Reece has gotten on really well with everyone, even Sophie seems to like him. She makes a s’more and starts eating it. “You know, Reece, you’re nothing like the others.” She looks over to him and smiles. The smile is soft and apologetic.
“What do you mean?” He turns the marshmallow over the fire, crisping it up further. The outside catches on fire and you can hear the sizzle of the small blue flame coating the exterior. The sugars quickly burn and the fire goes out on its own.
“I mean, most of the guys on the team are jerks, Levi being the leader of the jerks.”
“I’m not denying that. It’s only been recently I’ve seen exactly how much of a dick he is.” He sandwiches the marshmallow with a piece of chocolate and two graham crackers and starts eating it.
The whole process is quite hypnotic. Watching the marshmallow burn, then watching the assembly procedure.
“He’s not very nice,” I manage to say in a small voice.
“Neither are a lot of the girls who hang off you guys like you’re some kind of rock stars. You’re not rock stars,” Sam says. “I gotta tell you, it’s sickening! They have no self-respect.”
“I have to agree. I watch the way they act around the team, and how they throw themselves at the guys.” Sophie shakes her head, disgusted.
I crinkle my forehead and scrunch my brows together. “Was I like that?” I ask, looking at everyone.
Sophie averts her eyes and so does Sam. My own sister is implicitly saying I’m the girl she was describing. “Not as bad as Lindsey and Jordan, but you weren’t great either.”
Slumping my shoulders I sink into the chair and look to the ground. “Really?” I ask with a small sigh. Man, how blind was I? Does this mean I was asking for what happened to me? Did I lead someone on? Could I have avoided it if I was a nicer person?
My stomach knots in agitation and my heart starts pounding heavily in my chest. Tangling my fingers together I try not to look at anything but the grass beneath the chair.
Chatter continues in the background. I can’t make out the words they’re saying, but I know they’re still on the same subject. “Sorry,” I whisper to everyone. The talking stops, and I feel four pairs of eyes turn to me. I keep my head down, ashamed and embarrassed at how I once was. “I’m really disgusted by my old behavior. I wish someone would’ve told me earlier.” Looking up I’m met with them all looking at me with different expressions.
Taylor’s confused.
Sophie’s concerned.
Sam’s sympathetic.
And Reece’s proud. “You know now, and you’re a better person for it,’ he says. “You can’t let the past dictate your future.”
“But I was a bitch.”
“That’s right. You were a bitch. Now you’re pretty cool.” Reece winks at me and smiles.
“I’m sorry, guys. I really am.” I meet all their eyes so they know I’m actually remorseful for everything I may have done to them. “I won’t give you an excuse, because truthfully I don’t have one. I’m sorry for anything I’ve said or done.”
Sophie jumps up and hugs me. “Now you know you weren’t the nicest person, but you’re making up for it all.” She pulls out of the hug and her face softens. “You’re alright now.”
“Wow, this has become a downer,” Sam adds. “I wanted to bitch about those bitches Jordan and Mariah, and more importantly, Lindsey and suddenly everyone’s on the edge of crying.”
“I’m not a huge fan of those girls.” Reece shivers and down turns his mouth. “None of them are nice. I’m kinda glad you got away from them. You were definitely the nicest one out of them all.” He shivers again. “That Jordan.” He shakes his head in revulsion.
“What? Why?” I ask.
“She and Aaron had a fight at one of the parties someone threw after a game we won. She made a beeline straight for me. She literally draped her arms over me, and leaned in for a kiss. She was drunk, but let me say, she knew what she was doing.”
Against my will, I feel my face betray how I shouldn’t be feeling. I shouldn’t care, but something inside me begins to boil and snaps in frustration how she’d throw herself at Reece. I shouldn’t care, but my churning stomach, my rising anger, and my thumping heart all say I do care. “What did you do?” My voice is so small, the question barely reaching my ears. Reece looks at me, and tilts his head to the side. “What did you do?” I say much louder, and more forcefully.
“That particular time, I held her hand, led her outside and called her a cab. I took her back to her house and made sure she got in okay.”
“How many times has she thrown herself at you?” Sophie asks the question burning on my lips.
