I walked to the shop where Wes worked.
I wanted to surprise him.
It was definitely an odd looking place.
The entire beach town was all clean and expensive. The houses were either bright white or a light shade of blue or yellow or green. The cars and SUVs were all top of the line. With the exception of Julia’s car, obviously. And then right there was the shop.
WEAZ AUTO
I had no idea what the name meant.
I saw Jett for a brief second as he entered the office part of the garage.
To my left and right were nothing but motorcycles and parts and pieces of motorcycles. It was like stepping into another world. From the clean and fake riches of Hidden to the dirty and gritty look of WEAZ AUTO.
There were only three cars on the entire lot covered in cracked pavement.
Three large garage bays were straight ahead, the first two doors open wide.
I saw Ryker standing outside the first one.
He was smoking.
He looked tired as he ran a dirty hand through his greasy blonde hair.
He turned his head and I followed his eyes.
That’s when I saw Wes.
But he wasn’t alone.
He was with someone else.
A girl.
She was almost as tall as him, killer skinny, her hair pulled back but really messy looking. Her entire look screamed easy which was maybe wrong to judge, but the way Wes had his hands on her shoulders, what else could I think? Then to make matters worse, she stepped closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
My jaw dropped.
My heart pounded so hard against the inside of my chest, I thought I was going to pass out. Wes hugged the girl tight and put his chin to the top of her head.
Like a fool I reached up and touched the top of my head.
I wanted him to do that to me…
Everything I heard about Wes raced through my memory.
I wasn’t a fan of Ryland but I guess he was right about some things.
I couldn’t watch anymore of it so I turned and hurried away.
My hands shook with anger and jealousy as I fumbled for my phone to text Kailey for a ride.
I ran down to the corner to distance myself from Wes and his whatever she was.
I stood there, still shaking, waiting.
Of course that’s when Ryland cruised by on his motorcycle, with someone on the back. He slowed enough to look at me. He and his passenger showed their faces to me.
It was Ryland and Mika.
Mika’s eyes were pure evil.
I waved and then threw them the finger.
Mika slapped her own butt which was really weird to see.
Ryland took off down the street really fast.
Kailey finally showed up a few minutes later.
In her bright red car with the top down, Charlotte sitting shotgun, Emma in the back.
Before the car even stopped, I jumped up over the side and climbed into the backseat next to Emma.
“Hey,” Kailey said.
“Drive,” I said. “Get me the fuck out of here and away from Wes.”
Charlotte spun around. “What happened?”
Emma touched my leg. “Leave her alone, Char.”
Kailey drove.
I looked to my right and felt the wind playing with my hair.
It was a beautiful day. Even if things were messed up.
But at least I knew the truth now before I did anything too crazy with Wes.
Even still, that didn’t make it hurt any less.
* * *
“All guys are dicks,” Kailey said.
“The problem is that they have dicks,” Emma said.
“And they blame us for our boobs,” Charlotte added.
I looked at her, watching her chest bouncing as it always did when we were running.
“I don’t care,” I said.
“Yes you do,” Kailey said. “You’re hurt. Fuck that guy.”
“I’m glad I didn’t,” I said.
“Maybe you should,” Emma said. “Get revenge that way.”
“Gross,” I said.
“Don’t knock it until you try it,” she said.
“Emma’s kind of right,” Kailey said. “You can really make him pay that way. He’ll hate himself.”
“I’ll talk to Flynn,” Charlotte said.
“No,” I said.
I grabbed her arm. That of course made her go off balance. I had forgotten how easy it was to get Charlotte off her feet. Which apparently was what Flynn liked too. Ha-ha.
Charlotte grabbed my arm and the both of us went down.
We hit the sand and rolled with Charlotte yelling my name.
Sand kicked up around us and I ended up sitting somehow.
“Are you okay?” Charlotte asked me.
“Fine,” I said. “You can’t stay on your feet, can you?”
Kailey snorted. “I know of at least five guys who could answer that.”
Five?
I swallowed hard.
I cringed.
I felt so… weird. Because I hadn’t…
Emma stood over me. With the sun behind her, she looked more of a goddess than she usually did.
“What did he do?” Emma asked.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Well, it’s Wes,” Kailey said. “The list could go on forever.”
I gritted my teeth. “He was with someone else.”
“What?” Charlotte asked.
“You heard me. Julia is gone for a couple days and I wanted to surprise him.”
“Oh, I know what’s on your mind,” Charlotte said.
“Was on my mind,” I said. “I went to the shop and I saw him kissing someone.”
“Kissing?” Kailey asked.
“Yup,” I said. “Some other girl. He was holding her. She kissed his cheek. He hugged her tighter…”
“Wait a second,” Charlotte said. “Did Wes kiss this girl?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“What do I mean?" Charlotte asked. “Do I need to show it to you?”
Kailey laughed. “Wow, Char, way to be a rude bitch.” Kailey touched my hand as I sat in the sand. “You never saw this girl before?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I mean, I haven’t met everyone in HCH yet.”
