Memory*

[Megami*]

(Continued from: Usurper.  The below post contains crude language and sexual themes.)

The evening had long since departed into night, the tedious math homework had been painstakingly completed, Mr. and Mrs. Callahan had finally returned from their evening out, and now Ricky lay nestled in the dark blue blankets covering his bed.  The day had been long and drawn out, from the earliest hours of the morning throughout his classes, to baseball practice, to dinner at Benson's, to the fight that had ensued, to the talk with the police officer, then to the grueling math homework he'd been assigned.  Now, Ricky lay staring vacantly at the darkened ceiling of his bedroom, listening offhandedly to the radio that lay on the night stand next to his bed.

"This is D.J. Skeet with the X's nonstop request block, and that was Panic! at the Disco with their latest hit sweeping America.  Now we're gonna slow things down a bit and take you back to yesteryear.  Here's Coldplay with "Yellow", requested by Miss Alicia Hayes.  Here ya go, Alicia.  Enjoy!"

As the first mellow chords echoed out from the guitar and drifted through the CD player into Ricky's ears, he couldn't help but smile a bit.  It seemed like eons ago that he had last heard this song.  The last time he heard it, he remembered distinctly.  It was right after he'd moved to New Jersey from Montana... right after he'd befriended Eric Silvstedt.  Somehow, Eric and some of the other baseball boys had conned Ricky into attending one of Andy Edwards's infamous parties, and it was a night Ricky Callahan would never forget.  It was the night he met her... the night everything changed for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quite the crowd had formed at the abode of one, Andy Edwards - a baseball player infamous for his parties.  Above all the talking and commotion, the chaotic techno music that blasted from the nearby speakers was clearly audible.  Ricky had entered the party and was completely taken aback by the sheer size of it all.  People lined the stairwell and the upstairs corridors of Andy Edward's spacious home, and the floor below, which he and Eric were currently traversing, was even more cram packed.  The techno music squealed to an abrupt end as Eric and Ricky approached the buffet that had been set out, as did the wild thrashing that was supposed to be dancing that was being done across the house.

"Alright, alright!" the D.J. exclaimed as the techno music came to an end.  "We're gonna slow things down a bit now.  Everybody's good and liquored up I trust, so it's time for some baby-makin' music to get your groove on to!"

The words incited a fit of giggles from many of the household's current occupants, most of whom had clearly already had far too much to drink.  As the mellow guitar riffs at the very beginning of the Coldplay song "Yellow" boomed from the sound system, a few of the drunken girls grabbed random partners to dance with or got together to dance to the laid-back tune.

"This is for my man Andy, yo!  You know he's gotta be kickin' it somewhere, cause he sure as hell ain't out here with the rest of us!"

With that, the D.J. stopped speaking into the microphone, and Ricky couldn't help but shake his head and laugh nervously at the chaos and confusion that was unfolding as a room full of drunken teenagers attempted to dance.  Some of them were headed off to the semi-secluded areas of the house, looking for a private spot for a little one-on-one time.  His thoughts immediately returned from their wandering state as Eric elbowed him in the stomach and all but shoved a Budweiser into his hand.

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow

"You heard the man!" Eric shouted, clearly already under the influence.  Come to think of it, Eric was a lightweight when it came to drinking... one beer usually sent him into a reverie, but it never stopped him from drinking more, "We're gonna get our groooooove on tonight!"

Eric cackled loudly as if amused by the word itself.  It sounded sort of stupid in a sober state, but apparently it was hysterical when one is intoxicated.  Ricky laughed half-heartedly at the remark, not thinking much of it, and offhandedly took a sip of the beer that had been shoved into his grasp.  Eric stumbled forward a bit, still chugging on the bottle of Everclear he had confiscated from the table and was apparently drinking straight, then wrapped an arm around Ricky and patted him on the back.

"We gotta get you some pussy tonight, m'man!  You're too uptight!  You need to loooosen up!"

