by Nora Cobb
I scoff thinking about it. I’ve been interested in baseball since grade school, but the walls are decorated in a nautical theme with white, red, and dark navy paint and stupid maritime flags along the molding. I stand on my bed and yank a row down. I feel a little better, but not by much.
I crack open the door to my room and step into the hallway. I can hear my mother’s voice downstairs. Finally, she’s opened Dad’s gift, and she is squealing over the piece of jewelry inside. My mother owes him, big-time. I must have the only father in our circle that doesn’t cheat on his wife or have a mistress. Dad’s not wired that way, I hope.
I go back into my room and decide against taking a drive. Where would I go? I know Jacob is taking Natalie out tonight. I could text Lucas and see how he’s holding up. I call his phone, but it goes straight to voice mail. Lying down, I hold up my phone in my hand, and my fingers stroke the screen deftly. My hand trembles as I open the photo app. The thumbnails fill the screen, but I know the ones I want to see. I tap on one and stare at a picture of Natalie.
She is beautiful. As much as I want to continue hating her, I can’t. I was serious when I told her I went to her house because it was calm. It’s soothing to be around people that actually like each other.
I shift restlessly on my bed. I don’t want to acknowledge how I feel looking at her picture. A bead of sweat travels quickly down my underarm, and I grit my teeth. My finger halts and I swipe to another picture, and I suck in air. She’s topless and her curves are gracefully held in place by her arching back. My pants feel tighter as I squirm. I toss the phone on the bed, and I get up quickly to take a shower.
Anthony, that asshole. Why him? Why would any sane girl pick him? I think back to the first day when I met her. Jacob had told me that she was Anthony’s friend from West Lake—another scholarship kid on drugs. Those roaches were swarming our school and lowering the reputation of Montlake. It was pissing me off. The school was associated with my family’s name, and I was fed up with the trash that Cromwell let in.
I ignored the fact that Natalie was friendly and pretty. She looked innocent in her Montlake-approved clothes and I acted the asshole. Something I’ve perfected as team captain. But Arielle makes me look broke. Sure, Arielle was a catch for my parents. Building alliances is essential, but diving into a whirlpool of craziness like Arielle is cracked. She would’ve destroyed our family from within. I escaped, but Lucas didn’t.
Feeling relaxed, I get dressed and feel better. My phone is face-up, and though I shouldn’t, I look at Natalie’s picture again. I know that Lucas and Jacob are sharing her. Well, at least, that’s what I suspect. But Lucas is married now, and out of the loop. Lucas would never put Natalie at risk.
I hear mother’s footsteps in the hall, and she knocks on my door. I watch the knob turn, but it’s locked and she gives up. I hear Dad’s footsteps, and they go off to their bedroom. Yeah, she better keep him happy. I look at Natalie’s picture again, at the way her body curves against the bed. I trace her curves with my fingertip. I should have known this would happen. The girl I hated is the one I want. But she doesn’t want me. No matter how many times I show up at her house.
My thumb traces the pictures one last time before I press the delete button.
It’s Valentine’s Day, and I decide to get her a belated gift. While dad keeps mother occupied, I sneak downstairs to his study. The lights and the music are still on. She must have taken him by surprise. Dad is old-school and keeps an address book in his desk drawer. I flip through the pages until I find the number of his contact at Columbia. I take a picture of the page with my phone, and walk back to my room.
CHAPTER 21
Natalie
A letter arrives from Columbia University Admissions, and I can tell by the thin feel of the envelope that it’s going to be bad news. I’ve been deferred, not waitlisted. Considering the timing, it’s unlikely I will be going to Columbia in the fall. It’s sort of a relief, but I am still disappointed.
I have to admit it was a status thing. Some people care about cars; others, clothes; and others, electronics. But if I’m going to college, I want to be able to say I’m going to an Ivy League. Initially, I didn’t want to go to college at all. I wanted a job that would take me away from Montlake, West Lake, and all the bad memories. But bad memories are being replaced with good ones.
I also applied to the University of Tampa as a lark. The Marine Science Biology program looked interesting, and it would be cool to say I was a marine biologist. I would spend my days swimming in the sun (I hope) and getting paid well for it. It would be bittersweet, considering what happened to my parents. Still, my mother would be the first one to congratulate me for pursuing a dream job.
As graduation approaches, I have an irksome feeling that maybe I should stay closer to home. The more I learn about Uncle Phil’s business, the more I want to be involved. It was an ego thing to have outwitted the Saunders and helped my uncle. But I learned something about myself: I don’t have to pretend to fit in and follow the code. I know it, and now, I can also bend it. Maybe someday I’ll own and run a tech company like my uncle.
I click on the Tampa website, and there are many majors in business. The school is no slouch, and I could definitely learn how to run an IT business while studying there.
At lunch, I flip through the catalog again while sitting at the second table. Arielle still holds court at the first table, but Lucas is nowhere to be seen. It’s common knowledge that they’re only married in name. Troy walks in and pauses by the first table. Arielle sweetly smiles at him as if they’re still an item, but Troy walks by the table and sits at the second table across from me.
