by Piper Shelly
Susan glanced at me, then back out the windshield. She was silent, but I knew she was dying to hear the full story—all the gory details.
All right. “I tried to make up with her, and she said I could come to meet her friends and watch a movie. But it was just a show in front of her parents. In fact, later she kicked me out, making it clear in no uncertain terms that she wanted me gone not only from her car but also from her house and her family.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah…ouch.” And Susan didn’t even know half of how much this really hurt.
“Ah, forget about that bimbo. You can hang out with us any time you want. Just give me a call, and I’ll spring you from the Summers’ dungeon.”
Her humor cheered me up, and by the time we arrived at Ryan’s place, which was a nice bungalow down at the beach just outside town, a smile curved my lips again. Susan steered her car into an empty spot that looked like it had waited just for her, then we climbed out. A weird feeling settled in my gut as she led me up to the wraparound porch and knocked on the door. Laughter drifted from inside. And familiar voices. Damn. My heart lurched to my throat. Tony was with them. I didn’t know how much more of him I could bear tonight.
Liza opened the door a few seconds later, smiling at me. She ushered me in after Susan when I was hesitant. “What are you waiting for, Sam? Come on in.”
I took a deep breath, then followed her through a spacious living room and into the kitchen. A bunch of people sat squeezed around a rectangle wooden table. Some of them I knew, others I didn’t. They all turned our way when we came in and shouted greetings or waved at me.
Tony was rocking on two legs of his chair, his eyes narrowed to a scowl. Of course, he didn’t say anything.
I forced my gaze away from him and said, “Hi, all,” to everyone else.
Liza pointed a chair out to me, across from her and between Nick Frederickson and a dark-haired woman I hadn’t seen before. “This is Rachel, and her husband, Phil,” Liza said. “Rachel is Ryan’s sister.”
I shook hands with her, noticing the stunning likeness of the siblings.
They were all sharing pizza from five huge cartons, and Ryan offered me a piece on a paper plate the moment I sat down. In spite of my smile, I still felt utterly miserable inside, and pizza was the last thing I wanted. But I figured it would be rude to refuse. I really wanted to blend in, so I forced a few bites down, but I declined a second piece.
“Cloey is being a glorious bitch again.”
I nearly choked as a sip of Sprite went down the wrong way at Susan’s announcement.
“Why? What did she do this time?” Liza demanded and looked at me as if she totally knew what horror I’d been through.
I could do nothing but shake my head as I coughed to get air in my lungs again. Susan didn’t shut up. She babbled out all the information she’d wrung from me on the drive here. The boys rolled their eyes, the girls scrunched their faces in sympathy.
“That’s so ugly of her,” said Simone and smacked Alex on the shoulder. “I can’t believe you made out with her last spring. Does no man ever see what a bitch she is?”
Alex rubbed the spot on his shoulder and grinned. “Hey, don’t give me that. I didn’t know her back then. And seriously, you don’t care about things like bitch or not if you’re a guy.” He smirked at Nick, who burst out laughing, then he leaned in and kissed Simone on the mouth. “But now I’m with you, so no need to worry, baby.” He took a big bite from the pizza she held in her hand.
The conversation soon focused on soccer. I pulled out one of the lollipops I always had with me from my pocket, unwrapped it, popped it in my mouth, and leaned back in the chair, just listening. Until I noticed Liza watching me. I raised an eyebrow in inquiry, hoping she’d tell me what was on her mind.
She leaned on the table and lowered her voice, so as not to interrupt the discussion of her boyfriend with Nick about the best tactics to score a goal with a team from LA that apparently named themselves the Rabid Wolves.
“I’m having a sleepover at my place on Friday. Just us girls. Allie will be there, too. Wanna come?”
That sounded like a nice idea. I flicked the lollipop out of my mouth. “Sure. Where is your place?”
Liza tore off a piece of pizza carton and scribbled her address down on it. As she gave it to me, I frowned. Apart from one number, the address was totally identical to Tony’s. Of course, she’d told me they were best friends, but I didn’t realize they lived next to each other.
