Third Wheel (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 3)

by Sarah Fischer

  “As of now, I’ll be coming back in August alone.”

  “But you are coming back, right?” Annabelle looked at me, almost even more devastated than she was earlier.

  I did value my relationship with Annabelle, and I knew she valued me, but she also needed Violet. That girl cared so much about Annabelle and they needed each other. Our friendship worked because the three of us balanced each other out. I’m the brutally honest bitch, Annabelle thought with her head and kept us grounded, and Violet was the one who encouraged us to dream. Take one piece of the puzzle away, and we were incomplete. At least that’s how I felt.

  “Yeah, I have to come back. I can only stay here for the semester. Student visas are fuckers.”

  “Does that mean you’re breaking up?” I asked her nervously.

  “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  The silence continued until Jason came bursting through Annabelle’s door. “Do you know? Did you call him? What’s going on?”

  “Sit down, Jason,” I commanded and I got up from the bed. “Uh, Violet and I are going to wait outside while you guys make the call. We’ll give you guys some privacy.”

  I took the phone with me outside Annabelle’s room and sat down on the floor.

  “I really hope she’s not pregnant,” I confessed to Violet.

  “I know. Though, it definitely got me to start using condoms again.”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Well, you know. I’m on birth control, and David and I are only sleeping with each other. Plus, it feels way better without them.”

  “I know what you mean. Rob hated condoms. I’d never really used them before Shane.”

  “Well, tell now. How is it?”

  “You know what they say about Asians and size? Yeah, that’s not a thing.” I used my hands to demonstrate just how big he actually was…and then I added a little bit for show.

  “Damn, girl! I’m glad you’re enjoying that.”

  “Christie!” Annabelle shouted from her room. She tore the door open and pretty much jumped on me. “I’m not pregnant!”

  Violet and I cheered, both relieved that we weren’t going to be Aunties before we were twenty-one.

  “That’s so great,” I congratulated as we stood up.

  We all went back into Annabelle’s room and said bye to Violet. It was definitely getting late where she was.

  “So, what now?” I asked her and Jason.

  “Now, I get on birth control.”

  “Good plan. By the way, so I know this is probably not your thing, but Shane and his friends are having this big Halloween party at the track next Saturday. I think it could be fun if you came with me. Emma will be there, but I’d love to have some more friends there.”

  Annabelle looked at Jason and then smiled at me. “On one condition, we can get out easily if the cops come. I just dodged one bullet with the pregnancy, and I’m not dealing with getting arrested.”

  “No, they have look outs about a mile away from the track. They walkie people if there is even the slightest sign of cops.”

  “Then we’re down,” she told me.

  “Honestly, I’m a little surprised you want to come,” I said.

  “You were there for us during this whole thing, the least we can do is show up at an illegal street race with your new guy in ridiculous matching costumes,” Jason teased, tickling Annabelle a little.

  “All right, that’s enough of the after school special. Let’s go get some food,” Annabelle said.

  ***

  Shane pretended like he didn’t care that my friends had agreed to come. But whenever he talked about the party, he’d bring them up. He wanted to show Jason some basic car stuff ahead of time so Jason didn’t make a fool of himself. Then he suggested we all go costume shopping together, you know, to make sure we didn’t match.

  It warmed my heart that he was so willing to get to know them and bring them into his world. Shane just saw the best in everyone and gave them a chance until he found it. I loved that about him.

  We weren’t able to go costume shopping as a group though, because Shane had to go to his mom’s practice and work for his second internship. But Annabelle and I went, leaving Jason at school so we could have some girl time.

  “So, what do you guys want to dress as?” I asked Annabelle as I was flipping through the costumes.

  “Um, since we’re gonna be in public, I definitely need to be covered.”

  “Oh, you leave the skimpy stuff for the bedroom?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, blushing and turning around to look at another rack.

  I wasn’t letting her get away that easy. “So you’ve bought more stuff?”

