Free Clocked by Elle Strauss

Chapter 1
     
    My girlfriend went all loopy about the idea of buying a new dress for the Fall Dance and somehow she talked me into going into Boston to dress shop with her. I should’ve gotten the boyfriend of the year award for that. And truth be told, now that we were at the dance, she looked hot. The green dress she finally picked out made my heart stop, so the agony was totally worth it.
    Someone went to a lot of trouble to deck out the gym. Streamers and a strobe light in the dark cavernous room gave off a cheap, eighties-disco, rip-off vibe. Not really my scene. If I had to be here, I just wanted to hang with the guys by the punch bowl. Tyson, Dylan and Josh were all dressed like me, uncomfortably in a suit and tie. We’re definitely more at home in sneakers and sweat pants. Tyson’s white teeth practically glowed against his dark skin, his smile wide like he was enjoying the view. All the guys had that happy look. Could be something they put in the punch. Could be all the pretty girls hanging around, flirting.
    I felt a tug on my suit jacket sleeve.
    “ There you are, handsome,” Jessica said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s dance.” She batted her eyelashes, her full, lipgloss laden lips smiling wide. I smiled back and followed her onto the dance floor.
    I’m not the best dancer in the world, but really, dancing is just another kind of sport and I was pretty good at a lot of those. I managed okay. Jessica had a strong need to touch me, even though it wasn’t a slow dance. My arms, my waist. Not that I was complaining.
    I’m not exactly sure just how we ended up becoming a couple. I’d moved to Cambridge with my folks half way through the year. Apparently Jessica had a boyfriend when I arrived, but I didn’t find out about that until later. She came on pretty strong. In fact the female populace at Cambridge high acted like they’d never seen a guy before. I was what you’d call “new meat” and all that estrogen floating my way was a little more than alarming.
    Jessica had staked a claim and I’d just gone along with it. She was cute, if not a little possessive, but she did the job of holding the female tide back until the novelty of my arrival wore off. I didn’t see us staying together past my upcoming graduation. She was more of a place holder, but at least she was easy on the eyes.
    Jessica spun around me and giggled, and though I’d rather be at home watching a football game on my flat screen, I was glad she was having a good time. Or, at least she was until something caught her attention across the room. Her lips zipped together and her green eyes narrowed into slits. I’d seen that look before. That was the “you’ve crossed Jessica Fuller and now you’re going to pay” look.
    I shot a glance in the direction of her glare. Jessica’s target seemed to be the tall girl standing with another girl against the wall. She had long dark curly hair pulled back off her face and a yellow dress that stopped at her knees. When I looked closer, I remembered she was the girl from football practice. She was there watching, but then something weird had happened to my Tom Brady football when she suddenly jumped up and caught it. It still lay flattened on the shelf in my room beside my trophies and ribbons.
    What did Jessica have against her, anyway?
    The song ended and I started back to the guys by the punch bowl.
    “ Where’ya going?” Jessica said holding tightly to my hand. “I wanna keep dancing.”
    I gave into her pout and pulled her in close for the slow song that started. She was a lot shorter than me, and her “strawberry blond” (her words not mine) head pressed against my chest, too low for me to rest mine against hers. After awhile I got tired of staring at all the other pubescent couples and let out a breath of relief when the song finally ended. She held on tight when I tried to pull away.
    “ Jess.” I was starting to feel suffocated by her already and we’d only been here for half an