Chapter 10: Bad News Night

About eight weeks have gone by since that crazy weekend. Things haven't calmed down between Lloyd and Frankie, as they battle it out in the shadow of night.

Rick and Kayla continue to dwell on the idea of getting more time alone since their relationship has heated up physically. Cory and Tara haven't had anything happen between them since that snowy romantic night.

Much to the surprise of their friends, when passion between Rick and Kayla isn't at new heights, they're battling over the littlest things. One Friday night, it spills over when everyone is hanging out down at the point.

"Hey, I wasn't done talking to you!" Kayla yells when Rick goes to walk away.

"Yeah, well go talk to someone who you like to flirt with and flaunt ya tits at!" Rick brawls, keeping his back to Kayla.

"Go fuck yourself! Fucking asshole!"

Rick doesn't let up arguing back. "Yeah, I bet you would like a good lay, wouldn't you. I see how you look at Nick at work. Want 'em? You can go have him."

Kayla takes off running after him, smacking him in the back of his head.

"I hate you, Rick!"

Hearing enough of her jaw jacking, Rick climbs into his van and takes off. Out on the street, Kayla nearly gets hit by two others racing along the straight stretch.

"Yeah, you better run, bitch!" She stands there as the guilt and regret of arguing once again take control. "Come back ... please ..." she whispers, wiping away her tears.

Tara strolls up beside her and places her arm around Kayla's shoulders.

"He'll calm down and come back. He always does. Come on. I'll give you a ride home."

Kayla sniffles and walks over to Tara's Christmas present from her parents: a brand-new violet and gray Kia Sportage.

"He hates me, girl. I can't control myself, and he's so jealous it drives me crazy."

Cranking over the engine, Tara sits there for a moment, trying to think of anything to say. "I wish I could tell you what to do or say. It's not easy having to deal with this—believe me, I know. Just give him some time and space to cool down. Best I can tell you to do."

"I wanna spend the night over at your place. Last thing I need is Rick coming over, sneaking into my room, and wanting to make up for this. It hurts too much to keep going like this. I think we do need time apart."

Tara huffs, relating to the issue her best friend is feeling.

"Yeah. Need to stop and get you a change of clothes first?"

Kayla replies with a simple, "Yes" keeping her eyes locked on the edge of the road, staring out the passenger-side window.

"All right, let's do this, then. Girls night!" Tara announces, trying to swing the mood in her car.

They stop by Kayla's place. The girls quickly gather a few things she'll need for their night together.

"Don't forget your favorite movie, and when we get to my house, we'll order an extra-large cheese pizza and eat away our feelings."

Kayla does as best friend suggests and hurry back to Tara's. Relaxed on the couch, the girls use their time to chitchat, waiting on their food to arrive before they dive into Kayla's beloved chick-flick feature film.

"Well, I know you haven't discussed it much but tell me. Do you love him yet?"

Tara's face begins to glow a soft shade of rose.

"I don't know ... my little secret."

The girls squeal at the top of their lungs.

"I can say this, since moving here, it's been so much better. I'm at the votec with Rick and Cory, and I have my own car now. Oh, girl, life here has been good so far. Now I have you as my bestie, and winter is almost half gone too. Now you know what that means."

They stare at each, counting to three using their fingers. "Bikini season!" They scream together right before the doorbell rings.

Rushing over to the door, Tara pauses for an instant to get the money from her purse. Once she opens the door, she hands the delivery guy a twenty-dollar bill. "Thank you, keep the change!"

She grips the box with both hands and playfully tosses it onto the glass coffee table.

"Dig in, girl, 'cause it is all ours!" Tara says.

Not wasting time, Kayla begins to munch on the pizza as Tara picks up the remote to hit play on the VCR.

"Tissue time," she says when the opening credits begin to appear on the screen.

Jumping and flopped back onto the couch, Tara digs into the pizza, forgetting about the world as they dive into a fantasy land of their own.

Not far from the girls' slumber party is Cory, driving around, trying to find Rick. He started at the bowling alley, then the movie theater, followed by cruising by his home. When he doesn't see his van anywhere, Cory's gut begins to turn to knots.

"Where the hell are you?" As luck would have it, Cory finally gets a glimpse at the tail end of the Man-Van.

"There you are!"

