Chapter 36 #2
Maria’s eyes lock onto me, and a look of shock crosses her face. Then she notices Elizabeth and my stomach clenches when I see pure hatred replacing her initial shock. We've been able to avoid these three at school, but it appears our luck has run out.
Jacinda follows Maria’s gaze, and she starts laughing. It's completely obvious the three of them have been drinking. They can barely stand up straight without weaving and stumbling into one another.
Fallon comes over to my side. “I didn’t know they were here. Let me handle this.”
“You’re such a liar, Ryder,” Maria slurs. “You’re here with her?”
It’s been a long while since I broke up with Maria.
She and Elizabeth used to be best friends.
Or that’s what I thought. In reality, Maria was using her friendship with Elizabeth to get close to me, and I was stupid enough to ask Maria out because Elizabeth was with Jayson.
The fact that Maria is still jealous over Elizabeth after all this time makes me pity her.
Fallon crosses his arms and stands in front of the three girls. A crowd begins to gather, sensing something is about to go down. Memories of another party at Fallon’s house ending in a fight creep into the back of my mind. For once, I’m glad Elizabeth has amnesia.
“Party's over for you three. Get off my property.”
“What’s going on?” Meredith asks, craning her neck to see over Elizabeth’s shoulder. She and Trevor must have just come back outside.
“I have no idea,” Elizabeth tells her.
Drunken Maria has no filter. “You’re such a bitch, Lizzie! I knew you were messing around with Ryder even though you were pretending to be Jayson’s girlfriend.”
“I said leave. Not telling you again,” Fallon warns at the same time Elizabeth says, “Are you still hung up about that? How many times do I have to tell you—I don't remember!”
Maria isn’t listening. “You stole him away from me!”
I try to pull Elizabeth away from the scene that is unfolding, but she’s not budging.
“Maria, enough,” I warn.
She never would believe me when I told her that there was nothing going on between me and Elizabeth when we were dating.
Okay, so I may have been in love with, and pining away for, Elizabeth.
And she may have had feelings for me as well, but Elizabeth and I never acted on it.
It’s no use in wasting my breath trying to convince Maria of that now.
Her jealousy of Elizabeth overshadows any logic or reason.
Maria calls Elizabeth a few choice names that have Meredith gasping and poised for a fight. “What did you just call her?” she yells at Maria.
I hear Trevor say behind us, “You better watch your mouth, Maria. Apologize, now.”
Elizabeth touches my arm. “Ryder, let's just go. She's drunk and not worth it.”
I don’t catch what Maria says to Meredith, but whatever it is causes Meredith to fly into a fit of rage.
She tackles Maria like a linebacker, taking her down.
Fallon, Trevor, and several other guys charge in.
Everything disintegrates into complete chaos—a tangle of fists, screams, and grunts.
Why does every party that Fallon throw have to end in a brawl?
Elizabeth and I must look stupid as we stand and watch the whole melee from the sidelines. Some huge guy runs up from around the side of the patio, his sights set on Fallon.
“Don’t move. Stay here,” I tell Elizabeth and rush to help my friend.
Fallon’s back is turned, so he doesn’t see the guy coming.
I reach Fallon just in time as the guy’s fist is reared back about the strike.
I catch it mid-flight, bending it down and twisting.
I shove the guy backwards and he falls to the ground, cradling his arm against his body.
Fallon whips around and flashes me a huge grin.
“Just like old times,” he says.
He snakes a fist out and it hits some dude’s head.
I grab another guy who is swinging for Fallon and flip him over in a body slam, giving him a warning to tap out.
As the fighting settles down, I look for Meredith, knowing Elizabeth will be worried about her friend.
I spy her and Trevor standing at the other end of the patio.
I don’t see Maria, Jacinda, or Samantha anywhere.
They must have high-tailed it once the fighting began.
Fallon wipes blood from the cuts on his hands onto his slacks and shouts out to the crowd: “Party is over! I find any video of this online, I will find you and you will not like what happens.”