  “Jason loved the lingerie. Half the time, we even leave the bra on. I don’t know, the lace just like, I don’t know, it feels good.”

  “I bet it does, especially if the lace is unlined.”

  Annabelle smiled bright and then grabbed a costume. She held it up to me. “I think this is what I’m going to wear. It’s fun, right?”

  It was a black skater skirt with yellow batman logos all over it. Attached to the hanger was a plain black t-shirt, with one giant yellow batman logo in the middle of it.

  “That is definitely one way to get Jason’s attention without being overly slutty.” Jason was a huge superhero fan. He was going to love this costume. “Are you going to get him a Robin costume? How funny would that be?”

  “Oh, god! I’m gonna do it.” She flipped through the costume rack, but couldn’t find anything for Robin. “So, we need a plan B.”

  We continued looking through the rack and found an Ironman costume.

  “This is perfect,” I told her, holding up the Ironman suit.

  “Why is that perfect? I don’t get it.”

  “Because Ironman is like the Batman of Marvel. He doesn’t actually have powers, but he’s rich and builds stuff. It’s like a couple’s costume, but it’s not a traditional couple’s thing.”

  “Holy crap.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a nerd. I can’t believe I never noticed.”

  “Shut up,” I told her, feeling my cheeks grow hot. When you grew up basically on house arrest like I was, you did a lot of reading. I don’t know, somehow I got into comics, and now I had this secret collection you could only look at with gloves. My collection was pretty impressive, and I even had a couple valuable signed comics. No one else knew about this part of me besides my mom and dad. I wondered what Shane would think of it if he knew.

  “Wow, now I found your costumes,” Annabelle told me, holding up a guy and girl set.

  “Amazing.” I stopped looking and went straight to the register.

  ***

  Annabelle and I were in my room, getting ready for the Halloween party. My mom thought we were going to an EET event, so she was busy making us a snack, afraid that we’d go hungry.

  I slipped my plastic pink dress on and turned to look at Annabelle.

  “What do you think?”

  “You look exactly like Barbie. It’s a little scary.”

  I adjusted the strap on my pink dress and turned back to look in the mirror. It was too tight, too plastic, and too flawless. I added a pair of pink heels that just happened to match the shade of pink in the dress, fluffed my hair a bit more, and added a swipe of lipstick. I was ready to go.

  Annabelle fussed over her skirt for a few more minutes, even though I promised that I couldn’t see her ass.

  “When’s Jason getting here?” I asked as I put my lipstick in my purse.

  “He should be here any minute.

  “Great, let’s head out to the living room. My mom is possibly cooking an entire meal for fifty people.”

  We walked out, and as if on cue, the doorbell rang. I ran to the door to let Jason in, but stopped dead in my tracks. It wasn’t Jason at the door. Hell, it wasn’t even Shane.

  Staring back at me with a bouquet of flowers, a duffle bag, and a giant garment bag, was Rob. My mouth went dry
and I was momentarily speechless.

  “Baby, what are you wearing?” Rob asked, walking into my house, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

  “A Barbie costume. What are you doing here?” I didn’t know what to think, he looked like he wanted to stay a while and I was curious about the garment bag. Did he have his own costume in there or something? But more important than that, why had he ignored my message to leave me be? My shock quickly turned to frustration, which manifested to rage. He’d ignored me. He’d ignored my wishes again. This guy would never change.

  Rob dropped his bag on the ground and walked into the kitchen, greeting my mom with a big hug.

  “Rob, what a nice surprise. To what do we owe this visit?” My mom fussed over him.

  “Joy, I’m here about the military ball. Didn’t my mom tell you about it? It’s the first week of December. I found this beautiful designer dress, and instead of mailing it, I wanted to see Christie’s face when she opened it. I figured it’d be a great early birthday present.” He turned and handed the garment bag to me.

  As much as I was dying to see what was inside—Rob always had amazing taste—it was hard to ignore a couple things. “Um, why are you here, Rob? We broke up. I asked you to leave me alone.” Annabelle came and stood next to me. It was good to feel her presence there. It kept me grounded, which was good, since I wanted to scream like a child. He shouldn’t be here and he didn’t seem to care.

