by Karla Luna
I kept my gaze on him. His fists were dug deep in his jean pockets as he looked deep into my blue eyes.
“Guess this is goodbye for now,” I said, trying to smile at him but failing miserably at it.
Next thing I knew, I was being pulled into strong arms and a firm chest. I sighed and breathed his scent in, hugging him tight to me like I didn’t want to let go.
“Yeah…” He pulled away from me and looked over my face. “Meanwhile, I do hope you find a great guy in New Jersey. They all suck here in Virginia.” He smirked and winked at me, but I still had to rehearse the words he had just said.
“Wait… what?”
He chuckled and held my hands in his. Mine always felt so tiny whenever he held them in his large ones.
“We’re being separated for a whole year – since you practically turn 18 when you finish high school – means we’ll somehow come across other people. I guess you most likely will, since you’ll be moving to a whole different state and a new school.” He shrugged. “Who knows, maybe you’ll find other bad boys.”
He laughed and caressed my cheek, but I just looked at him without any expression. I honestly didn’t know what to say to all of this. But clearly, he was breaking up with me in the simplest way he could.
“But hey, remember I still love you.” Right then, a small smile tugged at my lips. “And we’ll always be best friends, all right? I’m always here for you, partner in crime.” He put his fist up, making me smile wider as I hit my fist with his own.
“Okay… all right, done deal.”
I knew I wouldn’t find someone out there like Drake. But there was still hope left. At least I knew we’d stay good friends. I have been fine with just that, because the guy who had saved me from my past was still going to be with me no matter what.
I hugged Drake one last time and said to him, “Thank you, Drake… for everything.” I felt him smile at that.
As I entered the plane, I waved one last goodbye to the three guys I committed crimes with for the last two years. I was really going to miss them.
I hoped that in this New Jersey place, I’d find an equally awesome pack as they are.
I smirked to myself at the thought.
Well, if that was even slightly possible.
“So…”
I looked over at the supervisor, who ‘gladly’ decided to come with me to New Jersey, to make sure I went straight to this psychologist-lady-person.
“You are so not going back to your little delinquent friends,” he said when I trailed off. He gave me a fake smile as well and looked back out the car window.
I wasn’t even gonna ask that, you dickhead.
We were currently in a cab, on our way to the psychologist’s house, which he mentioned was a pretty big house. But not as big as a mansion, unfortunately.
Though seriously, if this lady was going to be my guardian for the next year or so, she at least could’ve come and gotten me from the damn airport. Mostly so I wouldn’t have to be with this ass the whole entire way.
I stayed quiet the rest of the ride there, since it seemed like somebody was pretty cranky. I mean, jeez, I was just looking for conversation since I really hated awkward silences, but whatever. I hate the guy anyway.
It took about twenty more minutes to get to the big house that the psychologist lived in, and I kind of gawked at the sight when we were finally there. No mansion… but damn, was it gorgeous!
It was a light blue, two-story house that most likely held a basement, too. The roof was a much darker blue and they had a pretty garden around the front porch. It was all just so nice and clean, it almost seemed brand new.
“Okay, get out of the dang car already so I can leave,” the supervisor said, breaking me out of my trance by tapping the window rather hard.
I glared up at him as I opened the door. In the process, the door slammed into his hip, causing him to stumble a little. He glared right back at me.
“I got out. Happy? Besides, I didn’t make you come with me, you big whiner,” I said, faking a huge smile. Then I rolled my eyes just as he scoffed and fixed the buttons on his stupid suit.
“No manners, I swear,” I heard him mumble.
Psh, manners shmamers. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I’m not gonna let someone walk all over me and treat me without respect.
Well, I didn’t really treat nice people with much respect. But hey, I only talked back if they were majorly annoying.
This psychologist better not be annoying or even worse than this supervisor guy, because I swear to God…
“So this must be Evelyn Jo,” a beautiful young woman, with straight and light brown-blond hair said to the supervisor, even though she was looking right at me.
In her hand was a white cup of tea, and I noticed her very light blue eyes staring me down. Her skin was light – in between pale and tan – and she was also skinny and pretty tall. Or was it her heels that made her that tall? Hmm…
I just shrugged the thought away. She looked pretty nice. But I bet she’d blow up once the supervisor left. I really didn't need to be lectured on the shit I've already done.
“Evelyn,” the supervisor introduced. “This is Ms. Coin…”
“Oh, Bradley,” Ms. Coin cut him off with a humorous laugh and a wave of her fragile hand. “I told you, that is only my name when I am at work.”
“But technically, you will be at work every day, since this little delinquent girl will be staying with you for the next year.”
I stopped myself from kicking him in the shin since he was standing right next to me. He seriously irritated me that easily.
“Well, Evelyn, this is your home now. Even if I’m at work, you may call me by my actual name, Stormy.”
Whoa, awesome name! I wanted to ask about it, but stupid Bradley here interrupted me before I even got the chance to say anything.
“I hope everything goes well. I’ll come by in November to see how she’s doing.”
