by L. J. Woods
He leans into my ear, gospel music playing in the background as we make our way to the back of the house. “You look so fucking sexy in my shirt.” The living room has a wall wide-open, leading out to an infinity pool and a wide patch of grass. “Keep this on when I fuck you later.”
After a pinch on my ass, he tells me to give him a second so he can change, in the meantime I look out at the lake beyond, my mind shifting to Sammy again.
Does Gabe know something? Or am I just using this to hide my guilt?
Looking around the living room, Gabe’s medals hang in a nearby case along with his many trophies. “Gabriel Godfrey” is engraved on each one. Turning my eyes out to the yard, paper lanterns hang off large cherry blossoms, something you don’t usually see on the east coast. Everything here is so lavish, so clean. The opposite of what I know Gabe is. The opposite of me.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
“Delilah.” When I whip my head to the sound of my name, Penelope Godfrey stands in the middle of the hall. Gabe’s behind her with a bowl of bread in a pair of crisp beige slacks. He has on a sweater, one that comes right up to his neck and he looks as suffocated as I’m starting to feel. “How nice of you to join us, you look darling. Better than your usual.”
My mouth flattens and when I glance at Gabe behind her, he’s giving me a look, his fingers swiping at his neck.
“Uh, thanks,” I respond, biting my tongue so hard copper fills my mouth.
She nods. “Do you want to help set the table?” Gabe nods behind her.
“Sure,” I shrug.
“Is that a yes?” Penelope tilts her chin down like she’s training a fucking dog. Her outfit is also white. White blazer. White skirt with ruffles on the end. They match her nails and white heels and I can’t help but wonder if she’s sending a message.
Gabe winces behind her but tilts his head towards the left, telling me to go along with it and for his sake, I do. “Yes?”
She smiles. One that actually seems genuine and I’ve finally earned a point with the Godfreys. “Come along then.” Sticking my tongue out behind her, I follow her into the spacious kitchen, bigger than my Nani’s entire first floor. She stacks some fancy plates and cutlery on my arms before sending me out into the yard. A cook controls the grill, chef hat and all and it smells fucking amazing, charcoal mixing with the smell of grilled meat.
Penelope directs me on how to set every piece of cutlery and every plate on the big round table near the pool like I give a fuck. With the candles on the white tablecloth, it feels like I’m on a date with his parents. Pastor Godfrey doesn’t help us when he arrives, his voice carrying down the hall. He makes sure to enunciate the name “Weeber” so I know he’s talking to Hollywood royalty. When he reaches the table, he keeps his eyes on me. Watching my every move.
His wife sits next to him while I’m trapped between Gabe and his dad.
“Some Brussel sprouts?” Penelope asks when the chef plops a plate of greens on the table.
I’m not a fan of sprouts but Gabe’s hand, tight on my thigh tells me I should be. It’s starting to feel like I’m in some sort of boarding school. Worse than SAA. Still, I shrug, “Sure.”
Penelope blinks. “Sure?”
My confusion has me turning at Gabe. Did I say what was on my mind again? He leaves me hanging, poking at the food on his plate. Like he’s already checked out. “Uh, yeah?” I repeat.
“How about a ‘yes, thank-you’,” she says, tipping the bowl forward as if I have a choice. “That’s how manners work.” She looks towards the entrance of the kitchen and before I can check her on her attitude she rises from her seat. “Oops, forgot the water.” As she walks out, she cackles as she mocks me. “‘Sure’? Ridiculous.”
My fork drops onto the plate and I’m about to give Gabe a look that tells him to help me the fuck out before his dad speaks up. “So. Haven’t seen your mother at one of our services in a while.”
Biting into a sprout, I chew so I don’t have to answer but he waits, watching my mouth move. When I reach for Gabe’s hand, my final plea for help, he straightens up. “She works a lot,” he says.
“So do I,” his dad responds. “But there’s always time for God.”
I swallow. “You’re literally a pastor though.”
“And she’s a porn star.” He smiles but it’s a smile that makes me want to smack him in the face. “She likely needs a prayer more than I do.”
