said when she proposed the idea. “It’d be good for you to have some people your own age present.”

Lori smiled and glanced at her mother. She did not appear convinced, but her father had already granted permission.

“I would like you to make an appearance at our gathering, too,” said Rhonda firmly, setting down her coffee cup.

“You always start at seven. We’ll start at eight!” Lori offered.

“That would be fine. You could ask Jason to arrive sooner. In fact,” he said, turning to her mother. “I think we need to invite the Phillips, too. You’ve done business with them in the past.”

“Thank you, Daddy!” cried Lori, giving her father a hug. She could always count on his support.

“You’re welcome, Pumpkin. Be sure to make a list of snacks and drinks you’d like to have upstairs. Might as well go first class for your friends, too,” Phil said with a wink. “I think your cousin will appreciate the refuge as well.”

Lori just wrinkled her nose. Her cousin, Jeff, could be quite obnoxious. He was basically a good kid, but she was thankful he did not live in Greenville. Jeff often carried his teasing too far.

When Jason came over Monday night, Lori had him help with the guest list. Initially, she worried the boys would not want to attend. After the rave review Heather had given Lori’s game room, Jason promised it would be difficult to keep them away.

“It’ll be a mix,” she told Jason when they completed the list. Her friends and some of the swim team, along with his friends and some of the football team, would make an interesting combination.

“They’re still all your friends,” said Jason, scanning the names again. “You just touch a lot of people’s lives!”

She smiled and placed the list on the nightstand. They had been lying on their stomachs while working on the invites and she rolled over to ease the stiffness in her back. Jason curled up beside her and began to kiss Lori. Her parents were out tonight, her father on a business trip and her mother with two sets of clients. They had at least another two hours to themselves and Jason did not want to waste the opportunity. Something about Lori had caused him to bide his time, but tonight he desired more physical intimacy. His kisses became increasingly urgent as he let his intensions be known.

Eventually Lori pulled away from him. Jason opened his eyes and stared at her, trying to hide his disappointment.

“Jason,” she began, her hand on his chest. “I don’t want to go any further.”

He leaned forward for another kiss, not wanting to stop. Her resistance was obvious, however. Feeling frustrated, he leaned back against the pillow. Frowning slightly, he pulled her hair away from her face and sighed.

“We won’t if you don’t want to,” he said with some resignation. “But I always come prepared. I’m not ready to be someone’s father!”

“It’s not that,” she said softly.

“Lori,” he said firmly. “I know you’re a virgin. You don’t have to try and hide that from me.”

She immediately dropped her eyes. Jason put a finger under her chin, forcing Lori to look at him. He smiled reassuringly.

“It’s okay. I’d love to be your first.”

She placed a hand over his and he could feel her tremble. “You’ll be the first and the only if you’re willing to wait,” she whispered. “I know it’s old fashioned, but I want to wait until I’m married. I’m sorry.”

Her words were like ice water pouring over his body and Jason could not hide his chagrin. She regarded him fearfully, her eyes starting to water. Aware of his displeasure, Lori began to cry. Her tears flooded his conscious with guilt. Taking a deep breath, Jason pulled her into his arms. The amorous mood had completely vanished now and he could not stand to watch Lori cry.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m not angry. Really frustrated, but not angry. Don’t cry.”

Her tears were brief. He could feel her breath on his chest return to normal. Rubbing her back, Jason kissed the top of her head.

“I’m not gonna lie to you and say that I want to wait. I really, really want to make love to you. It’s very frustrating, because once I want to, it’s really difficult to turn that off,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t love you just because I want s*x, Lori. But sometimes the need is so strong, it makes me crazy.”

She raised her head and looked at him. “I’m sorry. I do love you.”

Jason bit back the response that rose to his lips. He could not accuse Lori of not loving him enough to sleep with him. Even Jason knew that to be a lame excuse. There were other options at his disposal, none with as much appeal as actual s*x, but if he really wanted to stay with Lori, he would have to explore those choices. Perhaps he could even entice her participation.

“And I love you,” he finally admitted. “I’ll do what I can to fight the urge, I promise.”

“All right,” she said, the tension slowly leaving her face. “I’m sorry.”

“It’ll be okay,” Jason told her, running his hand down the length of Lori’s body. The possibilities for future encounters crossed his mind and he smiled. Jason would find satisfaction one way or another.

“You can’t help being so tantalizing that you drive me nuts!”

“So you’re having a Christmas party this year? About time!” said Sarah, chomping down hard on her apple.

Lori sipped on her drink and smiled. She felt glad her friend was excited and eager to attend. So far everyone had expressed genuine enthusiasm. Hopefully no one would get as carried away as they did at the Matt’s party, though.

“I just never asked before,” admitted Lori.

Sarah slapped her hand loudly on the table. Beside her, Heather jumped.

“You mean,” began Sarah, emphasizing every word, “that the only reason you haven’t is you didn’t ask?”

