CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel)

by L. A. Shorter

  I walked down the corridor and spotted my new room, right at the end. The door was shut, but there seemed to be a slither of light creeping out from between the hinges. It looked like Alice would be in.

  I took a breath as I stood outside, feeling kinda awkward as other students passed me by on their way to or from their rooms. As I was about to knock I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder. I turned to see a girl standing behind me. She was strikingly beautiful, her hair long and wavy, her eyes a deep brown, her complexion perfect.

  “Hi,” she said lightly, “are you...Elle?”

  “Um, yeah,” I said, nodding, still slightly struck by how good looking she was.

  “They told me you'd be coming today. I thought you'd have more stuff.” She lifted her eyes to my handbag, a quizzical smile on her face.

  “Oh, it's in the car,” I said, not quite sure if she was being welcoming or sarcastic.

  She stepped past me and put her key to the lock. “Yeah, I thought as much,” she said, opening the door up to the room.

  I walked in behind her and glanced around. It was a decent size, a single bed lined up against the far wall on each side of the room, a bedside table next to each. Both sides had their own desk and wardrobe, plenty of storage for my things.

  Yet one side was bristling with color and life and the other was bare, a skeleton without any meat. I guess I knew which side was mine.

  “So,” she said as she sat down on her own heavily cushioned bed, “what's your story?”

  She didn't seem overly pleased to see me. I guess she wouldn't be now that she'd have to share her room with someone else.

  “Well, I've just moved from California, needed a change of scenery...”

  “Change of scenery? So that's why you moved?” She interrupted, her voice littered with scepticism.

  “Well, there's a bit more to it than that.” Christ she was right down to it. Not the sort of welcome party I'd hoped for.

  “Yeah...”

  “Well, there was this guy. This really weird guy. It got bad so I had to move.” This wasn't really something I wanted to discuss right now after nearly 8 hours of driving.

  “Ah, I see,” she said nodding. She didn't seem overly interested really. “So, do you need some help with your stuff? I've got a 45 minute window.”

  Was she offering to help? Well, at least that was something.

  “I don't have too much stuff, just a few bags and boxes. Don't worry about it, I can manage on my own.”

  She stepped to the window and peered out, straining her eyes. “Is that yours down there? The little green one?”

  “Yeah, the Mazda.”

  “Sorry, I don't really know cars. It's fine, I'll help. Come on, the quicker you get your stuff in the quicker you can relax.”

  She seemed to be softening slightly. Perhaps she wasn't as harsh as she appeared. As I thought, maybe just bitter to get a new room-mate at all.

  She walked out and down the stairs to the car as I followed in her wake. “Nice car,” she said as she got closer, the cold air seemingly having no effect on her despite the fact that she was garbed in only a pair of sweatpants and light jumper. She was probably used to it.

  “Thanks,” I said, “I haven't had it long.”

  “So how long was your drive?” she asked, grabbing a box and passing it to me.

  “About 8 hours, with a couple of short stops.”

  “Fuck girl, you must be exhausted!”

  “Yeah, I kinda am to be fair.”

  She took her own box and shut the trunk before walking back towards the dorm. I looked back at my car, unlocked, slightly worried that someone would pounce on my stuff.

  “Hey, don't worry, this place is pretty safe,” she said, noticing my expression.

  We carried on up the stairs and dumped my stuff before turning around for a second go.

  “Well,” she said, her tone growing ever lighter, “if you have any energy at all, you should come out for a drink later on. A few of us are having drinks in town, so you're welcome to join. If you're not too tired, that is.”

  She carried on unpacking my car for me as we went in and out a couple more times. That was a turn up. Only been here 10 minutes and already have an invite out for drinks with a group of people.

  It took me about a month before I managed that the first time around.

  “Sure, that sounds nice. Thanks Alice.”

  She smiled, more genuinely than before, as we parked the final load of my stuff on the floor of the dorm. “No probs. Why don't you leave this stuff for now, sort it tomorrow.”

  I nodded and lay down on the bed. It was comfy enough, better for my bedding once I got it on there. “Although,” she continued, “you might wanna make the bed up before we go. That's not something you wanna be doing after a few drinks!”

  “Good point,” I said, lifting myself, with some difficulty, from the mattress. I was truly exhausted but didn't want to let this opportunity to make friends pass me by.

  “OK,” said Alice, checking her watch, “it's 7.30 now and we're heading out just before 8. I'll go grab my friend Tess and bring her over here. She lives just up on the next floor. Get ready and I'll see you in 5.”

  ....

  Just over 5 minutes later Alice came back into the room, her friend Tess right behind her. She was pretty as well, a bit taller and slimmer than Alice. She looked supermodel-esque to Alice's swimwear model, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a playful look on her face.

  “Elle, this is my best friend Tess,” said Alice as she came in, a bottle of champagne in hand and three glasses.

  Tess stepped forward and kissed me on the cheek. She had this glint in her eye as she looked at me, the sort of look a guy might give me when he was checking me out.

  “Lovely to meet you Elle, Alice has been waiting for a new room-mate for a while.”

  I could see Alice roll her eyes at Tess's comment. Clearly an in-joke that I wasn't privy to. I sensed it was heavily weighted with sarcasm.

