The Catch-Up

Disclaimer:

All characters are 18 or older.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long, as I find I can't make myself write smut or it doesn't turn out very well. Thanks for all your wonderful comments and ratings! I really appreciate the feedback. Let me know what you're interested in seeing next! Hope this extra long chapter makes the wait worth it. Future chapters will probably be shorter, but with a higher proportion of sex scenes.

CAST LIST

New characters are added after their first chapter.

AJ:

Our protagonist, a quiet, nerdy, guy, but nice and well-liked at his small high school.

BRIDGET:

A sardonic, tomboy friend of AJ's who's a bit of a stoner. Messy tawny hair, usually under a beanie, hazel eyes, and freckles.

SADIE:

A newer friend of the group, rumoured around school to be a bit of a slut. Short, curvy and famously busty, with long blonde hair and bright blue-green eyes. Loud, bubbly, and a little wild.

MACKENZIE:

The most popular girl in school and captain of the pom team, who AJ lost his virginity to on prom night. Slender and fit, with sleek, brown to blonde ombre hair, big blue-gray eyes, and oh-so-perfect, "Disney princess" features.

FAITH:

Mackenzie's close friend and teammate, only much sweeter. A cute, mixed Black girl with medium brown skin, who usually wears her hair natural and has a lean, toned figure.

JULES:

Julia, usually called Jules, is Sadie's best friend. She used to bully AJ in freshman year, but now they have a big sister/little brother relationship that's only a little condescending. She's tall and tanned, with a nose-ring, shoulder length honey-blonde hair and an athletic body.

PAIGE:

AJ's best friend since middle school, who used to have a crush on him, although he only liked her as a friend. Curly auburn hair, big brown eyes, a little chubby. Sweet, smart, and sensible.

GRANT:

AJ's best male friend, who often overshadows him without meaning to.

AMANDA:

Part of AJ's friend group since the start of high school. A Mormon and star soccer player with very religious parents.

RANI:

A very shy, awkward friend of AJ's.

REAGAN:

Grant's ex-girlfriend, a Junior who had an encounter with AJ on the last day of school. Petite, with brown hair in a retro bob and dark blue eyes.

EVA:

Reagan's friend, another Junior who's on the Pom Team. Half-Egyptian, with long, dark hair and a fit, petite body. Watched, but didn't participate in Reagan and AJ's run-in.

***

Apparently, Sadie had been drunk enough that she didn't remember "smelling sex" on me on prom night. Which on the one hand was lucky, but on the other, I'd really wanted an excuse to tell her that I'd lost my virginity to Mackenzie Taylor.

Unlike Reagan, Mackenzie had told me explicitly to be discreet, probably because she was embarrassed to have drunkenly fucked a loser like me. Honestly, I understood. Mackenzie was light years out of my league in every aspect. I'd been lucky—like, mind-blowingly, "win the lottery" lucky—to have slept with her. And it was never going to happen again.

I comforted myself with the vivid, X-rated memories of that insane night, and the fact that while Mackenzie might not admit it now, I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one who'd enjoyed myself.

It was on my mind so much over the next week that Grad Trip really snuck up on me. A good chunk of our graduating class was going, including Bridget and Sadie. Paige had a family trip at the same time and Grant was going to a music festival.

I hadn't even planned to go, because back when sign-ups were open, I had no interest in spending four days drunk on a beach in Cancun with hundreds of other high school graduates. But my parents had insisted I go and even paid for it as a graduation present. I think they'd been convinced by how much the organizers had played up the "authentic culture" and "historic Mayan ruins tour" in the brochure I'd brought home.

"You only graduate from high school once. And after

this

, you deserve a little fun!" My dad had said, waving my latest university acceptance. They'd made me apply to a few different places even though I knew I wanted to go to Douglas University, two hours away.

By the time the trip came around, I was actually pretty excited to do some more partying. Drinking, as it turned out, was a fun way to get out of my shell. And who knew what might happen on Grad Trip?

Our six A.M. flight was packed with my classmates, posing for Snapchat stories and horsing around as they took their seats, despite the early hour. As I was putting my suitcase in the overhead bin, I spotted Mackenzie, her hair in braids under a cute baseball cap, giggling with Faith and the other dance girls.

Those blue-gray eyes flicked in my direction and my heart leapt into my throat, but her gaze slid right past like I was the beverage cart.

I sat there and stewed as the flight attendants did their spiel. Mackenzie didn't owe me anything, obviously. But it would be nice if she recognized my existence, considering she'd deflowered me.

