Chapter 3 #2
“I told you, Amelia. I can’t go out. Especially not tonight.”
“How about yesterday? Why didn’t you come to Tropical?” she demanded, fixing her gaze on me as if she was trying to read my mind.
“Um.”
“I’m guessing that two guys like Hunter and Cooper are better than your friends in your na?ve eyes.” Amelia always used that strong, firm tone when she talked.
I’d never doubted that she had a strong personality, but she always seemed angry. Really angry.
“And I understand that two steers are better than one,” Poppy said.
I burst out laughing at Poppy, who was dyeing the ends of her hair.
“What are you getting at?” I grumbled.
“They’re joking,” whispered Ari, biting her lips.
“Even if there are rumors . . .”
Poppy’s image froze as soon as Amelia cleared her throat.
“What rumors?” I asked.
“Nothing. All we know is you went on an adventure this morning in the Palm Springs desert.”
“No, what are you talking about? Who—” Jackson. Who else?
“Are you and Will serious?”
Was there any other way of being together without it being serious?
“He told me that he likes me but wants to take things slow. I’d say we’re not serious.”
“All right, the fact that he admits that he likes you is major. It’s weird that James is managing to stay out of the way for once. Right, Ari?” Amelia’s voice was so sharp that it made her friend bow her head. It was tense between them, but I couldn’t figure out why.
“Sorry, what does James have to do with it?” I asked.
“We’re talking about someone who wants to have every girl who walks in front of him, and he doesn’t care even if it’s his best friend’s girlfriend.” And she repeated sneakily, “Right, Ari?”
“What on earth do you mean?” Ari groaned.
“What do I mean? I think you know.”
I got that there was something going on between James and Ari, but what did Will have to do with it?
“Why don’t you forget about that old stuff now? Listen, I gotta go.” Ari hung up, and a little while later Amelia said goodbye too.
“Poppy?”
I watched her bite into an Oreo, her hair full of silvery foils.
“Yes?”
“What were they talking about?”
“Lately Amelia’s had the bad habit of bringing up stuff that happened in ninth grade. I don’t know what’s going on with her. She’s been taunting Ari every day. She started doing it when she and Brian broke up.”
Poppy shrugged, confused. Thank you very much, Poppy, I ask you something, and you always tell me more than you should.
“Do you know why it ended between them?”
“I think it’s because she wasn’t very into him. But you don’t have to worry about that. Ari doesn’t like William anymore.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Oh no, I gotta go, my mom . . . Jesus Christ! June, the rabbit escaped from its cage!”
She hung up, and I lingered, staring at the black screen.
Stuff that happened in ninth grade seemed like more than enough reason for me not to worry. So I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on my pajamas. Then I felt my phone vibrate.
It was Will.
“Will? Did something happen?”
I turned on the light and sprang up from the bed.
“No, I’m just calling to see if you’re okay.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Why?”
“I thought of you.”
I was speechless, and I wasn’t one who was at a loss for words very often.
“Are you sure Ethan Austin didn’t traumatize you too much? If you need—” His sweetness made me smile.
“Let’s just say it’ll take me a little longer to fall asleep tonight.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you should know that he was joking anyway.”
“I appreciate that you want to reassure me, but Austin doesn’t seem like the kind to joke around. James said . . .”
“Since when do you listen to what James says?” I was floored by his abrupt question.
“I mean, I’m not, but—”
I heard voices in the background and immediately recognized the voice of the person we were talking about.
“Where are you?” I asked Will, who took a little while to answer.
“We were at Tropical, but now I’m going home with James and Tiffany.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Can I come over? I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”
“Huh? No. It’ll wake my mom up, it’s superlate, and—”
“Your mom’s not home. Tell her we’re swinging by.”
James’s arrogance managed to irk me even from far away.
“What does he know?” I spat sharply as I walked to my mom’s bedroom door.
I opened it. Nobody was there.
“We’ll be there in five minutes. I just wanna give you a good-night kiss and make sure everything’s okay.”
>> <<
“You brought them too?”
I felt my embarrassment slither through my stomach up to my cheeks when I saw James and Tiffany at the front door next to William. Will looked flawless, but those two looked like two models who had just walked off an underwear runway show.
I stuck out like a sore thumb in my tank top and pajama pants. It would’ve been fine up to this point if it wasn’t for the fact that the print was highlighter-yellow bananas on a shocking pink background.
“Wow, sexy,” quipped Tiffany, gazing at me with her catlike eyes.
That had to be a joke, but I couldn’t help but notice her suggestive stare.
James put the vape pen away and looked me up and down.
“I swear, we’re only staying for five minutes and then I’ll take them back,” whispered Will, before giving me a peck on the lips.
The hint of alcohol I smelled on his breath threw me off. He knew he shouldn’t be drinking on his medication, but maybe bad company was a stronger influence than common sense.
We sat on the couch, and I realized that I was more agitated than usual.
