“Jayden is totally into you!” Lena exclaimed as soon as he was gone. She turned to me with a huge smile on her face.
“But I just moved here,” was the only thing I replied. I was very flattered, but I had only known him for a little more than a day.
“So?”
“So, I’m still not used to everything. I really don’t need a boyfriend right now when I’m stuck here.” I sighed and pushed my potatoes around on my tray. “Besides, I don’t even know why he’s here.” He could be dangerous for all I knew.
“He broke into a pharmacy,” Lena replied automatically.
So she’s snooped around in more than one personal file.
“Why would he break into a pharmacy?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “To steal money? Drugs? Maybe even both?”
“So he may or may not be a druggie,” I stated.
Lena shrugged again.
I sighed and turned back to my food. I wasn’t very hungry.
“Hello, ladies.” Lexi suddenly appeared in the spot that Jayden had vacated from just moments ago, with the twins on either side of her. They all simultaneously folded their hands on top of the table as if they were playing the Shadow Game.
“Lexi!” Lena exclaimed excitedly. “Hi.”
Lexi flicked a cold glance at Lena. “Hello, Lena.” She shifted her dark brown eyes to me. They were so dark that they looked like vast, empty pools. “Emma.”
My brows furrowed slightly. “How do you know my name?”
“You’re the new girl,” she replied breezily. “Everyone is talking about you.”
“They are?” I glanced around and caught a few people looking over at us. I wasn’t sure if they were looking because I was the new girl or because Lexi–who was obviously the prettiest girl in the lunchroom (despite her being no thicker than a twig, with shoulders that jutted out like broken bird wings)–was sitting at our table.
Lexi nodded, making her ponytail sway behind her head. “It’s not every day someone new comes here.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Lena asked brightly.
Lexi slowly turned her head to look at her. “No, though we’re having a little…get together this weekend.” Her gazed flickered to me, then back to Lena. “I was wondering if you two would like to come?”
“Sure. That sounds fun.” Lena looked at me. I tried to tell her no with eyes, but if she saw the message, she ignored me. She turned back to Lexi and said, “We’ll be there.”
“Great.” She smiled, but it wasn’t a warm smile. It was icy. So icy that I swore I could feel my blood crystalize inside my veins. She stood up abruptly and the twins followed suit. “We’ll see you there.” Then she left.
I watched Lexi leave until I heard someone sit down in front of me. Snapping my head, I saw that it was only Jayden.
“What was Lexi doing talking to you guys?” he asked.
“She invited us to a party,” Lena replied quickly.
“Huh.” He looked down and cracked his knuckles. “Weird.”
“Weird?” I felt as though Jayden was sharing the same confusion that I was feeling. “What do you mean?”
“Lexi never talks to anyone,” he replied, shifting his gaze to look at me.
“Really? Then how is she so popular?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I honestly have no clue. It’s like she casts a spell over everyone around her. Practically all the guys want to screw her, and nearly all the girls want to be her.”
A chill shimmied through me. I scanned the cafeteria and spotted Lexi sitting at a table across the room. I sucked in a deep breath out of fear and surprise.
She was looking at me. And something in her eyes told me to watch my back.
SEVEN
“HERE, YOU CAN borrow this.” Lena handed over a tiny black dress to me on Saturday evening.
I took the dress and observed it. It was tiny and made of black velvet with spaghetti straps. It was definitely something I would never wear. “It’s awfully small.”
“That’s the whole point!” Lena exclaimed. She turned toward the full-length mirror that hung on the back of my dorm room door. “Em, there are going to boys there.”
“But…”
“No buts! Besides, you’re new here. This will be a great way to meet people.” She quickly added some shiny lip gloss to her lips, then hurried to the door. “I’ll be waiting for you out in the hall.” Then before I could object any further, she left.
I sighed and started to undress from the clothes I had worn today and slipped on the dress. The dress was tight all over. I groaned as I turned back toward the mirror and reached down, trying to pull the bottom hem further down. The dress ended just below my butt. I felt way too exposed.
I don’t understand why we’re even going to this stupid party, I thought, watching as the material of the dress sprung back into its original form. I blew a hearty breath through puckered lips, sending some small hairs to flutter upwards. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell Lena that I didn’t want to go. Not without letting her down, at least.
“Are you almost done?”
“Yeah!” I wasn’t going to put on make-up. There wasn’t anyone there that I wanted to impress. Besides, I was never into the whole “dress-up” thing. I liked the way I looked. I liked my long blond waves and sky-blue eyes. But if I could change one thing about myself, it would be the random scatter of moles on the outside corner of my left eye and the soft scatter of freckles along the bridge of my nose and shoulders. They made me look childish.
“Em!” Lena called again.
“Sorry.” I tucked my room key that hung from my neck, into my dress and hurried to the door. I swung it open, finding Lena standing out in the hall in her shiny jungle green dress. Her dark auburn hair was loose and fell straight down her back.
“Squee!” Lena clapped excitedly. “You look great!”
“Can we just get this over with?” I asked irritably.
