Norma Jean

chapter 8



3 and a half years later…



Norma



The chilly winter air hits my face as I climb out of my car. I pull my coat closer around my body trying to keep the iciness from my torso. At least I don’t have to deal with snow like the north. I hate this weather. I can’t wait for a warm breeze on a sunny day. Shorts and flip flops and flirty dresses. Regina would appreciate me adding the dresses in there, since they weren’t part of my style until I met her.

Since it’s night the air is colder which makes me even grumpier. For some reason I got talked into going to a Reddy’s party, which makes no sense. Well since we aren’t allowed to party on the OBU campus a lot of students head over to the Henderson campus.

The apartment building I’m in is all college students and since it’s Friday night no one seems to care. Most of the apartments are blaring music as I walk past their doors. There are several people outside smoking cigarettes and I say hello to several I know. When I get to the right place, I push open the door and look through all the people for Regina. The warm air hits my freezing legs through my skinny jeans and I let out a sigh of relief. “Oh look who’s here!” comes a male voice to my left.

I look up to meet David’s face. He’s cute I guess. Long brown hair and blue eyes. Built like a linebacker and has a really deep voice to match. “Hey!” I call out to him smiling.

“Reg didn’t think you were going to show, you know since…” he trails off his eyes going wide thinking he might cause me distress on saying my recent ex’s name.

“He’s not here is he?” I ask quietly. I’m not at all upset about the breakup, seeing as he is the biggest jerk I have ever met. Only took me two years to figure it out. Though I didn’t expect him to just let me go like he did. He is scary as hell when he’s upset and he is upset most of the time.

“Naw girl. He had to go home this weekend, something about his mom.” He shrugs his shoulders and throws an arm over mine. “Let’s go find your girl, cuz I know you don’t want to hang out with this ugly mug!” he laughs and I can’t help but chuckle.

“Thanks, but you’re not ugly. I don’t mind hanging out with you.” We spot Regina talking to some of our Reddy friends and David and I walk up to them.

“Yay! You’re here! I was beginning to think you would bail!” Regina screams a lot when she is drunk, and I can guess she is three sheets to the wind. I’m not all that surprised. It’s almost midnight and she has been here since eight.

“Yeah, got bored at the dorm. Figured I’d come relax a little bit.” We smile at each other and she passes me a shot. I take a sniff and throw back the whipped cream flavored vodka. That is the good stuff.

“Hey that guy you know is here! What’s his name?” Regina pulls her blonde locks behind her head and fans her neck.

“I know lots of guys. What’s he look like?” I laugh when she pulls a confused look over her face.

“The one who knows you from home. He is friends with…you know. Both of them.” She says the last part in a scream whisper in my ear and I wince at the noise.

“Dean? Oh my god! I’m going to go find him!” I take another shot one of the guys pours me before tossing it back. I wave to the group before heading off into the crowd looking for Dean’s brown head. Dean is a couple years younger than me, but he is related to Creed. Which should be obvious since both their moms are crazy. Like bat shit crazy.

I finally spot him talking to a redhead. I wonder if Paige knows. She has been chasing him around for years, and I thought this past summer he would settle down with her. When I get a better look at the redhead I realize it’s one of Paige’s best friends, Harley. “Norma!” three high pitched girl voices exclaim. I guess all three of them are here.

“Oh my god what are you guys doing here?” I hug Dean, than Harley and turn and wink at Paige and Lucy. I wasn’t ever good friends with any of them because of the two year age difference, oh and the fact that I didn’t have friends in Duke.

“Um…Dean invited us?” Harley says. It sounds like a question but my tipsy brain doesn’t take that in.

“Well isn’t that sweet! Did you bring that hot boyfriend of yours?” I ask looping my arm through hers. Alcohol makes me fun, or so Regina says.

“Yeah…he is around here somewhere” I scan my head around looking for Spencer’s raven hair but there are a lot of heads. I give up and turn back to the group.

“Well it was good to see you ladies and Dean. I’m gonna go get some more vodka and dance! Y’all have fun!” I leave with a wave and head back over to Regina who looks even more drunk than when I left. “I need more to drink. Dean brought the entire town of Duke with him. Geez.”

“He did! Did he bring that hot rock star one of them was dating?” she slurs her words. I don’t know how she can even remember considering how drunk she is.

