8Shaina moved along quickly, cursing under her breath. That had been the most horrible sight she had ever laid eyes on. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Shaina had always been able to keep up her shimmering reputation, her string of football team boyfriends, and had never, ever gotten fired. Shaina was almost confused, this couldn't happen to someone like her. To Brie, maybe, because she was too nice and trusted everybody, but not Shaina. She knew the ways of the world. Or so she thought. Shaina Lorren had kept a certain kind of attitude regarding relationships; she would have as many as possible, with as few attachments as possible. As far as she knew, love was a stupid excuse for silly behavior and a way for guys to get girls in bed. That was why Shaina dated mostly older guys. Brie always dated guys her age, but had only had one or two boyfriends, while Shaina had probably thirty or forty, but Brie had been in love, and seriously committed to each guy. Shaina just wanted to have fun. She had thought that Brie should envy her for her looks and ability to get as many guys as she wanted. But, no, Brie was satisified with her close relationships, and felt that they added to her life. This frustrated Shaina, and she tried to teach Brie that she should date as many guys as possible, until she found the right one with money and good looks. Those were honestly Shaina's standards. Brie usually laughed in Shaina's face. After awhile, Shaina gave up, and let Brie make her own mistakes with the two, three-year long boyfriends. After each one broke her heart, it was Shaina's turn to giggle. If only Brie had listened to her, she wouldn't have had to go through these hardships. Shaina hadn't really had any. Well, until now, she supposed, and maybe some guy along the way, a lost love she had pushed out of her memory.
When Shaina was twelve, she began begging for a bra. Now, Shaina's breasts were about the size of sliced apples, and pretty thin ones at that, but Shaina thought that buying a bra would help her fit in. Her mother told her that there was no way she was going to be able to slip into one, but Shaina pleaded for about a month, and she finally gave in. They went to Victoria's Secret, where the salesladies eyed Shaina, and went crazy over how "cute" she was. Shaina just soaked it all in and smiled her adorable little smile, making everyone ooo and ah. They picked out a triple-A bra, the smallest in the store, but it was shiny, and light pink, and matched Shaina's personality perfectly. She didn't need, it, but she started wearing it every day, and soon the boys noticed, and Shaina Lorren was the hit of seventh grade. All of the boys wanted to kiss her, and they invited her to all of their parties. And since Brie was Shaina's best friend, she was invited, too.
Brie usually stood in the back, biting her nails, and talking to the science geeks. Shaina ended up ditching her most of the time because she was so boring. They played spin the bottle, and everyone hoped for Shaina. She would tease and giggle, and never kiss anyone when she got picked, but go sit on all the boys' laps, twirling their hair through her fingers, Shaina's trademark move. The guys melted, but they never got any. Shaina figured this was a good way to be, to always leave them wanting more. It was something her mother had often said to her.
Two months after the Victoria's Secret shopping trip, and two months after rejecting almost every single guy in her grade, Shaina was walking home from school. It was almost summer, and the sun brought out the blonde in her pink-yellow hair, and it bounced around her shoulders, her new hips swaying. She wore a light yellow slip ress and sandals. She was like an angel. And she did not look like a girl about to turn thirteen.
"Hey, you!" A male voice called from behind, " C'mere for a second." His tone was deep and husky, not like that of a prepubescent, seventh grade boy. Shaina was intrigued. She turned around.
The guy looked about sixteen or seventeen, and she recognized him. He would always stand in front of the McDonald's with some other high school kids and eat French fries. He was one of the cutest guys in town, and all of the girls wanted him. He had glanced Shaina's way sometimes when she walked by with Brie. Generally, Brie rolled her eyes at him. She thought he was totally stupid, and didn't see how anyone could find him attractive. That was just like Brie. Shaina thought his name might be Jason, John, something with a J.
"I'm Jeremy," he said, walking closer to her. God, he was gorgeous. Like a surfer, his hair was long, blonde, and wavy. Shaina remembered thinking it was almost like hers. His body was tanned, and toned, and he wore no shirt, only indigo swim shorts, and his eyes matched the shorts. Shaina melted.
She strutted cutely over towards him. "Shaina," She giggled, extending her hand. Jeremy shook it, and let her fingers linger in his for awhile.
"I've seen you around," He said, finally, pushing his hair back with his hand, "You walk by the McDonald's sometimes, with the dorky girl who hates me, right?" Shaina stepped back slightly. Brie might have been kind of a nerd, but she was Shaina's best friend. She didn't really appreciate that.
"She's my best friend," Shaina said, "She's not that bad, I guess." Jeremy raised his eyebrows like he seriously doubted that. Shaina gave him a Look. He gave her one back, and she melted.
