Crush: A YA Romance Collection

by Lavinia Leigh

  The feeling of Blake nudging on my shoulder brought me out of my mental reverie. “Go ahead, Vi,” he said as he pushed me toward the bathroom where Lena had escaped to.

  “I’m perfectly capable of walking, you know,” I replied as I shook Blake off of my shoulders.

  “Good, because I’m starving.”

  I rolled my eyes as Blake ran toward the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Don’t run down the stairs! You could fall and break your neck!” I yelled jokingly at his quickly retreating back before joining my sick friend in the bathroom.

  Chapter 20

  After spending a majority of the morning holding back Lena’s hair so that she could vomit up oatmeal-like chunks of food, I had lost any appetite that I may have had. Brianna had come over earlier to start packing her bags and had already taken them over to her house, with the help of Anya and Ella. When she ran into Blake, she offered him a ride home, but to her and my surprise, he ignored her and had decided to walk home instead. Brianna had looked a bit peeved off when he ignored her, but just rolled her eyes at his back and muttered the word, “childish,” under her breath.

  Throughout the whole time that Brianna was at my house, we tried our best to ignore each other. While she was upstairs, I was downstairs, and vice versa. That is, with an exception to the time I had ran up to grab something and caught Ella snooping around my room. At first glance I had thought that she was Lena, and I was about to ask her a question when Ella turned toward me, pushing my desk drawer closed. Her brown eyes were lined in black and widened as she looked at me. I was shocked to see Ella in my room, but it was even more surprising to see the vulnerable expression on her face.

  She stood there silently, wringing her hands together and staring at her toes. She reminded me of a child who had just been caught sneaking dessert before dinner and was getting scolded by her parents. Instead of asking what she was doing in my room, going through my stuff, I held my hand out and asked if she had taken anything. Ella had refused to meet my eyes throughout the whole exchange, but she still shook her head no. Not wanting any unneeded confrontation, I just opened the door to my room and asked her to leave, which she didn’t hesitate to do.

  About an hour later, Lena and I were hanging out in my room. She had found Ella’s cell phone lying on the ground next to my dresser and, using the fact that she was Ella’s older sister and that she had the right to look through her phone, she had proceeded to read out a majority of her text messages.

  Bring me a bag of chips tomorrow for lunch. These people don’t have anything edible to eat in their whole house.

  I chuckled and motioned with my hand for Lena to read aloud another one of Brianna’s text messages to Ella. This had been going on for about an hour now and I honestly didn’t feel bad about reading Ella’s text messages. If she hadn’t been snooping in my room, then she would have never left her phone, and we wouldn’t be reading her messages.

  Technically I wasn’t the one reading them anyway. Lena is the one who’s doing all of the reading whilst I was sprawled out on the floor with both arms crossed under my head. I stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that had been stuck to my ceiling since I was ten. The bottom of my shirt was rolled up just enough so that my belly button was visible, and the small of my back was pressed against the cold hardwood floor, sending little chills up through my spine. In the corner of my eye, Lena’s red hair was visible as it hung freely over the edge of my bed, bouncing whenever she spoke.

  “Listen to this.” She cleared her throat and resumed talking in a voice that sounded eerily like Brianna’s.

  I need a B or higher on my next history assignment so if you want me to stay quiet about you-know-what, then I expect a good grade. Oh, but don’t forget, my parents are coming back on Tuesday so I’m having a sleepover and you better be there.

  Lena looked over at me, a frown evident on her heart shaped face. Her bowed lips curved downwards at the corners as she seemed to be thinking about something.

  “First Brianna blackmails her, and then she invites her to a sleepover? What the hell?” I questioned as I thought about the strange text message. Why would Brianna even need someone to do her homework for her? I may always joke about how stupid she is, but she’s smart enough to get good grades in her classes on her own. As far as I know, she’s always gotten good grades, with an exception to physics according to Blake. She always made the honor roll, and in order for someone to join a sports team at my school, you have to have above a B average.

  Lena puffed out a huge breath of air, before rolling her eyes. “Honestly, of all people, why would she ask Ella to do her work for her? She’d be lucky to get a C on an assignment with Ella doing it. I love her and all, but she’s not the smartest when it comes to school work.”

  “She sounds like me.”

  Lena set the phone down next to her and folded both arms under her head so that she could rest her chin on them. “I guess.”

  “I wonder what it is that could be so bad that Brianna is blackmailing her about it.”

  “Who knows? Gabriella’s just so stubborn. I told her in the beginning of the year that if she didn’t make the right friends, everything from last year would happen all over again.”

  I sighed loudly. I was so tired of having Lena bring up what happened last year and then change the subject because she didn’t want to talk about it. “You could always just tell me what happened at your old school. You know that I won’t tell anybody, Lenny. I mean seriously, you and Blake are like my only friends. Who would I tell anyway?”

  Lena stared down at me. She seemed to be silently evaluating my statement. “It’s a long story.”

  I stood up, rolling my eyes exaggeratedly as I sat down on the bed next to her. “I have time.”

