I stopped my drink midway to my mouth. "Because you look like you're looking for someone," I said slowly.
Her eyelids fluttered and she chewed off her lipstick. Not a good sigh, since she loved her lipstick. "More like I'm hoping that certain people don't show up."
I thought of all the petty girls that liked to whisper about her and start rumors yet pretend to be her friend. We both saw through them. But it couldn't be people like that. They never bothered her before.
She was about to say something when I heard a rise in pitch, as if conversations were growing insanely loud for no reason.
I followed her gaze to a group of guys that were materializing from the edge of the bonfire's light.
You know in those nature shows where a pack of hyenas come out of the darkness and move in on a pride of lions?
That was what it felt like here.
Two major predators colliding.
"Who are those guys?" I asked.
But the way they swaggered as if they owned the world told me all I needed to know.
I didn't need Maeby to tell me.
It was in the way others reacted to them.
How girls looked them up and down.
How boys were sizing them up.
They didn't go to Eastside.
They were Westhaven boys.
More specifically, they were the Heirs.
So-named because they literally were set up to inherit a huge slice of the world.
A chill that I couldn't name rolled down my spine at the sight of them.
People like them made me nervous. Seen. Even now, I felt a pair of eyes snap onto me, as if I were the one under a microscope.
I did everything I could to shrink into myself.
"Stay here," Maeby hissed at me. “Remember one rule: No regrets.”
She was gone before I could stop her.
And then, in a blink, she was gone, and so were the Heirs of Westhaven.
It was like they were a weird dream or hallucination.
Donovan's scent of leather and smoke reached me before I felt the heat of his body.
"What happened? You look spooked." He ran his fingers through my hair, taming the wild strands away from my face.
"Nothing. Just Maeby," I said as if that would explain everything.
He nodded his head, his whiskey eyes rimmed golden in the soft firelight. "Come on, Cade's guys got some food to munch on."
I didn't want to eat. Didn't want to move, especially since Maeby told me to stay here, but Donovan spanned his hand on my waist, fingers warm against my belly.
It was infuriating that he could make out with a girl one moment, and then think to tell me what to do the next moment.
But my body had a mind of its own when it came to Donovan, and I followed him.
I met Cade's eye, and I didn't know whether or not he was smirking in surprise or if he felt sorry for me.
I was tucked under Donovan's arm for the rest of the night. Maeby texted periodically and then stopped around midnight.
I wanted to go home.
"I'll drive you," Donovan said.
"You didn't drive here," I responded.
"It's all good, I'll borrow Cade's car."
"The hell you will, boy." Then Cade pinned me with his dark eyes. "I said I'd drive you home, and I will. And feel free to tag along. I ain't stopping you. But you're not driving my car."
Donovan fumed, but he wasn't going to say anything. He'd never stand up to Cade.
Besides, he didn't want me on his bike anymore than I wanted to be on the bike.
"Come on," I said groggily, tugging on his sleeve. "I'm about to pass out." I didn't care that it made me sound like a baby. I was sleepy, and for the last hour, all I could think about was how I was missing out on some perfectly good time to either read or type a little of my research project or just catch up on sleep.
I swear, college would be a cake walk compared to all these projects I did.
As I followed Cade to the parking lot, I texted Maeby a few more times. Even tried calling her, and stalking her SnapChat. Nothing.
"Where is she?" I said.
I didn't mean to say it out loud, but Cade answered me. "Just Maeby being Maeby, Girl." He opened the passenger door for me, and waited until I was inside and belted in before closing the door.
Donovan got on his bike. Some girls had followed him. I pointedly ignored the girl that threw her arms around his neck, plastering a kiss across his mouth. Cade was half in the car, as if he was staring her down off his brother, because she giggled nervously before turning and skipping back toward the party.
Cade closed the door harder than necessary.
I didn't want to hear his excuses for Donovan or fill in any awkward silences. "Maeby's car is still here," I stated. In the gleam of the light, I saw the back half of her car.
"I'll look for her after I drop you off, okay?" He promised.
I nodded. I would have told him not to bother, but when Cade said he'd do something, he would damn well do it.
Donovan clasped his helmet on his head and started his bike. He was a grumpy, growling shadow trailing after us as Cade drove me home. I was close enough to the beach to walk, but there was no way either of them would have tolerated me walking for thirty minutes in the middle of the night when I was barely a ten minute drive away.
"Can I ask you something?"
"You already did, Girl."
"Do you know why there were Westhaven guys at the party tonight?"
Cade jerked the car to a stop at the stop sign. "Westhaven? You sure?"
It was rare that Cade was surprised by anything. "Yes. Very. They kind of stood out."
"How so?"
"Everyone knows the Heirs of Westhaven."
He seemed to shift in closer to me, even though he didn't move. "How do you know them, Girl?"
"For one, I'm competing with them for the West Prep scholarship," I said referring to the scholarship that I'd been slaving for as if it were no big deal. "For two, their faces are plastered all over the school newspapers." What I saw, I remembered.
