by McKayla Box
“My dad was on my case about...my mom,” I tell her. “So kind of the same thing.”
“She still wants you to come up to Washington?”
I nod. “Yep. And he says I have to go.”
“Ugh. That sucks. I'm sorry.”
“I know,” I say. “Me, too. But he's at least saying I don't have to go for Christmas Day, so that's a plus, I guess.”
“A small win,” she says. “Come on. Let's go find the other two clowns.”
We get out of the car and cross the parking lot. We immediately spot Maddie and Gina at the bottom of the hill, both of them with red plastic cups in their hands. Gina lets out a squeal when she sees us and comes running over, crashing into me, and swallowing me in a giant, drunken hug.
“You came!” she says. “You really came!”
“Uh, yeah?”
“We didn't think you would,” Maddie says. “Bridge said you were being a weasel about it.”
I look at Bridget.
“Well, you kinda were,” she says. “I had to talk you into it.”
“Whatever,” I say, pulling myself out of Gina's grasp. “I'm here.”
Gina's eyes go big. “I just saw a junior kid I've never seen before and Maddie bet me fifty bucks I wouldn't blow him before the night is over.”
“You won't,” Maddie says. “You're too chicken.”
Gina tilts her cup in her direction. “Please. That boy is fine looking. You think he's going to turn down an offer from me?”
“I don't think you're gonna offer,” Maddie counters.
Gina thinks for a moment, then nods. “You might be right. I might just do him instead.”
“And that wouldn't count and you'd owe me fifty bucks,” Maddie says.
The four of us laugh and I'm glad I got out of the quiet, empty house. Their banter never fails to amuse me and it feels good to laugh with friends.
We make our way down to the sand and the heat from the flames in the fire rings feels good. People are laughing and talking. There's music playing from somewhere.
I look down the sand and I see Trevor with Jake and Brett. They are sitting there and he's leaning back on his hands, his hair moving in the breeze off the water.
My heart skips for just a second, like it does every time I see him.
“I'm gonna go talk to Trevor,” I tell them. “I'll be right back.”
“Oh my god,” Gina says. “You will not. You're gonna ride him right there in the sand, chica.”
I smack her in the arm. “I am not.”
“That boy is smokin',” she says. “I would and I wouldn't even care if you all watched us.”
We all laugh and I shake my head as I head down the beach.
Trevor is in mid-sentence when he sees me. He lifts his chin in my direction and holds his hand up. It's like he's greeting a friend and it doesn't feel right. Brett and Jake turn in my direction, too.
“Hey,” I say when I reach them.
“Hey,” Trevor says. He's in a white long-sleeved T-shirt and pale blue shorts that are almost the same color as his eyes.
“Where's your crew?” Jake asks.
“Back there,” I say. “And they aren't my crew.”
He smiles. “Coulda fooled me. Good looking crew.”
“We aren't a gang,” I tell him.
“You could be,” he says. “This gang of hot chicks who...bang guys like me.”
Trevor backhands him in the chest, but laughs as he does it. Brett pulls his hands out of the sand, claps them together to shake the sand off, and stands. “Come on, Romeo. Let's give the happy couple some privacy.”
“Oh shit,” Jake says, wide-eyed. “Are you guys gonna do it? I could film it and put it up on one of those sites. I'd share the profits with you. Maybe sixty-forty?”
Trevor goes to smack him again, but Jake scrambles to his feet, cackling. Brett shakes his head as they head up the beach, toward the bonfires.
I sit down on the sand next to Trevor. “I didn't hear from you all day.”
“I know,” he says. “I got busy.”
“Too busy to text me?”
He eyes me. “I thought we weren't gonna be that kind of couple.”
We'd had a conversation a couple of weeks earlier and we both agreed – we didn't want to be tied to one another. We wanted to be a couple, but we didn't want to be the couple that texted each other every thirty seconds and ask each other permission before we did anything. I meant it, but now it felt different after not hearing from him all day.
“You could've texted me,” he says.
“I know,” I say. “I just figured you were...busy. I thought I was gonna see you after school at the beach.”
He digs his toes into the sand. “Yeah. I was there for a little while.” He smiles. “You shoulda come with us this morning.”
“Class,” I say. “Which, uh, you had, too.”
He rolls his eyes. “Class is boring. Waves are not.”
“Waves won't get you to graduation,” I say. “Or into college.”
He makes a face. “Whatev. It'll be fine. Not like my classes are hard.”
I put my hand on his arm. “What's up with you?”
He looks at me. “What do you mean?”
“I don't know what I mean,” I say. “But something isn't right. I can tell.”
He smiles at me. “You can tell. Like you've got ESP or some shit.”
“Something like that.”
He laughs and puts his hand over mine. “I'm fine. Swear.”
I don't believe him, but I can tell he doesn't want to talk to so I leave it alone for the moment. “What did you get to eat?”
He looks at me, confused. “To eat?”
“After school,” I say. “Brett and Jake told me you left to go get food.”
He looks at his feet as he digs them into the sand again, then lifts them up, the sand falling off of them. “Oh. Yeah. I got a burrito. I was hungry. Hadn't eaten since breakfast.”
