by Blair Young
I sighed, adjusting my backpack over my shoulder when I reached the school. The other kids were milling about, talking and laughing with each other as they made their way toward the building, but I didn’t fall into step with anyone. Abby and Damon were really the only two people in the whole school I considered to be even remotely my friends, and neither of them were there.
Not that it was a bad thing. I had dealt with so much bullying during my school career, I would rather have no one pay any attention to me or what I was doing than to be picked on.
Molly and Trent were making their way into the building, wrapped up in each other’s arms. I was glad they were too busy staring at each other to notice me. Molly was really the mastermind behind all the bullying I’d endured through the years.
She had apologized not long ago, but I didn’t know whether to take what she said seriously or with a grain of salt. Her apology had been accompanied with an invitation to a party she was having, but I still didn’t trust she wouldn’t turn on me in a heartbeat if she felt she could get a reaction from the rest of the class if she did.
Then again, ever since Damon and I really started being an item, the rest of the kids really gave me some space. Damon had a very intimidating presence in the school, and though he had picked on me himself when we were in grade school, he had really changed his ways, and that felt good.
His altercations with Chad were now the gossip in the halls, shifting even more of the focus from me to other things that were happening. Abby had predicted it would happen that way. I was the talk of the school for a while, but something else always happened eventually, and the kids would talk about that for days or weeks until something new happened.
I was just the hot topic for a while, then things shifted and they moved on. I knew Damon didn’t care if they talked about the fact he was suspended – he was just glad he had the chance to put Chad back in his place. And, the fact that Chad, too, was suspended only made my life easier in that realm as well.
He had ruined his chances at a relationship – and a friendship – with me when he tried to force himself on me in my bedroom after the one and only date we ever went on. That act also alienated him from being Damon’s friend as well, and consequently put a strain on his friendship with Peter.
Because of the way he treated me, he lost not only his shot with me, but also his friendship with his two closest buddies. And I didn’t care how many times he apologized. I hated him for what he had done, and I wanted nothing to do with him.
The fact that he wasn’t in school only made me able to concentrate all the more on my own studies. And that’s what I planned to do today. I would get Damon’s homework and take it back to him when I left, but until then, I was going to focus on my own work and get through the classes without any distraction.
After all, I wanted to keep moving forward in my life, and I wanted to get into a good college this coming fall. I didn’t want to put it off for a year, and I really didn’t want to spend more time in Secret Bay than I had to. There were only a couple things I’d miss about the place, and now that Abby was leaving, too, I knew it would be that much easier for me to go when I could as well.
I hoped I could convince Damon to go with me. Shoot, I had a feeling that wouldn’t be too hard. He might not like high school, but I was sure he would like college. There was just a different tone to the classes, and I knew he could really make something of his life.
And, now that he was taking his high school academics more seriously, there was a much better chance he and I would get into a really good school – maybe even together.
But, it all started with today and the things that I managed to get done now, so I was going to push through and get it all done. I didn’t care if I graduated at the top of my class, but I sure as heck was going to graduate with honors. I had to. I had been through too much to drop the ball in my life now.
I was a fighter, and I always had been. Now, I was going to fight my way through the rest of this school year and embrace what was coming next. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But then, few things in my life ever had been. They only seemed to get more complicated the older I got, but maybe this would change things.
God knew I was ready for change.
Chapter 2
Sutton
After school, I headed back home taking the long way. It was a nice enough walk anyway, but if I took the long way I could go down by the beach and see if Damon was the board shop. He worked there most afternoons for Dean, making some extra money in a way Susan approved.
I was glad it was only a few more school days until he was back in class with me. Though I still often walked home after school alone since he went right over to the shop, I did like school better when he was there. We didn’t get to talk much throughout the day, but seeing him in the hall in passing was enough to brighten my smile from one subject to the next.
There were some days I would try to stop in and tell him hey before heading home, though some days I didn’t stop to see him when I saw Dean’s truck parked out front. I dealt with him enough at home, I didn’t try to seek him out at the shop as well.
More often than not, he was there, but if he was actually working, his truck was parked around the back. When he was parked in the front, that tended to mean he had just stopped by for something quickly, but he was more apt to talk to me, too.
Although things were growing frostier between Damon and Dean, Damon still was pretty talkative to him overall. I knew the fact Susan had come clean about being my real mother, and the fact Dean and Susan were fighting all the time now had something to do with it.
Damon often would take Dean’s side in most things that happened in the house, but I had noticed since Susan had told us the truth about her being my mother, Damon seemed a lot more understanding and supportive of her. That certainly didn’t mean that he took her side on everything, or even that he agreed with anything she still chose to do, but he was certainly more understanding of her than before.
