Wild Like Us

by Krista Ritchie

  But I point out, “Couldn’t you have just rented your own car?”

  “Yeah?” Moffy says to Charlie with a rising smile. “I could’ve sworn that was an option, wasn’t it?”

  Charlie clearly chose Moffy rather than going off on his own. Instead of acknowledging this, Charlie zeroes in on my face like a target. “Enough about me. Aren’t we here for you, Sulli?”

  “That’s fucking news to me.” I smile though because I guessed right, and fuck it feels good to know that they’re here for me.

  Maximoff crosses his arms over his firm chest, confusion knotting his brows. “You and Banks were in the bathroom together?”

  My smile vanishes. Cheeks heating. “Because of the scorpion—he was helping me catch it,” I say quickly. “It was in the bathroom.” I jab a thumb to the bathroom behind me. “I mean, kind of catch it. He fucking killed it. But…yeah.”

  They can’t tell that I just had the most epic kiss of my life, right? My lips aren’t red or anything. My hair isn’t messy. Strands are just damp, air-drying. And I’m in PJs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  It’s late.

  And it’s not like I want to hide kissing Banks. But Akara should know first. Out of respect for him. As my bodyguard.

  As my friend. If we’re even still that to each other.

  I just don’t want to lose Akara.

  Charlie plops down on the bed like it’s not stained or infested with bed bugs. Do I understand Charlie Cobalt?

  Not always, not really.

  Some fans think we’re friends by my association to Beckett, his twin brother. Paparazzi ask me a lot about Charlie: what he’s like; what he’s doing. But truth is, being Beckett’s best friend growing up didn’t provide a gateway into Charlie’s mind. We used to hang out, sure, but most of the time I feel like Charlie tolerated me like he would a little sister or a source of happiness to his closest brother.

  I love him because of Beckett, who always sees the heart in Charlie.

  “That must be why your foot is swollen,” Charlie says.

  My foot…I totally forgot about the sting. I have a fucking alibi!

  Shit, I have evidence.

  “Yeah…” I trail off, looking down. Wow, the ball of my left foot has really swelled up. Tonight’s events must’ve dulled the pain. I wince a little as I put more pressure on it.

  Jane drags a wooden chair over from the rickety desk. “You should sit down.”

  Moffy treks to the bathroom, probably to get a cold washcloth. The one that Banks forgot about.

  We both forgot.

  I lower onto the creaky chair.

  “Your shirt is on backwards,” Charlie says from the bed.

  “That’s unhelpful commentary, Charlie,” Jane says to her brother, but her blue eyes flash to me with curiosity and questions.

  Does she believe Banks and I had sex? She has major reason to think so now than ever before. They all know that I told Banks and Akara it’d be cool if they took my virginity.

  Lifting my feet to the chair, I hug my legs to my chest. “Just so we’re fucking crystal,” I announce, “my virginity is still intact.”

  Maximoff reenters the bedroom with a washcloth just as I finish that bit. His eyes bug wide. “Were we questioning that it wasn’t?” His head swings to Jane for clarification.

  Jane perches her hands on her hips. “Charlie was insinuating—”

  Charlie cuts in with a laugh. “How was I insinuating anything by bringing up her backwards shirt?”

  Jane arches a brow. “You can’t play dumb with me.”

  His lip curves upward, then motions to my shirt. “Sulli must have a reasonable explanation.”

  I shrug, my pulse speeding as the three of them stare me down from different ends of the room. “I took a shower. Put on my shirt backwards. Can we just move on from the whole Banks thing because it’d be really fucking awesome to know why you’re all here? How’d you even know where to find us?”

  “Your Jeep has a tracker on it,” Maximoff reminds me as he places the washcloth on my swollen ankle.

  I stare off at the carpet. “I always forget about that,” I mutter. My mom and dad put a high-tech GPS tracker in Booger a while ago. The Jeep is so old they worried it’d go bust on me, and I’d be stuck somewhere without cell service.

  “And your free-soloing colossal faces,” Maximoff says, adjusting the cloth before rising. He sets a brotherly hand on my head. “You think I’d want to stay home and miss that?”