I touch the side of my mouth where Jayson clocked me the other night.
A small amount of blood is trickling from the scabbed-over cut.
I search for Elizabeth. She hasn’t moved from where I left her.
Even from here, I can see the heaviness of her breathing, and worry hits me like a ton of bricks.
I run over, praying she’s not having another memory blackout. Why did I leave her there by herself?
“Babe,” is all I get out before she jumps into my arms. I catch her easily. She locks her legs around me and grips my shoulders.
“You are the sexiest man I have ever seen,” she says and crushes her lips to mine, taking me by surprise.
“Everybody okay?” Meredith asks us.
Elizabeth breaks our kiss. “Are you okay?”
“You call me Firecracker for a reason,” she chirps.
Trevor snickers. “Alright, sis. Let's get you cleaned up before we head home. I don't think Mom and Dad will be too thrilled if they see blood on your clothes.”
Fallon makes his way over and gives Trevor a nod of thanks before walking inside.
With Elizabeth still in my arms, I walk us inside the all-but-deserted house. A few guys are picking up trash and putting things away. Trevor leaves with Meredith, and I find Fallon in the kitchen icing his hand.
“Your party was eventful as usual,” I tell him. “I'm going to take Elizabeth home.”
“Hope we get to do that again soon.”
I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“See ya around, kitten.”
Elizabeth waves bye, then calls out “inflatable tube guys” as we reach the front door. Fallon shouts back “cicadas.”
“You guys really are weird.”
“I like him. He’s good people. I’m glad he’s your friend.”
“A lot of people would say Fallon is anything good.”
“New Elizabeth, remember? I have superpowers that allow me to see past a person’s hard outer shell to the center of their inner tootsie pop.”
I kiss her neck. “Why am I getting the feeling that having you and Fallon hang out together is a bad idea?”
“Sometimes bad ideas can bring about great things.”
I carry Elizabeth the entire distance to where I parked my car. Once she's buckled in, she asks, “Ryder, why does Maria hate me so much?”
I turn in my seat to fully face her and I take her hand. “I will never lie to you. I made a huge mistake by dating Maria and I’m not proud of the reasons why I did, but they are things I won’t apologize for either.”
“Alright.” She waits for me to continue.
“When you and Jayson got together, it about killed me. I was lonely and I was missing you. I thought Maria could help fill that loneliness. We didn't date for long and I was never intimate with her. I couldn’t touch her like that because she wasn’t you.
But I was tired of waiting on the sidelines watching you and Jayson be together.
I just wanted someone to make the heartache go away. ”
“And she did that for you? She helped make the pain go away?”
“That’s the sad part. She didn’t. I tried so hard to let her in, but Maria could never fill that ache for the one girl my heart wanted more than any other.
She wanted more from me than I was willing to give, and Maria deserved better.
I deserved better. What I found out later was that she used you to get to me.
You, me, Jay, and Jules were always a unit.
Basically, where one of us went, the rest would follow.
Maria pretended to be your friend so she could get access to me. And I was stupid enough to let her.”
“Thank you for telling me.” Elizabeth turns her head to look out the window, momentarily lost in thought. “Ryder?
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what, baby?”
“I don’t know. I guess—it’s just all the stuff I’ve been learning about the old Elizabeth…
well, I don’t much like her. How could I be in love with two different boys?
Be in a relationship with one and string along the other?
What kind of person was I to do that to the two people I claimed to care about the most? ”
“Elizabeth, nobody is perfect. Look at what I did. I dated Maria to distract myself from not being able to have you. We all do things to cope that we later look back on with regret. You are the most loving, caring, sweetest girl I have ever known.”
“I will not be Old Elizabeth again, Ryder. I don’t want to be. I don’t ever want to hurt you like she did. I choose you,” she finishes in a low mumble while staring out the window.
Why do I have the feeling that she is talking about something other than what happened tonight?