Inferno Anthology

by Gow, Kailin

  Setting the bags down on the granite island counter, we emptied the contents: romantic comedy DVD’s, popcorn, chips, and soda. “I’m going to need to work out extra this week just to make up for tonight.” Bailey complained.

  “Whatever. You always say things like that, but I’ve never seen you gain an ounce. I rarely see you working out, either, for that matter, unless it’s at cheer practice.”

  “There are other ways to work out.” Bailey grinned. “Did you know that sex can burn like—,”

  “Like a billion calories. Yeah, yeah, I know. You keep reminding me.” I cut her off, hoping to save myself from the details of whomever was her most recent sexcapade. I couldn’t look half the guys at school in the eye anymore, after hearing about things she’d done with them. “I went and got a tattoo, tonight.”

  The bowl of chips she was holding clattered back to the counter and her eyes widened. “Come again?”

  A smile twitched at the corner of my mouth. I was the predictable one in this friendship. I never did things that surprised people. “I got a tattoo.”

  “Are you serious?” she said, her gaze traveling over me. “Where?”

  I reached for the button on my jeans and her hand went over her mouth.

  “No way! You did it in your pants?”

  Sliding them down over my hips, I pulled the strap on the one side of my underwear revealing my new ink. “I don’t know if it still looks as clear, but it will once the film comes off.”

  Bailey bent to inspect it. “Oh my gosh! You got this to remember Tommy, didn’t you?” Straightening, she hugged me. “I think it’s beautiful!” She stepped away to look at it, again. “I’m still in shock. I can’t believe you got a tattoo. Where’d you go?”

  “A place across town, over in Tommy’s old neighborhood. It’s called Inked Edges. Ever heard of it?”

  She shook her head. “Not that I can think of right off the top of my head. Of course, the only time I get over that way is when I’m with you, and now that Tommy is gone….”

  My heart hurt. “I know. I hope to still stay in touch with his mom, though. She’s been having a rough time.”

  “Is that why you got this over there?” she asked. “Had you been visiting her?”

  “Actually, a friend of Tommy’s works over at Inked Edges. Tommy told me if I ever wanted a tattoo, I should go see him, so I did.” For some reason, I felt reluctant to tell her about Six. I’d never breathed a word about my attraction to him to anyone—especially Bailey. She would’ve insisted on drive by’s and scoping him out, or pinching me and nodding in an overtly obvious manner whenever he might’ve been nearby. Plus, I knew there was pretty much no chance of anything ever coming out of it, anyway. I didn’t want to come off as the friend’s annoying kid sister that he’d need to run and hide from. I was content to keep him all to myself and admire him from afar.

  “They didn’t make you have a parent present?” she asked.

  “I, um. “ Staring at her I confessed. “He did it off the books because he was Tommy’s friend. He didn’t even charge me for it. In return, I had to promise I wouldn’t tell anyone who did it.”

  “Mmm.” She studied me before picking up the bowl of chips and linking arms with mine. “Grab that movie on the top,” she ordered and I did. The two of us walked to the sitting area. “I’m not sure how I feel knowing you’re keeping some mystery guy from me. Was he hot? Would I like him?”

  Jealousy flared within me instantly. “He’s not your type,” I replied, trying to deflect her.

  She snorted. “All guys are my type…especially if they’re packing big—,”

  “OKAY!” I jumped in loudly, cutting her off. Let’s watch this movie shall we?” I glanced down at the title. “Sorority Love. This better be good.”

  “What’s not fun about sorority life? I can’t wait to rush houses and go to frat parties. College will be so much fun!”

  “Do you plan to actually attend classes?” I teased. “I thought your main college goal was to get drunk and get laid—which doesn’t seem to be any different than the life you’re leading now.”

  “Older guys.” She set the chips on the coffee table and flopped back against the couch. “That’s the difference. College age guys are just more manly—more experienced, more muscular.”