With that, Eric began shaking him vigorously, causing Ricky to step back a bit in slight surprise.  All in all, the entire ordeal was amusing, but just a little bit on the embarrassing side.  Casting a serious glance toward his frizzy-headed companion, he smiled casually, tipping his beer up as he took another sip.

"S'alright.  I'm not too worried about it."

Eric was relentless in his efforts, however.  He spoke again, his voice getting louder and louder, "Oh c'mon Callahan!  Are you a fag or somethin'?  What straight guy ain't into gettin' some ass?"

In his drunken state, Eric pulled his arms back a couple times, thrusting his pelvis forward as he did so.  Ricky only shook his head and started laughing at the fact that his best friend was making a complete ass out of himself with no regard for the fact.  Then again, everyone else was totally wasted too, or so it seemed.  Nobody'd remember this, surely.  If nothing else, the entire ordeal was providing Ricky with amusement.  He hadn't had a good laugh since he'd moved to New Jersey from Montana.  It was weird trying to settle in and make new friends.  The party and Eric's idiotic actions took his mind off of it.

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

Eric's arm once again fell onto Ricky, though now it was apparent that he was using the hispanic boy as a means of holding himself up.  Lightweight, indeed.  Then again, he was drinking a bottle of Everclear with no chaser.  It was surprising he hadn't puked by now.  Give it a couple more minutes, the hispanic boy thought subconsciously.  It was then that Eric began pushing through the crowd, dragging Ricky along with him as his newfound leaning post.

"Where are we going?" Ricky questioned offhandedly.

"Dude, I TOLD you!" Eric retorted matter-of-factly, "We gotta find us some hunnies!"

Shaking his head and laughing once again, Ricky couldn't help but turn a bit red at the remark.  Eric was dead serious.  That was the part that truly concerned Ricky.  Then again, what Eric did wasn't really any of his business anyway.  Sighing inwardly, he continued to walk with Eric through the spacious living room of the house toward the back, where the pool was located.  All at once Eric turned, his finger pointed forward in a drunken stupor and a large grin spreading across his face.  He grinned so wide that even his glazed-over eyes seemed to light up as he pointed.

"Hunnies ho!" the redhead yelled, causing Ricky to blush a bit in embarrassment once again.

So then I took my turn
Oh all the things I've done
And it was all yellow

Once again Ricky was being dragged, this time to the snack table that had been set up outside by the pool.  Eric forcefully dragged him through all the half-nude and swimsuit clad bodies toward the table, the ridiculous grin not once leaving his face.  He came to an abrupt halt, causing Ricky to stagger forward, and once again pointed, although not nearly as noticably this time.

Out of sheer curiosity, Ricky's eyes traced the path Eric's finger directed him in, and he finally saw what Eric was pointing at.  Near the snack table stood a bubbly looking brunette in a deep red halter-top, a miniskirt that would've easily been showing the world her underwear had it been any shorter, and black high-heeled boots.  Ricky wasn't really into the whole "bimbo" look... his attention slowly traveled to the figure accompanying the brunette.

And that was when he saw her.  Her long blonde hair fell freely across what had to have been the most beautiful features he'd ever seen.  The slinky black sundress she was wearing fit her form perfectly, and was neither too revealing nor too confining.  Ricky was taken aback by the blonde, and zoned out for a moment, his face turning crimson in color as she seemed to glance over at him and smile... or maybe the alcohol was starting to get to him, and he was starting to hallucinate.

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know you know I love you so
You know I love you so

"So what d'ya think?" Eric cooed, his attention focused on the girls standing casually near the snack table.

Ricky had to admit, he was curious.  Very curious.  Not so much about the brunette, persay.  She was pretty in her own right, though she seemed just about as intoxicated as Eric was at the moment and Ricky didn't find it very refined.  Then again, he was at a high school party, what had he expected?  The blonde girl, though... she was more his type.  For one, she wasn't stumbling around drunk off her ass.  Blondes were more his type anyway.  Rather than press further on who the girl was, Ricky simply nodded his head approvingly.

"If you wanna get laid tonight, you should go for the brunette," Eric half-whispered in his ear, taking him slightly offguard, "She's super easy, she'd probably do us both.  At the same time, even!"

