The Bigger They Are by Jack Allen Page B

eighteen. Could she get in trouble for drinking?
    But it didn’t seem to bother Erin. She was only a year older than her, and she was taking a big drink from her cup. Allie shrugged and took a sip. It was bitter and made her shiver. If it was good enough for Erin, though, it was good enough for her.
    They stood together off to the side of the main room, sipping the beer in their red cups. All around them were cute guys, some tall, some short, some with dark hair, some with light hair. Erin had a big grin on her face. She leaned close to speak into Allie’s ear, over the noise of the music.
    “Isn’t this cool?” Erin said.
    Allie nodded. There were so many guys. Why had she never done this sooner?
    Erin looked into her red plastic cup.
    “Let’s get some more beer,” she shouted into Allie’s ear.
    Allie nodded again. She still had about half of her beer left. She drank it down quickly and followed Erin through the crowd.
    They found a guy in another room with a keg. He refilled their cups, and Allie tried to get his attention to thank him, but the music was too loud, and he was too busy refilling other people’s red plastic cups. She moved on with Erin.
    They found a stairway to the basement, where people were going up and down. The music was louder there.
    “Let’s go down there,” Erin said.
    They pushed their way through the people to get down the stairs. It was dark in the basement, and even more packed with people. Against the back wall of the basement was a real bar, where people were jammed in, getting drinks. At the other end of the basement was a small stage, where a real band was cranking out very loud music.
    “This is so cool,” Allie shouted into Erin’s ear.
    “Let’s go to the bar,” Erin shouted.
    They fought their way to the bar. Erin got another beer. Allie watched her get her cup refilled again by the cute guy behind the bar. How did she drink it so fast? Her own cup was still full, and she was getting dizzy from her first beer.
    They watched the band for a while. It was too dark to see much. Allie would have liked to go back upstairs, where she would at least get to look at the cute guys, but she was too afraid to leave Erin’s side.
    In the middle of one of the songs, two girls climbed up on the small stage and started to strip out of their clothes. The guys all cheered and whistled. Allie felt her face get warm, and put her hand over her mouth. She should not be there to watch this.
    But Erin turned and put her hand on her shoulder. She was laughing out loud like it was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Allie stared at her. How could she think this was funny?
    She looked at the girls on the stage again. They had removed their shirts and jeans, and were dancing to the music in their underwear. One of the girls put her hands on her hips and thrust her backside in and out.
    The other girl removed her bra and ran her hands over her bare chest. The guys in the crowd whooped and shouted. Allie could not tear her eyes away. She had never seen anything so horrifying.
    But there was another feeling inside her, that made the horror of what she was seeing seem insignificant. The two girls on stage started kissing, and put their arms around each other, and were touching each other in different places. The feeling made her warm between her legs, and made her nipples tingly. She looked at the beer in her cup. How much of it was the alcohol?
    She turned around and rested her elbows on the bar. Her head was spinning. She rubbed her legs together and gasped. There was no way she could deny it. She was horny.
    She turned her head down and rubbed her forehead. That was her problem. She was lonely. Lonely and horny. That was a bad combination. How long had it been since she did anything with a boy? Was it that long since she fooled around with Rob in the back of his Dad’s car? For all that time, she regretted letting him take her virginity, and denied that she could be horny. Right now she would