Sliding to a complete stop, Cory does his best to park as close as he can to the doors of Rick's fathers church. Once he's in the chapel, Cory sees Rick sitting in the final row of pews.

"Everything thing all right?"

Rick sits there with his hands in his lap. "Yeah, just trying to figure out why I screw up so much. It's not just Kayla, but man, remember when I said I was offered a scholarship to a Michigan College." Cory takes a seat beside Rick.

"Yeah I remember. We're all going that way together."

Tears forming in his puppy dog eyes, Rick divulges a secret he has hoped to avoid. "I lied about it. I applied to a few Michigan schools, but that's it. Other than Grambling, I don't have anyone else looking at me."

Cory sits there in silence.

"Sorry, Core."

Rolling anything that comes off his tongue, Cory tries to make the best of a bad night.

"Don't sweat it. We'll figure something out. If nothing else, get a camcorder and send schools your stuff."

A bright light goes off in Rick's mind. "Great idea. That would make it easier than only relying on Coach."

Cory nudges a bit. "Sometimes, I hit it right."

The boys share a laugh, trying to crack through the ice forming on the surface of the real issue.

"So what do I do about Kayla? How do I fix this?"

Taking a deep breath, Cory doesn't say a single word as the mood slips back to the way it was before.

"Thanks for listening, Core. You can split. I'm just gonna sit here for a minute."

Cory taps his thumb on the back edge of the pew as he sits there.

"Nah, you're my brother. I ain't gonna leave you here like this. You hurt, I hurt—simple as that."

Rick smirks and brings his hands together leaning into the pew. They sit there in silence for a while before heading out on separate paths, heading for home.

Once Cory arrives home, the surprises don't seem to end. After he gets inside and places his coat on the rack, his parents call from the kitchen.

"Cory, could you come in here, please," his father commands with something sounding off in his voice.

"Yeah, Dad, on my way."

His heart begins to pound harder when he notices his parents sitting at the table with their eyes locked on him.

"Take a seat, son. We have something to tell you," Mr. Dubois tells him, his hands shaking.

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

Trying to avoid eye contact, Mr. Dubois begins to deliver the bad news. "Well your mother and I have been trying to find a way to break this to you easily for a while now."

A look of fear creeps into Cory's eyes.

"You know I've been feeling sick for a while now, and well it's been hard to predict how I feel from day to day. Well, it's time you know that things are going to change around here."

"Is it cancer, Dad?" Cory gives a hard gulp in his throat, preparing for the worst.

"Not that bad, but it could be if I don't manage it better. I have diabetes, son, and my doctor has had a hard time helping me get it back under control."

A bit of the weight lifts from Cory's shoulders.

"I have to change my diet and pull back on the heavy duties at work and around here for a while, which means I'll need you to help pick up some of the slack. My blood pressure has also been elevated. That means I must be careful. If not, it could be bad news for me. We're monitoring my liver enzymes, hoping for the best in time." Mr. Dubois stops when he feels the signal from Mrs. Dubois—a light squeeze on his shoulder.

She steps in to speak, her voice is cracking from the stress of it all.

"That doesn't mean to quit hockey or anything else. You'll just need to do a few more things around here in place of your daddy doing it. Time to become more of a man—that's all," she says smilingly, trying to make the best of the news to their son.

"I got it, Mom, and Dad, I'll be my best. I promise."

Sensing he wants to get away from the table, Mr. Dubois excuses Cory. "You can go now, son. Sorry to scare you thinking it was something worse, but I'll manage. Telling your child that you're going to be stricken with something for life isn't easy. Night, son. Love ya."

Cory scoots his chair away, placing it back properly, and waves, making his way to his room.

Quickly walking to his room, Cory shuts and locks his door. His breathing becomes erratic as he worries about his father's well-being. "I can't do this. I gotta get out of here," he says, going over to his window and unlatching it. He's stopped when a knock comes softly from the other side of his door.

"Cory, may I come in, son?"

He stops to yank the curtains back together. He goes over to unlock the door.

"What, Mom?" he asks, standing in the doorway.

"Let me come inside, please."

Stepping aside, Cory closes the door.

"Your dad is scared; his hands and feet have been tingling almost nonstop or just flat-out going numb. His vision's even been affected to the point he's had to order glasses. So please don't think that was easy for him."