“Look at you all fancy, calling it HCH,” Emma said. “Good for you.”
“It’s not good for me,” I said. “I don’t want to fit in or be here.”
I kicked at the sand and stood up.
I started to walk, feeling a weight on my chest. I took a deep breath and thought I tasted smoke. It made me stop walking. As I faced the ocean, I took a deep breath. I did not want to have a panic attack right there on the beach. At the same time, I felt my fingertips twitching, wanting to break a promise I made to Wes. Because what did it matter?
“Hey, you okay?” Kailey asked me.
She was smart and nice enough to keep her distance a little.
“Yeah,” I lied.
“No you’re not. I think I might be able to help.”
“How?” I asked, turning my head.
The three of them were standing there in a line.
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said. “I should have just said something instead of questioning you like that. I’d be the same way if Flynn was near another girl. But I don’t think Wes is…”
“It’s not what you think,” Kailey said.
“Maybe,” Emma said.
“Emma!” Kailey yelled.
“What?” Emma asked. “We’re being honest. He practically grew up with her, right? I mean…”
“Grew up with who?” I asked, curling my eyebrows. “You know the girl Wes was with?”
“Possibly,” Emma said.
“Here,” Charlotte said as she took out her cellphone. “Let me find… wait a second…”
She scrolled through her phone.
“You need to talk to
him about it,” Kailey said.
“I need to talk to him?” I asked
“I know,” Kailey said. “I normally wouldn’t agree with that. But this situation is-”
“Found it,” Charlotte said. “Was this the girl?”
Charlotte showed me her phone. And there she was. The same girl that Wes had been with. Only in this picture she wore a hoodie way too big for her. With her fists balled up around the end of the sleeves. Biting her lip as her hair blew in her face from the beach behind her.
She was pretty. Like a really dirty pretty. The kind of girl that you could take home to your mother to show how pretty she was but then after dinner take her for a ride on your motorcycle and park somewhere quiet and let the fun begin.
“That’s her,” I whispered.
“That’s Noelle,” Charlotte said.
“Noelle?” I asked.
I rolled my eyes.
Her name was pretty too.
“What an asshole,” Emma said.
“Hey,” Kailey said. “We don’t know…”
“Why are you sticking up for him so much?” Emma asked. “Aira is our friend. She needs us right now.”
“Kailey’s right though,” Charlotte said. “Noelle isn’t…”
“Isn’t what?” I asked. “This is so confusing.”
“Just talk to him,” Charlotte said. “Noelle is like a family friend or something. She went to HCH for a little while.”
“Yeah, right up until-” Emma started to say.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kailey said.
“It matters to me,” I said. “I grew up with Wes. I did. I lived next to him. I always… I had a crush on him, okay? I really liked him. When my father decided to leave Hidden, it broke my heart.”
The three of them went silent.
“I still think he’s an asshole,” Emma said. “He should have said something about Noelle a long time ago.”
“Fine,” Kailey said. “That much I agree with.”
“So let’s go get him,” Charlotte said.
“Go get him?” I asked.
“Hell yeah,” Charlotte said. “Go find his ass and beat him down.” Charlotte touched my arm. “Nobody fucks with one of our girls. No matter what.”
“I’ll get my keys,” Kailey said.
“I’ll get my baseball bat,” Emma added.
I looked at her. “Oh?”
“Not just a pretty face,” she said. “I’ll break a guy’s leg if I have to.”
Pretty and crazy…
“Just let me freshen up real quick,” Charlotte said.
“Why bother?” Kailey asked. “I heard Flynn likes it dirty.”
“Who told you that?” Charlotte asked.
“You did!” Kailey said and laughed. “When you were drunk the other night. Telling me all the things he wants you to say. Oh, baby, I don’t think it’ll ever fit there…”
“Shut up,” Charlotte growled.
Her cheeks turned bright red.
I wanted to laugh but couldn’t.
I wanted the truth… no matter what it did to me.
Chapter 18
Wes
“Looks weird to me,” Ryker said as dropped his cigarette into the coffee can.
“That’s what I was told,” Walker said.
“And you’re sure about this information?” Jett ask.
He stood with his arms crossed. His forearms were like tree trunks in his rolled up sleeves.
It was too warm out and everyone seemed to be pissed off.
A shipment came late and Pop got into it with the driver. They argued over traffic for thirty minutes before Pop lost his breath and me and Jett had to help him back inside the office to cool down before he keeled over and died.
“Let’s assume it’s all legit,” I said. “That means there’s another place stealing and selling parts. Has nothing to do with us, which we knew. That’s good enough for Dusty.”
“Is it?” Jett asked.
“Why not?”
“You want Dusty walking through the halls at Tech, breaking everyone’s balls?” Walker asked. “No way, cuz. No fucking way. It’ll come right back on me. I dug deep on this one.”
“Hold on a second,” Jett said. “There’s ways to get this shit. This is too close to here.”
“You think it’s a setup?” I asked.
