HIDDEN CREEK DARKNESS: a hidden creek high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  I wanted Wes to take me to the bed. So many thoughts raced through my head. Thoughts that made me blush and made other things happen to my body.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed.

  Wes approached and fell to one knee before me.

  He lifted up the covers and looked under the bed.

  “Nope,” he said. “No monsters. No dead bodies. Sure you didn’t kill anyone and stuff them in the closet?”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “Just saw the way you talked to Kailey,” he said. “And I heard you have a new attitude.”

  “I have to protect myself, Wes,” I said. “After everything that happened…”

  Wes put his hands to the bed and pushed to stand up.

  Towering over me again.

  “Get some sleep, darling,” he whispered.

  He reached for the light and turned it off.

  The awkwardness was suddenly gone, replaced by a sense of temptation.

  I fell down to the bed and curled up under my covers.

  “Wes?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Stay until I fall asleep,” I said.

  “Sure,” he said.

  I watched his silhouette move away from the bed.

  He sat down on the floor, his back to the wall.

  We didn’t speak.

  But he was here.

  For me.

  I shut my eyes.

  And none of the bad dreams came back to get me.

  Chapter 4

  Wes

  I felt something kicking my legs.

  I rolled to my side and felt a cold chill on my cheek.

  My eyes popped open and I jumped up, touching my cheek, looking around.

  “Fuck,” I whispered.

  “Working late, son?”

  I looked up and West was there.

  I scrambled to get to my feet, running a hand through my messy hair.

  I yawned and stretched my neck.

  “Good morning to you,” West yelled as I walked toward the bench to get my keys and my smokes.

  When I tried to leave the garage, West blocked the way.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he asked me.

  “Was working late,” I said. “I must have dozed off.”

  “All the parties and pussy for the taking in this town and you’re worried about turning a wrench at midnight?”

  “Why’s that matter to you, West?”

  “Just curious about my son. We have a reputation to uphold here.”

  “I’m sure you’re doing just fine with that.”

  “Tell that to what’s her face still in my bed,” West said with a laugh.

  “You have a bed?”

  “Don’t worry about where I sleep at night, son.”

  “Trust me, I don’t. I’m just waiting for you to leave again.”

  “Not this time, Wes. It’s obvious I’m needed here.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Well, Pop hasn’t been feeling all that great. You’re just a kid still, Wes. Lost in your little world of love over that cute girl from next door. And whether anyone likes it or not, Jett isn’t going to take this over.”

  “So you’re just waiting for Pop to die then,” I said. “There’s some life goals for you.”

  I left the garage, got on my ride and went to Jett’s to grab a shower and change my clothes. As much as I hated to do it, I had to get my ass to class. Whether there really was a family reputation to uphold or not, I needed to make sure I kept the peace with Henders. Normally I wouldn’t give a damn but I needed to see that Aira made it to class too.

  I sat on her bedroom floor for an hour until she was out cold for good. She rolled to the other side of her bed and I stood up and made sure she was still asleep. I went out the way I came in and disappeared into the night. Everyone was still at Liam’s party and I had no urge to head back that way so I went to the shop and worked.

  Now I was dead tired as I sat on the railing and waited for Leo and Flynn.

  Of course where there was Flynn there was Charlotte.

  And with Charlotte came the rest of the little group, including Aira.

  She kept her gaze down, not even looking at me for a second.

  That pissed me off.

  She thought I had some crazy secret to hide when I didn’t. She now knew about Azel. I told myself the only way to get through what happened there was to forget about it. And maybe pretend it didn’t even happen. Right or not, that was how I did it.

  Flynn broke away from Charlotte and the girls went inside HCH.

  “Morning, assholes,” Flynn said.

  “Look at that smile,” Leo said. “She must have swallowed.”

  “She always swallows,” Flynn said.

  “I bet you do too,” I said as I jumped off the railing.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Flynn asked. “Charlotte doesn’t have a dick.”

  “You sure about that?” I asked. “The way she commands you around… she’s the man.”

  “It’s the tits,” Leo said. “Always the tits.”

  “Fuck you,” Flynn said. “I’d like to see you two resist it.”

  I smirked and winked at Flynn, which only got to him more.

  He never really knew the entire story of the night Charlotte and I were nominated to spend a little bit of time in a dark closet.

  Not sure he really wanted to know either.

  “Fuck you again,” Flynn said.

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get to class. Let’s learn something.”

  “What the hell is your deal?” Leo asked. “You wanting to learn something?”

  “Hey,” Flynn said. “I got wind of something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Then let’s talk,” I said.

  We entered Hidden Creek High.

  The same old hustle and bustle of people flooding the hallways, trying to get to class on time. I loved parties in the middle of the week because you could see those who woke up at Liam’s and hurried to change and get here. They were like pampered zombies, shuffling along.

  “Nick and Dean have been betting on races,” Flynn said.

  “What kind of races?” I asked.

  “Street rides.”