"I didn't think that at all, Mom. Don't worry. I'm going to help out more."

Taking a seat on his bed, his mother cups her hands over her face, breaking down again.

"Mom, it'll be okay—you'll see."

It's breaking Cory apart inside seeing his mother cry for the first time since his grandma passed away a few years ago.

Quietly walking over to his mom, Cory takes a seat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders, trying to help her calm down.

"I've known your father since we were kids. I can't imagine losing him anytime soon."

Cory again tries to use reason. "He's the toughest guy I know."

He reaches for his box of tissues from his nightstand. Cory gives them to his mother.

"You're such a good kid. How did we get so lucky?"

Cory shrugs, trying to make her laugh with a goofy face. Afterward she makes a deal with him. "Tell ya what. I'll keep your dad occupied so you can stay out late. Just don't go do something stupid or get me called to pick you up."

Cory nods, agreeing to her terms.

"Have fun, and keep your window unlocked so you can get in that way."

Cory and his mother get up, heading for the bedroom door. He hugs his mom one more time, then closes the door behind her. Cory stands near the door, waiting to hear his parents head into their room. Once they're in there, he gives it a few minutes to make sure the coast is clear. Sneaking out of his room, he can hear their radio on.

"Good thinking, Mom."

He makes a break for the heavy front door. Swinging it open, he looks back to make sure the suction from between the door and screen door doesn't get him busted.

After getting his coat on, he takes off for his car. He throws the shifter into neutral and pushes it back onto the street. Cory gets in and starts it up, pulling away as easily as he can without the turbo spooling up and giving him away.

Flipping his lights on, Cory cuts loose, entering the main drag of RiverCreek. When he comes to a stop at the light, he sits there revving his engine up, listening to turbo blow off in the freezing cold night air. His attention gets diverted to a set of headlights approaches the light beside him.

He rolls down the window and looks over to see Joe, sitting there, staring him down from his Eclipse.

"Wanna go?" Cory calls out, giving his car more gas.

"Better be ready to lose in that hunk of junk!" Joe cries.

"One lap. Once the light goes green again, down four blocks, make that left. Go until we reach the church. Then take that left to circle around it and use Delta Street to Bellevue Drive, then back to here."

Nodding to the route, Cory rolls up the window, prepared to go.

Waiting for the cycle to go back around, they feather their gas pedals. Cory gets into a dark frame of mind, ready to put Joe in his place. His left hand grips the steering wheel tightly while his other hand stays relaxed on the shifter. His breathing slows down to control his heartbeat.

The light flips, sending the cars squealing through first and second gears. Cory gives Joe a little bit of room, knowing that first turn is going to be icy. Joe's becoming overconfident, but as he makes that initial turn, he nearly loses control, sending his car into a light pole. Cory cracks up, taking the lead. Both cars, pushing their limits, can be heard echoing along the road.

Hitting the turn after the church, Cory's lead gets wider as Joe's fear of skidding again enter his mind being so close to the river, which causes the roads to freeze.

"C'mon!" Cory screams, looking in the rearview mirror. His determination carries him through the last stretch of the race.

Crossing back under the starting line, Cory downshifts, coming to a stop. He pulls over and doesn't see Joe anywhere.

"Hope he's okay ..."

As he says that, he can hear Joe's Eclipse heading off in the opposite direction in defeat. "Ha ha, I knew my car was better!" he yells, throwing his arms up in victory.

Settled back into his car, Cory returns to cruising around and comes to a stop down at the point. No one else is there, so he stops there and leaves his car idling as he sits there and stares for a while at the calm river.

"Man, it's nights like this that make me glad I'm getting out of here."

Reclining in his seat back, Cory places his hands behind his head. Leaning a little over to the left, he begins to stare up at the clear night's starry sky, where he gets lost in his thoughts, forgetting about the time getting late.

The craziness has subsided but unaware of everything else, Tara and Kayla have retreated to Tara's bedroom for the night. They sit there painting each other's nails.

"I know it's supposed to be our night, but ... what do you think the boys are doing?" Kayla wonders out loud, avoiding Tara's eyes.

"Probably out somewhere together being stupid. You know how those two are together. Missing Rick already, I take it?"