  Lena sighed and then was silent for a moment. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “How about I ask you a question, and you tell me the answer?” I offered.

  “Okay.”

  “Why did you leave your old school?”

  “I was expelled for fighting.”

  I smiled. That sounded like the Lena I know. She’s always ready to start a fight, even if she knows the consequences. “Who did you fight?”

  Lena scratched her shoulder, smirking as she spoke. “Eleanor Daniels. She was sort of like the Brianna of my old school. She had three close friends that she did everything with. They never went anywhere without each other. Gabriella treated her like a freaking Goddess. She did whatever Eleanor told her to. She even got her into trouble with the police a few times. Whenever Eleanor or one of her friends would do something, they would always frame Ella for it. And the worst part was that she always took the blame. I guess she thought that it would make them accept her as a member of their stupid little group, or something.

  “She was so desperate to fit in that when they finally told her that she could hang out with them, she went crazy. She was a bitch to everyone, including my parents, her real friends, and even me. We were so close before she started hanging out with Eleanor and her posse. She started dressing differently; she even temporarily dyed her hair blonde. Whenever the two of us would go out together, she would pretend that she didn’t know me when she saw someone from school.”

  I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything. Ella had been nothing but a callous bitch to me since she had gotten here so it was hard not to judge her. I couldn’t even picture her being nice.

  “One night while my parents were sleeping, I heard laughing coming from outside of the house. I didn’t expect it to be Ella, but it was. She was getting into the car with Eleanor and her other “friends”. When I called her, she let the phone go to voicemail. I was so scared and worried. I didn’t trust Eleanor at all.

  “I waited around until almost two o’clock in the morning, when I finally got a call from her. She was crying and her voice sounded so…drowsy. I can’t even explain it. She begged me to come pick her up from some bar on the other side of town. She kept saying, “Hu
rry. Please, help me.” Lena bit her lip as she sat up next to me. “Then some guy’s voice came on the phone. He told me where she was and then hung up.”

  “What did you do?”

  Lena tucked her legs under her body and played with the hem of her shirt. “I went to go get her. Even if she was treating me like crap, she’s still my sister.”

  “I’d do the same thing for Lilly.”

  She nodded.

  “What happened when you got there?” I questioned quietly.

  “She was passed out in the men’s bathroom. Some guy was sitting next to her. She looked so scared and helpless.” Lena sighed and shook her head slowly at the memory. “Her head was slumped on his shoulder. He looked about twenty-one or twenty-two, and he was holding her up. He said that he had seen her earlier at the bar with some girls. He saw them lead her into the men’s bathroom and then they ran out. He came to check on her and she was passed out on the floor. I don’t know what happened, but he thought that Eleanor and her friends might have spiked her drink and then left her in the bathroom.” Her eyes bore into mine as she added, “If the wrong guy had found her there, anything could have happened.”

  “That’s scary,” I spoke my thoughts. “So what did the guy do?”

  “He waited with her until she woke up and offered her a ride home, but she said no, so he went in her purse and got her phone out. I was the last person who had called her so he called me.”

  I raised my hand and placed it on her shoulder. “That’s why you beat up Eleanor.”

  She nodded her head slightly. “It’s one of the reasons why. I was also tired of her messing with my little sister. The bitch got what she deserved.”

  “It must have been a pretty bad fight in order to have gotten you expelled,” I pointed out.

  Lena turned to me, a serious expression on her face as she said “I killed her.”

  My hand dropped from Lena’s shoulder, and my eyes widened in shock. I didn’t know what to say. Surely she would have gotten more than an expulsion for murdering someone. When Lena cracked a smile, I realized that she was only kidding.

  Lena smirked as she said, “I’m kidding. I did fracture her jaw though.”

  “You suck!” I slapped her leg playfully and shook my head. “I seriously thought you killed her!”

  Lena laughed. “I may be a lot of things Forrester, but I am not a murderer.”

  “Breaking her jaw was a bit extreme though. I see why you got expelled for that.”

  Lena raised a pointer finger at me. “Fractured,” she corrected.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Her parents wanted to press charges, but for some reason Eleanor told them not to. I think she was afraid that if they pressed charges that Ella would come out with everything they had done. I mean, they drugged her for goodness sake! The worst part was that Ella barely even remembered anything from that night, so I couldn’t get the whole story about what happened.”

  “Well then I guess it’s a good thing that you guys moved away from all of that, right?”

  Lena’s bottom lips trembled slightly. “Yeah, because of that and the pregnancy.”

  I nodded, remembering the story about the twins being given up for adoption. “So you could start off fresh.”

  Lena nodded, wiping under one eye where a tear had leaked, and smudging some of her eye makeup. “Except, we haven’t even been able to start fresh. My mom has been suffering from severe depression since the adoption and she has to be monitored at all times. Last winter after we had given the babies up, she had tried to commit suicide. She overdosed on pain medication, but we got her into the hospital in time for her stomach to be pumped.”

