After Burn (High School Bully Romance) (Diamond Lake High School Book 1)

by K. L. Middleton

  Her eyes narrowed. “My thing?”

  “Oh, come on. You love fucking with people. Don’t deny it,” I replied.

  Mattie sniffed. “That’s because some people deserve it. Like her.”

  “You’d better watch yourself,” Sonny said, a twinkle in his eyes. “This one isn’t afraid of you.”

  “Why? Did she say something to you?” Mattie asked sharply.

  “Only that if you fucked with her, she’d fuck with you back,” he said.

  Mattie was silent for a few seconds and then smiled coolly. “Well, then. Game on.”

  7

  Mattie

  I glanced over at the table where Mackenzie was sitting. She saw me looking and I smiled coolly. We stared at each other until she looked down and went back to her food.

  That’s right bitch. This is my school. My lunchroom. My man.

  I glanced over at Chase. He obviously didn’t remember drooling over her the month before. We’d been downtown, just walking out of Starbucks. That’s when we saw her pass by on a mountain bike. It had been hot that day and she’d been wearing shorts and a bathing suit top, her boobs practically falling out of it. Chase had done a double-take and I’d said something sarcastic. He’d laughed it off and said something about it being a guy’s natural reaction and not to take it personally. Still, it had really irritated me. He could have at least pretended that he hadn’t been staring at the bitch. But, that was Chase. He was sometimes almost too truthful. I thought I’d gotten over it until I saw her walk into First Period. Seeing her face, everything came back to me and I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to see her fall flat on her face, so I kicked my boot out on purpose. Watching her trip and fall had been epic. Then, there’d been the incident at the locker. Seeing her stare at Chase had been the last straw. He was my guy and there was no way I’d lose him to a bitch like her.

  “So are you still racing again tonight?” Sonny asked

  Chase.

  “Yeah. Ten o’clock,” he replied.

  “Sweet. I’m fucking bushed… but you know me. I’ll definitely be there,” Sonny said.

  “You’d better be man. You’re the one who kept us up late anyway,” I said. “I’m just glad we don’t have football practice tonight.”

  Laughing, Sonny stood up. “No shit. I’m still hungry. I’m going to grab something else to eat from the snack bar. I’ll catchya later.”

  “What did you guys do last night?” I asked, when Chase and I were finally alone.

  “I already told you. We hung out at my place. In the garage,” Chase replied, sounding irritated. I knew better than to keep grilling him, although something told me that there was more to the story than he was letting on.

  I changed the subject. “So, is your dad out of town again?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Until when?”

  “I don’t know. I think he might have mentioned Thursday he’d be back.”

  “Nice.”

  “Yeah.”

  Chase had the house to himself frequently. His father was a real estate investor and always traveling, which I knew Chase preferred. The two didn’t get along very well. His dad was moody and could be a real asshole. Of course, he was nice to me, so I never saw that side of him.

  “Are you going to be at the shop tomorrow night?”

  Chase worked part-time at Lenny’s Auto Shop. He seemed to know everything about cars and spent most of his free time tinkering with his vintage Mustang. With football, his job, racing, and hanging out with the guys, I barely saw him anymore. I’d complained about it so much that we even decided to take a little break from each other. But, I knew Chase. He had a lot going on in his life and I’d stressed him out by putting too much pressure on him. We loved each other though and I knew he just needed some time. I wasn’t about to give up on our relationship, though. We were meant to be together.

  “Yeah. After football practice,” he replied.

  “Are you busy Wednesday or Thursday night? That new horror movie is out and I can’t find anyone to go with me.”

  “Which one?”

  I told him the title.

  He drank the rest of his milk before answering. “I don’t know. I have a lot of shit going on in the next couple of days.”

  I studied his face. I couldn’t even tell what was going on in his brain anymore. “You’re avoiding me, aren’t you?”

