But now…
It was all exposed.
Everyone around me knew about my parents. They knew what my father had done to my mother for so long. And they knew that my mother had ran back to my father. Which left half of them feeling sorry for me and half of them thinking I was full of crap about what had happened.
And if that wasn’t enough, now I had to deal with all the whispers about Elijah.
He had been my Summer Boy. And in the summer, things were easier. The rumors were harder to spread and even harder to care about. We all weren’t caged in at HCH.
But with Elijah back… causing trouble with everyone over what happened to Ryland… and then he and I becoming something that looked like an official couple… only to have some bitch show up with a baby that was his…
My head was spinning as I stood at my locker.
I opened it, wanting to bury my head inside and scream.
I did scream though when I opened the locker.
Only because a baby doll fell out and almost hit me.
I jumped back and heard the thud as the doll hit the floor.
“Looks like Elijah left something else for you,” a voice said from behind me.
I slowly turned and saw Ashley and Lacy standing on the other side of the hallway.
Anyone around me who saw what had happened started to laugh.
Then they started to whisper to each other.
“I know you’re all flustered about becoming a stepmom,” Lacy said. “But next time make sure you actually close your locker.”
“We were going to leave the doll on your car,” Ashley said. “But, you know, opportunity…”
They stood as though they were untouchable.
And this was their way of getting back at me for what I had done to Conor. Meaning Carly put them up to this.
“You can practice with the doll,” Lacy said.
“Or just keep it,” Ashley said. “Something to cuddle when Elijah leaves with his family. His real family.”
“Not his side fuck,” Lacy said. “His… dirty… side fuck.”
I looked down at the doll on the ground.
I picked it up and held it by its plastic foot.
“You know, that’s not how you hold a baby,” Ashley said.
“No wonder Elijah didn’t want her,” Lacy said.
“Maybe her Daddy carried her like that too,” Ashley said. “That’s why she makes up stories.”
I moved before I could think.
I wasn’t sure what the two bitches thought I was going to do. Just stand there and take it? Walk away? Cry?
But they definitely didn’t expect me to swing the doll at their heads.
They both screamed and ducked.
The doll hit the lockers with a hard boom sound.
I heard people around me gasping.
I spun and threw the doll at everyone.
Then I turned back to Ashley and Lacy.
They tried to run but I grabbed them both by their hair.
As they screamed for help, I pulled them back.
I wrapped my arms around their necks.
They both clawed back at me, scratching my face.
Stupid, evil cunts.
I let them go but I was far from done.
I turned into a hippie surfer ninja.
Throwing fists and kicking at the same time.
Chasing after them as they scrambled to get away from me.
At some point I heard the sound of Henders’s voice echoing in the hallway.
Ashley and Lacy turned a corner and ran faster.
Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me in the opposite direction.
When I saw Aira staring at me, I felt like punching her too.
She dragged me into one of the bathrooms.
We went to the very last stall and she threw me into it.
She came into the stall too and slammed the door, locking it.
I brought my fists up and was ready to take her on.
Aira showed me her hands.
“Holy shit, Nova,” she said. “Breathe. Can you do that? Just breathe…”
I sucked in deep breaths. I exhaled them, shaking.
“That’s good,” she said. “Just keep breathing. Let it all work through your body. Okay?”
I nodded.
I kept breathing like she said to do.
Very slowly, my body started to calm down a little.
“We have to get you out of here,” Aira said. “Henders is going to be looking for you. And he’ll end up calling your parents. Or sending you to talk to Miss Carson. And nobody wants that.”
“I can’t deal with that right now,” I said. “I can’t have my mother show up with her fake tears and try to act like a good parent.”
“Okay. Then we’re going to make a run for it. You and me.”
“You and me…”
“Just us, Nova.”
“What about Wes?” I asked.
“He’s fine without me for two minutes.”
“Just two minutes though, right?” I asked.
“Now’s not the time to be a bitch to me, okay?”
“Yeah. Right. Sorry.”
“Let’s give it another minute. When we get out of the bathroom, just go straight across to the door. Stay close. We’ll get into my car and leave.”
“Okay,” I said.
We waited in silence.
I felt like a criminal on the run.
And in some sense, I was.
I broke the rules of HCH and Henders.
At the same time, those two bitches did too. Breaking into my locker…
“How’d they get into your locker?” Aira asked, as though she could read my thoughts.
“Left it open, I guess,” I said. “I’m just…”
I shook my head.
“Yeah, I get it,” Aira said. “Heard you were partying alone last night.”
“So?”
“Probably not the first night, huh?”
“And again… so?”
“I’m not judging you,” Aira said. “Okay, let’s go.”
Aira grabbed my hand and we exited the bathroom stall.
She carefully peeled open the bathroom door and stuck her head out.
