“Who the hell do you think you are, you stupid, frumpy bitch?!” Shannon started to stand, but I shot from my seat and stood in front of Eliza faster. After that display I had no doubt she could do more than just hold her own, but she’d said her piece. If Shannon was stupid enough not to get that she wasn’t wanted, I was going to clear things up. There was no reason for Eliza to be forced to engage any further than she already had.
“No one invited you to sit here,” I told her, the tone of my voice causing her eyes to grow wide.
“But… Ethan—”
I cut her off, not feeling bad in the slightest. “I didn’t ask you to join me for lunch, and I sure as fuck don’t want you sitting across from me while I’m trying to keep my food down. So since Eliza doesn’t want you here, and I sure as shit don’t want you here, there’s no reason for you to stay.”
“Babe, just let me—”
“We have nothing to catch up on seeing as the last words I ever spoke to you were that if I ever found out you so much as looked at Eliza wrong, I’d make your life miserable. You clearly didn’t listen, so it looks like I’ll have to make good on my promise.”
I could hear the muffled voices and movement from the people straining to hear, but other than Shannon’s spiteful words, they hadn’t been able to hear the full exchange, which did nothing but make her look like an even bigger fool since most of the town had always thought Eliza to be the sweetest.
“You’re still standing here,” a sarcastic voice spoke up from behind me. I barely suppressed an eye roll when I turned to look over my shoulder to give Eliza a really? Could you not right now look.
She shrugged, but had the grace to look properly scolded.
It was the pure hate in Shannon’s voice that forced my head to turn back around as she spoke, “You always chose her over me.” She spit as her eyes shot fire in my direction. “That twisted, weird little relationship you guys had back them was creepy and it’s still fucking creepy today.”
I shrugged. “Rather be in a relationship only you would consider creepy than stuck with a heartless bitch like you.”
She moved to slap me, a motion I would have had no problem blocking had a particular little ball of fire not jumped in front of me and grabbed Shannon’s wrist before I could. “You slap him and, so help me God, I’ll rip your hair out at the roots. Now get the hell out of my building before I have someone call the cops and escort your ass out.”
We both watched in silence as a red-faced, clearly embarrassed Shannon spun on her hooker heels and stomped out of the café.
“Well…” I breathed, gaining Eliza’s attention. “That was fun.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned and headed back for the kitchen, but not before I saw the corners of her mouth twitching with a suppressed smile.
Progress.
Eliza
“SO WHAT DO you think? I’m wondering if the choreography’s going to be too hard for my intermediate class.”
Lilly’s voice jerked me out of my distracting thoughts. “Sorry. What?”
With a sigh and eye roll, she moved over to where her iPod was docked and turned it off just as another song started to play before coming to sit next to me on the floor where my back was resting against the wall. “If you’re not going to pay attention, you might as well not even be here,” she grumbled, but I knew her well enough to know she wasn’t really mad, just perturbed at my lack of attention.
“I don’t even know why you ask me to come down here and watch your routines. I don’t know the first thing about dancing. How could I possibly be any help to you?” I asked, watching our reflection in the mirrored wall across from us as I nudged her shoulder with my own.
She nudged back. “That’s the point. Most of the people in the audience during the Winter Showcase don’t know the first thing about dance,” she answered, talking about the recital her students put on every Christmas season for the entire town. “All they know is that they enjoy watching it. That’s what you’re here for, to tell me what you’re watching is pretty so I know the rest of the town will like it.”
I smiled at her through the mirror even though she was sitting right next to me. “So all I’m here for is to tell you that you’re pretty?”
“Exactly!”
We both burst into laughter. Once we’d gotten that under control, Lilly spoke up. “So I heard there was a kerfuffle at the café the other day.”
“Seriously?” I chuckled. “Who says kerfuffle?”
She gave me a tiny shrug. “Not enough people, if you ask me. It’s a great word.”
I gave that some thought. “It actually is. We should try and bring it back.”
“On it. Now stop trying to change the subject. What happened at the café?”
I sighed, hating just how well Lilly knew me. “It wasn’t a big deal, really,” I fibbed, trying to downplay the entire thing. “Shannon showed up.”
“God, I can’t stand that woman,” Lilly seethed, voicing exactly what I was thinking. “She never goes in there. She knows that’s your domain. Why on earth would she start coming in now?”
I turned my head and gave her a don’t-ask-stupid-questions look. “Why do you think? Ethan was in there. She must think she still has some sort of claim on his dick or something.”
“Brilliant,” she gritted sarcastically. “It’s like high school for you all over again.”
I thought of what Ethan had said to Shannon about the last time they talked. “Ethan said something interesting during that whole scene. Apparently, the last time him and Shannon talked, he threatened her about messing with me.”
Lilly’s eyes got big. “No way. You believe him?”
“Well,” I thought about it. “It would make sense. After he went off to college, she turned into an even bigger bitch than before, doing her best to make my life a living Hell. I never told him about it, but one day it all just… stopped. She’d give me dirty looks whenever I’d see her, but all the childish bullshit stopped. I thought she’d just gotten tired of picking on someone who refused to engage.”
