Chapter 26

2:30 a.m. Sunday

Andy stood with his arm around Regan as he watched Katrina, Lisa, Josh and Todd gather up their belongings. Katrina had to be home by three – as arbitrary a time as Andy could come up with. Lisa had told her parents to expect her about the same time.

The chaperone hadn't moved from the front desk since the group arrived. Now the teenagers were the last people in the room. Katrina gave him a hug as she prepared to leave but he caught her arm.

"If you need anything ... at Berkeley or even before, give me a call," he said earnestly. "I'll help if I can."

Katrina gave a nod. She had heard the name Andy Drayton for the first time in years about 10 weeks earlier. It hadn't been the first time she'd thought of her first friend, though. As she fought her sexuality in her early teens, she wondered if he might have helped her – like they'd helped each other hundreds of times when they were kids.

"And tell your family I said hello," Andy continued with a smile. "I can't wait to tell Mom that I ran into you – and that you're doing great."

"I'll tell Dad the same thing," Katrina said with a wink. "Right before I tell him that I turned out gay because he dragged me away from you."

The guys shook hands and wished each other well. Andy, Paul and Chris doubted they would ever see Josh or Todd again but they had enjoyed meeting the new guys.

"We might as well go, too," Elizabeth opined as they watched the others head through the doors.

"Expend too much energy today?" Andy joked. He had seen her yawn a few times in the previous hour – a malady that had beset Regan, too.

"A couple of jerks kept us awake half the night!" Elizabeth protested.

"Uh-huh," Paul said dubiously. He and Andy had hidden their yawns from everyone else. "I think I want to have a talk with the jerk that kept you up last night."

Elizabeth pointed toward Andy.

"Andy!" Regan said, aghast. "How could you!?"

"That's my girlfriend, Pal," Paul said in mock anger. "I told you to keep your hands off of her!"

"Please!" the chaperone cut in with alarm. She knew Andy was a public school student – and she didn't know the other guy.

"They're joking," Joy said, rolling her eyes. "Jesus! You people have no sense of humor. I swear to God. You couldn't even take the stick out of your ass for one night? I will not miss this shit at all!"

"She's not joking," Ruth noted. "And she's right. If you had been paying the slightest bit of attention, you'd have seen everyone laughing and joking all night. Instead, you sat up here and played with your phone. It's going to be funny as hell when the cleaning crew finds six pairs of panties hidden in the room and calls C-B to find out why."

The chaperone was in her late 20s – a graduate of an elite prep school in the east who had married poorly and found herself in need of a job before she hit 25. She looked at the room and back at the girls in front of her.

"Not ours," Joy said. She pulled her skirt up to show she still wore a black thong. "The whores who were screwing beside the soda machine."

"And behind the pool table," Ruth added.

"And down by the pool," Regan said. "I don't know if they left their panties but this certainly wasn't the 'supervised entertainment' my parents were promised."

"You can put your skirt down, Joy," Andy pointed out.

"You spoil all my fun," Joy replied. "Seriously, we should just go. That will give Miss Meadows the rest of the night to look for used condoms and dirty underwear."

"I need to call your parents to let them know you're leaving," the chaperone said.

Elizabeth and Paul exchanged glances but Ruth patted her on the arm. She was positive that no one would answer the phone at the Marks home – unless it was the illegal immigrant the family employed as a maid. Indeed, the chaperone frowned when she ended the call to the Marks household.

"I just got voicemail," she said.

"I'm 18 years old," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "They seem to think that means I'm an adult and can decide when I want to leave something."

The chaperone's frown deepened further but she called the DeLancys and the Dalrymples to let them know their daughters were departing. Ruth's mother was fast asleep and mumbled something unintelligible. Joy's mother answered on the first ring and politely thanked the woman.

Regan's mother also answered on the first ring and listened as the woman explained that her daughter was leaving a lock-in.

"May I speak to my daughter for a moment?" Rita asked. The chaperone was certain that she was going to be stuck there until 6 a.m. because the mother would insist her daughter stay. Still, she handed her phone to Regan.

"Did you have fun?" Rita inquired.

"It was nice," Regan admitted. "One of the girls at school used to live beside Andy. They knew each other when they were little."

