by McKayla Box
Jessica purses her pink lips and snorts. “Right.”
Bridget puts her hand on my arm. “Come on, we'll go find her. These two have pretty much used up every word they know.”
“I'll tell you where she is,” Jessica says, the corners of her mouth turned into an ugly little smile. “Actually, I don't have to tell you at all. You can see for yourself.”
“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Maddie says.
Jessica makes sure she has all of our attention before she extends her perfectly manicured finger down the beach. “I believe Shanna is right down there.” She leans closer to my ear. “Right on top of your wanna be boyfriend.”
I turn and look in the direction she's pointing. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark and then I see Shanna straddling someone on the sand. Her face is pushed up against his and his hands are cupping her ass as she gyrates slowly against him.
“Oh, shit,” Bridget whispers.
She is slithering on top of him like a snake, her mouth moving from his to his neck, her arms stretched out in front of her to brace herself on the guy's body. He lifts up into her, pushing them both off of the sand for a moment before dropping back down into it. Their clothes are still on, but it doesn't seem like they will be for much longer.
I squint harder into the darkness, waiting for some of the firelight to pick up the guy's face. As she works on his neck, I finally get a good look at the guy beneath her.
And I fight off the urge to vomit.
Shanna Becker is riding Trevor Robinson.
TWELVE
“How was your first day?” my dad asks.
It's the next morning and my head is pounding, the result of too much vodka and too little sleep. I am sitting at the breakfast table, hunched over a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice, wondering if I can get them down without seeing them again.
“Fine,” I say, sipping the orange juice.
“I'm sorry I wasn't home last night,” he says. “I had a long meeting with my one client.”
“That's good,” I say. “Right?”
He nods, sliding into the chair across from me. “Yes, very. I'd like to find a few more clients, but he's the kind of client that could make or break me here. I need him to make me. So I need to be available to him.”
“It's fine, Dad,” I tell him. “Really. I get it.”
“He wants to have dinner again tonight,” he says. “And you're invited.”
“Me? Why?”
“He wants to meet my family,” he says. “And you're my family. Plus, he has kids who go to your school, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for you to make some new friends.”
The thought of making small talk at dinner with his client's kids is almost as nauseating as the vodka in my bloodstream. “I already made friends, Dad. I'm good.”
“Presley, I'd like you come to dinner,” he says and I can tell it's not an offer I can refuse.
I sigh. “Fine.”
He pats my arm. “Thank you. Be ready to go at six. I'll come home beforehand to change and pick you.”
“Great.”
“Do you need a ride today?”
I shake my head and pull the crust off the toast. “No. Bridget is going to pick me up.”
“You like her?” he asks. “You had a good day yesterday?”
I nod. “Yes and yes.”
“What did you do last night?'
I think for a moment. “I went to her house, just to hang out. Nothing big.”
“Good,” he says, patting my arm again. “I was so tired when I got home, I went straight to bed without checking on you. I figured you were tired, too.”
Which I knew was going to be the case, so I knew I wouldn't get caught being at the beach until after midnight.
“Yeah, I was,” I tell him. “So it was fine.”
“You're okay?” he asks, eyeing me.
I swallow down more orange juice and manage a nod. “Yeah, I'm fine. School was fine. It's cool.”
He looks at me for one more second then seems satisfied as he stands up. “Good, I'm glad. Okay. I've gotta run, but I'll be home to get you at six.” He kisses me goodbye and is out the door.
I eat half the toast and push the plate away. I'm not fine, of course. I'm hungover, I'm tired, and I'm pissed off. Hungover from the vodka, tired from the lack of sleep, and pissed off from Trevor Robinson.
I hate that seeing Shanna on top of him at the beach bothers me so much. When I realized it was him, my stomach turned. I wanted to run over to them and kick her off of him, but I froze instead. And everyone saw it. I couldn't hide it.
And I'm not sure what that means now.
My phone buzzes and I see Bridget's name on the screen telling me she's in the driveway. I put the glass and the plate in the sink, grab my stuff, and head out.
“Are you feeling as bad as I am?” she asks when I get in.
“Worse, I think.”
“I'd like to cut my own head off so it stops pounding.”
“Same.”
She backs us out of the driveway. “I wasn't even sure you'd be up after everything you drank at the end.”
After I saw Shanna and Trevor, we'd gone back to her car and I'd hoarded a bottle of vodka for myself. We'd found a place in the sand with Gina and Maddie and I knew I'd emptied most of it before I got home. It was anger drinking, something I couldn't ever recall having done and it was dumb and I was pretty sure I never wanted to see vodka again.
Or, at least for awhile.
“I set three alarms,” I tell her. “When I shook myself from the coma, I got in the shower and turned it on full blast. And cold.”
“Torture.”
“Otherwise, I'd be in bed.”
She glances at me. “Are you okay?”
I shrug. “Yeah.”
“You know there will be some shit today at school, right?”
I look at her. “What do you mean?”
She keeps her eyes on the road. “I mean, the fact that Shanna dry humped Trevor right into the ground last night wasn't a coincidence.” She pauses. “She did that to get back at Derek. And maybe you.”