She looked left to right and then back at me.
The smile on her face was contagious.
“This is fucking crazy,” I said. “Maybe I should just go face Henders. Tell him everything.”
“Is that how you want to spend the rest of your day, Nova?”
“Fuck no,” I said.
“Good.”
Aira ran into the hallway, pulling at my hand.
I almost forgot how much fun she could be when she wasn’t attached to Wes and the rest of the group.
We ran across the hallway, giggling, quietly screaming, as though a monster was chasing us down.
Aira hit the door hard and it flew open.
“Novalee!” a voice called out.
I looked back at the last second.
“Shit,” I said. “Miss Carson found me.”
“Like hell she did,” Aira called out.
We ran faster together.
The door slammed shut with a heavy bang.
We ran across the sidewalk to the grass, back to the sidewalk, back to the grass, making our own path.
“Is she following?” Aira asked me.
“I don’t know. I’m not looking back. I’ll trip and fall.”
“Just pretend she is. We’re almost there.”
“Freedom, motherfuckers!” I called out.
Aira threw her head back and laughed hard.
She ended up tripping.
As she stumbled forward, I hurried to wrap my arms around her and keep her standing.
We both stumbled together but kept on our feet.
We stopped walking, sort of holding each other in an awkward hug that would make all the guys flustered.
We both looked at HCH at the same time. There was no sign of anyone follo
wing us. No Henders. No Miss Carson. Nobody else.
Aira and I looked at each other again.
We smiled big.
“Hurry,” I said. “They’re going to get us.”
She let out a playful yell and broke away from me.
This time we ran together without holding hands.
When we got to Aira’s car, I froze.
“Wait,” I said. “I have my car here. I have to drive.”
“Okay. I’ll follow you then. Let’s go. Right now.”
I turned to run and Aira called my name.
She ran around the front of her car and hooked her arm into mine.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’ll go with you. Leave my car here. It’ll make the mystery cooler.”
“It’s going to drive Wes crazy.”
“That’s okay. We do crazy pretty awesome.”
“This is crazy, Aira.”
“And, again, we do it pretty awesome.”
We walked to my car and Aira got into the passenger seat.
I drove out of the HCH parking lot.
“Freedom,” Aira said. “We did it.”
I sped down the road until HCH was an afterthought.
My mind started to drift away again.
Not in a good way.
“Where are we going first?” Aira asked.
But I wasn’t listening to her.
I was just driving. Fast. As fast as my thoughts.
When I caught up to another car, I drove way too close.
I felt Aira getting tense.
I bit my lip, anger seething through my body.
The car approached a green light.
The light moved to yellow and the car started to slow.
“Fucking asshole,” I said. “You stupid fucking jerk. Go! Fucking drive. You fucking… just… fuck…”
I cut the wheel to the left and moved into the other lane.
The light turned red but I kept going.
“Nova!” Aira screamed as I sped through the light.
I looked at her, ready to smile.
But Aira looked scared. And pissed.
That’s when everything collapsed onto me again.
I pulled my car to the side of the road and came to a complete stop.
“Nova… what the fuck is going on with you?” Aira asked.
She touched my hand.
I burst into tears and started to scream.
Chapter 4
Elijah
“So this asshole walks right up to her and asks if she’s cool with two in one night.”
I looked at Paxton. “Seriously?”
“Why not?” Paxton asked. “It’s an honest question. I mean, it’s not like Turner was going to marry her.”
“How do you know that?” Turner asked. “Instant love is a real thing, man.”
“Instant love only lasts until you blow your load,” Lars said.
“Then what does it become?” Turner asked.
“An escape plan,” Lars said with a grin.
Nero laughed. “You don’t stick around for a little morning love?”
“Nothing about what I like is love,” Lars said.
“Can we get back to my story here?” Turner asked. “I’m still fucking pissed.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “Go into a dark closet and let Paxton take care of you. That seems fair, right?”
“They’d both like that too much,” Lars said.
Turner and Paxton took a step toward Lars.
Lars had no problem taking them both on. He waved his hands at them, egging them on.
“That’s enough for now,” Nero said. “We’re just ball breaking here. Let’s make a new rule. No asking to share. No stepping on toes. No cock blocking.”
“Fine,” Paxton said. “My bad.”
“Thanks,” Turner said.
They shook hands.
It was amazing to watch.
In some way… it looked so immature.
That was their biggest worry. Figuring out who to screw at a party.
Shit.
That was me before Rory showed up. Or before I came back to Hidden and got all tore up because of Nova again.
“How’s your kid?” Lars asked me.
“Man, that sounds fucking weird to ask,” Nero said. “A kid?”
“A baby,” I said.
“Still,” Nero said. “Goddamn, man. I’d ask how it happened but I know the answer.”
I shook my head. “I’m still figuring it out.”
