by M. F. Lorson
“I’m driving,” she said as she jumped in the truck.
“Over my dead body,” I laughed as I tackled by the waist and snaked the keys out of her hand. Harper was tall for a girl, but not as tall as me, so it was pretty easy to keep them out of her reach as she tried to wiggle her way out of my hold and take them back.
We were both laughing as we wrestled, and it was clear we were drawing attention from the officers getting out of their car. I noticed Nealson and his partner smiling at us as we ignored them. Harper turned to face me as I reached around her to open the door, but as soon as I did, it put her body between me and the truck, and she froze, her eyes falling to my mouth.
I stepped away, but I immediately wished I hadn’t. It occurred to me as she cleared her throat and walked to the other side of the truck that she thought I was going to kiss her. I should have kissed her. Any other girl and I would have. But with Harper, it was like the signals in my brain were all scrambled.
Was she still with Drake? Did I even care?
Nope. I did not.
The way I see it, if she cheated on him with me, then I’d be saving her a whole lot of trouble. It was all in the good name of charity.
“I have to run into Parks and Rec to grab the permit before I can start,” she muttered as she tucked her hair back again. I would take her looking so nervous as a very good sign.
“I’m not sure being a chauffeur is in my intern job description,” I joked.
She slugged me in the arm.
The car ride to the P&R was quiet but comfortable while we both sipped down our iced lattes with the A/C on high. Summers in Grover could be brutal, and I would normally have hated the idea of being outside to work on anything, but I almost couldn’t wait to help her with this stupid project.
As we pulled up to the office, she hopped out and disappeared into the building. Sitting there waiting for her, I tried to remember the last time I actually liked a girl. I mean, I was attracted to other girls plenty of times, but I hadn’t ever felt this utterly ridiculous. Harper’s bad attitude had somehow weaseled itself into my heart, and listen to me...what a loser I’d become.
I was so sure she didn’t like me back like that, but after the last few days, the hugs and the way her eyes would sometimes linger on my face with a smile instead of scowl, I was starting to feel almost hopeful. But somewhere in the back of my head, I was a ball of nerves. Like I was still waiting for the shoe to drop.
When she came out, she held the orange and white paper, stopping in front of the truck to do a happy dance that involved some embarrassing looking raising of the roof. I groaned and covered my face in humiliation by proxy. Suddenly, she stopped dancing and looked at her phone. Her smile evaporated as she held a finger up to me, signaling for me to wait as she walked away from the truck, talking to whoever was the line through the AirPod nestled in her ear.
I watched with curiosity as she talked, looking nervous. I heard voices in the truck and at first assumed it was the radio, but when I turned it all the way down, the voices persisted. It was coming from my pocket. Reaching in, I found the AirPod I’d stolen from her a few days before. Their conversation was buzzing through the tiny speaker, and I held it up to my ear to listen in.
“Don’t you trust me, babe?” Drake said.
“Yeah, but there are other people who trust me, Drake.”
“Exactly, baby. Don’t you want to stick to them and all of their stupid rules? Show that khaki wearing jerk who you really are.”
“No one will get hurt,” she mumbled.
“Of course not. We’re just having a little fun. Let’s show them who really runs this town.”
“Okay,” she said in little more than a whisper.
“I’m glad they trust you. They’ll never see it coming.”
“Bye, Drake.”
“Hey. I love you…”
I watched her, my heart hammering so loud I could hear it thumping in my ears. She turned back to see me in the truck, and I kept the pod in my hand hidden while I listened to her talking to him.
“I love you too,” she replied before the line went dead.
As she scrambled back to the truck, we both tried to keep up our smiles, both failing to make them look sincere. I knew there was something I was missing. My gut told me to be careful, that she was planning something with that jerk, and while I still didn’t have the details, I didn’t have the voice at the moment to ask questions.
All I could focus on during the drive to the riverwalk wasn’t that she was about to break the law and stick it to me and her dad, but that she trusted him, loved him even. Drake’s plan must have worked. I tried to keep them apart so she wouldn’t fall for his stupid schemes, but it would appear she already gave him exactly what he wanted.
Harper
It was funny when you thought about it. The summer began with Landon and I painting the riverwalk White as a punishment and now we were doing it at my request.
His eyes scanned the long path of graffitied buildings in front of us with a mixture of determination and dread. It was 89 degrees after all and we would be painting through the hottest part of the day.
“So today is more whitewashing?” he asked.
“Yep.” I wrapped an arm around his shoulder as the two of us took in the enormity of the job. It was weird, but ever since that hug, the touch barrier between us had been shattered. Now we were downright handsy, a development I’m not sure either of us saw coming. “I need a blank canvas,” I declared. “Besides, it reminds me of when we first met.”
“It reminds you of grade school?” asked Landon skeptically.
“More like the first time I actually liked you.”
This took him back. “You threw paint on me? And refused to pull year earbuds out no matter what I said.”
I smiled, remembering the day with that hindsight is 20/20 filter that made you forget all of the annoying things accompanying the good.
