SNAFU

         I am reclining in my desk at school on Monday, and I am still feeling the aftermath of Saturday night's party. The party was exclusively for seniors, so I went. It was interesting, to say the least. I will try to describe it the wholly best I can.

         When I arrived at the party, the few people in the house ran over to greet me. I am a cheerleader at Oak Grove High School, and everyone knew that I was one of the most popular girls in the twelfth grade. I came early to help set things up. Once the party got rolling, the cutest boy in high school, Justin, arrived, and I silently freaked out. He had shaggy black hair, and he always kept one eye covered with his hair. He wore a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and combat boots. A bad-ass indeed. Any guy I dated was a goody-two-shoes, and that was starting to get ridiculous. I knew this party was my chance to get to know him better. Justin walked in the house smoking a cigarette, and I smiled simply at how cool he was. I mean, his coolness was dripping off him. It was amazing.
         I had had a few light drinks, nothing heavy, by the time nine o'clock rolled around. Justin, to my great surprise, walked over to me. Oh yeah. I forgot I was standing right next to the bar. Every hair on my neck stood up as my hand accidentally brushed his leather jacket, but he didn't seem to notice me. As he walked away, I thought to myself, "Dammit."
         I talked to a few girlfriends of mine, but I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying. I had a mission that night, and that was to talk to Justin. No matter how popular I was, I never had enough guts to talk to Mr. Cool. Out of the corner of my stalking eyes, I saw Justin talking to a group of girls, and he was making them laugh. Hey, Justin. Come over here and make me laugh, too. Of course, he didn't once look at me. Not that I expected him to, anyway. By that time, I was growing a bit tipsy, and so was everyone else. I talked to my friends about how to get Justin's attention, and my best friend, Marie, helped me out, for she had dated Justin for a short time.
         "Just act like you don't care about him at all, Brittany" she advised me. "I don't know how it works, but it does. Also, he loves to talk about himself. As him lots of questions, but don't act like you care."
         I absorbed everything she said, then I made my way over to the group of girls he was talking to. Luckily, I had a few friends who were in that group. I talked to the girls and pretended not to notice Justin. Big mistake. He realized that he wasn't getting any attention, so he walked away. I was about to freak out over this. After he had gone, the girls and I started talking about him.
         "He is so odd," one girl said fondly. Another girl said, "Oh, he's always snafu."
         "What does that stand for?" I asked. The girl replied, "Situation normal all fucked up. You know, snafu."
         "Oh, right," I said, pretending like I knew that word. I walked over to the bar and lit a cigarette, then I began talking to some boys on the football team. Then, I felt a light finger tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and there was Mr. Cool standing behind me. I tried my best to hide my shock and act cool, but that was a difficult task. He held out his hand, and my lighter was in it.
         "I believe you dropped this," he said in his chill, monotone voice. I smiled and took the lighter.
         "Thanks, Justin," I said. He acted shocked.
         "God. I didn't think you'd know my name."
         I asked him, confused, "How would I not know your name?"
         He shrugged and replied, "Well, I just know how popular you are. I don't know."
         "But you're popular, too."
         He shrugged again and smiled a bit. He leaned closer to me as he asked, "You're awfully gorgeous, aren't you?"
         I completely blushed and replied, "Oh, I don't know."
         "Well, I do."
         He looked around for a moment, then told me, "Follow me. I want to show you something."
         He walked into a large room, and I followed him, my heart about to jump out of my chest. In the room was a large painting of the skyline of London. It was simply incredible. As we both looked at it, Justin said, "I painted this."
         I gaped at the painting.
         "You did? Oh my God."
         We looked at it for awhile longer, then, out of nowhere, I felt his hand on my back-side. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and swallowed hard. A few seconds later, a Fender electric guitar caught Justin's eye, so he strolled over to it. As he took his hand off me, I felt that familiar feeling that said, "Good, go away. No wait, do that again."
         He took the guitar off the stand and inspected it.
         "This is an old one," he said. I smiled at him, then he plugged the guitar into an amplifier that was sitting next to the stand, and he strummed it. He smiled when he did so, and he suddenly exploded into The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy". He was simply incredible on the guitar, and his voice was a smooth as butter yet as sharp as knives.
         Once Justin finished his song, he laughed and put the guitar down.
         "That was incredible," I told him. He rolled his eyes and replied, "Thanks. I play a lot."
         He walked over to me, and I looked into his icy blue eyes. He thought for a moment, then all of a sudden, Mr. Cool attacked. He pressed me against a wall and jammed his tongue in my mouth. My eyes bugged out for a moment, then I melted into him and gave him complete freedom. A few minutes later, we let go of each other, and we realized that we had slid to the floor. As I silently caught my breath, I told Justin, "I knew you didn't just bring me in here to show me a painting."
         "Of course I didn't," he replied. I looked at him and his dilated eyes. He might as well have had I'M TRIPPING stamped to his forehead. I lay on the ground to relax. Another big mistake. He rolled over on top of me and kissed me some more. I felt his hands begin to unbutton the buttons on my shirt. Oh boy.

         The next morning, I woke up, still on the floor with all my clothes removed. I noticed Justin was gone, and I sat up. A small scrap of paper rested next to me, so I picked it up and read it.

         Brittany,
Thanks for that, baby. I really appreciate that. I have to get to work. You're probably thinking that I used you, but I promise you, that is not the case. It's not considered 'being used' if the man doing you has serious feelings for you. I look forward to seeing your beautiful face at school on Monday.
         ~Justin Brooks
P.S. Two words for you, babe. Birth control.

         I replayed the night over in my head. Dear God.

         So, there you go, folks. Yeah, you probably don't care. I don't blame you. It was a party I'll never forget, though, that's for sure. In math class this morning, I catch Justin looking at me. Our eyes lock, and he slowly, comically raises his notebook, and a giant 'HI' is written on the paper. I giggle, and he puts the notebook down. His perfect pink lips form a neat smile.