I look up at Troy as he slips off his winter coat and twists the cap off his bottled water. The conversation in the room slows, and people are checking this strange sight out. Barely anyone here knows that Troy is actually a welcome guest in my home. I wasn’t kidding with Jacob. Uncle Phil made a list of people who are welcome to the house. I asked Uncle Phil about Troy and he said yes.
“Where’s your lunch?” I ask him casually, as if we’re best friends.
“Where’s yours?” he replies, eyeing the color catalog in my hands.
I sigh, wondering if we’re going to have a stand-off over who’s going to leave the table first to get lunch. My stomach growls, and I’m too pissed to be self-conscious. I could really careless if my body embarrasses me in front of a boy that calls me Trashalicious.
Troy cracks a grin. “We could walk over there together and get lunch. Wouldn’t that mess with everybody’s brain?”
I laugh, and it makes him smile. “That would fuck up their world, right?” I grin, thinking about the looks we’ll get. Arielle dumps Troy, and he lands right in the palm of my hand. Status only means something to me because it means so much to her.
Troy holds out his hand, and taking it, I get up and join him. This is better than homecoming. For a moment, the boy I can’t stand and I are the center of attention at Montlake as we walk through the hushed cafeteria.
We stop at the pasta bar. “Do you eat carbs, Mr. Saunders?”
“I have to eat carbs, Ms. Page,” Troy replies, “or I’d be as thin as spaghetti.”
I try not to laugh. I’m supposed to hate him. But I love the attention as people wonder WTF. Let them gossip. They don’t know the real me. Troy orders vegetable lasagna and I order my usual primavera. Arielle watches us openly as we carry our trays back to the second table. She doesn’t look upset, just curious, and amazed. Head down, Jacob is at the second table and flipping through my catalog. Nothing fazes him.
“Are you going to Tampa?” Jacob asks.
“Probably. Columbia isn’t working out.”
I can’t help but notice a shadow pass over Troy’s face as our charade ends. An uncomfortable thought enters my mind. Did Greg Saunders make that call? Or does he not have as much juice as I thought he did? Is he all talk, like his son? My eyes narrow on Troy, and he looks cautious but doesn’t look awa
y.
“Did your father change his mind, Troy?” My tone sounds light, but my voice cracks. “Did he decide not to call, or did you talk him out of it?”
Troy looks at Jacob, who is now interested, before answering me. “I’m sorry, Nat. Dad did call, but my mother was pissed, so she called them back.”
Wow. I sit there, staring at Troy. I’m shocked. Not only did Troy apologize, but it sounds like he just told me the truth. I look over to Jacob, but he’s busy flipping through the catalog like this is normal behavior. Troy and I never talk to each other like civil people. If we’re not yelling, then every other comment is laced with sarcasm.
“Why was your mother pissed?” I ask quietly.
Troy scoffs as I always expect from him. “You outwitted my father by selling us non-voting shares.”
“Was your father upset?”
“No, Dad thinks you’re smart.”
“Fuck, I’m stunned,” I reply. “I’m glad you waited until I was sitting down to tell me.”
Nosy Jacob hoots, but keeps his eyes in the catalog. I snatch it out of his hands, put it on the table, and he gives me a questioning look. Maya Saunders warned me, but I didn’t touch her precious Troy. I wouldn’t. Does it matter? Is she really that vindictive? But before I can ask, we’re interrupted by an unholy presence.
“Troy,” Arielle is standing by the table and places her back toward me while speaking to Troy. “Have you seen Lucas?”
Troy shrugs his shoulders and scowls. “I don’t know where he is, Arielle. I didn’t marry him. You did.”
Jacob chuckles and I lower my head, biting my lips shut. I can feel Arielle’s eyes on us, but I don’t dare look at her, or I might shatter like glass. Actually, I think I know where Lucas is. He’s probably retrieving his car after a rotten Val Day. Anyone who knows Lucas knows how much he prizes his car, so it’s a logical guess.
“Are you sitting here now?” Arielle’s voice raises a note as she strikes an innocent pose.
Troy shrugs his shoulder. “I might.” He looks at his team’s table. “Or I might sit somewhere else.” He doesn’t say it, but Troy won’t be sitting with her.
Arielle won’t leave Troy alone. It must kill her that he’s sitting with me. And honestly, watching her squirm is making me happy. “If you see him,” she purrs, “tell him I’m looking for him?”
Troy arches an eyebrow at her. “I’m not your pool boy. So, hop on your broom and find him yourself.”
Wow. I’ve never heard Troy speak to anyone like that except for me. Arielle has broken the deal. I learned that from reading the articles Mrs. Perez saved. It may not have been in writing, but she broke it nonetheless. Arielle turns on her pointed heels and leaves, glaring all the way back to her table.
I glance over at the first table, and Lexi and Cora are holding court in Arielle’s brief absence. Cora looks like she’d rather be somewhere else. Her attention keeps drifting to the jocks’ table, where Mancuso and Beth sit.
We sit in silence. Troy avoids my hard stare, and eventually, Jacob passes him the Tampa catalog. Troy looks at the shiny catalog as if it dropped from the sky.
He screws up his face with concern. “Why are you looking at this?”
