“Why did you stop?”
“Because someone opened the door,” she said. “Some fucking asshole who thought it would be fun to try and get a picture of my chest. Because apparently that’s all anyone sees when they see me. Everyone just wanted to see Charlotte’s tits.”
“Did they get a picture?”
“No,” she said. “And then Wes beat them up. Some rich jerk. He left that summer and moved to another town.”
“If the door hadn’t been opened…”
Charlotte sighed. “Is that what you want? To know what could have been? Or just dig into everyone’s past? We get it, Aira. You came here as a virgin. Good for you. But you’re not a virgin anymore. And I have no idea what would have happened with Wes back then. I don’t think about it. You shouldn’t either.”
I knew she was right. But the knot of jealousy and anger needed a target. I needed to get it out of my system.
“I’m sorry everyone sees you for your chest,” I said. “That’s not right.”
“Why do you think I worry about Flynn so much? I don’t know if he really likes me or just likes my chest.”
“He likes you, Char.”
“You don’t know that. I’ve had it happen before. Guys do anything… say the right things… do the right things… and then the second they see me or touch me… I’m forgotten.”
She lowered her head.
I slowly reached across the car and touched her hand. “I’m sorry. If it means anything, my ex demanded I sleep with him. And when I refused, he slept around. And I’m pretty sure he fucked who was supposed to be my best friend at my old school.”
“Assholes,” Charlotte said.
“They all are. Even Flynn.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because he has a dick.”
“A really nice one though.”
Charlotte looked at me and smiled.
I didn’t smile back.
“Fire,” I whispered. “He set a fire.”
“I know he did. I heard.”
“I’ve been hating the fact that he fights everyone, right? That everything comes down to swinging a fist. Like I secretly begged for the fighting to stop. So what does he do? He stops fighting. No punches thrown.” I laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh at all. “So he sets things on fire. Just the thought of it makes me shiver. The word itself bothers me. Here I am thinking I’m moving forward. But I’m not. I’m not moving forward, Char. I still don’t know who burned down my fucking house.”
I lost my words.
Charlotte moved her hand so she was touching mine.
“That’s a fucking nightmare,” Charlotte said. “All of it. What you had to go through. And you know what? Wes is a piece of shit for what he did. Even if he felt it was the right thing to do.”
I nodded. “I was thinking for a second about letting him back in. I just… I miss him. I feel like I need him.”
“You don’t need anyone but yourself. You’re a tough bitch. Tougher than Emma.”
I laughed for real. “Not sure about that.”
“Trust me, you are. Sure you don’t want to go back? We can avoid Wes and talk about him behind his back. Start rumors about his dick being small.”
“Do you think anyone would actually believe that?” I asked.
“No,” Charlotte said as she frowned. “Better yet, we can find you some hot guys to flirt with. Let Wes play with his fire. You can play with some hearts.”
“I’m going to bed, Char. I quit today. Fuck today.”
“Fuck today,” she said. “Want me to walk you in?”
“Are you going to kiss me at the door?”
“We can selfie it and tell Flynn and Wes that we’re secretly in love.”
“They’d like that too much,” I said.
“Fucking boys are gross.”
“Amen,” I said. “Goodnight.”
I finally climbed out of Charlotte’s car and walked home.
Julia was home too which made me feel a little more comfortable.
When I got inside, I found Julia in the kitchen sipping a glass of wine and humming to a song I didn’t know. She was good at running the bakery but not at humming.
She looked at the clock then at me. “Early night.”
“Tired.”
“Something happen?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“What?” she yelled.
“I’m kidding,” I said. “Sorry. Bad joke.”
“Terrible joke, Aira. You sure you’re okay?”
“Just tired,” I said. I showed my hands. “I’m not doing anything to myself. Don’t worry.”
“I didn’t say that. I was just asking you something.”
“But that’s what everyone thinks when they see me,” I said. “I’m the crazy girl who cuts herself and had her house burn down.”
“Whoa, Aira…”
“Never mind,” I said. “I’m grumpy.”
“Hey. How are things at school?”
“Same as always,” I said.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Well, let’s see. My one friend slept with someone’s cousin, but now she’s confused about why she did it. And then another friend isn’t sure if her boyfriend loves her or just her boobs. And then there’s the girl who had a secret abortion and apparently that’s all my fault because I used to cut myself. Then there’s this guy who makes it a point to find out everyone’s secrets to spread around as rumors and truth. And if that wasn’t enough there’s the other guy who set two motorcycles on fire because he didn’t want to throw punches.”
Julia’s face went white.
She slowly lifted her wine glass to her lips and sipped.
Then she asked, “Well, are you at least studying?”
I burst into laughter.
“I’m going to bed,” I said. “Goodnight, Julia.”
“Oh, Aira, there’s something on your bed for you. Something came in the mail for you.”
When I got to my room, there was a letter on my bed.
My name and address scribbled on it but no return address.
