A Fresh Start

by Lexi Bissen

  I look up to find Ronnie sporting a wide smile. “No, babe, I’m not used to it. I like it, though. It’s perfect for you.” She smiles bigger at my compliment.

  We stand there, smiling at each other, when Allen swoops in-between Ronnie and I and snatches her away. I feel like a kid who just lost his favorite toy.

  “No more daydreaming about my bestie. I know, I know, she’s every man’s fantasy. That does not mean she is a piece of meat for your dreamy eyes to stare at.” This guy is just…interesting. He’s a character, that’s for sure.

  Ronnie shoves the arm he placed over her shoulder off. “Quit it, Al,” she says with a laugh.

  He grabs her hand and they intertwine their fingers. “I don’t want him stealing away my beer pong partner is all.”

  I meet up with them and walk beside Ronnie, who is about a foot shorter than the two of us, so we look like a strange group. Ronnie turns to Allen, narrowing her eyes and pinching her lips together. “I already told you yesterday, and again today, I am not drinking. I’m the DD tonight. You go party it up. I’m going to sit by the bonfire and nurse my one beer for the night.”

  “I meant to mention this when I got in the truck, but I can be DD if you want. I don’t plan on drinking anyway. I mean, if you’re okay with me driving your truck.”

  She goes to say something, but Allen shushes her. “I like this pla—no, I love it. My Itty-Bitty needs a night to go all loosy-goosy. If you really aren’t going to be drinking, then we are a-okay with you being our chauffeur.”

  “Hey, it’s my vehicle. You can’t decide this without me,” Ronnie chimes in.

  “Sweets, I want you to have fun tonight. This lovely young man is offering to drive our drunk booties home. Don’t deny him the pleasure. Plus, I need my beer pong partner. I’ll be drunk off my ass without you,” Allen says to her.

  I know I shouldn’t have offered to drive them home because I still have nine months until I can get my license back, but it’s a short drive, so I should be good. “I promise, I will not be drinking tonight. You can both get trashed if you want. I’m only here for something to do.” And to be around Ronnie, but I don’t mention that.

  “You swear you aren’t drinking tonight?” I nod. She takes a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll let you drive my truck, just…please be careful. I can’t afford to get a new one if you crash it.”

  Ronnie walks up to me and places her keys in my hand, but doesn’t let go. “Don’t lose them, please,” she says, looking into my eyes. I nod and she releases my hand before turning back to Allen. “All right, my sucky beer pong partner, let’s get this show on the road.”

  I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy the Ronnie I see tonight.

  While I was all excited to see Ronnie let loose, I never thought of a Girls Gone Wild Allen. Two games into beer pong and he was already tripping over himself. It’s funny, until I think about having to drive him home.

  This party is a lot tamer than the ones I’ve been to. Probably the smallest one too. There’s maybe sixty people here, which is nothing when everyone is spread out around the large field. Ronnie and Allen have been occupying the same table for the last hour, and that’s only because they are undefeated. Well, Ronnie is undefeated. Allen has maybe made three shots, which is impressive for him. He’s on a losing streak right now. The alcohol in his system is making him even worse at this game—if that’s even possible.

  Standing by the table the two of them are playing at, I try to give some chick who walked up to me my attention. The only problem is Ronnie has all of it. She seems a little tipsy, but nowhere near Allen’s state. He’ll need to be cut off soon. Not only has he been drinking beer nonstop for the last hour, but he had the brilliant idea to add shots into the mix. He’ll be sick for sure.

  Ronnie sinks the last cup she needs for the win, causing the guys she’s playing against to groan and bitch about losing to a chick. I would have too, but I know this chick is badass. She has taken out four teams of guys in a game most guys are good at.

  Ronnie pulls a reluctant Allen from the table and comes over to me. “Hi, Anna,” she says to the redhead standing next to me.

  Anna smiles at Ronnie and says hi back. Allen comes up behind Ronnie and slings his arm over her shoulder, causing a tipsy Ronnie to almost fall over, but she catches herself.