"That's nice," Rita said. She took a deep breath before she moved to the reason she asked to speak to Regan. "I know I might have ... given you the impression ... that I expected you to become ... intimate ... with Andy tonight. At least your father believes I have. If that's the case, please ignore me like you usually do. That decision is yours to make – not mine and not your father's. Oh, and not Andy's. I don't suspect he's putting pressure on you but I wanted to say that anyway. If you decide that's what you want to do, please make sure it's because of you – not because of anyone else. The suite was for convenience, not for any other particular purpose."

Regan's first reaction – as it usually was when her mother spoke – was anger. Perhaps it was the concern in her mother's voice or maybe Regan actually listened to what Rita meant for once instead of the ham-fisted way she said it.

"Thanks, Mom," Regan said. "You're right about most of it. I'll explain it tomorrow morning when I get home."

"That's fine," Rita said. "I love you."

Regan decided her mother actually meant it.

"I love you, too," she said. "Check out is 11 and I figure we'll sleep until almost then. I'll see you at noon. Do we have the car tomorrow morning, too?"

"Just call them when you wake up," Rita said. "Will you need the larger one again?"

"I don't think so," Regan answered. "I didn't tell you before but thanks. Not just for helping set up this up but for standing up for me tonight. Those guys could have really ruined our evening."

"Honey, I will always stand up for you," Rita said firmly. "I'll even stand up to you from time to time if I have to."

Regan found herself smiling.

"Yeah, it might be harder saving me from myself than from the rest of the world," she said. "I'll see you at noon or so."

"Have a good night – whatever you decide," Rita said. She hung up the phone, reclined in bed and stared at the ceiling as she tried to recall a nicer telephone conversation with her daughter.

"I'm tired," Regan said as she put her head on Andy's shoulder in the back of the car.

"I'm starting to wear down, too," Andy admitted. He hadn't told Regan about the night before or the morning, just as she had kept the details of her late-night talk from him.

"The night is still young!" Ruth said.

"We were out until this time last night," Paul explained. "We're not used to it. I had classes at 8 a.m. every day."

"And I got up at 6:30 yesterday morning for school," Elizabeth told them. "I got home at 2:30, got up at nine and it's 2:30 again."

"You know, if you didn't need 40 minutes to put on your pants, you could sleep later," Andy pointed out.

Elizabeth pointed her finger at him menacingly and Andy held up his hands in surrender.

"I'll stop picking on you about how tight you wear your jeans," he said with a smile. "And I won't mention again that you do it because you want all the guys to look at your butt."

"I'm going to show up in sweatpants for the rest of the year," Elizabeth said.

"Yoga pants?" Andy asked. He gave Chris a grin in a vain attempt to drag him into the fray. Chris was far too smart for that. He just ignored Andy completely.

"Frumpy, dumpy granny sweatpants," Elizabeth said. "And a huge T-shirt that hangs to my knees. How's that?"

"Add some clown shoes and you'd be set," Paul added with a laugh. "You'd get all the attention you always did but no one would even mention your butt."

Elizabeth slapped Paul on the arm.

"She's not used to being picked on," Paul told everyone.

"Sorry," Andy said sincerely. "I wasn't ... being personal. I was just playing."

"I'm tired," Elizabeth said. "I didn't mean to be a bitch about it. Yeah, fine. I wear tight jeans so people will look at my ass. I like to be the center of attention."

"You'll get over it," Paul told her. "That's one of the things I worried about for you next year. Next year, you're going to be competing for attention with people who are far worse than you are about it."

"Regan," Joy said with a wink.

"I was thinking about you," Regan replied, shaking her head. "Not ten minutes ago, you were standing in public with your skirt hem up around your shoulders."

"True," Joy said, grinning broadly. "But I wouldn't do that in front of people I don't know. Some people will. You've seen it on the weekends at C-B. The girl you were pretending to be tonight, Elizabeth? She would dress like a total slut if she heard that someone important was coming to campus. One of the girl's fathers is a record producer in Los Angeles. The day he was there, she wore a pair of shorts that weren't three inches from top to bottom. The only thing you couldn't see on the girl was her vagina and her nipples."

"Did I see her?" Andy asked. It was an innocent question but Regan slapped his arm anyway.

"No," she answered. "The Year 13 girls ended the day before. She was long gone before you stepped foot on campus."

"I was just wondering," Andy said as he rubbed his arm. "I mean, I didn't see anyone dressed like that."

