This is a mature young adult novel. It is recommended for 17+ due to sensitive subject material and sexual situations.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’ll start with my family, as they’re the ones that have to put up with my late nights at the computer, and my ‘not so early’ risings. Thank you for allowing me the time to write.
I would like to thank my readers for all the support and encouragement. You’re the reason I spend so many late nights at the computer!
Once again, I’d like to thank my mother for her never-ending encouragement! She’s an amazing woman with a heart of gold!
Also, I can’t forget to thank Marsha, my friend, co-worker and editor! Thanks for all you do!
CONVICTION
Prologue
“Rebecca, I’m going to ask you one more time. Are you pregnant?”
I stared right into my mother’s eyes and lied. I couldn’t tell her the truth. The truth would only bring more questions. Questions I wasn’t prepared to answer, and answers that would make me remember. I didn’t want to remember.
So, I lied…again, “No, I told you a hundred times…No!”
My mother stared at me with disbelieving eyes, but she finally nodded and walked away without another word.
My father stood in the doorway, his eyes staring me down with a furious glare. He didn’t buy it, either.
I knew I wasn’t fooling them; but day after day, week after week, I lied to my parents. I lied to myself. I knew I was pregnant, but I couldn’t face it…not without him…
A Chance Meeting
I was walking through the mall with my best friend Jillian, holding onto Daddy’s gold card. I was told to buy a dress for the up-coming formal at my parent’s country club. I hated shopping, but I was a Brigham, and Brigham’s shopped!
“What are we doing here?” Jillian asked.
“Shopping.”
“But, we’re at a ‘mall,’” she said snidely. “You have a Gold card in your hand, why don’t we head to Rodeo Drive?”
“Why? I don’t see the point of spending thousands of dollars on a dress that I’ll only wear once.”
“Well, if your dad gave you his gold card, he must want you to use it.”
“I will use it…here.”
“You’re no fun!”
“Oh, excuse me!” Some guy said as he ran into me outside of Old Navy.
“Well, that was rude,” Jillian said.
“He didn’t mean to do it,” I said, and we walked into the popular store that I’d heard so much about, but had yet to see for myself.
“Give it back to her Jeff!”
“Oh, come on! It’s not like her old man’s going to go broke over the loss of one Gold Card! You know who she is, right?”
“Yeah, I do. Now give it back!”
“I’ll only use it myself. I won’t sell it to anyone.”
“Don’t make me hurt you. Give it back to her…NOW!”
Jeff moaned, but finally relented. “Fine, but you give it to her. It’ll look suspicious if I do it.”
“No, you took it from her…you can give it back.”
“How am I supposed to explain how I ended up with it after running into her a few minutes ago?”
Shane sighed and said, “Fine. Give it to me. I’ll do your dirty work.”
“Why do you care, anyway?”
“I don’t.”
“You have a thing for her or something?” Jeff asked.
“I don’t even know her!”
“But, you said you knew who she was, so you obviously…”
“I don’t know her! I just know of her and I don’t want you to get into any more trouble.”
Jeff grinned and said, “Yeah, you’re worried about me. Sure. I’ll see you later. Have fun!”
“I’m just cleaning up your mess!” he yelled to deaf ears. Jeff had moved on and was already stalking his next prey.
“Um, excuse me, Miss?”
I turned to the sound of the voice behind me. “Y-yes?” I stammered when I saw the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen standing in front of me.
“I think this belongs to you,” the gorgeous guy said, holding out my father’s credit card.
“Oh, yes…thank you. I must have left it in one of the stores.”
He shrugged.
“Oh, well, thank you again. My dad wouldn’t be too happy if I told him I’d lost it,” I said, smiling up at him.
“No worries. Um, see you around.”
He started to walk by me and I moved in the same direction and then we both over-corrected ourselves and once again blocked each other’s path.
Jillian laughed out loud and then turned away to contain further outbursts of laughter.
“Is she okay?” the gorgeous guy asked when he noticed Jillian’s fits of laughter.
“I’m not sure. The jury’s still out on this one.”
He smiled…and that’s when I knew. I knew right then that I wanted to know him…everything about him. I was already lost in those eyes, but when he smiled, my world stopped. My pulse quickened, my mouth was suddenly dry and I started to tremble.
I never would have known that my face had also turned a bright shade of red, had my best friend not said, “What’s wrong with you? Are you blushing?” Jillian asked, looking irritated. Some best friend!
This forced me back into reality, and although I knew it had only been a few seconds that our eyes were locked, it felt like a lifetime. “No!” I finally snapped.
Jillian glanced up at him and snidely said, “Well…thanks. You can go now, there’s no reward or anything!”
“Jillian!” I looked up at him and said, “You’ll have to excuse my friend. She’s too much of a snob to even know when she’s being rude!”
