Brush Strokes

by Janelle Stalder

  “What if he leaves before I get out? No way, I’m not risking it. It’s one day. They’ll survive,” I replied.

  “You’re not responsible for Olivia’s honor, Colt. No one expects you to beat him for lying to the entire school. I mean, how do we even know he’s lying? Maybe she’s regretting it now and she’s the one who’s lying?”

  That was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it. My gaze flew to him. Rannon held up his hands immediately. “She’s not lying,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “I knew she never done anything with him without even having heard her confirm it. Olivia is not that kind of girl, Ran. Jake is a lying piece of shit.”

  “Okay, man. I get it. And I agree with you. No one should say that kind of crap. But why don’t we just let her deal with it? Why get yourself suspended from school for something that has nothing to do with you? Think, Colt. Principal Phillips is going to be all over this. And you know he’s going to take Jake’s side no matter what you say. You’re the trouble maker and Jake is boy-wonder. We’re trying to actually graduate this year, dude.”

  I took a deep breath, probably the millionth one I’d taken today. My anger had been simmering all afternoon and it needed to be let out. Even if Rannon made a good point, I knew there was no way I was just going to let Jake get away with talking trash about Olivia this way. I couldn’t even bring myself to face her today, too afraid I was going to lose my shit and have her mistakenly think I was upset with her. No, I needed to do this. Olivia needed someone to stand up for her against this idiot who thought he held the entire school in the palm of his hand. I’d heard enough people snickering and talking shit about her that someone had to send a message.

  The front door to the school opened and I recognized her right away, even from this distance. Olivia stopped just at the top of the steps, her head turned toward the field. Ella Page would still be at cheerleading practice. I wondered if Olivia was waiting for her or Jake. I really hoped it was her friend and not that lying scum.

  She wouldn’t still date him after this would she? I hated that I doubted that, but part of me wondered if she actually liked him. But she’d said she didn’t even like his kisses, my inner voice reasoned. I’d heard her loud and clear. There was no way that she would continue to date a person she didn’t even like touching her. Right? Man, I didn’t think I’d ever understand women.

  There was a loud whistle in the distance, signalling the end of practice. Rannon and I stood up at the same time. My best friend might not agree with what I was doing, but I knew he had my back no matter what. As if she sensed our movement, Olivia’s head turned and looked our way. I locked eyes with her for a long moment before she looked back toward the field. I could tell she was nervous, I just wasn’t sure why. Was it concern for Jake?

  “Are you sure about this, man?” Rannon said.

  “Yes.” If Olivia stilled cared for Jake, then so be it. But I was still going to teach him a lesson about lying about women.

  The team made their way off the field. I didn’t know which one was Taylor but there was no way he was getting past me this time. Ella ran ahead of them all, right to Olivia. The two girls met and spoke with their heads close together before heading toward Ella’s car. A sense of relief washed over me that she hadn’t been waiting for him.

  My attention returned to the players, picking out the little twerp instantly. He was surrounded by his friends – like that would make any difference. Hitting Rannon’s arm to signal him, we started forward. Taylor didn’t notice me until we were about ten feet away. He halted, a quick look of panic spreading across his face before he schooled his features. I stopped close to him, ignoring the other people now surrounding us.

  “What’s up, Morgan?” he said with a cocky smile. I was going to smack that look right off his face.

  “Don’t what’s up me, Taylor. You know exactly what’s up,” I replied.

  He looked around at his friends with a smug smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  This guy was close to pissing his pants, even if he was trying to act tough around his buddies. I wasn’t fooled though. I could see how nervous he was, and I knew Rannon would see it too. I took a step closer. Jason Mills moved closer to me but was stopped by Rannon’s arm.

  “Not your business, Jay,” Rannon warned.

  “You need to tell your friends what a pathetic little lying shit you are,” I said to Jake, “and then you need to apologize to Olivia.”