“Only one other time. Remember when she and Aaron broke up for like two days just after the New Year?” His gaze turns to us all individually. I sneak a look at everyone to see Sophie shrugging her shoulders, like she doesn’t know or care. Sam’s holding Taylor’s hand, nodding her head. I smile to myself when I look at Taylor leaning forward desperate to hear more. He looks like a gossip queen.
“Yeah, I remember,” I say.
“Yeah, well that time she was even worse.”
“How so?” Taylor asks, wide eyes and desperate for more.
“She came over to my house, and flirted with Miles. Even told him she’d be glad to share herself with him and me. She didn’t say it in front of me, but Miles pulled me aside and told me about ten minutes after she got there. She kept asking me if I wanted to go to my room, and I kept her out in the family room. Mom would walk in, give her stink eye and walk out again.”
“Stink-eye?” I ask, laughing.
“Yeah, Mom’s not real keen on her. Or too many of the girls I know.”
“Great,” I mumble and look away. That dreadful feeling creeps inside me, as if I already know she won’t like me. Not that it really matters. I’m never going to date again. Ever.
“Needless to say, when Miles told me she threw herself at him, I told her to leave ‘cause we had a family party we were going to.”
“She’s a real skank,” Sam announces loudly. “I didn’t think she was like that. I thought Jordan was nice.” She huffs out a breath while her leg bounces in agitation. “Christ.” I can tell by Sam’s reaction she’s taken aback by what she’s hearing.
“Yeah, she’s not as nice as what you think she is. And trust me when I say, she has never had your back.” Reece pointedly looks at me.
This causes a nauseating feeling to sit in the pit of my stomach. I almost don’t want to ask, but at the same time the sucker in me needs to know what she’s said. “I don’t think I want to know.” But I do . . . no I don’t.
“She’s nasty, as bad as, if not worse than Lindsey. Mariah’s okay though.” Reece shrugs his left shoulder. “By okay, I mean she’s better than those other two. She’s never said anything bad about you, but she never stood up for you either.”
Sam gets up and sits in the vacant chair beside me. She leans over and whispers, “Lucky you’re no longer hanging out with them.” Sam moves back, and gives me a smile.
“Yeah.”
“They’re all bitches.” Sophie declares as she stands and stretches. “I need a soda, who wants a drink?”
Everyone says they want a drink and Sophie walks over to the fridge outside, grabbing an assortment.
“Darling,” Mom says coming out of the slider, her eyes travel the entire backyard, checking on everyone.
“Yeah, Mom.”
She walks over and lays a kiss on Sam’s forehead, then mine. She’s holding five fleecy throws in her hands, giving one to each of us. “I thought you might want these if you get chilly.” She smiles at us as she passes them out.
“Thank you, Mrs. B,” Reece says and takes the dark red throw Mom holds out for him.
“Thank you, Mrs. Bennett,” Sophie replies when she comes back with the drinks. “You can put mine on that chair, please.” She nods her head to where she’d been sitting, while she juggles the five drinks she’s holding
.
“Your father and I are ducking down to the church to give them the food,” Mom says to me when she reaches me last.
“I’ll come too.” I stand.
“You stay here, darling. You can come with us next time. We won’t be long, about twenty minutes. Here’s the house phone in case you need to call us.” Mom hands me the cordless phone and leaves. She quickly turns and points her finger at me with a smirk on her face. “No wild parties.”
“I’m so putting the call out,” Sam teases. “Wild night at the Bennetts.’ Hard core drugs, lots of unprotected sex, loud, obnoxious music. You know, all the things us teenagers get up to.” Sam smiles at Mom while Mom stands with her hands on her hips, giving Sam the ‘death stare.’
“Just don’t disturb the neighbors, we don’t want to piss them off,” Mom retorts sarcastically.
I look to Sophie who’s laughing, and Reece whose mouth is gaping wide while Taylor’s trying to shrink away. “We’ll keep the loud music down then,” I say cheekily smiling at Mom.
