Читать книгу The Other Side Of The Lies - Callie Ansar - Страница 3

As the door closed behind us, Ramsey made a left out of room 208 and headed down the crowded hall towards the stairs. As we walked, guys called out, “Way to go, Ramsey,” while the girls shot daggers at me with their eyes. Becoming uneasy, I squeezed his hand and right away he became aware of my feelings.

“Don’t worry, Kid. I won’t let go. Don’t let them bother you,” Ramsey assured me as we finally made it to the stairwell and walked down the two flights of stairs into the parking lot of the Seashore motel.

“Pool or beach?” he asked.

“Pool then beach,” I replied.

“I like it. Let’s go,” he said as he began to lead us to the back of the motel where the pool was.

Prom weekend at the Jersey shore was just like Cancun during spring break. This simple fact was never more apparent to me than when we entered the pool area. There were 18 year olds everywhere. The majority of the guys at the pool were pretty buff and tan. Some of them stood in front of a group of girls and flexed their muscles, while others tried their luck the traditional way, with cheesy pick up lines. The girls sat on their lounge chairs with their hair and makeup done so flawlessly as if they were going to a club rather than sitting by a pool. Every last one of them had skimpy bikinis on, that showed off their overdeveloped bodies. The only thing that was different here than in Mexico was that the pool in Mexico was a lavish free form pool and the Seashores, a mere rectangle. There was also a swim up bar in the pool in Mexico, and here, everyone had coolers next to their chairs. As if my self confidence hadn’t been at an all time low, it just hit rock bottom.

As I took in the scene, Ramsey opened the white gate that gave us access to the pool deck. When we stepped in, hand in hand, I could feel eyes on us and knots beginning to build in my stomach as the gate closed behind us.

“I see my boys over there, come on,” he said as he led me toward his friends.

All eyes were on us as we approached. There was a mix of girls and guys, some familiar and some not so familiar. Ramsey was a gentleman and introduced me to every last one of them. I felt so out of place with my jean shorts and flip flops but for some reason, standing there holding Ramsey’s hand, I felt like I had the best accessory at the pool that day.

Billy, Ramsey’s best friend as he introduced himself, handed me a beer and said, “So how do you guys know each other?”

“I’m friends with Lauri Ryan. I came down here with her and Danny last night.”

It was few seconds before he answered and said, “Oh, now I know who you are. You’re her friend who lives in Queens, and comes up on the weekends, right? You and your boyfriend just broke up, right? I heard you were gonna be here this weekend,” Billy said, licking his lips.

“Yeah, that’s me I guess,” I said before taking a swig out of the brown bottle that was handed to me.

“So how is it that we’ve never met before?” Billy asked again.

“I have no idea. Do you ever hang out with Lauri?” I asked him right back.

“Not really, why?”

“Well then, I guess that’s why we’ve never met, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. She hangs out with that dickhead Danny. I don’t know why he thinks he’s so fucking cool just because he sells pot. I think he’s a loser,” Billy rambled on.

“What?” I naively questioned.

Ramsey intervened by saying, “Ok, have another beer, dick. Me and Karen are going in the pool. Come on, Kid.”

“Sounds good,” I said. I turned to one of the familiar girls, Erin, and asked if she would watch my beer and my bag.

“No problem,” she said, as I placed my bag on the lounge chair next to her.

For a second I forgot that I needed to take off my tank top and shorts before I got in the pool. I hated this part about going in water because it always reminded me of a strip tease. First you pull your shirt over your head and then you shimmy out of whatever bottom you have on. Then you shake your hair out and look around to see who is looking at you. I was almost ready to tell Ramsey that I felt sick and run back to my room when he started his show.

First to come off was his hat. His wavy brown hair was now exposed and glistened in the sun light. He threw it on the lounge chair where my bag and towel sat. Next was his shirt. As soon as he crossed his arms at the bottom of his tee and began to pull it up, I could feel those butterflies again. Ramsey wasn’t as beefy as the other guys by the pool that day, but boy was his body toned in all the right places. Impeccable pecks, perfect arms and absolutely amazing abs made up this man’s upper body. He then threw his shirt on the chair with his hat, and looked at me and asked, “Are you going in with your clothes on?” as he kicked off his sneakers.

I shook my head no.

“Well then, come on. I’m hot.”

