Damien looked away the second their fingers touched, breaking their strange connection with a jarring jolt. “You seem nicer. That doesn’t mean you are.”
The tether that had been tugging her closer now pushed her away. She had been abandoned, set aside without warning, assessed for worth and come up short. She shivered and hugged herself. Damien had cast a spell on her. Their enthralling connection had her hooked like a drug. She had to keep him talking, had to keep him close. “So, you mistrust me because of what I did to you in school? Is that why you wouldn’t talk to me yesterday?” She could charm the pants off anyone when she chose to put in the effort. Damien had so far been her one exception.
“Kinda. But like I said, I’ve always been a loner. I get uncomfortable in social situations. Your rock throwing triggered me, though.”
Amy tossed a pebble into the surf. She had to find an old yearbook and look him up. Loner or not, Damien was hella interesting. She cast him a sidelong glance. His eyes really were pretty, a gorgeous emerald green. Funny, she could have sworn they had been more unusual. A thought nagged at the back of her mind. It slipped elusively away, whisked aside by an unseen presence.
“What you majoring in?” Damien asked without any trace of his earlier anger.
Amy smiled. “I want to be a police officer. I’m taking basic prerequisites and criminology classes here at UBC until I’m old enough to train as a cadet.”
“A police officer? Really?” He looked her up and down.
“What? You think women shouldn’t be on the force or something?” Her lips tightened into a scowl. She hated annoyingly macho guys.
“No!” He swiftly shook his head. “That’s not what I was thinking at all. You’d make a badass cop.”
“Thanks.” She smiled apologetically. “Maybe just assume whatever I do or say to you I’m automatically sorry for.”
Damien laughed. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they gazed out over the ocean. Amy pulled out her phone, intending to skim her middle school Instagram for evidence of Damien. She had six missed calls and eight texts, all from Zack. “God,” she groaned under her breath. She had better reply before he panicked and called the police. The repercussions of their nightmare with Assassin’s Honor were lifelong. Hey, I’m at the beach. Had to go down hundreds of stairs to get here. I’m fine, stop freaking out.
Zack responded before she had even locked her phone. Can I come sit with you?
She gazed heavenward. Okay, come join me and Damien. She sent him directions and shoved her phone into her purse. If telling Zack about Max absolutely had to happen, she might as well get it over with sooner rather than later. “Zack’s going to come chill with us.”
Damien skipped a pebble across the water and removed one of his earbuds. “Cool.”
“What you listening to?” She took a stab in the dark, searching for a conversation that wouldn’t make one or both of them die on the inside.
“Music I threw together. It’s low quality.”
“You make your own music? Do you play any instruments?” It was Amy’s turn to look him up and down. Damien was full of surprises.
“Yeah. Piano, guitar, drums, bass, and a little violin.”
“You could basically be your own band. You sing too?”
“Yeah.” He passed her his earbud and scooted closer so the cord could reach. “This is from my YouTube channel.”
They chatted about music and Damien’s dreams for the future as if they had been friends for years and Max was a bad dream. His presence lifted her spirits and calmed her chaotic thoughts. The more they talked, the more Amy liked this awkward, interesting loner kid. Why had she treated him like crap in school?
“Hey guys.” Zack perched on Amy’s other side. “Great spot you found!”
Amy quirked a grin. “Yeah. I’m gonna spend half the semester here, studying, listening to tunes, throwing rocks at people. It’ll be super peaceful.”
“Throwing rocks at people, huh? Sounds like your kind of zen.” Zack snickered.
“Thanks a lot.” She punched his arm.
Zack’s expression grew serious. “What was that about in the cafeteria?” Amy’s mood tanked like a jet falling from five thousand feet. She looked down and pretended to study her sand-covered shoes. “Amy, please. I know something’s wrong, but I can’t help you unless you tell me what it is.”
“It’s Max, okay?” Her words came out angrier than she intended. She did not need, or deserve, Zack’s sympathy.
“What about him? Did he do something to you?”