“And now you think Ethan had something to do with it?”
“You should have seen her face,” I admitted, somewhat gleefully. “As soon as he said he was going to make good on his threat, she freaked. Then she got pissed. She even tried to slap him.”
“Damn it!” Lilly’s sharp words echoed loudly through the open space. “I always miss the good stuff!”
“Poor Lilly,” I teased. “I’ll make sure to call you beforehand next time there’s drama.”
She grinned hugely. “Much appreciated.” As we sat in silence in the empty studio, I began to hope that she’d drop the subject of Ethan. I should have known better. Lilly was nothing if not persistent.
“So, he stood up for you in front of an entire restaurant full of people, almost earning himself a bitch slap in the process.”
I shot her a side-eyed look. “What’s your point?”
“No point,” she said a little too casually. “Just wondering if this means you’ve forgiven him. First stalking, now going head to head with evil exes that threaten you… I have to say, the boy’s been pretty busy lately.”
“Lilly—” I started, warningly, a sense of growing agitation coming over me as she gave life to exactly what I’d been feeling ever since Ethan’s return. I naively believed that if I could just ignore everything I was feeling in regards to him, if I could just wait him out until he eventually left, that I’d be fine, but the longer he persisted the harder it was for me to keep faith that my life would eventually go back to what it had been before he re-entered the picture and disrupted everything. For all these reasons, I’d been avoiding any discussion of Ethan with Lilly. And it seemed like she’d finally had enough.
“Don’t you ‘Lilly’ me, like you really think that tone of voice scares me at all.”
“Look, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, okay? I just want…” I trailed off, suddenly not sur
e what it was I actually wanted.
“To keep your head buried in the sand until he leaves again, so you can act like nothing’s changed,” she finished for me.
“Yes. That. Exactly that. And if you were a true friend, you’d help me dig that hole then go about your business.”
Her chest puffed out with something akin to pride. “Lucky for you, I’m an exceptionally shitty friend.”
“Yay. So lucky,” I grumbled flatly.
She clapped her hands and rubbed them together gleefully. “Now, let’s go home, crack open a bottle of wine or three, get completely annihilated, and you can tell me all about how you’re eventually going to cave when it comes to the yummy Ethan Prewitt.”
I looked over at my best friend, trying my hardest not to smile. “I hate you. But you have wine, so I’m willing to overlook your short comings for the time being.”
“Big of you,” she chuckled as she stood and reached for my hand to help me off the floor. “Now let’s go get shitfaced.”
That was the best plan I’d heard in days.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED fall in Pembrooke. Living in a valley surrounded by mountains covered in trees as the leaves turned different shades of red, orange, and yellow was the kind of beauty most other places lacked. The chill in the air was enough to make you grab for a light jacket and scarf, but not enough to bite at your skin when you went outside. But my favorite thing about fall was the smell of wood smoke that seemed to fill the air as people in town began lighting fires in their fireplaces. Fall gave you that giddy, excited feeling that winter was just around the corner, and while most people viewed Thanksgiving as the start of the holiday season, for me, it all began with Halloween.
“Thank you so much for helping,” Harlow panted as she dropped the box of decorations on the linoleum floor.
“I help every year,” I laughed. “Eventually you have to stop thanking me and just accept that it’s a given.”
“Oh, shut up and help me get these spider webs set up before the game starts,” she said with a grin. It was Friday evening and just like I’d done for the past several years, Chloe, Lilly, and I were helping Harlow set up the high school gymnasium for the Halloween dance which would take place once the football game ended. It was tradition in our town for everyone to attend the game just before Halloween in costume, and even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the sport — anymore at least — I still loved coming to this particular game. Truth be told, it was one of the only games I attended each year since Ethan graduated high school. With people like Shannon in the stands, my love for football had started to lose some of its luster. Then everything with Ethan happened and… well, it stopped holding any appeal at all.
“Did you bring your costume to change into?” Chloe asked, pulling me out of my head.
I stepped up onto the ladder and taped the spider webs in place. “Yep,” I answered as I climbed back down to move the ladder a few feet and repeat the process.
“What are you going to be this year?” Harlow asked.
I twisted my neck from where I stood at the top of the ladder and looked at the three woman staring up at me. “A witch,” I answered simply. “Same as every year.”
“How creative,” Lilly mumbled, earning laughs from Chloe and Harlow.
“It is not! There’s nothing wrong with my costume,” I defended. “It’s perfectly fine.”
“It’s boring!” Lilly countered. “You don’t even technically dress up. You just put on a hat and fake nose. You can do better than that.”
“Well you’ll just have to deal with it. We’re almost done here, and it’s the only costume I have.” The calculating smile that spread across all three of their faces made me nervous. “Wait… What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Chloe chirped playfully. “Just went out and got a new costume for you to wear this year.” She practically skipped over to the duffle bag sitting on one of the decked out tables. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a costume that was missing at least half of its fabric.