  He waved his hand at me dismissively. “I know the truth, you just got some cold feet about getting married. Well, you don’t need to worry. I’m not going anywhere.” He tried to kiss me again, but I stuck my hand in his face, stopping his lips before they reached mine.

  “No, Rob, I’m actually done. I—”

  “Stop, I know that you’re just panicking about this whole thing. Just…enough, okay?”

  “Uh, why’s the door open?” Shane asked from the entrance. He walked in, smiling at me, and then turned to look at Rob. His smile didn’t fade, but I saw a little tick in his jaw.

  “Who the hell are you?” Rob asked him, and then he grimaced. “Sorry, Joy, that was rude. I shouldn’t be swearing in front of women. The military is affecting me.”

  “I’m Christie’s boyfriend, Shane. I take it you’re Rob?”

  Rob stepped up to Shane, looked him up and down, and practically growled. “No, I’m Christie’s boyfriend. And who the fuck do you think you are? How dare you dress up like a military man. What do you know about sacrificing yourself for your country?”

  “Probably the same as you, since you’re in college.”

  “Okay, it’s a stupid GI Joe costume. Obviously, he’d never disrespect anyone in the military,” I yelled, splitting them up before it got violent. My heart was racing and I was actually scared. I’ve never seen Rob get in a fight, but his hand was balled up in a fist, and a vein was throbbing in his neck. “Annabelle, why don’t you go sit on the couch with Shane so I can talk to Rob.”

  “Yeah, do what she says, fucking pussy, listen to the woman.”

  I whipped around to look at him in shock. I’ve never heard Rob talk like this. Usually it’s me with the potty mouth. But Shane didn’t sink to Rob’s level.

  He just turned around and led Annabelle to the couch like a gentleman.

  “Why don’t we all eat?” Mom suggested, bringing some bowls to the table.

  “No, Mom, Rob is leaving.”

  “I’m not leaving. I just flew up to see you,” Rob argued.

  “Yeah, and you did that without talking to me and against my wishes. I told you we were done, so will you please just leave?” I was begging him. I didn’t want a fight, I didn’t want to keep explaining this, and I didn’t know what to do. Rob did fly all the way up here, and part of me did feel a little guilty. He was here fighting for me. I should have known things were too good to be true when he didn’t respond to my text or my message. “Rob, please. I’m asking you to respect my family and leave before anything goes wrong tonight.”

  “You mean more wrong than it already has?” Rob shrugged and nodded his head. “Keep the dress. When you’re done slumming, you can give me a call. I’ll always wait for you.” He reached out and tried to stroke my cheek, but I stopped him.

  “Rob, please.”

  He slammed his hand against the doorframe and then walked out the door, grabbing his duffle bag on the way. I put the garment bag in the hall closet and walked over to my mom, pulling her into the kitchen where we might have a bit of privacy.

  “Listen, darlin’, I’m only going to say this one time. I know you like this new boy, and that’s fine, but look at how much Rob cares for you. Are you sure that’s not what you want?”

  “Mom, he’s proving why I don’t want to be with him. He didn’t call, he just showed up and caused drama after I asked him not to. Mature men don’t do that. Shane took a step back and sat down. Rob looked like he was going to hit him.”

  “Well, Shane did antagonize him.”

  “No, Mom, he didn’t. Just…let this go. We’ll have some food and then move on.”

  We all sat down at the table, just in time for Jason to knock on the door. He gave Annabelle a kiss, and then looked over at me.

  “Sorry I’m late. What’d I miss?”

  Chapter 19

  Annabelle and Jason were going to ride in his car. They wanted to have a way to leave in case they got bored, didn’t like it, or if the cops were there. Since they weren’t racing, I didn’t think they could get in too much trouble, but I wasn’t sure if you could get arrested just for watching.