  My mind instantly drummed up an image of Six. He may not be a college guy—at least not that I was aware of—but he was definitely college age. And in my mind, he blew every guy I knew, no matter the age, clean out of the water.

  I put the movie in the player and sat down beside her, absently eating popcorn as I stared at the screen. I wasn’t watching the movie, though. I was reliving the time I’d spent with Six. I definitely wanted to see him again, and I did have his number; but I couldn’t think of any reason to call him. Maybe one would present itself later on. It wasn’t like he’d asked for my number, so it was more like he was keeping an eye out for Tommy’s little sister.

  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

  ***

  Melancholy…that’s what I was; and I didn’t know what to do about it. Mr. Duluth’s voice droned on and on as his chalk scratched and squeaked across the old chalkboard, grating on my nerves even further. Was it really that difficult to upgrade to a white board like the rest of the faculty had?

  I quickly copied the calculus assignment for tonight, glancing at the clock every ten seconds as I waited for the minute hand to strike the hour so the bell would ring to release us from school for the day.

  If I didn’t know it was impossible, I’d swear we were stuck in some sort of magical time warp that had slowed everything down to a snail’s pace.

  Jumping from my seat as soon as the first tone sounded, I headed through the door and into the hallway. I walked quickly, until I felt something hit me in the back of my head.

  A small eraser dropped to the floor beside me, rolling off into the stampede of feet hurrying past. Turning, I saw Kane Lawson, smirking at me.

  “What up, Hall?” he asked, giving me what I assumed was supposed to be a sexy nod as his eyes ran over me slowly before returning to my face. “You’re running out of here like the school is on fire.”

  Annoyance coursed through me. “Did you need something?” I asked, turning and walking away from him without waiting for an answer.

  “Hey,” he shouted from behind me, but I didn’t stop. “Beat it,” he said, shoving the person next to me to the side as he fell into step next to me. “What’s got your panties in a wad, today?”

  Glancing over at him, I gave him a scathing look. “You have no idea what my panties look like, let alone if they’re in a wad. What do you want, Kane?”

  “A bunch of us were going to go out and party, tonight. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me?”

  “Tonight?” I asked, surprised. “You realize it’s Tuesday, don’t you?”

  He laughed. “A little mid-week alcohol never hurt anyone. So, you in?”

  “No.” I continued on my way, hoping he’d get lost. Pretty much any girl in school would die to get asked out by Kane, but I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t care about his perfect blond hair, amazing body, or what kind of truck he drove. Everything about him screamed “fake” to me. I knew he asked girls out strictly so he could sleep with them. I wasn’t about to be added to his list. Besides, Bailey had filled me in on all I could possible want, or in this case, not want to know about him.

  “Come on, Brooklyn. I’ve been inviting you to do stuff for ages and you keep turning me down.”

  “You think that’d be a clue, huh?”

  “Fuck it. I don’t need this.” He disappeared and I didn’t even pause to see where he’d gone.

  “Are you okay?” Bailey asked, coming up on my other side.

  “Fine. Why?” I glanced over at her.

  “You seemed especially harsh to Kane just now. That’s not like you.” Concern was evident in her eyes.

  Grabbing her by the arm, I pulled her around the corn
er, sticking my head into the classroom we were by and finding it empty. Motioning her inside, I closed the door behind her.

  “I’ve never said anything to you about this before, but I like someone else. I have for a long time. That’s the reason I’m never excited about going out with all the people you keep trying to set me up with.”

  “Oh. Em. Gee!” she said, her eyes twinkling excitedly. “Who is it? I’ll totally help you get him!”

  Sighing, I opened the door and stepped back into the hall, continuing toward the main doors. “This is precisely why I haven’t said anything to you in the past. I don’t want you to help me “get” him. It’ll either happen on its own or not at all. Which, at this moment, is looking like not at all.”

  “Who is it?” she asked. “I can ask around and see what I can find out.”

  I halted abruptly. “Bailey! Stop. I mean it. Do not get involved.”

