Screw it. I needed to surf. I needed to get out on the water and forget everything and everyone. Even if it was just for a few hours. After I texted Taylor that I couldn’t drive her today, I grabbed my board and headed downstairs to grab a bite.
Too bad Brandon was sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast when I came downstairs. Already, this day had gone from crappy to worse. “Skipping school again. That’s no surprise. I actually didn’t think you knew how to wake up before noon.”
I grabbed a couple of blueberry muffins that Mom had baked the day before from the plate on the counter. Without reacting to his jab, I turned around to face him and stuffed half of one into my mouth, knowing that he hated when I talked with my mouth full. One of the few hundred things he hated about me. “And I didn’t think that you knew how to be a douche bag 24/7, but somehow you managed that,” I finally commented without swallowing.
He glared at me over his plate. “I don’t understand how that Simmons girl could stand being around you. She should be smart enough to know that she deserves better than that.”
“Yeah, well, you would know all about smart women staying with jerks, wouldn’t you?”
Brandon slammed his hands on the table and glowered at me. “If there’s anyone who was a jerk to your mom, then it was your deadbeat dad. She should have left that bastard before he even ended up in jail. Thank god she finally realized it in the end. Just like your little girlfriend will soon realize that you’re going nowhere. She’s about to get out of this town and make something of herself. Do you really think she needs someone like you weighing her down?”
In a burst of fury, I grabbed his shirt collar and yanked him toward me. His fists punched at my arms and shoulders, but I didn’t care. I didn’t feel any of it. “Shut the hell up before I beat your ass so hard you—”
“Brandon! Evan! You let him go this instant!”
I loosened my grip, but I still didn’t let go. “Great timing, Mom.”
She dropped the groceries at her feet and pulled at my arms. “I said let him go!”
Scowling, I finally released him, and Brandon stumbled backward. His face was purplish red. He massaged his shoulders and neck with both hands and glowered at me. “That’s it! I don’t care if he’s your son, Eva. I won’t take this anymore. I meant what I said before. Once he graduates, I’m kicking him out of this house.”
I took a step toward him. “Why don’t I save us both the trouble and just leave right now?”
“You said it. Now, pack your bags and get the hell out of here before I call the police on you. You ungrateful piece of—”
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Mom suddenly burst out. “Both of you!”
Brandon and I were so surprised that we both stopped yelling and stared at her. In the four years that Brandon and Mom had been together, she had never yelled at him before. Hell, I never even heard her talk to him in a loud voice, much less her “You better listen to me before I get even more pissed off” voice. Even I rarely got that voice. Only once, when I got in a fight with Brandon’s nephew at their wedding. (I won. Although it didn’t feel like much a win after Mom was through with me.)
She let out a shaky, deep breath and shook her head. “Brandon, don’t you have a surgery this morning? You don’t want to be late, do you?”
Brandon looked like he wanted to argue, but for once, he was smart and decided to keep his mouth shut. He just nodded and left the kitchen.
Mom closed her eyes and massaged her forehead with one hand before bending down to gather the dropped groceries. “Great, you made me break the carton of eggs I just bought. How am I supposed to make treats for you and Taylor now?”
“Sorry, Mom.” I stooped down to help her. “I’ll pick up another carton later.”
“Yeah, you better.”
Not wanting to piss her off even more, I grabbed a towel from the oven handle and handed it to Mom so she could wipe up the battered eggs. I continued to pick up the rest of the stuff without another word. I even crawled beneath the kitchen table to retrieve some bruised peaches.
Finally, when there was nothing left to do, I shifted my weight side to side and cleared my throat to get her attention. “I’m sorry for … you know, before. I shouldn’t have grabbed him like that.” Or at least next time, I’d make sure I didn’t have an audience. Especially if he ever mentioned Taylor and Dad again.
“I don’t blame you. I heard what he said.” She arranged the canned foods in the pantry beside the stove. “He shouldn’t have talked about your dad like that.”
