by Ellis Marie
She claps in response. “Yay! Okay, we’ll go get our bags so that he doesn’t see you,” she says and turns to Cole without waiting for a response. She grabs his arm and drags him through the door while beginning to question him on where we’re heading.
There’s silence in the corridor. I bite my lip, not knowing what to say to say to the boy standing behind me. Our moment from before is still clear in my mind, and I’m still trying to figure it out.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Kristie asked you to find me?” I ask, turning around abruptly.
“Why didn’t you tell her about Carter?” he retorts.
“Why didn’t you hit him?”
“Why didn’t you want me to know that you think I’m good looking?”
I pause at his question, not expecting that to be his response before laughing lightly and shaking my head while I lean against the railing of the stairs, my cheeks blushing yet again. He smiles, too, and we both seem to just let the questions go, a more comfortable silence settling around us.
“You look very pretty, by the way,” Trent states out of nowhere. I know that I’m going to have to give up on trying not to blush around him because it’s most likely impossible.
“Thanks,” I mumble, now wishing that I was wearing my hair down so that I could hide behind it and save at least some of my dignity. “Although, tomato Elle is probably not the most attractive look I could be sporting right now.”
He smiles at my comment but shakes his head. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, red or not.”
I look up at Trent in shock, his words repeating as he takes a step towards me while his hand softly reaches out and hooks mine but just by our pinkies, as if he’s worried he will scare me away.
My breath catches at the action, his soft gesture so unbelievably sweet that I struggle to form a response.
“That’s not true,” I whisper back with a light chuckle.
“It is,” he replies, his voice barely audible. “And it kills me that you don’t see yourself the way I see you.”
I could swoon at his words as they melt into my ears. His soothing voice makes me sigh, but I hold myself together, my pinkie tightening around his as I try to calm my breathing. He smiles at my shocked appearance and squeezes our fingers.
“I’m going to make you believe me one day.”
With that, he drops my hand and takes a step back, acting as if he hasn’t just said something that could make any girl fall at his feet. Before I can ask him anything, the door beside us swings open and our two friends re-emerge with giant grins on their faces. Kristie passes me my bag and then holds up another plastic one in her hand, the contents of it clinking together.
“We may have stolen some goods from Tracey’s stash,” she admits mischievously, looking very pleased with herself. “Serves her right for being such a cow.”
I shake my head at my best friend who, I’m now realizing, is a little bit tipsy. She links her arms with me, making me smile at her.
“We ready to go?” Cole asks. “Trent, are you coming?”
I look at Trent, and for a moment, it seems like he’s caught up in his thoughts and doesn’t hear Cole, but then, he shakes his head as if someone has snapped him out of it and looks up, his glare aiming straight for his best friend.
“Okay then!” Cole quickly roars, grabbing my other arm and yanking me away from Kristie. He begins to drag me to the front door, pushing past Trent on the way. “I’m staying with you because he probably won’t hurt me if you’re beside me.”
I peer back over my shoulder and see Kristie and Trent walking together a few steps behind, both of them glaring at Cole.
“Is he coming with us?” I ask, which makes him snort.
“He has no reason to stay here anymore now that we’re going,” he answers casually, causing me to frown. We go outside and start walking down the path of the house, the warm summer air a nice change from the stuffy party inside.
“I’m sure he has other friends here, and there’s plenty of girls that would be interested?” I suggest. Cole looks at me like I’m crazy, but then seems to catch himself and coughs, stopping beside a large black Jeep. “Cole, what aren’t you telling me?”
Cole’s eyes widen in panic as he scratches the back of his head warily, his other hand tapping his leg. “Well, I meant that he, um . . . he—”
“I was just here for Cole, he dragged me here. Now that he’s leaving, there’s no point in me staying,” Trent answers as he stops beside us with Kristie following shortly behind. I watch Cole seem to relax but shoot a worried look at his friend as if he is waiting for him to say something else. “Get in.”
Kristie and I look at Trent confused. He sighs before pulling out a set of car keys and clicking the middle button. Beside us, the gorgeous car unlocks. We stare in shock as Cole opens the door, motioning for us to step inside.
“Shut up!” Kristie gapes. “Did you steal this?”
Trent rolls his eyes, ignoring her question as he heads around to the other side of the car, opening the driver’s door. She turns and looks at Cole who just shrugs in response, a light laugh accompanying it before opening the other front door and sliding in. I look at Kristie and we both stare at each other for a second before squealing and running to the other two doors, throwing them open in a second.
Inside is also black, and I begin to wonder if this happens to be Trent’s favourite colour. I wouldn’t be surprised; he seems like the type of person who would like a shade.
“Trent, is this yours?” I ask, running my fingers over the smooth leather as I settle into the seat. “It’s so beautiful.”
He looks at me through the rearview mirror and smirks at my awed expression, his golden eyes watching me from the front.
“I got it as a present from my family,” he explains and my interest piques. I’ve never heard him mention them before, although I suppose I’ve never asked.