In what felt like no time at all we were landing in Mexico. There was all the hubbub of lining up and meeting our Senior Trip orientation leaders, who were peppy college kids in neon-coloured t-shirts. One look at them and I had a feeling they weren't going to be the kinds of chaperones our parents had in mind.

Most striking was a female leader named Zara, an edgy, punky girl with short, purple hair, who had tied up her official t-shirt into a knot above her flat, pale stomach, showing a number of tattoos on her arms and stomach. Bridget was openly staring. She may as well have had hearts for eyes, Archie Comics-style.

There was a buzzing, electric excitement as we got off the bus and hurried towards the resort, passing the largest of the swimming pools, which had three poolside bars, and the beach, with soft white sand and the clear, turquoise ocean stretching out to the horizon.

The cabanas were divided by gender, naturally, so I was in one with a few guys from school, mostly band kids who I was friendly, but not

friends

with.

There was a fair amount of chaos as beds were claimed and bags were unpacked. "We're gettin' laid tonight, boyyyys..." Shouted Luke Chae, a husky Korean guy who played trombone and basketball, neither very well. He collected high fives from everyone around the cabana, even me, half-heartedly.

"Especially this guy!" Luke clapped me on the chest and I laughed, not caring if he was making fun of me or not.

"

Dude

, we should try to get Higgins laid!" Said Eric Coughlin, a lanky clarinet player who I thought would probably have enough on his plate getting

himself

laid.

"A.J. is constantly surrounded by girls. Do you really think he needs

your

help?" Dante Woods said in his deep, monotone voice, giving Eric a gentle shove. He'd been a chubby, quiet kid for most of high school, but in the last year he'd shot up to about six foot five, and grown his hair out into dreads.

"It's six thirty P.M. gentlemen. Let's start drinking!" Luke hollered.

And that's what we did. Long before the sun went down, the beach, the swimming pool, and the various beachside bars and dance floors were crawling with grads from schools across the country, all in brightly-coloured swimwear, getting more intoxicated by the second.

I had one drink with the guys from the cabana and then found my friends as fast as I could. When I saw Sadie I had to clench my jaw to keep it from hitting the floor.

Her aqua blue bikini bottoms had high strings that accentuated how her trim waist flared out to her wide, curvy hips and thick thighs. The flimsy triangles of fabric that passed for a top barely contained her huge breasts, her tits spilling out of both sides of her bikini. I had never seen quite this much of my friend's voluptuous, slim-thick figure.

"Oh... hi—" I managed.

"AJ!" Drink still in her hand, Sadie gave me a big hug. Her head came up to just under my chin and I got a great view of her insane cleavage squashing against my chest.

Christ.

"I feel like I've barely seen you!"

"Hello, I'm here as well," Bridget smirked. Naturally, she was wearing boy's swim trunks and a band t-shirt.

The three of us Cheers'd and took a walk through the massive, overflowing party, saying hi to our classmates from Hartford when we saw them. I kept an eye out for Mackenzie, but she was hard to spot amongst the throng of seniors, and there was more than enough to distract me.

"The girls here..." Bridget shook her head in wonder. "It's like I dropped acid and read a thousand Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions."

I had to agree. If I couldn't get laid here, there was a good chance I'd spend another eighteen years celibate.

"I wonder where our orientation leaders are at." Bridget tried to say it casually, but Sadie and I exchanged a look.

"Yeah, I don't know where Zara is, Bridge," I said and she actually blushed, which I hadn't seen too many times.

"She's just

so hot

," Bridget said, like it pained her.

I patted her head with sympathy. "Yeah. Too bad she's a chaperone and she could get fired for even having a drink with you."

Bridget punched me in the stomach.

We drank, danced, and swam a little when we could find room in the pool. Guys from every school were all over Sadie. It was hard to tell if she actually liked any of them, because she seemed to be having fun roasting them all.

Every so often she would catch my eye while one of the guys was talking her ear off and give me a grin that made my throat a little dry. I'd always found Sadie attractive—who wouldn't? But with her ungodly curves bursting out of that swimsuit, her cheeks pink from the booze and the heat, and her blonde hair tousled by the salty beach air, she was difficult to look away from.

As the sun set, Sadie's friend Jules spotted us at the bar. "Oh my god, hi! Come on—we found a quiet spot with a hot tub!" In her bright red one-piece, tall and tanned, Jules looked like a lifeguard and definitely the kind you want to rescue you. She slipped an arm around Sadie's waist as we walked a way's down the beach, the wet sand sticking to the bottoms of our feet.