"Maeby's with them?" he asked.
"I can only assume. They appeared. They seemed to be looking for her. She told me to stay put, and left. They were all gone. And I didn't see them since."
Cade studied me before finally nodding. We drove the rest of the way in silence.
Donovan parked his bike in my garage, and Cade made sure I was fine before leaving. "I'll check in on Maeby," he said. "Do her parents know where she's at?"
"They think she's staying over here."
"Of course they do," was all he said before pressing his cheek against mine in a kind of good night kiss. He left without another word.
I got ready for bed. Donovan waited until I was done with the bathroom before he took his turn. I had three other bathrooms in the house that were virtually untouched, but he always just used mine.
I curled up in bed, and tried one last time to text Maeby on all our messaging apps. I didn't know why, but on a whim, I also texted Cade to let him know I was going to sleep and that I'd tried contacting Maeby again, but no answer.
I didn't expect him to answer, we weren't that close, but immediately he replied. “Don't worry. I'll look for her. Good night.”
I was too shocked, not knowing what to say. I told myself that the flutter in my stomach was because I was just feeling nervous and jumpy in general.
As was our tradition, Donovan had washed up and slipped on a spare shirt and shorts that I kept here for him. He slipped into bed, wrapping his arms around me.
He thought nothing of reading my phone and the messages between Cade and me. "Don't worry about Maeby," he murmured against my temple.
I nodded, but I couldn't get her out of my head. On top of that, there was a faint fruity scent that clung to Donovan. The scent of the other girl.
I shifted in his arms, pretending to stretch so that I would get some space from him. He didn't seem to think anything was wr
ong, massaging the tension from my shoulders. Why did his touch have to be so addictive?
It was really hard for me to hold onto why I was annoyed with Donovan in the first place.
Why I hated seeing him with other girls. Hated smelling their cloying scents on him. Hated being just another girl to him.
Especially when he was half of my world.
Maeby filled my days with adventure and laughter.
Donovan gave me nights of warmth and protection.
The pain in my chest was sharper tonight, and I swallowed all the jagged edges. I should be grateful that anyone would want to hang out with me. My own parents didn't want to be.
I fell into a fitful sleep. My last thoughts drifting toward Maeby, and what she would say once she found out Donovan's latest fling, and that I let him sleep with me yet again.
Her vindictive scheming on how she would get back at him made my heart settle and warmth spread in my belly.
It would be the last sweet thought that I would have of Maeby, alive and well.
In the morning, the chilling sound of a doorbell rang through my house.
No one used my doorbell.
Donovan was dressed faster than I could open my eyes. I ignored the gun he hid under his shirt. I dressed slower, but I still managed to get downstairs before the end of the second doorbell.
Two silhouettes at the front door, and I knew from their stance that they were police officers.
They had the flat stare of people who have seen too much to be fazed by anything.
"May we come in?"
The police spoke words I didn’t hear, but understood. Donovan had to explain it to me, rocking me gently in his arms as he repeated their words.
I didn’t even know if I’d answered their questions. I assumed I did, but maybe Donovan answered for me. Maybe even Cade.
For some reason, I remembered him suddenly being there, offering me coffee. A phantom, he was there one moment, then he was gone again.
Despite all that, I hadn’t broken.
I held myself together knowing that Maeby couldn’t possibly be dead.
Even when I identified her body, I still couldn’t believe she was dead.
I couldn’t let her go.
And I wouldn’t until I found out what happened.
Questions
"You don't need to know anything, Layla. Let it go. Let the police do their jobs."
I clenched my fists. I just wanted to bounce my questions off of him, and what did he do? Shut me down.
Why did I think Donovan was going to listen to my theories? "The police aren't doing anything. They're not following up after anyone in Westhaven. They wouldn’t. They're too hung up on this other random guy."
"A random guy that has eyewitnesses placing him by the beach."
"It can be a random homeless guy. A coincidence."
"Exactly. Some random guy who had the opportunity to take advantage of a girl and took it."
I stepped back as if he slapped me.
He regretted the words as soon as he said them. "I'm so sorry Layla, I didn't mean to make it sound like that."
I shook my head, not wanting to hear his words.
He had always been there to protect me from my parents' neglect. Always there to make sure I ate enough, slept enough.
I felt more of a pet than I did a friend. And a far cry from being a girlfriend.
But I was happy to have any part of Donovan.
I knew that made me look desperate. Weak.
I taught him to treat me this way. Like I was some mat he could walk all over. My vision blurred, and I didn’t want to cry in the middle of a car shop.
"You meant it. You just didn't want to say it." As if those were the magic words to some spell, clarity seemed to wash over my vision.
It was as if a veil was removed from over my eyes, and for the first time in a long time, it was like I could see clearly.
I walked away from him.
A voice, low and rumbly like the engines in the shop, spoke almost directly inside of my brain. "I'll take you home."
