Life, Love, & Lemons
Magan Vernon
Text copyright© 2013 by Magan Vernon
All rights reserved
www.maganvernon.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by or any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.
For information visit www.maganvernon.com
Summary: When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to say screw the lemons and bail.
Seventeen-year-old Bentley Evans had it all. Then her Dad got laid off.
Now she has to move across town to a small apartment and leave her life of luxury for public school and a job at the local burger place. Just when her world seems like it’s crumbling she finds solace in the unlikely punk boy next door, Kai Stone. But as their relationship blossoms, a jealous ex-girlfriend and a secret to tell that threatens to bring disaster back into Bentley’s life
First Edition, August 2013
Cover Design by Allie Brennan at B Designs
Edited by Marcie Turner at Looking Glass Editing
For Kelly,
Thanks for not letting me forget about the Lemons
Chapter 1
Hello Public School
When life hands you lemons sometimes you just have to say screw the lemons, and bail. This really shouldn’t be me, driving through my beautiful maple-lined neighborhood with sprawling brick homes, to a two bedroom apartment off one of the busiest streets in town. Goodbye private schools and designer purses; hello public school and part-time job.
This all started six months ago when Dad got laid off from his job. I never thought that a big company would lay off so many engineers and that one of those engineers would be Dad.
It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if Mom wasn’t anything more than a housewife and a really bad one at that. During the last six months, Dad spent every second on the couch feeling sorry for himself and Mom spent that time going out to lunch. I really shouldn’t have been surprised when my parents told me that our house was in foreclosure and we would be moving.
I really wondered what my family must look like from the outside. Before Dad’s lay off everything was perfect. Mom didn’t need to work, Dad brought home the paychecks, and I spent my time being the glowing St. Christopher’s honor roll student. But now I was just another public school student working at a fast food joint.
Yeah, that’s right; public school and fast food. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. I searched for months for some kind of a mall job but even though I practically maxed out my credit card at half the stores, they still wanted someone with experience, and I had absolutely none. Which meant I wasn’t exactly looking forward to my orientation at Burgers’R’Us, but I would rather look stupid in a hairnet than not be able to afford college. And I knew I would need something, because by the looks of the new apartment we pulled up to, it definitely wasn’t a place I wanted to stay at for too long.
“Well, this is nice.” Dad tried to squeak out a smile as he stepped out of his SUV.
Mom peered over her obnoxiously large sunglasses. The look on her face said that she obviously was not impressed with the old brick building.
“And just look at this courtyard!” Dad started walking to the little area of green space that led up to the apartment building. Unlike our old house with blossoming trees and flowers, half-dead grass and cheap lawn ornaments welcomed us to the apartment complex.
“Yeah I’m sure this is the perfect spot for a gang gathering or a shoot out,” my voice dripped with sarcasm. I wheeled a suitcase out of my Mini Cooper and tried not to let the wheels get caught on every pothole in the parking lot.
Dad just smiled as Mom rolled her eyes. Ever since Dad got laid off he’d become even more of a pansy. It was like when they took his job they also took his manhood and all he could do was roll over and take whatever came to him.
“All right, whatever, let’s see this place before I go to work,” I sighed.
Mom muttered something under her breath about my father not being able to provide, but I couldn’t understand exactly what it was, and I’m sure that it was meant only for Dad to hear.
Sometimes I actually felt bad for my dad. It wasn’t like he meant to get laid off and Mom’s cynicism did not help. He did lose his job, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t find work. She just chose not to.
We walked down a tiny hallway with wood-paneled walls and very outdated, shag carpet. I thought I would gag from the over powering smell, mildew that seemed to come from the walls, but lucky for me, Dad opened the door to our apartment before I choked to death.
“Now this is just temporary girls. Once I get my job back we’ll go looking for a new a house; a better house in fact.”This was the most positive I had seen Dad in months, so I tried to smile, but it fizzled at the sight of the tiny apartment.
Outdated yellow kitchen that was no bigger than my old bathroom, living room with scalloped white walls and horribly scratchy beige carpet, and the two small bedrooms and even smaller bathroom weren’t big enough for a family of ants.
“Wow…it’s…really…”
I couldn’t even think of what to say. The tears failed to meet my eyes. This wasn’t our beautiful four bedroom house, and this was my new home.
Of course my mother couldn’t hide things as well as I could.
“This is just awful! How am I supposed to entertain in this dump? Marcus, can’t you call the bank again? I’m sure there is something they can do to stop our house from going into foreclosure!”
Dad just looked down. The sweat dripped off of his receding hairline. He was like a sad puppy. Mom didn’t even seem to care. I almost think that she liked him being beat down. Instead of waiting for him to respond, she stomped over the horrible carpet, over the linoleum and toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Dad called after her.
“Out!”
She slammed the door behind her and a few paint chips fell from the ceiling as a result of it. She did that a lot lately. I’m not sure where she went, but she always stormed out after her and my dad talked about our financial situation.
