The Eastwood Series

by M. E. Clayton

  Her nose wrinkled and I could tell she took offense. “You’re gorgeous, Willow,” she snipped. “I know you don’t think so because you wear glasses and aren’t a size double D, but you are.”

  I wanted to drop my head in defeat, but I needed to stay on the subject at hand. “I love you, but we’re steering off course here,” I replied. “The point is, I knew he was drunk, and I didn’t stop him. I liked kissing him and…” I shrugged a shoulder. “It felt good being wrapped up in his arms.”

  Sally scoffed. “Well, I imagine so. Have you seen those arms?”

  “Will you be serious?” I practically screeched. This was mortifying for me. Could she not see that?

  “I am,” she semi-screeched back. “This is Duke Maddox you’re talking about. He’s practically perfection.”

  I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before I fell victim to a full-blown meltdown. When I opened my eyes again, I just blurted out the whole sordid truth. “I slept with him, Sally,” I confessed. “Okay? Alright?” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “I gave my goddamn virginity to Duke Maddox while he was too drunk to notice.”

  “Willow-”

  I stepped to her and hissed out my shame. “I took advantage of his drunken state and used him to get rid of my virginity. With his reputation, I knew he’d be good at it, and I wanted that for my first time. But…oh, God, Sally, I took advantage of a drunk guy,” I practically wailed. “It’s…if I were a guy taking advantage of a girl, I’d be burned at the stake, and rightfully so, Sal.”

  “Wait. Hold on a minute, Willow,” she said, responding to my shameful secret. “Are you sure he was that drunk? I mean…sure, guys can be taken advantage of just as girls can, but…have you talked to him? Do you know for sure he was only with you because he was too drunk to know better?” Before I could answer, she also added, “And don’t think we’re not going to talk about how you lied to me all summer, Willow. But I think your freak out is more important right now.”

  I winced.

  The first warning bell for class rang and I knew we were going to have to get going. “Look, I’m sorry about that, I really am. I just…I feel horrible, Sal,” I told her. “I was…am ashamed that I used someone like that.”

  “Okay, I get that,” she conceded. “But I honestly think you’re overreacting, Willow. I can’t see Duke Maddox doing anything he doesn’t want to do, no matter how drunk he might be. He’s freakin’ Duke Maddox.”

  “Agree to disagree until we have more time to talk after school, yeah?”

  She nodded. “Okay.” I went to go to my locker, when her hand shot out and grab my arm, stopping me. “I gotta ask, Willow. Is his reputation over-exaggerated?”

  I shook my head sadly. “Not even a little bit,” I admitted.

  Not even a little bit.

  Chapter 4

  Duke~

  Because the first day of school was just a routine account of what was expected from us, I had spent second period on my phone, checking Willow’s social media accounts. She had unblocked me like I had asked. However, she hadn’t changed her relationship status and that was something we were going to have to remedy as soon as I saw her again. I was also going to have to get her phone number. It wouldn’t do not to have my girlfriend’s number, and the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced Willow was my girlfriend. Crazy? Maybe. Ballsy? Definitely. But who was going to stop me?

  After I had let her escape first period like the Hounds of Hell were on her ass, I had shot a text off to Samson. My relationship with my brother reminded me of that old Marvin Gaye song about there not being mountains high enough or valleys low enough. I knew as sure as I knew my own name that Samson would always drop whatever he was doing if I needed him. When Mackenzie had replied that he was in the shower, I had texted for him to get back at me when he could. I mean…I was losing my shit, but I wouldn’t deem that an emergency-emergency. I mean, after all, I had been able to get through second period without asking the office to rearrange my entire school schedule to match Willow’s, so that was something, right?

  Samson had ended up called me during first break, where I quickly told him everything from the night of Michael’s party to when I threatened the poor girl. He had listened, and after a few heartbeats of silence, he simply asked if chasing her was worth my baseball future. Since the entire town of Eastwood knew Willow Davis had a brilliant mind, the girl was going to get into any school she wanted after graduation. When I hadn’t immediately answered no, Samson had chuckled and wished me luck. Since he couldn’t see straight without Mackenzie, he was a sucker for love. Or maybe it was a Maddox thing since Dad was the same way.