“Are you okay, June?”
“If my mom comes back she won’t be happy,” I murmured, trying to ignore Tiffany’s cackling.
William noticed my uneasiness and took my hand to reassure me.
“Don’t worry, Austin doesn’t know anything about you. I’m serious.”
My ears focused on hearing what William had to say, but my eyes darted to the kitchen, where James sat on the table with his legs dangling off it as Tiffany hovered around them. I watched them talk until she opened the pantry door. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Sorry, Will. I’ll be right back.”
“We wanna break this open. Are you saying that it’ll taste gross?” exclaimed Tiffany, staring at me while holding a bottle of bubbly wine.
I’d never really gotten a good look at Tiffany because Taylor often stole her thunder, but now that I really looked at her, she had a really pretty face.
“Your mom’s got bad taste,” remarked James rudely, stretching his legs.
“Yeah, otherwise she wouldn’t be going out with your dad.”
His blue eyes, so dark that they looked like the night sky, stopped dead in mine.
Tiffany put a hand on his hip, crinkling the fabric of his gray T-shirt under her black nails.
They seemed intimate. Much more than they’d seemed from far away.
She whispered something in his ear while looking at me. He curled his lip in a malicious sneer.
“Enough,” he groaned raspily.
“Can you not touch anything, please?”
Tiffany put the bottle on the table and got on her tiptoes to meet James’s face.
“Relax, June, we’re not doing anything.” She provoked me as she sucked on James’s lower lip, making him moan sensually.
“Listen, my mom will be here in a little while, and it’s best that you guys get out of here.” I was short of breath and my heart was palpitating. The scene was giving me a migraine.
James gazed even deeper into my eyes, then grabbed Tiffany’s hair and started making out with her.
Sure, Tiffany was beautiful, but he . . . my god.
No. It’s hate; I just hate him. There’s nothing titillating about all this. I gulped, ready to tell them to get out of my house, but my gaze fell under James’s magic spell again. I watched him slide his hands over and squeeze her thighs. I lost my patience.
“James.” I tried to call him as Tiffany showed no signs of pulling herself away from his mouth.
James’s intense, intoxicating scent was everywhere. I was afraid my mom would notice it once she got home.
James licked his lips, then smirked at me.
“Fuck it, let’s go. Snow White’s freaking out too much.”
He jumped off the table and passed by me with his nose in the air, as Tiffany shot me a conspiratorial look.
“You don’t think he’s good enough for you, do you? We all thought the same thing.”
I was confused by what Tiffany said; then again, I was confused by everything. I turned around and went back to the living room. William was on the phone with his mom, and James was standing next to him.
“Let’s go, Will,” he said.
“Give me five minutes with her.”
“Then you can walk home.”
William grumbled then gave me a quick hug.
“See you at school, June.”
It had already been half an hour, and there was still no sign of my mom. I tried to call her, but I didn’t get any answer. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but after Austin had threatened me like that, I felt uneasy. It was nighttime, and I was oddly scared of being in my own home.
I decided to distract myself with something that made me think about something else. I texted James to ask him how he knew my mom wasn’t home. I was stunned when he answered me a few minutes later.
Hunter: You really don’t know anything about having fun, do you?
I clenched my fist. I hated him. But what did that have to do with anything right now?
I looked at my phone until I got another notification.
Hunter: Your mom’s here
Of course. My mom was at Jordan’s. And I, like a moron, was at home alone and terrified as she had fun. I couldn’t believe it.
My phone vibrated again.
Hunter: You’re still awake, White?
June: So are you, Hunter
Hunter: I didn’t feel like going home because your mommy’s in my living room. I’m taking a walk. You’re literally pissing your pants, aren’t you?
June: You’re such an asshole. But if there was ever a time to be scared, it would be right now, don’t you think?
James left me on Read.
I went down to the kitchen for a bottle of water and a packet of cookies. I inhaled his scent with every breath.
All of a sudden, I heard something outside my front door. I jumped. What if Austin was serious?
No, that was impossible; those kinds of things only happened in the movies.
The thought didn’t reassure me. Too many weird things had happened since I moved to Laguna Beach. They were so unthinkable that if someone had told me a few months ago that they would happen, I would’ve never believed them. But most of all, I couldn’t ignore the rustling outside the window.
I inched slowly to the windowsill and spotted a shadow through the curtain. I bolted to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife in the house, the bread knife. I wondered if it was the most appropriate weapon to face someone like Austin, who was used to guns and who knew what else.
I waited, but nothing happened.
With a burst of courage, I opened the front door, lifted the knife in the air, and narrowed my eyes.
My rashness turned into pure fear. Right then a heart-stopping force threw me against the wall.
I felt the bones in my back burn from the impact, and my hands were trapped over my head.
Finally I heard the metallic sound of the blade falling to the ground. I was terrified.
“I told you, you have to sharpen your reflexes, White.”