I was getting hot too, but only in a different way than he was talking about. I then began my show. First off were my flip flops, which I just flicked next to my beer that was on the floor by our chair. Next off was my tank top which revealed my newly pierced navel, a constant reminder of my trip to Mexico. Once my shirt was off, I threw it on the lounge chair, just as Ramsey did. Then, I unbuttoned my shorts and shimmied them down my legs. I stepped out of them and then flicked them onto the chair with my foot. I then took my hair out of the pony tail it had been in all day. I took it out because I hated going under water with my hair up, but I also wanted to look as attractive as possible. Given my competition at the pool, I needed as much help as I could get. As I placed the elastic band around my wrist and swished my hair from side to side, I heard a few whistles, which made me blush. I then grabbed at the back of my bikini bottom to make sure I had maximum coverage on both butt cheeks, in case it had ridden up a little. I coyly looked up at Ramsey to see his reaction.

Facing me, he grabbed my waist with his right hand, leaned down and whispered in my left ear, “I’m regretting bringing you down here now. All eyes are on you, Kid. I’m gonna have to let these guys know that you’re here with me.” Following his words, he softly moved his lips from my ear never losing contact with my skin, and kissed my cheek.

I don’t know if it was the fact that we were standing there almost naked, the fact that every time his skin touched mine it felt like fireworks going off in my body, or the fact that he wanted people to know that I was with him that made me want to grab him and go a little further with that kiss. Once he moved his face away from my cheek, he looked me straight in the eye. What was probably only a minute seemed like an hour of us intensely looking at each other. My desire to throw my arms around his neck and passionately kiss him grew stronger with every second.

Our eye contact was broken when I was shoved forward by someone, landing right in Ramsey’s arms.

“Oh excuse me, did I just do that?” a snarly voice spoke.

I looked up at Ramsey and although I only knew him for about an hour, I could see a look of disgust on his face. I didn’t even have to turn around to see who the voice belonged to because once Ramsey helped me off of him and back into my own space, the voice was standing next to him, with her arm locked into his.

“So who the fuck are you, skank?” the voice questioned. The voice, by the way, was gorgeous. She was tall and blonde with legs that looked like they’d never end. Her blonde hair was flawlessly straight and her tan was intensified by her white bikini, which barely covered her huge breasts.

“Nicole, why don’t you just get the fuck out of here and leave her alone?” Erin shouted from her lounge chair. “Do you have to cause trouble everywhere you go?” Erin asked, as she got up and left the pool area.

“Shut the fuck up, Erin. This has nothing to do with you. This has to do with me, Ramsey, and this skank who is trying to bang my boyfriend,” the voice shouted as Erin disappeared.

Ramsey stood with a stone cold look on his face. He released his arm from her and said, “Nicole, we broke up months ago because you started screwing someone behind my back. The only reason I went to the prom with you is because I already paid for it and I wanted to be there with my friends. I wasn’t your date. We simply sat at the same table, we didn’t even go there together, nor did we say one fucking word to each other all night. So, do yourself a favor and get the fuck out of my face before I lose my temper. My business and who I spend my time with is none of your business anymore.” He stood so close to her with his jaw clenched that I was a little frightened for her.

She took a step back and looked at me. “You’re not even good enough for him. Look at you. Look at me. I’m what he likes, not girls like you. Don’t waste your time, loser. You’re a game for him sweetie, a mere joke. You don’t really think he likes you, do you?” she laughed as she shoved my shoulder as she passed by me, making her exit from the pool.

I never moved. I don’t know if it was my heart or my feet that felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t look at Ramsey either. I was humiliated in front of all of those people. If I could run away, I would have. Instead, I just stood there as tears streamed down my face. Ramsey never moved from his spot either, as a look of anguish spread across his face. Suddenly, I heard Lauri screaming my name.

I still didn’t move.

She kept calling my name until she placed herself right in front of me, Erin right beside her.

“Jesus Karen,” Lauri huffed, clearly out of breath from the run down here from her room. “Erin came and told me that Nicole was bothering you. Are you ok? Where is that bitch?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I wiped my tears.

“Come on sweetie, let’s go,” she said as she wrapped her arm around me.

“Just get me out of here,” I demanded.

We began to head for the white gate when Billy caught up to us. He stopped us and said, “I like girls like you, Karen. Come find me later if you want.”

I completely ignored him, while Lauri couldn’t contain herself. “You are such a douchebag, Billy. And you,” she turned around to face Ramsey, who was putting his hat back on, “you are a fucking asshole. I don’t know what happened here, but fuck you, Ramsey.”

As upset and humiliated as I was, I couldn’t help but turn and look in Ramsey’s direction once the white gate closed behind us. He was standing in the same spot, staring at me, as a look of grief now devoured his face.