“Where are you from?” I asked suddenly, eager to take my mind off Avery.
Chantal looked surprised and took a moment to respond. “I was from here originally, but I was on a crazy foreign exchange program to Guadeloupe. I guess that explains the messed-up accent.”
“I thought you sounded weird,” I muttered playfully.
Chantal grinned. “Yes, that’s a cheap side-effect for the extremely hot guys.”
I feigned being hurt. “Should I be jealous of people I don’t know?”
She snapped the tap off and turned to me. She reached up to my ear and whispered, “They should be jealous of you.”
I smirked and nodded at how well played that was. She smiled up at me. My eyes on their accord travelled to her now pursed lips. I looked up back to her eyes and saw she was staring at me. Chantal stepped closer, her eyes never leaving mine.
I pulled her head closer and inhaled the strawberry smell of her lips. I was less than a centimeter away from her face when I heard someone clear their throat. Instead of moving, I just looked around with a glare. Jade really knew how to ruin a good moment.
Jade stood there regarding us with narrowed eyes. I knew what she was thinking; if she wasn’t going to have her way I wouldn’t either. I took a step back from Chantal and turned to Jade, trying to convey that I wasn’t afraid of her.
“Well, well, well, who is it this time?” she asked, folding her arms.
I straightened up and shook my head slightly. She was trying to ruin things with me because I wouldn’t let her go out. This was a low blow. She was going for the womanizer thing again.
Chantal raised a brow. “I’m Chantal,” she muttered uncomfortably.
Jade completely ignored her and was matching my glare with one of her own. Honestly, she’s such an unbelievable pain. I turned to Chantal and gave her a smile that felt like a grimace.
“This is my psychopathic little sister, Jade. She majors in ruining my life.”
Jade rolled her eyes and gave a mock bow.
“We should get going on the studying then,” Chantal offered, slowly inching away from me and heading to the island where her books were.
I nodded absently and discreetly shot Jade the finger before grabbing a stool beside her.
“Ah, the structure of the diamond,” I muttered unenthusiastically.
It had been about an hour and a half since I’d been going on and on about Chemistry topics. Chantal was looking as weary as ever and I could tell all the characteristics she found endearing about me were now masked by incredibly boring and mundane scientific topics.
I closed the text-book and glanced at Chantal through the corners of my eyes. Her head was lolling on the back of the stool and she was staring at the ceiling. I rubbed my eyes and stood.
“Well, that was preposterously boring,” I mumbled casually. “Let’s take a break and watch a movie or something.”
She raised her head and a small smile was playing against her lips. I guess my ‘charm’ broke through the scientific force-field. I led her into the living room and turned the T.V on. I subtly wanted to see if we’d connect again. And the best way I figured to do that would be with snacks.
“Hey, do you want anything?” I asked, gesturing to the kitchen.
“Nope,” she said hastily, properly transfixed by all the channel choices.
So much for that plan. I nodded anyway and headed to the kitchen. While rummaging through the cupboards, my phone rang shrilly, interrupting my deliberation of what choice of snack I should take, whether sweet or salty.
Before I could come up with a sensible greeting, the voice on the other end spoke. “Hey, I’m so sorry about—”
“On second thought, I could really use some chips,” Chantal called interrupting the person who I belatedly noticed was Avery.
I could feel her drifting away even through the phone. “Who’s that?” she asked suspiciously.
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see it. “No one, what were you saying?”
“Forget it,” she replied, hanging the phone up, making the dial tone ring in my ear.
The thing was, I felt absolutely horrible. I had ruined any already fragile non-existent relationship we had. And, knowing Avery, she wouldn’t give me the time of day to explain to her. Normal guys would just forget about her and work on getting closer to Chantal. But something mysterious was pulling me to her or at least that’s what I convinced myself of.
I shook my head sadly at my own stupidity and grabbed a bag of barbequed chips and some honey-roasted peanuts. I may as well enjoy the rest of my afternoon. My eyes travelled to the television as soon as I rounded the corner. The opening credits were none other than a sappy romance, one that I recognized from my relationship with Gina, The Notebook. I wasn’t complaining though, sappy movies really sparked things, if you know what I mean.
Chantal took the bag of chips from me without a glance in my direction, her eyes fixated on the T.V. So much for sparking things.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I was glad for a distraction from staring at Chantal’s unbelievably smooth skin, I couldn’t start displaying too much interest, too quickly.
‘From: Avery (the crazy, demented murderer chick)
To: Jason (the wanna-be player)
S.O.S 2312 Wellington Terrace’
My brows furrowed as I read and reread the message. I couldn’t decipher what the address was even for. I didn’t even manage to thaw my fingers when another text came in. It was two words:
‘Never Mind’
But, for some reason, I couldn’t just ‘never mind’. I was now slightly worried. I probably shouldn’t have been since Avery was so manipulative. For another reason though, I decided to go. I grabbed my keys and turned to Chantal who was still staring dauntingly at the television.
“Sorry about this, but I’ve got to go,” I said in a rush, shoving my feet into a random pair of shoes.
Chantal basically waved me off and muttered something about letting herself out.