"Well," Shaina began to laugh a little, "She is kinda weird, but she's ok mostly." Shaina felt bad saying that, but Brie would have done the same thing. This Jeremy guy was much cooler than any of the guys she knew, and much cuter!
Jeremy came a little closer to Shaina, running his fingers through her hair. "Pretty hair," he said softly, "And such a pretty girl." Shaina was officially won over. He leaned in to kiss her, and she didn't complain, letting him slide his fingers over her breasts as his lips met hers.
That relationship had pretty much no meaning whatsoever. Jeremy Richards was a burnout surfer who had nothing better to do with his time than get stoned, and "ride the waves." But he was the hottest guy in town, and he liked Shaina! Everyone was jealous. Whenever Shaina would come back to school on Monday, she would be full of stories of her exciting dates with Jeremy. And when summer came, they spent all their time together. She lounged on the beach in her adorable yellow bikini while he surfed with his friends, and at night, they all had bonfires and got incredibly drunk.
Shaina loved beer the first time she tasted it. She got drunk easily, and Jeremy loved it. He and his friends always got her wasted, and she usually ended up doing something kind of out of character. See, even though Shaina was beautiful and popular, she was usually a good girl, until she met Jeremy and thought she could only date older guys. One night, Shaina stripped off her bra and underwear, and ran into the ocean, stark naked. Jeremy and his friends howled with laughter, and no one came to stop her. They were all too hammered to care, anyway. She also got stoned with Jeremy, and shoplifted for the first time, from an adult video store.
Brie had tagged along on the first few dates, but then got bored with Jeremy making fun of her so much, and tended to avoid them most of the time. She rarely saw Shaina because she was always off with Jeremy somewhere. Brie mostly talked with her other friends, and got ice cream cones at the nearby deli. She and Shaina tried to talk at school, but all Shaina wanted to talk about was Jeremy. Brie was left behind.
Brie went to one bonfire, tasted beer, and hated it. She vowed to never try it again. This was about the time when Shaina started completely ditching Brie. They smiled and said hello at school, and talked when their parents brought them together, but they never did anything outside of school together. Brie was saddened by this, and Shaina knew it, but she loved Jeremy so much that when it came to choosing between the two, she picked Jeremy. She always did feel guilty.
One night, Shaina was at one of Jeremy's friend's bonfires, and she was almost drunk, but still only a bit buzzed. Jeremy was super drunk and stoned already, and he kept sliding his hand between Shaina's thighs. She hadn't really minded, at first, since they had already gone pretty far. They were lying in a blanket on the beach, and had been making out and other things for over an hour.
"Wanna condom?" Jeremy whispered in Shaina's ear, his breath reeking of alcohol. And Shaina thought what the hell, she might as well live it up. She shook her head, giggling.
"Just you and me," Shaina whispered back, sliding off his swim shorts and slipping off her thong.
Sex wasn't anything like Shaina had imagined it would be. No romantic, passionate cries of love, only Jeremy's heavy breathing and whispers of her name, and this horrible, sharp pain as he entered her. In fact, Shaina didn't like it so much. But, whatever, she thought she might as well get it over with. They hadn't used a condom, Shaina had been told that it ruined the mood, and she didn't want Jeremy getting upset with her. She wanted to please him as much as possible. She had the feeling he had done this many times before, and Shaina wasn't sure how she would measure up to the other girls that Jeremy had been with.
The next day, Brie had come to see Shaina. "You had sex with him," Brie said accusingly. Shaina was shocked.
"You can't know that," Shaina said, "I mean, how.?"
Brie cut her off. "Listen, Shaina. I might not have been with as many guys as you, or as many parties, we might barely talk anymore, but I still know you better than anyone else. Now, did you use protection?" Shaina just stood there, feeling a mixture of confusion and humiliation.
"Well?" Brie demanded.
"Um," was Shaina's brilliant answer.
Brie glared at Shaina. "Wow, way to go, Shaina! Very smart! I'm sure, since, you know, Jeremy has only been with you, you won't catch any disgusting diseases!" She said sarcastically.
Shaina had never thought of it that way. Now she was scared. "Brie," Shaina began, "I-"
"Shaina, just be careful, okay? Don't apologize, but I'm afraid for you. Please, just don't get yourself hurt." Brie hugged Shaina and left. That was when Shaina knew that, no matter what, Brie would always be there for her, and she had no right to blow her off for a guy.
The next day, Shaina dumped Jeremy, and came running back to Brie, who reluctantly forgave her. Jeremy didn't seem to care much. He found another girlfriend at a party that night. Still, it had been fun for Shaina , and she had loved having everyone be jealous of her. This sounds like the beginning of the turning of a new leaf for Shaina, but this was not the case. A cycle had begun, and the next boy that would tear Shaina and Brie apart was Ron Fisher.