“You two are neighbors?” I said, looking from her to Tony and back, which gave me everybody’s immediate attention. Well done, Sam.
“Yeah, always have been,” Liza said with a light quirk of her brows. “You know where Tony lives?”
I wasn’t prepared for the innuendo in her question. In fact, it was totally out of place, but it gave my cheeks an annoying warmth. I opened my mouth but was too slow.
“Oh, come on, don’t be ridiculous,” Tony said before I could answer. His laughter sounded irritated. “My aunt forced me to give her my AVE notes, and she came to get them this afternoon. I’m not hanging out with another Summers. You should know me.”
Even though I was prepared for shit coming from him, the way he emphasized my name stabbed me in the chest.
“By the way, tiny—” He turned his piss-glare at me. “Shouldn’t you be home and drawing?”
Yeah right. Maybe he wanted to show me to the door, too? Could it be that he and Cloey shared the same gene pool? Their manners sucked, and I was so at my limits tonight.
“And shouldn’t you be in a café wiping tables, busboy?” I snapped.
The others sucked in a collective breath. Apparently, I had hit a nerve, and I regretted my words the instant they left me. Tony’s stare turned from stone-cold to freezing. His mouth curved in the parody of a grin. “Only on weekends, hun.”
The endearment he used had the effect of a combine harvester running down my spine. Our gazes locked in a scowling battle as he continued, “So if you intend to show up with your sweet cousin, let me know and I’ll hold a table free for you. In the basement. Where we keep the other snakes.”
My chin dropped to my chest and my throat tightened painfully. I’d run out of comebacks for his low blows.
Liza punched his arm. “Hey, don’t give her crap. She’s already getting enough of it from her cousin.”
“Why? She started it.”
“How? By coming in? By moving to this town? Or simply by being born a Summers?” My vision misted. I quickly blinked the welling tears away and rose from the chair. Clearing my throat, I turned a pleading look to Liza. “Could you show me to the bathroom, please?”
“Sure.” She stood and smacked Tony upside his head. “Sometimes you’re such an idiot.”
I followed her out of the kitchen and to the back of the house, where she pointed out the bathroom to me. “You okay?” she said, rubbing my arm.
“Yeah. I just need a minute.”
“Look, normally Tony isn’t such an ass. Cloey is a sensitive topic, and his poor male brain takes a while to understand that not every person called Summers is like her.”
I nodded but didn’t want to discuss it right now when new tears were crowding my eyes. Liza squeezed my hand, which I found comforting, then she headed back to the front and I locked myself in the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the peach-colored tub for a couple of minutes, blowing my nose on toilet paper. Then I went to the double sink and splashed cold water on my face.
With my hands braced on the soft-pink marble counter, I looked at myself in the mirror. Oh, what a fine appearance I made. Shoving my hair out of my eyes, I took a few deep breaths. Just why did I let this bastard get under my skin so much? He was a jackass. Someone I shouldn’t even think about. But it was impossible to brush off his jibes at me. The truth was, they hurt more than I wanted to admit. I didn’t want to face him again.
However, staying in here for the rest of the night was not an option. My sto
mach knotted as I turned the lock. I slipped out and silently closed the bathroom door. A harsh whisper drifted to me from the room at the end of the corridor.
“What the hell was that back in there?”
I recognized Liza’s voice and stopped.
“What do you mean?” That was Tony, his tone arrogant.
Instinctively, I stepped back and pressed myself against the bathroom door. This could only be about me. And I wasn’t sure that I wanted to eavesdrop. But what other choice did I have? Walk in on them? I wanted that even less than hearing what they had to say.
“I mean you and Sam. I wasn’t sure if you two were going to make out on the kitchen table in a minute, or if you wanted to tear out each other’s throats.”
Oh boy, had she completely lost it now?
Obviously, Tony thought the same. “Are you out of your mind, Liz?” he asked her, stressing each word.
“Tony, I’m certainly the one person who’s known you best for most of your life. But ever since Sam entered the café on Saturday, it seems I don’t know you at all. Why are you such a dickhead when she’s around?”
