HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel, page 13
“I’m a little torn here.”
“Why’s that, Wes?”
Wes put a foot up on the bench part of the metal table. He rubbed his jaw and reached for a cigarette. So I decided to light one up myself.
“Thinking about what I said before. I could send you in there alone,” he said. “You’d be crazy - or dumb - enough to go. I can see you walking right up to the Rulz on your own and making a fool of yourself. They’d drop you in a second, Elijah. I hate BFH as much as anyone can hate them. But that place is something really fucked up. The two schools hate each other. West and East. They fight within the schools. The Rulz try to keep the balance, usually, but they own their little part of the world.”
“Is this you telling me you’re afraid, Wes? If so, you can stay back here. Cuddle up with your blanket and suck on your thumb. It’s okay. I’ll even come check for monsters in your closet. Sound good?”
“Everything’s a fucking joke to you,” he said. “Yet you’re trying to chase down something so serious. I don’t get it. Ryland’s gone. Forever. What does that have to do with you?”
“I’m just a heartbroken brother hell bent on revenge.”
Wes laughed. “Do you think anyone believes that?”
“Nope.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because it pisses people like you off, Wes.”
Wes nodded and flexed his jaw. “I’ll take you there. I’m only doing it for Nova.”
Wes looked back at her.
I curled my lip. “Don’t play the fucking hero card. You’re not taking both of them to bed.”
“Not interested in that,” Wes said. “Just don’t want to see Nova hurt anymore.”
I tossed my cigarette away and walked around the table toward Wes.
I heard Nova mumble oh shit and she managed to get between us.
Nova stood with her back to my front.
Aira then did the same with Wes.
They were blocking us from each other and using themselves as shields.
“Just finish this conversation,” Aira said. “Without you two being fucking morons more than you already are.”
Wes knew how to hit me hard.
Any comment about Nova hurting was one that hurt me. Because I had hurt her. I hurt her each time I left at the end of each summer. And I hurt her worse last summer when I gave her the letter telling her I would never see her again.
But I knew damn well Wes wasn’t some innocent prince. He had enough skeletons in his closet to fill one of the HCH mansions that littered the beachfront.
I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Let’s get back on track here.”
“As I said, I’ll take you there. I’m bringing Leo and Flynn. Just to be safe. No Kailey. No Charlotte. No Emma.”
“But we’re going too,” Aira said to me. “Me. And Nova.”
“Why?” I asked.
Nova turned her head and looked up at me. “To make sure you don’t do something stupid, Elijah.”
“Babe…”
“No,” Nova said. “I’m serious. I can’t lose you. I can’t have you get hurt because of Ryland.”
I curled my lip.
Nova knew the truth though. The urgency of why I needed to figure out who killed my brother. I didn’t miss or love him. I needed to know what he was tied into and how deep I was pulled into it. And judging by the vehicle that had followed me the other night, I was in it. Deep enough that I needed to play nice with Weslee fucking Jackson.
“Fine,” I said. “Keep talking, Wes.”
“We’ll show up and you do your thing,” he said. “We’re not getting involved. We’re not talking. We’re not…”
“Unless it’s needed,” Aira said. “But that’s why we’re there. Just to show that it’s legit.”
“And not some crazy asshole trying to kick things up,” Wes said.
“They know who I am already,” I said. “And why I’m showing up.”
Wes nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’m not going to swing unless I have to.”
“If you start a war with the Rulz then that’s on you,” Wes said. “I will not help you with that.” He looked at Nova. “Sorry.”
I wrapped my arms around Nova. “Don’t be sorry, Wes. A boy could only handle so much. But a man can take care of everything.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” Wes said. “You have no idea what you’re doing here, Elijah.”
“Right now I’m feeling Nova’s body against me. And it’s making me really fucking har-”
“Good for you,” Aira said.
Nova elbowed me.
“We’ll go in a little bit,” Wes said. “I’ll go get Leo and Flynn.”
I nodded. “Works for me.”
“I’m staying to have something to eat with Nova,” Aira said.
“Seriously?” Wes questioned her.
“Seriously,” Aira threw back.
Nova looked up at me again. “Seriously.”
I broke away from Nova. “Then I’m going to go have a smoke on the beach and wait for someone to call me.”
“Then we have a plan,” Wes said.
Wes backed up and I backed up.
I felt the tension not getting any better.
I saw the look in Aira’s eyes.
She was tough as anything but she was worried.
Nova turned her head again at me and those blue eyes worked their damn magic.
Fuck.
“Hey, Wes,” I said. “Thanks.”
Wes laughed.
He turned and walked away, shaking his head, laughing.
I really couldn’t wait to finally put my fist to his face.
* * *
“You seem tense, babe,” I said, which was probably the most obvious thing in the world to say to Nova.
