“There’s a hole in my wall, ash all over my carpet, and a crusty puddle of puke on my suede couch,” Tom was yelling, that vein in his neck starting to pop out. Ethan was standing by the door, biting his thumb, looking like he was the one in trouble. “There’s trash all over the place, and that doesn’t even come close to mattering compared to the fact that you had underage kids drinking here. The whole school judging by how many empty beer cans are around. Do you realize how irresponsible that is?”
The memory of a fight with Dave appeared suddenly, her on the verge of tears after he’d left. Wait. Had she drunkenly decided that she was in love with Dave? Julia almost laughed in the middle of her dad’s tirade. Of all the stupid ideas people get when under the influence; Julia shook her head at the thought. It couldn’t have actually happened. And even if it did, Julia would plead temporary beer-induced insanity. But it didn’t happen. “What if the cops had been called? What if someone had been hurt?” Tom was leaning over her now, gesticulating wildly with his hands as he yelled, like some conductor in the midst of a crescendo. “Hell, maybe someone was; we haven’t had time to really check.”
Ethan stepped away from the door and put his hands on Tom’s shoulder, whispering something into his ear that Julia couldn’t hear. Julia strained to remember more about the end of the night, and what had happened with Dave. She hoped she hadn’t done anything as embarrassing as tell Dave she loved him. A distinct memory of climbing onto the roof and throwing eggs out the window, watching them disappear into the night, popped into her head. That would have been great to do with Dave, but his presence wasn’t there in the memory, even though she couldn’t remember them ever saying good-bye. He should have been there for that.
“It’s unacceptable,” Tom was saying, still in conference with Ethan, who spoke calmly, quietly enough that Julia could only hear the breath of his words, and not the words themselves. “No, there is no side to her story. What, she accidentally threw a party?”
“Ooh, yes!” Julia said. “It was an accident. Peer pressure and the aching desire to be accepted by my peers.”
Tom got even redder and Ethan shook his head. “Now’s not the time for jokes.”
Julia tried to get up, but the movement made her head feel like it was about to explode, so she sank back into the comfort of lying down. “Sheesh, okay. Just trying to lighten the mood a little. I know I messed up. Can we skip the lecture and just get to the repercussions? I plead guilty.”
“No, you don’t get off that light,” Tom said, still yelling. “The lecture is part of the punishment.”
Julia sighed and slowly slipped out of the blazer she’d fallen asleep in. She gave it a whiff, then immediately regretting doing so. She tossed it across the room toward her laundry pile. “Trust me, what I just smelled was punishment enough.”
“You’re paying for that to get dry-cleaned,” Ethan said. True businessman that he was, the only punishments he could ever think of were financial. Disciplining did not come easily to him.
“I understand that I am financially responsible for the mayhem below. I wouldn’t have thrown the party if I weren’t ready to face some consequences. So can we just call this my one big teenage fuckup and move on? I could use some coffee and a greasy breakfast.”
Ethan sighed and took a seat on the foot of her bed. He looked up at Tom with a smile and a shrug. “She’s tougher than I am. You’re gonna have to do all the lecturing.” Then he turned back to Julia. “To be clear, I’m not okay with any of what happened.”
“Unbelievable,” Tom said. He shook his head and recrossed his arms. “What was going through your head?”
“Honestly? I was hoping to get laid.”
“Julia!”
“I’m kidding! When did you guys lose your sense of humor?”
“No father would ever laugh at that joke.” Ethan scooted up the bed to sit beside Julia, his back to the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him.
“What do you want me to say?” Julia said to Tom. “High school is wrapping up, Dave got voted onto the prom king ballot, you guys were out of town. It was on the Nevers list, so I took advantage. I’m eighteen. I’m allowed the rare burst of immaturity.”