Chapter 12
June
“Where are the keys to the Mustang?” William asked when we got back to the Tropical entrance.
“James gave them to me, but if he finds out you’re driving . . .” Marvin massaged the clean-shaven nape of his neck as he looked at us absentmindedly.
“Gimme the keys,” Will said forcefully, completely changing the tone of his voice. Marvin shrugged nonchalantly, threw Will the keys, and went back to chatting with the girls.
“Will, where are we going?” I tried to keep up with him as he headed toward the parking lot, only stopping when we reached the sports car. The metallic black paint dazzled in the night. It looked like it was in mint condition.
“Is it yours?”
“No, it’s James’s.” He opened the car door. “Get in.”
“Why do you have to drive his car?” I demanded as I complied.
As soon as I sat in the passenger seat, I knew the car was new. It smelled like pine trees. The mats didn’t show a single imperfection, and every detail from the door handles to the steering wheel was immaculate.
William didn’t answer my question. He seemed too focused on starting the engine.
“I have to be careful. This thing will go from zero to sixty just by tapping on the gas pedal,” he murmured, agitated.
The front of the car was dark but I saw his pupils dilate, and I started getting a bad feeling in my gut. I clearly understood the signal he was trying to send me—Something’s wrong, and you’re about to walk into some serious shit, June White.
“What kind of dad would buy this kind of car for his teenage kid?” I blurted a bit indignantly.
Will shot me a perplexed look. I was like a carbon copy of my mom when I acted this way. “His dad just got it for him.”
“Where the hell are we going?” I asked again, when I started picking up on how irritated he was acting.
Will ran his fingers through his hair with one hand and firmly grasped the steering wheel with the other, drumming his fingers on it.
“June . . .”
“Do you have your license?”
“I do, but they took it away.”
I pretended not to hear that last part because otherwise I would’ve asked him twenty questions, and something told me William wouldn’t like that.
“Why couldn’t they go? Why do you have to go, Will?”
“It’s something I have to deal with.”
I bit my lower lip. I felt uneasy but William seemed more preoccupied than me. My eyes widened when he suddenly put on the turn signal and pulled over. He slammed the brakes, and I jumped in my seat.
My heart was pounding and my throat was dry when I suddenly heard him turn the car off.
“Will? What’s going on?”
His eyes were glued to the windshield. The dark enveloped us, and I started to shake.
I was with a guy I barely knew, in a car that wasn’t his, and he was driving without a license. Not to mention it was late at night and we were going to rescue an asshole I hated.
I looked at the dashboard. The clock said eleven thirty. Fantastic. My mom was going to lock me up at home for life.
“Maybe I should just take you home.”
The evening’s umpteenth change of plans didn’t bother me; in fact, I’d expected it.
“I thought about it more. It’s not safe to bring you with me.”
William’s eyes locked with mine, and I sensed the mix of contrasting fear and excitement that he was feeling.
“What’s happened to James?”
I waited for William to answer me. He was reluctant to respond.
“He got jumped,” he answered after a moment.
I was horrified but I tried not to show it. “You’re joking, right?”
“He knew, and he still went anyway. Gimme your address, I’ll put it in the GPS and take you home.”
William turned the car on with a rumble, and I vaguely sensed adrenaline rushing through my veins.
I suddenly felt drunk, like I was on a roller coaster.
I knew getting out of there and having him drive me back was the right thing to do, but suddenly I didn’t want to go home anymore.
And what if something bad happened to William too?
“No. I wanna come with you.” I was being impulsive, maybe even reckless. “You seem really worried about him, and I don’t want to leave you alone.”
William smiled. “Okay, we’ll go. Otherwise, who’s gonna listen to him?”
“I bet,” I grumbled.
After driving down dark dirt roads for a few minutes, we finally reached what looked like an abandoned theme park.
“What kinda place is this?” I asked quietly, anxiety eating at my stomach. I didn’t regret coming with him, but I hadn’t expected to end up in such a creepy place.
“An old go-kart park. They’ve turned it into a nightclub.”