“Yeah, those were good times. For me, the pivotal moment was when all that paint splashed up from the tray and turned your khakis into a Pollock painting.”
“You spend a lot of time thinking about my khakis,” said Landon, his trademark smirk in full view.
I would have enjoyed defending that particular assumption but my phone was buzzing away in my pocket.
“One minute,” I said and stepped away to tuck my earbud in.
“Hey babe, me again. I know you’re busy but...”
“I really am,” I replied. It was starting to get annoying how Drake only seemed to contact me when I was in the middle of something I considered important. And equally annoying that Landon was always in hearing distance when it happened.
His tone changed. “I’m calling to verify that you’re gonna be there at 9.”
“Friday at nine,” I repeated. “You’ve told me like four times.”
“Yeah, because I want you to be there. I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time at the station lately. Sure all that blue pride isn’t rubbing off on you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be there. I gotta go.”
There was no ‘I love you’ this time, and I wasn’t all that disappointed. Aside from his striking resemblance to a cast member from every rebel movie filmed in the ‘80s, Drake was exceptionally bad at being a boyfriend. Daydreaming about introducing him to Alice as my hunky manslave didn’t even appeal to me anymore. At this point it felt like it would just give her another reason to pull me aside and attempt an intervention.
He hadn’t even asked what my riverwalk project was about. All he wanted to know was if I had the key that unlocked the path leading down under the bridge. I suspected his insisting I be at this party had less to do with me being there and everything to do with needing that key.
A lot had changed since we started dating. I had changed. I still resented that my dad was more in tune with what was happening with his officers than he was me, but I had outgrown the idea of making him pay for that. If anything, I wanted to make my
dad proud, and I felt like winning the Gold Award was going to accomplish that. Maybe it was time to tell Drake that I had outgrown him too.
I walked back over to Landon and tried to get back in the mood to joke around. I couldn’t though, and he seemed to get that enough to remain quiet while we rolled one wall at a time. It was while he was driving me home that the quiet turned to an earnest talk.
“It’s not my place, but I don’t think Friday’s party is a good idea.”
I felt my pulse rising. I liked Landon a lot, but he was interning for my dad. He was interning for the police department, and busting an after hours party like the one Drake was planning had resume material written all over it.
“Where did you hear about the party?” I asked.
Landon smiled, but it was far from a smirk, and tinged with something unrecognizable. Sadness, or worry maybe.
“It’s a party, Harper. People always hear about those.”
“Right,” I looked out the window. People always hear about those made it seem highly likely that Drake wasn’t being careful.
“I don’t want to bring up camp again.”
“Then you shouldn’t,” I replied, turning to look him in the eye.
Landon swallowed hard, and I could tell he wanted to push the conversation further, but he didn’t. Instead, he pulled up to my house and left the car running.
“Not coming in for dinner?” I asked.
“Not tonight.” He reached his hand into his pocket and dug around for a few seconds before setting my missing earbud on the dashboard. “I keep meaning to return that.”
With a blush, I scooped it up and headed inside. He couldn’t have overheard Drake and I talking, right? If he had, he definitely would have given me slack about Drake’s stick it to your Dad line. And he would have heard me say I love you, which for some reason bothered me a lot more than him finding out about the party.
Landon
If she was getting there at 9:00, I’d be waiting at 8:30. I decided, after two long nights of little sleep and a lot of back and forth weighing of my options, that I would not tell Hunt about the party. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the possibility of Harper and me for it, and that’s exactly what it would have done. I already ratted her out once. She’d never forgive me if I did it again.
So the next best option was to be at the party, ready to talk some sense into her and come clean. I wasn’t letting Drake bring her down anymore. In fact, I wasn’t letting Drake do anything with Harper anymore. I could get past the fact that he’d been sly enough to talk her into whatever they’d done together already, but I’d still carry the guilt of that.
Drake told me his plan for Harper back in camp, and I tried to warn her, but I could have done more. I should have done more, but I was an idiot then. If I would have just accepted then what I can accept now, things would be different.
I’ve fallen for that neurotic blonde greaser.
And I wasn’t going to let her throw everything away for that loser. Not this time. So even if I had to drag her out of here by her leather jacket, I was keeping Harper out of trouble.
As I pulled up to the bridge access gate, Drake was waiting on his motorcycle with a small crowd of people. I parked far enough away that he couldn’t see me, but close enough that I could intervene if I needed to.
Just before the clock struck nine, Harper pulled up in her dad’s truck. I watched her climb out with a nervous look on her face as she walked over to the gate to unlock it. The crowd disappeared down the steps to the riverwalk and only a few minutes later, I caught sight of a small bonfire and heard music playing.
That’s when I made my move.
In order to blend in, I ditched the khakis today and opted for jeans and a black hoodie. With the hood up to hide my face, I joined the crowd of people headed toward the fire. There was a group of guys rolling a keg while another group hauled some speakers and a DJ table. How long did these idiots think this would go on? Before long, someone would hear and they’d be kicked out.
Not before they trashed the area and judging by the box of spray cans by the wall, they planned to undo all of our hard work this week. For the second time.