I ripped the envelope open and took out a piece of poorly ripped notebook paper.
It was a note for me.
watch the waves, cunt
you think you have them beat
but you dont
they never stop coming
they’ll get what they want
from you
just like me
My hand tightened around the paper and I hurried to throw it out.
I spun around and looked at my door.
It was closed.
My eyes moved to the window and I hurried to shut it and lock it.
My heart raced.
Someone obviously wanted my attention. And they had it.
I took a deep breath.
I sat on the edge of my bed and held my phone.
I thought about Wes.
If anything else happens to you… weird stuff… call me.
I opened my messages.
something weird happened wes … can you
I deleted the message.
I crawled back into my bed and left the light on.
I kept my phone in my hand as I slowly shut my eyes.
I could keep Wes at a safe distance… even if I secretly needed him more than ever.
Chapter 9
Wes
I was back to being a legend through the halls of Hidden Creek High.
The story of the fires was well known and while Nick and Dean did the right thing by spinning a fake story, those that mattered knew the truth. Everyone and then some.
The notion of the fire didn’t even hit me until I realized what it meant to Aira.
Of course it meant something to her.
A fire almost took her life. A fire took her bedroom. A fire took her old house away.
A fire changed everything about her life.
And that same fire was done on purpose and there was still no a
nswer as to who set that fire.
Yet all of that had slipped out of my mind when I decided to torch Nick and Dean’s street rides.
I walked the halls in silence, even with everyone staring at me.
They moved out of my way without me saying a word.
Trust me, I wasn’t going to class.
I didn’t give a shit about class.
Instead, I waited at the end of the hallway and watched Aira at her locker.
She was alone and I didn’t like that.
I let her have her space and when she closed the locker and walked away, I made my move.
It was stupid and it was cheesy, but I couldn’t stand seeing the word cunt scratched into her locker.
When the hallway cleared out, I took my keys out of my pocket and dug into the word until it was mostly gone.
Then above it, I wrote a new word.
beautiful
Whether it mattered to Aira or not I didn’t know, and I really didn’t care.
My promise to her was intact, even if we weren’t.
I decided to hang around for the day. I actually wanted to avoid the shop for once. Things were getting tense with Pop, Jett, and West. All we needed to do was wait West out. He would eventually leave, one way or another. Better yet, if he talked to Aira one more time, I’d make sure he was gone for good.
At lunch I sat on a table and ate, my eyes scanning the room, looking for Aira again.
“There he is,” Flynn said. “The reputation back in full force, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said.
Flynn and Leo sat down.
Everyone that walked by gave me a look or a nod or a wave.
Luke paused with a couple of his wrestling buddy goons. Thick meat neck looking guys. Hell, they had no necks. Just blocks of muscle.
But believe me, Luke knew where he stood.
“Setting shit on fire now, huh?” Luke asked.
“Just like your mother’s panties last night,” I said.
Luke curled his lip.
“Oh, I love Miss Larner,” Leo said, looking back. “She was so young when she had you, Luke. And she’s still so young.”
“I mean, she’s all plastic now,” Flynn said. “But still…”
“Fucking pricks,” Luke said.
“Keep walking,” I said. “Make sure you load up on protein.”
“Like your mother did last night,” Leo said.
I smiled.
“Fucking fire,” Macky said as he walked by. “That’s intense shit, Wes.”
“Aren’t you going to get an electric shock from being so far away from Luke?” I asked him.
Macky adjusted his wrestling jacket. “What the fuck is your problem?”
“You,” I said. “Fuck off.”
“You fuck off,” Macky said. “Damn, man. I thought it was bad ass that you set those rides on fire.”
“I’ll do it to you next,” I said.
Macky dropped his food tray to the table. “Okay. Let’s go then.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked.
I stood up.
“Let’s go,” Macky said. “Tough guy with some gasoline. What about your fists?”
Everyone was now watching the scene unfold.
That included Aira.
She stood up and looked at me. She shook her head and stormed out of the room.
Macky had backed up a couple steps and had his fists ready.
He really wanted to fight me right in the middle of lunch.
Over what?
I didn’t even know.
I figured roid rage.
“Fix this,” I said to Leo and I started to jog toward the door.
I heard the sound of a punch and then the collective yell of ooohhhh from everyone watching as Leo knocked Macky back on his ass.
I blasted through the door and ran down the hall after Aira.
She was walking fast, hugging herself.
“Aira, wait up,” I said. “Where are you going?”
She ignored me. Big shock.
I caught up to her and touched her arms.
She quickly shook me away and kept going.
“I’m not going to leave you alone until you talk to me,” I said.
She still refused to talk to me.
She turned right and I went with her. I was by her side. She stared forward.
“I can’t help what they say, darling,” I said. “You know that.”
Aira still wouldn’t talk to me.
She went to her locker and stopped.