Mom rolls her eyes and walks away. I think I hear her mumble something, but I can’t be sure. It sounded like, ‘I’ve got the best kids in the world.’ If only she knew. “We won’t be long,” she calls over her shoulder then disappears through the slider.
“Your parents are so cool,” Taylor says. He sits back in his seat and has a long, wistful look on his face.
“Your Mom’s really nice too,” Sam responds. “She’s kind of different. Like she likes all that opera music and stuff. But she’s nice.” Taylor’s eyes land on Sam and I can see the love he has for her. He worships her, absolutely adores her. It’s there for everyone to see, and he has no shame in showing it.
We all sit around the pit fire, talking. Reece and Taylor gossip like two old women about the guys from school while Sam, Sophie and I keep quiet and listen.
“I thought girls were bad,” Sophie whispers behind her hand to me.
“I know. I didn’t think guys were this bad. Levi never bitched the way they are.” I point between Reece and Taylor.
Reece stops talking about some party that’s going to happen in two weeks and looks over at us. “What are you two talking about?” He tilts his head and narrows his eyes.
“Us? Nothing.” Sophie laughs. “Except you two can gossip like nothing we’ve ever seen.” Sophie points between herself and me.
“Hey.” I stand and stretch. “Don’t involve me.”
“Great, you’re gonna let me take the fall?” Sophie teases.
“Hell yeah.”
Reece smiles at us, and Sophie stands too. “Hey, I’m getting tired, I might have a shower and go crash.”
“Sure thing, I’ll show you where everything is.” Sophie’s mom is letting her stay here tonight.
“I better call my Mom, ask her to pick me up.” Taylor reaches into his pocket and grabs his cell.
Sam hugs Taylor around the neck, and gives him a peck on his cheek. My heart melts when I see that. It makes me so happy they’re into each other. Taylor’s a cool guy, and although he likes classical music, he’s still pretty fun.
Leading Sophie into my room, I give her a clean towel and show her to the bathroom so she can shower. Then I head back out. Taylor and Sam are near the slider, hugging each other. Reece is still sitting on the lounge chair, looking out over the clear, rippling water of the pool. I leave Sam and Taylor and head over to sit opposite Reece.
“I hope it’s okay if I stay a while longer?” he asks.
“Yeah it’s cool with me.”
“I like him.” Reece points to Taylor. “For a junior, he’s alright.”
I look over to Taylor and Sam. They’re entwined tightly together. One of Taylor’s hands is resting on the top of Sam’s butt, and the other on her opposite hip. Their foreheads are touching as they talk quietly together. They’re cute, and sweet, and it makes my heart sing to see them like this.
Mom’s figure appears from inside, and she comes through the slider, her eyes landing straight on Sam and Taylor. I start to laugh at Taylor’s reaction. Reece sees my amused face, and he turns in time to see Taylor pull away from Sam and look at Mom with pure horror. “Oh my God, Mrs. Bennett, I swear I wasn’t doing anything,” he stumbles over the words.
Even in the dim light, I can see the red tinge on Taylor’s cheeks. They seriously weren’t doing anything, but it amuses me to watch him squirm.
Mom cocks her hip and looks at Taylor. “Is that right? You weren’t doing anything?”
“No, ma’am, nothing. We were just saying goodnight because I called my Mom to come pick me up.”
Mom looks over to me, and I’m trying to hold in my cynical laugh. Getting up I walk over to Mom, who’s seething, Taylor, who’s crapping himself and Sam, who’s very quiet. “Seriously, Mom we’ve all been sitting out here talking. Taylor called his Mom to pick him up, and when I got back from showing Sophie where the bathroom is, they were here cuddling.”
Mom arches an eyebrow while still looking between Taylor and Sam. She brings her index and middle fingers up to tap them on her mouth, then points them to Taylor and says in a low tone, “I’ll be watching you.”
Poor Taylor looks like he’s about to lose his dinner.
“Mom,” Sam whines. “We really weren’t doing anything.”
“Okay, I believe you. But how about you two come in the family room and wait for your mom to pick you up, Taylor?” I chuckle, because Mom’s not too subtle.
Taylor’s gaze goes straight to me and Reece, and we both wave to him.
