For the Best by LJ Scar

think it
is?” I stated laughing.
    “Use the urinal on the wall.”
    “Real funny.” I came out and gulped the less
stagnant air.
    He chuckled shaking his head and took a turn
himself. I began walking and he caught up at the end of the graying
cracked boardwalk of the boat launch. A wet lab mix ran to meet
us.
    “Hey Tanner,” the Lab’s owner called out.
His dog crouched down on front paws inviting play as his master
joined us. “Hi,” the stranger acknowledged me.
    I nodded in return.
    “Party at Cochise tonight. You in?” He asked
Tanner while flashing me a surfer dude smile, not bothering to pull
up his board shorts where they were slipping down low on his nicely
indented hips.
    “Definitely,” Tanner replied.
    Suddenly the good mood of our shared day
melted into the swampy gator filled water surrounding us. I had no
intention of going. It had been 490 days since we’d attended our
last party together.

Chapter 10
     
     
    Hanna
    In the darkness of Sunday morning, long
after I’d left Tanner to go find entertainment without me at the
party, I did the internet search of his name, my name, Hanner, “the
it couple”. I got one hit but luckily the video wasn’t of me.
    I called him. A sick feeling deep inside, as
I considered if he’d made it home yet.
    “Yeah.” His voice was tired, sleepy.
    “Have you checked lately to make sure it
didn’t get posted again?”
    “I looked for it a couple of nights
ago.”
    I wondered what had prompted his search. I
held the cell in the dark. He sighed heavily both of us weighed
down with the weight of what happened.
    Finally, he spoke, “I love you, Hanna.”
    Garbled I answered, “I love you too.”
    I disconnected and fingered the disk. The
one Benny had threatened to distribute for $20 bucks a DVD. I had
given him $1000 to give me what he said was the original and only
copy. Opening the disc drive, the disc scanned and prompted me to
play. There on the screen we appeared.
     
August, my last party, 4th weekend of
Junior Year
    We were at the home of a senior, some guy on
the football team. There was a 10 gallon trash can filled with some
jungle juice concoction that was being drunk like water. I had two
glasses on an empty stomach and was feeling the effects.
    “I need to go home,” I whispered.
    Tanner scanned the partygoers focusing on a
couple ascending from downstairs. I watched the guy give a subtle
nod to him. “Not yet.” He placed his hand on the small of my back
and maneuvered me to the staircase.
    “Tanner, I need to lie down.” I turned.
    He reached for my hand and pulled me down a
step. “You can. Let me find you somewhere less noisy.”
    We wove through the rec room to an open
door, entering I tried to calm my stomach with deep breaths. Taking
in my surroundings, I noticed bright track lighting was
strategically angled away from wall art to spotlight the couch. A
dimmer light switch was lowered coating the rest of the room in
shadows.
    “Somebody’s been messing with the lights.” I
pointed out to Tanner.
    He made an excuse. “Probably just someone
goofing around.”
    Pool balls could be heard through the walls
as they ricocheted off the sides of the table outside, as the
sounds of Mario Brothers being played competed in noise.
    I turned to find him close.
    “You okay?” he asked lowly before brushing a
kiss across my lips.
    I rested my head against his chest. “Give me
a second.”
    He gently stroked my hair moving onto my
back. Eventually, I raised my head. “You always make it better. You
know that, right?”
    He stopped, that hesitation, that mere
second – it was as if he had an internal struggle. Like the idiot I
was, I placed a loving hand on his jaw and slowly kissed his doubts
away.
    He positioned me against the wall and leaned
sideways in the frame. With one hand, he unbuttoned the first
obstacle on my shirt.
    “What if someone walks in on us?”
    He reached less than a foot and flipped the
lock on the door. He splayed his