Eric grinned a ridiculous grin, showcasing his drunken stupor all the more.  Shaking his head a bit, Ricky smiled and shrugged.  Eric was the one who wanted to "get laid", as he so kindly put it.  That was definitely more his thing.  Finally, Ricky decided to get brave and inquire about the blonde he'd had his eye on.

"The blonde...?" he mused, and that was all he had time to get out.  Before he could even finish the sentence, Eric had jumped in.

"Her name's Whitney, and you can forget about her," Eric noted, getting extremely close to Ricky's ear to whisper, "She's a real uptight bitch."

I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh all the things you do
Cause you were all yellow

Ricky frowned noticably as Eric stated the fact.  Of course, Ricky hadn't been thinking on the same terms as Eric had.  Still... at that moment, as if simply to prove a point, Eric began sauntering toward the two, doing his best to hold himself up.  In a nervous state, Ricky trailed behind, half amused and half horrified by what he knew was bound to happen next.  Much to his dismay, Eric headed straight for Whitney, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and catching her totally offguard.

"Wanna fuck?"

The blonde took a few steps back, away from Eric.  This caused the redhead to stumble forward a bit toward Lexie Williams.  Ricky was just as taken aback as the others in the group, save Eric.  Whitney's face turned a bright red in color as she stared, mouth agape, at the boy who had just asked the blunt question to her.  Lexie, however, had a wild smile painted on her lips.  Whitney began shaking her head vigorously as if to convey the message, and she held up her hands defensively as she backed away.

"Hey!" Lexie chimed, causing Eric to raise an eyebrow, "I'll do it!"

I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

Ricky had approached the group slowly, completely embarrassed by what had just occurred.  The deal, however, seemed to be settled, and Eric and Lexie stumbled off toward one of the back rooms.  Sidling up next to Whitney, Ricky shook his head and a nervous laugh escaped his lips.  What an awkward situation, all around... and the sad part was that Eric probably wouldn't even remember the ordeal in the morning, but Whitney didn't seem intoxicated at all.  She'd probably be able to recall it clear as crystal.

"Hey," he mused somewhat, still shaking his head as he watched Eric and Lexie stagger away together, "I'm really sorry about him.  He's just a little... well, drunk."

A quiet laugh escaped the blonde's lips as she nodded.  Apparently, she wasn't too upset about the entire ordeal.  That in itself was probably a blessing in disguise.  Ricky took another sip of the beer he'd been toting around for a large portion of the night and rubbed a spot on the back of his head absent-mindedly.  He'd gotten this far only to realize that he had no idea what to possibly say next.

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know for you i bleed myself dry
For you i bleed myself dry

"Yeah..." Whitney mused, her lips forming into a light smile, "Just... caught me a little offguard is all.  But I'll give him credit, that was blunt."

Ricky laughed, his head shaking a bit in embarrassment for Eric's drunken attempt to hit on her.  Come to think of it, he'd seen Whitney around campus a lot.  She was a cheerleader and one of the so-called popular girls, after all.  He was honestly surprised by her friendly demeanor.  Back at his old school, most of the girls like her were stuck-up snobs.

"He, uh, gets a little wild when he's drinking," Ricky confessed, smiling somewhat.

"I never would've imagined," Whitney chimed, laughing lightly at the thought, "I will say, this has been an interesting experience.  The whole party scene isn't really my thing... this was all Lexie's doing, I just got dragged along for the ride."

"I hear ya on that one..."

Its true look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine
look at the stars look how they shine for you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The song gradually faded into non-existence on the CD player and another song began to fill the silence of the room.  Somewhere in the short span during which that occurred, Ricky Callahan finally dozed off into a peaceful slumber, physically and mentally preparing himself for the upcoming day ahead.  Indeed, it had been a long and drawn out day, and it had left him completely exhausted.  The hispanic boy drifted into sleep, one final thought passing through his head before exhaustion took hold and removed him from his reverie.

It's been a hell of a day...

((Continued in: Mi Familia))