Chapter 84 Nellie
Nellie
I hate Jane Swift, cannot stand the sight of her.
Like just now. We are supposed to be out here at the Circles for a candlelight vigil for Blair, and she’s marking her territory: Luke. Backing into him, pulling his arms around her, making sure that I, and everybody else, will know they’re together.
How pathetic.
She looks so self-satisfied, so full of herself, I want to walk over and smack that smug look right off her face.
But then I see Luke peel himself off her, back away, and I remember our kiss the other night. Passionate. Firecrackers. Him telling me he does like me, but that he’s confused.
Jane might win the immediate battle—she might hook up with him later tonight on the funny farm—but I’m gonna win the war.
Jane heads off toward the keg, is refilling her cup, when I move in for the kill. She’s all alone; it’s the perfect time to knock her down a notch, put her in her place.
Plus, I’ve been pounding the Hunch Punch since I got here, and I’m full of piss and vinegar, as my stupid mother would say, ready to unleash.
I start by snatching the hose from her midstream, filling my cup instead.
“Hey, I wasn’t finished—”
“Oh, sorry! My bad!”
She narrows her eyes at me, crosses her arms in front of her chest. Thinks she’s wounding me with her look.
“Just so ya know,” I say under my breath, “Luke’s really into me.
He may be with you, like, officially, but he took me out the other night.
” A feeling of righteousness seeps over me.
I know I’m not supposed to tell anyone about our little date, but I can’t stand to sit by and not try to mess them up.
He’s mine.
Jane huffs, bites the bottom of her lip. Looks up at me like she feels sorry for me.
“What? Why are you staring at me like that? It’s true, he took me out. Everyone pities you, ya know. He just pities you and your freaky farm family. But he’s into me.”
Jane cackles in my face. “As if he’d be caught dead with you! God, you’re so delusional, Nellie. Like he’d ever be into you. Get a life.”
Rage bubbles up inside me. “He’s going out with the pathetic farmer’s daughter. You have nothing. Why would you think you could even compete with me and all I have to offer?”
“Go fuck yourself, Nellie Andersen. Because seriously? No one else would ever.”
“Oh, Luke would. And will. We kissed the other night, can you believe it?”
Jane freezes; I’ve got her. I shouldn’t have blurted that out, but fuck it and fuck her. Her face gets red, then redder, and she shakes her head again. But this time, she’s not laughing. She’s seething.
“Well, you’re right,” she says, her voice almost a whisper. “You do have more than me. More money. So much so that your mommy had to pay him to go out with you.”
This nasty little bitch. Filthy slut.
“You’re fucking lying and you know it.” But even as I say the words, my mind reels. Did Mom actually do this? Oh, fuck, did she set the date up? Doubt creeps in, blotting my vision.
“You think I’m the one everyone pities? Everybody hates you, Nellie. Always have. We may have nothing, but you have everything, and your mommy still had to beg Luke to take you out. She had to bribe him.”
Blood whooshes in my ears, pounds through my brain. I’m seeing red. I want to yank Jane down to the ground by her hair, beat her with my fists. This lying little whore bag.
But the truth settles over me like a fifty-pound bag of sand.
And everything clicks.
Luke and Mr. Swift were at the house the other day while I was at the shooting range with Dad. Luke was unattended at the house with Mom.
And then he magically called, asked me out on a date.
How fucking stupid am I that I fell for it? But even knowing this, I also know that what we have is real. Not something Mom would have to pay for.
I’m shaking, standing here in front of Jane like a fucking loser as she smirks at me. As much as I want to beat the shit out of her, first I’m going to fuck up Mom.
Mom, the hideous bitch who is right now at the Boat House, drinking with Jackson.
It’s five minutes down the road.
I’m hoping, for Mom’s sake, that she’ll convincingly tell me Jane’s a liar, disprove all this. She fucking better.