Chapter 19 #2
She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear with innate elegance.
“Wow, I’m really missing out,” I retorted.
I didn’t want to talk with someone like her.
“You’ve made eyes at him, too, there’s no point in being a snob, White.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I groaned, looking at my phone.
“And besides, I don’t think you’re used to these standards. Maybe you don’t even have standards, since this is the first time in your life that you’re dating someone.”
Again with this? Why did they care about what I had or hadn’t done? James seemed to notice my irritated expression, so he walked up.
“What the fuck are you saying to her?” he asked Taylor, who looked at him like he walked on water.
“That you’re the best-looking guy she’ll ever lay eyes on,” she whispered in his ear.
“Wow, I’m so jealous. I hope I’m as perfect as you two in my next life. You guys are definitely a power couple,” I muttered, looking away.
James suddenly lost interest in Taylor and came closer to me.
“Careful, you’re talking too much,” he hissed.
I stiffened immediately.
“Threaten someone else,” I snapped, trying to control myself.
James licked his lips and glued his eyes to mine, but when Taylor approached him to give him a kiss, he was forced to divert his gaze.
I’d seen him make out with different girls on multiple occasions, but never this up close.
His delicious scent mixed with the smoke from the vape pen upset my nervous system.
He brought a hand to his hip and barely lifted his shirt while he pulled her long blond hair, kissing her even more intensely.
I would’ve preferred being anywhere but here right now. Meanwhile, Will and Jackson were talking about a football game that seemed to be important to them.
“Jamie, instead of standing in line, why don’t we go to the target practice?” squawked Taylor.
“Do you want to play against each other?” suggested James to the blond.
“No, that wouldn’t be romantic. And besides, you know that I’ve been going to the shooting range since I was ten. You have no way out with me,” she retorted. “I wanna be the one to win a teddy bear for you, Jamie.”
She said that making a mess of his hair like he was a little kid.
“How about you, White?” she called before heading out.
“What?”
“Go on, I dare you.” Taylor taunted.
“I don’t think she knows how to hold a fucking thing in her hand, let alone a fake gun,” murmured James, making her laugh.
I hated him. Why did he have to always make fun of me in front of his friends, but when we were alone . . . No, he was just teasing, nothing else. I was about to turn down that terrible idea, when Jackson came to my rescue.
“I wanna see what you two can do,” he groused at James and Taylor. “I’ll give June a hand. Challenge accepted.”
“I’m gonna get a drink with Marvin, and I’ll join you,” whispered Will, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
We weren’t the type to pack on the PDA, but Will seemed much colder than usual. I could’ve spent the night wondering what I’d done to piss him off, but honestly, I preferred to follow Jackson and teach Barbie and Ken a lesson.
Will and Marvin disappeared into the building while Jackson and I followed the power couple of the year.
James really was a weird guy. He was affectionate with girls but he had no loyalty.
He was with Tiffany when he came to my house and now he was with Taylor.
He put his arm around her shoulders and every once in a while ran his ring-clad fingers through her silky hair.
We reached the target tent, and my journey to making the biggest gaffe of the century had begun.
Taylor shot really well even though she didn’t have a gun license. I, on the other hand, had the aim of a blind animal. I didn’t even hit half a can.
At some point I started to sweat and had to tie my hoodie around my waist.
When Jackson understood the gravity of the situation, he came closer to me.
“Fuck, White, you’re pathetic. Okay, so listen,” he said, coming near my ear.
“What?”
“I’ll show you. Hold it up more.”
He put one hand on mine, showing me how to hold the gun.
His soft cheek almost grazed my temple, and when I looked to the side, my eyes inevitably drifted to his full, pierced lip.
I understood why all the girls at school liked him, but I still didn’t really understand if he cared or not.
“You have to hold it like this, so your grip doesn’t shake as much.”
I heard a cough.
James was leaning on the counter, gazing at us furtively.
