Faye and Eli - Ch. 01: “Oops”

Faye and Eli - Chapter 1: "Oops"

The sporty little Chevrolet Z-24 pulled up outside the sprawling red brick institutional building with the sun dipping below the horizon. This far north, the early summer days were already getting long, so even though the official part of the highschool party was winding down, there was still a glow of dark amber as twilight succumbed to night while young men and women practically swarmed out of the doors. Dressed in their finest, rented tuxes and dresses that had cost her daddy a week's wages or had been saved for over two summers of work, music faintly heard through the doors as prom night came to an end.

Sipping take-out coffee from a bright red paper cup, Eli had been stuck behind a rented limo for a few long moments while a quartet of kids piled in, hooting at their classmates. He finally caught sight of his cousin Faye, with her friends as they came out of the school, laughing and dancing to the music still echoing through the hallways. She'd been looking forward to it all spring; prom was supposed to be the best night of the year for seniors, like eighteen-year-old Faye, but she couldn't help feeling like it would have been better if she hadn't gone alone. She hadn't been asked by anyone, despite being a pretty young woman. She suspected it had to do with the fact that she was allegedly 'intimidating' to guys her age.

Faye was, like most teens, mercurial and thought she knew everything. Like many her age, she already felt disappointed by the world, adopting an outwardly nihilistic viewpoint that had ended up with most of her friends being goths or art kids. The goths had pretty much sworn off prom, and the art kids were nice but it was a distant niceness that meant there wasn't a spare date to be had. In the end, her cousin had taken pity on her and offered her a lift, otherwise she'd have been the pinup on public transport and that came with a host of potentially undesirable situations.

Now, as Eli waited, the trio of girls stood chatting sharing the memories of the evening and he watched them as the car crept closer to the school entrance. They giggled, surreptitiously passing a small flask back and forth, careful to avoid being spotted by teachers or parents picking up their teens. He spotted a flash of light reflecting off the surface of the silver flask and knew all too well what that meant, as he came to a stop and leaned across to unlock the passenger door for Faye. She said a quick goodbye to her friends before tottering his way, heels unstable on the worn concrete sidewalk.

"Hey cousin, I grabbed you a coffee. Thought you might need a pick-me-up after your big night out," he said as Faye climbed in elegantly, careful not to flash anyone or pull the bows that held the tight, black backless halter neck dress in place; the dress made her feel sexy and dangerous. She'd ordered it from a pinup girl clothing website out of their clubwear section, utterly transfixed on the idea that she would wear a floor-length backless gown like some sort of femme fatale. Faye loved the archetype - a feminine and ruthless woman that played the game just as well as a man, often besting them, to the delight of her suitors.

She routinely absorbed movies with femme fatales as central characters, wondering why they never seemed to get the man; more to the point, they never seemed to need the man. It wasn't a lesson she'd learned yet, but she'd adopted some of the mannerisms of her idols and had ended up as a rather precocious young woman. Because of her fixation with the femme fatale look, when she stepped into her heels she felt transformed into a better, more glamorous version of herself.

Pulling out into the line of slow moving traffic that had locked up the parking lot, their faces lit by the tail-lights in front of them, he asked, "Did you have fun? Seems like a good crowd made it out tonight."

"Prom was fine, there were a couple of people who got super drunk and decided to mosh, and they played Cotton Eye Joe at least twice... but aside from that it was good. The food was nice," Faye added at the end, remembering how her mom always told her she complained too much so she chose something nice to end on.

"Thanks for the coffee, you even remembered my order." Faye smiled, impressed that he'd remembered that she was a French Vanilla girl.

Eli had always tried to be kind and thoughtful. He wasn't book smart the same way that Faye was, never did particularly well in school, but he was good with his hands. Back in highschool, he always ended up in tech classes like shop and autobody and the pretty goth girls or cute little art girls never gave him a second look, even though they were exactly his type. Lots of guys in those courses would give you the shirt off their back, even if they were rough around the edges.

He was like that, the kind of guy who would pull over and help change a flat, or come by on a Sunday to help move furniture out of the basement. The kind of guy who would give up a Friday night to pick up his little cousin after her prom. Those haughty girls never knew what they were missing.

