by S. Massery
I clench my jaw. Amelie is heading back in our direction, a small smile on her lips. Margo got in Riley’s car without so much as glancing over at us, so the ruse can drop—except Amelie doesn’t get the memo. She sits beside me and drapes her arm around my shoulders, leaning into me.
She has on a jacket and boots, while we’re in sweatpants and t-shirts. The snow melted during the day, but the air is still brisk.
I stand, knocking her away. “Fuck off,” I growl at her.
She blinks up at me from the ground. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Liam snickers.
I raise my eyebrow. “Unless you’d like Theo to remove you from my sight?”
Our practice is going to start any minute, so I don’t know why she’s even here.
I’ve been eager to blow off some steam. Having to wait for Margo to come to me has been excruciating.
She’s mine. I know it. My friends know it. The whole school fucking knows it, no matter what she or Amelie say. The only one who isn’t convinced is Margo Wolfe.
And what a little wolf she’s becoming.
I catch Theo’s eye. He’s been talking to Coach about strategies. At my head jerk, he breaks away and heads in our direction.
Amelie shoots to her feet. “Okay, okay. I’ll see you later.”
She hurries away just as Theo arrives. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
I shrug.
Liam coughs. “She knows she can’t have you, Theo, so she’s trying to get in Caleb’s pants instead.”
Theo laughs, and I turn and shove Liam. Asshole.
“All right,” Coach calls, blowing his whistle. “Get over here, you lazy gits.”
We jog over. There are most of the guys from last year, with a few exceptions. The big gaps come from last year’s seniors, which Coach will try to fill during freshmen tryouts at the end of the week. That way, we’ll have the whole winter to prepare for the season ahead of us. Coach will start spewing out things about team comradery and all that. Over spring break, we go away to a training camp—and then the real work begins.
As captain, it’s my job to keep the team together.
But my mind keeps straying back to Margo.
“Asher!” Coach snaps.
I jerk. “Yes, sir?”
“Take them for a two-mile run. When you get back, we’re doing drills.”
Easing us into it. I nod and lift my chin. “You heard him. Let’s go.”
Ten guys fall into step behind me.
The air is cold enough to make the run brutal. My lungs are on fire by the time we get back to the field. But no one complains. The freshmen will, but not us.
“Not bad,” Coach says. “Take five minutes, then line up.”
By the time practice is over, all of us are sweating messes. Coach holds me and Theo back while the rest go to the locker room.
“I’m making you two co-captains,” Coach says without preamble.
I scowl. “Why?”
“Because your head is up your ass,” Coach answers. “I got a call from your uncle yesterday. He thinks you need a little incentive to pay more attention.”
I grimace.
Theo shakes his head. “I don’t want it.”
“You take it or I’m picking Ian—and he won’t be co-captain, he’ll be captain. Period.”
Theo looks at me, then slowly nods. Yeah, it’s a blow to my ego, but I can suck it up. Theo and I work well together without exchanging too many words.
“Head in, boys,” Coach says. “I expect you both to be leaders at tryouts.”
We nod. I’ve only taken a few steps when Coach calls me back.
“Where’s your list of schools?” he asks. “We discussed this the other day.”
Fucking hell.
“Did my uncle call to ask about that, too?”
He grunts. “I mean it, Caleb. Get your head out of your ass and think smart. Deadlines are approaching.”
I shake my head. “That it?”
He appraises me. Sometimes I make him mad enough that I think he’s going to take a swing at me. But then again, he’s a teacher and I’m a student. Whose side would they take?
“Go on.” He jerks his head toward the school.
Most of the team is done and gone by the time I get into the locker room. A quick, hot shower warms my bones. But I can’t shake the feeling that pressure is creeping up on me. My uncle, my mom. They’re prying.
Liam waits for me by my locker. “What’d he want?”
“Theo’s co-captain with me now.”
He shakes his head. “Shit. What’d you do to deserve that?”
I eye him. “Probably stuck my dick where he didn’t want it.”
Liam snorts. “That’d explain why he picked Theo instead of Eli or me.”
Coach is all about the sport. No time for lust or mind games. No time for drinking, partying, girls.
“This is a serious sport!” he frequently yelled at us.
I’m pretty sure he lives alone and parties hard in the summer—when there’s no lacrosse practice to worry about, no footage to analyze.
He’s still in his prime. Maybe only thirty years old. Fit. Angry.
As I said: the original golden boy.
“How’s Mar—I mean, Amelie?” Liam asks.
I shake my head. “I’m not touching Amelie. She’s fucking delusional.”
“You may not be touching her, but she sure as hell has no problem draping herself over you like a damn wet towel.”
I roll my eyes, grabbing my bag. We walk out together. “She’s got an issue with Theo and wants me to save her from it.”
Liam shakes his head. “Not gonna comment on that.”
“And you?” I look over at him. “No girls you’re chasing?”
“Nope. Free as a bird!”
He’s a lying bastard. All of us are. It’s the glue that holds us together. That and undying loyalty. I might want to punch Liam’s face in sometimes, but I’d kill for him. He’d do the same for me.