The hot tub was just on the edge of the leviathan-like party, slightly hidden away by the palm trees, but the music was still blasting and there was a great view of the water. Inside the hot tub was a view that would make any guy from Hartford die happy.

Representing the pom team were Faith Pearson, all smiles, her black hair in braids, in a white bikini that was a lovely contrast next to the mahogany of her skin, and Giovana "Gigi" Cordoso, an intimidating dancer with full, red lips and deadly amber eyes. With her bronzed skin, hoop earrings and full, bouncy black waves, she looked like she was perfectly in her element on the beach, leaning on the edge of the tub and playing with the straw of her drink with her tongue.

Next to them was Charlotte St. Pierre, our studious, ambitious class president who could be bossy and a little snobbish, but was undoubtedly cute, with rosy cheeks and brown hair she always kept pulled back. I'd never seen her in anything more revealing than a button-down blouse, so I'd never realized what a great body she had. She was short and curvy like Sadie, although a little more full-figured, and as I could tell from her floral-patterned halter-style swimsuit top, she was, surprisingly, almost as busty.

Finally, there was Dylan Nystrom, star of the Hartford volleyball and track teams, who was fair-skinned, slender, and supermodel tall, with big hazel eyes and a quite short, ash blonde pixie cut, in a navy blue one-piece that had cut outs at the sides.

As Jules and Sadie completed the image by squeezing into the bubbling water next to the four girls, Bridget and I gaped.

"Come on!" Faith beckoned.

"We'll cuddle up, don't worry..." Sadie grinned.

I swallowed at the idea of sitting around in just a swimsuit with all these girls, but reminding myself that Mackenzie hadn't seemed to mind my un-muscley torso, I dropped the towel I had draped around my shoulders and climbed in. Perhaps encouraged, Bridget took off her t-shirt to reveal the simple black one-piece underneath before following.

It was a big hot tub, but the eight of us barely fit. On my left, Sadie was practically in my lap. On my right, her arm pressing against mine, was Dylan, who I'd certainly never been this close to before.

"AJ, I'm so glad you're here! Isn't this crazy?" Faith bounced in the water.

"Yeah, when did you start partying?" Charlotte said a little snappishly. I think she'd always resented me a bit for getting better marks than her in English and History.

"Prom night," Gigi cut in, her gold bangles clinking a little as she sipped her drink. There was a sly curve to her lips that made me wonder if she knew about Mackenzie and I, but the sultry, mysterious thing seemed to be her default expression, so it was hard to tell.

Faith, Gigi, and Dylan were all super tight with Mackenzie, but I assumed she'd be too embarrassed to tell even her closest friends.

"Well, don't puke in here when you inevitably get too wasted," Charlotte said, lifting her chin. I saw Sadie roll her eyes—she and Charlotte had never gotten along.

"Okay, calm down," Sadie said in the way that girls, making it sound like an insult. "He'll be fine. We've been pacing ourselves, unlike all of you."

There was a round of laughter. "That just means you have to catch up!" Jules grabbed for Sadie's cup, pouring half of hers into it.

"Want a shot?" Dylan said, almost right in my ear. I turned to make sure she was talking to me.

"Sure," I said, quickly. She reached behind her and grabbed two tiny plastic shot glasses.

"Cheers," She gave me a quick smile and we clinked before throwing them back. It burned on the way down and even Dylan coughed.

"Wow," I bit out.

"Sorry, it's tequila..." She said weakly, and we both laughed.

"I have an idea." Gigi didn't have a loud voice, but she spoke so confidently that she always seemed to make herself heard. "Let's play truth or dare."

As an excited "Ooh..." rippled through the girls, Bridget and I exchanged a look. This was one of those golden opportunities, and in that moment we made a solemn, unspoken vow not to fuck it up.

"Pass on a truth, you take a shot. Pass on a dare, you take a shot. And you can't answer truth twice in a row," Gigi said.

Normally I'd be feeling sick with nerves, but the buzz of that tequila shot was giving me that familiar feeling of giddy confidence.

Things started out pretty innocent. We learned that Gigi had slept with eleven(!) people, Dylan thought our English teacher Mr. Trevino was sexy, and Faith had to hop out of the tub and find a stranger to kiss her on the hand.

"Hm..." Faith looked around the group after climbing back into the tub. "AJ, you haven't gone yet! Truth or dare?

"Truth," I said quickly.