“Or a warning,” Jett said. “Keep your eyes open, Walker. I mean it. We haven’t done anything wrong, but if things keep happening…”
“Looks bad on you, cuz,” Ryker said.
“I’m not your fucking cousin,” Jett said.
Ryker showed his hands and reached for his pack of smokes.
Jett slammed his hand to them. “Why don’t you all get back to work? Let’s finish up and get out of here at a decent time.”
That’s all it took for Ryker and Walker to get back to work.
Me, I wasn’t so much convinced.
“You’re pissed off today,” I said to Jett.
“You’ve seen the day. Nonstop bullshit. I need a drink and some quiet.”
“You’ve got a giant house for that,” I said.
“Something wrong with that?”
“Nah,” I said.
“Everything good with your girl?”
“Aira? She’s good. A lot of history there, Jett. Sorting through the past and present.”
“Not her,” Jett said. “Noelle.”
“Noelle. She’s not my girl. You know that.”
Jett grinned. He loved to mess with me about that.
His right hand clamped tight on my shoulder. “You might want to get back to work right now.”
“Why’s that?”
“You have a group of pissed off girls walking your way.”
I turned my head and saw Aira, Kailey, Charlotte, and Emma walking toward the garage.
They were pissed.
And Emma had a baseball bat.
* * *
Emma used to be in these dorky pageants, so when she started twirling the bat, it was impressive because her old skills had new life. She hit the ground with the bat and stared at me with fury.
Charlotte folded her arms under her amazing chest.
Kailey stood with fists, ready for a fight.
And then there was Aira.
She looked pissed and hurt.
I wiped my hands and threw the towel to a table and exited the garage.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You tell me,” Aira said.
“No bullshit, Wes,” Emma said. She hit the bat to the ground.
“You realize I can outdo a bat, right?” I asked.
“Try me,” Emma said.
I stuck my fingers into my mouth and whistled.
Ryker and Walker appeared a few seconds later.
“What the hell is this?” Ryker asked. “Hey, Aira. What’s up, girl?”
“Hey, Ryker,” Aira said. “Let me know what your schedule is like. Maybe you can pick me up and take me for a ride.”
Ryker glanced at me. “What did you do to her?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Damn, who’s the chick with the bat?” Walker asked. “That’s my kind of fun.”
Walker stepped toward Emma and she had no problem swinging the bat at him.
She swung so hard I heard the whoosh as the bat cut through the air.
Walker jumped back and fell to his ass.
He stared up at her like a puppy dog instantly in love.
Emma pointed the bat. “Next time I won’t miss.”
“I think I want to marry you,” Walker said.
“Boys,” Charlotte said.
“Speaking of boys, Flynn is out back,” I said. “Do I need to get him to help calm this down?” I looked at Kailey. “No worries, TT, Leo will take anything he can get.”
“Fuck you,” Kailey said.
Walker snorted. “TT… that’s a good one. Short for Tiny Ti-”
Emma put the baseball bat to Walk
er’s jaw. “Finish that name. I dare you.”
“Oh, this is hot,” Walker said.
“He’s going to make a mess of himself if you keep going,” Ryker said.
“You’re all gross,” Aira said. “And you’re a liar, Wes. I saw you.”
“Saw me?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
“You were with someone else,” Aira said. “I walked here to surprise you.”
“When?”
“A little while ago. So don’t play games with me. You’ve been all sweet and romantic, right? Coming over my house every night to kiss me goodnight.”
“Oh, damn,” Ryker said. “You’re falling for her again.”
“Shut up,” Wes snapped.
“It’s okay, cuz,” Walker said. “I’m in love with the baseball bat chick.”
“My name is Emma, you dirty pig,” Emma said.
“Emma,” Walker said. “I love you, Emma. I’ve always loved you.”
“You can hit him,” I said to Emma. “We’ll back you up.”
“You could back up against me,” Walker said.
“He’s worked up,” Ryker said. “And what the hell is actually going on here?”
Aira licked her lips. “I saw you with another girl, Wes. You were hugging her. Holding her. She kissed you. You kissed her. I saw it all. You can’t lie to me.”
Fuck. Noelle. She saw Noelle.
I shut my eyes for a second. “And you hyenas couldn’t tell her what it was?”
My eyes looked at them all.
“Ryker, will you walk me home?” Aira asked.
Ryker looked at me and then at Aira. “Babe, you need to talk to Wes.”
“No, I don’t,” Aira said.
She turned and started to leave.
I looked at Kailey. “TT…”
“Fuck you,” Kailey whispered.
“You could have told her,” I said.
“You do it yourself,” Charlotte said. “Because honestly, nobody knows the truth.”
“Call me,” Walker said to Emma as she backed away.
She twirled the baseball bat and turned.
“Sorry, man,” Ryker said. “That was cold. But were you kissing Noelle?”
“No,” I said. “Not like that.”
“Bro, stand up,” Ryker said to Walker.
“I can’t,” Walker said. “I need to cool off here.”
HIDDEN CREEK SECRETS: a hidden creek high novel Page 13