He smiled again and this time I felt the blush spread up my neck and into my cheeks.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing she has you around to keep her in line.”
“I can’t even begin to keep her in line,” I smiled back.
“Rebecca, we have to go. Now!” Jillian ordered.
“It was nice meeting you,” he said and turned to leave.
I didn’t want him to go. “Um, but we didn’t actually meet. I’m Rebecca Brigham,” I said, hoping he’d offer his name in response.
“Rebecca; got it.”
He started to walk away again and I said, “You didn’t tell me your name.”
He turned back around and before he could stop himself, he said, “Come back Monday afternoon, and I’ll tell you,” he smiled that gorgeous smile again and walked away with me staring after him, wishing he’d come back.
“Rebecca!” Jillian shouted.
“What?” I said, coming out of my stupor.
“Are you deaf? I said, let’s go…like three times. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
It was the longest weekend of my life. The formal dance at the country club was exhausting, and just as I suspected, I had to spend the night evading the advances of Parker, my parent’s best friends’ son. All in all, it was a night from Hell, and all I could think about was that smile on the nameless guy I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I knew I shouldn’t go, but since all I could think of was that perfect smile; I knew nothing was going to keep me from meeting him at the mall Monday after school.
“Where are you going?” Jillian asked me as I raced out of class on Monday afternoon.
I froze in my tracks, not wanting to tell my best fr
iend of 13 years that I was going back to the mall to meet the guy that I hadn’t stopped thinking about for three days. But, I didn’t want to lie either, “I’m going…shopping.”
“Alone?”
“I’m going alone…yes.” That wasn’t a lie, I was going alone. I just hoped I wouldn’t be alone for long.
“Well, wait up, I’ll go with you.”
“Um, you don’t…I mean, yeah, okay,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment and not hurt her feelings.
“Oh, wait, I have an orthodontist appointment in an hour. I guess I can’t go. Only eight more weeks and these stupid things come off!” She smiled with a mouth full of metal.
“That’s going to be so nice. Okay, have fun. See you tomorrow,” I said and headed off to my car, trying not to run, but having a very difficult time not racing to my car at top speed. I smiled to myself as I got in the front seat of my Mercedes and buckled up. I was going to see him, and I was so relieved that Jillian couldn’t go. I knew she would make some snide remarks or just be flat out rude, so I breathed a sigh of relief as I drove out of the seniors’ parking lot of St. Vincent High School.
“I didn’t really think you’d show,” he said.
“Well, I had some more shopping…” I didn’t lie well and I knew he’d see right through me, “Um, actually, I don’t have any shopping to do,” I said, feeling the color flow into my cheeks.
“Good, then we can get something to drink and talk for a while,” he grinned.
I almost melted. His smile was so mesmerizing. I was so captivated by him that I couldn’t speak. I nodded and followed him to the Subway counter.
“Do you want a sandwich or something?” he asked, pulling out his wallet.
“Oh, no thank you, just a diet soda, please.” He ordered two drinks and led me to a table in the back of the food court.
“So, what’s your story?” he asked, once we were sitting down.
“My story?”
“Yeah, tell me about yourself.”
There’s not much to tell. I um, I’m pretty boring.”
“I doubt that. So, where’s your friend?”
“Oh, she had an orthodontist appointment and couldn’t come.”
“So, then you did invite her? To be your chaperone?” he grinned again.
“No, I didn’t invite her. She invited herself, and then remembered she had the appointment. Do I need a chaperone?”
“Maybe; but, seeing as she doesn’t like me, I’m glad it’s not her.”
“She doesn’t like anyone.”
“She likes you.”
“We’ve been friends since pre-school. She kind of has to like me.”
“How old are you, Rebecca?”
For some reason, I didn’t want to tell him. I skipped a grade in school, so by all rights, as a senior in high school, I should be 17 or 18, but I was only 16. “I’m 17,” I lied before I could stop myself. “How old are you?”
“I’m 19.”
“So, um, it’s Monday. Are you going to tell me your name?” I grinned at him, but I still felt guilty about such a stupid lie. Why did I think he’d care that I was only 16?
“I’m not sure.”
“Why? You promised.”
“I know, but if I don’t tell you, I might be able to talk you into meeting me again.”
I blushed. “You promised. Aren’t you a man of your word?”
“YES!” he said, as if I’d offended him.
“I didn’t mean anything by that. It’s just…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. My name’s…”
“No, don’t tell me.”
“Then I wouldn’t be a man of my word.”
“It doesn’t count if I ask you not to tell me.”
“I thought you wanted to know?”
“I do…tomorrow,” I said, blushing again, while trying my best to flirt with him.
“I wish I could, but I have to work tomorrow.”
“Oh, where do you work?”
“Blake’s Tires, across from St. Vincent school.”
“I go to St. Vincent!”
“I know. I’ve seen you…I um, I’ve watched you.”