“Because…”
“Because what?” Liza demanded when he fell silent.
I tensed for his answer.
But Tony decided to counter with his own question. “Why do you think I would want to make out with her? Did you look at her? She’s totally not my type.”
Okay, I knew that, but still…ouch.
“She’s a pretty girl.”
“She’s not. She’s short…and snappy. Did you hear how she called me busboy? And what’s with her hair? Does she comb it with a firecracker? She looks like a Hobbit.”
“Anthony Jason Mitchell, that’s a friend of mine you’re talking about. Why are you suddenly turning into a complete moron? Someone should put you over the knee.”
“Knock it off, Liz,” he said, annoyed. “You sound like my mother.”
“If Eileen Mitchell could hear you now, she’d ground you for the rest of the century,” Liza whispered harshly. “By the way, I like Sam’s hair.” She sounded much calmer now. “It’s cool and something new. I’m thinking about getting a similar style myself, actually.”
Tony laughed. “Yeah, do that and Hunter will spank your ass. And if he doesn’t, I will.”
A moment later, he came out of the room and walked straight for the kitchen to the others. He didn’t see me pressing against the bathroom door, horrified by what he’d just said.
Liza, however, spotted me the instant she came out after him. She stopped in her tracks and grimaced. “Oh no. You heard it all, didn’t you?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have cornered him in here.”
I shook my head, wanting her to stop apologizing. It certainly wasn’t her fault that Tony was an asshole and I was an idiot for listening in on them. “Could you give me a ride home?” I begged. “I don’t want to go in there again.”
Liza waited a moment, as if deliberating whether to sway me to stay. Finally, she nodded in resignation. “Sure. Just let me get Ryan’s car keys.”
“I’ll wait outside.”
With a spinning mind, I trudged through the front room and out onto the veranda, where I slumped down on the wooden steps. Only twenty feet away, waves crushed on the beach, and I wished I could drown all my anger and pain in them. I was so sick of this whole moving thing and the troubles that came with it.
I sniffed and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. When the door opened behind me two minutes later, I glanced over my shoulder. It wasn’t Liza coming out but her boyfriend. He jingled a bunch of keys in his hand. My butt remained rooted to the floorboards as he walked down the steps, turned around, and squatted in front of me.
“Crap evening, huh?” he said, looking me in the eye.
“You have no idea.”
“I told Liza I’d take you home. You cool with that?”
“Um, sure.” As long as I would get away from Tony, all was fine with me.
“Okay, let’s go.” He rose and reached for my hand, pulling me up.
In a car that certainly commanded attention wherever he went, Ryan drove me home. Most of the way we were silent, but when he turned into the street where my family lived, he slowed down and looked at me for the first time. “You know, he isn’t really such a jerk.”
“Who, Tony?” Yeah, right. “That’s a bit hard to believe,” I muttered.
“Seriously. He’s a nice guy. A good friend. I’ve known him for a long time.” He parked the car in front of the house and cut off the engine, which made me wonder if he had more to say.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned toward him. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because my girl likes you, and from what I get you’re cool. Seems like you’ll be hanging out a lot with us in the future. I just want you to feel comfortable when you do.”
“Comfortable?” I gave a bitter laugh. “With Anthony Mitchell around? Oh, sure.”
“Give him time to…adjust. He’ll work it out, I’ll make sure of it.” Ryan started the engine again but looked at me once more with an amused smirk. “He’s a soccer player. It’s all about defense. He doesn’t like it when somebody’s getting under his skin.”
My brows pulled into a frown, because I didn’t get what he was trying to tell me at all.
“Never mind.” He laughed. “Go to bed and get some rest. I think you need it—you look chewed up and spat out. See you at school. Liza will hold a seat free for you at lunch.”
I didn’t know if I should be happy about that or scared. Hanging out with Liza and her friends was nice. Hanging out with Tony was…like a tonsillectomy without anesthesia. I sighed. “Thanks for the ride.”