  I wrapped my arms around Lena’s waist and she rested her head on my shoulder, taking deep breaths to keep herself from crying.

  “You know what sucks?” she asked, breaking the silence.

  “What?”

  “I have two little siblings out in the world who will never even know that I exist.”

  I sighed, trying to imagine that feeling, but I couldn’t. “You know what also sucks?” I questioned back.

  “What?” she responded,

  “If someone ever messes with them, they won’t have you to come and break their bully’s jaw.”

  Lena smiled sadly. “Yeah, that too.” Then she corrected me again. “Fracture.”

  Chapter 21

  Lena shook her hair out, looking a lot like a wet dog as she did so. Her green bikini clung to her body as she pulled herself out of the pool, making her skin look tan in contrast with the bright color. She skipped over to me, grabbing my towel and wiping it across her face before tossing it at my feet.

  I scowled at her, but in response all she did was smirk and say, “It's not like you're using it.”

  I lifted my head to get a better look at her as I said, “I'm sun bathing right now. I'll need it later when I get into the pool. Where's your towel at?”

  She shrugged, wringing out her hair with both hands and creating a small puddle at her feet. “It's wet.”

  I rolled my eyes, letting my head fall back onto the lounge chair. Although it was autumn, it was hot and sunny outside; the perfect day to go swimming. Of course every now and then a cool breeze would blow at us, but since I hadn't gotten wet yet it was actually refreshing. I was just happy that my dad hadn't covered the pool up a few a weeks ago when my mom had told him too.

  Today had been Lena's first day back to school from her suspension. For the most part everything had gone back to normal, with an exception to Brianna's army of skanks turning their bitch rays away from me, and pointing them at Lena. To my surprise, they had ignored me all day long.

  When Brianna walked past Lena and I, she rolled her eyes at Lena and didn't so much as even glance my way. Her followers had even bumped Lena in the shoulder. The only girl who ignored the both of us was Ella. Her hair had been curled in soft spirals and her makeup consisted of pink lip gloss and thick eyeliner. If it wasn't for her hair color, I would have been sure that Brianna had a clone. It was actually quite creepy how similar they looked. The fact that the school had a uniform was even scarier, because not only did they look alike, but they were also required to dress alike.

  My parents loved Lena so much that they didn't mind having her stay at our house, as long as she talked to her parents about it. After a long talk on the phone with her dad, he decided that with everything going on at home, it would be best for Lena to be home with her family. After telling him how being around them made her felt, he allowed her to stay with us until report cards came out. He said that if her grades are all in the A-B range, she would be allowed to stay as long as she visited often. He even said that he would be happy to give my parents money for food costs or anything like that, but my parents had declined.

  Another thing that I was grateful for was Brianna's parents. They had come home, and Brianna had finally left the Forrester household. I no longer had to put up with her presence every night. I was able to sleep peacefully in my room without worrying that I’d wake up with only one eyebrow. I could sing in the shower without worrying that Brianna had set up a video camera to record it and send it out to our school’s entire student body. After living with Rose Forrester for nearly eighteen years, I think her worrying ways were starting to rub off on me.

  A voice sounded from next to me. “Forrester?”

  “Hmm?” I murmured.

  “My dad called earlier.”

  I opened my eyes, lifting my hand up to shield them from the sun as I looked at Lena. She sat on the edge of the pool with her legs crossed pretzel style under her body as her fingers absentmindedly traced patterns on the concrete next to her. She looked up at me, regarding me with her brown eyes as I said, “What did he say?”

  She shrugged nonchalantly, as if the fact that her father calling was not a big deal, when I knew that she got really stressed out or distracted whenever one of her family members was even mentioned. “It’s nothing important. Gabriella lost her p
hone and he wanted to know if I’d seen it.”

  I squinted my eyes at her and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “It’s not lost. You have it.”

  Lena’s head bobbed as she nodded at me. “Yeah, that’s what I told him.”

  “So, what’s the problem?” My eyebrows furrowed together as I tried to think of where this conversation was going.

  “He wants me to bring the phone by tonight and stay for dinner. He welcomed you to join us as well.”

  Dinner at Lena’s house couldn’t be too bad. I’d be happy to go with her. The only thing that caused hesitation in my answer was the fact that Ella would be there.

  When I didn’t respond right away, Lena added, “Come on, Forrester, you have to come.”

  I sighed when she poked her bottom lip out at me, widened her eyes, and clasped her hands together in a praying motion. “Of course I’ll come with you.”

  A smirk crossed onto Lena’s freckled face as she said, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the powers of the puppy dog face.”

  I rolled my eyes playfully, pushing myself up into a sitting position and tucking my legs underneath my body. “What time are we leaving?”

  “Well, I told him that we’d be there by five,” she said, looking sheepish.

  I grabbed my phone off of the table that stood next to the lounge chair, clicking a button and making the screen light up. “Lena! It’s already four thirty!”

  Lena shrugged, “It’s not like he’ll care if we’re a few minutes late.”