by Tijan
Beth seemed less than happy to see us. She skimmed a hard look over both of us as I got into the back seat, then she turned out of the parking lot. “I got a ride to Mitch’s. You left your stuff there so I found your keys. They were going to call the cops on you, but then you ran.”
Hannah scrunched her face up. “Were they still there?”
“Angelique and Dylan?”
Her lips pressed even tighter together.
Beth gentled her tone, “No and Mitch said they’ve been banned.”
“Oh Mitchy.” Hannah slumped down in her chair, a sloppy grin on her face. “He wants my sister so bad, doesn’t he?”
“He asked me to tell Tiffany that he was looking out for you.”
Hannah snorted and pumped her hand in the air. Her middle finger was extended to the ceiling. “Fuck you, Mitch Carinns. He ain’t getting anywhere near Tiffany. He didn’t do crap for me, told me to take it outside. That was all. And they were going to call the cops? He’s pathetic.” She jerked upright. “We should trash his bar tonight.”
Beth shrugged. “If you want.”
I kept my face schooled, but damn. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for vandalism.
“I want.” Hannah was heated.
“We’ll have to do it after hours, around five or so in case anyone stays after closing.”
“Four should be okay.”
The two nodded, a crime couple in the making. I was waiting for the fist pump, but it never came. Instead, Hannah slumped back down and Beth kept driving. That was when I realized they’d done this before. I had newfound thoughts on these two. Hannah had always struck me as a loose cannon, but I understood a little bit more why she was that way. But Beth, I wasn’t sure. However, unless they were killing people, I wasn’t fearful of any friendship with them. I was more inclined. I didn’t understand it, but I knew that these two made me feel stronger.
Hannah was still drunk. I was sobering up and Beth didn’t care so we went to another party. This time, instead of a dive bar, we parked on the street for a house party. Cars were lined up and down the block so we had to walk from two blocks away, but as we drew closer, the bass got louder. It was nearly ear splitting by the time we walked up to their opened garage.
Either the neighbors were gone or sleeping. All the lights were off in the houses surrounding.
“Chitty!” A guy opened his arms and Hannah leapt for him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he caught her, and buried his head in her hair. Some of his friends laughed, swatting Hannah on her butt as the guy disappeared inside with her.
Beth touched my arm, gesturing inside. I nodded. The music was too loud for conversation. She weaved through the crowd, glancing up a few times and waving at people as we passed by. I noted that each person would’ve gained Angie’s disapproval. They either had tattoos, piercings, or both all over them. Some of the guys were large and intimidating, but they nodded at Beth with kindness.
It was like she instantly knew where to go because she never lingered as we went through the house. She led us right to where the keg was and passed a cup to me. Leaning close, I asked in her ear, “What about Hannah?”
She shook her head, sipping from her own cup. “She knows the owner of the house.” She gestured to the ceiling. “She’s probably upstairs with him right now.” Nodding with her head further inside the house, she said, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”
We went to a back closed-in patio room. Couches lined against the walls with three large beanbags in the middle. People sat everywhere and stood against the wall. Two girls, nearly naked, were lying across the beanbags with two guys rubbing them. One had his hand inside the girls pants, which had been loosened and pulled down, while the other was openly caressing the girl’s breasts.
I touched Beth’s arm and gestured to the girls. She leaned in again. “Don’t worry, those are both couples. Those girls are known for this thing, they get off on the attention.”
Still. Live porn?
Angie would more than disapprove. And because of that thought about my ex-best friend, I plopped down next to Beth on one of the couches. I didn’t care.
“Beth!” A big bald guy crossed the room, lifted her up and settled her on his lap. He wore a ripped shirt over a muscular chest. His arms were covered in tattoos, as was his chest from what I could see. A large hoop hung in the bottom of his earlobe and he had a large cross tattoo that extended from the base of his skull and disappeared underneath his shirt on his back.
“Sal, this is Alex,” Beth introduced us. Sal was short for Sallaway. He owned a tattoo parlor and had known Beth for two years.
The two whispered to each other over the next hour while I sat beside them and drank my beer. When my cup would get empty, I’d go and fill it up again. Beth did the same, taking mine with her a few times until some of Sal’s friends showed up. They brought two coolers into the room, sat them beside the beanbags, and opened them to show an impressive display of hard alcohol. Bourbon. Rum. Whiskey. Bacardi. As the two couples continued to be the room’s entertainment, a bottle of Wild Turkey was opened and passed around.
Beth took a drag and handed it over.
The stuff smelled foul and I was full from too much beer so I passed it.
“Hey, you need to drink.” Sal grabbed the bottle from the guy next to me. He gave it to me. “It’s a bonding thing.”
I stared him down.
Beth had frozen on his lap. His hand was tucked on the inside of her pocket, but her eyes were glued to me.
I glanced at her in questioning. Was he serious? Then I shook my head. What did I care? Coolly, I handed the bottle away and said, “I don’t have to do a goddamn thing.”
His eyes narrowed. Despite the music still blaring, the room fell silent. Sal must’ve been a big deal with these people.