  “Not on purpose. You know how busy I am, especially now that we’re back in school. Besides,” he lowered his voice. “I thought we’d agreed to give each other some space.”

  Before I could answer, Celine Stokes sat down across from us. She and I used to be best friends, but had drifted apart a little during eleventh grade. We still hung out a lot, but we weren’t as close. I still wasn’t exactly sure why.

  “Hi, Mattie. Hi, Chase.”

  We both said Hi in unison.

  “Where were you today?” I asked. Normally, she sat with us at lunch.

  “I had an appointment with the counselor. I’m trying to transfer out of one of my classes.” She looked at my clothing. “I love that shirt. Who are you wearing?”

  I glanced down at my V-neck blue chiffon blouse. She knew my mother was always getting me designer clothing. The perks of being in the fashion industry. My mom worked for a purse designer and was in the process of trying to create her own brand. She said that one day, our last name would be a famous label if things turned out the way she planned. “Calvin Klein.”

  “No Dior today, huh?” Celine said with a little grin.

  “It’s only Monday,” I replied. “Check back on Friday. Mom is flying in from New York.”

  “You are such a spoiled hag,” she teased.

  We both laughed. It was something we called each other for fun.

  “I heard you’re racing tonight,” she said, looking at Chase.

  He nodded. “Yep.”

  “I thought so. That’s cool. What kind of a car do you have again?” she asked, playing with the bangles on her wrist. “It’s a Mustang, right?”

  He nodded. “Shelby GT500.”

  “What year?”

  “’67,” he said.

  She kept asking him questions about his car and I wanted to smack her. Not that I thought she was flirting, but I wanted to talk to Chase privately again before the bell rang. But, I had to be nice. Her older sister was an actress and had promised to take us both to Hollywood one day. To see the studios.

  “What’s all this sudden interest in cars?” I asked, after a few more seconds of them talking automobiles.

  “I don’t know. I guess I just really love the old classics,” she replied.

  I hid my eye-roll. She’d never expressed any interest in vintage cars before. Something seemed fishy.

  “Are you coming to the race tonight?” Chase asked her. “You’ll get to see mine in action.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”

  Celine had a boyfriend but I still felt… threatened. Maybe it was because Chase was giving her more attention than he’d given me in the last couple of weeks. And, as far as I was concerned, her boyfriend wasn’t as hot as Chase.

  “I love his Mustang. It’s sexy and fast as hell. Almost too fast.” I thought back to the first time he took me for a ride and told her about it. “I almost peed my pants we were going so fast.”

  Chase grinned. “I didn’t even punch it down all the way. Good thing I didn’t or you might have ruined my seats.”

  I smacked him playfully.

  “Are you going to be at the race tonight?” Celine asked me.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it.”

  She grinned. “Sounds cool. Maybe we could meet up beforehand and get food or something?”

  “Maybe. Text me later and I’ll see if I’m free,” I replied, hoping that Chase would let me hang out with him before the race.

  “Sounds good.” Celine got up and flounced away.

  “So, you’re going tonight, huh?” Chase a
sked. “I thought this racing stuff bored you.”

  “Who told you that?” I asked innocently.

  “You did. You missed the last two.”

  “Well, this one… I wouldn’t miss for the world.”

  He gave me a puzzled look.

  “What?”

  Chase sighed. “Nothing.” He stood up and grabbed his empty tray from the table.

  It felt like he was drifting away from me more and more every day. “You do want me there, don’t you?”

  “Of course. I’d like all my friends to be there.”

  His words stung.

  I was more than that.

  Apparently, he needed a reminder.

  8

  Mackenzie

  The rest of the day went much more smoothly. Probably because I avoided Mattie in the hallway. When the final bell rang, it was such a relief to know the day was finally over. I headed out to find my bus and that’s when I ran into Kara.

  “Hey, need a ride?” she asked, noticing that I was looking at the bus numbers.

  “I don’t want you to have to drive out of your way.”