“Watched me?”
“I’m not a stalker or anything. I just saw you one day…talking to some guy in a sports car, and you looked really angry with him. I almost walked over to get the guy to leave you alone, but just as I started across the street, you shook your head at him and walked away. He drove off, so I figured you were okay.”
“That was Parker,” I said, irritated simply by the thought of him.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
“No! He thinks he is, though.”
“Maybe you should set him straight.”
“Oh, if only I could. He’s a friend of the family…well, his parents’ are. Sometimes I think my parents only had me so that I could marry Parker Hayes and our families would be legally united. And what’s worse, Parker’s all for it. He actually talked to me about ‘our’ wedding one night after he and his parents came to our house for dinner. Like, he has our lives planned out for us…Til Death Do Us Part kind of thing. What guy thinks that way?”
“I’m lost. Your only 17, and your parent’s want you to marry this guy?”
“Not now, but, yes, they want me to marry him, oh, and stay home and have lots of little Parker’s! UGH! Our parents have forced us together since I was born. Honestly, I think they engraved our wedding date on my “It’s a Girl” announcements when I was born.”
“Ouch. So um, I take it you don’t have...feelings for this guy?”
“Oh, I have feelings for him, alright. Nausea! He makes my skin crawl.”
He smiled again. “Well, in his defense, I can’t blame him for wanting you. You’re beautiful.”
I blushed again and looked down at the table.
“Do you always blush when someone tells you that you’re beautiful?”
“No one tells me that.”
“Then you’re not listening, because you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
Once again, I felt my face flush with heat and color.
“Have dinner with me Thursday night.”
I looked up at him and said, “I’d love…Oh, I can’t.”
He nodded. “Daddy wouldn’t approve?”
“What? No, that’s not it. My sister’s in the school play. She got one of the leads in Beauty and the Beast. She’s playing Belle, and I have to go.”
“Oh, sure, okay,” he shrugged.
I think he thought I was lying or that I really was worried that my father wouldn’t approve of him. He was probably right. My father was one of the worst when it came to pushing Parker at me. It was never going to happen. I thought about it for a minute and realized now was as good a time as any to not only convince my father…but both my parents, that I was I never going to be with Parker and that I wanted to date someone else. Specifically this gorgeous guy sitting across from me…whatever his name was.
“Um, why don’t you come with me?”
“What?”
“To the play. Come with us…and um, we can have dinner after.”
“Are you trying to piss off your parent’s by inviting a bad boy to your sister’s play? Or maybe use me to get rid of Parker?” he said, looking…I don’t know…hurt maybe, or angry.
“No! I want you to come. I’ve told them over and over again that I don’t want anything to do with Parker, but they don’t listen. But, I didn’t ask you to prove a point, I asked you because I wanted to.”
“Why?”
I looked down, not sure how to answer his question.
He lifted my chin and repeated, “Why?”
“Because…you’re all I’ve thought about for three days now.” I was shaking now, shocked by my admission.
He sat back and said, “I don’t want to get you into trouble. I’m not exactly from your side of town.”
“I don’t care where you’re from.”
“Your parents will.”
“They’ll have to get over it. I’m old enough to date…or um, go out with…whoever I want.”
He ran his hands through his hair and took a sip of his drink. “Rebecca, that all sounds great and everything, but, something tells me, they aren’t going to like me.”
“I like you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Please come.”
“Why don’t we go out Friday night, instead?”
“So, you don’t want to meet my parent’s?” I asked with a raised brow, throwing it right back at him.
“They won’t want to meet me.”
“You don’t know them. They want me to be happy…even though they’ve been forcing the issue with Parker. But, my mom’s coming around. She’ll keep my dad in line. I do need to know one thing, though,” I smiled.
“What’s that?”
“Your name. It’s going to be hard to introduce you as ‘the guy who forced his friend to return my daddy’s credit card,”’ I smiled.
It was his turn to be embarrassed. “How did you know?”
“I saw you get out of his car today. I recognized him as the guy that bumped into me and I kind of figured it out.”
“It wasn’t my idea. I don’t steal…not anymore.”
“I kind of figured that out, too. Why else would you bring it back to me?”
“Because I want to get to know you.”
“Good, then come to the play with me.”
He sighed and said, “Okay, but I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I’ll give you my address,” I smiled, thrilled that I had won the battle.
“Why don’t I meet you at the school? I um, I’ll already be at work anyway, and since it’s across the street…”
“Okay, sounds good.”
We talked for a while longer. I was so enthralled with him that I lost track of time and realized I needed to get home.
“Do you want a ride home?” I asked, knowing his friend had dropped him off.
“No, I’m good. I don’t live far. I can walk.”
“No, come on. I’ll give you a ride.”
He stood up and said, “I’ll walk you to your car.”
CONVICTION (INTERFERENCE) Page 1