Tats by Layce Gardner Read Free Book Online

her own skin.
    Lori and I sat in the back, sharing a Bible. We pretended to study the words of Jesus written in red, but instead we played hangman and drew goofy pictures of the teacher. Lori giggled and poked me in the ribs with her elbow and I giggled and poked back.
    Every time Lori looked at me with those green eyes of hers my heart swelled up like a tight balloon and if it weren’t for my ribs, it would’ve floated right up in the air.
    Lori whispered in my ear, “Wanna come to the slumber party Friday night? It’s just us girls here in the basement. It’ll be fun.”
    Her hair was in my face, but I didn’t brush it away. I took a deep whiff of her scent, memorizing it for later. “Sure,” I said, acting like I didn’t really care but why not.
    Friday night took forever to arrive. I showed up at church early and Lori showed up late. She was so popular that I didn’t get any alone time with her at all. So, I made do with junk food instead. I shoved the popcorn and potato chips in my mouth with both fists. The other girls just nibbled, but I’d never gotten to eat so much shit at one sitting in my life, so I took full advantage of it.
    We all sat around in a big circle on the basement floor on our sleeping bags. Lori’s mom brought me an extra one since I didn’t have one. It must’ve been Lori’s big brother’s sleeping bag because it was camouflage, had some dog hair stuck to it and smelled like gym socks.
    My pajamas were just a big old T-shirt and panties. I never bothered with pajamas. I just went to sleep in whatever I happened to be wearing at the time. Sometimes I even slept in my shoes if I was wearing them to begin with. That way if I had to run, I didn’t have to get dressed first or take a chance on being half-naked. All the other girls had cute little store-bought pajama sets or nightgowns. I felt like shit warmed over compared to them until Lori said in front of the other girls, “I wish I was as pretty as you, Lee Anne. You can wear anything and look great.”
    The burn started in my cheeks and worked itself all the way down. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
    All the girls started in talking about Ray or Jeff or Brian. Who they wanted to go steady with, who they had a crush on. I just kept quiet and ate more chips.
    “When Ray kisses me he slobbers all over. I swear his spit drips down my chin after,” said Janet.
    “Ooooh,” everyone squealed.
    “How can you stand that?” asked Tracy.
    Everybody laughed and they all talked at once about the way their boyfriends kissed and they giggled and screamed.
    Lori’s mom opened the door and peeked her head inside. “It’s midnight, girls, time for lights out.”
    “Noooo,” they all said at once.
    Lori’s mom flipped out the lights. “Sleep time,” she said. “We have a lot of activities planned in the morning. You girls need your beauty rest.” She shut the door and left.
    Everybody made getting ready for bed sounds and a couple of the girls across the circle from me whispered and giggled still.
    “I have an idea!” Lori whispered. “Let’s practice kissing!”
    Everybody clapped their hands and laughed and I felt a weird energy in the air, and that’s when I knew this was why we were all there. This was the part of the night they’d all been waiting for.
    “Who’re we gonna practice kissing on?” somebody asked.
    I was wondering the same thing.
    Lori sat down next to me so close our thighs touched. She whispered through the dark, “Lee Anne has volunteered to be the boy. Right, Lee Anne?”
    “Yeah, okay,” I said. I hoped I didn’t say that as scared as I felt.
    “I go first,” Lori said.
    “Two minutes,” some girl said. “Two minutes apiece, then Lee Anne tells who’s the best kisser out of all of us.”
    I didn’t even have enough time to let the scared sink in good before Lori pulled me to her and touched her lips to mine. I closed my eyes and concentrated on kissing her back. She tasted like popcorn and mint gum.