Jayson (Fallen Brook High School YA series)

by J. L. Wyer

  Out of nowhere, a blast of water comes hurling across the backyard and drenches us. Hailey and Elijah have turned on the garden hose and are laughing hysterically as they douse us with frigid spigot water. Pandemonium ensues. We chase each other around the yard trying to dodge being drenched with the water. Ryder playfully jumps on Elijah and tackles him on the ground. Jayson yanks me off Julien’s back to carry me football-style to safety behind a tent, and Brea and Hailey struggle to pull the water hose away from each other. Thankfully, Mom leaves us towels on the back patio to dry off with once things settle down.

  After finally finishing putting up the tents, we roast marshmallows and make s’mores using the grill, because we don’t have a firepit like the one at Ryder’s house. I’m not going to complain. No matter how you make them, burnt, melted, gooey marshmallows are the best, and I eat ten of them. It’s too late in the summer for fireflies to be out, but the cicadas have emerged and are creating quite a racket. I look around at all of my friends and a feeling of contentment washes over me. Jayson is sitting beside me holding my hand on his thigh, while everyone else is sitting in lawn chairs talking.

  Someone taps me on my shoulder, and I turn to see it’s Ryder holding my acoustic guitar. “Play for us?” He smiles and hands me my guitar.

  I haven’t played in front of a group since the cookout at Ryder’s years ago. I usually just play with my dad or sometimes with Ryder.

  “Go on, Liz. Show us what you got,” Jayson says, releasing my hand. I’m greeted with claps and whistles. I stand to take my guitar from Ryder and as he hands it to me, I feel his pinky finger curl around mine. He pulls me to the middle of our circle before taking his seat.

  “Okay, here’s one,” I say and start playing the melody to “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. I love it when everyone joins in to sing because it makes playing the song more fun for me.

  When we finish, Elijah exclaims, “Damn, Ry. I didn’t know you could sing.” Ryder shrugs, embarrassed. Hailey requests I play one more song.

  “Hmm. Oh, I’ve got the perfect one.” I wink at Jayson. He’s not the only one who can be romantic.

  I sit back down in my chair next to Jayson and turn toward him. My fingers tenderly pluck at the strings in a gentle melody before lightly strumming the music for “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack. My voice starts soft and low, then grows with intensity and power as I sing the words about a woman who experiences her first kiss, her first touch, her first all-consuming love with the man she desires.

  Jayson and I stare into each other’s eyes as I sing the love song just to him even though we are surrounded by our friends. I notice how his chest starts to rise and fall deeply, how he swallows hard, how his eyes change from silver to black, reminiscent of the night he came to my room and kissed me for the first time. By the end of the song, when my voice drifts off into the summer air, no one makes a sound. It’s as if everyone’s in a trance, hypnotized by the words of the song.

  “Jesus, Liz,” Jayson breathes. He gives me such a heated look, my heartbeat stumbles and my legs go weak. Oh. I look forward to sneaking into his tent tonight.

  Ryder: Where u at?

  Me: At the library.

  Ryder: Meet me out front in 5.

  I turn my phone’s screen off and hand my application over to the head librarian. After talking with my parents to let them know I would like to get a job, we decided that something part-time after school would be appropriate. They are worried anything more will mess with my studying. I love books and have volunteered off and on at our local library for years, so me working here is basically a given. I just have to go through the formalities of an application first.

  “Before I finalize next week’s schedule, Elizabeth, is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from four to six still good with you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you,” I tell Mrs. Peters.

  She files away my application and stands to shake my hand. “Sorry about all of the paperwork. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I understand. I’m excited that I actually get to work here now. I love this place.”

  Mrs. Peters chuckles. “I still remember you in pigtails when your mom would bring you and Hailey in for story time.”

  The loud rumble of a car engine stops outside the library doors. We both look over and my mouth drops open.

  “You go on ahead, sweetheart,” she tells me after seeing who the driver is from the rolled down passenger side window.

  I’m already rushing out the doors. “Bye, Mrs. Peters. Thanks again. See you next week!”