“No. Three of the girls got really pissed at the fourth and they don’t talk anymore. Carter was always a little shit. She lived in the same trailer park I did, and she always acted like she was better than everyone else. But I was like ‘look here bitch, we live in the same dump and your shit stinks as much as mine does, so shut up.’”

“You did not!” we are giggling but I really did. Carter is one of the biggest bitches I have ever meet.

“Wanna dance?” I ask her after taking another shot. Well two more because the guys were begging.

“Duh!” she grabs my wrist and pulls me towards the makeshift dance floor in the living room. There are bodies twisting and twirling around each other and several bump and grinds going on. I’m not much of a dancer but the alcohol makes me not care how much I look like an idiot.

Nicky Minaj comes over the speakers and we start moving with the music. I raise my hands up into the air and swish my hips around really getting into it when a pair of male hands land on my hips. I stop and start panting when he whispers in my ear. “I would know this ass anywhere.” He kisses my neck and my entire body erupts in goose flesh.

I start trembling because I can’t believe that he is here, and that he is touching me. I want to turn around and look into his hazel eyes. Take in his long auburn hair and perfect body. I want to kiss his full lips and forget the past 3 years without him.

“I love the hair.” he says as he sweeps it over my shoulder and kisses my neck. I can’t help it as I groan. God I shouldn’t be here letting him touch me. Not after everything. And there is a lot you don’t know, stuff I want to take back. Stuff I would never want Chance to know.

I slowly turn around as he keeps his hands on my hips. I gasp when I first take him in. The eyes and face are the same, but his hair is short, like way short. He is still fine as hell though. “Chance.” I whisper breathlessly and then I do something I shouldn’t have ever done. Kiss him. He was surprised but he quickly gets over it as our lips move over each other’s aggressively.

My hands go into his hair and I want to tug on it but the locks are too short. Bummer. He forces his way into my mouth and he thrusts his tongue in. I groan and sweep mine against his. His hands go down to my thigh and he pulls it around his hip and then he groans. I can’t help it when I stand on my toes and grind my hips into his groin. I gasp at how hard he is and I want nothing more than to take off all my clothes and find out what I have been missing.

He must have read my mind when he breaks away from my lips and whispers into my ear, “Come home with me.” He doesn’t have to command twice. I nod my head and he takes my hand leading me out of the apartment. I have no idea where home is but I follow him anyway.

He stops at a door four or five down from the party and takes some keys out of his pocket. He unlocks it and pulls me inside. His lips are back on mine before I can even look around. His warm hand goes under my shirt and bra to mold itself around my breast. “Ahh!” I moan trying to get his shirt off. I need to touch his skin, I need to taste him. I need to crawl inside him.

“F*ck. Come on.” His hand leaves my breast and then he is pulling me into a bedroom and slamming the door shut. He is on me so fast I can barely breathe as he takes off my shirt and then my bra. I pull his shirt over his head and start trailing kisses down his neck, over his chest and on his stomach. I unbutton his pants and pull the zipper and shove my hand inside. I’m on my knees and I could f*cking care less. Chance is the only man I would ever be on my knees for. He means that much to me.

“Smalls…” he groans as I pull his cock out and lick the pre-come off the head. I open my lips before he grabs my head and pushes his length into my waiting mouth. I swirl my tongue around as he thrusts his hips against my face all the while groaning and moaning. It’s a heady feeling to let him use me like this. I kind of love it. “Enough.” he finally says and pulls me up to my feet. He takes off my pants roughly and my eyes roll back into my head as he slips his hand into my panties and presses against my *.

“Chance.” I call out as one of his fingers slips inside me. My hips are rocking against his hand and it’s almost more than I can take.

And then he is wild. The soft gentle Chance I had back in high school is no more. This Chance is carnal and sexual. A man that knows exactly what he wants, and that is my body. He rips my panties off of me and my eyes go wide. “Get on the bed.” he pants out pointing at a full sized mattress up against the wall in the small room. I nod and obey.

He looks through a drawer in the night stand and finally pulls out a condom. He rips it open with his teeth and slips it on. I’m lying on the bed on my back taking in the scene before me. It is truly erotic to see all that male flesh before me.