  I smile up at him, my eyes burning with emotion. Years of Moffy joining me on adventures rush back. Snowboarding, hiking, camping, canoeing, white-water rafting, climbing. I thought he’d leave me in the dust of time. Because he’s married now. And he has a son.

  I rest my chin on my knee. “So my parents didn’t send you here to convince me to come home?”

  “No,” Maximoff shakes his head, “but after I told your dad that Jane and I were going to surprise you out here, he said he was about to ask me to go meet-up with you.” He cracks his knuckles. “He’s just worried about you climbing, and he wants us around.”

  I can see my dad hoping Moffy would be here in his place. My parents also probably think I’ll be extra careful with more eyes watching.

  Jane nudges my elbow. “Your mom is very excited for you. She handed us a care package to give you for your grand adventure.”

  I smile, remembering how my mom squeezed me in a tight hug at REI. She said she wished she’d made a big box of goodies for me, but she didn’t have time then. I already know she must’ve thrown dozens of chocolate bars in the package.

  Thanks, Mom.

  Jane shares my smile. “You’ve done so much for us these past years, Sulli. The FanCon tour.”

  “The auction,” Moffy says.

  “Scotland,” Charlie adds.

  Jane grins more. “It’s time we’re here for you. We brought enough luggage to last us through most of October.”

  That hits me like another tidal wave. Jane’s bachelorette party is less than a month away. Her wedding is around the corner on November 1st, and she’s not batting an eye about being away from Philly for so long.

  They’re really here for me. Dropping everything to watch me climb.

  My smile is uncontrollable, unable to shrink in size. “I’m really glad you’re all here. It means a fucking ton to me.” I nod a bunch. “Thank you.”

  Jane gives me a side hug. “Anything for you.”

  When we part, I watch Maximoff head to my Patagonia backpack near the nightstand. “Your dad gave you this, right?”

  “Yeah.” While he unzips the bag, I shift the washcloth on my throbbing ankle and ask, “Where’s Luna?” I sound bummed, and I already feel greedy having three cousins here to surprise me.

  Some people would hate this kind of surprise arrival, but they knew I’d love it. I love the company of familiar, trusting faces.

  I love the company of family. The company of my cousins—they’re like other birds in a nest. And maybe I haven’t flown too high from mine, but what if we’re all just flying together somewhere else? To another nest?

  Can that be enough?

  Or do I really, really need to chart a course away from everyone?

  My frown deepens.

  “My sister’s still in Philly,” Moffy tells me, searching through the backpack. What’s he looking for?

  Charlie chimes in, “My brothers requested her appearance at their upcoming shows.”

  Eliot and Tom. One is a theatre actor, the other a singer in an emo-punk band. The three of them have been best friends since diaper-era, and in the past couple years, I’ve only recently gotten super fucking close to Luna. We were roommates in the Philly townhouse, but I try to remember she’s two years younger.

  I’m closer in age to Charlie and Beckett.

  Still, I can’t help but feel a pang of hurt that I wish would go the fuck away. I’m not in competition with Tom and Eliot for Luna’s time and attention. But I guess, now that I
don’t have Beckett—I just thought I had Luna.

  Taking my mind off friendships, I ask Moffy, “What are you looking for?”

  He zips the backpack up, empty-handed. “Your dad forgot to mention he packed a gun for you. He wanted me to make sure you stored it right—”

  “Akara already did,” I interject. “We saw the gun in the backpack.” I motion to the nightstand.

  Moffy opens the drawer, sees the encased gun, then closes it.

  My head whirls, running through all their words. And my gaze beelines back to Charlie, realizing Moffy and Jane excluded him from their big proclamation. “So you’re not here to watch me climb, then?”

  “Correct,” Charlie says. “I’d actually rather be anywhere than watch you fall off a mountain.”

  “Charlie,” Jane snaps. “She’s not falling off a mountain.”

  Maximoff rubs the bridge of his nose. “Can we just ban those four words from this point forward?”

  Charlie shrugs. “Fine.” The fact that Charlie chose not to take the low hanging fruit and rile Moffy is another reminder that their friendship has been solidly repaired.

