Chapter 14 #2
“More bumps for us then,” Clayton jokes, and again, the laughter continues.
The three of them are so stoned, and I wish my own buzz would hurry up and kick in.
That’s why I take another hit, holding the smoke in my lungs for as long as I possibly can before it burns too much, then I tilt my head back and release it into the air.
I am just about to close my eyes again, to relax into the warm sensation, when the door of the shed swings open. We are so fogged out in here that it takes me a minute to see who is here to join us.
Shit .
It’s Eden. Her hand is over her mouth and she coughs, stepping back, retreating from the door. “Is that weed?”
“No, it’s cotton candy,” Mason jokes, and Clayton and Kaleb immediately howl with laughter as though it’s the most hilarious reply they have ever heard in their entire lives.
I don’t join in again, not because I’m not high yet, but because there is panic running through me.
I need Eden to know who Tyler Bruce is, but I don’t want her to know about this.
Not when she lives in the same damn house as me.
Not when she can tell my mom. Quickly, I try to hide my burning joint behind me, hoping she doesn’t notice that I’m involved.
“Are you serious?” she asks, staring at me wide-eyed.
Clearly, I am too late. She’s already seen it, and I know that there is absolutely no way I can deny it.
“Dude, get this chick outta here,” Clayton mutters, waving his joint at her. I don’t look at him though, because my attention is all on Eden. Her eyes are fixed only on me as they dilate with complete and utter disgust. “Unless she wants to come in here and keep us company.”
“Bro,” I murmur, turning to fire Clayton a look. I swallow hard. Play it cool. Be Tyler Bruce. You don’t care . “You really want that kid in here?”
Clayton and Kaleb chuckle while Mason starts coughing to death in the corner. Of course, this is amusing to them, but to me, it’s far from it. I am frozen in place, wondering how the hell I am supposed to get myself out of this situation.
“Who the hell is she?” Clayton finally asks, and I’m definitely not going to answer him.
I can only imagine the number of jokes they would crack if they knew she was my stepsister.
“Has no one taught her the rules?” He turns to Eden, and I don’t like the way he grins at her.
“No interrupting, babe. Get the fuck out of here unless you’re here to ball with us.
” He steps toward her and holds out his half-smoked joint, offering it to her as if she would actually take it.
Automatically, I step in between the two of them, facing Clayton, Eden behind me. “What the hell are you doing?” I quickly put out my own joint and shove it into my pocket, saving it for later, and then I narrow my eyes. “C’mon, Clayton, where’s your common sense?”
“Offering her a hit is common sense,” he says. He moves his joint back to his lips and takes another hit though I don’t think he needs it. “It’s called good manners. It would be rude not to. Am I right, new girl?” He looks at Eden again over my shoulder.
“Dude, take the damn hint,” I growl under my breath.
He is pissing me off now, mostly because I don’t like the way he is talking to her.
“She doesn’t want it. Look at her.” I cast a glance over my shoulder at Eden again, and my chest tightens when I see the way she is looking at me.
Most people look at me the same way, with that horrified, disgusted look on their faces.
But seeing that same expression in Eden’s eyes is different, like I am seeing it for the very first time, and I can’t figure out why, for a second, I actually feel disappointed in myself.
Those hits I just took must be kicking in. I am feeling lighter, feeling fuzzy.
“Alright, alright. Just get her outta here then. Why do we have some random kid in here anyway?” Clayton asks.
“I’m wondering the same thing,” I mumble, then turn around to face Eden directly.
She is shaking her head at me, and that feeling of disappointment rises in my chest again.
I need to get her out of here, away from these morons, away from me.
I step toward her, but I hit my hand against the table next to us. It catches Eden’s attention.
There is a silence for what feels like forever.
Or maybe I’m just imagining it. Shit . This is the worst time for my high to be kicking in.
I need to maintain a clear head in order to bullshit my way out of this, because I know Eden isn’t stupid.
I know she is staring at the coke on the table, and I doubt she thinks it’s sugar.
“Oh my God.” Her face pales with disbelief, and I can see questions flashing across her face one by one. She parts those lips of hers, her mouth open. “Oh my God?”