  And sitting in third period, I thought it’d be another struggle, but my phone started vibrating with incoming texts. And if I didn’t love all these assholes, I’d be cursing Samson to hell.

  Group texting was brutal.

  Ford: Willow Davis, huh?

  Raiden: Better lock that shit down now. She’s 2 smart not 2 know she can do better.

  Asshole.

  Dee: OMG! Willow Davis! She’s such a good girl. So pretty n sweet.

  Alistair: That sum high aspirations Maddox Jr.

  Another asshole. And shouldn’t they be doing college stuff right now?

  Charlie: Dnt fuck it up.

  I barked out a laugh at Charlie. Leave it to her to be brutally honest.

  Amelia: Gary Martin had a thing 4 her last year FYI

  What?

  My fingers flew across the screen.

  Me: What do u mean? They dated?

  Ford: (a string of laughing emojis)

  B.B.: Calm down

  Raiden: Fck that. Kill the bastard.

  Dee: Do NOT kill anyone, Duke

  ME: Did they date or did he just liked her? Amelia?!!

  Alistair: Yeah. Do NOT kill anyone

  Me: AMELIA???!!!

  Amelia: (a string of laughing emojis) Relax! He just liked her. No dating

  Charlie: Tell him the truth A

  Me: What truth?

  My phone was in serious peril. If I didn’t grip it to death in my hands, I was probably going to throw it across the classroom.

  Amelia: I am telling him the truth!

  Charlie: (deadpan emoji)

  Amelia: They went on ONE date, okay? But that’s it, I promise

  Raiden: See? Kill him

  Ford: I’m with Raiden

  Alistair: Eliminating the competition is an option

  B.B.: I’ll bail you out

  Dee: OMG! Can u guys just not?!

  Me: If her relationship status isn’t changed by the end of the day, be on standby. Gotta go.

  The only reason I hadn’t demanded more answers was the bell announcing the end of class had rung, and I needed to get to fourth period. I hit my locker to exchange my English book for my Economics book, and when I turned around, I practically ran over Lilly Montague. I had to bite my tongue because I didn’t need this shit right now.

  Or ever.

  “Hey, Duke,” she mumbled shyly. Or shamefully.

  “What do you want, Lilly?” I asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

  Her shoulders sagged. “How long are you going to hate me, Duke?”

  Once upon a time, I had thought myself in love with this girl. I had been young and blinded by all the perfectly scripted things she had memorized. Come to find out, it had all been a ploy devised by her older sister, Phyllis, in an attempt to land Samson. Samson had arranged to meet Lilly with me in hiding and when Samson had hit on Lilly, she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. That day I had been disabused of my belief in love at first sight, and girls had become casual pastimes.

  Until Willow.

  “You got it all wrong, Lilly,” I told her. “I don’t hate you.” Her face looked hopeful until I added, “I haven’t wasted a single thought on you in years. I’m just asking you what you want because I can’t imagine there’s anything we have to talk about.”

  Her expression
fell. “I just…”

  The first warning bell for class rang, so I left her with an, “I gotta go, Lilly. I need to catch my girl before she heads to class.” I headed towards class leaving a shocked Lilly Montague behind.

  Chapter 5

  Willow~

  When Duke Maddox strolled into fourth period Economics, I almost started slamming my head against the desktop.

  Why me, Lord?

  Even after giving into his terrorist demands and unblocking him, I still couldn’t get his words out of my head.

  ‘Because I’m not done with you.’

  I wasn’t sure what he had meant by that, and I had been too chickenshit to ask. But now, as he was making his way to the back of the class to, presumably, sit next to me, I knew we were going to have to talk. Then I cringed a little inside at how he described what had happened between us. However, Duke Maddox was known as the easy-going one, so I knew he had to have been upset to have acted like a tyrant.