  “Where do you live?”

  I told her.

  Her face brightened. “Seriously? I’m actually within walking distance. It’s not out of my way at all.”

  I smiled. “Cool.”

  “So, you’re living with Rae Maverick? The gal who owns the bait store?”

  I nodded. “She’s my grandmother.”

  “Really? She helped me pick out a fishing pole for my dad’s fiftieth birthday last summer. My sister is also friends with Chloe.”

  “She’s my cousin.”

  “She’s really nice.” Kara twirled her car key around her finger as we headed to the parking lot.

  “So, what do you think of Diamond Lake High?”

  “It’s… okay.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, well I hate it here. Mostly because of certain people. You know which ones I’m talking about.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I’m starting to.”

  We started walking through the parking lot. “I’m in the back row.”

  “Okay.”

  I followed her to a silver Hyundai and as we were getting in, someone began revving their engine. We both looked over at the next row of cars and noticed that it was an older model black Mustang.

  “Wow, nice car,” I said to Kara, trying to see who was in the driver’s seat. Of course it was Chase. Sonny appeared to be in the passenger seat. In back were two guys I couldn’t make out.

  “Yeah. Too bad it’s filled with jackasses.”

  I chuckled. “Are they really that bad?”

  “Sonny is probably the nicest, but his mind is always in the gutter. Chase is an arrogant asshole. So is Bruce and Mitch, who I think might be in the back. They usually ride together.”

  “That’s their little gang, huh?”

  She nodded. “There are more but those guys are pretty close friends.”

  “Sara mentioned someone named Mitch. I think he was in my last hour class. She said he was nice,” I replied, remembering the curly-haired guy with glasses.

  “Mitch Rollins? Yeah, he’s okay. I think they just hang out with him because he has a high IQ and they need someone to do their homework,” she said dryly.

  “Ah.”

  Chase turned up the music and pulled out of his parking spot. That’s when Sonny noticed us. He said something to Chase and the music went silent.

  “Hey, you coming to the race tonight?” Sonny called out to us.

  “What race?” Kara asked.

  “Chase is racing against a guy from Lancaster.”

  Kara laughed harshly. “Uh, no.”

  “Why not? It’s going to be a good time. We’re bringing a keg. I’m sure they’ll be some other party favors there, if that’s your thing.”

  “Party favors?” she repeated, confused.

  He pretended to puff on a joint.

  She snorted. “I’d have to be high to go hang out with those bozos,” she murmured.

  I laughed.

  He continued. “Anyway, everyone’s going to be there.”

  “Everyone, huh? As in the A-squad-everyone?” Kara asked.

  Sonny took off his sunglasses and began cleaning them. “Everyone as in the cool people. You don’t show up, you know what that means…”

  “What, that we’re not cool?” she said dryly.

  “Yeah. We both know you are though so don’t prove me wrong. You too, Mack.”

  “It’s Mackenzie,” I said dryly.

  “Whatever you say, Mack.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  She let out an exasperated breath. “God.”

  He smirked. “Yes?”

  “That come-back is as lame as it is old,” she said.

  He pretended to look hurt. “Why do you hate me so much?”

  “I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you,” she replied.

  He put his hand over his chest. “You are cruel. So cruel.”

  “We really need to get going, Chase,” Kara called out, ignoring Sonny. “Could you please move your car?”

  “Hey, if you change your mind, meet us over at Old Cliff Road. Nine o’clock,” Sonny hollered as they pulled away.

  I snorted. “Wow, could he be any more transparent?”

  “I know, right?” She turned on the radio. “I’m just a challenge to him, which is why he won’t leave me alone. He’s asked me out so many times and doesn’t seem to know what ‘fuck off’ means. He just knows the definition of ‘fuck anything’.” Kara smirked. “He’s mastered that.”

  I laughed.

  When we arrived at my grandmother’s place, she was at work. Which I’d expected.