Jason turned away from his conversation. Sarah continued to stare at Lori, her eyes wide.

“All she has to do is ask!” said Sarah, turning to Jason. “I could beg for weeks and never get a party at my house. She is so spoiled!” she said, pointing her finger accusingly at Lori.

“Sarah,” said Lori, sensing Sarah was about to go off on one of her tirades. “I am not spoiled.”

“Yes you are!” cried Sarah, ignoring the warning. “You get everything you want! If you don’t have it, your parents buy it for you.”

Lori put down her drink. “They don’t get me everything I want.”

Her tone caused Matt and Heather to cease talking and regard her with surprise. Lori was always in good spirits, but anger definitely filled her voice now.

“Name me one thing they’ve never gotten for you!”

Lori simply stared at Sarah in disbelief. She already felt overly sensitive today, and it hurt that Sarah would embarrass her so in front of their friends. She could not fathom what she had done lately to injure her friend.

“See! You can’t!” Sarah taunted maliciously.

Abruptly, Lori rose to her feet. “How about time?” she cried.

Her response stunned Sarah into silence. Angrily Lori stormed away from the table.

“Oh, good job, Sarah!” said Heather, smacking her on the arm. “Way to be a ruthless b***h! Why don’t you just pull out a gun and shoot her next time?”

Jason gave Sarah an annoyed look and left Heather to deal with the situation. He followed Lori, who had already exited the commons and was heading down the hall. Moving quickly to catch her, he followed her down a short hallway and saw Lori fling open the outside door with such force that it slammed loudly into the brick wall. Two students coming into the building jumped out of her way and scurried past Jason.

The short outburst took the steam out of her headlong flight. She stopped at the edge of the pavement and folded her arms across her chest, staring off into the distance. Jason finally caught up to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Hey,” he whispered. “Are you okay?”

Lori’s breathing was deep but controlled. Finally she shook her head. “I should know not to let her do that to me. She’s just trying to get a rise out of me.”

Jason put his arms around her and she leaned back against him, closing her eyes. “That was really mean of her,” he said.

“Well, that’s Sarah sometimes. She just doesn’t always think before she opens her mouth.” She wrapped her fingers around his, thankful for his support. “Guess I’m just touchy after last night. I’m sorry. You don’t need this.”

“No, you don’t need this,” said Jason firmly. “And just wipe last night from your mind. Problem’s been solved so don’t worry about it. And don’t worry about Sarah. Heather took care of her.”

Lori had to smile. “I’ll bet she did!”

The ringing of the bell signified the end of lunch. Jason turned Lori around and gave her a quick kiss.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he said, leading her inside.

They took the back stairs to his locker. Matt was getting his books and expressed concern for Lori as well. She thanked him, but felt unwilling to discuss the matter at the moment. Her move to Jason’s locker now meant she would not see Sarah until their last class, which gave her time to collect her thoughts.

Sarah slipped into class just before the bell rang and sat on the far side of the room. Absently Lori wondered what Heather had said to her friend. She noticed Sarah glancing her direction several times during class, but when school ended, Sarah bolted out the door without saying a word.

Jason was waiting for her at their locker, conversing with Matt. Frustrated by her best friend’s behavior, Lori forced herself to smile as she approached, determined to leave behind the incident at lunch. Jason greeted her with a kiss and held the door while she gathered her books.

“I nearly forgot,” he began, “I was supposed to invite you to dinner tonight.”

“I won’t be done with practice until after five,” she answered, pulling the zipper on her book bag.

“We don’t eat until six. Just come straight over when you’re done.”

She stood up and grabbed her jacket. “Okay! Tell your mom thank you.”

He escorted her to the locker rooms, giving Lori one last kiss before she went to swim practice. In no great hurry to depart, Jason stopped to talk with Chris before strolling out to his car. When he reached the parking lot, he discovered Sarah’s car parked next to his BMW. Her arms were folded as she leaned against her little Celica, rocking back and forth as if highly agitated. She looked up as Jason approached, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Does she hate me now?” she spat, getting right to the point.

“No, she’s mad at herself for letting you get to her,” said Jason, leaning on the roof of his car. “That was a really shitty thing to do, Sarah.”

Her gaze dropped to the pavement. “Yeah, well I’m scum of the earth for making my best friend cry.”

“She didn’t cry, but what the hell were you thinking?”

“I was just giving her a bad time!” Sarah cried angrily. “I thought she’d say they’d never gotten her a puppy or something. Damn, I know how she feels about spending so much time alone. I wasn’t trying to upset her.”

“Well, you did,” he admonished. Jason thought a moment and sighed. “So her parents haven’t been there for her, huh?” he asked in a calmer voice

Sarah unfolded her arms and grabbed her car door. “Not really. They’re always gone. Her mom hardly even notices her when she is there. Her dad tries though. They’re close. But that’s why she has so many nice things. Instead of attention, they buy her stuff!”