UNtouched: a bay falls high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  Which seemed so fucking fitting.

  Was there anyone near me that was who they said they were? Anyone who didn’t treat the lines of right and wrong like they were invisible?

  Even the comments made at the pool with Iris… I wondered if Pres, Barr, or Kip had… you know… with her. Or Gi.

  They weren’t virgins.

  That was for damn sure.

  I was at the point of actually considering giving it my all in class just to distract my mind.

  Now that was scary.

  Lucky for me Beth was waiting at my locker.

  “Sorry about last night,” I said to her. “I never got back to you.”

  “Heard you had visitors.”

  “What? How?”

  She tilted her head. “Really?”

  “Right. Nothing is safe around here.”

  “Not with them,” she said. “Sometimes they like it to be known.”

  “What be known?”

  “That they have someone new.”

  I laughed. “Someone new? Me? Not a chance in hell.”

  Beth shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever you say, Ti. I warned you. I can keep warning you.”

  “Beth… nothing is happening,” I said. “I was home with… at the pool…”

  Now I was being a shady bitch by not telling her about Gi and Iris.

  “With your friends,” Beth said.

  Never mind.

  “Hey, what is the deal with you and them?” I asked. “I mean, bad enough we have to deal with Blair and Vicky, right?”

  Beth shut her locker. “Don’t worry about it. I have to go meet up with Denny.”

  “How is he?”

  “How do you think?”

  “I didn’t do anything in that situation. You know that, right?”

  “I know,” Beth said. “It still sucks though.”

  Beth turned and I grabbed her hand. “Hey. It does suck. Everything fucking sucks.”

  Beth forced a smile and walked away.

  I opened my locker finally and stepped back.

  There was a plate.

  With…

  A grilled cheese sandwich on it.

  A smile flickered across my face.

  There was a note from Barr.

  You can get a grilled cheese around here, love. Just ask.

  I touched the grilled cheese and it was still a little warm.

  I had no idea how the hell Barr pulled this off.

  I had no idea what to do with it, other than eat it.

  But it was morning.

  And I had to get to class.

  And I still didn’t trust Barr.

  For all I knew he could have poisoned it.

  Or maybe it was just a kind gesture.

  Or his version of an apology for all that was happening.

  Yeah right.

  I knew better.

  There was always a reason for anything they did.

  No matter how it made me feel.

  * * *

  I arrived at the ditch at the time Kip texted me to be there.

  It was right around dark and it was just me.

  Gi and Iris were meeting me when the fights were going to start. I tried to invite Beth but she said if she went, she was going with Denny and they’d just linger around behind it all. She said it wasn’t her thing anymore.

  I guess in a way that made sense considering Denny got his ass kicked in the ditch.

  As I slowly walked toward the ditch I looked around feeling watched.

  All the fires were lit and the ditch was just there.

  Empty.

  But only for a few seconds.

  I heard a small scuffle and watched as Press and Barr pushed someone into the ditch.

  It was a preppy looking guy in a white polo shirt and tan shorts.

  He didn’t look like the fighting type but his face was a mess.

  He looked already beaten up.

  Not freshly beaten up either.

  All of the marks and cuts were days old.

  “Where is Kip?” he asked.

  He didn’t look worried.

  “He’ll be here in a second,” Barr said. “Want a smoke?”

  “No,” the guy said. “I want to figure this shit out. They don’t get to do this to us, man. It’s bullshit. We had every right to be at that party. Dylan rented the house. They showed up which meant they were under our control.”

  “Take it easy, Jacob,” Pres said. “We’ll get it sorted.”

  “Look at me,” Jacob yelled. “Look at my face. Look what he did to me.”

  Barr and Pres nodded.

  I felt something touch my arms and I jumped.

  “It’s just me, girl,” a soothing voice said.

  Kip.

  His fingertips touched my arms, sliding up and down, sending my body into an intense relaxed state. Well, everywhere on my body except one spot. That spot was very excited.

  Kip put his chin to my shoulder.

  He smelled so soothing.

  Like the ocean.

  “I have to go handle this,” he whispered. “I want you to watch.”

  “What happened to him?” I asked.

  “Weslee Jackson,” Kip said.

  “Who?”

  “Wes.”

  “Oh. That name. I’ve heard it before. That’s Hidden Creek High, right?”

  “Bingo, girl,” Kip said.

  Kip brushed his cheek to mine and then walked away.

  He was in a white sleeveless shirt and jeans.

  He didn’t look like some rich surfer boy.

  He looked like a man ready for a fight.

  I slowly followed him.

  Kip walked down into the ditch.

  “Hey, man,” Jacob said.

  Kip nodded.

  Barr and Pres turned and walked away.

  “Heard you were asking for me,” Kip said.

  “Yeah. I mean, the three of you. I already talked to Barr and Pres. I know I’m not in your group or whatever. But this is personal. To all of us. To BFH.”

  “I agree,” Kip said. “So Wes caught you fucking his girl?”

  “Something like that,” Jacob said. “Bitch had it coming to her. Wes knew what he was getting into. They weren’t together. I made my move.”

