Broken Dreams (Spiraling Book 2)

by H. L. Karhoff

  “Sure.” I nodded, retrieving the cash I’d stashed in the top of my boot and offering him a five-dollar bill. “I’ll take a Pepsi, if they have it. If not, anything but Coke.”

  He shook his head and smiled. “I got it, baby doll.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded.

  I put my foot up on the bottom rung of a bar stool. Devon watched as I tucked the money back in the top of my boot. His eyes swept my bare leg, pausing where my short skirt rested on my thigh.

  “Are those new?” he asked.

  “Uh-huh.” I pretended to adjust the laces. “I got them this morning. Maimy and I went shopping. Do you like them?”

  “Yeah.” The word came out as an exhale.

  When I looked at him, I saw the desire in his eyes. It was the same hungry gaze I’d gotten from other guys that night, but it didn’t bother me when it came from Devon. It was the reason I’d worn the tight black top, short skirt, and boots. I wanted his attention. That didn’t mean I had any intention of giving him what he wanted though. He’d been a jerk. Before I gave him anything, I intended to make him pay for that.

  Of course, things didn’t always go as I planned when it came to Devon. He slipped his arm around my waist, pulled me to himself, and leaned closer. His lips brushed my ear as he whispered, “A little too much.”

  There was a soft growl in his voice that sent shivers down my spine. Putting his hand on my stomach, he kissed the side of my neck. My heart raced, my breath quickened, and I had to remind myself that I was mad at him.

  “Stop.” I pushed his shoulder.

  He stood up straight and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not really in the mood to be groped right now.” I removed his hand from my stomach and stepped out of his embrace. “I am thirsty, though. Do you think you could go get those drinks?”

  “Sure.”

  Despite his agreement, his tone betrayed his irritation. I watched him disappear into the crowd before I turned to the group at the pool table. Stepping up to the side, I pretended to be interested in the game.

  “Hey, Princess.” Jeremiah nudged my arm. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “You want to play?”

  “No, thanks.” I shook my head.

  “You’ve got to cheer up, Princess.” He squeezed me in a sideways hug, shaking me gently.

  I scrunched my face, both annoyed and irritated. He was the last person I wanted to touch me. I grabbed his hand to remove it from my shoulder when I heard Devon behind me.

  “Hey.” The cold, commanding tone of Devon’s voice set off warning bells in my head.

  I ducked out of Jeremiah’s embrace and turned around. “Hi, sweetie.”

  “What’s going on?” Devon’s eyes shifted between Jeremiah and me.

  “Just trying to cheer her up, man,” Jeremiah said.

  “Looks like it,” Devon retorted with obvious sarcasm. When he stepped closer, I placed myself between the two boys.

  “It’s okay.” I put my hand on Devon’s chest and pleaded silently with him. Please, don’t pick another fight with him. Just let it go.

  Devon focused on Jeremiah for a moment, then dropped his gaze to me and shoved my soda into my chest. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled as I took the plastic cup.

  “I’ll see you later.” He walked away.

  Stunned, I took a second to realize what had happened. Once I did, I put the soda on one of the bistro tables and hurried after him. He was almost to the exit door by the time I could squeeze through the crowd.

  “Devon, wait,” I said.

  “What do you want, Tori?” he growled without stopping.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Why?”

  When he turned around, his glare stopped me in my tracks. His eyebrows were so furrowed they nearly touched, and his eyes were hard as steel. “I’m not going to stand there and watch that asshole put his hands all over you.”

  “He didn’t have his hands all over me.” I rolled my eyes. “He was just trying to cheer me up. Like he said.”

  Devon stepped closer. “I’m sure that’s not all he was trying to do.”

  I shook my head. “Well, he wasn’t going to get anywhere. I would never—”

  “Wouldn’t you?” The venom in Devon’s voice cut straight to my heart.

  I lifted my chin and blinked away tears. “No. I wouldn’t.”

  “Pardon me if I’m having a hard time believing you.” He spoke through clenched teeth before he turned away.

