Taming Tawnee

"You don't really need my permission."

"Well, ordinarily, probably not, but in this case I think I do. Just because I realize that you might totally hate her," Tawnee said.

Will squeezed his sister against him. "You know that I can't say 'no' to you, especially when you're acting so cute. And I don't hate Amanda, if it wasn't for her then you wouldn't be here right now. I'm not going to just forget what happened, though."

"What am I ever gonna do without you, Will? Like when I graduate and stuff?"

"I've got a feeling you'll be fine. You'll miss me, I'll miss you, we'll probably be a little bit of mess for a while. Things'll work out. It'll still be a while before that happens, let's try not to think about it too much or we'll be too depressed to enjoy the time that we've got," he said. Will was a lot more worried about himself than Tawnee, but he wasn't going to say that. She was tougher than he was, and absolutely beautiful. She would have no problem finding a decent companion if she so chose. Will, on the other hand, knew that finding another girl that compared to Tawnee would be a difficult task, to say the least.

"Shit, now I can't stop thinking about it," she said, holding him a little tighter. It was hard for her to justify much complaining about her life, she figured that she had it pretty good. Somehow it just so happened that one of the things that she had for the moment was something that she just couldn't hold onto forever, and it was one of the most delightful things that she could imagine. What a bummer.

*****

The next week seemed to go by in a hurry. William and Tawnee spent most of their free time with each other, not doing anything extraordinary, just being together was satisfying enough. They didn't want to do anything that would have drawn unnecessary attention to themselves, anyway. Most of the time that they spent together was after hours in Will's room. While plenty of times they ended up sweaty and tired, they were able to refrain from the all-night sex sessions that they had when they were first starting out.

It seemed like the night of the party came on them before the two knew it. Tawnee was a little excited, Will was still apprehensive about the whole thing. He wasn't going to be drinking, not that he was worried about the law, just that he wanted to make sure that they were able to get home when they wanted and not end up being stranded at Amanda's, or worse yet, having to call one of their parents to come pick them up. The only demand that Will made was that he be allowed to invite his friend John so that he would be guaranteed that there would be someone there that he'd be able to stand to hang out with.

The two arrived at the party somewhat early, and were greeted at the door by Amanda herself. She seemed genuinely pleased to see them both and her and Tawnee quickly got into a discussion about who all was going to show up and exchanged information about who had been doing what to who within their circle of friends. Will was suddenly engaged in conversation with none other than Amanda's friend Molly, who seemed to think that he was just SO interesting. Perhaps it was because she was already half in the bag. Luckily, it didn't take long before John showed up and he was saved, though that would prove to be only a temporary reprieve.

John was making the most of the party, testing the waters with all of the females that didn't appear to be actively attached to a partner. He even tried his luck with Tawnee at one point, approaching her as she mixed herself a drink at one of the tables. It didn't go quite the way that he had it planned out in his mind.

"Hey, Tawnee. You're lookin' good tonight. Here with anyone?" he had asked.

Tawnee was amused. John knew better. "Nope. But I was thinking about going lez tonight, a lot of hot chicks here. Which one do you think I would look best with?" she asked.

"I..." John tried to swallow a mouthful of beer, inhaled it instead, and nearly coughed his lungs up.

"Are you hitting on me or just choking to death?" she asked him. "Tell you what, I don't want to embarrass you in front of all these people. Why don't you try again in a couple of years? You know, after your testicles drop." She started to walk away before John could respond.

"That's not a no. Means I still have a chance," he told her back.

Tawnee turned and smiled. "Believe whatever you want to believe, John. Don't drink too much."

It wasn't all that long after that that Tawnee found herself fending off another advance, this time from some douche named Marcus. He somehow believed that he could lure her away from the party to show her how comfortable the back of his van was.

"It's all custom," he had told her with pride.

Tawnee informed him in as few words as possible that she wanted nothing to do with him or his creepy-ass vehicle. Hoping that she wasn't going to have to spend the entire night getting hit on, she tried to find Amanda. There was sometimes safety in numbers. About the time that she caught up with her friend and host, Tawnee noticed No-name arrive at the party, the second witness to the supposed threat that she had made on Mandy's life. The Marcus character had sprinted through the crowd to greet her and fetch her a drink.