“You have a plan?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
Liar. He doesn’t say it, but his face sure does.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
We get to my car. His is in the shop—it’s always in the shop—so Theo and I have been taking turns getting him. If he didn’t live in the middle of nowhere, it would be a different story.
“I found something,” I tell him once we’re on the road. “A note.”
“A note,” Liam repeats.
“Yeah. Just shut up and fucking listen, would you?” When he doesn’t reply, I continue, “After Margo went missing, I broke into her room. I was going to take a picture of the family… I told them that Margo’s mom was responsible for giving their daughter drugs.”
“Isn’t that what happened?”
I narrow my eyes. “No.”
Liam huffs. “And I suppose you know the truth, huh?”
“Amberly hasn’t left town,” I mutter. “I was going to take the picture and go ask her…”
“Fuck, man. That’s a terrible idea.”
“I threatened her to leave, but she hasn’t. So she’s here for something.” I hate not knowing.
“Margo?” Liam asks.
“She might try to reach out,” I allow. “But after what Margo did… I don’t think that’s the reason.”
“And you don’t know?”
I grind my teeth. “She’s not at the same motel. I can’t find her.”
She called me and said my mother knew where she was. I could’ve moved her. Helped. But I didn’t, and now she’s gone. My leverage has vanished.
Liam’s driveway is long and winding. We finally get to his house on a hill, and I kill the engine.
“You’ll find her,” he says.
“Not without asking.” And I’m definitely not asking anyone who’ll know.
He climbs out of the car. “Wanna chill?”
I shrug and get out, following him into
the house. It’s old, the front door squeaking on loud hinges upon opening and closing. Liam’s family used to be made of money like the rest of us, but that changed a few years ago. He managed to stay at Emery-Rose by applying for scholarship, and he’s one of the few students who received it.
It’s hush-hush, though.
“That you, Liam?”
“Yeah, Mom,” he calls. We kick off our shoes. “Caleb brought me home.”
His mom rounds a corner and grins. She has flour on her cheek. “I was just making bread. Are you staying for dinner, Caleb?”
With Eli’s family out of town, I’ve been on my own. It hasn’t been half bad, actually. But someone offering to cook for me…
“I’d love to,” I say.
She smiles. “Wonderful. Jacob will be home soon.”
Jacob is Liam’s younger brother. He goes to the public school.
I follow Liam up to his room. “How is she?”
He grunts. “Stressed as always. Jake just got his license, and our parents splurged and got him a car. I think they forgot about the insurance rate for new drivers. He’s going to have to get a job if he wants to keep it, otherwise…”
“He’ll get there,” I say, even if I don’t believe it.
Liam nods sharply. “What’d Theo say about the whole co-captain thing?”
“Not much.” I flop into his desk chair and kick out my legs. “He deserves it.”
“That’s nice of you. Seeing as how you’ve held on to the captainship with a bloody grip since junior year.”
My phone rings, pausing my retort. I flash the screen at Liam, and his eyebrows jump up.
“Didn’t know your mom remembered your number,” he mutters. He stands and leaves the room, closing the door behind me.
“Yes?” I answer, leaning back in the chair. The front two legs lift off the floor.
“Caleb?” my mother asks. Like she’s not sure.
“What can I do for you, Mother?”
She huffs. “What a greeting. Where are you?”
“A friend’s house,” I drawl, gaze on the ceiling. Talking to her is painful, like going to the dentist to have a cavity filled.
“But not the Blacks,” she says. “Eli’s mother called to check in, said they were going to be in Chicago for another few days.”
Silence.
“You didn’t say they were out of town,” she finishes.
“I didn’t know you cared.” The chair slams back down.
“I’m in town.” Her voice is stiff, like she hates talking to me. “We’re having dinner at David’s house tonight. Six o’clock.”
I glance at my watch. It’s almost five thirty. “Thanks for the notice,” I say. They’re at least a forty-five-minute drive from Eli’s—longer from Liam’s. “I already have dinner plans.”
“Caleb Asher,” she starts.
“Sorry, Mother. If you want dinner plans, maybe you should’ve let me know sooner.”
I hang up, throwing my phone across Liam’s desk. There will be consequences for this. Not from Mother Dearest, of course. Uncle David will take it as a personal offense. And unfortunately, he has a bit more sway in my life than she does.
I leave my phone in his room and go downstairs, joining Liam and Jake at the table. They’re playing cards while their mother bustles around the kitchen, and I try to ignore the swooping feeling in my gut.
They used to live in the Jenkins’s house until Liam’s dad got demoted. Suddenly, their whole family was put on a shoestring budget. No more fancy house in Rose Hill with an expensive mortgage, and no more fancy private school for their son—until he got the scholarship, that is.
Still, he’s done the best he can. They converted their basement into a game room to keep the boys from going out and spending money, and they’ve always welcomed me, Eli, and Theo. The Morrisons are a blessing on lost boys like us.
“Your father is working late,” she says to her sons. She places a pot of soup in the center of the table. “If you could pause the game, boys, we’ll eat.”
