Chapter Five
Oakley
S ilence settles over the three of us for a moment until Waylon finally throws his hands up in the air and walks out of the room, leaving me and my best friend staring at one another.
“So, you and…”
“It’s not what you think.”
We both talk at the same time and then fall back into silence.
“I brought clothes.” She pulls out a shirt and shorts from her backpack. “And your phone.”
“Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you so much!” I grab for them.
“You know, so you don’t have to do the walk of shame.” She gives me one of her tilted, half-assed smiles that usually tickle me.
“That’s not funny,” I say the words, but I’m smiling even as I say them. “I just want to get out of here and pretend last night never happened.”
“I wonder what Waylon is telling Mom and Nan.” I wonder too. God, hopefully it doesn’t start with she was drunk and ends with don’t ever let Terry around her again.
“You think it’s safe to leave?”
“I think we could probably sneak out the back.” She takes me by the hand and drags me through the house.
We make it as far as the gate only to find it locked.
“Damn! I should have known the Boy Scout would have locked it up tighter than a bank vault. Come on. Maybe we can sneak by them, and they won’t realize.”
I have my doubts that’s going to happen, but I don’t say anything. I don’t have a better idea so…
We make it as far as the porch before being spotted.
“Oakley, how are you feeling, sweetheart?” Terry’s mom comes over and looks me up and down before putting the back of her hand on my forehead like she’s trying to check for a fever.
“Waylon told me you weren’t feeling well and didn’t want to come to the house because you were worried about getting everyone sick.
You’re family, sweet girl. You don’t have to keep away just because you think you’re sick. ”
Oh God! That’s actually a really good excuse.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Um, yeah, Mrs. Ab…Rowan.” She always reminds me to call her Rowan or mom when I’m around her. She gives me a big smile. “It must have been something I, um, ate. Something that didn’t agree with me.”
I look from under my lashes at Waylon, who is looking a little tense. Rowan’s reply is drowned out by the sound of a vehicle breaking loudly. I look over at where the sound is coming from, only to find the nightmare gets worse.
Tommy is getting out of his douche-mobile. And my day is going from shit to worse in the space of a heartbeat.
“What the hell, Oakley?” What in the hell did I ever see in this guy? Oh, yeah, he was really the first person to ever take any interest in me. At all. “You slept with this guy! You bitch!”
“Hey,” Everyone whips their heads around to Waylon, who stops Tommy in his tracks. “Watch your fucking mouth!”
Oh my god! This is not happening.
“Fuck you!” Tommy acts tough, but he’s the one backing up. “This isn’t between me and you, dipshit! This is between me and her. I’ve been chasing that cherry for years now, hoping to pop it, and you just swoop in and take it in a night.”
“Oh my God, Tommy, shut up! What is wrong with you!”
“What’s wrong with me!? What’s wrong with me?! You’re my girlfriend.”
“Ex. Ex-girlfriend. You broke up with me, remember.”
“Yeah, and it took you less than twenty-four hours to hop on someone else’s cock! You whore.”
“That’s it! You little shit!” Waylon goes for him, and without thinking, I step in front of him and place my palms on his -very impressive- chest. I never realized how wide Terry’s brother was because this is the first time we’ve ever been this close. With me sober.
“No! The last thing I need is for you to get in trouble for beating the shit out of Tommy because of me. Please. Just let him leave.”
He looks down at me for long enough that I start to worry he might just move me aside and keep going. Instead, he takes me by the arm and turns us.
“Back in the house.”
“What?”
“Get back in the house. All three of you. Now.”
He makes sure we’re all in before taking me by the hand and pulling me into the kitchen.
“What the hell was that about?” He whisper/yells it as he keeps walking, putting as much space between us as the room will allow.
“About? What do you mean? I have no idea what’s going on. I’ve been lost since I woke up this morning in a strange house, in a strange room, in a strange bed!”
He looks at me, and for one moment, I’m convinced he’s going to come over and shake me. Instead, he shoves his hands in his pockets, and we just stare at one another. His mom finally steps into the room.
“Uh, guys, I might have some bad news for you.”
“Bad news?” Great. More shit piled on the shit already covering my day…ha, my life.
“Yeah. I, uh, think I know why that happened out front.”
“Nan told everyone you all are dating and are really hot and heavy.” It’s not Rowan who tells us, but rather Terry, and she does more than tell us. She shows me a post on social media telling the town that things are heating up between me and her grandson.
“Oh my God!”