  Shane was pretty quiet while we “snacked” on all the food my mom made. I knew he was probably looking to talk to me in private, so when we pulled away from my house, I was nervous. He didn’t exactly have the best track record when he got jealous, and seeing Rob was definitely not helping.

  “Listen, Shane, I didn’t ask him to come.”

  “I know.” He rubbed his face a couple times, seemingly at a loss for words. He took a deep breath and then finally looked back at me.

  I was scared. I didn’t want my mom or Rob to cause a fight with us, but I wasn’t sure how to fix it. “Are you upset? I’m sure you heard the things my mom said.”

  “Yeah, but I’m upset because Rob put you in that situation. I know your mom isn’t gonna like me straight off because she still has a hard on for Rob. I’m okay with that. I don’t like that this prick just showed up, even though you said it was over. It gives me a bad vibe, and it doesn’t give me a fair chance to even try to win your mom over.”

  “I know. I just don’t want you to think that there’s anything between us anymore.”

  “I’m not concerned about that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you asked him to leave and now you’re here with me. If there was something still between you two, the little fight might have ended differently.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, I’m sorry you were in that situation.” He hugged me tight, gently stroking the back of my head. I closed my eyes, taking in his scent. I’d said it smelled like spring, and I was beginning to pinpoint why. It had the slightest smell of trees with a little mist, like dew in the morning. I took a deep breath, taking it in like an aromatherapy candle. It helped relax me.

  “All right, that’s enough of this mushy stuff. Let’s get your sexy ass out there so I can show you off.”

  “Aw, that’s precious. Will you put it in a Valentine’s Day card for me?”

  “Only if you open it in hot pink lingerie.”

  ***

  Annabelle and Jason pulled in behind us and Shane got out to show them where to park. I climbed out to a bunch of whistles from the guys.

  “Damn, Christie, are you trying to distract everyone?” Max asked, walking over to me.

  “Well, you know how much help Shane needs behind the wheel. I figured I’d show a little skin and distract whoever he races.”

  “Good plan,�
�� he said, and he let out a whistle. I blew him a kiss and then looked around.

  I saw Emma and waved. As I got closer, I realized that she had the best costume out of anyone. Her hair was half black and half white, her makeup was heavy with bright red lipstick. She was wearing a red leather jacket with black leather pants and a spotted black and white shirt. Emma was Cruella De Vil. It was awesome.

  “Girl, I love that outfit,” I told her as I walked up to her.

  “Oh, didn’t you hear? You’re supposed to be wearing a costume, not something you got out of your closet, Barbie.”

  “Haha, I would never wear plastic like this. Please, you should have better expectations for me. I’m a little disappointed.”

  Annabelle and Jason walked over to us then, in their Batman and Ironman costumes. They were frickin’ adorable.

  “Are you guys excited?” I asked them as the racers went over to their meeting.

  “So, they just race in a straight line?” Annabelle questioned judgmentally.

  “Yeah, we just race in a straight line,” Emma responded, sounding a little hostile.

  “I just don’t see the excitement.”

  “It’s a rush,” I tried to explain to her. “You’re going to have to wait to see it. You’ll be hooked in a second. Did you bring some money to gamble on the races?”

  “I thought you were kidding about that. I didn’t bring any.”

  “No! That’s half the fun. I’ll lend you, like, a hundred bucks.”

  “Not a chance in hell I’m spending that much money.”

  “I’ll take the money,” Jason piped in. “It sounds like fun.”

  “That’s a lot of money,” Annabelle pointed out.

  “Live a little, Annabelle. Maybe if you beg, I’ll let you pick a car for me to bet on.”

  Shane came over, telling me he’d be racing third. We headed over to the crowd of spectators and started placing bets for the first race. Jason was really getting into it, and it was a lot of fun to see how animated he got. Hell, I wanted to spot him more money just to see what he’d do. I saw Shane watching him, and he had a big smile on his face. Then, he headed over and started amping up the other spectators. Soon, he and Jason were the center of attention and they were both thriving off of it. They were a great pair.