I knew it was a bad idea, but bad decisions seemed to build up around me since Avery’s arrival. And I realized that I had been blaming her for everything bad that happened. But sometimes, only rarely, bad decisions feel really, really good.
Chapter
XV
I opened my eyes, one at a time and noticed I probably looked like a complete idiot. The place looked even worse in the illuminated lights. No one was attacking me, but I heard indistinct voices. I moved out of the ‘center of attention’, as it were, and behind a pile of junk. Directly behind me was a sort of open metallic shed, where the flood of light was streaming from. I crouched into some liquid I only hoped was oil. The voices were clearer, more recognizable. One I noticed to be Avery’s. She was calm and collected, I could tell. But, if she had everything under control she wouldn’t have sent me an S.O.S message.
I inched closer to the voices in the shed. Pretty soon, I was behind a pile of car parts. I had a clear view of Avery and a male who had his back to me. My eye widened at the sight of the side of Avery’s face, all red and welted. I was about to step forward when my eyes met burly guys standing inconspicuously off to the side. I retreated a little into my hiding spot and decided to think of a less painful plan. I listened instead.
“Do you expect me to believe you?” I heard an extremely familiar voice spit.
Avery looked oddly calm despite how nervous I was feeling. “Yes, that was a one-time thing.”
I caught a glimpse of his face as he turned to tell the burly guys to go. A sound of surprise left my mouth as I noticed he was the same guy from Marc’s cousin’s house. I ducked out of sight as the guys passed me closely.
The strange guy from the house inched closer to her and pushed a few pieces of hair out of her face. Avery winced as his hand grazed her cheek. He pulled her closer so that his mouth was at her ear.
Even then, he spoke loudly, clear enough to be authoritative. “That wouldn’t have happened if you’d have
been a good girl and not defy me.”
Avery sucked in a breath and nodded infinitesimally. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled back and smiled at her; a kind of evil, ‘I control you’ smile. “Then why won’t you come back?”
His voice sounded placating as if he was reasoning with a toddler, but the grip he had on her arm spoke about ten different languages. “I have school here. I can’t just leave.”
“I can help with that,” he said lightly, caressing her cheek with the other hand.
Avery pulled away from him so roughly she almost fell. “No, I won’t let you do that.”
I think Avery and I both knew how dangerous what she had just done was because whoever the obvious psychopath was, had begun to clench his fists. That moment, Avery’s eyes shifted out to where I was and her eyes met mine. I saw brief surprise before she quickly turned back to him. In a flash, he had already swung a fist toward her, but she ducked and he seemed to get angrier. He swung the opposite hand toward her and she held onto it with as much force as she could muster.
There was a smile on his face, he even chuckled too but I hoped Avery realized that he was just conjuring up some plan of another attack. Before he could react again, however, Avery clamped her eyes shut and leaned in to kiss him forcibly. I couldn’t watch, for obvious reasons, feeling disturbed enough because of the sounds coming from the shed which were drifting toward me. I turned my attention to the guys who were standing surprisingly close to me. Despite my initial concerns, I was pretty good at camouflage.
“I think that proves to you that I’m all about loyalty,” she said clearly, enough for me to hear. He tried pulling her back to him, but she resisted. “Elijah, stop. I’m going home.”
“Let me give you a lift then,” he stated simply.
“I drove here,” she responded automatically, not even batting an eyelash.
“You drove?” he and I said at the same time, both incredulous. Thankfully, no one heard me because I would’ve been roadkill.
“Yes,” she confirmed, nodding. “I’m no longer afraid.”
I could sense the double meaning behind her words; she wasn’t afraid of driving and she wasn’t afraid of him and his goons, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea but maybe that was just me. I took another look behind me and regarded the burly guys warily. Avery seemed suicidal; this looked like a death wish.
“Glad to hear that,” Elijah said in a tone similar to her own. “Well, you can go.”
Avery nodded stiffly and walked right by him. I knew I had to get out of there soon as well. I didn’t want to think about what these assailants would do. Goon 1 and Goon 2 were walking my way, heading to their ‘sacred leader’. Once they were out of the way, I walked cautiously back out to where I had carefully hidden my vehicle. I hadn’t successfully gotten through even a quarter of the maze when the lights went off again and I could hear Elijah’s clear voice.
“By the way guys, take any trespassers to me, you know the drill.”
The goons’ affirmative answers threw my head for a loop, I was no longer questioning if they were dangerous or not, they had proven that to me just fine.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Gah!” I exclaimed, surprised by the new voice beside me.
“Did you just pee yourself?” the voice asked, amused.
I relaxed a little, but the scowl was still on my face. “I thought you left.”
Avery was probably rolling her eyes, but I couldn’t see. “I couldn’t leave a pansy here to defend themselves.”
“Can we just go?” I hissed, avoiding her jibe. “This place is creepy enough.”
“Okay pansy,” Avery conceded happily, taking my hand into her cold, clammy ones.
I tripped over multiple pieces of junk but had to keep on moving because Avery wasn’t slowing down and she knew her way quite well around the little bits and pieces of the junkyard. Before my arms could become remnants of a grater, we exited onto the pavement, I stopped to catch my breath and examined my injuries.
