When America Could Hold Its Breath For Hours

Mum drove the Honda and dropped me off outside a big house with an electronic gate. She waited in the car while I buzzed the intercom. There were two balloons tied to the gate, but no breeze, and the balloons hung lifelessly — sort of deflated, broken in the heat. Eventually, the gate opened. Mum left, and I walked up the driveway. There was a fountain in the middle of the driveway with an angel spurting water from its mouth. Around the fountain were two Corvettes and an Audi, and in the garage was a Hummer. Inside, a mother in a black cocktail dress told me I could put my present on the table and that Aaron was either in the west or east wing of the house, out on the tennis court, or by the pool. I found him by the pool. He was surrounded by girls drinking cranberry juice from wine glasses. I sat down and could hear people talking about what car they were going to get when they turned fifteen. Someone said, ‘If that bitch gets me a BMW, I’ll die,’ and someone else added, ‘Just crash it and claim the insurance.’ I didn’t understand why everyone was laughing. Some girls got out of the pool. They looked eighteen. They sat down next to us. One of the girls said, ‘Hey bitchesssss. Do you think I got a tan?’, arching her chest. One of the boys said, ‘Oh, for sure.’ The girl seemed bored and said, ‘I guess,’ before adding, ‘Me and Veronica and Stacy were thinking of playing truth or dare.’ A breeze came over the pool and one of the boys nudged me as the girl’s nipples became hard. I shivered. The girl looked at me and said, ‘God, you’re so skinny.’ A couple of people laughed and I sort of looked away, shaking my head. Veronica and Stacy got out of the pool, and we started playing truth or dare. Stacy span first and it landed on Aaron. ‘Truth or dare?’ Stacy said. ‘Dare,’ Aaron said. Stacy raised her eyebrows. ‘Like, jump off your roof into the pool.’ ‘Okay,’ Aaron said. Everyone cheered. Some people said, ‘Oh my God.’ When Aaron got to the roof, Stacy screamed, ‘I love you,’ and Veronica screamed, ‘I really love you.’ The lady who had greeted me at the door came out, and when she saw Aaron on the roof, she screamed, ‘What are you doing?’ Aaron yelled, ‘Shut up, Mom, just put the food on the table and go back inside. Go back inside.’