I blinked at her. Wow, another first. Mom was actually admitting that her saintly husband did something wrong. In defense of Dad. Sort of.
This was the first time she had ever brought Dad up in a conversation. I wanted to continue being pissed at her, but I couldn’t. I think a small part of me always realized that she knew where he was. After all, she knew everything else.
“He talks like that all the time,” I said with a shrug. “Why are you finally seeing how much of a jerk he is now?”
“He’s very good to me, Evan. To both of us,” she said with a sigh, as if that should absolve him of all his flaws. Maybe to her, it did.
“He’s good to you. He’s tolerable toward me.”
“Well, can you blame him? You push him every time you’re around each other.”
I scowled but didn’t say anything. It was true. I guess I did deliberately piss him off every chance I got. But it wasn’t like I was the only one. He did, too.
“I know you think that he’s the reason why I kept your dad away from you, but it was my decision.” She ran her hands up and down her legs as though the friction would give her more courage. “I love Brandon, Evan.”
“Okay…” I didn’t see where she was going with this.
Mom let out a deep breath. “But I also love your dad. Even now. And Brandon knows it. But he loves me so much that he doesn’t care as long as I stay with him. I wish he felt the same way about you, but you just remind him of your dad and that I don’t love him in the same way that he loves me.”
I gripped the countertop in both hands and leaned against it. There was no denying that Brandon was good to Mom. Really good. That was the only redeeming quality he had. And the only reason I couldn’t completely hate him. But now—after Mom’s explanation—I kind of felt sorry for the guy. “But how could you stay with him if you’re in love with Dad? Why didn’t you just stay with Dad?”
She lifted her eyes to stare at the ceiling. “You have to understand. Love is wonderful, but it’s not everything. And it’s not enough. Life with your dad was hard. I never knew where he was, what he was doing, or when he’d come home. And I was so tired of taking care of everything. Especially after my double shifts at the hospital.” Mom finally lowered her head to look at me. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Shit. I knew life had been hard for Mom, but I didn’t think it was that bad. “Sorry, Mom. I didn’t know.”
“But things are better now. Which is why I usually turn a blind eye whenever you two argue,” she continued. “But Brandon was wrong to talk about Taylor like that. Is that why you’re so pissed?”
“Don’t worry, I rarely listen to him,” I said, evading her comment about Taylor. Not wanting to even admit the truth to myself.
I thought I was immune to any stupid crap that Brandon said, but I couldn’t help snapping when he talked about Taylor. Especially when his words brought back images of Taylor and Brian together in his car. I knew that Brian had a thing for Taylor. It was impossible not to notice him glaring at us whenever we were together. Or how he was always by Taylor’s side, helping her, studying with her, talking to her. The only person who didn’t see it was Taylor.
So yeah, I knew. But I didn’t know how it would feel when she was actually in his arms. When it looked like she was going to leave me and go to him. I wasn’t ready for the anger and the wave of frustration that hit me at the sight of them. It was like nothing I had felt before. And it sucked as
s.
Mom interrupted my thoughts. A bright smile crossed her face, like she hadn’t just been pouring out her heart to me seconds ago. “Taylor’s with you, though, isn’t she? She chose you. If she cared about all that other stuff, then she would have gone out with Brian Long instead of you.”
For a split second, I thought I had been talking out loud, and that’s how she knew about Brian and Taylor. “How do you know about Brian?” I realized by the way that she was avoiding my eyes that she may know more than she was saying. “Mom?”
She fidgeted with the wooden spoons hanging beside the stove. “I just heard … some things…”
This wasn’t leading anywhere good. “Mom…”
“Okay, okay. I … may have asked the other parents and teachers at your school. Got to know some people who are friends with his family. And … done some Internet stalking on the boy. Did you know that he won Ohio’s Scholastic Award for three years straight before he moved here? And that he already has college credits for English, calculus, and chemistry because of his AP classes?” She waved her hand in the air like it was no big deal, but I could tell that she was impressed. Who wouldn’t be, with those kind of stats?
