Then
Blake
Where the hell are you, bro?
Me
I had to go to the bathroom. I’m on my way out to the patio
Blake
Cool. I’m hanging out by the swinging bench
Me
Be there in a sec
“Who’s that?” Violet asks, her pupils dilating.
“Nosy, are we?”
She tries her best to hide a smile, but it doesn’t work. “Maybe.”
“If you must know, that was your brother. He asked me where I am.”
“You didn’t tell him you’re with me, right?”
Placing my hands on her shoulders, I look into her eyes until they meet mine. When she lands on my face, she closes her eyes and breathes out.
“I didn’t say a word. I told him I had to go to the bathroom. He’s not going to find out about us.”
“How are you so sure?” she asks, doubt lacing throughout her voice.
“I’m a superhero.” I present myself to her by puffing my chest out. “I’m very good at sensing things. Like right now, I can sense that your heart is beating incredibly fast and your anxiety is increasing by the minute.”
“You don’t need to sense any of that because it’s actually happening. I’m f-freaking out, Gray!” She grabs the palm of my hand, placing it over her heart with her hand on top of mine.
“Shit, Vi. We need to slow your heart rate down.”
“H-how do you suggest we do that?”
I gesture to her to breathe in and out. She listens to me and her rapid chest heaves begin to slow down, along with her heartbeats.
We make eye contact, the kind that makes me feel like I’m overheating. Whenever I look into Violet’s eyes, I’m mesmerized by their beauty. It’s like I’m staring straight into the ocean with this overwhelming sense of serenity washing over me. I’d do anything to be able to stare at her forever.
“I need to go before your brother gets too suspicious.”
“Yeah, you do.”
Walking towards her bedroom door, I turn around to catch a glimpse of Violet before I leave. “If you ever dress like this again, it’s going to be damn near impossible for me to keep my hands off you.”
She sucks in her cheeks and shakes her head. Her arms are hanging out in front of her body with her hands intertwined until she rushes over to me. She grabs my face, ravishing my mouth with hers.
Pulling away, I take a moment to catch my breath. “You’re dangerous, Angel.”
“I’m only dangerous when it comes to you,” she says as her fingers walk up my chest.
“You’re such a tease.”
She sticks out her tongue at me, winking one eye. “If I don’t see you, text me when you get home. Okay?”
“I will.” I kiss her cheek before I end up at her doorway. “Wish me luck.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to hang out with your brother.”
“Oh yeah, good luck. You’re definitely going to need it.”
“If I get bored, I can just picture his sister in my head kissing me everywhere.”
Her eyes grow wide like a cartoon character. “Please don’t do that.”
“No promises.” Winking at her, I walk out of her room and head out to the back patio.
It’s so loud I can’t even hear my own thoughts. The music is blasting. I’m surprised the cops aren’t here yet because of a noise complaint.
Yeah, no, I’m not surprised at all.
Georgia Prescott has the Sunset Cove Police Department wrapped around her privileged little fingers. The neighbors have learned not to mess with her.
I go down the small steps and look for Blake. Instead, I find Noah and Xander.
What the hell?
My face scrunches up to express my confusion. “What are you guys still doing here?”
“Surprised to see us, bro?” Xander asks with his hand flattened out.
“Yeah.”
“Well being here is better than being at home with my sister and Dani.” Noah studies me. “Where the hell have you been?”
“I can’t tell you here,” I say softly.
Blake appears out of nowhere, sneaking up behind me. “What can you not tell them?”
I change the subject super fast. “Dude, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been busy.”
“Busy doing what, exactly?” Noah has this annoyed expression written all over his face.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Blake says to Noah.
Blake turns back around to face me before Noah sticks his middle finger up at him.
“Guys, we don’t have to do this right now,” I say.
“You’re right. I’ll make this easy. We’re going to head out!” Noah shouts.
“Talk to you guys later.”
“Yeah, you better,” Xander says in my ear.
Giving them two thumbs up, I smile like an idiot.