  “Lying about what?” Jake asked, a slight tremor in his voice. The boy was pathetic.

  “You know what. That girl is way out of your league, Taylor, and you’re lucky she even gave you the time of day before now. I’m guessing, since you like to spread false rumours about her, that after today she’s not going to want to have a thing to do with you.”

  “And what,” he scoffed, “makes you think she’s going to give you the time of day now? If I’m not in her league, you’re not even in the same universe as her. You’re nothing but a worthless punk that no one takes seriously. You’re going nowhere in life, Morgan. Better face reality now.”

  That was it. The time for talking was over. Launching myself at him, we both went crashing to the ground as I got a good grip on the front of his jersey. People were yelling around us, I could hear the coach calling out and footsteps running, but I was in the fighting haze. Nothing could penetrate it once I started. Pulling my fist back, I let it fly into his lying mouth. Then I did it again, just for good measure. He wouldn’t be able to lie anymore if he couldn’t speak.

  “Enough, dude, enough,” Rannon was saying from close by. I could feel someone, probably him, trying to pull me off, but I just kept going. Letting another punch fly, I hit him right in the nose, blood splattering across us both. I hoped it was broken.

  “Colt, stop! Stop!” Olivia. Her voice snapped me out of it as I finally let Rannon pull me off. I looked up to see her standing there, Ella gripping her arm, as they both looked at me in horror. She was probably disgusted with me now, but I didn’t regret it. Someone needed to teach the spoiled brat some manners. Obviously his parents hadn’t done a good enough job.

  “Let’s go,” Rannon said close to my ear. Letting him drag me away, I got into his truck as instructed and sank back into the seat letting my head fall against the headrest. I closed my eyes until I knew we were well out of the parking lot.

  “You know you’re going to be in a shit load of trouble tomorrow, right?” Rannon said, breaking the silence after a while.

  “Probably,” I muttered.

  “Coach is going to want your head on a platter for beating up one of his best players.”

  “Yeah, well, he deserved it.”

  Rannon grunted but stayed silent. We drove that way until he pulled into my driveway and put the truck in park. “You feel better now?” he asked.

  “Not really,” I admitted. Olivia probably hated me now too, which sucked. She wasn’t the type of girl to condone violence. It didn’t matter that I had done it for her. I just couldn’t seem to stop screwing up. “Thanks for the ride,” I said, opening the door.

  “You want me to chill for a bit?”

  “Nah, I’m good. Go home and spend some time with your mom before her dickhead boyfriend gets off work,” I said.

  Rannon grunted in reply. I watched him drive away before heading inside to wait for my mom to get off her shift. Knowing my mom, she’d know what had happened before she even got here. I swear that woman had some sort of super powers. That, or the hospital was literally Grand Central Station for gossip here in town. Either way, it was going to be a long night.

  I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew there was someone pounding on the front door. Sitting up, I gave myself a second before going to see who was there. It wasn’t someone I knew because they were knocking on the front door. All of my friends knew I used the garage door.

  My first mistake was not looking through the front window before opening the door. The second mis
take was not slamming it right in his face. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse.

  “Just give me a minute, Colt. Please,” my dad said instantly, his hands held up in surrender. I actually hesitated, which killed me. I hated that I would do anything for him after everything. I blamed it on my shock at seeing him actually standing there.

  “Look, I know you don’t want to talk to me,” he went on quickly, “your mom made that really clear. But I just need you to hear me out.”

  “I don’t need to do anything,” I said, clenching my teeth.

  “I know, I know. You’re right. I don’t deserve anything from you, but I really just want to speak with you for a minute.”

  “Your minute has started,” I said, “you better hurry.”

  He took a deep breath. “I know I’ve hurt you and your mom, beyond repair. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret the way things worked out and the decisions I made.”

  I snorted, folding my arms across my arms.