“No, I didn’t.” Man, Mom really knew how to kick me when I was already feeling like crap. She didn’t mean to, but all this just reminded me even more that even if I was starting to like Taylor—and I’m not saying that I was—I didn’t deserve her. She should be with someone like Brian, the Golden Boy. Not the town’s slacker.
I don’t know if the expression on my face changed or she suddenly realized what she’d said, but Mom leaned across the counter and patted my arm. “But other than that, he’s not very impressive. And none of that matters, right? Like I said, she chose you. You’re the one that she likes.”
“Yeah. Right.”
She was wrong. Taylor didn’t have a choice. Not then and not now. But maybe it was time that I gave her the chance to make things right again. To give her back her choice.
16
{Taylor}
Throughout the rest of the week, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with Evan. He skipped school more, and I could have sworn he was avoiding me. When we did see each other, he was still his laughing, joking self, but I just knew that something was wrong. And I was determined to help. Somehow.
But first I had to find him. And since Evan wasn’t in school again, I had to settle for the next best thing.
Aaron’s eyes widened when he saw me waiting by his locker, and his steps faltered. Despite being a huge football player, he always looked like a deer stuck in headlights when I talked to him. I was always nice to him, but I don’t think he forgot that one time I was pissed at Evan after our one-night stand. (There was no other way to refer to that night.) Not exactly my best moment.
“Hi, Aaron. How was class?”
He sneaked glances at me as he twirled the combination on his locker. “It was all right, I guess. What’s up?”
“I was just wondering … do you know where Evan is? He’s not picking up his phone.” I fiddled with the coin necklace that Evan had given me while I waited for his answer.
Aaron shook his head. “No. I thought if anyone knew where he was, it’d be you.”
“I don’t. Do you know if he has any plans later tonight, then?”
With a small frown, he leaned against the locker next to his and chewed on his thumbnail. “There’s a party at Wrightsville Beach tonight. I’m pretty sure Evan’s going to be there. In fact, now that I think about it, he’s probably there now. He cuts school sometimes to go there during the day. That’s his favorite place to surf.”
“It is?”
“Yeah.” He gave me a funny look, and I almost smacked my forehead for slipping. That was probably something that a good girlfriend should know. “Do you know where it is?”
“I think so. I passed it before when I went to Carolina Beach with Brian.” Another funny look. Darn it. A good girlfriend probably didn’t talk about their dates with other guys so casually. Even though it wasn’t really a date. “Carly was with us, too.”
Aaron shoved a couple of books into his locker and slammed it closed. He turned to face me again, tugging on his left earlobe with his hand. “I can drive you to the party if you want a ride,” he offered to the locker over my head.
I struggled not to laugh. Even though he still looked a little skittish, I wanted to give him a huge hug. He could barely talk to me for a few minutes, yet he was offering to drive me to a party. The ride would be too torturous for us both. “No, that’s all right. Thanks, though.”
“No problem.” He turned to leave, but tilted his head around to nod at me. “See you at the party.”
“Bye.” A smile crossed my face when he disappeared from sight. Aaron really was a sweetheart. He was too awesome not to have a girlfriend. I would hook him up with Carly, but I’m pretty sure she’d eat him alive.
Speaking of the man-eater. I dug my phone out of my pocket and speed-dialed Carly’s number. “Hey, Carly, do you mind if I borrow your car tonight?”
* * *
I realized too late that I could have just waited for him at his house. It wasn’t like he was never going to come home. And it was probably a bad idea to come to the beach party. Especially with all the laughing drunk people roaming around the large bonfire. I wished Carly were here with me, but she was being dragged to some career seminar with her mom.
Five minutes later, I was sure it was a bad idea. Stupid, stupid idea. I wove my way through the crowd, trying to avoid getting stepped on or having a drink tossed in my face, when someone pulled me back from behind.
“Taylor! You’re here!”