It was actually already the beginning of October, so I noticed I got kicked out of school when I was barely a month and a few days into my senior year.
New record, eh? Not bad. Not bad at all.
“Very well. Thank you so much, Bradley.” She smiled at him, and lucky for me, he didn’t even glance in my direction as he walked out.
I blew out a breath of relief. Thank God he left. I would’ve killed someone – or even myself – if he didn’t leave soon enough.
“All right, Evelyn, follow me up to your new room,” Stormy said to me as she grabbed my suitcase. I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and followed her up the shiny staircase.
Even the stairs themselves were made of glass, dammit! How was this not a mansion, seriously? I mean, outside it didn’t seem much like a mansion, but inside?
Man, was it incredible.
I couldn’t wait to explore the rest of this house. Maybe they had some hidden liquor around here…
Oh, but when I entered my huge room, I knew I needed someone to hold me before I passed out at the sight before me. The walls were a red color, but they had some white swirly designs that reminded me of my upper arm tattoos.
I did have both my arms covered in beautiful and meaningful tattoos, but at the moment, I had them covered up because of my black leather jacket.
I wondered if Bradley – a.k.a. the major asshole, as you know – told Stormy about my tattoos. Though, no one should judge others just by their tattoos or appearance.
But he also knew I did a few drugs, and of course, broke a ton of rules. So he had his own reasons to judge me.
“This is your new room. Mine is just across the hall from the stairs,” Stormy stated, putting her hands on her hips to look around the gorgeous room.
“So…” I started, still admiring my room as well. It had a queen-sized bed with dark blue sheets, and even a damn balcony. “Um… is it just you living here, in this big house?” I asked, noticing those were barely the first words I had gotten to tell her since I got here.
I chewed on my bottom lip and repeated her words in my head. “You have a son?”
So there’s only three of us in this big house, huh? Should be interesting. I wondered who this kiddo was.
Well, he was probably just a douche. Then again, Drake was also a douche, but in a good way. If that even made sense.
“Yes. He’s a great young man.” She took a look around the room once again, as if she was seeing it for the first time. “Well, let’s help you unpack, and then we can go eat some food I prepared for your welcoming.”
I felt like I was actually going to like this lady. I was just dreading those therapy sessions.
This was heaven right now.
Man, I had to get the recipe for this thing! I didn’t even know what it was called, but fuck, it was so good that I was going to keep eating it like it was my very last meal!
“Mmmm…” I mumbled, as I heard a giggle coming from Stormy. Choosing to ignore it though, I put more food into my already full mouth.
Hey, when I was this hungry and the food was this good, I ate like a pig. But I didn’t care. Anyone would be eating like a pig after devouring this. It was like munching a bunch of little pieces of heaven, man.
“I see you like my famous chicken casserole.” I looked up from my food and saw a grinning Stormy. “Oh, you’re just like my son. It’s his favorite dish, and he practically eats it in the snap of a finger.” Her face fell a little once she realized something. “Huh… too bad you’re probably gonna finish it all because this is already your fifth serving, darling.”
At that, I grabbed the huge casserole dish and pulled it toward me, practically hugging the precious thing.
Stormy just ended up laughing at me again. She had a big dining room and the kitchen was right next to it. Once I smelled the food and laid my eyes on it though, I couldn’t move away from my seat at the kitchen counter. I just kept drooling until it was finally ready and I got to eat it.
“So, I heard a lot about you from Bradley.”
“Mhmm?”
“And he claims that you are a very…” She brought her hands up and moved them around as if to think of the right words to say. “Wild girl.”
“I bet he said a bad word about me that you don’t wanna sayyyy,” I said in a singsong. Bad words he can’t say in front of my face either. Psh, dick.
“No, no, darling.” She lightly patted my hand. “Nothing like that. But you start school this Monday. And remember, it’s the last one you will go to. If not, who knows what they’ll do to you until you’re of legal age.”
I hated how I wouldn’t be 18 till May, which was when I would be finishing my senior year. Drake certainly lied to Bradley and my principal when he said ‘a couple of months’ because it was just too far away to be a couple of months.
“I already registered you into Lavider High. My son usually heads out with his friend in the mornings, so…”
“Oh, is he a senior, too?” I cut her off, feeling the need to know about her son just a little bit more. I mean, I was just curious about him, that’s all.
“Yes. A very smart one, too. So if you’d like, you can ride with him and his friend. Or, I’d be more than happy to give you a ride there myself.”
“Thanks, but you don’t need to act all stepmother-y with me. We’ll see what happens, though.” I gave her a warm smile at that. She really was nice, though I remembered why I was sent here in the first place. “Now… I’m gonna go up to my new room and finish this wonderful dish.”
I felt like I couldn’t even see my own two feet right now. That was a hell of a lot of food. I didn’t even think I’d be able to get up for the next two hours. Or possibly the next few days. But damn, it was worth it.