Something seems off about his answer, just like something seems off about...everything. I know if I press him, though, we're just going to end up arguing over it. Whatever it is, he's not ready to share it with me.
“Kane,” he says.
It takes a moment to register with me what he's talking about. “The guy at the beach.”
He nods. “Yeah. Brett told me he came up to you. That motherfucker is bad news.”
“Okay.”
He looks at me. “I'm serious, Pres. Bad fucking news.”
“Okay,” I tell him, squeezing his arm. “He came up to me and he knew who I was.”
He snorts. “Of course he did. Fuck him.”
“You know him?”
He nods. “Yeah, I fucking know him. He's an asshole. And he's fucking with you to fuck with me. That ain't gonna fly.”
“Who is he?” I ask.
“Doesn't matter,” Trevor says. “He's an asshole. And he won't bother you again.”
“I can handle him,” I say.
He looks at me, about to say something, then his eyes drift past me. “Aw, shit.”
I turn around and squint into the dark. I see someone coming toward us. I squint harder.
Then I realize it's the girl I met at school earlier, the new girl.
I turn back to Trevor. “You know her?”
He doesn't say anything, but he's watching her as she comes up to us. She's in a white sweatshirt and the same red shorts she wore to school. “Hey guys.”
Trevor doesn't say anything.
“Hey,” I say. “How are you?”
She holds up her red cup. “I'm great.” She looks past me at Trevor. “How are you, Trev?”
Trev.
The way she says it doesn't feel right.
At all.
I look at her again. “You two know each other?”
She raises a perfectly pluck eyebrow and an amused smile spreads across her mouth. “Do we know each other?” She looks at Trevor. “You haven't told her about me, Trev?
”
Trev.
Trevor doesn't say anything.
“What the hell is your name, anyway?” I ask.
Her smile grows. “He hasn't even told you my name.” She shakes her head, like she can't believe it. “My name's Athena. And, yeah. We know each other.” She looks at Trevor. “Don't we, Trev?”
Trev.
Trevor shuffles his feet in the sand.
“Yeah, we know each other,” she says, looking at me again. Her smile gets bigger. “Trev's my ex.”
TWELVE
“Not just my ex,” Athena says, smiling. She looks at Trevor, then me again. “I was his first.”
I know she wants it to hit me like a rock and it does. Even though I know I wasn't the first girl he was with, having her throw it out like that definitely is a stomach punch.
“Jesus, Athena,” Trevor mutters. “Could you maybe not?”
“What?” she says, feigning innocence. “She asked if we knew each other. I'm just trying to be honest with her.” She shifts her gaze to me again. “We were together for...well, for what seemed like forever. Then my dad took a job up in San Francisco and we moved.” She spreads her arms wide. “But I'm back now.”
“Clearly,” I say.
“I mean, we did break up,” she says. “It's not like I just left and we tried the long distance thing.” She glances at him. “He wanted to, but I said no.”
Trevor shakes his head, but doesn't say anything.
“I didn't think that was fair to either of us,” she says to me. “Too much distance, too hard to keep it going, you know?”
“Uh huh,” I say, wishing she'd shut up.
“So we definitely broke up,” she continues. “He wouldn't even talk to me after I left. So fucking stubborn.” She smiles. “But you probably know that.”
Trevor's hand touches mine in the sand and I pull it away. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I'm caught in the middle of something he should've prepared me for.
“And then I found out he had a new girlfriend,” she says. “You.”
I think about our conversation at the locker earlier that day. I knew there was something that didn't feel quite right and now I know what it was. She already knew who I was and she was giving me the once over.
“I was pretty shocked,” Athena says. “I mean, he told me he was done with relationships after I broke up with him. Was just gonna be hit and runs after that, right, Trev?” She smiles. “That's what you said.”
“Can you just get the fuck out of here?” he says, staring at her. “I really don't need your bullshit.”
Athena tilts her head to the side. “You want time with your new girlfriend? That it?”
I'm glad it's dark so that she can't see the blood rushing into my face.
“That's cool,” she says, nodding. “I'll give you that. For now.” She looks at me and the smile fades. “I just wanted to put you on notice.”
“On notice?” I say. “What are you talking about?”
She folds her arms across her chest and takes an extra second staring at me.
I managed to not whither into a whimpering baby and stare right back.
“I get it, Presley,” she finally says. “I really do. Trev is...so many things. Totally the hottest guy in school by a lot, right? He's funny. He's smart when he feels like showing it. He's sexy as hell on that surfboard. And he totally knows his way around a bed.” She tilts her head to the side again. “I guess I shouldn't assume you already know that.”
“I fucked him last night,” I tell her. “Is that what you mean?”
My attempt to throw a punch of my own misses completely and she chuckles. “Of course. He wouldn't be wasting time on you if you kept your legs crossed. That's cool. You totally know what I'm talking about then. So I really get it. You think you've found the guy. Because he really kind of is.” She pauses. “But here's the thing.” She smiles again. “He's mine.”
