“Well, I suppose in teenager talk, you are adjusting just fine.”
I nod and smile slightly.
“Alright, go on. Remember a call next time just so I know that you are okay.”
I take off up the steps ready to distance myself from any more third degrees. My legs slow involuntarily as I approach Beckett’s room. Her door is slightly open with a light shining into the hall. My head turns out of curiosity towards the doorway. She is lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. My feet come to a halt. Probably noticing the movement, she shifts her glance toward me and meets my gaze. A frown crosses her features, but before she can utter a word I hurry down the hall to my room. Dammit Jamie. Get this girl out of your head. She is so bad for you.
***
My phone rings on Saturday evening. I glance at the screen to see Michelle’s name.
“Hi Michelle.”
“Hi Jamie. How are you?”
“I’m good. School is good.” I volunteer information that she’s probably going to fish for. I might as well save some time.
“That’s great to hear. I spoke to Marla yesterday. She said you are fitting right in.” I wouldn’t exactly call it fitting in but nine months is all I have to endure. I keep reminding myself of this fact.
She continues, “Do you need anything?”
“Nope, everything is fine.”
She laughs, “Okay, this is probably the shortest conversation we’ve ever had. Is there anything else?”
“Really Michelle, I’m doing fine. You were right, no violence here and lots of big dinners. That’s probably what has sold me.”
She laughs at my lame attempt to alleviate the strained conversation.
“Alright then Jamie, don’t forget to call me if you need anything.” As an afterthought she adds, “I’m glad you’ve decided to stay.” It’s not like I have many choices in the situation.
“Okay, bye, Michelle.”
When I hang up, the time flashes across in blue numbers, eight o’clock. Great. Sam is coming to get me for that party at eight thirty. I’m tempted to cancel but Beckett’s friend, Trina is meeting me there. What exactly that means, I have no idea. I’m not really interested in her.
I slip on a pair of ripped jeans and a black t-shirt. Once I’m ready, I stroll down to find Marla in the large Florida room where I first met Beckett. She’s curled up into the corner of the couch reading a book. She looks over and sits up when I walk in.
“Hi, Jamie, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to a party with some friends.”
“Thank you for letting me know. Remember, one o’clock is curfew.”
I nod but as I turn to leave she calls out, “I wanted to let you know not to make plans tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I’m curious why but not enough to ask.
I head to the front door and find Sam waiting for me when I climb down the front steps.
She greets me as I lower myself into the passenger side, “Hey friend. How’s your weekend been?”
I chuckle, “Peaceful and boring all rolled into one.”
“I can only imagine.”
I inquire, “Hey, where is loverboy?”
She smirks, “Jake is already at the party.”
Before I can help myself the words tumble out, “Do you trust him to be there without you?”
She glares but doesn’t justify my question with an answer. I take this as affirmation that she’s worried, as she should be. The last thing I want is for Sam to get hurt. She’s too good of a person to deserve what he did to her.
Chapter Fourteen
Beckett Chase
Chamaeleon – The Chameleon
The constellation was named after a lizard that changes colour to match the environment.
~*~
I debate whether or not I want to go to Gabe’s party but in the end I relent after Dani blew up my cell with harassing phone calls. Finally, after I told her I’d go and hung up, I looked across my room to find Jamie standing in the doorway staring at me. He rushed off before I could react but this made it even clearer that I need to get out of this house. I pull on black shorts and a teal tank top wishing time would roll faster so I could leave and pick up the girls.
An hour later, Dani and I are in my car on our way across the island to pick up Trina. We are rocking out to ‘Wild Thing’ by Ton Loc. When we pull up, Trina carefully steps down the steep brick stairs in her three inch heels. I roll my eyes and call out the window, “One of these days you’re going to break your neck.”
She winks as she climbs into the backseat causing her mini-skirt to ride up her thighs. She leans over and teases, “At least I’ll look good when I go.”
Dani and I both giggle at her as she yells, “Turn this up, I love this song.”
I turn the volume up as loud as it will go when ‘Pretty in Pink’ by the Psychedelic Furs comes on. All three of us start singing at the top of our lungs.
When we pull up to Gabe’s house Trina stumbles up the drive almost losing her footing and I mumble, “Told ya.”
She grabs my arm and admonishes, “Well yours aren’t all that low either, are they?”
She’s right. My feet are fitted into some pretty high espadrilles but I’m not the one falling all over the place before I’ve had anything to drink. She grabs Dani’s arm on her other side and whispers to both of us, “Somebody has to heal that broken boy and the first step is to make him want me to fix him.”
Unintentionally, my body stiffens at the mention of Jamie. She glances over at me frowning but dismisses it and continues to joke with Dani. What the hell is wrong with me? I gave her the go ahead and now I just have to live with it.
I pull my arm away as we climb the white planked steps leading up to the wide deck extending the length of the house. It stands three stories high and is pure white, accented only with grey shutters and a metal roof. It reminds me of art deco which surprisingly is Marla’s least favorite style. She says the lines are too straight and it’s too cold feeling. I say, this is a big ass house directly on the beach and now that I’ve been dragged here, I’m determined to have a good time.