“Easy to get laid now though, I bet,” Paxton said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Well… the mother is with you, right?” Paxton asked.
“What does that have to do with getting laid?” Nero asked.
“I was just thinking… she had a baby. And she’s all… I don’t know… different…”
“Different,” I said. “What the fuck are you saying?”
“Doesn’t everything change?” Paxton asked. “Like, down there… and then her…”
He cupped his chest.
I looked at Nero.
Nero gave a nod.
I turned and went after Paxton.
He was lucky, I just punched him once in the mouth to shut his ass up.
“What the fuck?” he asked, holding his mouth. “It was just a question.”
“She’s not ruined,” I said. “She’s a person. She could do whatever she wants. We’re not together. Fuck.”
“Sorry,” Paxton said.
“Hey, ignore him,” Turner said.
“There’s nothing fucking happening,” I said, addressing all of them. “Okay? I have no idea what’s going to happen next in this situation. I am not with Rory. I am not fucking her either. Just because we had a baby doesn’t mean we’re…”
“Nobody said a thing,” Lars said. “Except the fucking moron here.”
Lars walked toward Paxton.
Paxton waved a middle finger at him.
“We’re just curious, man,” Nero said. “Just… you know, if there’s anything we can do. Are you going to bring her around? The kid, I mean, not the mother.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “There’s just a lot to take in at once. Okay?”
“Hey, I got an idea,” Lars said. “Let’s go beat the shit out of someone.”
“Paxton?” I asked.
“I like your thinking.”
“Not Paxton,” Nero said. “But I like the idea of a fight. Blow off some steam.”
“Let’s do it,” I said.
“Are we really going to walk back into Tech just to jump some random person?” Turner asked.
“Yeah, we are,” I said.
I took the lead and told myself to try and feel bad for whoever I bumped into first.
The hallways at Tech were full of easy targets.
I picked out everything wrong with everyone I saw.
Shoes, clothes, hair, teeth, height, weight… everything.
Like a cliché, douchebag bully looking to shed some anger on someone that was innocent. Share my fucking pain because nobody should be allowed to be happy if I wasn’t happy.
“Who are we thinking?” Lars asked as he stepped up next to me.
I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled.
First one to look…
“You,” I said and pointed at some dude.
He hooked his thumbs into the straps of his book bag and his chubby cheeks turned bright red. I recognized him. Dale? Dave? Dan? Something like that. He was good with electronics and nothing else. His new name was going to be Dead.
“I’ll get him,” Lars said.
He took one step and the dude took off.
Running with his bag bouncing, waddling like a penguin.
He dropped his bag to get more speed.
Lars was right on him though.
My phone started to ring just as Lars got his hand on the dude’s shoulder.
It was Aira calling me.
“Aira?” I asked as I answered the call.
Lars tripped the dude and he slammed hard to the floor. Lars then put his foot to the dude’s back and looked back at me.
I put up one finger and turned.
“Aira?” I asked again. “Hey… are you there?”
“Elijah,” Aira’s voice said. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Uh… I kind of need your help.”
“You need my help?” I asked.
I heard a noise in the background.
Waves crashing.
Someone laughing.
Or yelling.
Screaming?
“Aira?” I yelled into the phone.
I heard the sound of wind ripping through the phone.
“Sorry,” she said. “You need to get here now.”
“For what?”
“You’re a fucking moron, Elijah,” Aira yelled into the phone.
I looked back and Lars still had the dude pinned down.
“What do you want?” I growled at Aira.
“Nothing from you,” she said. “But… Nova needs you right now.”
* * *
I left Lars and the others to do what they wanted.
As I ran by Nero, I did tell him to let the dude go and just forget about it. I wasn’t sure if that was me grabbing at self-preservation or what. Just by whistling at the dude and knowing what I wanted to do to him was enough to have guilt trying to chase me down as I chased Nova down.
It had been too long since I’d seen her last. Or held her hand. Or touched anywhere on her body. Or kissed her. Or tasted her skin. Or…
Anything else.
If Aira called, you knew it was something bad.
That girl hated me. And I wasn’t the number one person in her fan club either.
She didn’t even need to tell me where to go.
If they were on the beach, I knew where it was.
I knew Nova’s favorite place to hang out and surf. And surfing was the only thing that she had that never let her down. There was more about her I knew that nobody else did. Summer or not, that meant nothing compared to what I knew. To what she told me. To what I watched. To everything I locked in my memory and my heart.
When I got to the beach, I ran through the sand to get to Nova.
She was standing in the wet sand, right where the waves took their last breath.
She was still wearing shoes, which was weird to see.
My first thought was her feet were going to get wet in her socks and she would be uncomfortable for the rest of the day.
HIDDEN CREEK CRY: a hidden creek high noval Page 4