She looked at me and didn’t smile.
She didn’t find my comment funny.
But I wasn’t trying to be funny at all.
In front of us, there were three motorcycles.
Leo and Flynn side by side.
Wes in front, Aira on the back of the motorcycle, her arms wrapped around him.
I was good in my car, next to Nova, able to talk to her.
“I’m not going to do anything crazy, babe,” I said. “I swear on my life.”
“I believe you,” she said.
“But you don’t.”
“Exactly.”
“Like the angel and devil on your shoulders, right?”
Nova laughed. “Not sure anything about you is an angel, Elijah.”
“That’s true.” I reached for her hand and interlocked my fingers tight. “You didn’t have to come. I know why you did. Beyond you explaining it. Whether you like it or not, babe, you’re intrigued by the entire thing too. Same as Wes. He’ll never admit it though.”
“Intrigued?” Nova asked.
“Yeah. Everyone secretly wants to know what happened to Ryland.”
“Oh, so this is you giving yourself to HCH? Going to be the hero now?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want to be a hero to anyone.”
“Not even to me?”
“That world went by a long time ago, babe. I’m not your hero. But I am the one who loves you. Takes care of you. Makes sure you feel safe. I’m the one if you need to cry… I’m the one you cry to. If you need to punch someone… I can take those punches. In my eyes and heart I see you as my Surfer Girl, but damn, babe, in my fucking soul I see you as Novalee. Every single thing that changed about you each summer that came and went. It’s all locked away in my memory. I’m never going to lose that. And I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to lose you.”
“Then turn around,” Nova said. “Right now. Go get in front of Wes and slow down. Then turn around and go back, Elijah. Screw this stuff.”
“I can’t do that,” I said. “I have to clear my name in everything.”
“Because of a note? That could have been a threat and nothing more.”
“You’re right, babe. But here’s the thing… if someone threatens me, I’m going to make sure they know to never do that again. And… they know where I am. What I’m doing.”
“They?”
“Whoever killed Ryland,” I said.
“How do you know that?”
“I just do,” I said.
That wasn’t good enough for Nova so I told her what happened with the vehicle following me.
I finished the story just as Wes turned and faced the ocean.
He, Leo, and Flynn parked their motorcycles.
I parked my car and pulled Nova’s hand to my lips and kissed it.
“It’ll be okay, babe,” I said.
“You sure about that?” she asked me.
“With you, Nova, I’m sure of everything,” I said.
We got out of the car and Nova hugged herself and stared at the waves.
I spotted a small group of people on the beach. And then there were three guys far away from that group.
The Rulz.
Wes folded his arms and nodded to me. “Have at it.”
“I’ll be back,” I said. I looked at Nova. “Go check out the waves. I know you’re dying to.”
Nova grinned. “Whatever, Elijah.”
She could be pissed at me. But I knew her best.
I walked through the sand and approached the three guys waiting for me.
One in a white sleeveless shirt. One in a black t-shirt who looked built like a wall. The other casually smoking with messy hair and a total relaxed, almost hippie vibe.
I pointed at them.
I took a guess at their names.
“Kip. Pres. Barr.”
“Not bad,” Kip said.
“You win the prize,” Barr said in a smooth voice.
“And what prize is that?” I asked.
“You get your five minutes to do what you need to do here,” Pres said. “Anything more than that and you’re going for a swim.”
“You like the water, right?” I asked. “Dragging people into it. Seeing how long they can hold on, unsure if they’re going to die or not. Which is smart. The ocean is a scary place. Especially when you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Same could be said for BFH,” Pres said.
“So let’s cut through the shit,” Kip said. “You think we had something to do with your brother.”
“You said it,” I said.
“Ask what you need,” Barr said.
“Did you kill my brother?” I asked.
The Rulz stood stone faced.
No answer.
I nodded. “Of course. The macho, dickhead, douchebag routine.”
Pres stepped toward me.
I didn’t step back.
“Problem?” I asked.
“Big time,” he said. “You think bringing Weslee Jackson with you is supposed to scare me? Scare us? You don’t think we know what it’s like in HCH right now?”
“Then just answer the fucking question, Pres,” I said.
“I’ll ask you a question instead,” he said. “Why the hell would the three of us waste our time on a loser like Ryland?”
“Same reason you’re wasting time on me,” I said. “And the same reason you waste time on HCH. You claim everyone is a loser. But come on, we all know better. You’re worried. Ryland was crazy. Ryland had connections. Maybe he knew something he wasn’t supposed to know. Or maybe he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do.”
“In which case it sounds like he got what was coming to him,” Barr said.
I looked at Barr. “Is that so?”
“You tell me,” Barr said.
From the corner of my eye I saw Nova near the water talking to some girl. Something about it didn’t sit right with me.
