Spring: A High School Bully Romance (Sunset Beach High Book 3)

by McKayla Box

  “Same,” Gina says. “I think I would've fought back and tried to get even with them, but I wouldn't have gone to the cops.”

  Maddie nods. “Me, too.”

  At least I'm not alone. But it still bothers me. Why am I so afraid of telling everyone what really happened? Why do I let people stare at me, but not push the truth out there? And if I don't do it, won't that just encourage the next girl that it happens to to do the same thing? To stay quiet?

  “I mean, do you really think the police would do anything to those guys?” Bridget asks. “They hassled us. They dropped us in the water. But do you think they'd do anything other than, like, give them a warning?” She shakes her head. “I don't. I think they'd say it's just boys being boys, tell them not to do it again, and walk away. Laughing.”

  “But it's illegal,” I say. “Touching someone when they don't want to be touched is illegal. It's harassment. It's assault. It's not okay.”

  They all nod.

  The heat from the fire warms my face.

  But the anger is heating up inside of me, too.

  “Hey,” Maddie says.

  I look at her.

  “I've never thought you were a coward,” she says. “About any of this. I've thought the opposite. I've thought that I'd be too afraid to keep showing up at school, to look people in the eye the way you have. I would've fought back, I think? But I'm not sure it would've been the way you did.” She shakes her head. “I've never thought you were a coward. I thought you were a badass for handling it the way you have.”

  “You were the only one to go after those guys back there,” Gina says. “I talk a great game, but I just sat there in the water, freezing my ass off, not sure what to do. You fucking went and kicked that guy's ass.” She smiles. “That's not being a coward. It's what Maddie said. It's being a badass.”

  “We let you down,” Bridget says. “When that video came out. We let you down and I've...been so angry ever since. With all of it. For choosing an asshole over my friends, for believing you'd do something like that, for not listening to you. We let you down.” She swallows. “I was the chicken. I was too chicken to see the truth. It's never been you.” She wipes at her eyes. “They're right. Badass.”

  I look down and feel the tears roll off of my cheeks.

  Bridget comes over and hugs me.

  Then Gina.

  Then Maddie.

  Until we're all one tight, crying ball in front of the fire.

  We stay like that for awhile.

  Finally, we untangle ourselves, wiping at our eyes, and sniffling.

  “Jesus,” Gina says. “What a bunch of fucking babies we are.”

  We all laugh.

  “We're not babies,” I say.

  They all look at me.

  I smile and wipe one more time at my eyes. “We're all badasses.”

  THIRTEEN

  It's the middle of the night and I'm a little drunk.

  After our sob session by the fire, I'm tired of being in a funk.

  I want to have a little fun.

  I finish the vodka and soda Maddie made me when we got back.

  Then have another one.

  I think about having a third, but I've got a little buzz going on and I'm not looking to get drunk.

  At some point, Gina decides we should race on the beach.

  Probably after her fifth drink because she is definitely drunk.

  So we spend way too much time arguing about how long the race should be and then creating elaborate start and finish lines in the sand. When the course is finally in place, we decide it'll be round robin.

  Bridget whoops me in the first sprint, beating me by a good five feet.

  Gina crushes Maddie by the same distance.

  I barely beat Maddie by two feet.

  Gina beats me by a foot, even as I try to grab her and hang onto her as we get to the finish line.

  Bridget beats Maddie and it doesn't even look like she's trying.

  In the finale, Bridget and Gina are neck and neck the whole way, sand flying behind them, and they both dive for the finish line. They both come up with a face full of sand, looking at Maddie and me to tell them who the winner is.

  “Tie!” we scream and we all collapse into the sand together, laughing like idiots.

  It's silly and pointless and probably something you'd see at an elementary school field day, but I don't care.

  It's fun and I'm with my friends and we are laughing and, for a moment, I'm not thinking about things I should've done or decisions I have to make.

  And then the bitches roll up on us.

  “What the fuck are you assholes doing?” Shanna asks.

  “Dipshits on parade,” Athena says, shaking her head.

  We all look at each other, then break into hysterical laughter.

  Which seems to infuriate them even more.

  “You think you bitches are fast?” Shanna asks. “Please. Bunch of fucking cows running in manure is what you are.”

  Athena laughs.

  Jessica and Lisa nod their heads.

  I stand up and brush the sand off my arms. “Wanna try?”

  Shanna looks at me. “Try what?”

  “Racing,” I say. “Running. Sprinting. Whatever you wanna call it. How about instead of running your fucking mouth you actually just run instead?”

  She makes a face like she just tasted something sour. “I'd fucking dust all of you.”

  I gesture to the start line. “Then let's go.”

  Athena rips off her sweatshirt and drops it in the sand. She marches to the starting line. “Fuck it. I'm in.”

  “Can you even run with your big fucking fake boobs?” Gina asks.

  “Get up or shut up,” Athena says.

  Gina laughs, jumps up out of the sand, and joins her on the line. “My fucking pleasure, bitch.”

  I gesture again at the line and look at Shanna. “Are you in or are you poultry?”

  “Poultry?” she says, frowning. “What does that even mean?”