“Yeah. Follow me.” She spun on her heels and started down the hall. I followed her.
“So where is this party?” I asked after we walked a few minutes in silence. Every time I moved my legs, I was afraid of my dress riding up on me. I struggled to keep it down.
“It’s at the base of Lover’s Leap,” Lena replied. Then she glanced over her shoulder and looked slyly at me. “Did anyone tell you about the cliff?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Jayden told me.”
“And it doesn’t scare you?”
I frowned slightly. “No. Why should it?”
Lena didn’t say anything. She just turned around and looked ahead.
We hurried through the halls, making our way to the grand staircase.
“Hold on.” Lena shot a hand out to stop me just before we rounded a corner. “I hear someone,” she whispered.
I held my breath, listening, though all I could hear was the quickened beating of my heart.
This is it, I thought, feeling my back start to sweat. It suddenly felt really warm in here. We’re going to get caught and be written up for a month’s worth of detentions.
“Okay, they’re gone,” Lena said, snapping me out of my worried thoughts. “Come on.” Before I could react, she grabbed my arm and pulled me forward.
I gasped in surprise.
“Where are we going?” I asked after a few moments. We arrived to the grand staircase leading to the foyer. We quickly hurried down them.
“The back door.” She let go of my arm and took off ahead of me.
“Wait!” I rushed forward, nearly tripping on my heels a couple of times. I followed her down the rest of the stairs, then around the corner toward the back door where Lena was waiting.
“Come on!” She threw open the door and rushed outside.
“Lena!” I whisper-shouted. I ran after her, shoving the door close after me. Outside, it was dark. The moon was obscured by wispy dark clouds, and there was not a star to be seen. I squinted my eyes and looked around,
struggling to see through the darkness. “Lena, where are you?”
“I’m over here.” There was a sudden beam of light that shined right into my face. I had to hold up my hands in front of my face to shield my eyes. “Follow me.”
When the light dropped, I uncovered my eyes and saw that Lena was walking away by the bobbing of her flashlight. I quickly hurried after her.
We were silent as we walked across the backyard and through the bare trees that hid the path to Lover’s Leap.
Music filled the air. It was soft at first, but then grew louder with every step that I took. When we got close to the cliff, I had the sudden urge to look over it. At the same time, I wanted to run in the opposite direction.
“This way,” Lena called. She started down a path to my left that led to the side of the cliff. Glancing once more at the edge, I hurried after her.
Golden light spilled out from inside a cave at the base of Lover’s Leap. The music was loud and I could feel the wild energy pulsing through the air.
“Be careful; the rocks are slippery,” Lena called, her voice being blown by the wind and drowned out by the sound of water. We stepped from jagged rock to jagged rock that clustered near the base until we reached the opening.
“What’s up, Lena?” some guy greeted as soon as we stepped into the cave. Inside, there were many people, most of them whom I didn’t recognize. Further inside, there was a fire going with giant logs placed around it as benches.
“Not much. I brought Em so she can mingle and get to know some people,” Lena replied.
“Oh yeah?” The boy looked at me, his eyes glinting in the dim lighting. He bit the inside of his lip as his eyes slowly scoped over my body. I had the sudden urge to knee this guy in the dick.
“Lena!”
“Margot!” She turned to me. “Come with me and meet Margot. Seriously, you’re going to love her.” Then she turned back the other way and started toward a girl with mid-length, raven-black hair.
I closed my eyes and sighed. This was going to be a very long night.
***
About an hour later, I sat on one of the logs, soaking in the heat of the fire. I was cold in my tiny black dress. I looked across from me and saw Lexi sitting with some girls that I didn’t recognize, her eyes on me. Gulping nervously, I quickly glanced away. I stared into the center of the fire with my arms wrapped around me, watching little blue flames dance around as the music sounded all around me, echoing off the cave’s slick walls.
“Hey.”
I jumped a little when I heard the familiar voice. Turning my head to the side, I saw Jayden settle on the log beside me. He smiled warmly as the light from the fire reflected on his face.
“Hey.” I smiled meekly, wrapping my arms tighter around myself.
“Cold?”
“A little,” I confessed.
“Here.” Jayden shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to me.
“But won’t you be cold?” I asked, though reaching for the jacket.
“Nah.” He shook his head.
I took the jacket and slipped my arms through the sleeves. It was brown leather that was soft and faded from over the years of wear. And it smelled like Jayden’s cologne, which smelled amazing.
I smiled sheepishly at him. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He smiled back.
“So, nice party, huh?” I started, feeding the silence between us.
“I guess its okay,” Jayden replied with a shrug.
I nudged my knee against his. “What about you? Having fun?”
He shrugged again. “Not really. My roommate wanted to come here, so I felt the need to go and make sure that he doesn’t get too wasted and do something stupid.”
“Oh. And where is your roommate?”
Jayden pointed toward my right to a couple making out against the cave’s wall. I laughed lightly as I turned back to Jayden. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his curls. “So, why did you come?”