  “Banana! How have you been, girly? We’ve missed you since you moved to Fredericksville,” he says, but it comes out a little slurred. He’s also trying to keep all his weight on Ronnie and I notice her struggling to stand with it pushing her down.

  “I’ve been good. My parents and I love it up there. The school is great too. I’m just visiting my aunt and uncle this weekend and Sean told me about Missy’s party, so I thought I would stop by,” Anna responds.

  Allen turns to me and I brace for whatever is about to come out of his mouth. “In case you were wondering who this beauty right here was, her name is Anna—or Banana, as I like to call her—Williams. She was Sean’s girly friend for three years. Except the dummy couldn’t keep his weenie in his pants,” Allen says. I look over to Anna and her smile is now gone after Allen’s statement. She quickly recovers though, putting on a fake smile.

  “It’s all in the past now, Allen. Sean made his choices and we’ve moved on from that. We are both friends now,” she says, but even I can tell she’s lying.

  “It was great seeing you, Anna,” Ronnie jumps in, saving the poor girl from more of Allen and his big mouth. “I’m going to go get myself a drink. Maybe this weekend or the next time you’re back in town we can catch up?”

  Anna nods at the suggestion and Ronnie heads in the direction of the keg, which also has soda and water bottles next to it.

  Allen stays behind to talk more with Anna, so I catch up with Ronnie. Sneaking up behind her, I whisper, “Boo,” in her ear. She screams and jumps to the side, tripping over her own feet. Before she can fall face first and get a mouth full of dirt, I catch her around the waist and pull her to me. Her body tenses the moment she realizes she’s in my arms. Even though she feels amazing, I loosen my hold. Ronnie turns around to face me and my arms drop to her waist, not ready to let go.

  “You all right?” I ask.

  She looks down to where my hands are and then back up to me, nodding her head. I give her a squeeze before I let go. “Let’s go get you that drink.”

  I put my hand against her lower back and guide her toward where the drinks are. She seems dazed. It could be from the alcohol or me touching her. I’m hoping for the latter.

  When we get closer to the coolers and the people come into view, I regret asking Ronnie if she wanted to get a drink. Rodger and Sean are standing by with what looks to be other football players and cheerleaders. Rodger’s eyes are locked onto Ronnie and me and how close we are walking next to each other. Sean gives me a glare, then stares at my arm disappearing behind his sister’s back. Before we make it over to them, Sean and Rodger break away from the group, but not without notice from their small crowd.

  Sean is in the lead and once he makes it to us, he wastes no time getting right up in my face. “What the hell are you doing around my sister?” He then looks to Ronnie. “Dad and I already talked to you about hanging around this guy. He’s no good, Ron.”

  Ronnie rolls her eyes. “Oh, whatever, Sean. You don’t know anything about Gibson.”

  “I know he has a record. A past with the law, Ronnie. Plus, he has a history with drugs and woman after woman. He’s not good company to be around. You remember what Dad said,” Sean explains, and now I’m wondering what her father told her and how Sean found all of that out about me. Probably Google. People can post whatever the fuck they want on there, truth be damned.

  I look down at Ronnie and can tell by the crease between her eyebrows that she’s confused. “Is all that true?”

  Before I can say anything, the asshole Rodger chimes in. “Yep. Look it up online if you want. Everything about him is on there, even the reasoning for why he had to move here.�
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  Her head snaps up to me and I’m really wishing we had stayed over by the table with Anna and Allen right about now. “The reason you’re here? What reason?”

  “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get your drink and go back to All—”

  “It doesn’t matter? I’m pretty sure committing a felony and somehow getting out of that felony when you should be in prison is a big deal.” I’m going to kill Rodger and his big mouth.

  I grab Ronnie’s arm and pull her so she faces me. “Don’t listen to what he says. I’ll explain everything to you, okay?”

  She thinks about it for a second and then nods her head. Thank God.

  “Do you want to go back to your truck so we can talk?” I ask her.

  “What about Allen?” I look over and see him doing Jell-O shots with Anna and some other girls.