Faye was different: she had noticed. That was part of the reason that she and Eli got along: she noticed when he was going out of his way. Faye wasn't used to people going out of their way to help her so when Eli offered to pick her up after prom, she was pleasantly surprised. Faye saw Eli as the cool older cousin, the one that she knew she could be honest with and not risk getting told off for doing something she shouldn't.

Faye felt like she could be herself around him, and as a self-conscious goth girl with ambitions of becoming a femme fatale, being herself was a precious opportunity. She bloomed into the best version of herself around Eli: gregarious, sweet and soft-hearted, though she'd never admit as much.

"Yeah, of course I remembered, you mentioned it twice at the family reunion in the spring and then Uncle Ray still totally fucked it up. Anyway, it's the least I could do. I'm glad you had fun and at least you didn't get too drunk," he said, gauging how much of a bad girl she really was.

"Oh my god, Uncle Ray fucked it up sooo bad," Faye laughed. "I'm not too drunk, no; but don't rat on me anyway," she grinned. "I had a little bit, but I knew you were coming to pick me up, so I wasn't gonna get slaughtered."

Kittenishly, Faye curled up in the passenger seat, facing her cousin as they drove through the dark streets towards home. She liked going for rides, just travelling for the adventure itself, and it was nice to have Eli with her for company in the low slung little coupe. He had a way of just being there at the right time, when she needed someone - he was consistent and calm in a way that she never experienced in her home life. She enjoyed spending time with him and just talking about whatever, so her tired, overstimulated brain could rest while he was there.

Sipping the sweet coffee appreciatively, she stole a glance over at him with a smile. "Thanks for doing this, by the way. You didn't have to go out of your way, but you did. That's cool."

Faye looked equal parts gratified by the subdued way he'd met her, happy to see him and nervous that she was going to look like an idiot in front of the coolest guy she knew. She twisted some of her dark hair between her pale fingers, sipping on the coffee as she tucked herself up in the seat better.

"It's totally cool, I'm happy to do it and make sure you get home safe," he said sincerely. "If you need some time to sober up a bit, we can just drive around a bit. What time are you expected at home? Did your Mom set curfew?"

"No curfew. Mom said because you were picking me up it was fine, she knows I won't get into trouble with you," Faye smiled, shrugging.

"So yeah, driving around a bit would be nice, is that ok? I can pay for gas," she added. She had a part-time job in a local lingerie shop and she made a bit of money so she was happy to help out. She'd grown up poor and knew that when you had money, you shared it with the people you cared about and Eli definitely counted.

"You don't have to pay me a cent," he said, pulling out onto a gravel road that ran outside of town, "College is out for the summer and I'm working at the shop again, so I have a few bucks rolling in. Save your moment for school, it gets pretty expensive when you have tuition and books and rent and all that shit to pay."

"Okay, well let me pay you back somehow," Faye said, raising a dark eyebrow as though she was determined not to put Eli out. She was still living at home, so she had it comparatively easy financially to how it could have otherwise been. As far as she was concerned, she'd put him out of his way and he was being a champ about it so she should at the very least make sure she didn't take advantage of the situation. Faye might have been one of the haughty goth girls, but she paid her way.

While they talked, Eli stole a glance over at her in his passenger seat, trying hard not to notice how she almost spilled out of her little black dress. He quickly put his eyes back on the road as he didn't want to come off as the perverted older guy, like probably a hundred men who came into the lingerie shop where she worked. Faye glanced back at Eli, catching him with an impish smirk, nodding as though she understood what he'd been looking at. She didn't seem troubled at all by the glance he'd given her, enjoying the thrill of the feeling of power she had when she'd earned the attention of an older guy.

Faye correctly assumed that it was the sexy little dress that had captured her cousin's attention, it had certainly made a similar splash at the prom. "You like the dress?" she asked excitedly, "I got it online." It was one of the first things that her parents had allowed her to purchase online - she didn't have her own credit card yet and so the dress had been begged, argued and debated for until they'd given in.