Lifting my chin, I still didn’t care.
Beth whispered something in his ear as her hand started rubbing up and down over his chest, through a rip in his shirt. After a moment, he broke out in a grin and relaxed back into the couch. “Yeah, whatever. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
The guy next to me took his swig of the alcohol and continued passing it on. Everyone went back to what they’d been doing. The couple progressed to complete nudity.
When Sal didn’t pay me any attention, I went back to my beer.
It wasn’t long until I’d gone from being buzzed to being wasted so it took me a while to register that Beth was pulling on my hand. She was saying something to me, but the beer had given me tunnel vision and tunnel hearing. It mixed with all the other noises in the house. She kept yanking at my hand and her face was masked in concern.
I rolled my head over. Sal wasn’t paying any attention to her now. He was chatting with another girl, with his hand inside her front pocket.
Was that why she was upset?
I started to point at him, but my arm was so heavy.
Beth kept tugging on my other one and I fell off the couch. Stumbling to my feet, I shook my head. Everything spun around me. Had the couches turned upside down? Ugh, no. That was me. She kept tugging at me and I tried to follow, but all the people kept getting in my way. Bumping into someone, I turned to apologize, but Beth grabbed my pants and literally dragged me behind her. She was going at a breakneck speed. I wanted to tell her I was sorry about Sal, but she was better off. He didn’t seem like a good guy. I never got a chance. When I’d open my mouth, she’d yank me through another group of people. The words kept getting swallowed as I tried not to hit anymore people.
And then she pulled me through a doorway. The house had been overheated, but a rush of cool air blasted me. Being sweat-soaked, I began shivering and wrapped my arms around myself. It was fucking cold. I could hear a chattering and looked around for the sound, and then I realized it was me.
My teeth were chattering against each other.
“Hannah!” Beth yelled next to me.
I clamped my hands over my ears and fell down. She was so damn loud. Glaring at her, she didn’t seem to care. She rushed forward and I swung my head to follow her direction. From the ground, I watched as she ran to a group at the end of the driveway. There was a girl with white hair, grappling with another girl with blonde hair. That hair was familiar. I frowned, scrunching my eyes together and saw it was Hannah. Ah, Hannah! She must’ve been done with the party owner. Good for her.
Beth reached over and grabbed the white hair, then yanked the girl backwards. She began dragging her away from Hannah, who was on the ground. Why was she on the ground? Oh, I saw the blood next.
“Hannah,” I croaked and began to go to her. When I pushed back to my feet, everything spun around me again. I took a step forward, but my body went to the right. Crashing into a chair and people, I tried to apologize again. Nothing came out. I could only mumble words. Even in my drunken state, I knew I was a mess.
I tried to say I was sorry for that too, but someone caught my elbow and spun me around.
Oh, the world.
I felt vomit rising up in my throat.
Hannah. Hannah had been beaten up. I needed to help.
Muttering a thank you to whoever had stopped me from falling, my foot stepped forward, wavering. I waited until I regained my balance and took another step, then another step. I kept going until I reached Hannah’s side and knelt down. She was wiping blood and tears from her face.
Oh, her poor hair. A big chunk had been pulled out. Her eyes lit with anger. She put the hair in my hands and darted off.
“Alex?”
I turned, hearing a familiar voice, and squinted at Marissa.
No. Not Marissa. She couldn’t be here.
But she was. She took my arm and lifted me to my feet. Then she wrapped an arm around my waist, asking, “What are you doing here?”
I gave her the hair. “That’s Hannah’s.”
“Oh.” She looked at it with disgust. “But Alex, what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Sarah and I drove down. Cord said he was having a party and we came here to pick up Sarah’s cousin.”
I looked around, feeling a little bit sober. “Beth and Hannah are cousins too.”
“Who?”
I couldn’t see them. “They were here. I think they were fighting someone.”
A guy was walking past, but he turned and pointed down the street. “Your friends took off. That one fucked Robbie. No way Kari was going to let her get away with that.”
Who was Robbie and who was Kari?
I sighed, and turned to Marissa. “What are you doing here?”
She heaved a deep breath, frowning at me. “You’re a mess, aren’t you?”
I nodded. It wasn’t a big secret. “Angie would not approve of my new friends.”
She gave me a sad smile. “No. No, she probably wouldn’t.”
A girl came over, annoyed. “She’s not here. That bitch. She probably took off with her friends already.” Then she frowned at me. “Alex?”
Oh hell. Sarah Shastaine. Anger, jealousy, and other emotions swirled up inside of me. Then I frowned to myself. I was drunk. I wasn’t supposed to feel. That made me not like Jesse’s exgirlfriend even more. I scowled at her. “You took my friend from me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk, drunk girl.”
I muttered to Marissa, “She’s not very original.”
Patting me on the arm, she said to Sarah, “Let’s go to the party.”
“Not with her.”
“Yes, with her. She’s drunk. We’re not leaving her.”
Sarah pressed her lips together.
Marissa corrected, snapping at her, “I’m not leaving without her.”
