(7) Rainy Nights

It is Friday night, as I toss pairs of boots and gloves out of my hall closet, desperately searching for some sort of water protection, preferably an umbrella.

As I toss another random boot out behind me, I see a red blurry light from the nearby window that comes from the reflection of a car's headlights, mixed with the droplets of summer rain. I decide to ditch the idea of the umbrella and instead grab all the boots and other winter wear and throw them in the closet and slam the door.

Jumping into the back of the waiting Black Jeep Grand Cherokee, I slam the door shut after being dumped on by a shower of water, My hair is stringy and water droplets are scattered across the front of my light blue button-down and khaki pants.
"Hey," Cameron says, with an echo from my other guy friend Josh in the back seat.

"Hey, guys." I reply, running my fingers through my long blonde hair. I'm not really in the most talkative mood as I watch the raindrops run down the windows. This doesn't last long because Cameron and Josh start goofing around and acting out scenes from Saturday Night Live, which of course starts me laughing. Sometimes you just have to appreciate guys.

After a few minutes, we pull into a parking space in front of Blockbuster and all three of us jump out and head for the entrance. Josh and I both run inside to avoid getting soaked, but of course Cameron lags behind, standing in the middle of the parking lot holding his arms up in the rain like a complete idiot. Josh and I run to the back where the latest arrivals for videos are displayed. We run past an older man stacking a pile of videos back on the shelves. He has long stringy dark hair and reeks of cigarette smoke and as I glance at his name tag I realize that he is named Tim. I shudder as I look at him over my shoulder and we make our way closer to the back of the room.

Finally, we see the sign for the latest arrivals and start peering over the selection of videos. I study Josh for a minute as he picks up American Pie and looks at the back of it.

"This the BEST movie!" Josh exclaims, as I roll my eyes and smile. I have only known Josh for, a couple years. He sat next to me in English in eighth grade and we automatically just clicked. He used to keep to himself most of the time, with his kind of shy blue eyes and dark hair. He's not much of a loud person, but Cameron and I have definitely fixed that over the years.
After Josh and I browse for a few minutes, Cameron finally joins us. His hair is wet and plastered to hsis face and his red Abercrombie shirt and khaki shorts are completely soaked through. I tousle his hair and tell him just how ridiculous he looks as he grabs American Pie from Josh and The Haunting from the shelf as we make our way to the front of the store to the cash register. Josh pulls out some money from the back pocket of his navy shorts and hands it to the lady who is waiting for it. I glance at her.

She looks like she's somewhere in her forties with her dark hair twisted into a tight bun on top of her head. She has a harsh looking face, but smiles at us after we pay for the videos. I grab the bag and then we make our way back to the Jeep.
Josh's older brother, Clarke, is almost eighteen and is our taxi driver for the night. His girlfriend, Erin, whom I only knew a little bit, is next to him in the front seat.

She is leaning on his shoulder and holding his hand with her legs on top of his lap. When he opens the door, she quickly moves back to her side of the seat next to the window, definitely annoyed by her boyfriend having to tow around some freshmen on her date night.

As I sit there in the middle of the car with Josh next to me, I am suddenly deeply interested in Erin and Clarke.
I have always thought Clarke was attractive, even before I knew Josh. He has crystal blue eyes like his younger brother, but also dirty blonde hair and had an amazing tan from being a lifeguard at Greenwich Point. Erin is also gorgeous, with her long blonde hair, emerald green eyes and an amazing tan of her own from life guarding alongside Clarke. They have been together for only a few months, but they act as if they are engaged.

I am now mesmerized with both of them. I watch as Clarke makes fun of Erin and she punches him on the shoulder. Then he tickles her, trying to keep one hand on the wheel. Erin starts giggling uncontrollably. She punches him harder on the shoulder and he puts both hands on the wheel again, focusing more on the road but also looking into her eyes. She takes his hand in hers and they both kind of sit there while he continues to drive.

I take this all in. I think about what it would be like to be in a relationship like that. Sure, some of my friends had gone out with seniors when they were only freshmen, and I have had a few boyfriends before high school. But it's not the same.
Dating a senior as a freshman does not bring complete seriousness to a relationship. The freshmen are always thought of as just annoying freshmen, being dated by senior guys for play. In junior high school, relationships were never that serious either. Girls only went out with guys for a few months max, and they never were really confident around them.
I am thinking about a completely new relationship. One where the partners are mature and are seriously in love. I've never had that. I try to picture what it would be like to be with a guy like that, to be with Jeff Waters or some other guy for that matter. I sit there, completely wanting a boyfriend more than ever before.

“Hey, what the heck are you thinking about? It's like you're gone, man." Cameron says, waving his hand in front of my face.

I sigh. I’m back in the Jeep Grand Cherokee with just my two guy friends sitting there with me. " Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” I answer.

Just then, we pull into Josh's driveway and jump out with the videos. Josh's brother screeches out of the driveway, now free of little brothers and their little friends. I walk slowly towards Josh's TV room where Britney, Charissa, Patsy, and Charlotte are already piled on the couch watching Daria on MTV. I think to myself, as I open the sliding glass door that friends are definitely important, but having a boyfriend is even more important. At least right now anyway.

Right then and there at that moment. I vow to myself that, as of the upcoming school year, I will never be single for more than a month ever again.

Cameron looks at me strangely, and then opens the door. I sit on the couch with the other girls. The laughter and joking seems to come from another world, as I dream about my boyfriend-to-be.