The dress wasn't much of a departure from some outfits she wore to school to get a bit of shock value, she had gone to class strapped into a corset at times, following the example of her idols, with full hips that had started to flare and bountiful, soft breasts that tonight filled her dress in a very flattering way. Her skin was sun-kissed and golden in a very natural way and she'd worn golden eyeshadow with thick black eyeliner like an Egyptian princess. Faye rarely wore anything so ravishing to family affairs so Eli was seeing her in a completely new and flattering light.

Apparently, though nobody had specifically stated it in the dress code, backless dresses were on the verge of being too risqué - she'd been told as much by one of the teacher chaperones who'd smirked as they told her, eyeing Faye's narrow hourglass waist. "One of the teachers said it was inappropriate, but it's just my back. See?"

Faye turned in her seat slightly, pulling her long, dark hair over one shoulder as she pointed to the way the dress tied in the rear: two little bows, securely in place were clearly the main structural support to the gown which dipped low, resting in a low swoop just above her rear.

"It's not like it shows my butt or anything," Faye huffed, pushing her fine rear out for emphasis. "It's no worse than what stars wear to the Oscars and stuff."

Eli stole glances from the driver's seat, trying to keep the little sports car on the dirt road but not wanting to miss what Faye was showing him. It felt dangerous and naughty to be looking at his little cousin, all dressed up for her big night out, looking so killer in her dress, with only those little bows holding it all together. The way the material hugged her curves and showed off the smooth skin of her back, dipping down to where he couldn't quite see her hips in the car's bucket seats.

"I bet none of the guys were complaining," he said, trying his best to remain composed.

"If you weren't my cousin," he added, laughing to try and deflect the sexual tension he felt growing between them. Faye seemed to relish Eli's attention, blushing every time the pair made eye contact, his calm blue eyes meeting her playful hazel gaze more than once.

"If I weren't your cousin, what?" Faye raised an eyebrow once more, turning backwards to look at Eli with a mischievous grin. Was he implying what she thought he was implying? The thought gave her a surprising thrill.

"Don't tell me this dress is such a knockout that it looks good on me, even to you, Eli," Faye giggled as though it was absurd he might be drawn to her. She assumed it was the dress that had given her the allure that she idolised in others and sought for herself. She saw characters like Jessica Rabbit and the way they could hold a room spellbound and wanted that for herself, but naively she assumed that it was the clothes that made the woman.

"Don't worry, I didn't recognise the car at first and was, like, on the verge of telling my friends, 'hey, that guy's h--'" Faye stopped, blushing and giggling.

"Ugh, maybe that's too much to say. Sorry." she continued with an embarrassed sidelong glance at her cousin. Eli was hot and Faye knew that, but it was still a weird thing for her to say and she didn't want to come across like the lovesick little cousin.

"Maybe you drank more than you thought," he said with a laugh. "Checking out some older guy then noticing he is your cousin. You have your beer goggles on."

Eli was feeling increasingly spellbound by his charming, young cousin and welcomed the sight of streetlights up ahead that showed they were coming back into town. There was just one long stretch of secluded road that ran alongside a big park, then they would be turning into her neighbourhood.

"Some older guy? Guys my age are idiots. So I'm kind of in between a rock and a hard place with dating, hence the singleness. Problem is, older guys always act like my being in high school is an issue. I'm eighteen, I can sign myself out of class. I'm an adult!" Faye complained, then realised she was complaining again and blushed.

"It's not beer goggles, you're objectively hot. I know, my friends told me as much when you picked me up." Faye rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a slightly jealous look on her face. Of course, in the darkness it would be difficult to discern that from a more general teenage angst.

"Sorry if that's weird. Okay, maybe I did drink a little more than I thought I did," she added laughingly, admitting her misbehaviour. She was buzzed, not drunk, but her verbal filters were certainly gone.

"Your friends said that?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "I mean, I guess it's not weird, just I am older, you know?"

"So what if you're older? Like, you're not that much older. You're the same age as my favourite celebrity," Faye pointed out with a smirk. She felt warm all over and relaxed because of the alcohol, like the night had a glamorous glow that her dreary little hometown normally sorely lacked.