We each get our own oval loaf of bread to carve out, and then we dump the tomato bisque into the bread bowls. The love that went into this meal makes me uncomfortable. I eat with Eli’s family most nights, but they have a chef who prepares most of the food.
This was… There’s still flour on Liam’s mom’s cheek from the bread.
Jake looks up and notices, his eyes softening. Liam worries about his brother, but as long as he’s treating his mom okay…
I should know. It’s the golden benchmark nowadays.
I’m lucky Margo doesn’t know how I treat my mother—and hers.
Jake leans over and brushes the flour from her cheeks.
She smiles, touching the back of his hand for a brief moment.
I shift in my seat. Affection is something that’s been a little sparse in my life… except Margo. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone care as much as she does, even if she tries not to. Even if she pretends otherwise. Even if she’s fucking pissed at me.
That’s one thing I’ll continue to be jealous about: Liam has a mom who gives a shit.
“The soup is delicious,” I tell her.
“Thank you, dear. Old family recipe.”
She asks Liam and Jake about school and sports, then turns her attention on me. I answer her questions the best I can—how I’m getting on and dealing with school and whatever. And then dinner’s over, and I go retrieve my phone from Liam’s room.
“Sorry about the interrogation.” Liam picks up a lacrosse ball. He tosses it from one hand to the other.
“It’s nice that someone cares,” I mumble. “I gotta go.”
My phone has three missed calls—one from my mother and two from Uncle David.
Once I’m in the car, I call him back.
“My house. Now.”
I sigh. “I was invited to dinner by my friend’s mom. I’d already accepted by the time Mother called to ask—”
“It’s perfectly acceptable to tell them that your presence has been requested—”
“Request makes it sound like a choice,” I interrupt. I don’t have time for this. I’ll pay for it later, but right now, I don’t really give a shit.
“Let me remind you who your legal guardian is until you’re eighteen,” he growls. “Do not make me—”
I hang up on him, turning onto Margo’s street. There are cars in front of her house. Riley’s is easy to recognize… but Savannah’s is a bit more surprising.
I park down the street and slip across the front lawn, quickly scaling the side of her house. The light is off in her bedroom, the window unlocked. Almost like she’s expecting me.
I’m pulling my leg through just as the front porch light flickers on, and girls’ voices drift toward me. Talk about good timing.
“See you tomorrow,” Riley calls.
“Bye,” Margo answers.
Savannah doesn’t say anything, but she waves and walks to her car.
Interesting.
I sit on her bed and pick up the sleep shirt she left on her pillow. She might hate me, but I can’t stay away.
I’ve tried—but life is so much more exciting with Margo around.
12
Margo
Sav suggested rumors. Evil, irrefutable claims that will turn the school against anyone.
Riley wants justice through more proper channels. Rising above and all that shit.
“No,” I say. “We can’t go easy. We…” I shake my head. “Total annihilation.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Riley asks.
“What throne do the king and queen sit on?” I pull out my phone as I speak. Savannah isn’t really paying attention, and I hit send on a pre-typed out text to Unknown.
Me: Why did you help me with Ian?
I place it face-down on the counter, my hand trembling.
Sav frowns. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking…”
Riley looks back and forth between t
he two of us.
This brings back memories. Good ones. Bad ones.
Sav and I always had a wicked streak. We always knew how to push the buttons of every single person around us. It’s what made me a bad foster kid, because even after I was taken from my home, I didn’t know how to stop that side of me.
After my third home, I learned.
The black eye and bruised cheekbone taught me well.
“We go after them where it counts,” I say. “Friends. Sports.”
Riley groans. “You’re talking… like… destroy them.”
I shrug. “Caleb wanted to destroy me. And Sav? You know Amelie doesn’t care about you.”
To my surprise, her eyes fill with tears. “I just didn’t expect her to be a backstabbing bitch,” she whispers. “We were so close up until junior year. Then she started dating Caleb after basically convincing me to stop sleeping with him, and I…”
Her eyes snap to mine like she’s realized her mistake.
And yeah, the thought of Sav sleeping with Caleb makes me want to throat punch her. But I channel Riley. Rising above.
I lift one shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not. I’m jealous of you, too.”
She stands, but I grab her wrist.
“No.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Reality check, Sav: you only hate me because he made you hate me.”
I’d finally figured it out. After I left, Savannah tried to stick up for me. And Caleb led the mob to lynch her. And me.
Amelie’s role? She did nothing. She was a friend, but now she’s on top of the pyramid.
“You wanted a truce,” I point out. “Something must’ve made you snap beyond Amelie doing the same thing to me that she did to you…”
I glance at Riley. Sav hasn’t gone for her phone. It hasn’t made a peep since we’ve been here.
Sav sighs and drops her face into her hands. “I’m an idiot,” she groans. “I got used to Amelie not being around. I liked that she didn’t make snide comments—”
Riley leans forward. “I gotta know why you approached us now. Did they say something to you?”
Savannah lifts her head. “Promise you won’t tell?”
Riley and I exchange a glance. Secrecy was tradecraft amongst foster siblings, ingrained in me since I realized how much I needed allies. There was either unbreakable trust or… not. I hold out my hand, my pinky finger extended.