Chapter 18
James
One year earlier
Amelia didn’t look like she was going to stop. She walked back and forth in the room, continuing with her story like I gave a shit about it.
“Then when I left the homework on his desk, he didn’t just grab it. He grazed my hand.”
“I don’t get what you’re saying,” I said reluctantly, lying on Tiffany’s bed a to stare at the freshly painted white ceiling.
“He brushed against me with his hand!”
“So?”
“Don’t you get it, James?” She laughed, lying down next to me.
“It’s not that I don’t get it—have you brushed against anyone else? In that case I’d understand the excitement.” I continued to tease her.
“He brushed against my hand, but willingly. He’d never done that before.”
“You have it so bad that now you’re making mental films about the English teacher?” I asked, lifting myself up on my elbow.
“I’m not imagining things. He was looking at me that way. Ahh!”
She squeezed a heart-shaped pillow into her face, embarrassed.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, taking the pillow away from her.
“You’re the only one I trust,” she murmured. She pressed her cheek on the palm of her hand, and our faces drew near each other.
“And Poppy?”
“Poppy is my best friend in the whole world, but she has a big mouth.”
“Well, yeah, absolutely,” I said. “What about Ari?”
“And what if you told Brian?”
“I can already hear the news: Teacher found dead in a ditch.” We laughed but it didn’t last long. She looked at my lips insistently.
No, Amelia.
I stood up to go to a small glass table covered in Tiffany’s lipstick and other makeup with uses I wasn’t familiar with.
“James.” Amelia’s tone suddenly became worried as she saw me handle some white powder.
“There’s a party downstairs,” I explained.
“You should stop.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah,” she insisted, as she caressed my bare back with her cold fingers.
“I love you, but that crap makes you stop being yourself and stop thinking.”
“If you were me, you’d want to stop being yourself and thinking too.”
“James.” This time my name was a slight reprimand.
“Sorry,” I said without looking her in the eye.
She waited for me to finish then handed me my shirt to get dressed again, but I dropped it.
I grabbed her sides, startling her. “Are we gonna have fun or just stay here talking about Mr. Curly Hair all night?”
“Okay, let’s go.” She smiled when I kissed her on the forehead. We went downstairs, and I lost sight of her soon after. She was probably dancing. I went to drink and smoke with my friends, until I got a message.
It could’ve been Tiffany, Sammy, Taylor—any of them.
But I knew that it wasn’t any of them. Because I was always the one to call them. There was only one person I couldn’t call and who only sought me out when she felt like it. I got a picture. I moved aside from the group and opened it.
Ari was wearing a lacy red lingerie set, and looked doe-eyed in the room.
Is that what I liked about her? No, all of them teased me.
What turned me on was the fact that she wasn’t available every time I wanted her.
The thought of it being dangerous to see each other behind Brian’s and everyone else’s back gave me a thrill.
That was what made me lose my mind. The blanket she was lying on caught my attention.
It was Tiffany’s. Ari was upstairs. I rushed up like a lion hungry for its prey.
>> > <<
One year earlier
“I think I’m gonna go home. Brian’s here.
I’m gonna tell James.” I heard Amelia’s voice in the hall, but Ari’s moans on top of me made it impossible to hear anyone else or concentrate.
She was really having fun; who was I to prevent her from getting off?
Amelia flung the door open and walked in with a smile, knowing she’d find me there.
“Brian’s coming, I’m going home. What the fuck?!”
“What is it? Did something happen?” I asked innocently, hoping she wouldn’t get too angry.
Ari jumped off me and rushed to get dressed again, so fast I didn’t even see her when she ran off in front of an astounded Amelia.
“How could you?”
I could see the disappointment in Amelia’s eyes, but I was too busy covering myself with my boxers.
“How could you!”
She kept saying that like a broken record.
“How the hell do you always think of ways to ruin everything?”
“Yeah, but calm down, you’re not my girlfriend.”
My reaction made her even more furious. “What the fuck does that have to do with it? Fucking half the school isn’t enough for you, you have to fuck my best friend too?”
How was I supposed to answer her? The fit of jealousy seemed excessive to me. Maybe she was drunk?
“You betrayed me,” she breathed before bursting into tears. Fuck. I didn’t want Amelia to cry because of me.
I put on my boxers and jumped out of the bed.
“Amelia, what are you—” I caressed her cheeks, my fingers wet from her tears. I lifted her chin to make her look me in the eye.
“James, Ari’s my best friend, she’s my brother’s girlfriend. He’ll kill you if he finds out.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Brian anymore, and you know it. I don’t want you to feel bad.”
“You don’t give a fuck about me either. You’re always selfish! You never think about the consequences of your actions.”
“I’m selfish? Go fuck yourself, Amelia! You only come to me when you need something or to bust my balls with your teenage-girl-in-love bullshit.” The cruelty with which I said that startled both of us.
“My family took you in like a son. Aren’t you embarrassed to say something like that?”
“You just pretended to be my friend.”
Saying that out loud set off a strong pain in my gut.
“I’m not your friend anymore,” she stated.
“And do you think I give a shit?” I threw out.
“You’re an asshole! If you say you love me, how could you treat me like this and betray me and my brother?”
“I’m so sorry if—”
I started to say something, but I couldn’t finish it, because her quivering lips drew nearer to my mouth.
“What, James? Go on, say it.”
Her nose grazed against mine, so I closed my eyes. Was she about to kiss me?
I felt my heart race, but I lowered my head to avoid that contact. I couldn’t kiss her. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to make things even worse.
“I hate you! How could you do this to me? What will I tell Brian now?” she shouted, tears welling in her eyes when she realized I’d pulled away from her impulsive gesture.
And the next second she was the one to walk away, so I grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“Amelia, stop. You’re upset. Look, nothing happened—”
Brian’s timing was terrible. He burst right into the room and caught us in the act.
I was in my underwear, still with my erection.
I was grabbing his sister by her arm, and she was in tears, desperate. There wouldn’t have been enough words to convince Brian nothing had happened.
“What the hell are you doing, Hunter?”
His green eyes narrowed, and there was nothing I hated more than his gaze.
“Amelia, why are you crying?” he asked.
I thought for sure she’d say James was in bed with Ari, but she didn’t have the guts.
“What did he do to you?” he demanded, his eyes burning with rage. “Did he try to force you to do something?”
And that was how Amelia decided to punish me. She was too hurt. She nodded and ran away.
She knew how her brother lost control when he got angry. But she’d lied all the same.