She pointed. “Cute. Did you do that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re not that word. You’re beautiful though.”
Aira looked up at me. “I want to hit you so hard in the face right now.”
“Then do it,” I said. “I deserve it.”
“Yeah, you do deserve it,” she said.
“I’ll go punch everyone who talks about fire,” I said. “Okay?”
“That doesn’t fix anything, Wes.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I had to make my point clear to them, Aira. They tried to take me out. So I took them out. Nobody got hurt.”
“They could have.”
“So what? You have a thing for Nick or Dean?”
“Fuck you,” she said. “Don’t ever say that.”
“I’m sorry it came down to fire,” I said. “I’m sorry your house caught on fire. I’m sorry they haven’t caught the person who did it. I’m sorry for the nightmares. Shit, darling, I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. But this is what this place is. You have to fight, okay? You have to be the strongest. Or else you’re screwed. That’s why I said I would protect you and keep you safe.”
“Safe? Is that why I got a letter in the mail saying someone’s coming for me?”
“What? When?”
“Forget I said that.”
Aira opened her locker and I put my hand to it to shut it. “No. I won’t forget you said that.”
“I’m going to assume everyone is happy over here.”
It was Henders’s goddamn annoying voice.
I swore that guy had a tracker on me.
I moved my hand from Aira’s locker and she opened it.
“Fine,” Aira called out. “Just heading back to lunch.”
“And you, Mr. Jackson?”
“I was just walking her,” I said.
“No, he wasn’t,” Aira said.
She shut her locker and walked away.
I turned and watched her go.
Damn, she pissed me off. She was pretty yet somehow vicious. And the simple thing would have been to let her go and forget about her.
“Mr. Jackson, what are you doing?” Henders asked.
I slowly shook my head.
You know what… I had no fucking clue what I was doing anymore…
* * *
The words beach party made me want to throw up.
Someone slammed a piece of paper against my chest and when I turned to knock the fucker out, they were lost in a sea of people. I couldn’t remember the last time someone actually made a flyer for a party. This shit was always done through text. Get the right people talking and you could have hundreds of people showing up.
This was just a handwritten note.
Empty Vaca House! Watch the waves… and more! From your good friends from BFH!
I didn’t bother reading anything else.
I crumbled up the paper and threw it to the floor. A second later, someone stepped on it and that was it.
As I walked out the front doors of HCH, feeling sun and freedom, Flynn was waiting for me.
Holding the same piece of paper.
“Yeah, I saw,” I said.
“Want to know who it is?”
“Who?”
“Dylan,” Flynn said.
“Dilly Dylan?” I asked.
“Yeah. Guess he got contacts and got his braces removed. Mom and Dad threw some cash at a vacation house and guess who decided to make copies of t
he keys for himself? Oh, and get this shit. Mom and Dad hightail it to fucking Maine of all places. Apparently Dad has a thing for lobsters.”
“You know, the way his old man cheated, I figured him more of liking crabs,” I said.
Flynn laughed and slapped my chest. “Fucking right, bro.”
I jammed the palm of my hand to his shoulder. “Don’t touch me, Flynn.”
“Sorry. Fuck. What’s your deal? We took care of Macky for you. I’m pretty sure Leo was this close to sticking a hot dog up his ass.”
“He would have liked it too much,” I said.
“Bro, back on track. This party is going to be wild.”
“So what?”
“Wild… Wes…”
“I’m not going to fuck around,” I said. “Not my scene.”
“Hey, you guys see this shit floating around?” Leo asked, waving the same paper Flynn and I had.
“Yeah,” Flynn said. “Trying to get Wes to go. I mean, I’m going.”
“Of course you are,” Leo said. “Need to keep those BFH dicks away from your girl.”
“They’ll fill her up in seconds,” I said.
“Shut up, man,” Flynn said. “I don’t want to hear that shit. Sometimes I don’t know what Charlotte is thinking. I think she thinks I’m using her for her tits.”
“Aren’t you?” Leo asked.
“No,” Flynn said. “I like her. I love her. You know?”
I touched the corners of my eyes. “How fucking sweet. I need a tissue. So romantic.”
“Least I kept my girl happy, Wes,” Flynn said.
Leo sprang to action, getting between us.
I curled my lip. “You know what, bro? Go enjoy the party. Watch all those fake fuckers walking around with their sandals and white shorts and salmon polo shirts. See what they do and say. Good luck if you need help.”
“Hey,” Leo said. “We’re good, Wes. Relax.”
“I only brought it up because Aira is going to be there,” Flynn said.
“What?” I asked, pushing Leo away.
“Yeah. Charlotte told me. They’re all going. Charlotte is going to be designated driver. Aira wants to get drunk and forget about you.”
My lip curled even higher.
I walked to the railing and felt like ripping the fucking thing out of the ground.
“See you later, boy!” a voice yelled.
HIDDEN CREEK DARKNESS: a hidden creek high novel Page 8