“Well…” Dad turned toward me with that pathetic look still plastered on his face. “I guess it’s just you and me tonight, Bentley.”
“Uh…actually I have work, you know, and then it’s Brett’s annual back-to-school party; so like, I was just going to lay out for a bit before work and then head over thereafter.”
“Okay. I guess I can try and hook up the TV and order in a pizza by myself.” He stared at m;, his eyebrows raised with that same sad-puppy face plastered on.
I couldn’t miss Brett’s party. It was bad enough that I wasn’t going back to St. Christopher’s, but I knew I would lose even more of my friends if I stopped hanging out with them. Ugh who knows what kind of people I would meet in the Blackford public schools?
Chapter 2
This Isn’t Malibu
I thought that by laying out on the stupid small patio I could pretend like I was somewhere far away. I was just lucky that it was summertime and hopefully, after starting this stupid job I would have some extra money to keep my tan up for Homecoming. There wasn’t a pool or even much more than a cement slab outside of our broken patio door, but it would have to do. Without a country club membership it looked like I’d be staring out at State Street instead of green grass.
“Um, you know this is Illinois and not Malibu, right?”
I looked up to see
a tall, pasty boy with jet black side swept hair covering one of his guyliner-circled eyes.
“Ugh, how about you mind your own business, perv?” I grabbed a towel from the back of my lawn chair and draped it over my chest.
“I don’t know where you’re from but in the city, most people don’t lay on a patio half naked.” He leaned against the small, rusted railing that separated our two patios.
What did this guy know about tanning? He was not only white as a ghost but probably could have been a ghost of 1980’s punk rock past with his skinny jeans and brightly colored shirt.
“I’m wearing a bikini! What? Doesn’t your vampire girlfriend wear one?” I wrapped the towel tightly around my waist and folded my arms across my chest.
“Ouch, that was a bit harsh.”
“Well you’re the one who started it.” I poked at the inside of my cheek with my tongue.
“You’re right.” He reached his black-painted fingernails over the railing. “I’m Malakai, but my friends call me Kai.”
I limply shook his hand, hoping that he didn’t have some kind of weird germs that I’d never heard of crawling on his fingers. “What kind of a name is Malakai?”
“It’s from the Bible. Heard of it?” He stuffed his hands into the front pocket of his skinny jeans.
If only he knew that I just spent most of my life in a Catholic school only to end up spending my senior year at one of the worst public schools in town.
“Now, usually people say their name after someone introduces themselves.” He leaned in, his eyebrows lifting ever so slightly.
“All right, well I guess since you’ll figure it out somehow anyway… I’m Bentley.” I stood up, my bare feet hitting the hot pavement.
“Bentley? Like the car?” He covered his mouth trying to stifle a laugh.
Who did this guy think he was? “Yes Bentley, like the car! One that you will probably never even see Mr. Bible Named Goth Boy!”
“Ouch, a little angry aren’t we?” He had this smirk pasted across his face like nothing could faze him, and it was really annoying.
“You…you…” I had no idea what to say, so I said that only thing that I could think of. “SUCK.”
I stormed through the flimsy screen door and into the overly bright living room.
“Hey, honey, everything all right?” Dad looked up from behind the entertainment center.
“I hate this stupid apartment!” I screamed and stomped into my tiny bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
Now Dad, pre-layoff, would have come storming in and yelling at me for raising my voice and slamming the door, but post-lay-off Dad did none of that. He didn’t even knock on the door to see if I was okay. He just stayed in the living room. I could hear him working on the TV through the thin walls but that was it.
I may have lost everything, but I still had to work. At least that was one way to get out of the apartment.
Chapter 3
I’m Here For Orientation
With the top down on my Mini Cooper and the radio blaring, I could pretend that I was back in my old life, driving to meet-up with my friends in a new pair of shoes. In reality, I was just driving to a fast food joint with last season’s heels and a bruised ego.
How could a guy with a name like Malakai make fun of my name? Bentley was my grandfather’s name, and why my parents named me after him, I will never know. But it’s cute; it’s me. Well, at least the me pre-Dad’s lay-off.
I parked behind the big, red building so my Mini Cooper faced the back of a giant statue of a monkey holding a burger. Why would anyone even eat at a place whose mascot is a giant monkey holding a burger? At least I should be grossed out enough working here to not want to eat the food. My jeans were already getting pretty worn. I couldn’t afford for them to get tight from a diet of burgers. I definitely wouldn’t be buying new ones for a long time.
“Hey, Bentley, long time no see.”
Okay, so my day could be getting worse. Kai works at the same Burgers’R’Us as me. This really couldn’t be happening.
“Isn’t that thing a little unsanitary for the workplace?” I pointed to his lip ring.
“I assure you that my lip ring is the last thing you should be worried about.” He smiled as he leaned on the counter. “Now I’m guessing you want a salad or a water with lemon or something?”