"Except Regan," Ruth said, adding a laugh. "Jesus, you should have seen it. She changed clothes three or four times – and dug through her dresser for 10 minutes to find her sexiest underwear. I tried to point out that you wouldn't care about how she dressed – but I guess I was crude or something. She wasn't happy with me last weekend. I think that's when she told me she planned to beat my ass as soon as they handed her a diploma. After Harmony, well, I was pretty sure she meant it."

"I'm really sorry," Regan said in a voice tinged with chagrin.

"It was both of our faults," Ruth said, reaching across to take Regan's hand. "We're past it. We've both grown up a little bit this year, I think."

"I hope so," Regan replied. The limo pulled into the hotel and the group alit. The desk clerk didn't bat an eye at them when they boarded the elevator. Unlike many large groups that wandered into the Renaissance Hotel in the middle of the night, this one was quiet. They appeared younger than many of the guests but there had been quite a few young people in the lobby that evening – and the quartet of teenagers that had arrived only a few minutes earlier was a lot more boisterous than this seven.

The group could hear loud voices in the other top-floor suite but paid no attention to it. Regan figured it was another group from her school making asses of themselves. The Ambassador Suite would be in good shape when the group left. Her mother would be impressed when there were no extra charges on her credit card for damage or for an empty mini bar.

She wondered what would have transpired that evening if she hadn't bumped into Andy Drayton a few weeks earlier. Maybe she would have asked Lake Howard's resident stud to the dance and given up her virginity to a guy who would have told everyone all the details. Maybe she would have already surrendered her cherry to any random guy she could find. She might have a story similar to Ruth's. She reached over to squeeze Ruth's hand as Andy slid the keycard through the reader.

Ruth didn't understand the gesture but she returned it anyway.

"We're going to sleep," Elizabeth announced as they walked into the suite.

"Uh-huh," Regan said dubiously.

"I'm serious!" Elizabeth replied. She took Paul's hand and dragged him toward the bedroom.

"Out of practice," Regan whispered to Andy.

"We're just going to bed," Ruth announced with a giggle. Joy gave her a nod. Then they took Chris by the hand and led him toward the room where they had their pillow fight earlier.

"Holy shit," Andy muttered, shaking his head.

Regan was just watching incredulously.

"Those two," she said softly. "He's going to think we're all just sluts."

Andy couldn't help the chuckle that burst from his throat.

"What?" Regan asked.

"He's going to think he's died and gone to heaven," Andy replied. "He's already said he hopes the girl he asked to prom dumps him so he can ask Ruth."

"She would go if that happens," Regan confirmed.

"Hell, he could walk in with Ruth on one arm and Joy on the other," Andy said. "Abby Barnes is cute but those two looked sexy as hell tonight."

"Uh-hmm," Regan said, clearing her throat noisily.

"You looked amazing," Andy added quickly.

"Too late," Regan told him. "You'd rather be in there with them then out here with me."

"Now you're being silly," Andy replied.

"I know," Regan said, breaking into giggles. "I was just playing around."

"I was worried that maybe I hadn't ... I don't know ... paid enough attention to you this evening," Andy admitted.

"You were catching up with Katrina and making sure Chris, Elizabeth and Paul were comfortable," Regan said. "Besides, I'm not sure we were a foot apart all evening. I felt like I was the hostess and you were the host."

"I'm glad you're not mad," Andy replied.

"But I am tired," Regan told him. "I ... I think I just want to snuggle and sleep tonight. Is that OK?"

"Of course," Andy answered immediately.

"Naked, of course," Regan amended.

"Oh," Andy groaned.

"Don't you like to see me naked?" Regan wondered as she made sure the door was secure.

"I love to see you naked," Andy told her. "I was just thinking that I could barely sleep when you were in a tank top and panties. I'll never fall asleep if you're not wearing anything at all."

Regan grinned as she unzipped her skirt and let it drop. It pooled at her feet and left her standing in a pair of pink boyshorts and her shirt. She walked toward the bedroom, stopping to gesture for Andy to follow her. He complied – but made sure he was far enough behind he would watch her butt.

Her shirt was gone by the time he crossed the threshold and closed the door. Her lacy bra was the same color as her panties.

"You're overdressed," she said with raised eyebrows. Andy only nodded dumbly as he pulled his shirt off. Regan bent over her luggage, making sure her bottom was directed at Andy. She spent longer than she needed to emerge with a T-shirt. She kept her back to Andy as she held it up in front of her and unhooked her bra.