"Hey, ummm, if you're still feeling it, maybe better to finish the coffee and just chill a bit so your Mom doesn't get pissed about you coming in buzzing." Eli suggested, noticing how she leaned back, utterly relaxed, in the bucket seat. He wanted to be a good cousin and help her benefit from the wisdom he had gained from his mistakes. He knew exactly what it was like to wander in drunk at eighteen and he didn't want her to have a strip torn off just for having a good time.

"Yeah, I would like that, if it's okay with you. If you aren't in a rush to get home or whatever," Faye smiled gratefully, realising that she was being given the chance to sober up a little before having to walk through the door or risk facing the Maternal Inquisition. Faye's mom was nice, but even the most benign question answered oddly would be enough to set her suspicions off and make her investigate whether Faye had been up to no good.

Faye wasn't the type to purposely be up to no good, she just happened to find herself there sometimes: she wasn't the originator, but she was a catalyst. Just like at that moment, right after she took a big sip of the warm, hyper-sweet coffee, hoping the caffeine would clear her head somewhat.

Faye's shoulders shifted slightly and she frowned before shifting again and then frowning once more. She reached back and struggled with the double-knot she'd tied the lower of the two bows in, hoping to avoid a wardrobe malfunction. It was easy to tie the double-knots herself, but her fingers fumbled slightly with the stretchy fabric behind her back as she attempted to loosen the knots. Eventually she gave up, sheepishly asking her cousin:

"Uh, hey, when we're at the next stop sign can you help me with this bow? It's digging into my back, I just want to loosen it a bit," Faye gestured to the lower of the two bows that held the dress in place beneath her full bust.

"Yeah sure, I think we can find a spot to chill a bit here anyway," he said, pulling into the parking lot of the large park, he found a spot far away from the street lights and backed in, giving her the privacy she'd need to adjust her wardrobe.

"That dress getting uncomfortable? Girls have it way worse than guys. The outfits, the shoes, like even dressing up for us is just different pants or whatever. I don't like ties though, we have that on you when it comes to stupid customs."

With the car safely parked in the shadows, Faye turned her back towards Eli again, lifting her hair so he could easily access the bows at her mid-back. He reached across and worked on the satin ties, struggling to pick the tight double knot loose. As the fabric gave way, he pulled the end of the knot and let the middle of the dress fall loosely, held only by the tie around her neck.

Automatically, he reached for the second knot, as she squealed "Not that one, just the middle!"

Her protest came a moment too late for the simple knot at the base of her neck and it fell away as he tugged the strap. Faye's hands occupied with holding her hair back, she wasn't able to stop the top of the dress slipping down off her full breasts. With her back turned, Eli only caught a glimpse of her nakedness reflected in the dark glass of the passenger door.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," he said, looking away, giving her a chance to fix the dress. "That was completely an accident, Faye, I'm not that kind of guy," he added sincerely. He wasn't that kind of guy and the last thing he wanted was for his little cousin to be creeped out thinking he was trying to get into her pants.

"You Fucker!" Faye squealed, laughing as she grabbed the front of her dress and pulled it upward to cover herself, smirking at Eli. They'd spent so much time with each other it felt less embarrassing than if it was a total stranger she'd just flashed. Eli had seen her in a bikini plenty of times when they were at the lakehouse together at summer events, her top completely off wasn't that much worse, she figured.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose, but you're still a Fucker," she laughed. Faye didn't seem mad, she seemed strangely relieved if anything, straightening the top of the dress back into place with a sheepish grin.

"Well, it's kinda my fault for not wearing a bra with this, but what type of bra do you wear with a backless dress anyhow?" She laughed, trying to brush off the accident to show that there were no hard feelings. In truth, she couldn't help feeling a little thrilled at the exposure; then felt guilty about liking it. Faye looked back at Eli, running her finger across her lips in a self-soothing gesture, nibbling at her soft lips anxiously. She seemed Eli might be upset with her because of the irresponsibility of not wearing a bra, particularly since she worked in a lingerie store and received a staff discount.

Faye was romantically inexperienced but brave. Ensconced within the dark car interior, Eli's nimble, warm hands and the last vestiges of the alcohol in her system lowering her inhibitions, she turned to regard him more fully, with half-lidded eyes like her favourite femme fatales.