  When he planted his ass in the empty desk next to mine, I did my best to ignore him. I sat with my notebook out and a pen in my hand, looking every bit the eager student. However, my mind got to wondering how many more classes I was going to end up having with the guy.

  The first day of school sucked.

  “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work,” Duke said loud enough to make Tara Nelson turn around in her desk and look at him. She was sitting in front of Duke in his row, and she was, unfortunately, a massive gossip.

  I plastered a fake smile on my face as my eyes darted towards Tara. “I have no idea what you’re talking about Duke,” I lied. “I’m just…eager to learn and all that.”

  Duke snorted, and I almost cringed at how Tara’s blue eyes rounded. “Yeah, sure,” he huffed. “Give me your phone.”

  Having no choice, I turned to look at him. “What?”

  “Give me your phone,” he demanded.

  I blinked at him. “For what?”

  Then Duke Maddox said the one thing that was proof enough to land him in an insane asylum. “If you’re not going to change your relationship status, then I’m going to do it for you.” Tara Nelson let out a gasp, but I was too stunned to pay her any mind.

  “What are you talking about?” I choked out.

  His hazel eyes narrowed, and he looked determined. “Give. Me. Your. Phone. Willow,” he bit out.

  I shook my head. “Duke-”

  He stopped my protests when he turned towards Tara and said, “Hey, Tara, were you at Michael Bellows’ part-”

  “Here, you asshole,” I hissed and threw my phone at him. I snarled when he caught it effortlessly and smirked.

  His brows furrowed when he looked down at my phone. “Why isn’t it locked?”

  “Because there’s nothing on there that needs to be kept a secret,” I gritted through clenched teeth.

  He threw me a reprimanding look. “Put a lock on it,” he instructed before looking back down and doing whatever insane shit he was doing. My eyes darted towards Tara, and she wasn’t even trying to be sly about her eavesdropping. She was fully turned in her seat.

  I had been about to face the front of the classroom again when a chime dinged, and I watched in horror as Duke pulled out his phone and I knew he’d just exchanged our numbers. Next, his phone started to vibrate on his desk with notification, after notification alerts.

  When Duke finally handed my phone back to me, I had immediately put my eagerness to learn aside and pulled up the first social media app that popped up.

  Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus.

  There in writing, for all the world to see, was a notification that my relationship status has changed because I was now in a relationship with Duke freakin’ Maddox.

  My fingers on fire, I quickly pulled up his social media accounts since I had been strong-armed into having to befriend him, and his notifications were announcing the same thing. Duke had changed his relationship status to show that he was in a relationship with Willow Davis.

  Duke Maddox’s has never been in a relationship that I’ve known of.

  Never.

  Then I checked my contacts, and there, just as bold as you please, was a new entry under ‘My Boyfriend-Duke’. I started choking on my surprise and I ignored whoever was thumping me on my back to help. When I finally got myself under control, I turned to see him taking his seat and I realized he had been the one thumping me on my back.

  Completely ignoring Tara, I asked, “Are you high?”

  Duke didn’t appreciate my question, and he also didn’t care about our audience. “I thought I made my position on this subject clear this morning, Willow.”

  “So…so, you’re my boyfriend now and I have no say?” I asked incredulously.

  “You’re damn fucking straight,” he barked.

  “Duke, we need to talk about this. I-”

  “We already have, Willow,” he interrupted. “You lost. Get over it.”

  “You can’t just announce I’m your girlfriend, Duke,” I argued. “It doesn’t work that way.”

  Tara finally chimed in, and if this situation hadn’t been bizarre enough, I would have jumped up and kissed her. “This is 2020, Duke,” she pointed out. “I don’t think you can just…proclaim her as yours without her consent.”

  Duke’s left brow raised in triumph as he said, “I have her consent, Tara. I’ve had it since June. Graduation night, to be exact.”

  Tara looked my way and her pretty face scrunched up. “Oh. Well…well, then, no wonder he’s mad at you, Willow,” she huffed out. “You should have changed your relationship status back in June when you guys first started dating.”