  Sticking her bottom lip out in a pout she stared at me with hurt in her eyes. “I just want you to be happy.”

  “I am happy. I don’t need a guy to have a good time.” I moved toward the exit, pushing through the doors into the bright Nevada sun.

  “You don’t look very happy to me.”

  “Well, that’s because I’m about to go spend the afternoon working with my dad at his campaign headquarters. You’re welcome to come if you’d like.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Oh, yeah. I’ll pass on that. Then I’d be unhappy, too.”

  I laughed. “I’m not trying to be a bitch, Bailey. Really. But I totally detest working for my dad. It always puts me in a bad mood. And I’m sorry if it bursts your bubble, but I don’t want to date any of the guys in this school.”

  Her face brightened. “Ah ha! There’s a clue! He goes to a different school. I am going to figure out who it is, you know that right?”

  I shook my head as I dug my keys from my pocket and unlocked the door. “Good luck,” I replied as I slid inside. “I’ll text you later when I’m home, okay?”

  “Does he work for your dad’s campaign?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she studied me, obviously serious about finding out who this mystery person was.

  “Would I hate working for my dad if he was?”

  Her face fell. “Oh, yeah. That’s true.”

  “Goodbye,” I said with a laugh, shutting the door and starting my car. Even as I pulled out of the space, she still stood there and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head.

  I was in trouble now. Once Bailey got a sniff of a secret, she was like a dog on the hunt for a bone. She wouldn’t let go until she found what she wanted.

  Releasing an exasperated breath I shook my head. I shouldn’t have said anything.

  Chapter Five

  Six

  “Dude, let’s go rent some movies and get some more beer. You drank all we had.” My roommate, Brandon, spoke from where he lounged beside me on the couch.

  “I’m too drunk to drive,” I protested, glancing at the bottle in my hands. I’d lost count of how many I’d tossed back.

  “I’ll drive. What’s up with you, today?” Brandon asked. “You didn’t even wait for me to get home.”

  “Nothing. Just drowning my sorrows.”

  “Sorrows?” Brandon raised his eyebrow. “Something I don’t know about?”

  I chuckled. “No. Not really.” I took the last swig of my beer and set the bottle down on the coffee table. “And you’d probably laugh if you did.” I stood, carefully concentrating as I made my way toward the front door of our sparsely furnished two-bedroom apartment.

  Brandon laughed. “That makes me think it has something to do with a girl.” He followed me outside. “Hang on to the railing, bro,” he added as we approached the stairs. “You’re looking a bit wobbly there.”

  “I’m fine,” I argued, but did as he suggested, anyway. Things were swaying.

  “Tell me what’s going on,” he said as we slid into his pickup together, I was grateful for the dark tinted windows that helped to shield me from the brutal late afternoon sun. “Is it a girl that has you all worked up?”

  I laughed. “I’m not worked up.”

  “Yeah, that’s why you’re plastered. Maybe we should skip on the beer.”

  “I’m good for more.”

  “I don’t know why you’re letting some chick get you down. You have girls falling all over you. Pick one.”

  “I don’t want any of those girls.”

  “Damn. She must be one in a million if she doesn’t want you.” Brandon shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl turn you down.”

  “She didn’t turn me down.” I stared out the passenger side window, watching the traffic and people we passed by.

  “Then what’s the problem?” he asked. “If she’s willing and you’re willing….”

  I laughed wryly. “She doesn’t even know I’m into her.”

  “And why is that? Is there a reason you aren’t telling her? Does she have a boyfriend?”

  “I don’t think she does.” I pursed my lips together at this thought. I hadn’t even considered that possibility. I wasn’t really a part of her world. What if she already had a boyfriend? Just the thought made my jealousy flare.

  “Who is she? Do I know her?”

  “Tommy’s sister,” I replied, flatly.

  “Tommy’s…dude, she’s like—,”

  “Seventeen.” I supplied for him.

  Brandon started laughing. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be robbing the cradle. Especially after high school and all the chasing of college chicks you did then.”