It was Cade. He was already slipping out of his gear, his black shirt stretched taut over a muscled torso.
"No thank you. I'm not going home," I spoke softly, but clearly, not slowing down as I stepped past him.
Walking away from both brothers. As close to any family as I had. Closer than my biological family, that was for sure.
I did the impossible though. I walked away from what they offered me.
Pity.
Sympathy.
Grief.
I deserved more. I deserved better. And so the hell did Maeby.
I wouldn’t let her death be a cautionary tale that they told other girls like some kind of urban legend to whisper in high school bathrooms.
No. I’d already started the impossible.
I walked away from Donovan and the spell he had over me broke.
Once I did that, it was like my mind opened up to other possibilities. As if solutions that have been lying dormant have finally made themselves clear.
I knew what I was going to do now.
I somehow made it to my house. Years of practice taking the bus let me get there automatically.
I found myself digging through my parent’s desk, rifling through all the thick envelopes filled with offer letter from various private academies and schools along the coast.
There, with a shiny emblem that was now more familiar to me than my own face, I took out the welcome pamphlet for Westhaven Prep.
I swallowed my pride and did the last thing I ever wanted to do—make my parents happy.
Two phone calls later, I withdrew myself from Eastside High School, and registered for classes at Westhaven Prep.
The End of Everything
I met up with Donovan in the city. I think he was as surprised as I was that I decided to speak to him.
He waited for me outside of my favorite bookstore in Union Square. “I could have picked you up?” he said by way of greeting.
I didn’t mention that it would have been silly for him to drive the the forty-five minutes out to the beach, to then turn around and drive us both to the city.
Besides, I needed the hour-long train ride to get my mind right. It was yet more time away from him and his influence.
A Donovan Detox.
“That’s a nice gesture, but you know I like trains.”
Donovan accepted that answer like it was something a normal person would say.
It wasn’t. It was something you would accept from someone whom you’ve known for your entire life.
One of the only people in the world, now, who would get that part of me.
I need to do this.
“You’re here for new books?” He said handing me a coffee, which I accepted.
I might have been annoyed with him, but I would allow for armistice if coffee was freely offered.
Without a word, we headed toward Union Square Park, holding hands like nothing between us had changed.
The weather was unusually cool, and he wore his leather jacket. Leather. Crisp scent of fall. Warm, spicy scent of coffee. Donovan’s eyes flecked with gold in the sunshine of the afternoon.
This was how I wanted to remember him. Happy and as close to carefree as he could get.
“Ready for your senior year?” He was more excited about it than anyone else I knew. Hell, more excited than me, and that was saying something since I loved school.
Donovan lived his high school fantasies vicariously through me. His own experience was trade school and a diploma. He liked being able to drive me to school or pick me up so I didn’t have to take the bus.
Senior year had off-campus privileges, too, so that meant I could leave during school hours if I wanted to.
Donovan had talked about meeting me for lunch, and trying to get me to change my classes so I’d be able to leave early on Fridays.
“I withdrew from Eastside,” I blurted out.
Silence persisted be
tween us for a full city block.
Finally, Donovan was able to form a word. “What?” It was like he tried really hard to figure out what tone he needed to use. “If this is about Maeby—”
I slipped my hand from his. “It is but it isn’t.”
Donovan raked his fingers through his hair. “Maybe you can, I don’t know, take a year off of high school for like a gap year or something.” He couldn’t look at me, instead determined to remove a smudge spot from a New York sidewalk.
“Gap year?” I smiled at him, slyly. “Have you been reading the latest trends in social media?” I teased, knowing how much he hated that shit.
He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, Layla.” He pressed his lips together, as if he was struggling to maintain the calm and even tone he’d been using. “I mean it’s your life and I don’t want you to regret anything dropping out of high school.”
“I’m not dropping out of high school,” I said.
Confusion flickered over his face before clearing up again. “Oh. Wait. You’re starting college early?”
A smile bright and unexpected broke across my face. He always thought the best of me.
“No. I’m enrolling in Westhaven Prep.”
“You’re what?” His voice was deadly low. If I hadn’t been bracing for some kind of reaction from him, I would have been startled.
As it was, I hadn’t seen him this rattled, not even when he found out Maeby died.
“I’m enrolling in Westhaven.” I made sure I said it with more finality this time.
“Did your parents—?”
I held my hand up and he went back to pacing back and forth to work off any pent up energy. It was one thing for me to vent about my parents. Quite another for someone else to do it.
“I just thought it would be best,” I said.
“Your senior year though? After everything your Eastside teachers did to get you where you are. You’re gonna give the credit to Westhaven?”
“Technically, the West Prep scholarship I won was from the same founder, so...” I let my voice trail off.
Donovan narrowed his eyes at me. “But Westhaven! Those arrogant dicks and pussies!”
“Look you don’t have to like it. But I’m going. So I want you to be supportive. Like a friend.”
MALICE: A High School Bully Romance (The Heirs of Westhaven) Page 4