  I look between Jane, Maximoff, and Charlie. They have history together that I don’t share with them. High school stories.

  Beckett and I—we were the ones that had each other’s backs growing up. It was us against the world. We chose to be homeschooled around the same time. Sacrificed family and friendships and everything in between to pursue a dream. Mine was swimming. His was ballet. He’s the one singular person in my entire life who understands exactly what kind of toll that took.

  He was right next to me.

  We were together through it all.

  But best friends aren’t supposed to lie to each other. They’re not supposed to keep secrets from the person that matters most to them. It was soul-crushing—devastating—to learn about Beckett’s cocaine problem from Charlie. And it’s not like Charlie intended to tell me, he just blurted it out. How could I be so fucking clueless? I wish I’d known. Maybe I could’ve talked to Beckett. Been there for him. Done something more than nothing to help him. And when I did finally find out, Beckett lashed out at me. Said some cruel things that can’t be taken back.

  The silver lining is that Charlie says Beckett hasn’t touched cocaine since Scotland.

  I hang onto that.

  Maximoff comes closer, eyeing my ankle. “How does it feel?”

  “It barely hurts,” I tell him.

  “That’s good,” Moffy nods. “Farrow should still look at it though.”

  I nod, then glance at Charlie. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

  “My brother couldn’t come because of his ballet schedule,” he says. “So I’m here as his proxy.”

  That’s hard to believe. “He sent you?”

  Charlie cracks his neck. “In a sense.”

  “That’d be a no,” I state.

  “He’s miserable without you, and I can’t take it anymore. You need to talk to him.”

  I let out a long breath. Beckett and I have shared the same air since the fallout, but we haven’t cleared the air. “So that’s why you’re here? To convince me to talk to Beckett?”

  “Basically.”

  The fact that Charlie had a small influence in getting Oscar & Jack together has seriously gone to his head.

  “It’s not fucking happening,” I say.

  Charlie shrugs, but he doesn’t push the topic. Maybe knowing that it’s a lost cause tonight.

  Arkham barks from outside the motel room, and for some reason it promotes a yawn from me. Fuck, I forgot how tired I am.

  Maximoff watches me, “We’re staying in a hotel in the next city over. I can drive your Jeep, if you, Akara, and Banks want to head that way with us.”

  I glance at the sleeping mats on the floor. Even though this was a gross pit stop, I’d be bummed leaving it behind.

  Skipping a step in the journey sounds like taking an easy out to the hard trek I committed to. I can hear my mom encouraging me to stay. You can meet-up with them soon. Don’t fast-track anything.

  “That’s okay,” I say. “I think we’ll probably just crash here. The fucking adventure, you know.”

  He smiles. “Yeah, I know.”

  I smile back more. “We’ll catch up with you tomorrow though?”

  Jane says, “Most surely.”

  Charlie climbs off the bed and makes his way to the door with Maximoff.

  “How’d you all get here so fast anyway?” I wonder.

  “Private plane,” Charlie says.

  My brows rise at Moffy. He hates splurging on that luxury for a random trip. “I lost a coin toss with Charlie,” Maximoff admits.

  Charlie smiles. “And we arrived on time. So we all win.”

  I mention, “Winona and Ben would say the Earth lost.”

  Moffy nods strongly.

  Charlie just stares at me, “Then you should take pleasure in the fact that we care more about you than the Earth.”

  I snort, “Way to spin it.”

  “Toujours,” he replies in French as he leaves the motel.

  “See you tomorrow, Sul,” Moffy nods and leaves.

  Jane remains. Slinging her purse on the crook of her elbow, she twirls to me in her usual breezy way. “So I take it Akara and Banks still haven’t given you an answer on the virginity-taking front?”

  I think about Banks’ lips on mine, and my face heats.

  “I revoked the offer,” I end up saying.

  She squints. “Is that…a good thing? Are we happy about that?”

  I shrug slowly. “I…I don’t know.” Now after kissing Banks, everything is more complicated.