The fuck? Enough. “Speaking of porn stars.” Sitting up, I narrow my eyes into his blues. “Have you seen the videos going around the school?”
Gabe’s head is up now, glancing at his dad before he glances at me. Pastor Godfrey clears his throat, “No. No, I haven’t.”
“A girl dies, one from your church and you don’t look at a video like that?” I ask, unbuttoning this suffocating shirt enough so I can move my neck. “Thought we all looked up to the pastor.” Leaning closer to him, I keep going. “If you look close enough, the video seems to hit close to home. Think one of my fellow students sent it?”
Gabe has a vice grip on my thigh but I try to slap it away as Pastor Godfrey laughs, “Not at all. SAA students are some of this country’s finest. They don’t engage in behaviour like that. Not like the things you’re used to.”
“Can we not talk about such a horrible topic at the dinner table?” Penelope asks, taking her seat again. “Let’s keep this about family, God, or education.”
The entire dinner, I have no voice, Pastor Godfrey and his wife overpower me and Gabriel the entire time. Gabe doesn’t come to my defense like he did with my parents and when I try to come to his, he squeezes my leg, signalling for me to be quiet. Towards the end of our dinner, Pastor Godfrey’s phone rings, and with the manners he has, he picks up.
He’s quick though, pushing his chair back when he’s done. “Bishop Carlisle can’t make it tonight so I’ll have to lead the study.” Throwing his napkin, he doesn’t give another glance to his family, but he gives me an eye as he walks back into the house.
“David, do you want some help?” Penelope calls. Pastor Godfrey doesn’t answer but she follows, finally leaving Gabe and me alone.
“I’m so over this,” pushing my chair back, I head for the door. He grips my hand but I pull it away. This was fucking stupid. All this did was prove to me that Gabe and I have more in our way than I thought. More than my brother.
“Delilah!” he growls, his footsteps behind me, thudding against the shiny floor. I keep going. Embarrassed. Humiliated and exhausted. This dinner didn’t clear Gabe’s name at all. It did give me more insight into the kind of family Gabe has. To what he’s trying to protect. To what I never want to be.
Fucking with Gabe is a bad idea.
So is fucking him.
“Delilah!” He catches up to me, grabbing my hand and turning me towards him. “Fucking wait.” He keeps his voice hushed, looking back at his parents and I narrow my eyes.
“Why? So they can tear down my family some more? So they can make fun of me all night?”
“You don’t even like them,” he protests.
“That doesn’t mean I need to sit through an hour of your family being cruel about it! You know I thought you’d say something, but you didn’t. You left me hanging again cause guess what Gabe? That’s all you ever do.”
“That’s not fair, Dee.”
“You’re not fair!” My voice rings through the hall. “You’re better than this, Gabe. Better than them! You don’t need to take that bullshit.”
“Like the shit you take from your folks? Why are you acting like you don’t understand?”
“Is there a problem?” Penelope appears behind Gabe and I’m giving him one last chance. One last chance to have my back on this.
“No problem,” Gabe’s shoulders drop.
“Well, we have to get to the church, so Delilah, it’s time for you to leave.”
I smile, my hand already reaching for the doorknob. “No problem,” I mimic his words. Slamming the door behind me
to make a point is hard. It swivels slowly and I can’t even make a dramatic exit in this over-the-top house. I take a second staring into the empty driveway. There’s a glob in my throat and I’m starting to regret ever giving into this thing with Gabriel.
He’s a Godfrey. I’m a Daniels. We don’t mix. Especially not now and like combining two ingredients that don’t, we’re bound to separate.
My eyes land on his Tesla and since I don’t hear him coming behind me, I’m finding my own way home. But he’s not going anywhere either.
Walking over to his car, paint shiny in the setting sun, I crouch down to his tire. Looking back at the front door to make sure his parents aren’t coming out, I undo the little knobs on his wheels.
Fucking prick.
As I’m undoing the last one, there’s something snapped under the front passenger tire. It catches the light, my head tilting to the side.
No. Fucking. Way.
Pulling it from under the wheel, I grip it in my hand. My body tenses, fist clenching around it.