“Dude, seriously, I’m not kidding,” Clayton orders, his voice sharp now. “Get her out of here before she calls us out to the cops or something.”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s leaving.” Desperate to get Eden away, I grasp her elbow and guide her away from the shed and across the yard until we’re a safe distance away. It feels like it takes me twenty minutes to walk her across the lawn, but in reality, it’s more like twenty seconds.
“You’re unbelievable,” she hisses at me. She shakes my grip off her arm and then stares me straight in the eye. “Coke? Really, Tyler?”
I think it’s the first time I’ve heard her say my name, and I figure it’s the weed, but it sounds like absolute heaven in that husky tone of hers. I want her to say it over and over again for the rest of my life. Yep, I’m stoned.
My gaze meets hers, and I am silent for a while.
I’m not sure how to explain myself without telling her that my life is a mess.
I cover my face with my hands and groan out loud.
“This isn’t the place for you,” I tell her.
I shove my hands back down into my pockets, and I can feel those two joints waiting for me.
Right now, I need them more than ever. “You should—you should go back inside.”
Eden only continues to stare at me with her mouth agape, shaking her head.
She looks furious, but I don’t know why.
She doesn’t even know me. She shouldn’t care, but it’s clear that she does, and I have this awful feeling that she’s going to tell my mom about this when she gets home.
Mom already knows that I smoke, though she doesn’t know just how often, and she certainly doesn’t like it.
The coke, however, she has no idea about.
I’m not sure how much longer it’ll stay that way.
I turn around and head back toward the shed—another twenty-minute walk to my buzzed mind—and the guys are waiting for me with curious expressions. There’s no way I’m telling them who Eden is, so instead I stick to being Tyler Bruce, and I roll my eyes and say, “Got rid of that loser.”
More laughter erupts and the shed feels as though it is shaking. I laugh too this time, but not for long, because we are interrupted when I hear Dean’s voice call out, “Dude, come on. That’s low. Chill out.”
I flash my eyes over at him. He’s standing a few feet away from us, shaking his head in disapproval. He looks sober as hell, but that’s not surprising. Dean’s like that. He’s a nice guy, always keeps himself in check, always looks out for people. That’s why he has so many friends. Real ones.
“Shut the fuck up, Dean,” I mutter, and he just sighs in reply and sprints across the lawn toward Eden. I stare after him, my eyebrows furrowing as I watch the two of them talk. Have they even met yet? They talk for what I feel like is an hour, but they’re too far away to hear what they’re saying.
“C’mon, get lighting up,” Kaleb urges, tossing me his lighter.
I swiftly catch it and then reach back into my pocket to pull out my joint from earlier.
I place it between my lips and relight it, and just as I’m about to take another hit, I see her again.
Eden, watching me over her shoulder as she lingers by the door to the house.
I wish she didn’t care. I wish she’d just shrugged, rolled her eyes, and left.
I don’t know her well enough yet to predict what she will do with this information.
In fact, I don’t know her at all, so now I’m worried that she is the type of girl who will tell.
And then I’ll be kicked out of the house.
And then I’ll need to find a way to survive.
I look away from her, dropping my eyes to the ground, and Clayton says something as he shoves a new beer into my hand, but his words don’t register.
I can still feel Eden’s gaze on me, so I move further into the shed, away from the door, out of her sight so I can no longer see that disgusted look on her face.
The guys are laughing again, but I don’t know why. I am focused on something else now. I know I swore to Tiffani that I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t care about her enough to feel bad about breaking any promises. Tyler Bruce does whatever the hell he wants.
I glance sideways at Kaleb, then elbow him in the ribs to get his attention. “Tell Declan I’m in,” I murmur into his ear. “I’ll sell his shit for him.”
···
When I wake up the next morning, my head is a little foggy.
It takes me a long minute of squinting at the sunlight streaming in through the window to realize that I’m not even in my own room; I’m in Tiffani’s.
Quietly, I groan and roll over, and I almost jump straight out of my skin at the sight of Tiffani already awake, dressed, and sitting cross-legged on the bed next to me. Her blue eyes are boring into mine.
“Mom wants to kill you,” she states. I could think of better ways to be told good morning .
I raise an eyebrow, still half asleep. “Huh?”