Chapter 29
June
James held my hips firmly. I could feel the strength in his fingers.
“White . . .”
While he was still behind me, he started whispering in my ear so William wouldn’t hear.
“What the fuck did you drink?”
“Nothing, I mean—”
The thrill of his body pressed against mine was becoming unbearable, and his warm lips were digging a significant hole in my stomach.
Did I like this situation?
Right then I did, absolutely. I just didn’t want him to know that.
A little reprimand formed on my lips when I felt his hips press against mine.
“Quit moving, then.” He breathed in my ear, while Will was intent on letting our noses graze against each other in the dark. And as soon as Will brought his mouth to mine and brushed against my lip with his tongue, something inside me twitched.
I understood that it was all real, and that I wasn’t imagining it. For a moment I felt like I was another person. And my mom’s voice echoed in my confused head. June, behave. June don’t talk back to your grandparents.
June, don’t talk when the grownups are talking.
June, sit right when you wear a skirt. June, pull yourself together.
We’re in a hospital full of terminally ill people, your brother’s sick.
You can’t laugh like this. Moved by a force of rebellion, I pushed William and broke free of that weird situation.
“June?” Will tried to call me.
And then James’s voice got farther away.
“Let her breathe.”
I didn’t turn around or look back. Right then I wanted to think I’d imagined all of it.
I could’ve sworn that if I turned around, I’d catch them dancing that way with another girl.
I stumbled between people while my head was filled with questions.
So is this what’s going on? You’re gonna let them treat you like an object just because they’re two good-looking popular guys?
I’d gone to a lot of schools, and I’d seen so many girls cry in the bathroom, but what always struck me was the fact that the ones least expected to suffer were the ones who did.
And every time I asked myself the same question: Why did the most beautiful, popular girls, who had character and self-esteem in spades, put up with how the biggest assholes in school treated them and lied to them?
For the first time I put myself in their shoes and realized that those guys knew how to put anyone through the wringer.
I hadn’t asked for that situation, but I didn’t regret it.
You’re not yourself, June. I should’ve gone home. I needed to drink water. My throat was burning.
“Get me some water,” I shouted at the barman.
“That’s seven dollars.”
“What? Seven dollars for water?!”
He stared at me askance. “The tap water’s free.”
“But I’m dying of thirst!” I complained.
“It’s still seven dollars.”
“It’s a matter of principle. I mean—”
And that was when I realized I couldn’t form a complete thought, not even the simplest one, that I understood that I wasn’t feeling like myself. How could I be so gone? I was sure I hadn’t had more than a few sips.
Some girls stepped on my Converse and threw themselves on the counter, forcing me to move back.
“You’re taking too long. It’s our turn,” one of them said, turning their back to me.
I decided not to pay a dime, keep my throat dry, and go home ASAP.
The search for the exit was very turbulent, but between the confusing silhouettes and disconnected sounds, I managed to find it in the end.
The fresh air froze my arms, and I let out sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?”
Jackson’s voice took me by surprise. He was with a group of cackling guys, who he left to come up to me.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” I said spontaneously.
“You don’t know?” he asked, examining me from head to toe. “You know what it is? I do. You’re totally wasted.”
“No.” I rubbed my forehead, confused.
“It’s just two weeks, Jax.”
And when I heard James’s gruff voice get closer, my heart started pounding like a herd of elephants.
I had to get out of here.
“Listen, I don’t mind being sober,” Jackson answered his friend. What were they talking about?
“I know, but—”
It was pretty dark outside. It took James a bit to realize that I was there, but when Jackson’s tall figure went past me, he stopped.
My eyes first fell on his lips, then on his chest, wrapped in his studded leather jacket. Were we really this close before? He furrowed his brow, while I was breathless.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. Or maybe he was saying it out loud? I probably took too long to answer because James and Jackson were looking at me worried, while I was having trouble understanding what was going on all around me.
“Who’s this? Your sister?” asked a girl, who I swear came out of nowhere.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” shot back James, before putting his phone flashlight in my face.
“Are you an idiot?!” I jumped, shooing his hand away and feeling the light burn my pupils.
“Look, either you come back inside with me or I’m leaving,” the unknown girl yelled at James.
He narrowed his eyes. “Did someone give you something?”
I looked at him without batting an eye.