  “Devon, stop.” I grabbed his arm. “I wasn’t doing anything with Jeremiah. If you’d—”

  He pulled his arm out of my grip as he whirled around. “Just like you weren’t messing around with Carter?”

  “Don’t even.” I spoke slowly, trying to stop myself from shouting back. “I never did anything with Carter and you know it.”

  “Do I?” His eyebrows raised, and he threw his arms out.

  “Carter and I both told you: nothing happened!” I stomped my foot.

  “Kennedy had to get the idea somewhere.”

  “Yeah, her own head. She’s a lying bitch.”

  His eyes narrowed. “She’s not the only one.”

  “Asshole!” I slapped him as hard as I could.

  The sound drew attention from those around us. They turned to see what happened with wide eyes. Devon put his hand to his cheek and adjusted his jaw. I knew it stung. My hand was on fire. It took effort not to shake off the tingling sensation in my fingers.

  “Everything all right here?” a man in a blue baseball cap asked.

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  I glared at Devon. He rubbed his cheek before he put his hand down to reveal a red hand print. When he looked at me, his eyes burned with anger. I stood my ground, ready to fight if he was.

  “Fuck this.” He turned and stomped through the exit door.

  I stood where he’d left me, watching the door as if he would come back through. My heart pounded against my ribs. As my anger subsided, pain filled the hole it left. Tears stung my eyes. I wiped them away and walked through the crowd to the pay phone.

  Thirty-Two

  “You’re going with us.” Maimy looped her arm in mine and pulled me toward the door.

  “Where?” I asked.

  “To the mall, stupid,” Claire answered, skipping out of the trailer behind Maimy and I.

  “Oh.” I forced a smile.

  Claire, Lexie, and Maimy sang over the radio in Claire’s car all the way to Beaumont. Although I hated to admit it, Claire had a decent voice, but Lexie and Maimy sounded like hyenas performing the Heimlich on an elephant.

  This is my life now. I mused as I watched the girls from the backseat. Hanging out with the stoner girls because I have zero actual friends. Except Carter. Carter’s my friend. Too bad he didn’t come with us.

  Four Points Mall sat near downtown Beaumont. From above, it looked like a giant letter X with squares at each point. Large department stores occupied those sections. We parked near the entrance to JC Penney’s because it was closest to the music store.

  I scanned a CD shelf while the other girls rummaged through a box of clearance cassettes. The bin contained various genres mixed together in no particular order. I grabbed a few tapes I thought Devon might like and headed for the register. Maimy followed with Claire and Lexie close behind.

  Maimy looked over my shoulder as I waited for the nerdy guy in front of me to pay for his copy of the Hanson single the pop stations played at least fifty times a day. Claire had cranked it up in the car on the drive to Beaumont and, after spotting the nerd’s CD cover, I had “MMMBop” stuck in my head.

  “Metallica, huh?” Maimy asked.

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “I didn’t know you listened to rock. I figured you’d be m
ore into The Spice Girls.”

  “I listen to a lot of stuff, but these are for Devon.”

  “Seriously?” She scrunched her face in disapproval. “Could you be any lamer?”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes and grumbled, “It’s not like you’d listen, anyway.”

  The nerd walked away from the counter. I stepped forward and set my stuff down. After I paid, I waited for Maimy by the door and stared at the cellular phone kiosk farther down the corridor.

  “Do you mind if I check something out?” I asked when the other girls joined me.

  “What?” Maimy looked around.

  I turned toward her. “Have you ever heard of a cellular phone?”

  “Yeah. It’s like a car phone, right?”

  “I guess.” I shrugged. “Do you want to check ‘em out?”

  “Sure.” She nodded.

  We bypassed the regular stores, making a beeline for the kiosk. On all sides, cordless phones of various colors sat on narrow shelves under signs that said things like, “Only $59.95 with a 2 Year Agreement.”