It took me a minute, but I spotted Harper standing next to Drake by the fire. He was laughing with his stupid friends while she hugged her torso and bit her lip, staring at the flames.
“Harper,” I shouted toward her, and when her eyes lifted to find me, her expression was a combination of shock and relief.
She scurried away from Drake and grabbed my arm. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?
“It’s just a party,” she said nervously. “We’ll clean it up.”
“They gave you those keys for the mural project, Harper. This is more than a party. It’s a message to the city and to your dad.”
She bit her lip even harder and looked away. It killed me to see her warring with herself when I knew it was Drake in her head. Or even more than that...some misperception Harper had about herself.
“I know you’re doing this because you think it’s all you’re good for. You think wreaking havoc and causing trouble is who you are because you’re not as perfect as your sister. I know how that feels, Harper. But this isn’t you.” I didn’t remember doing it, but before I realized it, I was holding her face between my hands. When I looked down and saw her eyes glazing over with tears.
“You don’t know anything about me, Landon.” She swallowed, trying to pull away, but I put my hands on her shoulders, holding her tight.
“Leave with me, Harper. Let them take the fall.”
“I can’t leave Drake,” she cried, but it wasn’t convincing. It sounded more like her obligation than her conviction.
“He left you, Harper. You don’t belong with him.” I found myself pulling her closer as the music got louder.
“What are you going to say? I belong with you?” She was staring up into my eyes, and I knew there was something in her expression that told me to be honest. That she needed to hear me say it.
“Yes. You should be my girlfriend. Not his. He doesn’t care about you.” My hands shook as I gripped her cheeks again, feeling her soften against my body, our faces just inches apart. And I decided it was now or never. “I love you, Harper.”
When I closed my lips over hers, she didn’t pull away this time. She leaned into my kiss like it was the only thing she had to hold onto.
“Harper!” Drake shouted from behind her, and I let out a groan as she pulled away. Holding her close to my side, I scowled at the jerk who stalked toward us like he wanted to fight me. I wished he would.
I pulled my hood down and watched his expression change.
“You,” he growled as he stopped just three feet away.
“Yeah, it’s me. I was just telling Harper what you told me at camp, your little plan to make her trust you.”
His jaw dropped as he glanced between Harper and me. Then, glaring at his ex-girlfriend he pleaded, “Baby, he’s lying.”
“Come near her again and you’ll regret it,” I said, pointing a finger toward him, and I felt Harper straighten her shoulders next to me. That’s right. My girl didn’t cower. Any minute now, she’d be removing her shoes.
Just then, the indistinct sound of sirens made everyone freeze. Drake was the first to dash toward the DJ booth, knocking the flaming dumpster over in his frantic sprint. This jerk was going to make a run for it, and it grated my nerves to know that this would come down on Harper when he was the one who should have gone down for it.
Turning toward Harper, I held my hand out. “Hurry, give me the gate keys.”
“What?” she gasped, looking terrified.
“Give me the keys now, Harper. Take your dad’s truck and go home. Quickly.”
“What are you going to do?” she cried.
“I’m going to make sure this jerk pays.”
“But you’ll get in trouble.”
“Give me the keys, Harper.” She flinched at my
barking command, and I planted a quick kiss on her cheek as I dug into the pocket of her jacket to fish them out myself.
“Now go! If you get caught, you’ll never get your gold medal or whatever it was.”
She hesitated, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Drake fumbling with the DJ stand and most of the guys who were supposed to help him running away.
Before he could run after them, I chased him in a mad sprint, tackling him to the ground, and pinning him like the state championship depended on it. The sirens grew louder, and I watched Harper disappear into the parking lot.
Any minute now, the cops would show up, find me and Drake wrestling on the ground and haul us both off to jail for breaking into government property. He’d get busted for breaking his probation and distributing alcohol to minors, but all of that started to look pretty minor compared to the roaring fire that was spreading along the riverwalk.
Harper
I was three blocks from the location of the party when the first fire truck's siren cut through the air. Adrenaline had gotten me up the steep slope from the bridge to the parking lot, but now that it was wearing off, there was nothing to keep the thoughts in my head from tumbling around like socks in the dryer.
Landon had kissed me. It wasn’t the first time, but I didn’t pull away—not like before. I didn’t slap him or tell him he was wrong. I didn’t do any of the predictable things that girls are supposed to do when they have been kissed by someone who is not their boyfriend.
No, I kissed him back, and it felt right. More than right, it felt like I’d been kissing completely wrong up until that point. And, he had said I love you. What was I supposed to do with that?
What was I supposed to do now? As soon as those sirens went off, he was dead-set on my getting out of there. And I had done it. I’d just left him there, the way Drake left me the night we got caught tagging the riverwalk. I didn’t know if I had done the right thing or if what I had done was the absolute worst thing possible. I couldn’t go back now though. Now, a fire was creeping along the long grass, spilling out from under the bridge and heading toward the public part of the riverwalk. It could all burn, and it would be my fault.