“Are you a moron or something?” she sneered loudly, losing all the playfulness from before.
I looked up at her, my brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Why’d you come here? God, you’re such an idiot sometimes.”
I straightened up and looked her in the eye. “You texted me, remember?”
Avery crossed her arms and glowered at me. “Do you not understand what ‘never mind’ means?”
“I wasn’t going to never mind!” I retorted, much too loudly for my liking. I sighed and stuck my hands in my pockets, motioning to where I had discreetly parked.
We walked in complete silence, even our footfalls seemed muffled. I couldn’t help but think about why Avery didn’t want me here. Of course, she was probably trying to hide the manipulative side of her past, but I couldn’t shake the feeling there was some underlying problem with me being here other than finding out about her darkest secrets. I squinted and faintly made out my van in the smoldering darkness.
“Don’t do that again.”
I raised my eyes to the sky and sighed heavily, she was not starting this again. I turned to face her to tell her why she should piss off but stopped when I saw her thoughtful expression.
“I can’t be responsible for you getting hurt.”
Well, I had not seen that one coming. “Why’d you text me then?”
“I—I dunno. I just felt better if someone who I knew, knew where I was.” Avery looked up at me with doleful eyes. “Sorry.”
I smiled slightly at her apology and nodded. “You’re a piece of work.” I helped her up into the van and chuckled to myself.
“Stop! Stop! Stop, if you make me tell you one more time, I swear I’m going to—”
I slammed my foot on the brakes suddenly. We were both extended a few inches before the seatbelt snapped us back into place painfully. Avery groaned and held her head between her hands, while I massaged a sore spot on my chest. I released my seatbelt and opened the door, only to realize Avery had beaten me to the chase.
She was on her knees puking on someone’s front lawn. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to hold her hair (probably not, she’d just bite my head off) or maybe rub soothing circles on her back. I just stood uncomfortably off to the side with my hands deep inside my pockets. After a moment, the sounds of retching died down and she rested back onto her heels.
“Well, the owner of this house is going to wake up to a pleasant surprise,” I muttered lightly, forcing a smile onto my face.
Avery looked up at me through her curtain of dark hair. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, don’t.”
I ignored her comment and continued to peer at the house in front of us. There was something familiar about the house.
“I can’t believe this!” I exclaimed, almost choking with glee. “This is Breanna’s house.”
Avery sighed. “I’m not so sure why you’re so happy about this.” She slowly got to her feet, using the van for support. I noted with regret how pale she looked. And here I was, excited just because she had vomited on Breanna’s lawn. “Apparently kissing your ex makes you nauseous.”
The joyful smile drained from my face effortlessly. “Wait, boyfriend?” I had to lean against the van to deal with the spinning of my head. “It’s all making sense now.”
Avery’s face was emotionless as she watched me slowly put the pieces together. I couldn’t speak for a moment because of my disbelief.
I snapped my fingers eagerly. “He’s your alpha right?” I frowned as I said that, it sounded so silly. “I—I mean leader, right? That’s why you both have freakishly black hair—”
“It’s only freakishly black to you color-obsessed morons here,” she interjected, not denying anything.
“But, why was he at Marc’s cousin’s house?” I asked, more to myself than to her.
Avery pressed her lips together. “I’ll explain everything to you later. Jus
t get me out of here before the she-witch herself and her family gets out here and orders me to clean this up.”
Thankfully, no sign of life seemed to come from the house as we pulled away. The thought brought a smile to my face. If I wanted to prank Breanna, I couldn’t top this. “Where to?” I asked almost whistling. “Home?”
Avery released the grip she had on her forehead and stared at me incredulously. “Are you crazy? Obviously, he knows Reena and where her house is. I don’t want to deal with that tonight.”
I nodded understandingly. “Okay, so a motel then?”
She gave me the deadliest look she could muster. “Are you trying to make me beg? I’ll sleep in the closet if you want.”
“Avery,” I muttered in a strained voice, coming to a stop at a stoplight. “That’s an important rule my parents insist I adhere to.”
“Just this once,” she pleaded, looking very desperate.
I sighed. This was a tough decision, if she stayed over, she wouldn’t be hurt by her criminal ex but my mother would have probably had my head. But if she didn’t stay over, she’d probably be hurt, and my own heart would have my head. And to top it off, my mother would still have my head regardless for leaving Jade at home alone, knowing what she was capable of.
“Fine. But if I die tonight, it’s your fault.”
The only thing that made the situation slightly more tolerable was the fact that my parents were not supposed to be home until the following morning. But Jade was always willing to rat me out. I tried to strategize an elaborate plan to make sure Jade knew nothing. I pulled onto my street and almost had a stroke at the sight of my father’s car in the driveway. I probably should’ve expected this because things had a way of working out not in my favor.
This was not good.
Opening the van door, I made as much effort as I could to remain quiet. I noticed Avery had already exited the vehicle, needing no excessive help to be stealthy. I pointed to the short path that led to the backyard and mouthed that it was just for a little while. Surprisingly, she complied, walking away more lithely than I ever could. I twisted the key-chain on my car keys around my fingers as I headed to the door, making an attempt to look less guilty than I felt.
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