Gabe answers the door when Dani leans on the bell for a full minute.
He greets us with a wide smile and his blue eyes take in Dani’s skin tight jeans and gold tank top before landing on her face.
“Damn girl. You ever heard of patience?”
She waves away his annoyance while smiling and leans in her black hair brushing his face while asking, “You ever heard of hurrying up?”
“Dani Markham, is that a challenge?”
“Gabriel Jones, you come and find me in an hour and ask me that question.” She strolls past him through the open door with only an inch between them.
He sucks in the air between his teeth in desperation while watching her retreating figure. I follow her and stop to pat his cheek and whisper, “Reel it in there, cowboy.”
Trina follows me and I know she has made a taunting remark as well because he slams the door behind us cursing under his breath. He must be frustrated. Gabe is so easy to tease. He’s been trying to get Dani to give him the time of day for a few months now. They always have some sort of playful banter, but so far she hasn’t given in.
Trina grabs my hand as we follow Dani through the already crowded house. The inside matches the outside perfectly. It’s sparsely decorated in white and black. The railing leading up the two flights of stairs is made of white metal. I glance up to see that both floors overlook the giant living room sprawled out in front of us.
Dani yanks on my other hand calling back, “Let’s go girls. I really need something to drink.”
We enter the spacious kitchen covered in black marble and white tile. The white cabinets extend almost to the ceiling and half are fronted with glass displaying the contents. Dani strolls over to the fridge and pulls out three beers. I take one when she offers it and look up to see Samantha sitting on a counter across the room. She is g
laring at me. I smile at her and turn back to Dani but the look on Dani’s face is alarm. I follow her gaze and watch as Trina approaches Jamie who is standing close to Samantha and Jake. His back is toward us. Trina leans in close to him and loops her arm around his back while whispering into his ear.
I look away, not feeling very well all of a sudden. Dani pulls on my arm forcing me to follow her out the door onto a long deck off the back of the house. The warm salty breeze greets my face as I step onto the wooden floor. Dani continues to pull me over to the railing. I move against the warm metal and lean into the corner. She turns on me and hisses, “I thought you were okay with that.” She nods back to the house.
“I am okay with it.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” She glares at me and continues, “If it was going to bother you why did you even tell Trina to go ahead and go after Jamie?”
I square my shoulders and turn my head to look out to the dark water lit up by the full moon. When I move my face back to look at her she is even more pissed. God, we’re talking about him like he’s a possession.
“Dani, I’m fine. I told you it’s good. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
She’s about to bitch me out some more but Brett steps up beside her and looks down at me. A smile spreads across his lips as he mumbles, “There you are. I was looking all over for you.”
Dani steps back and seethes, “Beckett, we aren’t done talking about this.”
I smile sweetly, “Yes we are. There’s nothing to talk about.”
She looks to Brett and mutters sarcastically, “Nice timing. Have fun.”
She turns and stomps off. Gabe is just coming out of the door. She almost runs into him but he catches her. She starts talking to him and his expression changes from delighted to fearful. I don’t blame him. The brunt of Dani’s anger is never fun. Luckily Brett saved me from it.
He steps closer causing me to back further into the corner of the railing. His breath is warm on my ear as leans in and utters, “Want to go for a walk on the beach?”
I start to shake my head but catch movement over his shoulder. Trina is pulling Jamie out onto the porch by his hand. He looks amused by whatever she is saying. I avert my eyes and catch a glimpse of the few stars out in the distance.
Disgusted with myself for letting Jamie affect me like this I reply through clenched teeth, “A walk sounds nice.”
Brett grabs my hand and leads me down the steep stairs to the sand. On the last step he stops me with a hand on my shoulder as he steps into the sand. He turns and bends over to take my shoes off of my feet and places them on the bottom landing. Once they are both off he grabs both of my hands and pulls me down into the sand. It’s still warm from the sun’s heat as it spreads between my toes. I follow him to the water’s edge and my feet sink into the wet sand as the cool water retreats.
We walk for a few minutes causing the lights from the party to become distant. When we are a good stretch away he turns toward me and gazes down into my eyes as if he’s entranced. Shit, this is all wrong. I can’t lead Brett on. He is too nice for me to do this to him again. The last time I went out with him on a ‘date’ he wanted me to mess around but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the same feelings for him that he had for me and I still don’t.
I step back out of his grasp and look out to the water. The stars are blinking in the distance. He walks forward closing the distance between us. Before I know what is happening, his arms are around my waist and his mouth is covering mine. His tongue starts to push my lips apart. I panic and try to push him away but he’s too strong. His hands grasp my hips harder, causing pain to shoot up my back. I turn my head, alarm ringing through my voice as I protest, “Brett, no.”
I can’t get any more words out before his mouth is over mine again depleting my oxygen. My body stiffens as the realization hits me that he’s not going to let me go. I panic and start to push on his shoulders with all of my strength but it only causes him to tighten his grip.