  “I heard she didn’t want that move, Jacob.”

  “Fuck that,” Jacob said. “Do any of them know what they want?”

  He laughed.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  What did Jacob actually do?

  “So Wes busted in and ripped you off his girl?”

  “Yeah. Aira. That’s Wes’s girl’s name. Nothing was even happening. I was just… you know… getting ready…”

  “So because you weren’t inside her, that makes it okay?” Kip asked.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Jacob asked. “This isn’t about me fucking some dirty HCH pussy. This is about what Wes did to me. The message he sent. We have to… what the fuck are you going to do about it, Kip?”

  “That’s a good question,” Kip said. “I mean, you want me to load up the boys and go right into HCH, right?”

  “Fuck yeah,” Jacob said. “I can call my boys too. We can team up.”

  “Team up,” Kip said. “To beat up the guy who beat you up. Because you forced yourself on his girl.”

  “Come on, enough of that shi-”

  Kip moved so fast I gasped.

  His hands were around Jacob’s shirt, pulling him up so they were eye to eye.

  “I don’t know what kind of game you think that is,” Kip said. “But it’s not a game we play. Or a game we’re going to defend.”

  “She deserved it. Fucking cunt.”

  Kip threw Jacob back. “Get the fuck out of here.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “If I say it again, you’re going to regret it,” Kip said.

  “Yeah, you’ll regret it,” Jacob said. “When they take over and control all of us.”

  Kip shoo
k his head. “I tried… fuck me… I tried…”

  He moved at Jacob again.

  I watched as Jacob tried to swing at Kip.

  Kip saw it coming and got out of the way. Then he grabbed Jacob again, except this time he got him by the face. Kip’s thumb dug into the cuts on Jacob’s face, twisting, breaking open the scabs, leaving Jacob screaming, begging for mercy as he fell to his knees.

  When Kip let him go, Jacob dropped to his ass and put his hands out.

  “Fine,” he said. “Fine. It’s done. It’s over.”

  “You ever touch someone like that again and I’ll rip your fucking dick off,” Kip said. “If I have something to say to fucking Weslee Jackson I will say it to him myself. But you put your hands on his girl. Unwanted. You got what you deserved. Now walk away.”

  Jacob climbed to his feet and ran out of the ditch.

  Kip turned and looked in my direction.

  I stepped forward and walked between two of the tiki torches and started to move down into the ditch.

  I swallowed hard, trying to read his eyes.

  Those baby blue eyes…

  His lip curled and his hands were balled into fists.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Exactly what you heard,” Kip said. “Some BFH guys rented a place down in HCH. Shit got crazy. Jacob thought he could have something that wasn’t his. I don’t stand for that shit. If I see something I want, girl, I go for it. I may not take no for an answer but I know where the line stands. And I’ll fucking stand there as long as I need to.”

  “Kind of like where I’m standing right now,” I whispered.

  I was right about Kip.

  Maybe.

  He did have something that looked like a heart.

  Everything he just did… wanting me to see it…

  “Hey, girl, there is something you do need to know though,” he said.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “That line? I know when to cross it.”

  Without another word, Kip slipped his arms around me, stepped forward, pressing his body against mine, and he lowered his mouth down to mine.

  Oh… fuck…

  * * *

  Maybe there were times when it was sparks… or stars… or an explosion…

  But this…

  This was like kissing him as though we had been kissing each other for months.

  His hands holding me perfectly and his lips sliding against mine with such ease. Flirting with a kiss. Pausing. The tip of his nose touching mine. That surfer boy grin and glare of his blue eyes against the fires around us. Then moving in for the actual kiss. Repeating that over and over, adding a little more each time. Driving me to the point that I grabbed at the front pockets of his jeans and pushed down so I could jump up and kiss him back, harder, craving more.

  Right there in the middle of the ditch.

  Where guys fought. Where rich guys bet on those fights.

  And Kip and I were kissing.

  This wasn’t me.

  I wasn’t the girl who kissed boy after boy.

  No way.

  I pulled away for a second and looked into his eyes.

  What about Barr?

  As though Kip could read my mind, he slid his hand up my back to my hair and pulled me close again.

  Our tongues tangled and danced.

  My knees bent with need and confusion.

  And just like that, Kip broke the kiss and put his forehead to mine.

  “So about that line, girl,” he whispered.

  “This is no line, Kip,” I blurted out.

  Kip kissed my forehead and laughed. “I know. I’ve known it all along.”

  He backed away just as Barr and Pres came back into the ditch.

  “You two good?” Pres asked.

  I turned and looked at Barr.

  He was smoking a cigarette, eyes locked on me.

  “We’re perfect,” Kip said. “Now tell me again who I’m beating the shit out of tonight?”

  “You’re fighting?” I asked, my attention back to Kip.

  Oh, this is going to be a problem… going from Barr to Kip to Barr to Kip…

  “Of course I am,” Kip said.

  “We’re throwing some money at you tonight,” Pres said. “Don’t fuck this up.”