“Are you done?”
Jackson sneered at his friend’s reaction, then came closer to me again.
“You’re about to see—” he whispered, sending a chill down my spine.
He brought his face next to mine, and I felt his warm breath on my neck.
“Jackson, look, the princess understood,” muttered James, narrowing his gaze in a huff.
Despite the useful guidance, I still ended up having pitiful aim, so Jackson took the last few shots for me.
If we were in a movie, Jax and I would be taking our revenge, but in reality, the two assholes destroyed us. Taylor gloated. She and James hadn’t missed a shot. When the guy behind the counter gave the giant teddy bear to James, she ripped it from his hands.
“There’s nothing more humiliating than having a guy get you an object,” she asserted, then turned to me.
“Or maybe, there is something. Being a loser.”
I didn’t return her disdainful look or respond to her provocation.
“Not all of us are gun nuts like you and your crazy family, Taylor,” Jackson attacked her. He’d been weirdly nice to me tonight.
Did the fact that I was the only one who’d backed up the idea that he talk with Blaze make him happy? Or maybe he hated Taylor so much that he’d forgotten his animosity toward me?
“Jax, shut your mouth, it’s good for you,” she threatened patronizingly.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Here, Jamie, this is for you. I know it’s a little big, maybe you’re not used to it,” she taunted, winking at him.
James tried to vape, but having to hold the giant teddy bear just made him groan.
“For fuck’s sake, what a fucking bulky thing.” He cursed as he unwillingly wedged the stuffed animal under his arm.
“Why are you still with her? I can’t stand her,” commented Jackson as we headed toward the building.
“Because I am.”
“Maybe because Austin—”
“We’re not talking about that here,” James said then turned to me. “You, hold this for me.” He handed me the teddy bear that, as cute as it was, was taller than me and blocked my view as I walked.
“It’s too big.”
“Start getting used to it,” teased James.
“Why do you want to get rid of it? It’s so soft.” I sighed, ignoring his stupid jokes.
“Then you take it if you like it so much.”
“Are you giving it to me, Hunter?”
“Don’t even think about it, it’s mine,” he snapped. “You’re just carrying it.”
“If you give it to me it’s automatically mine.”
“How na?ve. Don’t you know how the adult world works?”
“Eww, there’s only one thing I know for certain. I’m holding on to it.”
“Fucking child.”
“Asshole.”
“You’ll give it back to me later.”
“Enough, you two,” admonished Jackson, before disappearing into Tropical with James.
I noticed Blaze in the distance with a few of his friends.
I would’ve liked a few clarifications on the attack on his dad, to find out how he was, how he took it, and, why not, maybe his version of events too.
A hand grabbed my shoulder.
“June, is that you?”
I moved the teddy bear away from my face, trying to put it under my arm.
Tiffany appeared.
I groaned a hi without too much enthusiasm. Every time I’d dealt with Tiffany she’d turned out to be someone who got too friendly. She craned her neck trying to catch a glimpse of me hidden behind the stuffed animal. Did she just look at my tits?
“Are you alone?”
“No, Will’s inside.”
“Want a vape?” she asked, leaning her shoulders on the anything-but-clean wall.
She was wearing a leather jacket over a crop top and a matching miniskirt.
“No, thank you.”
But she insisted on staring at me.
“What is it?”
Did I have something in my teeth? Did I just grow a zit?
“Nothing.”
We both went back to the main entrance where William and the guys were walking out.
“Do you know them well?” I asked, referring to them with a furtive glance.
“In some way.”
She hinted at a smile, which gave me the courage to ask her another question.
“Were you and James, um, like together, or—” My innuendo made her crack up.
“No, are you crazy?! If you say something like that in front of Taylor, she’ll turn into the Queen of Hearts and hunt me down screaming Off with her head!”
I let a smile escape.
“You see me around James a lot at school because the most beautiful girls are always around him. It’s not even because of him.”