  “You want to come in and hang out for a while?” I asked.

  “I’d like to but I have some homework to do and…” she smiled. “I was thinking that maybe we should go to the race tonight.”

  My eyes widened. “Why?”

  “I’d love to see Mattie’s expression when she finds out Sonny and Chase invited us.”

  “Chase didn’t say two words to us,” I replied, thinking back.

  “No, but she doesn’t have to know that.”

  “I don’t know…” I replied, uneasy. “After today, I really just want to stay out of her radar.”

  “That’s letting her win and I’m sick to death of her pushing everyone around. You shouldn’t have to avoid events just because she might be there.”

  I let out a long breath. “Yeah, I suppose.” Plus, I liked Kara and didn’t want her to think I was lame or a coward.

  “Cool. Then let’s do it. I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty. I’ll see if Sara and Maya want to join us.”

  “Okay.”

  As she pulled out of the driveway, I wondered if I was making a major mistake. Not that I was afraid of Mattie. If she wanted to start something with me again, so be it. I’d meet her head on. I just didn’t want people to think that I was looking for trouble. Even if her boyfriend was extremely hot. She clearly didn’t want me anywhere near him and he wasn’t exactly the friendliest guy anyway. But, Kara was right. I shouldn’t avoid going places because of her.

  I walked into the house and was immediately greeted by my grandmother’s Maine Coon cats, Freddy and Wilma, named after the Flintstones. I quickly refilled their food dishes and was washing my hands when my cell phone rang. It was my grandmother.

  “How was school?” she asked.

  “Eh. It was okay.”

  “I guess that’s better than, ‘it sucked donkey balls’.”

  I laughed.

  “So, did you meet any new friends?”

  I told her about Kara, Sara, and Maya.

  “Oh, good.” She sounded relieved.

  “I guess Chloe is friends with Kara’s older sister.”

  “Oh, yes. I know exactly who you’re talking about. Peyton.”

  We talked more about school and then I told her that I was going to hang out with Kara later.<
br />
  “That’s great. She’s a nice girl. What are you going to be doing?”

  “Just, you know, hang out I guess?” Technically, I wasn’t lying. We were hanging out. I just left out the racing part because I had a feeling she wouldn’t approve.

  “Okay. Be home by ten. It’s a school night.”

  I groaned inwardly. “But, she’s not picking me up until eight-thirty. That won’t give us very much time.”

  Grandma was silent for a few seconds and then she sighed. “Okay, eleven. But, just for tonight. Weekends are different. You can stay out later. But you have school tomorrow and need a good night’s sleep.”

  “I know. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “When are you coming home?”

  “I’m locking up at six. I’ll pick up something to eat on the way home if you’d like.”

  We discussed fast-food and then hung up.

  I put my phone onto the charger, scarfed down a banana, and headed upstairs to my mother’s old room, which was now mine. I turned on her old record player, dropped the needle, and Heart of Glass began to play.

  I sat down on the bed, looked down at my left wrist, and pulled off the leather band bracelets, hiding my scar.

  My shame.

  My guilt.

  As usual, the memories rushed back as they always did. Of me… begging my parents to pick me up because I’d gotten into an argument with a friend during an ice storm.

  “The roads are getting bad. Are you sure the two of you can’t work things out?” Mom had asked.

  “No. I just want to come home. Please, please, pick me up.”

  Of course, they’d given in and had driven together, my mother probably wanting to find out what had happened. My father, too afraid of the roads to let her drive. He’d always been so protective of both of us. Our hero.

  Two hours later, after frantically trying to get ahold of them, without any response, I received a phone call from a highway patrol officer, notifying me that there’d been an accident involving my parents. I didn’t find out, until I was at the hospital, that they were already gone. They’d collided with a semi that had lost control, dying on impact.

  It had all been too much. The guilt had eaten me up inside and losing them put me into a very, dark place. One I’d tried to escape.