Chapter 11

Corey woke up the next day, still upset over what had happened with Tina. He had tossed and turned all night and was completely exhausted as he thought about things. That was supposed to be a special time for both of them, and instead, he was now worried their relationship might be over. He didn’t know what he’d do if that was the case, but he knew Addie would be in for a world of hurt.

He removed the wedge he’d stuffed under the door to keep his sister out the previous night and went towards the washroom. Addie must have heard him stir because she leaned out of her bedroom door to say good morning. Corey ignored her and slammed the bathroom door shut, had a piss, and then took a shower. The water did little to cool him off as he steamed from his sister’s meddling. Why did she have to be like this? Why couldn’t she just be happy for the two of them, he asked himself.

He eventually dried off and headed downstairs, where his parents sat at the kitchen table. They greeted him cautiously to feel out what mood he was in. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and threw some bread in the toaster before he sat down with them.

“How are you doing, Corey?” his mother asked.

“I’m ok, thanks, mom.”

“You going over to talk to her today?” his father asked as he sipped his coffee and pretended to read the news.

“Yeah, after breakfast. I tried calling, but she didn’t pick up. I hope her parents don’t know what happened.”

“We certainly wouldn’t say anything, but you might have to give her some time if things don’t work out today,” his mother said, as she put her hand on his shoulder.

“Your mother’s right. Sometimes, things take some time. I know you both really liked each other, and it would be a shame for it to end this way. Plus, it’d be awkward with Tina being your sister’s friend and all.”

Corey didn’t say anything to that, but he could feel his fist tighten around the glass he held. He was lucky it didn’t shatter in his hand. His sister was likely the cause of all of this, so he didn’t care what happened to her at that exact moment. He finished eating and headed back to his room to get changed and try her on the phone one more time.

He sat on the bed, his phone dialed Tina’s number, but she still didn’t pick up. He held her panties in his hand and let his fingers play with the silky material. His head dropped down as he heard the call go to voicemail again. He’d already left a message earlier as well as a couple of texts, but she hadn’t responded at all. He was so absorbed in his turmoil that he hadn’t noticed his sister entered the room until she sat down on the bed next to him.

“Corey, I’m sorry. I feel awful.”

“Save it, Addie. I don’t know why you did this, but I swear I’ll never speak to you again if Tina dumps me.”

“I just didn’t want...” she tried to say, but he cut her off.

“I don’t want to hear it. I have to try to fix what you sabotaged. You’d better pray she talks to me or my door will always be closed to you, understand?” Corey didn’t even wait for her response and just walked out of the room. Addie sat there, on her brother’s bed, and wept. Corey got in the car and drove over to Tina’s place and hoped he’d be allowed past the front door.

Corey pulled up in front of Tina’s house and sat nervously in the car. He didn’t really know what he was going to say or do to make things right. He had a general understanding of what had happened and maybe why, but wasn’t quite sure about the details. It wasn’t like he could just say he’s been screwing his sister for a while now, and she was jealous. He figured that level of honesty wouldn’t go over well to repair their relationship. With a final heavy breath, he opened the car door and headed up the driveway.

He rang the doorbell and waited; time stretched into the infinite as he stood there with little control of the situation. Part of him wondered if anyone was even home despite him seeing at least one of their cars in the driveway. He was about to ring the bell again when the door opened, and Tina’s mom stepped out.

“Hello Corey. Tina doesn’t want to talk to you. I don’t know what happened, but she came home very upset yesterday.” Her voice was calm and measured. He suspected she’d slipped into her professional voice.

“I know, there was a big misunderstanding, and I would like to clear things up with her. I promise I would never do anything to hurt your daughter,” Corey replied, his voice dripped with sincerity.

“I figured it had to be something like that. You’ve always treated her so well, and we were both shocked when she ran in crying. Still though, she asked me to turn you away...” she paused for a second, “at least for now.”

“Please, I know I can fix this. Just let me...”

“Mom, who’s at the door?” Tina said as she stepped around the corner. She saw Corey and turned to leave, “Oh, it’s you.”

“Tina, wait, please. I swear I can explain. Just give me a chance,” Corey pleaded, which caused her to stop in place.

“Hear him out, dear. If you don’t like what he has to say, then you’ll know you heard his side and can make an informed decision,” her mom suggested.

“Fine. Out on the pool deck. It had better be one HELL of an explanation,” Tina said as she walked to the back door without even a glance back. Corey was quick to follow.

They both sat down around a patio table in a couple of nice chairs. The sun was in Corey’s eyes, and he had a difficult time seeing her face due to the glare. She wore a basic grey T-shirt and jean shorts, but she still looked like a knockout to him. He knew this was likely his only chance to fix things, and he was now terrified about screwing it up.

“Well? Explain away,” Tina said sarcastically.

“I never meant to hurt you, Tina, I swear. I meant every word I said to you. Yesterday, somehow Addie knew what we were going to do and tried to ruin it, I swear.”

“Sure, blame your sister. Who was the one who kept playing video games until their parents got home to embarrass me? That was you.”

“Addie told me they’d be back at 7:00. I thought we had a lot more time.”

