Chapter 20 #2
“White.” James turned around with an unexpected question. “How are you getting home?”
“Blaze asked me to meet him inside, maybe I’ll go back with him.” Then he nodded and put a stick of gum in his mouth.
“Hey,” I heard him say.
“What do you want now?” I snapped.
“I know he treated you like shit, but be patient with Will.”
I shook my head and went back in.
When I found Blaze, we gave each other a quick hug.
“June, what happened to you?” he asked, concerned.
I looked at my hand again with that question, and noticed that it was clean. Maybe he could tell I’d had an awful night by my face.
“What do you mean, Blaze?”
He looked over at Jackson, James, and Will, who were having an animated discussion next to a pool table.
“Ah, weird night,” I admitted faintly.
“One of many, I’d imagine.” He smiled.
“Yeah. How are you?”
He clung to his gray sweater, nervously rubbing his neck.
“Fine. I was with Brian, but then Ari came, and he wanted to go home. When two of your best friends break up, it sucks,” I heard him mutter under the rumble of the music.
“I can imagine.”
Blaze looked at me with his dark eyes.
“I don’t want to depress you with their drama. I just hope that things go back to how they were before as soon as possible. How about you?” he asked.
Next question, please?
“Could’ve been better, but I can’t complain. Hey, I found out your dad came back to school.”
Blaze instinctively turned toward Jackson. James had disappeared while Jackson stayed with Will.
“Yeah, I mean—”
“You don’t need to explain. I know it’s none of my business,” I rushed to say.
“Even though everyone knows,” he let slip.
“What?”
“That they were the ones who attacked him.”
For a moment the only sound was the din of the background music.
“I’m sorry, Blaze.”
“You say that, but you’re still with Will.”
His words might’ve been harsh, but he was right. I didn’t know what to say. Luckily, he decided to continue.
“I’m not judging you. I’m the last one who should talk,” he admitted, looking down at his still-full glass.
“Are you talking about Jackson?”
Blaze nodded. Then he abruptly changed the subject.
“Amelia told me you two fought.”
“Yeah. We don’t talk anymore.”
“I’ll just say one thing: Be careful with James. I know I shouldn’t get in the middle of it, I just don’t want him to hurt you.”
I already understood what he meant. That I’d get hurt. Really hurt.
And maybe not just because of James, I thought, watching Will argue with Jackson.
“What do you mean, Blaze?”
“I saw you at Cooper’s house. You and Hunter were going into a room together.”
“Oh my god, Blaze. That was a big misunderstanding.” Was Blaze really jumping to conclusions that fast? “I just had to go change and have him bring me home.”
But then I was overcome by a more than legitimate question.
“Did you tell Amelia?”
“Yeah, but only because I was worried. I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking at the ground. That was why she’d had a go at me.
“It really isn’t what you think.” I struggled to clarify what had happened even though I didn’t have to.
“I believe you, but you should still be careful. James is no walk in the park. He has a ton of issues.”
“Blaze, thank you for your concern. I trust your instincts, and I don’t want to find out, but—”
“What?” The dark-haired guy frowned. “Do you think I’m saying that because I’m jealous?”
“Why would you be jealous of them, Blaze?”
He turned toward Jackson, who was still talking with Will. Now Marvin had joined them. Maybe they finally got him to calm down. “Because they have everything,” Blaze said with a sigh. “They’re hot, rich, athletic. If you look at their grades, theirs are even better than mine in some classes.”
“Despite the drugs, partying, and hardly legal activity?” I surprised myself too.
“It’s called luck, and not everyone has it, June. You’re either born with it or you’re not.” I nodded.
“Ours is honest jealousy,” I remarked, looking at them from afar.
I’d seen them from Brian’s perspective that morning, and from that of Taylor, Tiffany, and even from that of Becky and Blaze.
But how did I see them?
Open your eyes, June. Try to look past them.
Marvin had always been nice to me. He always seemed to want to find the good in every situation.
I liked William’s sensitivity, but I’d also witnessed his darker moments.
Jackson on the other hand, with his heavy armor, demonstrated on more than one occasion that he was sensitive to the opinions of others, especially those of friends.
James? I hated him the most. But despite that, he had his good sides.
He was altruistic and probably convinced that the life of someone he cared about was worth a lot more than his own.
And he’d screwed up big-time. He was used to taking hits like he did with Austin.
He was strong and determined. If Austin called him little bro, it was definitely because he had something in common with that family of criminals, and that couldn’t have been an easy situation for him.
I thought about the woman in the photo again, James’s mom, and that unusual hair color, the same as Tom and Ethan had.
It was the second time that day that I’d thought about that picture. What if it was the key to everything? What if Jasper had tried to show me more than what I’d managed to see? Blaze pointed James out as he walked in front to head to a private room.
“What’s so special about James?” I asked Blaze.
“He’s unattainable.”
“He’s slept with the whole school. That doesn’t seem unattainable to me.”
“No, well, he’s very attainable from that point of view. I don’t mean in that sense.”
“And what do you mean?”
There was no point in pretending not to see that Blaze had a thing for James. It was like there was something between them.
“Are you speaking from experience?” I hit him where it hurt, and he blushed furiously.
“No. No. It’s just a feeling. Try to ask the girls he’s been with. There’s something about him you can’t figure out.”
I’d talked with the girls I thought were “his girlfriends” but in the end it seemed like Blaze knew him best.
“But he is an asshole.” I cut Blaze off. “Right?”
“June, you’re Will’s girlfriend, so you’ll never know how much of an asshole he really is. You don’t know what he’s capable of just to defend the people he cares about.”
Was Blaze talking about what James had done to his dad?
“I gotta go now.”
I saw Jackson beckon Blaze from far away, so I gave them some privacy.
Now it was time to talk with Will and then go home.
But instead of joining him at pool table, I headed to the private room.
I pulled the curtain back just enough to peek inside.
Three people were exchanging kisses. One of them was James, sitting listlessly on a couch.
A girl with a tight-fitting minidress was in front of him while his arm was around another girl.
He said he’d take Will home, and instead .
. . He turned his head to kiss someone I didn’t see at first. My jaw almost fell to the floor. James was making out with a guy.