“No,” I declared, climbing off the ladder and planting my hands on my hips. “No way in hell. This is a school function, Chloe! What the hell are you thinking? I can’t go as a slutty cheerleader to a high school football game!”
“Oh, get your grannie panties out of a twist, you prude,” Lilly said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “It’s not slutty. You’re just being a baby about it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. “Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Not!”
“Too!”
“Oh, for the love of God,” Harlow sighed. “I feel like I’m watching Lucy and Evan fight.”
“She started it!” I pouted. “And I’m not wearing that.”
“You are,” Lilly argued.
“I’m not!”
“Are!”
“Enough!” When Chloe used her Mom voice, there was no choice but to listen. “You’re wearing this because you’re twenty-two years old and have a fabulous body. It’s not slutty, and that witch costume is played out. Besides, you don’t have any other choice. Lilly already went through your bag and threw that stupid hat and nose away.”
With an outraged gasp, my eyes bounced to each woman, all of them wearing shit-eating grins. “You guys suck so bad,” I exclaimed on an exhale, knowing full well I had no choice but to wear the stupid, clichéd cheerleader costume.
“You love us,” Harlow announced, taking the costume from Chloe and slapping it against my chest. “Now go get changed. The game’s about to start.”
“What about you guys?” I asked.
“Please,” Chloe scoffed. “Harlow and I are too old for costumes.”
“And I have to get back to the studio to work on a number for the showcase so I won’t be at the game,” Lilly answered.
With a few more grumbles and some not-so-nice name calling, I slumped my shoulders and headed for the nearest girls’ bathroom, all the while cursing my life and the pushy as hell people I’d let into it.
Ethan
I WAS JUST reaching for the doors to the gym when they pushed open and Lilly came prancing through. “Wow,” she laughed, taking in my get up. “Original.”
I looked down at my old high school football jersey that I’d managed to scrounge up in one of the closets at Harlow’s. It was tighter on my chest and arms than it had been back in the day, but other than that, it fit. That, a pair of jeans and eye black slashed under my eyes was the extent of my costume. “Hey, you try coming up with a decent costume when you have to wear this goddamned brace with everything.”
Her grin was lacking any of the animosity she had been holding over me the past few weeks. “Well, it’s actually fitting if you think about it,” she mumbled more to herself than me.
Choosing to ignore her bizarre statement, I asked, “Harlow and Chloe inside? Their husbands sent me on a search and rescue mission.”
“Yep, just finishing up. Go on in.”
I watched as she started for the parking lot. “You’re not staying for the game?”
“Not my sport,” she called out, turning to walk backward. “I prefer hockey. You know, a game that requires real skill.”
I placed my hand over my heart, faking pain as she threw her head back and laughed before spinning around and tossing a wave over her shoulder. “Enjoy your night, Football Star.”
“I really wish people’d stop calling me that!” I shouted back.
“It’s either that, or World’s Dumbest Asshole. I figured I’d go with the nicer this time around.” With that, she climbed into her car and shut the door. Seconds later it started up and she took off. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to get off her shit list, but whatever it was, I’d take it, seeing as it seemed her and Eliza were a package deal.
Walking into the decked out gym was like stepping into a time machine. Even though it looked like Halloween had thrown up all over the place, I felt like I’d been transported into the past, a past with some not-so-great memories
, but a whole hell of a lot of good ones. I was quickly discovering that the longer I stayed in Pembrooke, the more I came to realize the good had far outweighed the bad. Then again, you know what they say about hindsight.
As I walked further in, my eyes finally landed on my sister and her friend Chloe. “Hey ladies,” I spoke up, stepping next to Harlow and planting a kiss on her cheek before giving Chloe the same gesture. “Noah and Derrick sent me in to look for you. Told me to tell you two to move your asses, but seeing as I’m a gentleman, I’ll leave that last part out.”
Harlow rolled her eyes before smacking me in the chest and moved to throw away the empty wrapping the Halloween decorations came in. “All these years and that man still doesn’t have any damn patience.”
Chloe’s laugh had me turning her way just in time to see something gleaming in her eyes before she managed to mask it. “We’re heading out now. Eliza’s in the bathroom changing into her costume. You mind waiting for her?”
My chest tightened as my heart rate picked up at the mention of Eliza’s name. “Sure,” I answered a little too quickly, earning weird glances from both women. But I was still struggling with my newfound feelings for Eliza as it was, I didn’t have time to try and decipher every strange look I got from the people in my life.
I’d meant it when I told Eliza I wanted my best friend back, and I was determined to get that, but the more I got to know her, different nuances of her personality that hadn’t been there before rose to the surface. Or maybe they’d always been there, it was just that she hadn’t discovered them by the time I disappeared on her. Either way, I was growing to like what I saw with each passing day, which made looking at her as just a friend increasingly difficult.
As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already just trying to earn her trust back. If she knew the thoughts that ran through my head when it came to her, she’d probably never say another fucking word to me.
“You guys should get going before Noah sends an announcement over the PA system.”
Coming Full Circle (the Pembrooke series Book 2) Page 9