“Pfft, sure. And I bet you’re going to say she planted those panties under your pillow, too?” Tina spat out the words with a biting venom.

“She must have. I don’t know how or when or why, but she did. Please, believe me,” Corey said, as he felt himself losing the fight already. “It must have been when I took my shower today.”

“Why would your sister, my best friend, do this? She knew how important this date was!”

Corey was about to speak, but the words of what Tina had just said took a few moments to register fully. Did Addie know that he and Tina were likely to have their first time together? Could that explain her weirder behavior of late? He knew things were complicated and needed to navigate this delicately without losing Tina.

As calmly as he could, Corey asked, “Tina, what did you tell Addie about what was going to happen yesterday?”

Tina looked at him slightly puzzled, his change in tone, and the question caught her off guard. Sure, he had tried to blame Addie before, but something seemed to have changed in his mind. She started to second guess herself and her best friend.

“Well, she had told me a while ago that your parents would be gone, and she’d help me have my first time with you in an actual bed. She promised to go to her own room and leave us alone for a while...” Tina then paused and thought about what had actually happened that day. “But she didn’t, did she? She never actually left us alone until...”

“Until she knew my parents would be close to getting home,” Corey finished, before adding, “My mom said she told Addie they’d be back at 5:00 and then we’d order dinner together.”

Tina sat there for a moment to absorb this new information before she asked, “and the panties? Who’s were those, cause they weren’t the ones I gave you.”

“Addie’s. I recognized them from when I cleaned her room a while ago.” He saw the confused look on her face. “Long story, don’t worry about it right now. She must have put them there as a backup or something, in case we didn’t kick her out of the room.”

“Well, it worked. Wait, you were about to say something that day before I threw the panties at you. Something about the condoms,” Tina asked. It seemed she had started to believe his story after all.

“Yeah, I’d almost forgotten. Someone had poked holes in the condom I had pulled out. I noticed there was no air pocket when I grabbed it. I checked the rest, and they were all the same. They’d have broken or leaked if we’d used them.”

“Why would she do that? That’s just stupid and dangerous.”

“She knew I’d check to make sure they were ok. We all had Mr. Peterson for sex ed. I doubt that the old man changed up his lessons after 30 years of teaching. It was one of the first things he drilled into my class. Always check the packaging for tampering or defects.”

“Yeah, he did the same thing for our year. I think he spent ten minutes barking about it. I guess that’s why I wanted to use protection so badly. It put the fear of God into me about STIs and whatever.”

Corey couldn’t help but smile slightly as he was proved correct. “And Addie knew you’d likely never do it without protection, so with them all damaged, we couldn’t do anything.”

“Ok, I believe you,” Tina said, but her face was still somber, “but why would she do this? That’s what I don’t understand. I know she was slightly uncomfortable when I’d talk about you, but it shouldn’t lead to this. Does she not want us together?”

Corey wasn’t sure how to answer this. He reached across the table and held Tina’s hand as he thought about his response. It felt nice to touch her again, as his mind was torn between thoughts of Tina and those of his sister.

“Truthfully, I don’t know what she wants or doesn’t want. I don’t really care after the stunt she pulled. Just know that I still love you. She can be jealous all she wants,” he said, as he looked into her beautiful eyes covered by her cute glasses.

Tina got up and moved onto Corey’s lap and kissed him on the top of the head. Then she moved down to kiss the bridge of his nose and finally landed on his lips. His hands moved around her back to hold her up as they gently embraced their forgiveness.

Tina pulled away. Her face beamed with happiness once again. “I still love you too, Corey. I don’t know what to do about Addie. She’s still my best friend after all, but I’m not willing to give you up either.”

“I think the best thing we can do is tell her we’re going to slow down. Maybe we won’t talk about what we’re getting up to with her from now on.”

“I guess. I don’t like it, but we’ll keep our plans quiet until she gets over whatever makes her upset or jealous. Do you think it’s because I have a boyfriend?” Tina added.

“Possibly. She knows you were close to doing it, and she hasn’t even gone on a date. She might be upset about that.”

“Maybe. We’ll worry about that later. Are we actually slowing things down, though, or do you want to heat things up?” Tina asked with her eyebrow cocked.

“Why Tina, what did you have in mind?” Corey asked playfully.

“You’ll see,” Tina said as she leaped up and pulled Corey with her. She led Corey through the house and passed her mom on her way to the door.

“Did you two make up?” her mom asked with a bemused look on her face.

“Yup. We’re going out. He’ll have me back before supper though,” Tina managed to say before they were out the front door and into Corey’s car. He hit the gas, and they were on their way.

“Where exactly are we going?” Corey asked as Tina’s neighborhood faded into the distance. Tina had just told him directions to drive once they got in the car. When the initial rush faded, he did need to know where she was taking them.

“The quarry. I need something, anything from you and we don’t need any more surprise visitors.”

Corey drove quickly but carefully as he could to avoid any potential police traps. The last thing they needed was to be caught speeding to kill the vibe once again. In ten minutes, they reached the abandoned entrance, and they snuck the car in under the gate. He pulled back into the spot they’d parked before and turned off the engine.