  “That pussy shit?” Leo asked. “Why’s that news?”

  “I was thinking Wes should challenge them,” Flynn said.

  I stopped. “What?”

  “Challenge them,” Flynn said. “Or we all can. Take it right to the street and get them for what they did. Maybe they’ll convince Ryland to show up too. We can take them all down.”

  “I’d rather die than climb on a crotch rocket,” I said.

  “So they’re spoiled rich and race for money,” Leo said. “Tell us something we don’t know, Flynn.”

  “I’m just going by what I hear. The longer you wait, Wes, the more it looks like you’re afraid.”

  I grabbed Flynn by the shirt and pulled him to my nose.

  “Everything okay, Mr. Jackson?” Henders’s voice asked.

  I let Flynn go.

  “Perfect,” I called out. “Flynn had something on his teeth. I was going to clean it off with my fist.”

  “Good thing you didn’t,” Henders said as he walked in between us.

  “We’ll talk later,” I said.

  From the corner of my eye I spotted Aira at her locker.

  She didn’t look happy.

  Not that I expected her to be happy.

  But I knew the look on her face.

  Something was wrong.

  * * *

  “Wes,” she said when she looked at me.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Just my locker.”

  “What about it? Someone get into it?”

  “No.”

  She shut the locker.

  The word cunt was scratched into it.

  Not very big though. Not enough that it was meant for everyone in the school to see.

  Just
for Aira to see.

  I wiped my finger against the locker and felt the fresh edges where the word was carved.

  “Looks like someone used a key,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Aira said. “Just great, huh?”

  “Maybe some asshole just did it randomly. Just choose a locker.”

  “You really think that?” she asked.

  “No,” I said.

  Aira looked beyond me.

  I turned my head and saw Ryland walking in between Kaci and Nelle. He had an arm around Kaci’s shoulder.

  “He did this?” I asked Aira.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “He was lingering around after I was done talking to Miss Carson. I just feel like weird stuff is happening to me.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Aira said. “I have to go.”

  She turned and I touched her arm.

  She jumped and gasped, looking down at my hand on her arm.

  As though my hand were made of fire and she was going to burn to death.

  “Darling,” I said.

  “It’s stupid, Wes,” she said. “Just little things. I think I’m just freaking myself out.”

  “If something happens, you have to tell me,” I said. “So I can help.”

  “I think you’ve done enough, Wes,” she said.

  Aira pulled away and disappeared around the corner.

  I looked at her locker and traced the outline of the word cunt.

  She had been thrown right into the fire that was Hidden Creek High.

  And now she was pushing me away.

  I made a fist and punched the word scratched into her locker.

  The bell rang, which officially made me late.

  Which was fine.

  I headed toward the door to have a smoke.

  * * *

  I cut early and headed to Tech.

  That meant my full day at HCH was really just about half a day. Enough to show up, make my presence known, grab something for lunch, and then ditch halfway through biology. I didn’t give a shit how digestive systems worked in frogs or whatever. Now, if we were going to be studying something like anatomy, then I would be all in.

  I shot Ryker and Walker a text and they came from the side door about five minutes later.

  That meant I had time for another smoke and about ten million thoughts to attack me.

  Walker had a pair of wood shop glasses on his head.

  Ryker had a miserable look about him.

  “What’s wrong, cuz?” I asked. “Just finally realize Kailey’s got only about a finger full of tit for you?”

  “Shut the fuck up about that,” Ryker said.

  “He’s pissed because she’s ghosted him,” Walker said. He wiggled his fingers at Ryker.

  “Ghosted, huh?” I asked. “I call that a fair trade. You get up inside that all night and then she doesn’t want to be bothered. Hell yeah.”

  “You wouldn’t say that about Aira,” Ryker asked.

  I stepped toward Ryker. “That’s different, bro.”

  “Different, how?” he asked.

  “You love Kailey?” I asked.

  “I didn’t say that. Just curious what could be there. I hope all that shit with Emma didn’t backfire on me.”

  “Hey,” Walker said, smacking Ryker’s arm. “What if you fucking Kailey makes Emma get all hot and bothered? And then Emma shows up to seduce you, bro. Think about it. It’ll be the filthiest sex you’ve ever had.”

  “What would you know about filthy sex?” I asked Walker.

  “Oh, I’d know,” he said.

  “Here we go,” Ryker said. “He got a hand job from Becky last night.”

  “And that’s messy how?” I asked.

  “Windows up, car off, no air,” Walker said. “It was so fucking sweaty. She was all over it.”

  “With her hand,” I said. “Well done. You got a jerk-n-squirt from the chick who takes pride in it. She notches the palm of her hand.”

  Ryker laughed. “Heard she gives like three a night.”

  “That’s why her forearm is so big,” I said. “She could enter an arm-wrestling contest and win.”

  “Yeah, if the arms were shaped like little, crooked dicks,” Ryker said.

  “Yeah, fucking laugh it up,” Walker said. “I got off last night. You two didn’t.”