I can’t have Blake hearing about any of this. Violet trusted me to not tell him anything, and I’m keeping my promise to her. Anyway, it’s not my place to tell him about us. If she wants to tell him, that’s her decision. I will always be on her side, regardless of me being friends with her brother.
After Noah and Xander leave, Blake stares at me until the corner of his lip rises up. “You want to see something cool?”
“Sure.”
He gestures to me to follow him, so I do. We walk over to a group of guys. I’m assuming they’re his other friends.
“Guys, this is Grayson.” He puts his arm around me.
“Hey,” I awkwardly say to them.
At first, none of them say anything. They silently stare at me until they partially lift their heads up in unison.
“Hand it over,” Blake says to one of the guys.
The guy hands Blake a metal flask, and I think I’m going to pass out.
“Is that what I think that is?”
“Hell yeah, man.” Enthusiasm takes over Blake’s tone.
“I thought you seemed a bit off. You’re more chill than usual,” I say.
“Whatever. Live a little. Have some. It’ll help take the edge off your grumpiness.”
“I’m not grumpy. Dude, we’re not old enough to be drinking. In fact, it’s fucking illegal. The legal age is twenty-one.”
Blake’s friends laugh at me, the sound drowned out by the music blasting from the speakers.
Blake rolls his eyes, and we walk away from the group of guys. We end up on the side of the house, where it’s not as loud.
“Do you know that I’ve been drinking like this since I was thirteen? My parents have no idea, and I don’t think they give a shit. Stop being such a wimp and try it.”
I’ve been friends with Blake Prescott for three years, and he has no idea that my dad is an alcoholic.
From what my mom told me, my dad wasn’t always like this. The first few years of their marriage was pure bliss. It seemed to all go downhill when Mom gave birth to me.
Mom believed Dad was capable of being a good father, but she discovered that he couldn’t handle it.
He took out his frustrations on her and turned to alcohol for comfort.
He had to work two jobs to keep us afloat, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
Moving into a neighborhood like Crystal Harbor wasn’t an option, so we had to make do with what we had.
Blake doesn’t know about how he beat the crap out of my mom and I. He doesn’t know anything about my old home life, and I intend to keep it that way.
Unlike Blake, Noah knows everything about me.
He’s like my brother. It’s not just because we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s because his family feels like one I wish I always had.
His mom, Laura, is the sweetest person ever. She treats me like I’m her own son. She taught me how to cook. Whenever I’m at the Kaplans’, she seeks help from Lizzie and I.
His dad, Ben, is the funniest person I’ve ever met.
He always knows how to make everybody around him laugh.
Noah, his dad, and I would all gather around the TV to watch the Sunset Cove Stingrays’ basketball games.
Ben has always supported my passion for basketball.
I’m thankful for his support and Noah’s, too.
Basketball is something I’ve loved since I was around eight or nine years old. When I started high school, I knew I wanted to join my school’s junior varsity team. The goal is to make the varsity team in my senior year. I want to attend Sunset Cove University and become a Stingray.
My dream is to play for the NBA, and I hope it comes true one day.
“Grayson!” Blake snaps me back to reality, shaking the flask in front of my face.
I snatch it out of his hands. “Okay, I’ll try it, so you can stop annoying me about it.”
Don’t do this, Gray. You swore you’d never drink because of Dad. Give it back to him.
Chugging some of the liquid from the flask, I choke a bit. The taste is strong, and the alcohol is definitely in whatever liquid is swishing around in there. “What the hell is in here?”
Goddammit. Why did I just drink that shit? And why do I want more? This is bad.
“Vodka,” Blake spits out.
“Why didn’t you just put beer in this?”
“If I wanted beer, I’d put it in a plastic red cup, but beer is lame. My parents have an entire cabinet full of bottles of alcohol that they never drink. They only buy them for parties because my mom asks my dad to.”
“Do you have another flask?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m stealing this,” I say, pulling the flask closer into my chest.
You’re making a huge mistake, Gray.
Blake folds his arms across the front of his chest. “I thought you didn’t want it.”
“I never said that.”
“Suit yourself.” He pats me on the back before I finish what’s left in the metal flask.