He finally crawls on the bed and before I can say anything, he flips me on my stomach and raises my hips. I let out a whimper when he thrusts his cock into my sex. “Jesus f*ck.” he says as his hands squeeze my waist. Then he is pounding into me. I clutch the sheets on the mattress and hold on as he takes me for a ride. His thumb comes down to play with my * and before long I’m coming and I think my eyes roll into the back of my head.

His thrusts get jerky and he shouts out as he finds his release. And that’s when it gets awkward.



Chance



What the hell did I just do? I have to be the biggest idiot that ever lived. When I saw Norma dancing at the party, I couldn’t help myself. She just looked so damn sexy shaking her hips around and getting lost in the music. That’s when I started thinking with my dick instead of my brain.

Yeah I admit I loved this girl with my whole heart, but she caused me years’ worth of regrets and heart ache. I don’t want that again. I need someone safe, someone who doesn’t make me crazy and impulsive. Though I had that and she couldn’t take it when I wouldn’t love her back.

“You need to leave.” I’m sitting on my knees behind her, with her butt still at my groin. Not the most tactful I admit but I seriously can’t do this again. I have too much going on at the moment to deal with past shit with Norma.

“Excuse me?” she turns her head to look up at me before rolling over and bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“Leave Norma. I can’t deal with you right now. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” I sound like the biggest a*shole but I honestly don’t care.

“You didn’t mean for this to happen?” she whispers looking down at her toes. “Okay. I’m sorry.” She gets up off the bed and I have to force myself to continue to look at the bed. No need to look at her perfect body and the way her hair falls down to her waist.

I want to say it’s my fault, not hers. The words never leave my lips and I’m fighting instinct to pull her back on to the bed with me. I want to do what we just did over and over again. I want to hold her in my arms and never let her go. But I don’t. I really don’t want that. Yeah keep telling yourself that buddy.

After I hear the bedroom door shut I lay back down on the bed on my back and stare up at the ceiling. I had no idea where she even was. I can’t believe she was under my nose like this. I can’t believe she has never run into Creed. Hell they are in the same town. I guess she goes to OBU since that’s where her dad went. I wonder if that f*cker knew she was here. That would be something his shady ass would do.

Macy’s birthday was a couple of days ago and while I was in town I ran into Dean who invited me to stay the weekend up here. He shares an apartment with Creed but that a*shole had to go bail his mom out of jail and won’t be back till Monday. Luckily I don’t have to see him.

To say that we have fallen out is an understatement. It wasn’t really just one thing but a whole mess of shit. Like the fact he stopped talking to me every day 2 years ago. One day he was calling to tell me about what was going on with him then I had to start calling him. He would give me clipped answers and find excuses to get off the phone with me. Now he doesn’t even answer, not that I call him.

The last time I did call him, was because he went home one weekend and beat the shit out of my sister. She refused to press charges and I have no idea what the hell she was even doing with him. She wouldn’t tell me and it’s safe to say that bugged the shit out of me.

He is cut from the same cloth as his mother. The only reason I even talk to Dean is because he started dating my cousin Paige, and my aunt Carol asked me to keep an eye on them. Not that she has to worry. Dean couldn’t be better to Paige. Carol just has an issue with Dean growing up poor and Paige…well not. Carol isn’t the best of people if you ask me. She is my dad’s sister so I can’t be all that surprised.

My phone starts ringing from my pants on the floor and I lean over the side of the bed to fish it out. It’s my buddy Declan up in Fayetteville. We have a lot in common. Both on the football team, and we both have crazy ass relationships. Plus his best friend tripped out when Dec started dating his little sister. Mine is just a douche bag. We got pretty close this past year and he let me move into his extra bedroom. Now he has a really full house with his little brother, his girlfriend, and two of his buddies living there.

“What’s up?” I say into the phone settling back down on the bed.

“Well I have to know who in the hell you hooked up with. It sounded pretty hot on the phone.” Well that’s not Dec that’s Caden, our other roommate.

“What are you talking about?” Jesus I bet I butt dialed. Though that doesn’t explain why Caden is calling me from Dec’s phone.

“My phone died listening to you get it on. So I borrowed Dec’s phone. Pretty entertaining stuff right there. I honestly didn’t think you had it in you.” I hear music in the background but it is really muffled. He must have ditched the party to call me.