“You must be the favourite child then,” Kristie jokes. I watch the easy smile slip from Trent’s lips as he switches the engine on, ignoring her statement. Cole brings her into a conversation as we begin to buckle up, but I don’t listen. I continue to stare at Trent and wait for him to look up. He sits with his brows furrowed, and every so often, his eye twitches slightly as if in pain. Eventually, he looks at me. When he does, I give him a reassuring smile.
“Are you okay?” I mouth to him through the mirror and the lines in his forehead disappear as his expression relaxes and his frown is replaced by a slight smile. He nods in response to my question, and I grin back at him, glad that he isn’t letting whatever plagued his mind get to him.
However, I did still want to know about it.
“Right, so let’s go!” Cole shouts, capturing my attention. I look at Trent hesitantly, who frowns back at my expression.
“Are you safe to drive?” I ask. “Haven’t you been drinking?”
Cole begins to laugh but Trent’s hand flies out and punches him in the stomach, not only cutting him off but also making him bend over coughing.
“I don’t drink,” he answers. I relax into the seat, giving Cole a concerned but confused glance. “Elle,” Trent calls, making me look at him again. “You’re always safe with me, I promise.”
I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, I believe him; I believe that no matter what happens, he would never try to hurt me.
“Where is this thing we’re going to, Cole?” I ask as we pull away from the curb, realising that I don’t know anything and had just trusted Kristie to make the decision.
He looks at me hesitantly for a moment, his eyes drifting to Trent before he speaks.
“It’s in East Bay.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
When Mrs. Kennedy said that the town of East Bay is beautiful, I didn’t totally believe her. Now, I do.
Although it’s dark and I can’t see everything, what I do see is gorgeous.
At first, the streets and houses are quite similar to our own, but once we start travelling dee
per in and through the other side of the town, things change. The houses are large and wooden, seeming to almost blend in with the nature around them. The one thing that never changes throughout the entire drive is the surrounding trees; it feels like no matter what direction I look at, I can see the outline of the forest.
Cole and Kristie talk for most of the journey, their laughter creating a good soundtrack for the drive. By the time we arrive, my stomach hurts from laughing so much. Trent is the same; he doesn’t say an awful lot the whole way unless he’s correcting Cole or laughing at something they’ve said.
When we pull up to the party, I immediately see the large bonfire and the silhouettes of figures crowded around it. The music starts to make its way into the car.
“Welcome to a ‘Bay dweller’ party,” Cole jokes, throwing open the door. Kristie and I scramble out after him, eager to see what he’s talking about. “We know how to throw them.”
The trees that tower over us are decorated with twinkling fairy lights, and they seem to lead up to the glistening water in the distance.
“Is that a beach?” Kristie asks with eyes wide in excitement, and Cole laughs.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a town secret. It’s the spot where we usually host parties. It’s far enough away from the houses that we don’t annoy anyone and it’s safer.”
While Kristie just nods and begins to collect her things out of the car, I frown at Cole’s words.
“Why is this section safer?” I ask, and his expression tells me that he didn’t expect to have to answer questions.
“It’s better lit,” Trent interrupts, exiting the car and pointing upwards to the lights hanging in the trees. “Plus the water can get pretty deep, so this bit is the best because it’s shallow.”
He shoots a look at Cole as if giving him into trouble before turning back to us, his eyes narrowing at my feet.
“You’re not going to be able to walk over there in those,” he comments. I shuffle on the spot, not knowing what to say. “You’ll be fine once we reach the sand, but you might struggle on the cobbles.”
I nod in response but stare questioningly at my toes that are poking out of my heels. “So what should I do to get over—”
I barely manage to finish my question before Trent bends down and scoops me up, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me as if I’m as light as a feather.
“Trent!” I scream as I knock my chin against his back softly, my legs flailing as he begins to walk. “Put me down!”
“You’ll get sore feet,” he explains with a chuckle. I have to marvel at how easily he walks with me on him; it’s as if he doesn’t feel me at all.
I strain my head up and look over to Kristie and Cole to ask them for help, but then, I see that Kristie is on Cole’s back with her arms wrapped around his neck and they are sprinting towards us.
“Race!” Cole screams, overtaking us and I hear a laugh.
Oh no.
“Trent, don’t you—” My words are cut off as he suddenly launches forward. His feet pounds along the path and I bounce in time, my voice lost. I am about to complain to him and tell him that we’ll never catch up, but then, I see Kristie’s shocked expression beside me followed by Cole’s frustrated one as we slowly overtake them.
“Yes, Trent!” I scream happily, laughing at the other pair falling behind us. “Sucks for you guys! Losers!”
Kristie shouts abuse back as they chase us, but her voice is drowned out by the music that we’re running towards.
Abruptly, we come to a stop and Trent lets out a shout of victory, his feet bouncing. He picks me up and pretends to slam me down onto the grass as if I’m a ball that he has just scored a touchdown with. Surprisingly though, he puts me down so gently that I don’t even stumble as I land despite the speed he moves me at. Trent watches me with concern as I shake away the dizziness that being carried upside down brings.
“I’m fine.” I laugh. “You can run really fast.”
He smirks at my comment, running a hand through his dark hair. “I was waiting for you to faint again,” he teases, poking my arm. I roll my eyes at him, but I can’t keep the grin off my face.