“Whatever! We can’t even get to the party. My cousin knew how to get there.”
“Sarah.”
“This sucks!” She threw her hands in the air. “My cousin is going to die. I bet she went ahead without us on purpose. She’s such a bitch.”
Marissa’s arm tightened around me. Her chest rose and she rubbed a hand over her face. “Alex probably knows where Cord lives.”
Sarah’s gaze snapped to me. “Do you?”
I was stuck. I did. I didn’t want them to know. “No.”
I could see the disappointment.
“This sucks!” Sarah yelled again. “We drove an hour for nothing. My cousin won’t pick up her phone. Hussy.”
“Well, whatever,” Marissa lashed out at her. “I didn’t come just for the party. I wanted to see Alex anyway.”
“Congrats. She’s wasted and can barely stand up.”
“I know, which is why we’re taking her home. Alex, where do you live? We’ll give you a ride back.”
“At the college.”
A small grin graced her features before she patted my arm again. “Okay, you give us directions and we’ll take you there.” We turned and began to walk down the street.
As we went to a car and drove away, I wondered if I should tell Marissa about Chandra. I kept quiet. Something told me she wouldn’t care. She had never cared before about cheating, she definitely wouldn’t care about a maybe-girlfriend that Cord had now. And I didn’t even want to think about why Sarah Shastaine was there. More bad feelings would overwhelm me and in my state, I knew I’d say or do something that I couldn’t take back.
She’d just better stay away from Jesse.
But then I closed my eyes. I’d wake up the next morning and all of this would be a dream. Marissa being here didn’t make any sense. She’d left me like Angie, like my parents. They all left me.
When I woke, I was a hungover mess. Stumbling to the bathroom, showering, dry heaving, and trying to dress was a two hour process. There were lots of breaks and a few of those where I had to rest my head on a cool countertop. Beth ran into me as I was going back to my room and asked where I had disappeared to from the party. They’d returned to search for me. This information was welcomed. I hadn’t liked the feeling that they had abandoned me since they were the only two people I spent time with. Beth also gave my bag back. I’d left it in Hannah’s car. When I went inside, I checked my phone.
Zap me twice and kick me in the arse.
I hadn’t imagined Marissa’s presence the night before. She called and left me two messages, along with a text saying she was heading to town. She wanted to meet up for coffee or a drink.
I erased the text. There was no way I wanted to have that awkward conversation, especially after she saw my wasted state the night before. I didn’t regret getting so drunk, but I wasn’t signing up for another round in the near future.
Then I scrolled through the rest.
Jesse called a bunch of times and left six text messages.
Where are you?
Can we talk?
I’d like to talk. I’m sorry.
The last three had the same sentiments except he said they were having a party and he’d like me to come.
I thumbed a response back, feeling my ego get a little boost. Crazy night, didn’t have my phone. Did you know Marissa and your exgf are in town?
I didn’t wait long. My phone buzzed back right away. Yeah, M called the house phone. We moved houses, but same number. Want to meet for lunch?
I checked the time. It was 11:45. Sure.
Will pick you up in twenty.
K.
Instead of waiting in my room, I finished dressing and grabbed my book bag. I wasn’t sure what Jesse had planned so I brought my laptop and enough homework that would last me the entire weekend. Then I went downstairs and parked my bottom on the curb. Before he showed,
the back stairwell door opened behind me.
Beth plopped down beside me. Kicking her legs out, she leaned back and yawned. “Who are you waiting for?”
“Jesse.”
“Ah. The mystery man.”
I frowned as I heard the amusement in her tone. It wasn’t amusing to me. “Who are you waiting for?”
“Who do you think?”
I grinned at her. “Your hunky Sal?”
She snorted. “He’s a good guy.”
Really?
She added, “Rough around the edges, but he’s loyal to the extreme. He was surprised by you last night.”
“Because I wouldn’t drink the Wild Turkey?”
“That and because you didn’t give a damn who he was or even where we were.” She laughed as she readjusted and hugged her knees to her chest instead. “Most people piss their pants when they step foot into a party like last night. You didn’t seem to care at all.”
“Because I didn’t. Your crowd doesn’t scare me. I could tell they all cared about you and I was there with you. So…” I let the sentence fade.
From the silence that hung afterwards, I could feel her studying me. After another few moments, she sighed in surrender. “You’re a different bird, aren’t you?”
I glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
It was at that time when Jesse pulled into the parking lot and wheeled to a stop in front of us. Beth gestured to him. “Not many would keep a relationship secret with the biggest star at Grant West.”
Standing, I gave her a crooked grin. “Not many know who I am here. I’d like to keep it that way.”
She frowned and I knew the wheels were going again. I hadn’t meant to sound mysterious, just that I didn’t want people pitying me when they heard about my older brother’s tragic death or my parents’ neglect. Too many stares and too many whispers hadn’t helped my grief back home. Coupling that with the target on my back that’d be there once people knew my connection to Jesse sounded like my worst nightmare. I wasn’t stupid. I knew it’d get out, but I had every intention of prolonging that as long as possible.