I looked up at my ceiling and thought about how this whole year was probably going to go. If I did find a new gang, I simply hoped they were going to be just as bad and awesome as my dorks back home. New school? Everyone – or even no one – talked about the new kid. Though when they took a look at me, they sure had something to talk about. I guess I was just interesting to them for I don’t know what reason. Maybe it was the tattoos. Maybe it was the piercings. Maybe it was all the black clothing I would wear, I wondered.
But, oh well, moving on.
Now… this big house? Hell, it would be great for a party, now that it crossed my mind. It had three other guest rooms, all with their own bathroom. Plus, the backyard had a huge pool and a big field. I imagined all the awesome things that could happen here.
Suddenly, Stormy’s son came into mind as well. And she didn’t even mention his name to me for some reason.
But a smart kid, eh? Was he one of those goodie-two-shoes? Or was he secretly smart, but still bad on the inside and was just too afraid to show it to anyone else?
I suddenly felt something vibrate as I looked around. What was that?
After a few seconds, I looked down at my iPhone that was right next to my hip, and picked it up to check what I had just received.
Drake had sent me a quick text: They let me send you a present. You’ll see it Monday morning ;D Love you sweetie, take care.
I guess he couldn’t text me anymore since I was sure they had their phones, computers, and other electronic devices censored.
I frowned.
I missed my boys already.
But a present? Drake’s gifts were usually great ones. I wondered what he had in store for me this time.
I guess I just had to wait and find out for myself on Monday morning.
But for now, I was going to sleep like there was no tomorrow.
3: Meeting Her
•Zavier Coin •
“Give it back!”
“No! I need it!”
“Well, newsflash, buddy, maybe I need it too!”
“No, Jesse, stop!”
I closed my eyes and lightly banged my head against the bus’ window. Then I put my index finger in between my black-rimmed glasses and lifted them up when they started to slip down my nose.
We were currently on a travel bus, since we had just taken a trip to a bunch of museums, restaurants, and even random houses that ‘supposedly’ represented a few French stuff I still didn’t understand. And I understood everything.
Well, actually, I understood a lot of school related things. Because honestly, I wasn’t really all that street smart.
We were on our way home now, and it was currently – I looked down at my black watch that was placed on my left wrist and read the time – 6:48pm.
“Ethan, I swear to God, if you don’t give me that, I will…”
“Vous deux, taisez-vous déjà! [Both of you, shut up already!]” Mrs. Danix – our French teacher – yelled at the two boys sitting on my left, Jesse Mullins and Ethan Wander, who were both, unfortunately, my two best friends.
“Christ, it’s just a calculator! What are you doing Math here for? Eh? This is French, my boys! French!”
Jesse and Ethan were fighting over that Texas Instrument calculator for some odd reason (you just never knew with these guys). I’ve known them both for as long as I could remember, and they were pretty much the only guys I hung out with at school.
But Jesse could be a bit… uptight, if I must admit. So he was very short-tempered and Ethan just loved to mess with that, probably to see if Jesse could turn into the brightest shade of red in the universe.
Jesse was more of the outgoing type that was like the school’s class-clown, while Ethan was the shyer and nicer one. But both of them together? That was just bad.
I wanted to laugh at them right now, but instead, I just coughed into my fist and kept my eyes on the outside world till we finally got back to Lavider High.
Mom had sent me a text saying that this girl she’d been talking non-stop about for the past week just g
ot home yesterday. And of course, we’d be sharing our house with her. She would also have the room right next to mine, which I didn’t mind at all. It’s just that, I’ve never really shared a house with another girl besides my mother. There was really no need for it, really.
But this girl… she was, well my mom said she was different. And I didn’t know whether to take that as a bad thing, or a good thing. So I was pretty nervous about this whole situation, especially since she was my age and was definitely going to attend school with me.
Oh, the reason why I was nervous? Well, I’m going to tell you this. I was definitely not a ladies’ man. When I was younger, I almost puked when this one girl said ‘hi’ to me, and ever since then, I tried to stay away from any girls. But it was hard; they were everywhere. Everywhere! (Yeah, over-exaggerating here, but whatever).
Once, I was even considering an all-boys boarding school, but that was just way too much. And it was definitely calling myself a wimp.
For one, I couldn’t flirt, like, at all. I would’ve been surprised if a cheesy line flew out of my lips. Two, I stuttered like crazy and laughed, making up some lame excuse to leave whenever I got severely shy. Plus, sometimes I said things I thought about, or I said things I hadn’t even thought of yet. And three, I simply couldn’t look at girls without blushing or feeling self-conscious about myself. It might’ve sounded stupid, but I felt like they’d be looking right into my soul (like cats).
With older women like my teachers, though, I was completely fine. But nevertheless, I guess I was pretty scared of girls, no matter how stupid it sounded.
“Hey, Zavier.”
I immediately looked over to my left and saw the most beautiful girl in existence, sitting in the seat right in front of me.
Jocey Rodriguez was her name (we called her Joss for short, just to let you know).
She had sapphire-blue eyes and long, luscious blonde hair. Apparently, I liked her since we were in the 6th grade. So it’s been about 6 years since I started liking her, which sounded pretty desperate, didn’t it?