  “Hey. Need a lift?” a deep voice calls out to me, cocky grin on his face.

  “Oh my God, Ryder! You finished your car!” I run over and place my hands on the open window. “This is the most unbelievably kickass car I have ever seen!”

  Without further invitation, I open the passenger door and hop inside, fastening my seatbelt. Ryder shifts into first gear and roars down the road.

  “What do you think?”

  I take in the black leather bucket seats with red stripes down the middle and red trim, the swirled stainless steel of the dashboard, and high-end sound system. The car is a sleek glossy black with a red stripe painted down the middle of the hood that matches the interior. I know he must have done some serious work with the engine because it sounds incredible and vibrates powerfully when idling. If this car was a boy, I would be drooling.

  “You did this?” He nods. “You really did it?” He nods again, ear to ear grin splitting his face. “It’s gorgeous. Incredible. I want to marry it,” I confess, gliding my hands all over the soft buttery leather, feeling giddy.

  “Good grief, woman,” he teases.

  I point to the radio. “Do you mind?”

  “Go right ahead.” He hands me his phone and tells me to open up a music app he has linked to his sound system. I go through several songs before finding the one I want. Selecting it, I turn up the volume to blast out “Alive” by P.O.D.

  “Punch it, Big Daddy,” I tell him. He presses the accelerator and we speed down the road.

  “So, where are we headed?”

  “You’re the first to get a ride in her, so where do you want to go?”

  “I’m the first? Not even your dad?”

  “Nope. I wanted it to be you. I knew you’d appreciate her.”

  “If it’s a her, then you just destroyed my dreams of marrying it.” I give a mock pout. “Okay, maybe not. She is gorgeous. Aren’t you just gorgeous, Stella,” I coo as I pat the dashboard.

  “Stella?” his eyebrow kicks up with mirth.

  “Yeah, Stella. A sexy name for a sexy car,” I reply, all serious.

  We drive around for a while when Ryder and I both notice at the same time that we are about to pass the Fields. Grinning at each other, he turns left onto the dirt road that will take us to the racetrack.

  “I can’t wait to see you race Stella here,” I say as we approach the track. “Now, let’s see what my future wife can do.”

  Ryder lines up his Hellcat at the start of the course, revs his engine a few times, wiggling his eyebrows up and down to the time of the revs causing me to bust a gut laughing, and before I know to hang on, he releases the clutch and shoots off in a flash. God, I love this. The adrenaline rush, wind whipping through the open windows, my long hair flying out everywhere. Ryder drives lap after lap, drifting, sliding, speeding around the corners like a demon. I never want it to end.

  He shifts down and comes to a stop. “Your turn.”

  “I’m sorry, what now?”

  “Your turn,” he says, putting the car into neutral and getting out.

  “No, Ryder! I can’t!”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “Are you crazy? I’ll probably drive it off into a tree!”

  “No, you won’t.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “Elizabeth, get into the driver’s seat.”

  “Nuh uh. Nope. No way. You can’t make me.”

/>   I cross my arms, shaking my head no like a two-year-old. Before I know what’s happening, Ryder has my seat belt unfastened and me hoisted up and over his shoulder as he walks over to the driver’s side.

  “What is it with you guys always carrying me around like a sack of potatoes!” I shriek and grab onto the back of his shirt which causes me to notice the hard muscles underneath.

  Then it hits me. Something buried deep. Something potent and alive, wanting desperately to claw to the surface. Something that causes my heart to constrict. Something I should not be feeling because I forced it into lockdown when I chose Jayson.

  Everything stills.

  “Ryder, put me down please,” my words a low timbre.

  Hearing the quiet, serious tone of my voice, Ryder stops. His arm, the one banded around my thighs, tightens before slowly relaxing. He takes my hips in his hands and moves me down his body until I am standing on my own two feet. My hands press flat against his chest. I keep my head bowed, looking at our feet.

  “Ryder, we can’t.” I feel so much for him, it hurts.

  “I know.” He steps closer to me. We stand motionless like that for several minutes.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know, Elizabeth.”