“I didn’t have what?” how much did he hear? Oh shit I bet he heard the very end before Norma left.

“To be that cold, man. You kind of give me a run for my money. Who was it?” I don’t know why he is asking, he knows good and damn well who it was.

“You know.” Is all I reply. I can’t think about this right now. “I have to go.”

“No you are going to stay on this phone and talk to me about it, a*shole. You scream that girls name out in the middle of the night, so don’t tell me you ain’t f*cked in the head right now.” Caden should really go into psychology. The guy is so insightful sometimes it is scary.

“We aren’t talking about me, unless you want to spill about Grace.” Caden has this “thing” with is twin brothers girlfriend. The rest of us have been trying to figure it out for months, but neither one will spill. The only reason any of us know anything is because Teagan walked in on them making out in his room. Everyone but Grace pretty much hates Jaden so no one told, but it’s still a huge mystery.

“Fair enough. You know I’m here dude. That’s why you fit with Dec and I. You have that crazy past with some girl you never want to talk about. Though Dec is the only one who fixed his. God they make me sick.” He makes a gagging noise and I feel my face smile. It’s true, not only are they loud when they are having sex, they kiss all the time. He calls her “beautiful” and “baby” all day long. If she is in the room his hands are somewhere on her person.

Then when they fight, it’s World War 3 in our house. Though I usually call Switzerland. Things get thrown and words are tossed around like grenades. For such a little thing, Teagan is feisty and full of fire.

“I know. I don’t want to think or talk about it right now.” I scrub my face with my hand and close my eyes. “I’m gonna go before I start telling you things you don’t need to know.”

“Alright. Though I sure as hell heard things I didn’t need to hear. Later.” The phone goes silent as I sit in the dark. The age old question is what the f*ck did I do?



*****



“Dude wake up!” someone is poking me in the face and I’m not very happy about it.

“Go the f*ck away Dean.” I growl with my eyes still closed.

“No, you need to get up. Your mom is blowing up your phone. I don’t know how the f*ck you can’t hear it, since its right next to your head.” And as if the thing could read minds, it starts ringing.

“Hello?” I growl into the receiver. This doesn’t bode well for me, since my mom doesn’t call twenty times in row.

“Are you still up in Arkadelphia?” she asks frantically.

“Yeah…what’s up? You sound upset.” I sit up and wave Dean out of the room, but of course he doesn’t listen.

“Okay good, good. I need you to come home. Something really bad has happened. Umm…” she chokes up and a chill runs down my spine. “Macy was kidnapped sometime last night. The cops are here and everything but I can’t calm your sister down and your dad is here making a scene. I just need you Chance.”

“I’ll be there in two hours mom. Just hold on till then. I’ll go as fast as I can.” My breathing is getting labored and I honestly think I might faint. Who the f*ck would take Macy? This is the most f*cked up shit I have ever heard.

“I know you haven’t talked to her in almost 4 years but I need you to get Norma Jean. She comes down every weekend and sees Macy so she might know something. I also know she would want to be here.” What the f*ck. This could not be happening to me right now.

“Sure mom.” is all I say to her. She says she’ll text me the number and hangs up.

“What’s going on?” Dean asks me standing in the door way with his arm over Paige’s shoulders.

“Macy is missing.” Paige’s face goes pale and I see Dean squeeze her in closer. I keep thinking this can’t really be happening but I know it is. I have to get up and move but I realize I’m naked under this sheet and my female cousin is in the room.

“I have to call Norma and get her here so we can leave as soon as possible. And get out of here so I can pull on some clothes.” They nod their heads before leaving the room and shut the door.

I put the awkwardness of Norma out of my mind and think of who in the world could have taken Macy. Everyone loves that little girl, hell even my piece of shit dad acts like a saint around her. If anyone hurts one hair on her head I’ll f*cking kill them. If I don’t kill the person anyway, for just taking her.

I can’t stop thinking about how scared she must be. Though I wonder if it is someone she knows. Seems she would put up a fight against someone she doesn’t, just like I told her. The girl is smart, so that has to be what it is. She just turned 4 and I just saw her, how can she be gone? God this is going to f*ck with my head for the rest of my life. I have never been so f*cking scared.

So I get up and go through the motions of getting decent to leave. I need to be on autopilot until I make it home. Ignore the fear and Norma or I just might lose it.