  “It means chicken, you idiot,” Maddie says getting up and standing next to Gina. “It also means you have the vocabulary skills of a preschooler.”

  Shanna's face reddens and it's visible even in the dark. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Maddie puts her hands on her hips and flaps her elbows like a chicken. “Cluck, cluck, you dumb bitch. Let's go.”

  Gina doubles over, laughing.

  I look at Jessica and Lisa. “How about you two? Are you able to run in a straight line?”

  They look at each other and walk to the line.

  Bridget gets up. “I'm going to fucking crush all of you.”

  I laugh and look at Shanna. “We're all waiting on you, princess. You wanna go or you wanna stay here and warm your eggs some more?”

  Gina bends over again, laughing so loud it echoes down the beach.

  “Come on,” Maddie says. “I'll bet you got your Lululemon underwear on or some shit like that you cheerleaders wear. It'll make you fun faster.”

  Gina is now sitting in the sand, gasping because she's laughing so hard.

  Shanna glares at her, then at me. “Fine. I'm in.”

  Maddie thrusts her fists in the air and lets out a cat call. “Bitches are running! Let's goooo!”

  We've attracted a crowd now, the eight of us lined up behind the starting line we dug in the sand.

  “We need judges,” Bridget says. “These assholes will cheat.”

  Gina sticks her fingers in her mouth and lets out an ear-shattering whistle. “We need judges, people! Get over here!” She pushes herself off the stand and back to a standing position. “One at both ends.”

  Two people quickly volunteer and Gina gives them their orders.

  Athena looks at me. “We should go down and back.”

  “What a shock you wanna go down,” Maddie says.

  The gathering crowd laughs.

  Athena smiles at her. “Cluck, cluck bitch. Down and back or step out.”

  Maddie f
rowns. “Please. I'm in. I hope you tear an ACL.”

  Athena ignores her and looks at me. “Down and back?”

  I grin at her. “Sure. Down and back.”

  “Hey, dumbass down at the finish line!” Gina yells. “It's down and back now! Every one of us has to touch the line down there before we come back! If we don't touch, we're out and you gotta point it out! Got it?”

  The guy down at the end line holds his thumb up in the air.

  “Everyone got that?” Gina asks, looking at the rest of us. “Gotta touch the line.” She looks at Jessica and Lisa. “The line is the straight thing in the sand, girls.”

  “Fuck off,” Jessica says.

  Gina cackles and steps back behind the line.

  I look at the girl standing at the end of the line. “Do on your mark, get set, go.” I turn back to the other seven lined up. “Got it? You can't move until she says go.”

  Everyone nods.

  I look straight ahead. The course is now lined on both sides with spectators.

  “On your mark!” the girl yells.

  I crouch and twist my feet in the sand so that my footing is solid.

  “Get set!”

  I lick my lips.

  “Go!”

  I push hard off the sand. I feel a hand on my arm and I shake free of it, running as hard as I ever have. Out of the corner of my eye, I see both Athena and Shanna about a step ahead of me, sand flying behind them. Bridget is half a step in front of them, on the other side of Shanna. The other four have dropped out of my line of sight.

  It's the four of us out in front.

  People are screaming as I pump my arms. My legs are turning over fast and I feel like I'm running as fast as I ever have. I don't close the gap, but I don't lose ground, either. My lungs are burning and my heart is hammering, but I'm going as fast as I can.

  I see the end line coming and I have to decide what to do. Do I slow getting to the line and then turn? Or do I get the line as fast as I can and then try and stop myself and turn?

  I decide on the first, slowing just a bit as I get to the line. I reach down and touch the line just as Athena and Shanna are already coming up from it. I see Bridget on the far side just in front of Shanna.

  And then I see Shanna get in behind her, swing her foot behind Bridget, and Bridget goes tumbling to the sand.

  The crowd erupts, yelling and screaming.

  I don't stop, my arms still pumping, my feet gliding over the sand.

  But I move closer to them, inching over as I fly across the sand, until I'm right next to Athena.

  Her elbow flies out at me and catches me in the ribs.

  It surprises me and I stumble just a bit to my left.

  It allows them to surge ahead just a little.

  But now I'm angry.

  They had to trip my best friend.

  And now they have to bump me.

  The only way they can win is if they cheat.

  Fuck. That.

  And them.

  I will myself forward, turning my legs over as fast as they'll go.

  I know it's just a stupid race and it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things.

  But it matters to me.

  I close the distance again as the finish lines rushes at us.

  The crowd is screaming.

  Athena glances in my direction again, her eyes wide, her limbs carrying her forward.

  Her elbow flies out again in my direction.

  But this time I'm ready for it.

  I catch her arm with my hand and shove her hard in the other direction. She stumbles to her right and crashes right into Shanna.

  They both fall to the sand.

  And I cross the finish line.

  First.

  My lungs are on fire and I put my hands on top of my head, trying to catch my breath. I turn around.

  Shanna and Athena are still tangled in a pile in the sand, trying to kick free of one another.

  Bridget comes across in second.

  Then Gina.

  Then Jessica and Maddie.

  Lisa is walking as she hits the finish line, gasping for air.

  Shanna finally gets herself free and jumps up. “What the fuck was that?”