  Our arms reach around each other at the same time to bring our bodies together in a hug. It’s an embrace of two friends, two best friends, who could have been more if things were different. If I wasn't for the fact that I'm with Jayson.

  Ryder is the first to pull away. He tips my chin up and gives me one of his captivating smiles letting me know we’re going to be alright.

  “You’re still driving.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Yes, I did, and it was awesome.

  Chapter 12

  Eleventh Grade

  Ryder

  About a year ago, the senior class at Highland High started throwing bonfire parties. The location of each bonfire event is kept secret until the day of, and then a mass text is sent out giving the GPS location of where to show up. Elijah usually forwards the info to me and Julien. Tonight, the GPS location has us headed to an abandoned warehouse an hour away. Julien’s in the car with me, and Jay is behind us in his truck with Elizabeth, Hailey, and Maria.

  “How’s your leg feeling?” I ask Julien. At last week’s game, one of the players of the Highland High soccer team purposely kicked Julien, who had the ball at the time, driving his spiked shoes into Julien’s left calf. The guy who did it, Marshall, ripped about six inches of skin off Julien's calf with his spiked shoes. Rumor has it, the next day Elijah cornered Marshall in their student parking lot and beat the crap out him.

  “It’s healing. Doesn’t look as bad as it did when Mom took me into the hospital. I’ll probably have a scar.”

  “Hey, you can impress the girls with stories about how you got it. Say it was a shark attack or something.”

  “Yeah, like that scene in Jaws, where they’re sitting around and comparing wounds.” Julien chuckles.

  “When do you think you’ll be able to start playing again?”

  “Doctors think another three weeks and I should be good to go. I’ll have to go in for PT a couple of times a week for a while.” Julien looks at his phone. “The warehouse should be right up ahead.”

  We can already see cars and trucks lined up all along the side of the road, and a glow of what is more than likely the bonfire creates a halo in the distance. I pull over to park behind an SUV, and Jayson parks his 4-door Chevy Silverado behind me.

  I hear Maria’s voice as she gets out. “Holy cow! This place is packed.” It’s the first time Maria has joined our group to come to a bonfire party. She’s a bit high strung for my taste, but Elizabeth adores her and they’ve been friends for a very long time. She’s funny as hell though.

  I notice that Julien is walking with a slight limp and wonder if his leg is bothering him more than he lets on. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him tonight. At the moment, my eye is all on Elizabeth. She looks so pretty in her black skinny jeans, black knee-high leather boots, and green blouse that hangs off one shoulder. Her hair is done up in some sort of fancy braid that wraps around her neck to fall on the right side of her shoulder. Jay says something to her, and her face lights up before her head tilts back and a lilting laughter leaves her throat. I watch as he pushes her up against the side of his truck and kisses her neck, sending her into a fit of giggles. My jaw clamps down hard. Hailey runs over and playfully pushes Jay off of Elizabeth. Elizabeth loops her arm through her sister’s and they walk together toward the bonfire. Jay jogs up behind Elizabeth and smacks her on the butt before dipping his hand into the back pocket of her jeans.

  “Hey tall, dark, and handsome,” Maria says as she comes over. “Aren’t you coming?”

  I sigh. “Yeah.” I lock my car.

  Maria follows where my gaze has been locked for the past several minutes. “Oh. Um, okay,” she stutters. Being Elizabeth’s friend for so long, Maria knows our history. “Hey, I can be your wingman tonight if you want. You know, my Goose to your Maverick.” She's referring to the movie Top Gun.

  “As long as I don’t have to sing.”

  Her eyes go big at me. “What! You haven’t lost that loving feeling?”

  “Nope.”

  “Don’t you feel the need for speed?”

  “Already drive a Dodge Hellcat, so I’m good.”

  “Wanna buzz the tower?” Maria hip bumps me as I laugh at the lines from the movie she's saying. We start walking to catch up to the others.

  I look down at her, “You’re a riot, Goose.”

  “I have my special talents, Mav,” she says as she points her finger at me and pretends to cock it like she’s firing a gun.