She stared at her lap. “Remember in the hospital after the crash?” Pain sparked in his eyes at the mere mention of the incident. “I told you about that night when I was thirteen. I was with that guy who⸻”
“I remember,” he interrupted, the tense lines of his face revealing his displeasure.
“Okay.” Amy inhaled a shaky breath and met Zack’s honest, crystal blue gaze. “Max was that guy.”
The words sent a dagger through Amy’s heart and plunged her back in time. She relived the memory as if it had been yesterday. The ache in her throat after she had screamed herself hoarse. The tight pounding in her chest as if her heart would crack in two. Her sister’s beautiful blue eyes staring up into nothing. Each second of that night had left a scar on her soul, and the pain it caused her was still as raw and fresh as the moment it had happened. Her three-year-old sister had drowned in her backyard pool while Amy and Max were supposed to have been watching her. Max had ditched in a fit of panic and left Amy to call the ambulance alone. She would never forgive herself for what had happened to Katie. She would never forgive Max, either.
Amy had trusted exactly one person with the truth of that night, and Zack had loyally kept her secret. She had thought about telling their friends at least half a dozen times since then, had planned it out to the smallest detail, but had never followed through. She knew all too well what would happen if she let it escape her lips. Her new friends would hate her as much as, if not more than, everyone back home.
Zack stared at her for a long, loaded moment. He got to his feet and marched toward the stairs.
Alarm skittered through her. “Where are you going?”
“To find Max.” Zack’s shoulders were tense, his steps purposeful and pissed.
“Poor Max.” Damien chuckled.
Amy gritted her teeth and hurled a fist-sized rock at the surf. What if Zack got in trouble on his first day of college? Tatiana Donnellson would have her head. “I should go, too.”
Damien touched her arm, featherlight. Steadying calm flowed through her, soothing her mind and slowing her racing pulse. “It might be best if you stayed out of this one.” Amy wavered uncertainly. Damien grinned and Amy found herself entranced by the sparkle in his emerald eyes. “I know you throw punches with the best of ‘em, but we’ve gotta give poor Max a chance.”
Eight
CHRIS DONNELLSON TRAILED behind Susan and her mom as they wandered aimlessly through Birchwood Mall. Shopping-induced weariness had set in ages ago. He shuffled along, blankly eyeing store after store of merchandise and longing for a break. He and Susan had wanted to do some quick back-to-school shopping and maybe grab a movie. Simple request, right? Not to Mrs. Evans. Amy would have given them fifty bucks and gone off to do her own thing. Mrs. Evans insisted on wandering the mall with them in an effort to bond with Susan. It was not going well. Susan had her face scrunched as if in physical pain.
Chris flopped onto a bench, his face slack and his mind rambling away with the mall’s tuneless music. Why did Amy have to move away? Shopping with her had been fun. A crowd of laughing teenagers blocked Susan and her mother from view. Chris dragged himself to his feet and hurried after Susan like a dog on a leash. He had promised to help with her mom. It was a promise he deeply regretted.
Susan and her mother swerved into La Senza. Chris hovered by the storefront, safely on the mall side of the invisible girlie barrier. Promise or
not, La Senza was as off limits as his best friend’s sister. His stomach grumbled. Time for a cheeseburger and shake. He abandoned Susan to her fate and set off for the food court.
Chris scrolled through Instagram as he munched. He liked a photo of Zack and Amy kissing in front of the UBC welcome sign. The rest of his friends had boring, non-like-worthy lives. He tapped is foot and willed time to accelerate. Three more years until he was in high school and had a girlfriend like Zack. He dropped his iPhone to the tabletop with a moan of despair. Three years was a long time to wait.
He gave the food court a bored, sleepy scan. A girl about his age was sitting alone at a table nearby. She was on the taller side and borderline fit with a slight hunch to her shoulders as if ready to duck at a moment’s notice. She wore ripped jeans, an oversized sweatshirt, and an apathetic frown. She looked about as bored as Chris felt. He caught her eye and smiled. She smiled back.
He scooped up his tray and slid into the seat across from her. “Do malls suck the life out of you, too?”