  “I’m sorry, Colt. I really am. Not that it makes a difference, but it needs to be said. I’ve apologized to your mom so many times, she’s probably sick of hearing it from me. There’s nothing I can do to fix that, but I still need you to know that it kills me to know how much I’ve hurt you.”

  “Spare me the sob story and get to the point,” I said.

  He looked down, finding the right words. “You have a sister that I would like you to get to know.” He lifted his head, his eyes wary. I literally couldn’t find any words. “I’ve told her all about you, and I think it would be…nice if you two met and formed a relationship.”

  “How nice that you’ve told her all about me, when this is the first I’ve heard about her,” I said through my barely contained fury.

  “I didn’t know how to tell you,” he admitted.

  I laughed humourlessly. “Well I’m so sorry this was hard for you,” I said dryly.

  “I know you have every right to be mad, but just be mad at me, not her. She is innocent in all this, and she is really interested in meeting you. She doesn’t know that you and I don’t speak anymore.”

  “Then explain it to her,” I said.

  He ran a hand down his face. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  He paused. “I’m ashamed. I don’t want her to think badly of me.”

  “Wow.”

  “She really wants to get to know you and I think it would be good for both of you. Especially since we’re moving back and she might be going to the same school as you.”

  Hold the phone. “How old is she?”

  He went pale.

  “How old is she, Dad?” I repeated.

  “Sixteen,” he answered.

  Oh. My. God. That meant…anger like I’ve never known burst inside me. It was one thing knowing he had just up and left us when I was thirteen. It was another thing to know he’d cheated on my mom while he was still supposed to be with her, and went so far as to have a child with this other woman. He’d left us for them.

  “You need to leave,” I said as calmly as I could muster. “Now.”

  “Will you at least think about it, Colt? Please? For her sake?”

  “Leave.”

  We stood there, facing each other, before his shoulders finally fell in defeat. With a small nod of his head, he turned to go and stopped.

  “Oh, hello Olivia,” he said.

  My head snapped up to see Olivia standing there, her eyes wide in shock.

  “Uh, hey, Mr. Morgan,” she said hesitantly.

  “Well, it was nice seeing you again,” he said awkwardly. He looked back at me and nodded. “Colt.” Then he walked back down the driveway. The two of us watched him until he was pulling away. Olivia turned back to look at me.

  “Wow. What an ass,” she said, breaking the silence.

  A relieved, surprised laugh escaped me. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “I didn’t think he could get any worse, but I think he just did.”

  I nodded, rubbing at the back of my neck as we lapsed into silence.

  “Interesting day, huh?” she said with a small smile.

  I let myself really look at her, taking in all of her beautiful, delicate features, thankful that she was even here talking to me after this afternoon. “I’d say,” I replied. “I think I need to go do something relaxing. You down?”

  Her smile grew, along with my hope that she might not hate me after all. “What did you have in mind?”

  “You up for a swim?”

  She nodded her head. “Sure. Let me just go change.”

  Shaking my head, I pulled the front door shut, locking it quickly before grabbing her hand in mine. “Don’t bother,” I said, leading her to the car.

  “I thought this thing didn’t run,” she said as I pulled the passenger side door opened.

  “It’ll get us to the lake and back, don’t worry. Hop in.”

  Without hesitating, Olivia got into my car and suddenly I felt like I was on top of the world. This day might have been shit, but I had high hopes that it was going to end well.

  Twenty

  Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. – Twyla Tharp

  Olivia

  We drove to the lake in a comfortable silence. I wanted to bring up the fight at school, but considering what had just happened with his dad, I figured he needed a moment to himself. I’d sat in my room for over an hour debating on whether or not I should go over to his place before finally deciding it was time to pull on my big girl panties. I needed to know why Colt had fought with Jake. Was it because of me, or some other completely unrelated reason?

  Part of me really wanted it to be because of me. I wasn’t sure why, but it gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling to think he would fight someone for my honor. It was old school, knight in shining armor kind of stuff, and I ate it up. On the other hand, part of me hoped it had nothing to do with me, because I knew come tomorrow morning Colt was going to be in big trouble at school.