“Er, hi.” I saw a glimpse of Aaron’s face before he swept me into a tight bear hug, like we hadn’t seen each other for years instead of just a few hours. My feet dangled over the sand for a few moments as I struggled to breathe. I patted his shoulder to get his attention. “Where’s Evan?”
“Evan? He’s drinking somewhere over there.” His hand waved around the entire party.
Great. That was really helpful. “Somewhere over there” covered about a hundred or so teenagers drinking and shimmying down each other’s bodies to the music. Even though I was their age—younger, since I’d skipped a grade—I felt as out of place as a hippo at a Sunday tea party.
I tried to slip away, but Aaron was too fast and tugged me right back. He pulled me into a tight embrace as though we were dancing. My head was smooshed against his neck, and the alcoholic fumes hit me in the face when I tried to pull away. Urgh. He was stinking, fall-on-your-back, stick-your-head-in-the-toilet drunk. As further proof, his red-rimmed eyes squinted down at me. “Let’s go find him, Tay!”
He maneuvered us around and half tangoed, half skipped into the center of the party.
We had barely taken ten steps when three other large guys decided to join us in the “fun.” They whooped and hollered around me, and we all danced—well, they danced, I stumbled—toward the fire.
I never imagined I would ever be in a center of a guy pile and be this miserable. This was as close to an orgy as I’d ever get. And I was beginning to think it was severely overrated.
“Let her go!”
Even though that was the same thing I had been telling them to do for several minutes, they listened to the commanding female voice and fell away from me. I straightened up with a sigh and a grateful smile for my savior, which instantly faded when I realized whom it was.
“Well, look who we have here. Little Ms. Perfect’s finally off her throne for the weekend.”
Lauren. Lauren and her curvy body clad in tight jeans and a white tank top, on display in all its glory. The bright-red bikini top shone through the thin fabric. How the heck was she not freezing? My shirt had sleeves and goose bumps were still popping up all over my arms. Maybe her snarkiness kept her warm. Like an internal mean girl heater.
Her auburn, curly hair was loosely braided to hang midway down her back. Sh
e managed to look innocent, sensual, ethereal, wild, and reserved all at the same time. I didn’t know how she managed to look like she could take over the world with one hand yet wouldn’t mind the occasional shoulder to lean on once in a while. But I could see why Evan used to date her. Any guy would jump to do her bidding. Guys were such idiots.
God, I hated her.
My head whipped back and forth as I searched for someone to save me. Anyone. Given the choice, I’d rather go back to the orgy. “Um, yeah. Great party.”
“You don’t belong here,” she said, hands on either side of her hips.
“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes before realizing I’d said it out loud. Lauren stared at me as though I were a water slug slithering up the shore to join the party. No, scratch that. The slug would have been more welcome than I was. “Uh, do you know where Evan is?”
The hardened expression on her face showed that she did know where he was, but that didn’t mean she was going to tell me. Not by the tight line her red lips formed.
Was this hostility because she didn’t think I belonged here or because she didn’t think I belonged with Evan? If you asked me, she never deserved him. She was clearly an A-rated bitch, while Evan was … well, Evan.
Either way, it didn’t look like I was going get past the bodyguard anytime soon. “You know what? Never mind, I’m gonna go.”
I had barely taken a few steps when her voice reached me. “Yeah, you better go back to your precious books. Best to leave Evan with people who really understand him.”
“What makes you think I don’t understand him?”
Lauren looked me up and down and sneered. Yes, sneered. Her left hand spread wide on her hip. “Do you really need to ask?”
That was it. I’d had enough of her smug ass. I crossed my arms and stood my ground. “On second thought, I think I’ll stay. I am Evan’s girlfriend. Why shouldn’t I hang out with his friends?”
Ouch. I knew I had hit a sore spot when her mouth fell open. She recovered pretty quickly and looked around at the people watching us as if we were a reality show. Like that would ever happen. I’d need another two cup sizes before a show about my life would ever have a chance of getting picked up.
The Way to Game the Walk of Shame Page 15