Kayla huffs after finishing up Tara's pinky toenail. "Kinda. He's an ass, but he's still my ass. He still loves me, and to be honest, I do like to make him jealous, but he takes it too far."

Tara scoots closer, keeping her wet nails straight on her bed. "Then stop taking it too far. Take control of him, take him by the shirt, pull him to you, kiss him, use a little tongue, and make him want you, girl."

Kayla is caught off guard; her face lights up with surprise. "Wow, that's hot!"

Tara gives her a little insight. "That's how I pretty much seduced Cory that night. I looked him in his eyes, deep and full of love, whispered sweet things to him, and placed my hand on the back of his head, pulling him to me; the rest was history."

Kayla's eyes light up with intrigue as she listens to her story. "Oh, wow, so you took control."

Tara dips her head with a twisted little grin. "Damn right, I did. Cory was going to stop and punk out on me, but I made sure he couldn't. He's ripped and hot as hell under those baggy clothes. Gives me cold chills thinking about it."

Tara shivers, sitting there, closing her eyes.

"Oh, girl, we gonna talk about this more. I want some tips and pointers. I wanna make tonight up to Rick, so c'mon what else you got to tell me."

The two girls giggle, staring at each other.

"Well, don't be afraid to be the one in control. Don't just give it up. Make Rick ache in pain. If you want, we can go shopping one day, and I will help you out."

"We'd have to go out of RiverCreek to do it. Everyone knows everyone here pretty much. Something you haven't picked up on yet. Say, maybe next weekend, go to Minneapolis for a girl's day out?"

Signaling yes with her head, Tara already has an idea of what she wants to do with Kayla to make her more appealing to Rick.

"Just keep him at bay after you two make up, and let me handle that makeover. To even make it better, I'll have you come here next weekend and have him sneak in here while I sneak out to be with Cory."

Kayla likes that idea, and her eyes give away her excitement.

"Hell, yeah!" she squeals, then covers her mouth right after.

Tara laughs and does something unexpected. "You have some beautiful features, so let's get my makeup kit out and try a few new looks."

Tara places her hand softly along Kayla's cheek, brushing her hair out of her face.

Closing her eyes, Kayla likes the way Tara made her feel.

"I liked that," she admits, beginning to feel her cheeks get warm with embarrassment.

"That's the point. Teach these things to Rick yourself. Figure out what you like and go from there. Like I said, I can take control of things and make Cory do what I want. Make Rick do the same. Make him wait until he nibbles and kisses along your ears and neck."

Tara closes her eyes, visualizing it. "That's what I enjoy the most."

Kayla copies her movements, trying to envision the sensation in her mind. "I can't say I get it, not having experienced it," she whispers softly, pulling away from Tara.

"Make him. Tell him what you want. Like this ..."

Kayla's suddenly thrusts on top of Tara, staring her in the eyes.

"Feel the want to go for more?" Tara questions, seeing her best friend's eyes change.

"Oh yeah, I can feel what you mean." She moans softly. "This is so hot." She begins to lean in, feeling a kiss.

"I don't think so," Tara tells her, flipping her over, taking the top position.

"This is for teaching purposes only." She leans forward, placing her finger over Kayla's lips.

"Shhh, and relax." Tara brushes the hair away from Kayla's shoulder, lightly teasing her.

Gasping from the sensations gushing throughout her body, Kayla tries not to squirm from the overwhelming new feeling.

"Oh God, no wonder you couldn't take no from Cory. Fuck ... oh, stop, please, I can't take it, Tara."

Kayla shudders, trying to embrace the way her body aches for more.

"Now, shall we continue, or would you rather sneak out with me and go find Rick while I go get Cory?"

Sitting up and away from Kayla's torso, she watches as the urge takes its toll over Kayla. "We go find the boys! I got to try this on him. Oh, my God, you're good at that."

Tara smiles, getting off the bed, taking Kayla's hand and helping her up.

"Good, 'cause that is exactly how you should feel.

Going over to her bedroom door, Tara quietly lifts it up to keep it from creaking as she checks to make sure it's clear to sneak out from her bedroom window. Once it's closed, she locks it and goes over to her window.

"Before we go, remember how I got down so you can get back in just in case you beat me back here."

Kayla nods, then follows her out the window. Their primal urges continue to soar as they want to find Cory and Rick for a night of passionate pleasure.