  I face Ronnie again and smile. “I think he’s doing pretty well over there.” She peeks around me and laughs when she sees him.

  “Let’s go then.”

  We start to make our way to the lot of cars when Sean calls Ronnie’s name and grabs her by the shoulder, causing her to jerk back. “You aren’t going anywhere with him. He’s a criminal,” he says, like it’s some kind of disease.

  Ronnie’s nostrils start to flare and her breathing begins to increase as she pulls her arm back to get out of his hold. “People make mistakes in life, Sean. You should know better than to fault them for what they did in their past.” Sean looks to Anna after Ronnie finishes talking. He doesn’t say anything after that and I follow Ronnie as she turns around and heads for her truck.

  In the distance, Rodger yells out, “You’re just letting her leave with him?” I’m surprised he is too. But I know this conversation isn’t going to be the best. Telling someone you like about your shitty and not-so-law-abiding past is never fun.

  Gibson’s boots crunch against the leaves on the ground as he follows me. I kind of stormed off without a thought. Luckily he caught on and didn’t make me look like an idiot walking off by myself.

  I head for the driver’s side and quickly jump in. My head hurts from all the alcohol I had and I really do not want to have this conversation, but I have to know. I’ve stayed away from all the gossip sites, but two weeks is long enough.

  Gibson takes his time as he walks up to the passenger side, probably dreading talking about this. I would be too if I were about to tell someone I was a criminal. I don’t want to believe it. I mean, if it were true, he would be in jail or prison, right? He wouldn’t be in this town. Unless…he does come from money. Maybe his dad made this arrangement instead of jail time. Living in a nothing town with your cop uncle is pretty close to jail for a teenager.

  I begin squirming in my seat, waiting for Gibson to speak. Several minutes go by with neither of us saying a word. “Where do you want me to start?” Gibson says¸ breaking the silence.

  “How about the beginning? That’s usually the best place.” My annoyance is starting to show in my tone, but I can’t help it. I hate that Rodger and Sean knew this about Gibson and I didn’t.

  He takes a deep breath and begins to talk. “It’s a long story, so be prepared.” I nod, but he doesn’t see it. He’s facing forward, looking out the window. “Growing up with a dad in a band isn’t what everyone thinks it’s like. He’s never around, so I didn’t grow up with a father figure. The only parent I had was a drugged out mom. She wasn’t abusive or anything, just neglectful. I’ve been the parent since I was fourteen and she started on harder drugs like coke. That’s when I had to grow up and she stopped caring about me.” His mother sounds like a gem. Without even knowing her, I’m not a fan. “I acted out for attention. Figured bad attention was better than no attention, right? Wrong. She still didn’t care. It only made my dad angry with me. I still did it anyway. In high school, I started up with the wrong group of people and everything went downhill from there. I did drugs, drank, broke the law, and used women. After getting kicked out of school so many times, I finally dropped out when I was seventeen. This is my first year back since.”

  I take in everything he just told me, feeling angry toward his parents for being careless toward their son, and at the same time, sad for Gibson feeling the need to act out just for attention when he shouldn’t have to. He never got to experience the kind of childhood where you bake cookies with your mom or learn how to throw a baseball with your dad. He missed out on all kinds of stuff and none of it was his fault. You can’t pick your parents.

  I turn toward Gibson. He’s still facing the front, seeming lost in thought. I put my hand on his forearm and he looks over. “Let’s fast-forward to why you’re here in Freedom.” I don’t want to hear any more about his childhood tonight. The alcohol in my system is making me emotional and I don’t want to end up crying.

  He nods. “I did break the law like your brother told you. I had done smaller things before like breaking into abandoned houses with some friends or underage drinking. I only got caught a couple times, and each one, my dad got me out by using his name and money. None of those made the news either. Other shit I did made headlines, though. Chicks I slept with went to gossip sites trying to make a quick dollar with the scoop they had on me, and people I thought were friends did, too. Over the past year or so, it became hard to know who I could trust. Everyone wanted something from me. I’ve had River, my best friend, and a handful of others who have stuck over the years.” He pauses for a second and we both stay quiet. “About three months ago,” he starts again, “a couple friends and I decided it would be a bright idea to steal a one-hundred thousand dollar car. I was the one who got caught behind the wheel, so I was the one who faced a felony charge. It was all supposed to be a joke. The car was one of the guy’s dads, but his pops wasn’t happy about it, so he pressed charges.”