  “Not a chance,” Kip said.

  “Sure you’re not distracted?” Barr asked, winking at me.

  My cheeks burned hot.

  “I’m fucking fine,” Kip said.

  “Good,” Pres said. “Let’s go arrange the bets. Everyone will be showing up soon.”

  Kip started to walk and I grabbed his hand. “Are you serious right now?”

  “What? You worried about me, girl?”

  I let him go. “No.”

  “Liar,” Kip whispered. “Don’t worry, even if I take a few hits to my lips, they’ll still be kissable.”

  Kip kissed the air and strutted away.

  He and Pres were shoulder to shoulder talking, leaving me alone with Barr.

  As he approached, I felt a wave of guilt hit me.

  Barr took a deep drag of his cigarette and never blinked once as he stared.

  “Barr… I don’t know what you saw…”

  Barr touched my chin, running his thumb across my bottom lip. “So much fucking fun, love.”

  “What?”

  He laughed and turned.

  With one last drag, he dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. He put his head back and blew out a cloud of smoke as he left the ditch.

  I stood there alone, looking around again.

  The place where guys got their faces beat up and their ass kicked.

  For fun.

  For money.

  I laughed because if I didn’t I would have cried.

  All I could picture…

  … my heart… broken… in pieces… right there in the middle of the ditch…

  fifteen

  I felt like I had guilty kiss tattooed on my lips. I kept touching them, feeling them tingling, wondering if they were puffy, red or had any hint that would tell Gi and Iris that I had been making out with Kip in the middle of the ditch where two guys were now fighting.

  It wasn’t Kip. Yet.

  It was a big guy named Cruz and some tall, skinny guy wearing a blue bandana.

  “I hope Cruz rips his head off,” Iris said.

  “Why?” I asked. “Did you bet on this?”

  “No,” she said. “But I know him. Handsy prick from a party I went to.”

  “Told you not to go too far south,” Gi said.

  “Handsy, huh?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Iris said. “I love how guys think our ass has a giant flashing sign that says SMACK HERE! GRAB HERE! STICK IT HERE!”

  “Like you don’t enjoy all of the above,” Gi teased.

  “Not from that toothpick looking freak,” Iris said.

  “Ouch,” I whispered. “That’s harsh.”

  “He’s lucky he got away from me when he did.”

  There was a cheer and I looked to see the ass grabber stumbling back from a hit from Cruz’s thick fist.

  I thought about the ass grabber… what Kip would have done to him if he knew he was doing that stuff to someone at BFH.

  “They like to come down and try to find someone to surprise with a fight,” Iris said. “Boring.”

  “Better than studying,” Gi said.

  “Even if I was home bored out of my mind, I still wouldn’t study.”

  “Only because you know you’ll never fail,” Gi said.

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “You think Jacobson wants to keep us around?” Iris asked. “He’s got nothing on any of us. Dumb penis head with glasses.”

  I laughed.

  There was another cheer and Cruz had the ass grabber near the edge of the ditch. He threw two hard punches and the ass grabber stepped out of the ditch and waved his left hand. He pointed to his nose and shook his head.

  “That’s the fight,
” Iris said.

  Everyone started to boo.

  Cruz walked away shaking his head.

  As he walked out of the ditch, Kip entered the ditch.

  His hands had white tape on them. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and ripped it over his head in one quick move that definitely left guilt written all over my face. He balled the shirt up and tossed it back to Barr, who caught it and looked right at me.

  “Here, let me help,” Iris said.

  She swiped her middle finger near my bottom lip.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Wiping away the drool,” she said.

  “Shut up,” I said.

  “Fun to look at,” Gi said. “But that’s it. It’s like when you go to the zoo and see the tigers, right? They’re all cute and cuddly looking. But you know damn well if you went into that cage you’re getting mauled.”

  I nodded.

  I bit my bottom lip.

  Oh, sweet Gi… I’ve been in the cage… with a tiger and a lion… and I want to do it again…

  Kip stood in the middle of the ditch and waited.

  Then came his opponent.

  Same height. Same build. Black hair. Everything black. He was wearing a sleeveless leather jacket, which he quickly slid off and gave to someone dressed the same as him. He paused and slowly peeled off a ring from each finger.

  “Who is that?”

  “You probably shouldn’t ask,” Gi said.

  “BC,” Iris whispered.

  “What does that mean? Is that another school?”

  “Not quite,” Iris said. “I didn’t realize it was this tonight.”

  I opened my mouth but watched as the guy in black went right after Kip.

  Kip didn’t move an inch though.

  Their bodies slammed together, seeing who was stronger.

  They were both the same strength.

  “Shit, Nix looks pissed,” Iris said to Gi.

  “Nix?”

  “The guy Kip is fighting,” Iris said.

  “Oh. Right.”

  Kip versus Nix.

  They bounced their chests off one another more than a few times. It was hot at first but then got to be weird. Their lips were moving but nobody could hear what they were saying.

  Finally Kip pushed Nix back.

  Without hesitation Nix spit at Kip.

  I gasped.

  Holy. Shit.