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  Walker had a point.

  I ran my hand through my hair. “Heard that Nick and Dean are setting up another race. Soon, too.”

  “Heard that here too,” Walker said. “Why do you care?”

  “Not sure,” I said. “I’m coming up with a little plan to remind them who I am. Just because things are crazy in my life doesn’t mean I’m letting go of what they did to me.”

  “You name it and we’re there,” Ryker said. “I’m game for a fight.”

  “Actually… I don’t think there’s going to be a fight this time,” I said.

  “Are you getting soft?” Walker said.

  I made a fist and he jumped back.

  “Not soft, asshole,” I said. “I throw a punch and they drop my ride. Tried to take me out too. Only seems fitting I up the bar, right?”

  “What do you have in mind?” Ryker asked with a grin that made me proud.

  I put my hand to Ryker’s shoulder and saw something from the corner of my eye.

  It was Noelle running out of Tech.

  Fumbling for her earbuds.

  And right behind her came two guys.

  They stopped at the door and were laughing.

  “What the fuck is this?” I asked.

  “Josh and Steve,” Walker said. “Snot nose pricks. Daddy sent them up here to smarten them up. He made his money in construction and figured he could get his boys to do the same.”

  “They’re fucking with Noelle?”

  “Don’t know,” Ryker said.

  “Go bring them to me,” I said. “Let’s find out.”

  When Walker whistled, the two pricks in the doorway took off.

  As my cousins chased them down I went to Noelle.

  At first she swatted me away but I didn’t give up on her that easily.

  I grabbed her arms and made her look at me.

  Her eyes filled with tears.

  She plucked the earbuds out of her ears.

  “What did they say?” I asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Noe…”

  “Wes. It’s embarrassing.”

  “I don’t give a shit what it is.”

  “I’m wearing a thong. They saw it.”

  I cringed. I didn’t want to think of Noelle like that.

  “What did they do?” I asked.

  “Josh said he wanted to tear it off with his teeth. Then Steve said something about getting me drunk because that’s what Ryland did.”

  I growled in my throat.

  “Wes, don’t do anything,” Noelle said.

  “Too late,” I said.

  Walker and Ryker appeared from the door again, dragging Josh and Steve with them. The two pricks already had bloody noses, which meant my cousins did some of the work for me.

  “Here you go,” Ryker said to me.

  They threw Josh and Steve at me.

  I stood there and stared.

  Their faces turned white.

  “You think it’s a game?” I asked. “Need to get your thrills by looking at some girl’s thong? Can’t fucking get a girl for yourself? Why don’t you two just fuck each other?”

  “It was just a joke,” Josh said.

  “She’s crying,” I said. “That a joke?”

  “No,” Steve said.

  I threw a right punch and knocked Steve on his ass.

  I grabbed Josh by the neck and pulled him toward me. “You ever look at Noelle again and I’ll come back up here and stick your head in a concrete mixer. And then I’ll take that concrete to one of your Daddy’s buildings. He’ll use his own son’s head to build something. How�
��s that fucking sound?”

  “Okay. Sorry. I’m sorry, man.”

  “Say it to her,” I said and pushed Josh away.

  He showed his hands. “Noelle. I’m sorry. I invaded your privacy. I shouldn’t have made that comment about you. I was just-”

  I dropped Josh with one punch.

  He was as weak as his brother.

  “Drag their ass back in there,” I said to Ryker and Walker. “I’ll catch up with you later. We’ll talk about the race and my plan.” I turned and touched Noelle’s arm. “You okay now?”

  “No,” she said.

  “Let me get you home.”

  “Can you stay for a little while, Wes?” Noelle asked.

  I knew that look in her eyes.

  The look that forced me to stomp on her heart. She was dead set that we were going to have a chance together now that things with Aira didn’t go as planned.

  “I can’t, Noe. You know that. You know I can’t.”

  “You’ll never love me, Wes,” she whispered.

  “Not the way you want.”

  “I tried to be her friend,” Noelle said. “But I think she’s a stupid bitch.”

  “Say that again and you can walk your ass home,” I said.

  Noelle walked away, sticking the earbuds back into her ears.

  I made fists and looked up to the sky.

  Shit was just building up.

  And a person could only take so much.

  And without Aira by my side to balance this out…

  I was set on a collision course.

  Chapter 5

  Aira

  I looked down at the spot where Wes had been sitting. When I asked him to stay, he did so without a fight. No hesitation at all.

  Because he loves you, Aira. You idiot. So what if he’s rough around the edges? So what if he didn’t tell you about Azel? Is that really such a bad thing…

  I shook the thought away.

  Yes, it was a bad thing.

  Forgetting to tell me about his brother? His dead brother?

  On top of everything else we had gone through… not to mention his reputation for fighting and fucking.

  It was just a lot.

  And not like I was much better.

  Constantly talking to Ryland, even though I swore I hated him. Not telling Wes about the secret I had that destroyed Mika.