  Mom had said I couldn’t have a cell phone, but I wanted one. Camber Flotsam had one, and I felt certain most of the other popular girls would too by the end of summer. They were the coolest things I’d ever seen. As we walked away, I racked my brain for a strategy to convince my mother to let me have a one. I’d already tried begging, bribery, and coercion with no success.

  Maybe I should just ask Dad if I can have one. That might work.

  Claire shrieked beside me. “Oh, my God!”

  “What?” Maimy asked.

  “I love that jacket,” Claire answered.

  Claire and Lexie rushed into a store filled with clothes and accessories that resembled most of what the stoner girls wore. The jacket that caught Claire’s attention hung in the window beside a mannequin in a knee-length black dress with long sleeves that flared at the elbows. Tailored at the waist, the black jacket, like the dress beside it, had a Gothic look. I wanted it as soon as I saw it, but acted indifferent because Claire wanted it, too.

  “Crap.” Claire frowned after checking the price tag.

  I waited until the other girls had walked away before getting a closer look at both the dress and jacket. Maybe later. Turning from the window display, I browsed through a rack of shirts while I waited for the other girls. The bag from the record store dangled from my arm. On the other side of the rack I heard Claire talking to Lexie.

  “She thinks she’s so hot,” Lexie said. “I almost feel sorry for her.”

  “How can you feel sorry for that slut?” Claire asked. “She slept with my boyfriend.”

  “I know, but she’s just so pathetic. It’s sad.”

  “No doubt.”

  They stepped around the end of the rack.

  “I didn’t sleep with your boyfriend,” I said.

  Claire’s eyes widened, and her head drew back. “Rude much? I wasn’t talking to you or about you, you little fink.”

  “Then who were you talking about?” I asked.

  “None ya,” she retorted.

  “God.” Lexie scowled at me. “Get a life, loser.”

  The two walked away, shaking their heads, and whispering about how self-centered I must have been to think everything was about me.

  Bitches. I glared at them.

  “There you are.” Maimy tossed her arm over my shoulders.

  “Hey.” I glanced at her.

  “You should totally get that shirt.”

  I looked at the shirt in my hand. It was a black concert-style T-shirt with goblins on the front. Shaking my head, I put the shirt back and turned to Maimy.

  “Do you want to hit up the food court?” I asked. “I’d kill for a strawberry smoothie.”

  “I could so go for a banana-mango,” she said.

  Arm in arm, we left the store. After we got our smoothies, we sat on a bench by the food court watching people walk by.

  “Hey.” Maimy nudged my arm, leaning closer. “Check out that Grade A hotty.”

  I followed her pointed finger. A group of kids from our school stood at the edge of the food court. Camber Flotsam and Miranda Schutt demanded attention in their short skirts and sheer blouses. Aside from the color, they matched down to their knee-high socks and Mary Janes.

  A list of who’s who from Trent High gathered around them: Abby Fletcher, Tara Hamilton, Chad Jenkins, Andy Birch, Sammy Hawkins, Todd Chambers, and Brad Lambert. As they made their way into the food court, Todd looked over. He smacked Sammy on the chest, gesturing toward me before Sammy broke ranks.

  “Great.” I turned to Maimy. “Let’s go.”

  “Nope.” She smiled.

  I rolled my eyes. Taking a drink of my smoothie, I pretended not to notice Sammy walking toward us.

  “Hey, Tori.” He plopped onto the bench beside me. “What’s up?”

  “Drinking a smoothie,” I answered.

  “Looks good,” he said.

  “It is,” I replied.

  Maimy leaned around me and extended her hand. “Hi. I’m Maimy.”

  “Hello, Maimy,” Sammy said. “I’m Sammy.”

  “Well, hello, Sammy.” Maimy smiled.

  Sammy scrunched his face briefly before turning his attention back to me. “How has your day been going?”

  “Okay,” I answered.

  “Much better now I ran into you.” He flashed his flawless, white smile, then realized I hadn’t asked him about his day and blushed.

