16. Andrew
CHAPTER 16
Andrew
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD
The motherfucker can throw a punch, I’ll give him that. This one is going to bruise.
As I wipe the blood and drool coming out from the corner of my mouth with my thumb, I already know Mom will throw a hissy fit. Dad will let this one slide, just like he’s letting everything slide lately—the perk of catching him screwing Mrs. Landon. Gigi though…that’s going to be a problem. I’m going to have to bail on our date tomorrow and come up with an excuse for my face when I do meet up with her again. We’ve only been going out for a few months and I’m already feeding her lies. Good thing is, she doesn’t know the injury rate when it comes to basketball. Maybe she’ll buy it again if I tell her I got hit by another ball.
I hate my life.
“What are you thinking about, Palmer?” Zach asks, panting. His fist is still curled like he’s going to hit me again. If he does, I’m still not going to hit him back, though. As much as I hate him, I understand it. His life just changed. It got flipped upside down when his parents got a divorce. I never told anyone about what I saw. Dad told me it was a lapse in judgment, and as much as it sucks, I believe him. People make mistakes. But judging by Zach’s torment these past few weeks, I’m going to guess his mom didn’t keep her mouth shut.
I stand on my feet and spit. “I get you want to be angry, man,” I say, trying to reason with him. I even lift both my hands up. “But you know it as well as I do, I didn’t do shit to wreck your parents’ marriage. Your mom and my dad made the choice.”
His laugh is malicious, and when it stops, I know I did nothing to defuse the situation. “Then why am I the one paying for it and you still have a little happy family?”
I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know one thing. Nothing is ever as it seems. “We’re not that happy.”
“You’re going to be miserable by the time I’m done with you,” Zach sneers. “Me keying your car last week? Me beating you up? They’re just the beginning, Andrew.”
“Do whatever you need to make yourself feel better, but this?” I point to him, and then to me. “It’s not going to make you happy, either, Zach.”
“What?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow. “You’re not even going to do anything other than preach me crap life lessons like your daddy? At least get riled up a little. Make it interesting, Palmer. Don’t be such a loser.”
I roll my eyes and groan inwardly. This is why the basketball team doesn’t like the football team. They’re always getting into fights for no reason. Relieve tension on the field, bro . I swear, the newest members are always stupider than the previous ones. And the ringleader of this year’s batch? This guy right here.
When I don’t give him the satisfaction by answering him, Zach continues. “Your car doesn’t piss you off. Me beating you up doesn’t piss you off. Me getting you sent to detention doesn’t piss you off.”
Only when he starts pacing and seriously thinking out loud what he can do so I will start fighting him, do I realize that this guy is fucking nuts and not just looking to release some stress from home. When he gets up close in my space and pulls my collar with both hands, giving me a glimpse of his wild eyes, I finally see that his pupils are so huge and dark. The sight of them sends shivers down my spine.
Has he been on drugs ever since he’s been hellbent on breaking me down? Did he start taking them when his parents got divorced? Damn, I feel sorry for this guy. I don’t hang out with the drug crew enough to know this for sure. Either that, or he has the eyes of a sociopath. Both are not fucking good, because I know there’s a target on my back.
Zach’s eyes snap down to my glowing and vibrating jeans pocket. I shove him away and take my phone out, immediately pressing ignore. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t pick up, though, because when my phone lights up again for the second time, Zach finally sees the caller.
I curse at myself for saving Gigi’s number the way I did. Gigi the most beautiful girlfriend is her name. A selfie of us with her in her cheer outfit is also displayed on the screen as a stupid contact photo. To be fair, I’m saved as Andrew the hottest boyfriend on her phone.
Zach’s eyes glint with mischief, and I bet he’s already planting stupid fucking ideas in that brain of his. “Didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Palmer.” I feel my jaw tightening. “She looks real pretty.” Don’t react, Andrew. “Green and white. That’s the color of Kinsdale Springs High, right? How come I’ve never seen her before?” She just moved here last year and joined the cheer team a few weeks ago, but I’m not going to tell you that.
“Goodbye, Zach,” I say through gritted teeth. “Try to not get thrown in jail until tomorrow.”
As I walk past him, Zach barks out a laugh. In a low, satisfied voice, he asks, “Gigi the most beautiful girlfriend your weakness, Palmer?”
I guess she must be, because my idiotic self decides that the best course of action would be to shove Zach against the locker. “You stay the fuck away from her and leave her out of your psychotic games, asshole.”
Teenage boys. Hormones. Problems at home. Girls. Never a good combination.
Zach just smirks when I let him go. “I told you I’d find the right button to push.”