  There was a loud POP as I saw the cork from the bottle hit the ceiling and crash back down to the floor. I looked over to see froth shooting out of the top of the bottle, Alice wrapping her plump lips around the top of the bottle to stop it from hitting the floor.

  “She's not used to champagne,” Tess said with a whisper and a smile, turning back towards me.

  I saw Alice's eyes zip up and stare at Tess, who pouted and ran in to give her a hug. “Awww, it's not your fault for being born on the wrong side of the tracks,” she said, laughing.

  Alice shook her off in feigned anger and filled three glasses, handing one to me.

  “Thanks so much,” I said, kinda coyly. I couldn't believe that I was already drinking champagne and going out with these girls after being here for less than an hour. I didn't know whether this was just a standard Friday night for them or not, but it was really sweet of them to involve me.

  “All right girls, here's to a big night!” shouted Tess as she put some dance music on and started bouncing around like a leaping gazelle.

  Alice crept in towards me, her face more restrained.. “You'll get used to Tess. She's got a real excess of personality sometimes, it gets her in trouble from time to time!”

  She smiled and clinked her glass to mine before taking a long sip. “You seem nice Elle,” she said, “I've gotta be honest with you, I was kinda hoping I didn't get a new room-mate, but if I've gotta have one you seem like a good bet.”

  “Thanks,” I said, “same to you. I have to admit I was kinda nervous coming here today. I've never lived with anyone before, so it's all new to me!”

  We sipped on our drinks together as we watched on at Tess, jumping and spilling champagne around the room. She stopped suddenly, sank what was left of her glass, looked at her watch, and then spoke, a wide smile cracking across her face.

  “OK, time to go!”

  ....

  My nerves were beginning to rise once more as we sat in the cab, Alice and Tess chatting together ne
xt to me as I stared out the window. It always took me a little while to warm up to people, and in group situations I often retreated into my shell. Alice had told me that her boyfriend would be there along with a few other people, the sort of scenario that I generally shied away from until I was really comfortable with each individual.

  The cab journey seemed to be taking us a good way from the dorm, and I couldn't help but feel out of place after the initial rush when I'd arrived. I sat, looking out of the window, listening in as Alice and Tess gossiped about mutual friends and talked about their course. It sounded like they'd been friends for years, way before coming to college, and that they were doing the same course as well.

  All in all, I felt left out, although I didn't think they were doing it on purpose.

  After about 20 minutes in the cab we pulled up along a fairly bustling street in the city. Along both sides were bars and restaurants, cars and people rushing up and down the road and sidewalk. Alice pulled out her purse and paid the driver, refusing to take any money from me for the ride, despite my protests. It didn't look like money was much of an issue for her.

  It wasn't for me really either. My parents were paying for college, and I had my own savings to use for personal luxuries like nights out. OK, so things like champagne perhaps weren't on the cards, but a normal college existence wasn't outside of my financial means.

  We stepped out of the cab and headed towards a bar - or nightclub, I couldn't tell - called Sparks. It was heavily illuminated with lights on the outside, with two heavyset bouncers standing either side of the front entrance.

  There seemed to be two queue's formed outside - a short one to the right, and a longer one down the left. I assumed the short one was for VIP's and the longer one for regular people. We were students, so I expected us to head to the left.

  We went neither way. In fact, we went straight forwards towards the bouncers.

  They looked up at Alice as she approached and nodded her straight through, Tess and I following in behind. Weird.

  The inside was dark and luxurious, a long bar down one side of the space and lovely richly colored booths stretching down the other, with other free-standing tables in between. We moved straight on through and towards an area at the back, cordoned off from the main section by a rope and guarded by another menacing looking bouncer.

  Again the bouncer opened the rope and stepped to one side on seeing Alice, a look of recognition on his face. Within I could see a well dressed group of young people, all sitting around a large circular cable. Alice bounded forward immediately as a young man stood and hugged her.

  He had medium length wavy hair and a square jaw. As he smiled his cheeks deepened to reveal dimples, his eyes flashing blue. He was, for want of a better word, gorgeous. As a couple, they were damn stunning.

  After a short but passionate kiss Alice stepped back and turned to me.

  “Elle, this is my boyfriend Kyle.”

  He smiled as he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek, his eyes set deep but sparkling in their sockets. I couldn't help my heart from fluttering at the sight of him.

  “Come sit down,” Alice said, taking me by the arm and moving me toward the table, “you can meet the rest.”

  Tess had already perched herself near another blazingly good looking young man. He had similar features to Kyle, his hair slightly longer and more ruffled, his eyes a dark shade of brown.

  “This is Kyle's brother, Zack” she said.

  No kidding! They really did look alike.

  “And that's Zack's twin, Cade, and his girlfriend, Gem.”

  I looked up to see another guy sitting at the back of the table. His hair was different - straight and lighter in tone - but his face was almost identical to Zack's. Clearly he'd made a conscious effort to alter his appearance so that they didn't look so alike. At a glance it made a difference, but their faces could be mirror images of each other when you took a proper look.