  Maimy giggled. “You’re funny, Sammy.”

  He looked across the food court and adjusted the collar of his red polo shirt. If it hadn’t been a variation of what all the other popular boys wore that day, I would have said it looked good on him. Instead, it annoyed me. I hadn’t realized how cookie cutter they all were until I was an outsider looking in.

  “What are you girls up to?” Sammy asked after he recovered from his embarrassment.

  “Shopping,” I answered.

  “I see you already stopped at the record store.” He glanced at the bag. “Find anything good?”

  “Just some tapes for my boyfriend.”

  “Oh.” Sammy’s expression dropped. “Boyfriend, huh?”

  “Yep.” I nodded.

  “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” He shifted again, searching the food court for a life line.

  “Devon and I are still together.”

  “I didn’t realize that.” Sammy cleared his throat. “I should, um, find the guys.”

  “Okay.” I did my best to remain indifferent even though I felt sorry for him.

  “It was nice running into you.” He stood and walked across the food court to join his friends by the Cineplex. Brad and Todd shoved him between themselves like a pinball. Although I couldn’t hear them, I knew they were giving him crap for talking to Maimy and me. As part of the in-crowd, he wasn’t allowed to have a crush on an out-crowd girl.

  “Damn, that was one delicious slice of—”

  “What?” I looked at Maimy.

  “You have to admit that boy is fine,” she said. “And he’s got it bad for you.”

  “I guess.” I shrugged. “You ready to go?”

  “Dodging much?” She laughed.

  “No.”

  “Yes, you are. You like him, don’t you?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “He’s a clone.”

  “A clone?”

  “Yeah. He’s exactly like every other jock. I’ve done the jock thing. It’s not what it’s cut out to be.”

  “Just because your loser ex had a tiny willie doesn’t mean they all do.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I never saw Chad’s . . . You know.”

  “Seriously?”

  I nodded.

  “You never screwed him?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Why not? He’s hot.”

  “And a total jerk.” And gay.

&nb
sp; “I thought you liked that sort of thing.”

  I shot her a sideways glare.

  “Don’t wig out,” she said. “You have to admit Devon is kind of a possessive asshole. He went totally psycho on Jer at The Stage just because he talked to you.”

  “That’s not what happened,” I replied.

  “That’s what it looked like from where I was sitting.”

  Until then I hadn’t considered how the fight had looked from everyone else’s perspective. If they all thought Devon attacked Jeremiah for talking to me, it made sense they would be on Jeremiah’s side. As far as they knew, Jeremiah had done nothing wrong. At least nothing that would warrant Devon’s behavior.

  “It wasn’t just because Jeremiah was talking to me,” I said. “There was more to it than that.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “There was just more.” I looked away.

  “If you’re talking about how you screwed Jeremiah, everybody knows so—”

  I spun to face her. “I did not sleep with Jeremiah. I would never. That’s just . . . Ew.”

  “Wow. That was harsh.”

  “I didn’t sleep with him.”

  “Okay.” She put her hands up in front of her face. “You didn’t sleep with him.”

  I stared at the floor, irritated with her assumption until an idea popped into my head. “Wait, a second.” I looked at her. “You said everybody knows. Everybody who? Did Devon know? I mean, before they got in a fight? Did he know?”

  She nodded. “He asked Jake about it right after he got back.”

  My heart sank. No wonder Devon didn’t believe me about Jeremiah.

  Thirty-Three

  “Hey.” Carter nudged my arm.

  I looked across the seat at him.

  “What’s with the face?” He waved his hand in a circle around his own face.

  “Nothing.” I sighed. “I was just thinking.”

  He returned his gaze to the road. “About anything in particular?”

  I hesitated. Sharing a best friend with my boyfriend sucked sometimes. I worried Carter told Devon more than what he’d admit, but Carter had insight none of my female friends had. He knew Devon better than anyone.

  “Does Devon think I slept with Jeremiah?” I asked.

  Carter frowned. “That might be something you need to talk to Dev about.”