“Lena,” I replied. “She convinced me to come saying stuff like ‘how much it will get me to talk’ and ‘get to know other people.’” I rolled my eyes. So much for that.
“And have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Talked to people?”
I shook my head. “No, not really. This guy came up to me, trying to hit on me, but that was it.”
“What a douchebag.” Jayden looked into the fire and shook his head.
I didn’t say anything, though secretly agreed.
“Hey, want to go somewhere a little quieter?” Jayden asked.
I looked around. There were people everywhere; sitting around the fire, dancing to the music, making out against the walls…And the music seemed amplified in the tiny place. I nodded. “Sure.”
Jayden and I both stood up from our spot on the log and moved toward the opening.
“Watch your step,” Jayden said as we made our way out of the cave and across the rocks.
Just as he said that, my foot started to slip and I started to tilt. “Whoa!”
“I’ve got you.” Suddenly, Jayden’s hand shot out and grabbed mine. He yanked me over to him, steadying me against his body.
I tilted my head up to look at him. We were so close... “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He did that sexy half-smile before slowly releasing me.
After a moment, we were settled on some rocks right next to the water. I could smell the saltiness of the ocean and was awed at the sight of the silvery moon reflecting off its dark, rippling surface.
“So, how are you holding up here?” Jayden asked. With the quietness wrapped around us, I could actually hear him clearly. It was nice.
“I don’t know. I guess like everyone else, I suppose.”
Jayden chuckled warmly.
“I don’t get it,” I said, turning my head to look at him.
“Get what?” he asked.
“Why you’re here.” Then before I could register what I was saying, I blurted, “I mean, I know you robbed a pharmacy and all, but you don’t seem like the person to do something like that.” As soon as the words came out of me, I cringed. Shit, why did I just say that?
Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know that?”
“Lena?” I replied meekly.
He sighed and turned to face the ocean. He stared off into the distance, as if imagining himself somewhere else. Some place better.
I didn’t think he was going to say anything. I opened my mouth to apologize, but just before I could, he said, “I didn’t technically rob it.”
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I waited for him to continue.
“My sister has asthma,” he continued after a moment. “She was acting up, and she didn’t have any medicine left. Thankfully we had already ordered her some more, but the problem was, the pharmacy was closed and wouldn’t be open until the next morning. I didn’t have a choice. We needed her medication now. So I sprinted the four blocks and broke into the pharmacy to get her medicine. I didn’t technically steal, though. I had the money. I had placed it on the counter when I grabbed her prescription. The only thing I didn’t have was the money to fix the broken window.” He sighed. “And the fact that I broke into a pharmacy is a federal offence. So it was either juvie or this place, and my ma really didn’t want to tell her friends that her only son was in juvie.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said after he was finished. My heart ached for him. He had only been trying to save his sister. “Is your sister okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, she’s fine.”
“That’s good.”
“You want to hear the crazy thing, though?” he asked, turning to me
“What?”
“I don’t regret doing it.” A small smile rose to his lips. “I’d do it all over again if I had to.”
“You would?”
He nodded. “Besides, if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met you.”
My heart was suddenly fluttering like crazy. I
was suddenly too warm to be wearing Jayden’s jacket.
“Em?” Suddenly, his face was coming close to mine, leaning closer and closer. I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips to touch mine.
“Jayden and Em, sitting in a tree! K–I–S–S–I–N–” Lena paused. “What’s after N?”
Jayden and I pulled away and twisted around to look at her. She was completely wasted.
“G?” I offered.
“That’s it!” she cried, pointing a wilted finger at me.
“Hey, Lena,” Jayden called, raising a hand to her in wave.
“What are you guys–hiccup–doing out here when the party’s in there?” she asked.
I stood up and carefully crossed the rocks over to her. “Taking a break.”
“From what?” she screeched, throwing her hands up into the air. She tipped dangerously to the side, and if I wouldn’t have been there to catch her, she would have fallen. “Whoa!”
“Hang on.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her. She giggled as she wrapped an arm around my neck. “Let’s get you back to your room.”
“Need help?” Jayden asked, coming over.
“Sure. Want to take her other side?”
Jayden walked over to Lena’s other side and wrapped his arm around her waist, overlapping his arm with mine. It sent a hot tingle to spiral through my arm and to the rest of my body.
Jayden and I were silent as we guided Lena away from the party and up the path that wound its way to Lover’s Leap. The further away we got from the party, the colder it got. For the second time that night, I was grateful for Jayden’s jacket.
When we reached the top of Lover’s Leap, Jayden and I started to guide Lena back to Brier Hall when I spotted a bright amber glow appear near the edge of the cliff. I stopped, making Jayden and Lena stop also. I squinted my eyes in the darkness and spotted a familiar figure dangling her legs off the edge.
“Nova?”
“Hey, New Girl,” she greeted in a singsong voice.
“It’s Em,” I bit out.
“What are you doing here?” Jayden asked.
“What does it look like?” She took a long drag from her cigarette.
“Why don’t you go to the party like everyone else?” I asked. It was creepy of her to just sit in the dark all by herself.
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