Reece and I fall into an easy conversation, and before long we’re joined by Sophie. She sits for a few minutes before she curls up on the lounger, and her eyes begin to drift shut. “I might head off to bed,” she says while yawning.
“Goodnight.” Reece looks up at her to smile, before crossing his arms and snuggling further into his chair.
“Night,” she yawns again and heads inside.
We have already made up the pull-out sofa. “Goodnight,” I add.
Sophie takes herself inside, and goes to sleep. Sam’s probably having a shower and then she’ll crash soon too.
“Just us left,” Reece says.
“Not for long, I’m tired too. I’ll be throwing you out soon.” I give him a cheeky smile.
“Yeah, it’s probably for the best. I’ve got so many things I have to do tomorrow. But this was fun, I enjoyed it.”
“Me too.”
“I was thinking, maybe we can go to the movies or something. There’s a new Marvel movie coming out, want to go?”
“Um.” I run my hand over the back of my neck, suddenly nervous he’s asking me out on a date.
“It’s okay,” he quickly adds. “I get it, you’re not into me like I’m into you.”
Blinking, I stare at him. He thinks I don’t like him. “It’s not that,” I say in a small voice. “I’m not ready to get into anything.” I want to tell him why, but I can’t. I can’t tell anyone.
“Yeah, it’s cool.” He fidgets in his seat before he stands to his feet. “Anyway, I should go.”
He turns and takes huge steps to get away from me. “Reece,” I call, following him. But he ignores me and speeds up. “Reece.” My voice sounds flustered and edgy. “It’s not like that.”
“Really. It’s cool, no pressure.”
“Reece!” I shout loudly causing him to stop walking. Slowly he turns around to look at me. His cheeks are red, and I can see the embarrassment from me rejecting him. “How about we go.” His eyes light up and a small smile starts tugging at his mouth. “And we can invite Sam and Taylor.” The smile quickly drops.
He visibly gulps, his Adams apple vibrates with the every breath he takes. “Sure, like a double date.” I nod, hoping he’s okay with this. He focusses on his shoes, then lifts his face. I see his lips brighten in a smile. “Yeah, that sounds cool.”
“Great.”
“Great,” he says straight after me. “Well, I gotta get going too. Can I call y
ou so we can plan going to the movies?”
Crap, my phone. Sam still has it. The idea of getting it back terrifies me, I simply don’t want to see any messages or even log into social media. This is my bubble. My happy place. No one can reach me here in my happy, safe, bubble. “Yeah, that’s cool. If I don’t answer just text me. I’ve kind of being staying away from social media and . . .” I pause and scrunch my mouth not really wanting to say anything else.
“People, right? Especially people who’ve not been so nice.”
“Yeah, them.”
“That’s cool. Just call me when you get my messages.”
We walk through the house, where Mom and Dad are sitting in the family room watching TV. Sophie’s tucked in a nook where we have a sofa bed for when we have guests stay.
“Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome, Reece.” Mom smiles up at Reece while she’s safely tucked under Dad’s arm. Dad gives Reece a nod.
We walk out front and sit on the sidewalk, waiting for someone to come pick him up. “I need to ask you something,” Reece says in a gentle voice.
“What is it?” I sweep my hand through some leaves that have fallen and gathered in the gutter.
“Did something bad happen with Levi?” My shoulders tense and my breath hitches. Turning my head away, I avoid his penetrating stare. “Something happened, right?” Shaking my head, I bring my knees up and lean my head on my bent legs. “Dakota, you can tell me.”
I take a deep breath and try to steady my shaky voice. “He didn’t do anything. But I hate how he and Lindsey are treating me. I’ve done nothing to either of them to justify how they’re handling this whole situation. He broke up with me, and then goes straight to her. It hurts like hell, you know?”
“I’m sorry he’s treating you like this.”
Offering him a weak smile I nod. “He’s not your responsibility.”
A car pulls up, and Miles rolls down the window, leans over and whistles at Reece. “Come on, Cinderella. I’ve got your glass slipper.”
Reece rolls his eyes, stands and dusts off his butt. “Thanks for tonight. Talk to you soon.”
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