  “Great question,” I ask in between gasps. “What the fuck was that?”

  “You shoved us to the ground,” she says. “That was bullshit!”

  “I shoved Athena,” I say. “After she'd elbowed me once. She fell into you. I never touched you. Talk to her.”

  “And seriously?” Bridget says. “You fucking tripped me because I was kicking your ass. Grow the fuck up. You got what you deserve.”

  Shanna looks around and the crowd is nodding, agreeing with Bridget.

  There's nowhere to hide and she knows it.

  And it hits me.

  She's over.

  Her days of ruling the school with her bitchy little hands are over. She's been exposed for what she is.

  It's over.

  And by the look on her face, I think she knows it, too.

  Athena gets herself up. “You're a fucking cheater.”

  “And you're a fucking lying, manipulative bitch,” I say, walking toward her. “You wanna go again? I'll go again.” I look around. “Or you just wanna fight and get it over with? Because I'll do that, too.”

  Athena looks around and she has the same look on her face that I saw on Shanna's.

  She's alone.

  She knows the crowd has turned on her.

  “I'm not afraid of you,” I say. “And neither is anyone else.”

  She and Shanna are both looking around now. I have no idea how many other people they've bullied or messed with, but my guess is it's significant. And these are just seniors, people in their own class. It's not even underclassmen. Based on how quiet it is and the way people are staring, I'm guessing there's a fair number.

  And I think they're realizing their reign is over.

  “Not worth my time,” Athena mutters. “Fuck off.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “Fuck off.”

  They look at one another and walk up the sand. Jessica and Lisa fall in behind them.

  Defeated.

  FOURTEEN

  We walk back to our tent and I pass out almost immediately. I'm not sure whether it's the alcohol or the adrenaline wearing off, but I'm suddenly exhausted and I collapse on top of my sleeping bag. I hear Gina saying something about the race, but I drift off to sleep before I can make out what she's actually saying.

  The next time I open my eyes I have to squint because sun is pouring in through the top of the tent. I sit up and rub my eyes. The other three are still out cold. I stretch, yawn, and pull my sweatshirt on over my head. I crawl on my knees to the opening, unzip it as quietly as I can, and crawl out onto the sand, zipping the flap back up behind me.

  I stand up and my hamstrings remind me that I did some sprinting in the sand the night before. They are tight and sore and I step gingerly in the sand. The sun is high in the sky to the east, just peeking over the mountains and shining off the ocean. I walk down to the water. The sand is cold beneath my feet.

  Just up the beach, the waves are breaking in rhythm and there's a small lineup. The waves look solid, maybe three feet in high. It's a nice right break.

  I turn and jog back to the tent, trying to loosen up my aching legs. I crawl back inside, change into my bikini and pull on my wetsuit over it. I crawl back out, dragging my board with me, and zip the tent back up. None of them have yet to stir.

  I walk down the sand with the board under my arm. I lay the board in the shallow water, strap the leash to my ankle, and push the board out further before I lay down on it and start paddling. The first wave washes over me, the shock of the cold ocean snapping me wide awake, and I paddle out to the end of the lineup.

  I'm surprised to see that most of the guys out there are older, like my dad's age, if not older than he is. It doesn't bother me. I'm just not used to that.

  A guy with a full gray beard and a
nice smile paddles in my direction. “Morning. You must be with the gang up on the beach.”

  I pop myself up and straddle my board. “Yeah. We came up from Sunset Beach.”

  He squints at me for a second. “It's an annual thing, right? Your school comes up here and hangs out for the weekend?”

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  He smiles. “I've lived here my whole life. Not much gets by me anymore.”

  I smile back. “I've never been here before.”

  “Welcome,” he says. “Nobody should give you hard time in this group, but if they do, you tell 'em to come talk to me.” He smiles again. “I'm Gerald.”

  “I'm Presley,” I tell him.

  “Like Elvis,” he says. “Probably never heard that before.”

  I laugh. “Once or twice.” I glance at the lineup. “Anything I need to know out here? Any rules?”

  He frowns. “Rules are for boneheads. We're just a bunch of old farts who like to get out here on the water before everyone else wakes up.” He spins himself around and waves for me to follow. “Come on and let's get you out there.”

  I paddle behind him until we're behind the break. I count a half dozen other guys bobbing up and down on the water.

  “Guys, this is Presley,” Gerald announces when we reach them. “She thought you were all drowning, so she came out to save you. I told her you all are fine, but probably not worth saving if you were drowning.”

  They all hoot and holler at him as he chuckles. He grins at me. “We like to have fun out here.”

  I laugh. “Cool.”

  “Alright, Miss Presley,” he says, popping up and straddling his board. “Let's see what you've got for us.”

  My stomach knots. I didn't know I was going to have an audience. I get myself parallel to the shore and wait for the water to rise out just beyond us. When it does, I paddle hard to get in front of it, pivot so I'm now aimed at the shore, and paddle hard toward shore. The water picks me up and I bounce to my feet as the board starts to slide down the face. The water is smooth and so is the ride. I'm happy just to stay up until the wave dies off and I drop back down to my stomach. I turn around and paddle back out.