If he wanted me to have evidence, I have all the evidence I need and I’m about to raise fucking hell.
Storming through the halls the next day, all eyes land on me.
Good. I’m about to put on a show.
Hazel leans against a Bible dispenser, phone in hand, my Chucks headed right for her. Her smile fades as I get closer and she can likely feel the heat off me from here.
I’m early today.
Couldn’t sleep.
While ignoring Gabe’s gazillion calls and texts, I thought of all the ways I can use this thing to kill them both.
“Delilah?” Straightening up as I approach, her eyebrows lift. “You okay? What’s wrong? Is it Gabe?”
When I get to where she stands, I hoist her leather choker in her face. “The fuck is this?”
“You found it!” She’s taller than I am but I know she’s way too uptight to do anything when I press my chest against her body. She reaches for it but I pull it back.
“Yeah, I did,” I sneer, gold cross dangling as I shake it in her face. “In Godfrey’s fucking driveway.”
Her eyes widen. She doesn’t seem confused. She doesn’t seem unaware. She seems caught. “Shoot, I—” she stalls, trying to grab it again.
Throwing it to the floor, I push through the blur in my eye. “Go ahead little Godfrey puppy, pick it the fuck up!”
Whispers erupt from behind me and I know I’ve drawn a crowd. That was the plan. It’s time I expose Hazel for the shitty friend she is.
“Delilah …” Her back against the wall, she looks around her, then down at me, her lip trembling. “C-can we talk about this?”
“Talk about how you’re sleeping with my—” Fuck. I don’t even know what he is. “I didn’t think you’d do this to me but considering where I am, I’m not surprised. This town sucks. So does everyone in it.” And with that, I let up, tears in Hazel’s eyes and it brings tears to mine too but I’m not gonna let her see them.
“Delilah.” Gabe’s behind me when I turn around. A crowd around us.
“Here to pick up the pieces from your fuckboy act?”
“Not here,” he growls, taking a step closer.
“Fuck you,” I push on his chest to walk away but he hardly budges before he grabs my hand, leading me down the hall. “Go to your classes or get out!” he barks at everyone around us.
“Wait!” That’s Hazel’s voice and it makes me want to kick her in her stupid fucking face.
“You too, Hawthorne!” Gabe demands, pulling me down the hall until I’m pushed against a row of lockers. His arms come to each side of my head, locking me in his presence. “What the fuck was that?” His scent takes over and it makes that knot in my stomach tighten. I hate it.
I hate him.
“Go away, Gabe.”
“No. Not after the shit you just pulled.”
“The shit I pulled? You’re the one fucking Hazel Hawthorne when I thought we—”
“I’m not fucking Hazel. If you took a second to think outside your raging jealousy you could’ve asked,” he stops. “Is that why you went batshit and let out my tires?”
“Why was her necklace outside your house?”
“I don’t fucking know! She helps my dad. She’s like, sold on getting all the credits she can or some shit.”
“Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
“I didn’t know you found it!”
I sigh, “Not about Hazel. To your parents.”
“Is that what this is about?”
Yes? No? “I dunno.” My hands come to my arms. “It didn’t—”
“Uh, Hammer?” Adam appears next to Gabe, his eyes dropping to my tits. I twist my nose and when his eyes meet mine again, he looks away. “You should check this out.”
Whispers and chatter grow in the halls, everyone taking out their phone in the process. Gabe looks around, his eyebrows knitting before he snatches the phone.
“What the fuck is it? I ask. He doesn’t answer, his eyes boring into the screen so I grab the phone to see what all the fuss is about.
Every muscle in my body tenses, my heart booming against my chest.
Oh. My. God.
It’s me.
Well, was me.
It’s the same photo I sent Gabe the last night of his youth group. All in titillating glory.
“Cocks!” Throwing Adam’s phone to the floor, I push on Gabe’s chest but he doesn’t let me go.
“Delilah, don’t,” he says.