He mumbles into my mouth, “Come on Beckett, you know you want it. Why do you have to be such a tease?”
I take this moment to breathe and a small cry escapes my lips before he is trying to kiss me again. His hands start to lower over my ass before he places his hands on my shoulders and pushes me hard causing me to fall onto the ground. I land hard on my back and before I can push myself up his body is pushing me back into the sand. The warmth from the sand I was savoring a moment before, now searing pain into my skin.
Just as I’m about to give up he is suddenly thrown off of me. The heat searing my skin is gone replaced with cooler air forced into my lungs. I look over to see Jamie a few feet away on top of Brett punching him in his side and his face. Brett is trying to hit him back but Jamie has him pinned. All he can do is put his arms up to shield the blows.
I slowly push myself up and call through tears that have started falling relentlessly, “Stop.” My voice comes out in a whisper. Jamie doesn’t hear me. I stand up on wobbly legs and rush toward him yelling as loud as the tears will allow, “Jamie, Stop!”
He seems to come out of a trance. His hands pause as he looks down at Brett’s bloodied face. Abruptly he pushes himself to his feet. He stands over Brett, a look of disgust passes over his features. He moves his glance to me and asks harshly, “Are you okay?”
I nod at a loss for words as my heart continues beating intensely. My hands curl across my body as I sink back onto the sand. He stands still looking at me for a minute before finally settling a few feet away from me. Neither of us utters a word. I look over as Brett finally pushes himself up from the sand. He glares at Jamie before his eyes find mine and he barks, “Beckett, you’re going to wish you never existed!”
He turns and limps back to the party holding onto his side.
I lean back in the sand, still holding myself and gaze at the sky above. I whisper with regret, “You might want to go back and save your face. You won’t want to be associated with me after this.”
Jamie doesn’t respond. Instead, he leans back onto the sand beside me and places his arms behind his head.
When his voice does come out, it’s just above a whisper.
“There is a constellation in the southern sky. In Australia they call it The Frying Pan but in other places it’s called The Chameleon. It’s one of the smallest constellations there is. Do you know why they call it the chameleon?”
I turn my head to look at him and whisper, “No.” His profile in that split second looks so peaceful looking up at the heavens.
He turns his head to meet my gaze, “It’s called The Chameleon because it’s hard to see sometimes, as if its true form is disguised.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jamie Grey
Canis Minor – The Small dog
Maera, dog of the unlucky wine-maker Icarius, who was killed by his friends after they had mistaken drunkenness for a murder attempt, thinking Icarius had tried to poison them.
~*~
Coming to the party with Sam made sense. I needed to get out of that house. As big as it is, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. When Trina arrived and pulled me out onto the porch I thought she would be the perfect distraction to keep my mind off of things but she came on a little too strong for my liking. I kissed her a little but she wanted to go back into the house and find somewhere more private. That was my cue to separate myself from her. Of course I’m attracted to her, who wouldn’t be with her long brown hair and exotic brown eyes but I just wasn’t feeling it so I decided to take a walk down the beach. I needed to clear my head.
The sand and water have always been a place of solace for me. I started to think about Steve, Sam’s dad. When I lived with him and his family life was good. Of course I wasn’t even thirteen yet but I actually felt like I belonged somewhere. Holding onto those memories has kept me going. At first I hoped I could find it again with another family but those thoughts flitted away with the years that passed. I finally set my sights on eighteen and that’s been
my goal for a couple of years now. Seeing Sam has brought to the surface all of those memories that I had pushed away. It’s good to see her happy but something about Jake sits wrong with me. I’ll have to watch him and make sure Sam is okay. The years have distanced us but we’ll always be friends. She knows me better than anyone.
As I stroll further from the light of the party I spot Beckett with that football player from school. They are on the far side of the beach. I turn around and start to walk the other way but her cry rings out. I know from all the times when Joe beat Miranda that it isn’t a good kind of cry so I spin around and quicken my pace. When I come upon them he is pushing her to the ground forcing her against her will into the sand. This infuriates me causing rage to course through my blood. My body acts before my mind can think. I knock him off of her and beat on him until she yells at me to stop.
I step away from him and look away in disgust. He got what he deserved and if she hadn’t stopped me I might have injured him permanently. He stands and threatens her. It takes all of my willpower not to get up and whale on him again. After he leaves, I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if I should take her back to the house and call the police or leave her here to deal with it all on her own. She hasn’t been the nicest person to me since I’ve been here. Instead of either choice, I lay in the sand beside her and tell her about The Chameleon, a constellation that changes because of its size. I think she is a lot like that constellation. I know she is really one thing but she pretends or acts like another. I think she understood my reasoning for telling her about it. When I finished the explanation, the side of her mouth quivered and a tear fell out of the corner of her eye. I wanted to comfort her but she is impossible to read. I lay beside her for a while, the silence filling the space. It is peaceful as if words don’t need to be spoken.
Finally I decide that I’ve had enough of the high school drama and stand up. I ask, “Do you want me to walk you back to the house?”
The Sound of Shooting Stars Page 7