“Where do your parents keep the alcohol?”
“Come with me. I’ll show you.” He gestures to me to follow him into the house, leading me into the kitchen.
There are groups of people in the living room, sitting on the sofa. There are people scattered all over the kitchen, chilling on the bar stools and standing against the counters. He opens the cabinet next to the sink and my mouth hangs open.
Holy shit, there’s a cooler inside.
“You okay, bro?” he asks, one of his eyebrows raising up.
“Yeah, I’m cool.” I lean against the giant marble island with one leg in front of the other.
I cannot believe I’m standing here with Blake Prescott in front of a cooler full of bottles of alcohol and wanting to drink some.
And I just made out with his sister. This is so fucked up.
Blake tilts his head at an angle. “Hey, sorry, that was one of the guys calling me over. They want to show me something. You can come if you want.”
“That’s okay, man. You go have fun. I’ll figure out another way to entertain myself.”
“Alright. Enjoy the calmness,” he says as he walks away from me and ends up back outside.
Rubbing my fingertips on my temples, I can feel a headache forming from how loud the music is. I grab a bottle of vodka and search for a plastic cup, finding one hanging out on the counter behind me. The bottle is already open.
Pouring it a quarter of the way up, I quickly gulp down the vodka. It feels like I just swallowed pure fire because my throat is burning. I throw the cup into the trash can before I head upstairs to see Violet.
Before I knock on her door, I breathe into my hand.
Damn, that smell is rancid.
I run back downstairs into the kitchen and open the fridge, grabbing a couple cloves of raw garlic from the vegetable drawer.
Rushing into the bathroom across from her room, I slam the door and lock it. I spend a solid three minutes shoving raw garlic into my mouth from the sink to help get rid of the smell.
Ugh, this is disgusting.
I know a lot of the tricks to help get rid of alcohol breath because my father used them all the time.
When he first started drinking, he used the water trick a lot. Eventually, he transitioned to chewing on cloves of raw garlic. He’d always steal a couple that would be sitting on the counter while Mom was cooking dinner and not paying attention to him.
I hate that I know this shit.
I blow into my hand again, and I’m amazed. My breath doesn’t smell like ass.
Unlocking the bathroom door, I walk back over to Violet’s bedroom and knock lightly on the door.
There are people everywhere, but most of them are outside. I feel so ridiculous because I’m dressed up as a guy who can shoot spiderwebs out of his hands.
The group of guys that Blake introduced me to were dressed up as cowboys for Chrissake. Not that it actually matters since Blake is dressed up in a tight blue superhero suit with a big S on the front of his chest.
What a dumbass.
Violet’s door opens. She stands in the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest, tapping her foot. Peeking her head out and looking both ways, she pulls me into her room by my hand. She closes the door behind us and locks it.
“What was that?” I point to the door.
“I had to get you in here as quickly as possible, so Blake doesn’t catch us.”
“Your brother is outside with his other friends. You don’t need to worry about him right now.”
How could I forget she’s still in her goddamn costume? The thigh-high boots and tights are making me want to scream.
Her eyes wander all over my face, causing me to look away. She swerves her face, so it's in front of mine and puts her hand on my cheek. The goofiest smile spreads across her beautiful lips until I hear laughter escape.
She leans her head into my chest. I can feel her body vibrating because she’s laughing so damn hard.
Before I know it, I’m laughing, too. “What’s so funny, Angel?”
She looks up at me, and I’m losing my ability to breathe properly. “How is my brother?”
“Do you really want to talk about your brother?”
She stares at my lips, eyes bouncing back up to meet mine. “Not really.”
“Well, what do you want to talk about?”
Her arms end up around my neck. “What if I don’t want to talk?”
Why would she not want to talk? What else would we do? Oh. Oh. Wow, why the hell did that take me so long to figure out?
I take a deep gulp. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I want to.” She crashes her lips onto mine and pulls away. “I didn’t think I’d love the idea of us being a secret, but it’s kind of fun.”
“This is only the beginning, Angel. It’s about to get even better.”