“If Natalie goes there ...” Jacob shrugs his broad shoulders. “I thought I’d take a look.”
Finally, Troy stares back at me as if he’s been poked with a pitchfork in the back. I guess he didn’t realize my second pick was so far away. Not that it should matter to him. He can find a new girl to torment.
“Natalie,” he asks, “are you going to move?”
“I can’t commute, Troy.” I yank the catalog away from him and put it in my bag. I’m not interested in discussing my life choices at the lunch table.
Troy shakes his head. “I really am sorry about Columbia.”
“I’d like to say it’s not your fault,” I reply, “but I can’t.”
Jacob frowns at Troy. “Why is your mother going after Natalie? I’d think she’d go after the happy couple.”
Troy looks uncomfortable, and I wonder if he’ll tell the truth again. “She thinks I dumped Arielle for Natalie.”
Jacob laughs loudly, and I start to giggle but stop when I see the serious look on Troy’s face. His mother did threaten me, but she had to know how much he hates me. Troy does hate me. Or at least, he did last year.
“Look, I’m sorry, Natalie,” Troy leans toward me and whispers over the table, “and I’ll make it up to you.”
It’s incredible that Troy keeps apologizing to me, but the damage has been done. My reputation is shit. Plenty of people still believe the rumors. Maybe leaving home would be better than staying here. But I’m curious.
“What could you do now?” I ask.
Jacob makes a face as if I should know better.
Troy straightens up and takes a bite of his lasagna as he thinks. “Arielle shouldn’t be able to dump me so easily,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not brokenhearted. I’m thankful, but she needs to be taught a lesson. Not just so I can prove a point but also for Lucas’ sake.”
Jacob looks over at the first table. Lexi is showing Arielle something on her phone. She’ll be distracted for a few minutes.
“Do you have any ideas?” I ask.
“Not offhand, but it’s important to think it through. It’s not a game.”
“It’s not like playing chess.” I grin like a gratified cat.
Troy stares at me. The same look that he gave me when I didn’t run up and down the hallways, telling every student that his mother is whack. Is it being richer than rich that drives mothers crazy in this town? But I’ve never met Jacob’s mom and the way she sounds, she has no time to be bothered with petty bullshit.
We round our shoulders and lower our voices. “So, what are you planning?” Jacob mumbles to Troy.
“Don’t know, but she’s feeling invincible, and believe me, that’s when people fuck up royally.”
“Count me in,” replies Jacob. “I don’t like how that bitch tricked my friend.”
“I don’t like it either,” replies Troy. “I know Lucas and I were having problems, but I wouldn’t have wished Arielle on him.”
Jacob twists his face. “You almost married the girl.”
“I had a bag packed in my car.” Troy grins. “I was going to run from the church if I had to.”
“You’re lying,” laughs Jacob. “Your mom would have sat on you until you said ‘I do.’”
“You’re right,” Troy laughs. “Natalie could tell you my mother had the place covered in cake.” Troy smiles at me. “She gained ten pounds.”
I giggle. “It was like her Easy-Bake Oven exploded.”
They laugh. And I never thought I’d laugh with Troy about his crazy mother.
“Okay,” Jacob gets serious. “Here is not the place to talk.”
“You’re right,” Troy glances around, and Arielle is watching. “Natalie, I call a truce.” Troy holds out his hand.
I feel funny, like I shouldn’t be so easy on him. The boy has done a lot of wrong, excuses or no excuses. But I can’t take on Arielle alone. I’ve tried that, and it didn’t work. I failed miserably. I have to put my feelings aside and make a deal with Troy to help Lucas. How, I don’t know, but Troy can and will figure it out.
I take his hand. “Truce.”
***
Troy gets up from the table to talk to a kid from his team. And I watch him, wondering what the hell just happened between us, but it’s weirdly making sense. They all thought I was Anthony’s addict girlfriend, and in a way, I acted like it. Always defending him. And that weirdness at Troy’s house. If I hadn’t whipped Maya Saunders up into a frenzy, Troy might be married to Arielle instead of poor Lucas. He must thank me as he lies in his bed alone at night.
I’m not that hungry, and I decide to go look for Lucas in the parking deck.
As I stand up, my gaze catches on Anthony. He’s sitting at the back table without Beth. She never returned to the bac
k table after her fall from Arielle’s favor. She sits at the perimeter tables with the jocks, who prefer her sassy wit to Arielle’s phony sugar. Beth would be a good ally right now.
The look Anthony gives me is hateful and dark. It causes me to catch my breath. Jacob scowls in his direction, but a brooding Anthony doesn’t turn away. But Anthony loses the staring contest. He gets up and kicks the fire door open, walking out into the cold.
“Come on, Nat.” Jacob takes my hand, and we leave through the front entrance to look for Lucas.
CHAPTER 22
Natalie
The next day, I wait for Lucas in the library, but he doesn’t stop by while I’m tutoring. He’s keeping a low profile while training for the championships. I send him a text, and he replies that he’ll call me later. I’ll have to wait, and the waiting drives me crazy. Frustrated with not having firm plans, I head over to the parking deck to leave.