This time wasn’t just my imagination. Her gaze drifted down and lingered on my tight-fitting tank top.
“Um.” I cleared my throat. “Tell me more about them.”
I tried to take her attention off me and bring it to James and his friends.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, continuing to vape.
“I don’t know. The first thing that comes to mind about each of them, without thinking too much about it.”
I wanted an honest opinion, and most of all, I wanted to understand what kind of people I was dealing with.
Tiffany twirled a lock of dark hair around her index finger coyly.
“James Hunter . . . where to start? It’s over if he doesn’t like you.
He’ll make your life unbearable. But at the same time, he knows how to be really seductive.
He’s convincing. He’d convince you to dig your own grave just for a kiss while he’d already moved onto his next victim.
” In a nutshell: He was a grade A asshole.
Tiffany’s way of expressing herself was colorful, sure, but it was also very clear. I saw her look at William.
“But William Cooper . . . under that sweet angelic look hides a psycho nature. I saw him in action, he’s crazy. He knows how to be cold and unscrupulous, but he always keeps his kind ways. He’s never had many girlfriends, they all ran away. I’m wondering how you can put up with all that.”
I thought that was a joke in poor taste, but Tiffany was staring at me seriously and waiting for my reaction. I waited for her to finish.
“To be honest, June, I still don’t understand which of the two of them is more dangerous.” Yeah. Who should I be afraid of?
“Meaning?”
“I’ll put it this way, I wouldn’t trust one of them,” she said, pointing at Will. “And I wouldn’t fall in love with the other,” she finished, pointing at James.
I was frozen, pressed against my teddy bear, while the brunet shifted her attention to Jackson.
“The other one is big and strong on the outside—” She brought her shiny lips to my ear. “And not just appearance wise. He tries to act like the tough guy, but compared to the others he’s like the teddy bear you’re holding in your arms. But I’m convinced that he changes his tune in bed.”
Tiffany imitated a whip cracking.
“You’re, um, very clear with your opinions. I’d say pretty graphic.” She didn’t answer, but took another hit from the vape pen without taking her eyes off me.
“Anyway, June, they won’t be saints, but if you’re with them, nobody will touch you. Not at school or anywhere else.”
I thought about Brian again and the scene in the hallway that morning.
“Being their friend has its advantages. Even though in your case, maybe it’s a little different because you’re with Will. Putting up with James, Will, and their weirdness, well, good luck.”
Tiffany turned around to smile at a girl with long straight hair and a tan. I’d seen her with Sammy before; her name might’ve been Becky. They pecked each other on the lips, and seemed intimate.
“What are you doing here with—?”
The girl glanced at me up and down, almost irritated by my presence.
“It’s June White. We were talking about those three. What do you say?”
“What the fuck do I know? I only slept with James.”
“But not like that,” chortled Tiffany.
They started talking among themselves while I watched the group in the distance.
Who was William? The sweet, thoughtful guy or the cold, possessive one?
Who was James? The guy with no scruples who teased me for sport or the one who made me feel protected and defended me every time I was in danger?
Not to mention the fact that sometimes he seemed almost attracted to me when we were alone, and other times I seemed to disgust him.
But then James behaved like that toward all girls.
“You’re with Cooper, right?” Becky asked suddenly.
“I already congratulated her,” Tiffany said sarcastically.
“Why? Deep down he’s not bad,” explained Becky. “You have to be much more careful of James. He only likes challenges. He can have all the girls he wants but he gets bored with them after a bit.”
But then why did he seem so different with me?
What had gotten into me? What was different about him? I gave myself a mental slap.
Becky and Tiffany said goodbye, and if I was glad for a moment that a giant teddy bear wouldn’t attract attention, I would soon realize that I was wrong. I walked with my eyes glued to my phone trying to text Blaze, when I bumped into someone. Someone really unpleasant.
“Well, look who’s here. We meet again.”