  “Things change, man.” His laughter really wasn’t improving my mood any. “I’ve liked her—or noticed her, at least—from the first time I saw her; but then I found out she was only sixteen and I put the brakes on fast. I don’t need to be getting messed up with someone that young.” The alcohol seemed to be loosening my tongue, a lot. I’d never mentioned my infatuation with Brooklyn to anyone. Hell, I’d barely admitted it to myself.

  “Not to mention she’s the mayor’s daughter. Knowing Scott Hall, he probably keeps her under lock and key. Tommy never had much good to say about his dad.”

  A small growl of agreement escaped me.

  “So, if you’ve been into her for a while, why the sudden intensity now?”

  “She came in to the parlor a week ago, Saturday, wanting a tattoo—in memory of Tommy.”

  “Did she have permission?” Brandon asked.

  I snorted. “What do you think?”

  “So you had to send her away? That sucks.”

  I chuckled. “No. I gave her the tattoo,” I replied, turning to look at him.

  “Seriously?” his eyes widened. “Edgin’ Eddie let you do it?”

  “It was after hours. I did it off the books. Didn’t even charge her for it.”

  “Shit.” Brandon stared at me in amazement. “What are you going to do when her daddy comes storming in there ready to hang you?”

  “Unless her daddy is playing around in her panties, he’ll never know about it.” I paused for a moment, frowning. “And if he ever tries to play there, he won’t live long enough to tell about it.”

  “Where’d she get the tat?” Brandon was staring at me.

  “Watch the road,” I replied. “Maybe I should’ve driven after all.”

  “Where’d she get the tat?” he asked, again.

  “In the hollow by her hipbone.”

  He laughed, again. “So, you can say you’ve been in her pants?” he teased, clearly enjoying all of this.

  “You aren’t helping things.”

  “So, she’s seventeen. So what? Age of consent in Nevada is sixteen. She’s hot. I say go for it.”

  I stared at him incredulously. “You’re not funny.”

  “Listen, the only thing that’s going to get you in trouble in sleeping with her is if her dad finds out, right? So date her, but don’t sleep with her.”

  Now I was laughing. “Do I look like a sa
int to you?”

  He shrugged. “All I’m saying is you’ve had a thing for this girl for a while, obviously. If she means that much to you, then try having a real relationship with her. Sex doesn’t have to factor in right away.”

  “It does when your body has a mind of its own.”

  “Whatever, dude. If you really want her, you’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”

  “I have no doubt I can make it happen…I’d just like to live through the process, as well. You saw how Scott was with Tommy. He’s not going to let me within ten feet of his daughter. He’d slap a restraining order on me faster than anything.”

  “What daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him, will it?” He grinned.

  “You’re suggesting we sneak around?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

  I glanced back out the window, my mind mulling over the possibility of his words. “Hey, what time is it?” I asked, and idea suddenly forming.

  “Five o’clock. Why?”

  “Sunday afternoon in the park with the Mayor.”

  Brandon started laughing. “That’s right. Tommy said his dad made the family walk together in the park on Sunday’s as a sign of unity, but he was rarely invited.”

  “But Brooklyn always goes.”

  Brandon hung a right at the next intersection and flipped around to head across town in the direction of the park. “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. I just want to see her.”

  We traveled the next several minutes in silence, my mind going over all the different scenarios of what I’d like to do when I saw Brooklyn. Most of them involved the mayor staring at us slack jawed as I invited his daughter to climb in with us and we drove away together. Too bad it wouldn’t be that easy.

  “Where do they walk?” Brandon asked as we approached the gates.

  “Hell if I know. Just drive around. Hopefully we’ll spot them somewhere.”

  We’d gone around several loops of the park when I finally spotted her, my eyes zeroing in on her long, honey colored hair hanging from a ponytail at the back of a pink ball cap. It matched the pink tank top that was clinging to her form above the white shorts accentuating her long tan legs.