He said goodnight, and I climbed out of his car. As he drove off, I headed inside, grateful that I had my own keys this time. All the crap I’d had to take tonight had exhausted me, and I fell asleep within minutes.
*
Before school the next day, I ran Tony’s notes through the copier in my uncle’s office, because I intended to give them back to him at lunchtime and then find a seat with Allie and her friends today, if she would let me. I had strained Tony’s generosity enough by borrowing his notes. From now on I would give him a wide berth. I went back to my room to get my schoolbag, then left the house a bit early, so there was no need to run this morning.
Science was fun, with Nick crying because we had to dissect an onion today, and I was looking forward to the classes in which I would sit next to Susan again. She’d asked me over at Science, too, but Nick wouldn’t let me go.
Liza, Susan, Simone, and I ran late at lunch, because we’d gotten distracted by a poster hanging in the corridor that announced an upcoming soccer game. Apparently, the day was the date of Liza and Ryan’s three-month anniversary. Liza didn’t like the fact that Ryan hadn’t told her he’d be busy.
Ten minutes later, as we entered the cafeteria ranting about how boys never appreciated the important things in a relationship, most of the tables were full and the buffet nearly empty. With a queasy feeling in my stomach, I cut a glance at the long table where Nick and the guys sat, but Tony wasn’t with them. Scanning the entire room, I couldn’t make him out anywhere else either. Shit. I really wanted the notes out of my backpack and the last time I’d speak to him done. But it seemed I’d have to carry them with me a bit longer. At least I could sit with my friends without the tension of his presence.
I lowered into the same chair as yesterday, right beside Nick. Leaning across the table, I asked Liza if Tony wasn’t here because of me. She shifted in her seat and mumbled, “Of course not.” But she didn’t sound at all convincing. I guessed they’d had another argument over me last night, which totally freaked me out. But I didn’t say anything more and just tried to enjoy my small heap of spaghetti.
The meal was a mistake, because it kept traveling back up my gullet when we had to do cartwheels and some jumping on a giant trampoline in
PE. Or maybe that was just due to the disgust that rose inside me when I thought of facing Tony in the next class.
Before the bell rang for the last period, AVE, I took a deep breath, straightened my spine to my full five-two, and stalked up to Tony at the back of the room. He didn’t notice me. I dropped his folder in front of him on the desk, not caring that he was just jotting something down on a sheet of paper and the portfolio landed on his hand.
“Thank you,” I said in the most emotionless tone I could manage.
He looked up at me and quirked his brows, looking seriously baffled for the length of a breath. “You’re done with all the projects?”
Oh. So that was what he sounded like when he didn’t behave like a pig. Nice. But I knew I’d startled him, and that was the only reason he’d talked to me in the first place. By now he probably regretted opening his mouth. And I didn’t want to waste another couple of seconds of my precious time on him.
“I’m done with the first,” I told him in a noncommittal voice. “I photocopied your stuff this morning so I could get it off my desk and not run the risk of spilling nail polish all over it.” I flashed a cold smirk at him, turned on the spot, and walked to the front before he could come up with a shitty reply. Sliding into my seat, I exhaled a satisfied breath. That was done. Good.
Miss Jackson walked in and started the lesson. Soon, the strange sensation of someone’s gaze lingering on the back of my neck had me raking an uncomfortable hand through my hair. I tried to concentrate on our teacher, but the feeling was hard to ignore. After twenty minutes, I dared a brief look over my shoulder, expecting to see Tony’s eyes boring into me with a death glare. But they weren’t. He was focusing on the front. But after the next blink of his eyes, he cut a glance at me and we locked gazes. Weird. I couldn’t look away. And he didn’t look pissed as usual. Just…expressionless.
I gritted my teeth and turned around again. Anthony Mitchell, I’m done with you.
Class was over fast, but not a lot had registered. When the bell rang, I had to ask Laura Evans, the girl sitting next to me, about the homework project. She let me quickly copy her notes, then I stuffed my things into my backpack and headed out after a small group of people.