"What's the name of that girl with the glasses that hangs out with Molly all the time?" Tawnee asked.

"Oh, that's Symphony," Mandy said.

"Symphony? Really?" Tawnee didn't want to pick on the girl, but now she might have to. She cast eyes on her from across the room. Symphony was staring at the beer bottle in her hand as though she had no idea what to do with it.

"I know what you're thinking. Be nice. We just call her Mony. I don't know what she did, but she probably didn't mean it. She's a little goofy, but basically a good girl."

"Oh, she didn't do anything. Is she going out with that Marcus guy that kissed her when she first showed up?" Tawnee asked, sipping from her cup.

"Yeah, they've been together for a while," Mandy said with caution, not knowing exactly where Tawnee was going with this.

"He was hitting on me pretty hard before she got here, being a pig. Wanted me to check out his van. Now he's all making nice with no-...Mony. Someone should kick him in the balls," Tawnee said.

"What a dick. I've heard some shit like that about him before. He's never tried anything like that with me, though. Prolly 'cause he knows I know Mony. You gonna tell her?"

"Should I? Not really any of my business."

"True. I'd want to know if my man was hitting on other chicks, though," Mandy said. Tawnee cocked her head, getting ready to bring up something about Doug, no doubt. "Hey! You don't have to say it, I know. I apologized, it was stupid, and I feel bad about it. We've already been through all that. Come on."

"Fine," Tawnee agreed. "I'll let that go under special circumstances."

"Speaking of special, see anyone around that does it for ya?" Mandy asked.

"So far I've got hit on by Mony's boyfriend and Will's friend John. Poor John."

Amanda laughed. "Yeah. He needs to change his game a little, I've had that conversation. He took it well, though."

Just then, there was the sound of glass breaking in the next room as someone knocked a lamp over. Then, raucous laughter.

"What the fuck!" Amanda yelled, stomping off toward the disturbance.

Tawnee chuckled a bit, herself, then move off to see if she could find her brother, and how see he was doing. He was out on the back deck playing some sort of card game with John, a couple of other guys, some girl, and Pig-face. Pig-face was seated, of course, right next to Will. Tawnee frowned, not liking the way that Molly had been hanging around him all night. He must have just said something that was bordering on hysterical because she was laughing her ass off and hanging onto his shoulder, presumably to keep from falling on the floor.

"Watcha playing, Will?" Tawnee asked, striding over.

"Asshole," he replied. A drinking game that she was familiar with.

"I thought you were going to drive us home!"

"Relax, I'm just dealing. Drinking Sprite. You ready to go already?" he asked.

"No, not really, just thought I would check in with ya. See if you were bored to death hanging out with a bunch of drunks," she replied.

Molly looked up at Tawnee with her big, farm animal eyes. "You keep a pretty tight leash on your brother. Ought to let him have a little fun."

Tawnee was regretting her life decision of not being as mean as she possibly could to people that she didn't care for. "Will can do whatever he wants, I'm not going to stop him. It just turns out that tonight he wanted to do me a favor and be my designated driver." She didn't vocalize the fact that she had been letting him have quite a bit of fun lately.

"Why don't you just hook up with someone and go home with them?" Molly asked, causing the game to pause while the conversation played out. The amount of alcohol that she had consumed was clearly causing her to be a little loose with her tongue.

Tawnee had to take a deep breath and trust that Will wouldn't do anything stupid like nail the little porker. She smiled. "Maybe next time. I've got things to do in the morning. I think it's your turn. Will, behave yourself," she said, turning to leave before she said something that caused problems and Molly woke up in the hospital.

"Oh I will," she heard her brother say, "but only because I want to." She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder before going back into the house. She didn't have to worry about Will, and she wasn't going to let an irritating drunk chick ruin her fun.

As the night wore on, Tawnee found herself more able to relax. Maybe because it was she was becoming intoxicated, but she found the irritating people to be less irritating and her friends more friendly. Whatever the reason, she was having fun. It was getting to be about the time to call it a night, so she decided it would be a perfect time to have a smoke before heading home. She went out to her car to have one, thinking that they must surely be stale, since they had been in her glove compartment for months. Deciding that she didn't care about that, she pulled one out and lit up, leaning against the passenger side of her car.