"What's the farthest you've gone with someone?"

"Uh..." I paused, considering if this line of questioning could get me in trouble.

"No judgement..." Faith reassured.

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with being a virgin, babe..." Sadie said, taking a sip.

"Thanks but, I'm actually... not," I said slowly, and Sadie did the first honest-to-god spit take I'd ever seen in my life. "So all the way, I guess?"

"Bullshit!" Bridget blurted.

"It's not," I said, probably a little smugly. "Trust me."

Sadie looked genuinely shocked. "Ashley

Jonah

-with who?"

I shrugged innocently, catching her eye. "I think it's my turn to ask the questions, actually... Sadie, truth or dare."

"Ugh!" Sadie laughed, pouting. "Truth!"

I realized immediately I had no idea what to ask her. "Uhhhhh..."

"Ask her how big her tits are!" Jules burst out and the girls snickered.

"Aw, he's so red!" Faith laughed.

I set my jaw and forced myself to look at Sadie, who was waiting expectantly. "Sadie, how big are your tits?" I got it out without my voice cracking. Thank you, tequila.

"How

dare

you, sir? It's like I don't even know you anymore..." Sadie gave a cartoonish gasp, putting a hand to her glorious chest as if scandalized. "But since you're so curious... they're 34H."

I swallowed.

By this point, it seemed like Bridget, Sadie and I had caught up to the rest of the group, and we were all pretty buzzed, flushed from the booze and the hot water, giggly and loud.

"Let's get serious." Sadie scanned the group, almost predatory. Her eyes fixed on Charlotte. "Charlotte, truth or dare?"

Charlotte bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at Sadie. "Truth."

"Lame. Dares are the really fun shit."

Charlotte lifted her chin. "Well, I said truth, so..."

"Fine." Sadie leaned back. "What's your biggest sexual fantasy?"

Charlotte's cheeks went rosy pink.

"Watch her take a shot," Sadie gloated. I'd never considered her a bully, but during conversations with Charlotte, she could sometimes sound like one.

"You wish." Charlotte squared her shoulders. "It's...getting, like... dominated. I guess."

I blinked. I would never expect that, given how much Charlotte seemed to like to tell others what to do. But the others didn't seem surprised. "That's obvious!" Sadie declared. "It'd be the only way to shut you up."

Charlotte glowered at her. "All right, Sadie. Truth or dare."

"Dare, cause

I'm

not a pussy."

"I dare you to..." Charlotte stammered. "...Pick someone in the circle to make out with for a minute."

There was another

ooh

. Sadie smirked. "Okay, I pick you."

The hot tub reacted so jubilantly to this slam dunk that water splashed into my drink. Charlotte looked horrified. "You can't... do that!"

"You said anyone. If you won't, you can lose your turn."

Charlotte was caught, her mouth opening and closing. "Oh, fuck you. Fine." She pushed herself across the hot tub, and Sadie did too, so they met in the middle.

Sadie waited with her eyebrows raised as Charlotte swallowed and leaned in, closing her eyes. Jaws dropped as the two curvy girls, blonde and brunette, kissed. It was hesitant at first, lips tight and hands slack in the water, but then Sadie roughly took Charlotte's face in her hands and we all saw her tongue push past the class president's lips.

Jules' mouth was agape and Bridget looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I was just hoping that the hot tub jets would cover the situation in my swim trunks. The sight was unbelievably hot, especially as Charlotte's brows furrowed, and apparently determined not to back down, she took Sadie by the shoulders and pushed her mouth against hers, battling for control. Their heads tilted, lips and tongues entwining in a sloppy make-out that was actually audible.

"Wow..." Dylan gasped and Gigi catcalled as the two broke apart.

"That was a minute, right—" Charlotte mumbled, wiping her mouth. She was cherry red from her cleavage to the tips of her ears.

"You didn't tell anyone to time you," Jules pointed out.

"Guess she wanted it to last forever," Sadie laughed, leaning back in a satisfied manner, while Charlotte gave an angry pout.

At that point, the floodgates were open. Sadie, once again in the driver's seat, turned her mischievous gaze to Faith.

"Screw it, dare me!" Faith grinned.

"I dare you to give AJ a thirty second lap dance." She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Oh my GOD!" Faith tossed her head, braids swinging. Then her bright brown eyes turned to me. "Is that cool?"

Caught in the moment, I nodded, even though I knew my trunks were still pretty tight from watching Sadie and Charlotte. I wondered if the timing of all this was truly coincidental on Sadie's part.