“Me? What does it have to do with me?”
“Are you still drunk?” she asks. “She thinks you're after Derek or Derek lied to her about doing shit with you or I don't know, but she already thinks that. And she knows Trevor was into you. And most girls who Trevor gets into reciprocate. So she's thinking that by mauling him on the beach, she was killing two birds with one stone.”
I look away out the window. I have zero interest in Derek. Zero. But I don't like being used as some sort of pawn in whatever game Shanna thought she was playing.
And I didn't think I had any interest in Trevor. I'd been furious with him for carrying me to the beach and acting like I belonged to him.
But seeing Shanna on top of him upset me.
And thinking about it again in the car is nearly enough to turn my stomach again.
“I don't want the drama,” I say to Bridget. “I'm over it.”
“You may not want it, but I think it's coming for you.” She starts to say something else, then stops.
“What?” I ask.
She stops at a stop sign, checks the traffic, then starts moving again. “I saw your face.”
“You saw my face?”
“When you saw them,” she says. “Shanna and Trevor.”
“Did I look like I was going to puke?”
Bridget thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. “No. You looked...super pissed. Like, you didn't like what you were seeing.”
I don't say anything.
“Look, I get it,” she says. “He's clearly into you. Or was or whatever. And I don't know what happened when he took you down to the beach--”
“Nothing happened when he took me down to the beach.”
“I know,” she says. “I know. And don't bite my head off. I'm on your side, Presley.”
I slump in my seat. “I know you a
re. Sorry. And thank you.”
“All I'm pointing out is that you didn't react like you didn't care,” she says. “It seems like you cared. A lot. And I don't think I'm the only one that saw that.”
I'm sure that she wasn't. And I hate that I'd reacted that way.
“You warned me,” I say.
She turns into the school parking lot. “I warned you?”
I nod. “Yeah. You warned me.”
She finds her parking spot for the car and shuts off the engine. “Warned you about what?”
“About him,” I say. “About Trevor.”
She jingles the keys in the palm of her hand. “Oh. Well, yeah.”
I gather up my bag and set it on my lap. “You said he'd turn my life into a shit show. And I think the show has already started.”
THIRTEEN
I'm at my locker, throwing books into it, when I feel someone looming behind me. I hesitate for a moment before I turn around.
And I'm surprised by who I see.
“Hi,” Derek says.
He looks tired. There are dark circles under his eyes and his shoulders don't seem as broad as they did the day before. He's got a book and iPad in one hand. He's wearing shorts and a gray T-shirt. His hair is sort of a mess, but almost in a worked over kind of way.
“Nothing to say to you,” I say, then turn back around to my locker.
“Yeah,” he says, his voice quiet. “Yeah. Hey, look, I just wanted to say sorry, alright?”
I don't say anything, staring into my locker.
“I just wanted to say sorry for acting like a jerk last night,” he says. “I was drunk and being an asshole. Not making any excuses. I don't even remember what I said, but I'm sure I was a prick. So I just wanted to say sorry.”
Those aren't the words I'm expecting to hear and they take me by surprise. I rearrange the books in my locker, close the door, and turn back around to him. “Okay.”
He runs a hand through his hair, glancing at me, then the ground. “I just...I don't know. I was just being an asshole and it wasn't cool and I'm sorry if I did anything to you. Won't happen again.”
“Maybe you should tell Shanna that, too,” I say.
“Fuck her,” he snarls, anger flashing across his face. “I'm not telling her shit.”
“Okay,” I say. “Sorry.”
The anger disappears again. “Sorry. Didn't mean that for you. But...I'm just not talking to her right now.”
I think back to the night before. “I get it.”
“But I didn't say shit about us doing anything,” he says, looking at me. “I know she was telling people we did, but that wasn't from me. None of that came from me. Just so you know.”
I looked at him and I realize that I believe him. “Okay. So why did she do it then?”
“Because she's a bitch,” he says. “I don't know. You'd have to ask her.”
“I plan to,” I say.
A small smile creeps onto his face. “For real?”
I nod.
“Well, good luck,” he says. He pauses. “But I just wanted to say sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Thanks,” I say and I wonder if I've gotten him all wrong.
I start to say something to that effect when I catch a glimpse of someone at the end of the hall.
Trevor.
He's in shorts and a black long sleeved T-shirt. He's carrying coffee and flanked by Brett and Jake, like always. The three of them are laughing about something, but Trevor's laugh dies off when he sees Derek and me.
I feel the butterflies and the anger and everything else he stirred up in me at the beach the day before school, during school yesterday, and then at the party. I hate that anyone had a hold on me like that. I don't want it and I don't need it.
Before I can stop myself, I reach up for Derek, slide my hand behind his neck, and pull him toward me. I kiss him hard and while he's surprised, he doesn't resist. I let him go and he's looking at me, like he's trying to figure me out.
“Uh,” he says. “Okay. Wasn't expecting that.”
I look past him down the hall.
Trevor is standing there, looking like he's capable of committing murder.
Mission accomplished.