  “God, you’re corny as hell.”

  “But I’m a hell of a lot of fun,” she says, patting my arm. I look to where Elizabeth and Jay are up ahead. Elizabeth is glancing back at us, a frown on her face.

  “Come on,” Maria pulls my arm, “it’s my first time at one of these famous bonfire parties and I’m in the mood to try my first beer. You can be my DDB.”

  “DDB?”

  “Designated Drinking Buddy. Keep up,” she teases.

  We make our way to where the rest of the gang is standing. Elizabeth pulls Maria away from me and I hear her ask Maria, “What is that all about?” before a guy I know from the Fields calls out to me.

  “You made it!” Fallon shouts. He and a few other guys from Highland High, whose names I don’t remember, approach and we do that weird guy handshake. “How the hell are ya, man?”

  “Can’t complain. You?”

  “All’s good, all’s good.” I do a double take when I notice Jacinda hanging on Fallon’s side. He has his arm wrapped around her back, hand resting under her armpit. My gaze drops briefly to where Fallon’s hand is, because, well, I’m a guy. Jacinda notices and smiles at me.

  Julien comes up to my side. “Hey, Fallon.” I guess he knows the other guys too because he says their names in greeting.

  “Dude! Heard about what happened at the game. How’re you doing?”

  “A little sore, but better. Thanks for asking.”

  “Yeah, I know Marshall. He’s a total douchebag. Rumor is he got a beat down from Elijah.”

  “Wouldn’t know,” Julien replies.

  Fallon grins. “Uh huh.” Elijah must have arrived sometime while we were talking because he’s standing next to Julien.

  “Speak of the devil,” Fallon grins. “Heard you kicked Marshall's ass.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” is all Elijah says, but none of us miss the bandage he has around his right hand.

  “Uh huh,” Fallon says again. Elijah and Julien walk off, lost in their own conversation. Fallon and I make small talk for another five minutes, mostly about next week’s race at the Fields.

  “You racing your ‘Cat next week, yeah?”

  “Don’t think so. Dad and I are planning on installing a new fuel system upgrade
, so I’ll more than likely be bringing the bike. You know me — I don’t care what I ride as long as I race.”

  “Awesome, man.” Fallon looks over my shoulder. "I see kitten's here," he begins, but is interrupted when someone yells out his name. “Yeah! Hold on!” he yells back. “Catch you later, man.”

  Jacinda looks back at me as Fallon drags her away. “See ya around, Ryder.”

  Jayson is next to arrive, handing me a beer. “I would stay away from that one,” he warns, tipping his bottle up toward where Fallon and Jacinda are now standing with a group of guys. He takes a long pull from his bottle, guzzling over half of it.

  “Not interested, so doesn’t matter,” I tell him before glancing in Elizabeth’s direction.

  “Well, Jacinda definitely is interested,” he snickers. “Ry, you should—,” but he’s interrupted by Maria as she runs over, pulling Elizabeth and Hailey behind her.

  “I’m so going to get drunk tonight!” Maria shouts.

  “That’s not something you want to be announcing to everyone here,” Elizabeth warns her as several boys’ heads turn our way after Maria’s enthusiastic announcement. “Besides, Mar, you’ve never been drunk in your life.”

  “Oh, please, chica. You never drink. But tonight’s the night that I am going to let loose. I’ve got you and Mav to back me up and protect me,” she winks at me. “Oh my God!” she screeches, distracted by a couple making out against the abandoned warehouse. Maria shields her eyes with her hand. “I really do need to get drunk to get that image out of my head.”

  Jayson grabs the beer he recently handed to me and steals it for himself. “Get used to it. Stuff like that is normal at these parties,” Jayson informs her.

  Since it’s Maria’s first bonfire party, I give her a couple of important tips. “Ok, Goose. There are two rules to remember.”

  “What, like don’t talk about fight club, or what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?”

  “Close, but good try.” I hold up my index finger, “Rule #1: Don’t accept a drink from anyone,” then lift my middle finger, “and Rule #2: Just say no to drugs.”