I stuck my head out the window. A large, sketchy building stood out in the night. A broken neon sign sputtered on the edge of the facade with another metal sign dangling above.
As soon as we parked, I saw a figure on the ground.
“Oh Jesus.” I heard William start to sound stressed.
“How’d James get all the way out here? Why didn’t he take his car?” The situation was really bizarre.
“I think they brought him here,” he said before getting out of the car.
“Who’s ‘they’?” I shouted before opening the car door.
William moved in front of me and motioned for me to wait in the car.
“June, I’m gonna go find out what’s going on.”
A purplish neon light glowed from an open door. Music was blasting in the distance as the silhouettes of small groups of people mingled in the dark. William approached the figure on the ground then looked around for a few moments before motioning for me to join him.
I flung the already ajar car door open and got out of my seat.
The air smelled like tobacco and a little woody. Something tickled my throat. Sand seemed to hang in the air. I squinted to get a sense of my surroundings, and realized that we were in the middle of the desert.
“James, you knew.”
William said this like he was reprimanding him. The figure on the ground was covered in blood and dirt.
“So? I shouldn’t’ve come here?” snapped James, dragging his arm on the ground in an attempt to get up.
“Did they at least give it back to you?” asked William as he helped his friend hold himself up.
“Does it look like they did?” he spat, motioning at his swollen face.
His groans got louder as soon as he saw me.
“Damn it, did you have to bring her too?” he snapped
“Be thankful he came to get you,” I shot back.
“Shut up,” he replied before collapsing again.
“Says the zombie.”
“Make her shut up, Will.”
“Dude, you’re got your ass kicked bad. You’re bleeding.”
“I know, but look, Will . . .” He suddenly trailed off, realizing that I was still there.
“So they’re not gonna pay you back after all?” Will lowered his voice, hoping I wouldn’t hear him as James shook his head and slipped on the dusty ground again.
“Damn it, can you at least walk?” William didn’t seem capable of propping him up, or maybe James was too proud to accept his help.
“Stay here. I’m gonna get the first aid kit. Do you have it in your car from the last time?”
James nodded languidly. “It’s in the trunk.” Then he directed his glare at me. “And quit staring at me like that.”
“Your face is so fucked up that I’m trying to figure out which one is your eye and which one is your lip.”
I let my curiosity get the best of me as Will headed toward the car.
“Who did this to you?”
“Damn it, Will, don’t leave me alone with her! She keeps staring at me. It’s creepy,” moaned James.
“I’m staring at you because you look like one of those paintings my mom makes when she’s blindfolded,” I retorted, crouching down to examine his wounds.
“Your mom paints blindfolded? She must be a genius. That must be where you get it from,” he muttered as he inserted the vape pen between his lips and took a deep drag.
“No, dumbass, it’s one of the classes she teaches for her students. But what do you care?”
“In fact, I didn’t ask you about shit. You’re the one broadcasting your life. As if anyone would care about your ranting on Instagram Live.”
I held back my insults because they’d go too far.
“Help me,” he demanded. I looked at him puzzled. He was so beaten up that he was unrecognizable.
I grumbled but decided to oblige. I held him up as he got back on his feet. As I grabbed his rock-hard bicep, I inhaled the scent of mint and fabric softener.
“Why’d you leave your car at Tropical? Who brought you here?”
He sneered with his split lip, almost amused by my morbid curiosity.
“I take that back. I don’t want to know.”
James grimaced in pain and as much hatred as I felt for him, a part of me felt bad for him.
“That bad, huh?”
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I don’t think so, because you got high beforehand.”
James collapsed with his back against the building wall as he fiddled with a clear piece of rolling paper.
“Watching what I’m doing?”
He said it, barely raising his head. But even with that slight movement our eyes locked for a second, just enough time to make me flinch.
I shook my head in an attempt to shake off the feeling that he aroused in me.
“I’m saying it because I saw you put that crap in your mouth first.” I didn’t know what it was called, but it was definitely illegal.