He didn’t fight her as much as he used to, though he still did his own thing much of the time. I just noticed that he chose to do it more subtly, avoiding arguments or disagreements with her as much as possible. Though Susan and I rarely talked about Damon and never talked about the fights they had, I had a feeling she appreciated the sentiment.
She certainly hadn’t been taking all the arguments with Dean very well.
I headed through downtown on my way to the board shop, enjoying the sunshine and the feel of the slight breeze on my skin. It was a warm day, but it wasn’t too hot. We were getting on toward fall and the sunlight hours were getting shorter, but it was still plenty warm enough to sport a tank top and shorts at school.
I rounded the corner heading to the shop, but my heart sank when I saw Dean’s truck right up front. He must be in there talking to Damon, and I really didn’t want to see him. He’d be at home that night, and I’d have to deal with him more than I wanted to then, so I decided to skip going in to see Damon and save talking to him until after dinner.
It wasn’t at all unusual for the two of us to hide out in one of our rooms after the last meal of the day. We’d talk and work on our homework together. And, if Dean and Susan weren’t home, or if they were doing their own thing downstairs, we’d sneak sex as much as possible.
It was impossible for me to keep my hands off him. He was so hot. I’d always had a crush on him, and it only got worse after we became official. I wanted to constantly make out with him when we were together, and nothing beat the feeling of his cock deep inside me.
Sure, it was hard for us to enjoy each other’s bodies with Susan and Dean in the house, but we managed to make time for it as often as possible. Two, sometimes three times a week if we were lucky. With Dean and Susan both working out of the house, we managed quite nicely.
I was already thinking about ways we could manage to have sex with each other that night as I headed past the shop and onto the beach. It was a nice walk along the shore over to
the boardwalk, where I could cut back up to the street that would lead back to the house.
The sun was still warm, and there were several other people with their kids on the beach, enjoying the rest of the warm afternoons we had before it got too cold to really hang out near the water. The ocean itself was getting colder, and though I still hung out at the bay as much as I could, I wasn’t swimming as much as I had been.
Still, it was nice to see that the kids were enjoying the sunshine while they could.
I reached the boardwalk and headed up toward the street, lost in thought over the latest developments in my life, as well as wondering if I was ever going to solve the mystery of what happened to my parents. The more answers I got, it seemed the more questions came along with them.
Susan had told me her big secret, and though I had a feeling she wasn’t telling me everything, I didn’t think she had anything to do with my parents’ passing. I just couldn’t see her being involved in something like that, even if she did want to have custody of me.
She was a kind enough woman, and my parents were good, understanding people, I could imagine if that was what she really wanted, they would have worked something out with her to make her part of my life. Maybe I wouldn’t ever spend the night at her house, but I knew they wouldn’t prevent her from seeing me.
So, I felt confident in knowing she didn’t know who was responsible for their murders, and she wasn’t hiding anything like that from me. But, I still wanted to know who my real father was, and why she had given me up for adoption in the first place.
It wasn’t that it ultimately mattered, but it was still something that would answer more questions about who I was and why I ended up living with the two people who made me the person I’d become. Perhaps it would lead to some insight as to who I was supposed to be, too.
I was glad knowing that she was my mother didn’t affect my relationship with Damon, either. I was afraid he would find it strange since she had been practically his mother for all these years, but he seemed to be able to view her as a foster mother a lot more than I was able to just look at my adopted mother as anything but my true mom.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think of Susan as my biological mother, but it was hard for my emotions to catch up with my brain. I could think about it logically, that was for sure, but as far as emotionally, I didn’t feel much different about Susan than I had.
I wondered if her telling me the truth was going to make me closer to her – make me love her as a mother in my life. Maybe not as much as I loved the woman who raised me, but as a mother I wasn’t ever able to know before I was nearly an adult.
But, that didn’t happen. Sure, it might have changed some of the things that I thought about her or viewed toward her, but it didn’t change things that I thought would happen if I found out who my real mother was. I didn’t feel any sort of special connection to her, and I really didn’t think of her as anything but a foster parent to me – someone who was a legal guardian.
I wasn’t sure if it was wrong of me to be so distant from her knowing the truth, or if I should just accept that it was the way things were. After all, she was the one who had given me up for adoption. No matter what her reason had been at the time, she was the one who made that decision.
I had grown up with a different mother and father, and in my heart, those were the people who deserved the title. Even if they weren’t the best parents in the world, I knew they had done their best. And, if they hadn’t been the victim of such a terrible crime, they would still be there for me through everything I dealt with, just like they had been my whole life.
With a sigh, I adjusted my backpack. I was nearly off the boardwalk, when suddenly I was jolted out of my ruminating. Three young men were walking in my direction, all clearly looking at me.