“No.” I smirked and slung my Coach purse over my shoulder. “I’m here for orientation.”
His brown eyes grew about five sizes. “You’re joking right?”
I shook my head, letting my blonde ponytail swish about. “I wish.”
Kai just stood there with his mouth hanging open while the pudgy manager, Jason, stepped out from the back.
“Miss Evans, you made it! And I see that you are already getting to know your new co-workers.” He seemed overly cheery for someone that spent his life wearing a red polo and asking people if they wanted fries with that.
“Yeah, Kai here was just telling me how excited he was to be working with me.” I threw a huge, overly toothy grin in Kai’s direction.
“Well, there will be plenty of time for chatting later, Mr. Stone.” He patted Kai on the back, making Kai wince. “Miss Evans needs to start her orientation.”
All I kept thinking about while Jason explained the importance of fryer temperatures was how I was going to survive working in a place like that. My future co-workers were already whispering and pointing at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I had no idea how I would survive a school year working for minimum wage and be able to put enough away to afford college. This was definitely one of those times where I wanted to say, screw the lemons, and bail.
Chapter 4
Unforgiveable
Driving to Brett’s was bittersweet. His house was down the street from my old one. Driving that same familiar street with its sidewalks and large brick homes brought me back to another time. Instead of going home to my beautiful house with the white picket fence and blooming flowers, I had to go back to an old apartment that smelled like feet.
“Bee, you survived!” my best friend Taylor screeched and ran toward my car. The content of her red plastic cup spilled all down the cobblestone driveway.
“I think I barely did.” I grimaced, shutting the door of my car behind me and praying that I didn’t have any burger bits stuck in my hair.
“Oh em gee, I am so glad that you finally got here.” Taylor looped her arm through mine, and we headed toward the backyard. “That Gabby skank is the only other girl here, and I just can’t stand to be around her!”
I didn’t really understand why she disliked Gabby so much. Years ago, Taylor had a crush on Brett, but he’d been dating Gabby for over a year, so Taylor really should have been over it.
“She is like such trash. I mean who does she think she is? She freaking goes to one of the worst schools in Blackford!” Taylor took a a big swig of her drink before throwing it to the side.
“Hey, watch what you say. I’m going to be going to the same school as her!” I curved a finger through my belt loop and put one hand on my hip.
“Oh…” Taylor looked down. “Sorry, Bee, I forgot about that.”
We stayed silent for what seemed like forever until we finally reached the back yard party. Brett really out does himself for his end of the summer bashes, complete with a theme and everything. Our freshman year it was a luau with a pig roasting on a spit. Sophomore year it was Hollywood with a red carpet and mock tails, and last year it was a hippie theme. For our senior year I guess Brett decided that he had to really pull out all of the stops. The theme was ‘Grease Lightning’ and everyone was dressed in 50’s gear, and a band that looked like they should have been on some old TV show was playing on the deck.
“I loooove this song!” Taylor squealed and she pulled me toward the makeshift dance floor. I had never even heard it, and I’m sure she just wanted to stop the awkward silence. Taylor’s tiny body slid up against me and moved up and down. Her way-too-short-to-be-appropriate p
oodle skirt moved with her.
“Hey, you made it.” A very wet whisper hit my ear. I turned around to see my ex-boyfriend, Jake, standing there.
“What do you want, Jake?” I scoffed and stared up at him.
“Can’t I say hi to my favorite East High senior?” He laughed running a hand through his blond faux hawk.
“Very funny, Jake,” I said with a smirk. “I’m going to get a drink—Tay, come with me.” I pulled Taylor toward the old-fashion soda fountain, complete with a guy dressed all in white behind the counter.
“Diet whatever, please,” I almost spat at the poor guy.
“Whoa, look at you on the wagon. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you order soda since we were like, in middle school,” Jake joked as he adjusted his ridiculous looking leather jacket.
“Some of us have to drive home.” I took a big swig of my drink and headed back out toward the party, not really caring if Jake or Taylor followed.
“Hey, wait up!” The thud of Jake’s shoes pounded on the deck as he leaped off after me and then was immediately standing in front of me before I could even move.
“What, Jake? I know you want more than just to say ‘hi’ to me, and I’m sorry but that’s definitely not going to happen.” I hoped that maybe my evil glare would get to him, but no such luck.
“Oh come on, Bee.” He tried to slide an arm around me, but I shrugged it off. “My little bumble bee…” He nuzzled my hair.
I wished it was that simple. I wished we could go back to being the crown jewels of St. Christopher’s but that didn’t look like it would ever happen again and it was for more reasons than just Dad’s lay-off.
“Look at you two getting all cozy again,” Brett said as he sauntered over with Gabby on his arm.
They always went all-out on their costumes as well as the party. This year was no exception. He was in full Danny Zucco attire with the black leather jacket and even a black pompadour wig to cover up his usually brown curly hair. And Gabby, well, let’s just say that no other girl there could fill out a Cha Cha costume as well as she could.
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