Tawnee was feeling a little light headed from the Marlboro. Going a couple of months in between cigarettes made it seem like she was almost getting high. Reveling in her buzz, she almost missed Symphony wandering down the driveway, out to the street, then back again. When the girl started to do it a second time, she had to say something.

"Someone steal your car or what?" she asked, as the girl walked by.

Symphony stopped. "No, I was just looking for my boyfriend."

"You're Symphony, right? Amanda's friend?" Tawnee asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, and you're Tawnee. I never thought I'd see you two talking again," Symphony said.

"Well, we are. I wouldn't waste too much time looking for your boyfriend, he's been hitting on chicks all night. He asked me if I wanted to see his van before you got here."

Symphony frowned. She had already gotten the impression that Marcus may have skipped, the sailing hadn't been what you would call smooth between them lately. "I'm sorry about that. I figured he must have bailed on me, haven't seen him in a while."

"Not your fault. You need a ride or something?" Tawnee asked, snubbing out her smoke. "My brother Will's around here someplace. He's my designated driver, we could give you a lift."

"Well, kinda, yeah. If you guys were getting ready to go, that would be awesome."

"Yeah, I'm about ready. Let's go find Will," Tawnee said.

"Um, he might be busy," Symphony said as they were walking toward the house.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I just talked to Molly a little while ago, and she said that she was going to take him upstairs."

Tawnee knew what that meant, and even though she was hit with a quick touch of alarm, she didn't believe he would go for it. He had to be smarter than that, right?

"Well, my guess is that his schedule is clear. He wouldn't go for Molly."

"Really? Why not?" Symphony asked.

"Molly's not his type, besides, she's drunk and irritating. At least to me."

Symphony laughed. "She gets pretty mouthy when she's been drinking, normally she's not that bad." They entered the front door to see Will playing darts with a couple of guys. "You must know your brother pretty good," she said.

"Yeah, he's predictable. I never used to hang out with him much, but a while ago I realized how much..." Tawnee had to check herself before said something that she'd regret, "sorry, uh, I realized he's not that bad. There was a time where I never thought I'd be able to take him out into public."

Symphony had to laugh again. She had always thought that Tawnee was some sort of a raging bitch, but from what little she learned from talking to her, she seemed kind of funny. After Tawnee had a word with her brother, the two chatted a little while they waited for him to finish his game and had a few Jello shots. When he was done, he came over to them.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yup. Hey, you know Symphony here? I told her we'd give her a ride home," Tawnee said.

"Yeah, we've got Computer Science together, right? Nice to see you, Symphony."

"And you, William. You can call me Mony."

"Mony, huh? You can call me Will."

"I know, it's a funny name, you can laugh if you want. I didn't realize you were Tawnee's brother. Heard a lot about you from Amanda and Molly," Symphony said.

"Naw, I won't laugh. Can't imagine what Amanda and Molly had to say about me. Don't believe everything you hear, alright?" he asked with a smile. Symphony couldn't help but smile back.

"Can I laugh?" Tawnee asked. "'Cause I've really wanted to since I found out your name was Symphony."

"Be nice, Tawnee," Will said, as they went out to the car.

"It's alright, Will, I know she's not being mean," Mony said.

"Yeah Will, it's alright. Keep it in your pants."

"What? I don't think you used that phrase right. Besides, where else would I keep it?" he asked.

"Well, my first thought would be someone else's pants, I was trying to say 'don't get excited'," Tawnee said.

"Oh my god, get in the car."

Symphony only lived a couple of miles out of their way, and it didn't take all that long to get to her house. She thanked them for the ride, and Will started driving back home. "So, you have fun tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, not bad. You?"

"Wasn't too bad, I guess. Kinda wished I was drinking there a couple of times," he said.

"Well, thanks for driving us. Did you manage to keep your hands off that skanky bitch Molly?" she asked.

Will chuckled. He'd noticed his sister eying the girl with bad intent all night. "Somehow, I was able to resist. It took her a long time to get the message, though. She was freakin' hammered."