  I sat down at the table, in between Tess and Alice, not quite knowing what to say. I'd been thrust right into the middle of a social situation that was completely against my instinct to find comfortable.

  I could see Tess immediately saddle up close to Zack, pouting her lips and tousling her hair. She was an obvious flirt, I'd noticed that as soon as she met me.

  Across the table Cade and Gem were locked in a serious conversation. There seemed to be a tension between them, their body language uncomfortable, their expressions slightly glum. They took little interest in me, or anything else for that matter.

  My initial impression of Alice, however, had been way off base. She'd seemed frosty at first, owing, as she'd admitted, to her reluctance to accept a new room-mate. I guess knowing that she had a boyfriend made that even more understandable. Any privacy she might have enjoyed there with him had been stripped away from her just like that.

  I'd be pissed off by that too.

  She was sweet, though, bringing me into the conversation and making me feel at ease. She kinda acted like an older sister, not that I'd know exactly what they would feel like. All I had was a younger brother.

  Kyle was quieter, though, and had this brooding intensity about him. He seemed a bit stand-offish, as if he didn't trust this new person sitting in their group. He spoke little, allowing Alice and I to get to know each other a little bit. Maybe he was just doing that to be nice, seeing as we'd be living together now. Or maybe he was just quiet and didn't say much. I couldn't be sure.

  I started feeling the effects of the alcohol after only a couple of drinks. I wasn't much of a heavy drinker, and coupled with my tiredness and the day I'd had, it went straight to my head. Tess seemed to get jolly fairly quickly as well, her eyes rarely far from Zack as the group began to lighten up a bit. I wasn't completely sure her affectionate and flirty looks were reciprocated, though.

  “So,” I said to Alice as Kyle turned his attention to Cade and Gem, “what does Kyle study. Is he at college as well?”

  She seemed to flinch a little bit at the question.

  “Er no, he runs his own business actually.”

  “Wow, that's amazing! But he's so young. What sort of business is it?” I could sense my tongue beginning to loosen with the alcohol streaming through my veins.

  She seemed to pause, or maybe it was just the drink in my head. “He runs a club, for his father. It's his father's business really. Actually, they all work for him, or they did.” Her words grew heavy, her eyes dropping.

  “Oh, you mean...”

  She nodded without saying anything.

  I didn't push it, didn't want to. I'd only just met her and the rest of them, and it sounded like he'd only died recently. At least, I was pretty sure that's what she meant.

  She lifted her eyes back to me and took a sip of wine. “It's still pretty fresh in the memory. I wouldn't mention it.”

  I nodded, pursing my lips. Don't want to alienate my new room-mate or her boyfriend and his family the first night at my new college. That wouldn't be a good start.

  We carried on talking for a little while, the conversation once again picking up. I could hold my own with anyone after a few drinks, but not before. Now that I had a bit of champagne, some wine, and a cocktail or two inside me, my mouth was rarely closed. I just had to stay on that fine line without tripping over into inappropriateness. It was a precarious tightrope at times.

  Thankfully Tess was in the same sort of mood, so we ended up giggling and joking about this and that as the others kept their conversations more reserved. I guess their dad had just died, so that was no real surprise.

  My mouth shut tight when I was tapped on the shoulder and introduced to a new entrant, however. I'd had my back turned away from Alice towards Tess when I felt a finger poking at me.

  I swivelled in my seat to be greeted by yet another Adonis. No, this guy was even better looking than the rest. Or maybe it was the alcohol.

  He had short dark hair, shorter than his brothers, but not shaven like a marine. It suited his face, his jaw square a
nd peppered with black stubble. His eyes were a hazel brown, shining lights in a deep sea, hooded under thin but dark eyebrows. But it was the look on his face that got me above all else. Not his features, but his look.

  It was a look of authority, of power. It was a look that said he was not a man to be messed with. It was a look to say he could get whatever he wanted, take whatever he wanted.

  His eyes lingered on me for a moment as Alice introduced me, her voice sounding more formal than it had been.

  “Elle, this is Crash, he's Kyle's older brother.”

  Another brother. How many were there?!

  He paid little attention to me, but turned straight to Kyle. It was clear that he was the eldest of the lot. Even if Alice hadn't just told me, that much would have been glaringly obvious.

  “Kyle, a word.”

  His voice was deep and heavy. It was the sort of voice you'd immediately fall to command to.

  Kyle stood and they walked off out of the VIP area together.

  I looked at Alice as her eyes followed on as Kyle left. She seemed concerned. I might have just stepped straight into a family drama right here.

  A tension hit the group as Alice turned back to me. “Maybe it's best we call it a night Elle. This is a pretty hard time for the guys, I should have realized. I just didn't know that he'd be turning up.”

  “Who, Crash?” What kind of name was Crash anyway?!

  “Yeah. Kyle said he'd be busy. This place, it's one of the family businesses, so you never know when he'll drop in to check on things.”

  Ah, so that explains the side stepping of the bouncers, no questions asked.

  “Is there a problem?” It was the sort of probing question I'd rarely ask sober, but was happy to do so when under the influence.

  She shook her head. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

  She looked over my shoulder at Tess behind me. “Tess, time to go?” She said it like a half question, half command.