She snickered. “I walk through the doors and turn into a zombie. I think it’s something in the air conditioning.”
“It’s definitely a conspiracy. They pump the place full of chemicals that make you buy way more than you need. I’m Chris, by the way.”
“Nova.” She hungrily eyed his shake.
“Cool name! Want a sip?” She grabbed his cup and guzzled like a girl dying of heatstroke. Chocolate smudged her lower lip. “I can buy you your own if you want.” He laughed and passed her a napkin.
“Yes please!” Hope lit her tired ocean blue eyes.
Empathy flooded his heart. Nova’s family must be poor, like Susan’s. He flashed her a smile and headed back to the DQ counter for a shake, burger, and fries. He liked buying things for girls, especially the cute ones. Nova’s face split in a delighted smile as she accepted the tray.
Chris perched on the chair across from her. “What grade you in?”
“Sixth,” she replied through a mouthful of fries. “I’m starting Hilltop tomorrow.”
“Me too! Bet you’ll be in my class!”
“Cool. Let’s sit together.” She swept her fiery red hair over her shoulder and flashed him a flirtatious smile. Chris beamed.
He spotted Susan and her mom entering the food court and waved to get their attention. “This is my friend, Susan.” He introduced the girls the second Susan joined them. “Sue, this is Nova. She’s starting Hilltop tomorrow, too.”
“Hey.” Susan smiled.
Nova bit her lip and nodded in greeting, her ocean blue eyes darting anxiously between them. Chris put his hand over hers and squeezed her fingers tight. Her skin was ice-cold. Did meeting new people make her nervous? Susan had been like that once. He used to have to drag words out of her, and now she never shut up. Amy said he made quiet people feel heard and comfortable. Zack claimed he charmed girls his age into babbling idiots.
Chris smiled to himself. He would help Nova make friends just like he had once helped Susan. Being popular was fun if it meant making others feel included. A sharp thorn of doubt pricked his confidence and deflated it like a punctured balloon. What if he stopped being popular? Everyone had liked him in elementary school, but he was starting at Hilltop in the youngest year. Would eighth graders think he was cool? Chris doubted it.
At least he would always have Susan. She was the best friend he had ever had. She could make him laugh for hours and guarded his secrets with the grace of a Hollywood actress. Half the guys in their class had crushes on her, including their close friend, Jake Andrews. But he, Chris, was her favorite.
Susan convinced her mother to let them see a movie alone, a minor miracle. Mrs. Evans offered to take their shopping home and promised to pick them up in a couple hours.
“I thought she’d never leave!” Susan swiped Chris’s shake and chugged it in four enormous gulps.
“Hey! Why do you people keep doing that?”
Nova giggled. “I did the same thing.”
“Oops, sorry bro.” Susan grinned, the furthest thing from sorry. “We gonna catch that movie?”
“Yeah. Nova, wanna join?”
“I don’t know.” She scuffed the floor with the toe of her beat up tennis shoe.
“Come on.” Chris waggled his eyebrows and spoke in a singsong plead. “We can see whatever you two want. I’m buying.”
“In that case, let’s go!” Nova sprang to her feet and looped her arm through Susan’s. “Let’s make him buy us popcorn, too!”
The trio headed for the theater. Chris bought the tickets while the girls looked over the candy.
“Player got game.” The teenager behind the counter flashed him a double thumbs up.
Chris gave him a modest half-shrug. “What can I say? The ladies love me.” He bought each girl a medium popcorn and sat between them to steal from both bags. He snapchatted Jake a picture with a winking emoji.
You suck. Why do you have two girls and I have none? Jake snapchatted a picture of his empty couch.
A smug smile played at the corners of Chris’s mouth. I’m just that awesome. He slipped his phone into his pocket with a happy bubble in his chest. If he kept this up, he’d be popular forever.
The trio had a blast. The girls mocked him nonstop and demanded mountains of candy. They had clearly bonded at his expense. Nova was officially their cool new friend. School tomorrow would be fun instead of terrifying. His spirits skipped in cheerful delight at the thought of introducing her to the rest of his friends.