"I thought that you might have had a piece of beef jerky or something in your pocket the way that she was following you around and shit. They never should have let her out of the pig pen." Tawnee finally had the chance to say what she'd been thinking.

"Damn," Will said, still chuckling, "that's harsh. Give her a break."

"I already gave her a break when I didn't slap her when you were playing cards."

"True. But you can't fault her for her choice in men, now can you?" he asked.

"I guess not. But that's the only thing she's got going for her."

"I think you're just jealous. You mean to tell me you went the whole night and no one hit on you?"

"Well...that's not the point," Tawnee wasn't sure exactly what the point was, she was getting tired and having a hard time thinking straight. "The point is that sometimes you'll just have to admit that I'm right, even if I'm not."

Will erupted into full blown laughter. "Okay, I understand that. You're right. I see it now."

Tawnee had to smile. "Thank you, Will. That's why I love you." She leaned across the seat to kiss him, but was stopped and nearly strangled by the seat belt. "Maybe I drank more than I thought, can't fucking function right," she admitted.

*****

Tawnee dragged herself downstairs to get something to drink. At least it was Saturday and she was able to sleep in. Those last couple of Jello shots must have been what did her in and led to the headache that she was currently experiencing.

"Good morning, Princess. Enjoy your party last night?" Janice asked. It was clear from the look that she received from her daughter that Tawnee must have, to some extent, enjoyed herself.

"Um, what's so good about it? Party wasn't bad, I guess."

"Don't be grumpy just because you were foolish enough to drink too much. Will and your father are staining the deck, so don't walk out there 'til it dries. Oh, and you got some mail on the table."

"Sorry, Ma."

Tawnee got herself a glass of water and sat down at the table. She looked at the envelope that was addressed to her. It was from one of the accounting firms that she had sent her resume to through the job placement assistance at school. She looked up to see her mother staring at her.

"Well?" Janice asked. "You going to open it, or what?"

Tawnee tore the envelope open and read the letter that consisted of several pages while her mother looked on. "Um.."

"What?"

"Well, it says that they are very interested and pending graduation I would be well qualified for a position in their tax division. I need to call them if I want an interview and head out there after graduation."

"To where?"

"The Springfield branch," Tawnee said. She was a little stunned, not considering that she'd be able to land a job quite so quickly. Springfield was over two hundred miles away. She handed the letter to her mother.

"Oh my god, Tawnee! I've got to go tell your father, he's going to be so proud!"

"Wait, Ma!" Tawnee shouted.

"What? You can't tell me that this isn't a good offer. Don't tell me you're not gonna take the interview. Aren't you excited about it?" Janice was having a hard time understanding why her daughter looked like she had just gotten a death threat in the mail instead of a lucrative job offer.

"No, it's not that. It's just what I wanted. The problem is Will."

"Will?"

"Well, yeah, you know he and I have gotten kinda like buddies the last couple of months...and well, the other day he was telling me how he hoped that I wasn't gonna move very far away when I got a job. I'd rather be the one to tell him rather than you or Dad, okay?"

"Will's not a child, I'm sure he'll understand," Janice said.

"He probably will, but I want to be the one to tell him, okay?" Tawnee asked, hopefully stressing the fact that she was serious. "You might be perfectly fine with the fact that I'll have to move a couple of hundred miles away and leave all my friends and family behind, but he might not be so happy about it!" Realizing that she was right on the edge of having a tearful breakdown, Tawnee rushed back up to her room.

Janice was shocked. Not the reaction that she would have expected. When she stopped and thought about it, it was understandable. She suspected that it wasn't just Will that Tawnee was concerned with. The girl, of course, would have some concerns, herself. It was no small thing to pack up and move your entire life somewhere else. Janice couldn't expect her daughter to take the job without giving it some serious thought, even if it did seem like it was everything that she was looking for. And who's to say that she wouldn't get other offers that were closer to home? She thought that she would give Tawnee a little while, then go have a talk with her.

After a good twenty minutes, Janice made the journey up to her daughter's bedroom. The girl was laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She didn't appear to be crying at the moment.