  Not only did a crowd of students witness what happened, but the coach had been running up in time to see everything as well. I had no doubt that Colt would be punished for fighting, especially since it was Jake Taylor. Funny enough, not one ounce of me was the least bit concerned about Jake. He deserved what he had gotten, whether it was because he was a lying little snake or not.

  I was still in the mindset that nothing could happen between Colt and I. It was pretty clear that Colt wasn’t the dating type, and I certainly wasn’t the hussy type that let a man come and go as he pleased, while being with other women. Not going to happen. Leave it to me to fall for the one guy in school that was possibly the worst choice for fidelity. Of course, I wasn’t the first, nor probably the last, girl to fall under Colt Morgan’s spell despite his colourful reputation.

  We pulled into the parking lot of the lake, and not surprisingly it was empty. The sun was going down, and with it the warmth. The water was probably cold as well. Taking a dip wasn’t the smartest idea at this time of the year. Normally I would have balked at the idea, but I knew Colt just needed to get away so I had agreed. To be honest I probably would have agreed to almost anything at that point. If there was one thing that made me have a soft spot for the resident bad boy, it was knowing the hurt and pain he had suffered at the hands of his father.

  Overhearing what Mr. Morgan had said shortly after I arrived, unnoticed by either of them, I hated the man even more than I had before. How could anyone cheat on someone like Colt’s mom? Not only was she one of the nicest people I knew, but she was gorgeous. Sure, she wore scrubs and her hair and make-up weren’t done most of the time. The woman worked like crazy, so it really wasn’t her fault. And in any case, she didn’t need all that to make herself attractive. She was just naturally that way.

  Colt parked the car and got out without a word. I turned to follow, my car door opening before I had a chance to grab the handle. I looked up in surprise at Colt, his mouth quirking up in a small smile.

&nb
sp; “My lady,” he said, bowing teasingly.

  I grinned as I got out. “Why thank you,” I replied.

  Colt slammed the door shut and started off toward the lake. “Oh, wait,” he said, running to the back of the car. He popped the trunk and pulled out what looked like an old, ratty blanket then returned to where I was waiting. I scrunched my nose at the fabric in his hands.

  Laughing, he motioned with his head for us to continue. “It’s better than nothing,” was all he said. I guessed, but I would have preferred something that looked like it had been washed sometime this century. Colt let the offensive thing fall to the ground near the water, and immediately started pulling his shirt over his head. Crap. Were we really going to go in the water?

  “Wh-what are you doing?” I asked nervously.

  The shirt was off and suddenly my eyes were everywhere they probably shouldn’t have been. Colt might be off limits, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still appreciate what was in front of me. I’d never met another guy as perfectly shaped and ripped as Colt. All the tattoos only made him that more beautiful to look at, in my eyes. He was a walking piece of art.

  “Going swimming,” he answered simply. “You coming or you too chicken?”

  My eyes slowly looked back up to meet his eyes. I blushed at being caught openly gawking at him. Thankfully he didn’t seem to mind. I narrowed my eyes, ready to come back with some quick, witty reply, but any words I’d planned to say vanished as his hands moved to the top button of his jeans. He pulled them down, standing there in just his boxers. Hot damn. Now I was ready for cold water.

  “You chicken or what, Banks?” he repeated.

  “No,” I replied, my voice not nearly as strong as I’d like it.

  “Then let’s go. We don’t have all day.”

  He turned and strolled into the water, not reacting at all to the chill of it. I knew it wasn’t warm in there, but he didn’t seem to mind. Taking a deep breath of courage, I pulled my shirt over my head, leaving on my bra. Before I could actually chicken out, I quickly removed my pants as well, folding them neatly by the forgotten blanket. When I straightened, standing there in only my bra and underwear, my eyes collided with Colt’s and everything around us seemed to stop.