“Jesus, Kristie,” Cole pants, arriving beside us with his face in pain. “It doesn’t matter how much you scream in my ear or pull my hair, my legs won’t go faster.”
My best friend huffs and jumps off his back while folding her arms like a small child. “Well, excuse me that I didn’t know you suck at running.”
Trent bursts out laughing at her comment. I look at him in shock as he bellows, his back bending and behind me as other people join in.
I don’t think it’s that funny.
“See, Cole, told you you’re bad at running,” a voice says from behind me. I turn around to see two identical boys making their way towards us, their chuckles joining with Trent. “Giving us the excuse that you had sore legs.”
“Hey! That’s not fair, I did have sore legs that day,” Cole grumbles, punching one of the boys in the chest. “Plus I was carrying someone.”
Kristie gasps from beside us. “Are you calling me heavy?” she asks, and Cole gives her a guilty smile.
“Not exactly?”
As soon as he says the words, Trent and I, as well as the two boys with us, suck in a breath and shake our heads, tutting at Cole.
“That was the total wrong thing to say, wasn’t it?” Cole grimaces, holding his hands up in defence.
“I’m going to kill you,” Kristie states calmly before bending down and taking off her shoes. I hold in a laugh, knowing exactly what she is about to do. “Can you hold these please?” she asks, handing them to me. I nod before motioning for her to go. She grins, kissing me on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.”
She takes a breath and clears her throat before turning around to Cole, her expression changing to a deadly one. “Let’s see how good you are at running, Edwards.”
Cole seems to realise what’s happening a split second before Kristie charges towards him. He takes off running, his screams of help getting distant as he heads to the main party, begging her not to hurt him while she laughs, close behind him.
Our own laughter dies down, and I look at the two boys, suddenly feeling awkward in the presence of them without Kristie as a buffer between new people and me. I wave at them before I can stop myself from doing it. I wince as one of Kristie’s heels knock my head, making me let out a yelp of pain.
Trent sighs beside me and takes the heels out of my hands, not even looking at me as he does, but I still shoot him a grateful smile while rubbing my head with my hand.
“Thanks,” I mumble, trying to hide my blushing cheeks from the strangers in front of me.
The two boys chuckle. One of them steps forward, holding out his hand while his brown eyes shining with humour.
“I’m Robbie, and this is Dean. You must be Elle Williams.”
I shake his offered hand warmly but my brows crinkle. “How do you know my name?” I ask, glancing at Trent who looks to be trying to ignore the conversation.
“You seem to have quite an effect on people,” Dean answers, also shaking my hand. I notice how his voice is a little softer than his brother’s. “Scarlette won’t stop talking about you, along with some other people.” He briefly looks at Trent, but he doesn’t say anything. I smile at his words.
“Is Scarlette here?” I ask happily, looking out for the redheaded girl but they shake their heads.
“She’s babysitting,” Robbie answers and I pout. I would really have loved to have seen her; she was certainly fun to be around, and I can imagine she would be the life of a party.
“Do you guys go to school with me?” I ask, wondering how I’ve never seen them before. Surely, I wasn’t so caught up with myself that I hadn’t paid attention to people’s faces.
“Yeah, we do,” they answer.
Okay, maybe I was.
“But we’re only juniors. We’ve just seen you around school.”
I relax a little, relieved that
I’m not just completely ignorant and oblivious.
“Oh, my friend Cameron might be in your classes,” I tell them. “He’s meant to be in my year, but he has to repeat junior year because he missed a lot of classes.”
The two boys share a look, which I don’t quite understand, and their bodies seem to tense.
“Where is he right now?” one of them asks.
“The Caribbean,” I say cautiously, almost scared to tell them his location.
Why are they acting so weird?
“Don’t you guys have a bonfire to be attending?” Trent suddenly says, the tone making it come out as almost an order. “I think it’s dying a little bit.”
We all turn and look at the massive, raging fire beside the water’s edge.
Is Trent looking at the same fire that I’m looking at?
It seems like Robbie and Dean are thinking the same thing, but as Robbie opens his mouth to say something, he quickly snaps it shut and lets out a nervous chuckle, his feet already moving towards it with Dean following.
“You’re right,” he answers, pointing at Trent. “Thanks, man.” He then turns to me and shoots his thumbs up. “See you later, Elle.”
Before I can even respond, the two of them turn and jog away. Dean sends a brief wave as they do, and I stand dumbstruck at their retreating figures.
The fire looks fine; it definitely didn’t look like it needed more wood.
“You alright?” Trent asks, dragging me out of my thoughts and I decide to just let it go for the night. I wanted to enjoy myself.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
Trent smiles softly and motions for us to start walking.
I go to take a step, but my heels sink into the sand and I yelp, losing my footing slightly. I blush in embarrassment and try to bend down to unfasten them but someone else beats me to it. I stand in shock as Trent Night lifts my foot with his eyes trained on the tiny metal clasp holding my shoe to it. Matt had never done this before; if I had sore feet or wanted to take off my heels, he would chastise me. He would say, ‘it’s your own fault for wearing them’ and leave me behind as I hobbled after him.