  Add his friends to the list of people I don’t like. It sounds like Gibson hasn’t had any good influences in his life.

  “I figured this time would be like all the others and my dad would get me off the hook,” he continues. “Only problem was I had a hard-ass for a judge. He didn’t give a fuck about my dad’s status. He was more worried about making me a better citizen. He told me I had two choices: prison for three years or live with my cop uncle and finish high school. I took the second choice, no way was I doing time. This face is too pretty to be stuck in a cell.” I laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood, but I’m sad for him. Moving here is his second chance, a new beginning to better himself.

  “I was angry at first. I didn’t even know I had an uncle and then I had to leave my friends and live with a stranger in a new town. It wasn’t ideal, but I had gotten some words of advice from the judge and my friend, River. The judge talked to me on my own about bettering myself and not letting the parents I was dealt with rule the choices in my life. River was the most helpful. He’s always hated the people I hung out with and the choices I made. He’s also a son of one of my father’s band mates, but he got lucky with an awesome mom.” The love he has for River and his mom shows in the smile he has as he talks about them. They are his real family. “River has been telling me I should drop all those people for a long time. He was always there for me when I messed up. Never judging, just giving advice. The damn guy is like a fortune cookie. He has something to say for everything,” Gibson laughs. “He even gave me female advice before I came here. He knew girls would be coming after me, just like they always do.”

  This piques my interest. “What kind of advice?” I ask.

  Gibson turns and looks at me, our faces much closer. At some point, I subconsciously moved toward him. He looks down at my lips and I lick them without thinking. “He told me to wait for the girl who stops me in my tracks. To not go for the easy girls I’ve always gone for and work for the one who would be worth it.”

  I like that answer. A lot. Gibson leans in more. “Did you find that girl?” I ask.

  His green eyes turn dark just before he answers, “You tell me.” Without more preamble, he grabs my face w
ith both hands and smashes his lips to mine.

  Holy shit, I’m kissing Gibson. Bad boy Gibson. Criminal Gibson. Gibson with a sad past. Misunderstood Gibson. Gibson who deserves a new beginning. The same guy who just said I was the girl who stopped him in his tracks. At least, that’s what I hope he’s saying by kissing me.

  His lips are soft and his hands are gentle as he moves them from my cheeks to the back of my neck, keeping me in place. I feel safe as he holds me, moving his lips along mine. He doesn’t push, which I like. I should pull away, that would be the right thing to do.

  I open my mouth just the slightest and Gibson takes that as an invitation to snake his tongue in. Sweetness surrounds the inside of my mouth and I lean forward, wanting more. He runs his tongue along the roof of my mouth and my eyes roll back. I shift away just the slightest, causing us to disconnect. One of Gibson’s hands slides down my arm and settles on my bare thigh, where my dress has risen up. I look at his hand and back up to his face. A need comes over me and I can’t help myself as I reach forward, bringing Gibson’s lips back to mine.

  Just as I’m about to suck his lip ring into my mouth, there’s a loud bang on the window—the slightly fogged window—making me jump.

  I’m pulling out of Gibson’s grip when Allen swings the door open and stumbles into it in the process. He’s being held up by a laughing Anna. “Itty-Bitty, my homie Katy was wrong. I kissed a girl and I sure as hell didn’t like it!” he slurs, falling all over Anna, who I’m guessing is the girl he kissed

  Before I can say anything, he continues. “Her lips felt all wrong, Ron.” He leans over and attempts to whisper in my ear, “She smelled funny, too. Like a flower or something.” I burst out laughing. When I look over to Gibson, his lips are lightly sealed, but I can see the slight movement of his chest as he tries to hold in his laugh. You can always count on Allen to make an awkward situation funny.