“Me, either,” I say and walk away before I can do anything else stupid.
FOURTEEN
“The hell were you thinking, Presley?” Bridget asks.
It's lunchtime and we are back at The Hut, our food in front of us, and word of my stunt with Derek has apparently made it's way around the school. She and Maddie and Gina are all staring at me, waiting for an answer.
“I wasn't,” I finally say. “I was being an idiot.”
“Was he a good kisser?” Maddie asks, grabbing at a fry. “Derek really has great lips.”
The four of us laugh and it breaks the tension.
“I don't know,” I say, more to Bridget than Maddie. “He apologized for last night. Then I saw Trevor in the hallway and all I could think about was Shanna on him and I...don't know. I just wanted to piss him off. I don't know if I did or not. It was stupid.”
“Oh, it pissed him off,” Gina says, unwrapping her burger. “It definitely pissed him off.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
“Because he's in first period with me,” she says. “Some kid was in his seat and when he didn't get up fast enough, Trevor dumped his coffee on him then told him he'd rip his face off later.” She took a bite of the burger and swallowed. “Even for him, that was a bit much first thing in the morning. So he was definitely pissed.”
I look down at my food and suddenly don't feel like eating.
“I heard he got tossed from second,” Maddie says, shoving the straw into her shake. “Something about telling a teacher to go fuck themselves.”
“Shit,” I say.
“You didn't do that,” Bridget says. “He did.”
But she's wrong. I was the one who pissed him off and he took it out on other people. I'd done it to make him mad and it worked.
But it didn't make me feel any better.
“Oh, shit,” Gina whispers, her eyes moving past me. “Looks like someone else heard, too. Hags, incoming.”
Before I can turn around, I can smell the perfume and hairspray. Shanna materializes at the edge of the table, Lisa and Jessica behind her.
“This is a no bitch zone,” Maddie says. “Keep moving.”
Shanna doesn't even acknowledge her, instead staring at me. “What the fuck is your problem?”
“You interrupting my lunch,” I say.
“I've already warned you,” she says. “Stay away from Derek.”
“Didn't look like you were too worried about Derek last night,” Bridget says.
“Assume your knees are all scraped up today,” Gina adds. “Sand can hurt.”
“Fuck you both,” she says through her teeth, then looks at me again. “I'm warning you. Stay away from him.”
“He came to me,” I say. “And I know you told everyone I jerked him off in the bathroom last night. I didn't, but now I wish I had.” I reach for a fry. “Maybe I will anyway.”
Gina chuckles, but everyone else is silent. Shanna looks like she's ready to explode.
“You don't want to mess with me,” she hisses.
I make a show of eating the french fry. “You're right. I don't. So go away.”
She leans closer to my ear and it takes every bit of strength I have to not lean away.
“I'll make your life miserable,” she whispers. “More than it already is. Back the fuck off.”
There is something wicked, something nasty in her words and it scares me. I hate myself for letting her scare me, but it's done. I regret kissing Derek and seeing her on Trevor and coming to this school and not fighting my father harder to avoid moving. Everything that felt right about the first day now feels wrong.
We are momentarily interrupted by the roar of Trevor's truck pulling into the lot. He takes up two spots and the music is spilling from the windows. H
e climbs out with Brett and Jake and they saunter into the restaurant.
“And I may just fuck him for fun,” Shanna whispers.
My stomach knots at the thought of her doing more than making out with him.
“Don't fuck with me, bitch,” she says.
She grabs my drink and pours it into my lap, the ice and soda spilling all over me.
Jessica and Lisa giggle behind her.
She sets the cup down.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Bridget says.
“Gladly,” Shanna says. “Later, bitches.”
She and her friends leave the table.
I shift my legs and the ice slides off of me and hits the ground. Gina is yanking napkins out of the holder and passing them to me, so I can dry myself off. I can feel the eyes of everyone in the restaurant on me and I want to disappear.
“We can go,” Bridget says.
The others nod.
“No,” I say. “It's fine. I'm fine.” I use the napkins to mop up my shorts, my shirt, and my lap. “We don't have to leave.”
“I'm sorry, Presley,” Maddie says. “We should've done something.”
“Nothing to do,” I tell her. “It's not your fault.”
And that's true. There's nothing to do and what happened wasn't their fault. It had been my doing and Shanna got me back. I just have to swallow it and take it.
I hold up my empty cup. “I'm gonna get more to drink. Anyone else need anything?”
They all shake their heads, but don't say a word.
I stand up and stare at the drink machine because I know if I look anywhere else, I'll see people looking at me. I march over to the machine like it's the only thing I care about, holding back the tears I can feel forming in my eyes. I jam the cup against the ice trigger, letting the cubes all into the cup. I fill it halfway full with soda. I take a drink and turn around.
Trevor is over by the door, leaning down, as Shanna whispers into his ear. Her hand is on his chest. His eyes are searching the dining area until they settle on me.
Then that corner of his mouth turns upward.
Her hand slides down his chest and stops right at his waist and she finally steps away from him, looking back over her shoulder as she does. Her eyes find me and her smile is much bigger than his.