He held up his fingers in front of my face, but my gaze was distracted by the girl’s flashy dress. She looked like a big piece of candy, making me laugh.
“You better get home.”
Was James talking with me now? Why was he so serious?
“I’ll call Will,” he added then, stroking his chin with his fingertips.
“No.”
Despite the chaos taking over my brain, I definitely knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to be with William, not after what he’d done to me yesterday.
“Why not?”
I wobbled by James’s powerful figure, which looked down at me while I came close to his ear so Jackson wouldn’t hear me. He looked at me curiously, but I acted like he wasn’t. I put my palm on James’s chest and got up on my tiptoes.
“I only trust you,” I whispered.
His breathing stopped for a moment.
“Fuck.” James cursed. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where are you going, James? You don’t seem like you’re in a state to drive,” Jackson said, stopping him. They started arguing, but I was lost staring at Jackson’s lip piercing, which seemed to be getting bigger and bigger the more I looked at it. What was happening to me?
“What’d you give her to drink, Tiff?”
Before I realized it, James was already arguing with Tiffany.
“Eh?”
“Did Austin give you something to drink? Tell me the truth.”
“It wasn’t him,” she shot back, confused. “It was his brother. I think. James, I swear I didn’t recognize him! Look, it’s a supernormal mojito!”
“I can never trust you! I told you a million times to be careful.” James took the drink from her hands. My eyes drifted onto his ring-clad fingers. He put one in the glass and gathered some powder from the bottom of the glass then sucked it off his finger.
“What the fuck, Tiff!”
The brunet opened her eyes wide.
“What is it?”
“There’s gotta be a whole pill in here, didn’t you realize that?”
“Jesus Christ!” I heard her whisper before coming toward me, distraught.
“Sorry, June, I didn’t know that.”
“Jackson, take her home.”
James took off his leather jacket, but what took me by surprise was the flash of rage that crossed his dark eyes.
“Where are you going? No, no, no, James!” This time it was Jackson who raised his voice. “Austin isn’t alone. All his friends are here, don’t even think about it. You don’t have to play the hero today.”
James seemed completely deaf to what he was saying, so Jackson had to hold him back.
“Be reasonable, please. You aren’t in any condition to face them. You’ll end up getting your ass kicked.” I wasn’t fully clear on what was happening, but all of a sudden I heard James turn to chew Tiffany out.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to take drinks from strangers?! Fuck!”
“Says the school drug dealer.”
I immediately recognized that biting voice. Taylor.
She’d left the place with two girls, and shot James a fiery glare. Who knew what she told her dad after getting that picture.
“I have something in here that has to do with you, Jamie,” she said fiercely, waving her rhinestone-clad iPhone.
He glared at her.
“Don’t make that face, sweetheart. Everyone knows I love revenge. Especially against bastard traitors,” Taylor whispered, like an evil cat. Then her narrowed eyes darted to me.
“Poor Snow White. I’m sorry to tell you this, but there’s no knight in shining armor in this story. I hope you realized that,” she said before turning around. Her words made me freeze.
“James, what kind of revenge are you talking about?” I asked bewildered, as he turned on a vape pen.
“Nothing, you don’t— Don’t worry about it.”
He walked away. I picked up my pace immediately, but when James figured out that I was following him, he called his friend.
“Jax, you drive,” he said as we walked to the parking lot.
“Look, don’t blame Tiffany. It’s not her fault. She’s a victim. She accepted the drink from that—” I tried to say, but James, clenching his jaw, didn’t seem to like that argument.
“Please, don’t remind him,” suggested Jackson.
“I know, but Tiffany—” I tried to argue, but James sternly reprimanded me.
“Why did you listen to Tiffany? She’ll make you do things you’ll regret.”
“Are you an expert in doing things you’ll regret?” I asked, rushing to keep up with him. James stopped and looked down at me.
“A lot more than you think, princess.”
“Speaking of, I don’t want to go home,” I admitted.
“What?”
“Please, if I go home like this, my mom can’t be held responsible for her actions.” My confession seemed to bring out a little bit of his humanity.
“Fuck,” I heard him curse through clenched teeth.
James tapped his index finger on the vape pen.
“This is the last time, White,” he spat, astounding me.
“I’ll drive you home. But you get in back with June,” ordered Jackson when we approached his pickup.
“What? And why?”
James seemed reluctant.