  My mouth hung open.

  This was getting out of hand.

  Like. Out. Of. Hand.

  “Tara-”

  “Okay, students,” Mrs. Alvarez began, “let’s pay attention to at least for the first fifteen minutes of class, please.” Everyone shifted in their seats to give her their attention. Even Duke. However, Tara’s fingers were flying over her phone and I knew she was alerting the media about me and Duke. But before I could dwell on that fact much, my phone vibrated in my hand.

  Sally: What the hell?

  I gave Mrs. Alvarez her fifteen minutes before I texted Sally back.

  Me: Maybe he got hit in the head with a baseball over the summer?

  Her reply was immediate.

  Sally: But ur accounts?

  Me: Long story. I’ll tell you at lunch

  Sally: But r u guys dating or not?

  I looked over at Duke, and he just raised an insolent brow my way. He was testing me. That had to have been it. He wanted answers, and this was way of getting them after I ignored him all summer, right?

  Right?

  Me: I don’t know

  Sally: ????????

  Me: Lunch

  The rest of class was spent with my newsfeeds blowing up with congratulations notifications.

  Chapter 6

  Duke~

  Turns out I have a total of four classes with Willow, and I couldn’t be happier. I was trusting everything I felt with this girl and running with it. And Tara had unknowingly done me a solid when she spread the rumor that Willow and I have been dating since June. I knew Willow was pissed and confused by my running roughshod over our situation, but I had every faith she’d get over it.

  After fourth period, I had walked her to her locker where Sally had been waiting for her, desperate for answers no doubt, and I had graciously allowed her to have lunch with Sally privately. It had given me a chance to confirm our relationship when I had sat with my people, some baseball teammates and others who were just friends.

  Dallas had hit me up as soon as I had sat my ass on the bench. He had admitted to being confused since Sally had never mentioned that I was dating her best friend all summer, but I just brushed off his concerns. I had told him I hadn’t been sure what all Willow had told people, and he bought it.

  After lunch, I had found out I had Study Period with Will
ow as well. And that had been a special kind of torture.

  For her, not me.

  Study Period had given me forty minutes of uninterrupted time to bother the girl to no end. She had been desperately trying to read her paperback book, but with my hand twirling her strands of hair around my fingers, she hadn’t managed to turn one page of the book she’d been trying to read.

  When she finally snapped and threatened to stuff her book down my throat, I relented and agreed to leave her in peace the rest of the day if she agreed to meet me after school, so we could talk. She reluctantly agreed, and I had kept my word.

  I found out we had P.E. together, but the athletes didn’t attend regular P.E., so she was safe in that class. Plus, she had Sally for P.E., and I knew she’d rather hang out with Sally than anything else.

  Now, I was sitting at Calico’s Entertainment Arcade waiting for her as Tally and Rachel were losing themselves in the foam pits. CEA was a multi-entertainment center that was huge as hell. There was something for everyone and it was one of my favorite places to take Tally and Rachel.

  Tally and Rachel were Ford’s younger sisters. They were eight-year-old twins, and I loved them to death. And just because Ford was off at college, that didn’t mean I couldn’t still hang out with my favorite girls. I loved children, and Tally and Rachel were the sweetest little things.

  After our first baseball meeting of the school year, I had gone home, showered, changed, and had called up Ford’s mom to see if I could pick up the girls. I wanted to hear how their first day of school went, and I had wanted to spend time with them.

  I had made sure they ate dinner as soon as we had arrived at Calico’s, and afterwards, they had talked nonstop about their first day of school, and about how they missed Ford. Ford was a great big brother, and I knew for a fact that he missed his sisters terribly. After we caught up, I pulled out my wad of cash and let the girls run wild. We usually played laser tag when we were here, but with the odd numbers, we couldn’t this time.

  I glanced at my watch and was about to text Willow when I felt someone sit down next to me at our table. I turned and Willow was looking at me with a pained expression on her face. When two extra bodies sat down across from us, that’s when I noticed she hadn’t come alone.