  She plants a sisterly gaze onto me. Consoling. Comforting. “Doubt only lasts so long. You’ll have a better sense of things in time. I’m sure of it.”

  I smile. “Thanks, Jane.”

  We hug again, and when she leaves, the motel room is eerily quiet. I hope I didn’t make a fucking mistake telling them to go on without me.

  My phone pings.

  Heads up, Minnie. The rest of the A-Squad are on their way to you! Sorry I couldn’t make it. Tom is freaking about his next show. He had a fight with the replacement drummer – Queen of Thebula

  Luna.

  The A-Squad is mostly an inside joke between us. She dubbed the five oldest of the families that nickname, which include Jane, Maximoff, Charlie, Beckett, and me. But with Jane, Moffy, and Charlie as a clique right now, I’m feeling more like a member of the B-Team. Which doesn’t even really exist.

  I text back: Thanks for the heads up! Just saw them. All accounted for minus Beckett. Tell Tom I wish him good luck xoxo

  Huh. Bad intel then. Sorry!!! Thought Beckett was going too. – Queen of Thebula

  How she even gets any information is beyond me. I don’t have many lines into the family network, and the ones that I do have…I know I’m not the first or second call. Maybe not even the fifth. I’m on the bottom of so many of the family friendship groups.

  It didn’t used to bother me so much until I lost Beckett. Maybe Charlie is right—I should just talk to him. But the thought of hearing his voice, it brings a sharp pain to my chest.

  I don’t know how to confront that pain head-on without causing more turmoil.

  Akara.

  I close my eyes and drop the washcloth off my foot.

  How am I going to tell him about my kiss with Banks? It’s going to change everything.

  12

  BANKS MORETTI

  “I kissed her.”

  This confession should probably be made to a priest or a higher being, but right now my brother is the most holy thing I’ve got in a five-hundred-meter vicinity. In short: I’m fucked.

  Thatcher grabs my forearm and pulls me further into the shadows. Away from the motel’s flickering vacancy sign that’s changed to no vacancy. Even further away from the motel’s parking lot where the rest of SFO linger beside two rental cars.

  At the c
orner of the motel, it’s just me and my brother. Half-hidden by an overflowing dumpster and the darkness. In earshot of nobody.

  Even among busted streetlights, I can still see Thatcher’s expression clear as day. Maybe because I’ve seen that intense look before.

  “Say again,” Thatcher whispers, his voice deep and low.

  “I kissed her,” I reply in the same tone. “You know mouth-to-mouth—”

  “I know what kissing is,” Thatcher snaps. “I’m just processing the fact that you actually went through with it.”

  My brother knows I’ve been into Sulli since I’ve started spending more time with her, but like me, he’s also known that Akara Kitsuwon is in love with her. Unlike me, he’s not questioning the true depth of our friend’s denial.

  The Do Not Enter sign in the direction of Sullivan Meadows was torn down tonight. I ripped through it. For better or worse, I’m here.

  Just as I open my mouth, my phone buzzes. I check the message.

  You’re still waiting to tell Akara right? Bc I still want to do it with you – Mermaid

  I text back quickly: Haven’t told him. I promise I won’t without you

  Thanks :) – Mermaid

  She adds a high-five emoji. My lip almost curves up. When I pocket my phone, my brother gives me a harder look. Like he knows who that was.

  “I really like her, Thatcher,” I say in an urgent whisper. “It wasn’t some impulsive thing.” My heart pounds harder, harder. “I’ve thought about it. I waited. I waited.” I tilt my head back, then forward, then thread my arms over my tight chest, agonized over something. “Akara might be my best friend, but I know I’m not his best friend. You’re it—”

  “You always say that,” Thatcher interjects grumpily.

  “Cause it’s the fuckin’ truth.” I raise my tensed shoulders. “You and him share responsibilities that I’ll never have. You’re his go-to. His—”

  “Ride-or-die,” Thatcher finishes. “What are you getting at, Banks?”

  “If you were the one to kiss Sulli, he’d keep talking to you. He’d shove past it. Me?” I shake my head firmly. Seeing Thatcher at the motel just reminds me that Akara is closer to him.