I wait for her to say more, but when it doesn't come, I burst out laughing. I can't help it. There's a boatload of emotions running through me, but I can't keep from laughing.
“Am I supposed to be afraid now?” I ask her. “I mean, I know you spent a lot of time preparing that speech so I don't want you to feel like it was a total failure. If you had some vision in your head of how I was going to react, let me know and I'll do my best to play it out if it'll make you feel better.”
For the first time since she came up to us, the amusement in her expression flickers. She wasn't expecting my response, at least not in the way I'm delivering it.
Good.
“I'm not fucking around here, Presley,” she says. “Your best move right now is to walk away.”
“Jesus, Athena,” Trevor says again. “Fuck off.”
“I'm serious,” she says, still focused on me. “If you're even a little bit smart, you'll walk away now.”
I stand up and brush the sand from my legs. “So you think I should just gracefully bow out here? Because you're back in town and want him back? I should just step aside?”
“It would just be the easiest thing for you to do,” she says. “Trevor and I, we're supposed to be together. Our lives were intertwined. They still are. He and I are inevitable. If you try to fight that, you're just going to get hurt.”
“So you're doing it for my own good,” I say. “Right? Just looking out for me?”
She smiles. “I really am. I'm sure you can find someone else. Maybe.”
The same rage I felt when I punched Holly Nichols in the face fires inside of me. But I tamp it down this time. I swore I'd never punch anyone again and I meant it.
But there's no fucking way I'm stepping aside, especially for this bitch.
“You think you know what he wants?” I ask.
She glances at him, then smiles at me. “I know what he wants. I've always known.”
“Really?” I say, raising an eyebrow. “So you know he wants this?”
Confusion spreads across her face. “Wants what?”
I turn and step over Trevor's legs, then drop down so I'm straddling him, my knees in the sand and my hips against his. I take his face in both of my hands and kiss him, letting my tongue snake into his mouth. I feel his hand on the small of my back. I move my hips against him several times, then slide my right hand down off of his face and slip it between us until it's between his legs.
I pull my mouth away from his and turn around. “This. I mean, he's like a rock now. This is clearly what he wants. But you knew that, right?”
Her mouth jams together in an angry little slash and her eyes fill with fury.
I smile at her. “You should probably just walk away.” I pause. “Unless you wanna watch?”
Her lips pinch together for a moment as she glares at me. “You're a bitch.”
“Tell me something I don't know.”
“Just remember I tried to give you a chance,” she says, backing away. “Just remember that.”
“And you just remember that I don't give a shit,” I tell her. “Just remember that. And this, too.” I turn back around and kiss Trevor again.
When I finally pull away from him and turn around, Athena is gone.
THIRTEEN
Trevor lifts up into me. “Are we gonna finish?”
I stand up off of him. “No, we're not gonna finish. She's your ex?”
“I thought she made that pretty clear. Yeah.”
“Is this why you've been acting weird tonight?” I ask.
“I haven't been acting weird,” he says, frowning.
“Yeah, you have,” I say. “Did you know she was back in town?”
He looks away.
“And you fucking didn't tell me?” I say. “Awesome.”
“What? I'm supposed to let you know the location of all my ex-girlfriends?” he says. “How about my one night hook ups? You want those, too?”
“She's not a one night hook up,” I say. “You fucking know what I mean.”
“No, I really don't, Presley,” he says. �
��Explain it to me.”
“How did you know she was back in town?” I ask, ignoring his command because I know he's just trying to move the argument in another direction. “How did you know?”
He rolls his eyes. “Why does it matter?”
“Because it does,” I say. “Because it really fucking does.”
He sighs. “She texted me.”
“When?”
He shakes his head. “I don't even know. A couple of days ago maybe? I honestly don't fucking remember.”
“Did you respond?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Swear to god. I thought about sending her a picture of my middle finger, but I didn't send her shit.”
“But you've seen her?” I say. “Because it didn't seem like you were shocked to see her here tonight. It didn't seem like the first time you've talked to her.”
He looks away again.
“Don't fucking lie to me, Trevor,” I say. “Don't treat me like some random hook up. Unless I am.”
“You aren't,” he says, standing up. “You know that. You aren't.”
“I don't know it right now,” I tell him.
He puts his hands on his hips and sighs again. “She showed up at my house. She's been there twice.”
“Jesus fucking christ,” I say. “And you didn't tell me?”
“Why? So you could go ape shit on me like you're doing right now? What was the fucking point?”
“The point is to tell me,” I say. “So I know that your fucking ex is back in town and apparently has plans to try and fuck her way back into your life.”
“You're better than she is,” he says, stepping closer to me.
I pull back. “Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not in the mood to hear it. When was she at your house?”
“She showed up last night,” he says. “I told her to get lost.”
I'm not sure I believe him. “And the second time?”
He chews on his lip for a second, clearly not wanting to tell me.
My stomach knots. “Don't lie to me. Please don't lie to me.”
He looks at me for a long moment. “She was there today after school.”
I take a couple seconds to process that. “After school. When you were supposed to be at the beach. With me. And when you said you were getting food or some bullshit like that.”