They appeared to be in their early to mid twenties, and they were all dressed in black hoodies despite the heat of the day. They wore dark, reflective aviator sunglasses and all were wearing black jeans. Their sneakers were the only bright colors on them, and immediately, I was on edge.
My initial reaction was to turn and go the other way, but the one in the middle called out to me.
“Hey! You live with Damon, don’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. Somehow, it didn’t surprise me these guys knew Damon. Though I felt he was coming around to a more responsible way of life, there were still things about him I didn’t know. He had promised me he would be more open with me about the things he did in his life, but I had a feeling that only went as far as the things that I asked him specifically.
Even not keeping secrets from me, I didn’t get the impression Damon was the type to really offer a lot of extra information or details about his life or what he was involved in to anyone, not even to me.
“Well, we have a little message for him, and we thought it would make a bigger impact if it came from you,” he said with a smile. “Can you do that for us?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a chuckle. I felt uncomfortable. There was something about this guy that was even worse than Chad or Dean. He was creepy, and there was something sinister in his laugh. I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted to turn and run from him.
At the same time, why did they want me to give Damon a message? If he was the one involved with them, why didn’t they get a hold of him directly? If they knew that I was living with him, they clearly knew more about me and his situation than what made me comfortable.
“Tell him that he needs to pay up. We’re getting sick of waiting, and it’s time for him to step up and give us what he owes. Or else,” he said.
“Or else what?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.
“He’ll know,” the man said with another sneer that made my blood run cold. The two cronies standing with him laughed, and the three of them turned and walked off, leaving me standing in the middle of the boardwalk, my hands shaking and a knot in the pit of my stomach.
Immediately, I didn’t want to take my time getting home anymore. I felt like I was going to vomit, or pass out, or maybe both. I turned and ran in the opposite direction from where they were heading, running with my head down toward the street as fast as I could.
No one else on the beach seemed to notice the interaction I’d had with the three men, and I wasn’t sure if I should ask someone for help. I looked over my shoulder, but they had vanished. Still, I ran. I didn’t see them or hear them, but I could only imagine they were following me.
At any second, I expected one of them to grab me from behind.
It was only a few more blocks to get to my house, but by the time I arrived, I was in a frenzy. Susan’s car was in the driveway, but I didn’t bother looking for her when I was in the house. I didn’t want to drag her into this. She was already upset with Damon over so many of the things he did in life, I didn’t want to cause more drama between them.
And, I really didn’t want Dean to get involved. No, I was going to talk to Damon about this directly, and see what he had to say. He could tell me if we should get the adults involved or just let him take care of it.
Either way, I didn’t want to talk to anyone until I had the chance to talk to him. I closed my door behind me, leaning against it and trying to calm down before heading over to my bed.
My mind was spinning, and I still felt sick.
Who were those men? What did this message to Damon mean? Why did they come to me to give it to him? How was me passing it along more effective than them handling it directly?
So many questions and I had to have answers. The sooner the better. But, Damon was working, and I wasn’t sure when he would be home. Dean didn’t let him work long days during the week, even though he was suspended from school. Still, it seemed like it would be forever until he got back, and each passing minute felt like torture.
I had to talk to him. I hoped it was nothing. I hoped he would tell me all that I wanted to know and explain w
hat they meant. But, no matter what the truth was, one thing was for sure.
He couldn’t get there soon enough.
Chapter 3
Sutton
Susan was downstairs in the kitchen. I could hear her going through the cupboards and doing the dishes, but I still didn’t leave my room. I had a feeling she heard me get home, but even though she had told me the truth, she still gave me the same space that she’d always given me.
When I had first moved into the house after the death of my parents, she had reached out to me several times in an attempt to be friends, but I had kept her at arms’ length. I didn’t want to be close to her then, and I had a feeling she could sense not much had changed for me despite the fact she was a relative.
My only relative, as far as I knew.
I wasn’t exactly close with my adopted parents’ relatives, but now it struck me I didn’t know if I had anyone else in my family tree besides Susan. Did she come from a big family? Were her parents still alive? Who were my real grandparents? And that didn’t even begin to touch on who my real father’s family was. It was all too much for me to worry about taking in right now.
I had to talk to Damon.
The though to text or call him did enter my mind, but I dismissed it nearly as fast as it came. I didn’t want him to worry while he was at work, and I didn’t think I could really convey what happened when I was still so shaken by the encounter myself. It was part of the reason I didn’t want to talk to Susan about it. I didn’t want her to freak out about the fact I had been approached by some people on the boardwalk and call the police or something.
After all, these guys really did sound serious, and I didn’t know how entrenched with them Damon was. For all I knew, they could be dangerous, and if I were to go to the wrong people, he could find himself in a world of hurt.