“It numbs my mouth and face.”
“It numbs your brain,” I quipped.
He seemed amused by the joke. “That, too, but most of all it numbs my mouth. You should try it. Maybe it’ll shut you up for two consecutive minutes,” he said before slowly and confidently licking the rolling paper.
William’s footsteps brought our bickering to a halt.
“What are you talking about?”
“My tongue. And yours,” explained James placidly.
“What?”
Stunned, William stared at him, and then decided not to take the bait. He set the first aid kit on the ground.
“That’s not true. Forget it,” I murmured, pouring some alcohol on the cotton ball Will handed me.
I didn’t know what was worse, James’s split lip or his bloody eyebrow.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
James blocked my wrist, bringing it above his head before I could get any closer.
“Look at your cheekbone, it’s really bad, James,” William said before turning to me. “His wounds need to be disinfected. There’s a risk that they could get infected, isn’t there?”
“Do I have nurse written on my face?” I snapped.
William frowned, astounded by my rude reaction. Obviously, James was the only one amused by this comedy sketch.
“Do it for William,” I whispered to myself as I took a deep breath.
“Don’t you dare come any closer! Wanna touch me, White?”
James pointed a finger at me. I was at my wit’s end, and I’d had enough of his crap.
“You know what I do want to do?” Angrily, I waved the cotton ball in front of his perfect nose. “I wanna shove this and the whole first aid kit up your—”
I stopped myself abruptly because William’s shocked expression immediately got my attention.
“Ugh! Don’t make me swear!”
I bit my tongue. But James seized the opportunity. “Give it a try, princess, and then we’ll find out what you’ll find up your—” James mimicked. I threw everything on the ground.
“Will, listen, he’s a man-child. I don’t know how you put up with him. You even came here to help him!”
“Shut the fuck up for once!”
“Don’t tell me to shut the fuck up when I’m trying to help you.” I abruptly turned around, and we scowled at each other threateningly.
“June, James, chill out. We have bigger problems here,” William said in a futile attempt to reason with us.
“You want to help me, Snow White? You sure about that?”
The moron stretched out his arms and looked down at the crotch of his pants.
“Sicko!” I snapped, as James chortled like a bratty kid.
“For Christ’s sake, James! Why do you always have to treat her like this?” Then he turned to me. “And you, where . . . June, where are you going?”
Will tried to call me, but I was too angry to listen.
“I’m leaving. Help him yourself!” I shouted, storming off.
“Stop her, Will. It’s not safe here.” James’s raspy, lazy voice hit me from behind, sending a chill down my spine.
“June, stop.”
William ran after me with the best of intentions, but seeing how he acquiesced to his friend in every situation made my blood boil.
“Why do you do it? Why do you always do what he says?”
“It’s not that simple. There’s stuff you don’t know.”
“You, too, with this bullshit? Is your brain not working, William? Are you forced to depend on him?”
The poor guy’s jaw dropped, clearly showing that I’d gone too far.
I could be impulsive, but James Hunter brought out the worst in me.
“I gotta say, blondie looks like a Goody Two-shoes, but what a bitch. I warned you, didn’t I?” spewed James with a tinge of amusement, about to light up his joint.
I gnashed my teeth while Will took a deep breath.
“James, shut up for a second.” Will turned to me, “June, please, I can’t tell you right now.”
“It’s not your fault, Will. I probably shouldn’t see you if you’re friends with someone like that. I’m sorry,” I admitted.
“And you’re defending her, too, Will. She’s a fucking pain in the ass. Do you want to ignore that just because she has great tits?”
Will tried to grab my arm but I slipped out of his hands. I hurled myself at Hunter. He was barely standing up with his shoulders pushed up against the wall. No amount of fear could dissuade him. In fact, he insisted on provoking me.
“I said you have great tits, but you’re a fucking pain in the ass. You heard that, right?”
My vision went blurry. I threw a punch at his nose so hard that my knuckles cracked like they’d just shattered into a million pieces.
“How about that, Hunter? You heard that, didn’t you?”