“Is this you? ‘Cause I fucked with your precious little car?” No. Fuck his sorry excuse. “Too far, Gabe.” Fighting the tears in my eyes, I drop to the floor, crawling out between his legs. Standing in the middle of the hallway, I face the students around us, all eyes on me. “What? You’ve never seen a pair of tits?” Lifting my blouse, I give them the show they’re looking for, cold air flowing over my breasts. “Here! Now quit gawking over them!”
“Dee!” Gabe growls.
“Miss Daniels!” That voice is different. Dean McQueen.
Great.
Mariam’s beside him, her eyes wide when I turn around. He averts his eyes before I remember my tits are out and I lower my shirt. With his hand covering his view, he points towards his office door. “My office. Now! And with a shirt!”
I’m actually surprised he’s not gawking along with the rest of them. But I do as I’m told, giving Gabe the finger as I make my way towards the office door.
Once inside, Dean McQueen settles into his big leather seat. I’m ready to take whatever punishment he gives me like a champ. When he opens his mouth, the door flies open.
“She didn’t do it.” Gabe’s voice sounds from behind me but I don’t even wanna look at him.
“Do what, Mister Godfrey?” McQueen sighs, leaning back in his seat as he takes a caramel out of the bowl. “Lift Delilah’s shirt for the entire school?”
“No, she did that ‘cause she’s insane.”
“So you admit it.” Sitting up, I finally turn around. “You sent the photo to everyone?”
“No!” His palm slams against the door before he pulls on his thick, shiny hair. “No. I didn’t send the photo.”
“As if you didn’t,” I scoff, turning my eyes to McQueen.
His gaze bounces between us. “Great, you two can sort this out on volunteer duty.”
“What? No!” I protest. “I just finished the last one!” Hardly.
“Good.” McQueen puts two fingers by his temple as if he’s getting a headache speaking to us. “Then you’ll be well-prepared for this weekend’s events.”
“The weekend!?” Not like I have anywhere important to be, but I was hoping to visit Nix back in the city. Sitting up, my elbows on the desk, I stare square into McQueen’s eyes. “What about the photo? The videos? You ever wonder what happened to Sammy? You ever wonder who was in the video? Or who sent it?” I throw a thumb at Gabe, keeping my eyes on McQueen who shifts in his seat. “Ask him! He fucks the entire school.
”
“The fuck …” Is the only thing that leaves Gabe’s mouth. Not in an angry way. It’s a ‘what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-her?’ way.
McQueen’s shoulder starts to bounce, his hand over his mouth as he shakes his head. “No,” he says, while I cock an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell me what’s so fucking funny. “That’s not right.”
“Damn right it’s not,” Gabe growls behind me.
“How do you know?” I ask.
McQueen glances around the room. I follow his eyesight to the accolades and Bible quotes on the wall before he says, “The investigations.” He rises from his seat, coming to mine before he ushers me up. “Now, I have business. I’ll see you two at the festival.”
“The investigations?” I ask. Gabe opens the door as McQueen ushers me through like a lost cat. “What investigations?”
“This doesn’t concern you, Miss Daniels,” McQueen says before the door slams in my face. I’m about to knock when Gabe pulls me to the side of the empty hall.
“What the fuck, Dee?” He slams his hand against the wall. “I didn’t fuck Sammy but your jealousy is gonna fuck us both.”
Jealous? Is that what this is? “Then how do you explain the video? The rug? The rosary?”
“I can’t explain that.”
“Like you can’t explain how everyone got that photo of my tits?”
“You didn’t even give Hazel a chance to explain before you popped off like some deranged reality star.” I try to push him off, not one for that kind of compliment but he keeps me in place. “I can explain this.” He stalls, eyes hitting the ceiling before he sighs. “But you gotta come over.”
“What? No,” I protest. “I’m not going back there. Whatever you need to explain, you can explain it right here.”
“Dee, I’d give you the fucking moon on a golden platter but not if you don’t give me the chance to get to space and back.” He pulls my face so I’m looking into his eyes. Dark. Confusing. “I’m not gonna keep playing games with you. You know the guy I am. Let me show you.”
Staring into those eyes turns me into mush. But he’s right. “Fine. But this time, I’m being myself.”