Inspiration struck as they left the theater. “Hey, Nova! You wanna watch the lunar eclipse with me and Sue this Friday? It’s super cool. It turns the moon red. Like, blood red.”
Nova faltered mid-step. “No. I’m busy that day.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun. My dad’s gonna barbecue, and there’ll be music and lots of food!”
Nova rushed ahead, widening the space between them with near frantic speed. “I said no! I don’t want to!” Her tone was hard and edged with panic.
“Okay.” He hurried to catch up to her. “Some other time.”
Susan shot him a sidelong glance and made the cuckoo sign behind Nova’s back. Chris cocked a questioning brow. Nova seemed scared, terrified even. A thread of anxiety wriggled through his stomach. What was there to fear from an eclipse?
Mrs. Evans was waiting for them outside in her ancient station wagon that broke down more than it ran. Susan darted Nova a mortified glance as she clambered into the back seat. Chris waved goodbye and slid in beside her. He was off for a sleepover at Susan’s. She had been lonely without Amy around.
The sleepover sucked. Susan complained endlessly about her mother and everything she did that was different from Amy. Chris avoided the subject in an effort to stay neutral but secretly felt bad for Mrs. Evans. Her eyes grew misty with tears every single time Susan dissed her.
Chris had a cup of hot chocolate with her while Susan took a shower. He recapped the movie and chattered about how Susan had made friends with Nova. Mrs. Evans smiled softly as she cleared away their mugs. Zack claimed Chris had an overpowering need to please people. Amy insisted he was simply kind. He made a face. Amy’s opinion of him was much nicer than his brother’s.
He wandered upstairs to Susan’s room and found her chatting at the computer with Amy. Susan was pretty, even in black pajama shorts, a purple tank top, and a pair of teal earbuds. How old did they have to be before he asked her out? He perched on the end of her bed and waited for his turn to talk.
Susan muted the call and scowled at Chris over the top of her laptop. “I think Amy’s drunk!”
Chris leapt off the bed. “Amy’s drunk? I have to see this!” In the full two years he had known Susan’s sister, she had never so much as had a sip of wine.
He leaned over Susan’s shoulder and waved at the screen. Amy broke into a grin and waved wildly back. She was wearing a strapless cerulean sundress and an infectious smile. She looked great, but the guy at her side was not Zack.
Nine
CHARLES HAD SPENT the better part of an hour playing video games with Max. Zack had gone off in search of Amy, and Jessie had retreated to her room to binge watch Friends. Chandler Bing was her solace in times of strife. Charles had been left alone with Max, who had wound up being hysterically funny and a video game whiz. It was fun hanging with someone who had no idea he was an enormous geek.
A commotion in the hall drew Charles’s attention from the game, and Max blasted his avatar into fiery smithereens. Zack burst into the room and sent the door careening into the wall with a crash that rattled the windowpane. He stood framed in the doorway with his jaw tense and his eyes blazing with rage.
Max guffawed. “What the hell, man? What’d that door ever do to you?”
“Amy Evans is my girlfriend.” Zack glared at him with fury in his crystal blue eyes.
Charles gaped. Why would being Amy’s boyfriend evoke such rage? He darted his eyes from Zack to Max to the game controllers and back again. Zack tended to destroy everything in his path when he got mad. Charles scooped up the controllers and placed them atop Zack’s dresser in relative safety.
Max lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Ah, well, I figured someone else would get with her sooner or later.”
Charles held up a placating hand. “What’s going on? Max, you used to go out with Amy?”
“You have no idea how much you screwed her up!” Zack lunged for Max and slammed him into a wall.
“Piss off.” Max shoved him. Charles dove to rescue the TV.
“Zack!” Charles struggled to push between them and failed to account for their ridiculous height difference. “Calm down! You’re acting like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum. Use your words and tell us why you’re mad.”
Zack gave Charles a halfhearted shove. “I’m getting a roommate switch. You stay the hell away from her.” He turned on his heel and stormed from the room.
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