“I’ll keep it simple,” I said. “Ryland has nothing to do with me. Ever. We shared a father and that was it. Anything tied to him has nothing to do with me.”
“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself of something,” Pres said.
“I’m trying hard to convince myself to not wreck you right now, Pres. Show everyone watching that the Rulz are just a cool name and nothing more. Or maybe I’ll wait. Stand back and watch things unfold. Plan something else. Do something Weslee Jackson could never do. I’m undecided.”
“Then make a fucking decision and leave,” Kip said. “You know we had nothing to do with Ryland. He was never worth our time. Our effort. He was a loser. Last we heard anything, he was trying to take down Weslee’s grandfather’s shop with Weslee’s old man. And he was involved with Aira’s ex or some shit.”
“See? Now I’m getting answers.”
“That’s all you’ll get,” Pres said.
“No,” Barr said. “It’s fine, Pres. Give him all the answers he wants. Because there are none. Your brother wanted to hurt everyone and only hurt himself. Anything deeper than what Kip just said is beyond us. So get the fuck off this beach and get the fuck out of BFH.”
“I’m going to make one thing clear here,” I said. “I don’t give a shit about my brother. I didn’t plan on saying that. I thought about living up to me being the guy looking for revenge. Nah. I’ll skip it with you guys. You’re smart. And I also don’t give a shit about Weslee Jackson. Or his crew. Or his girl. Or HCH. Truthfully, I’d love to sit and watch HCH and BFH take each other on and laugh my ass off. But what I do care about is that girl down near the water.”
They all looked.
They were listening to me.
That’s what I wanted.
“Talking to Ti,” Kip said.
“Ti?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Pres said.
“Think they’ll go at it?” Barr asked.
“Novalee is my girl,” I said. “I’ll do anything to make sure she’s okay. And the word anything is very different from what you all think. I’m not some rich kid looking to act tough.”
Pres looked at me. “But it looks like you have a lot to lose, Elijah.”
“And you have even more to lose,” I said.
“We answered your question,” Kip said.
“And your time is up,” Barr said.
“So point me in the right direction,” I said. “To someone who can help me. I’m not naive. I know you guys have connections that go way beyond BFH. My brother was involved with someone. And that someone decided to take him out.”
“Anything outside of BFH means shit to us,” Barr said. “Tough luck.”
I nodded. “Remember what I said. And feel free to do anything you need to do to HCH. You won’t see me doing anything about it.”
“So you think you’re just some outlaw, huh?” Pres asked.
“Whatever you think, I’m good with,” I said. “Thanks for the time.”
I backed away but made it two steps before I had to stop.
Nova and this Ti girl were getting into a fight.
* * *
I wrapped my arm around Nova’s shoulders and pulled her close.
I kissed her head and started to laugh.
“You’re fucking crazy, babe,” I said to her.
Nova stuck her right hand out and threw the middle finger down to the beach again. I laughed hard, stuck between kissing her again and running back down to the shore to keep fighting with the Rulz.
Nova and Ti decided to exchange a few slaps and hair pulls, and then I jumped in after Kip jumped in. Pres threatened me. I threatened him back. Wes, Leo, and Flynn started to walk our way. The entire thing was a second away from exploding into something much bigger than two girls going after each other.
“You can find your way back,” Wes said to me. “I’m out of here.”
“I appreciate the back up,” I said to him.
“Wasn’t me,” he said. “Aira wanted to make sure Nova was okay.”
“I heard stuff about that Tinsley girl,” Aira said. “Nasty stuff. She’s poor, living off some rich woman that knows her mother. Her mother is in rehab. And Tinsley has a tendency to use a screwdriver as a weapon.”
“Damn,” I said. “See, Wes, you should have brought Emma and her baseball bat. We could have had some real fun here.”
“This isn’t fun, Elijah,” Wes said. “This is insanity.”
Wes started his motorcycle. Leo and Flynn followed next.
The three took off, leaving Nova and I alone.
I looked at her.
“I hate that bitch,” Nova said, curling her lip.
“Oh, what happened to my sweet and sexy Surfer Girl?” I asked.
Nova slapped my face and dug her nails into my cheek. “She met you… and nothing was ever the same again.”
Chapter 12
Nova
It was what felt like the first normal night in a really long time.
Sitting at the table at Cherry’s house, playing crazy eights, watching Cherry sip way too much of whatever Mom had made in this big glass container. It looked like blood but Cherry said it was sweet as cherry pie. Mom called it her happy juice.
Judging by the way Cherry’s eyes looked like they were spinning in her head, she was well beyond the state of happiness.
But it was fun.
Cherry, Mom, Elijah, and me.
Noelle had been hanging out, but only for a few minutes.
She was still a little uncomfortable about Elijah and me. Which was kind of funny because it should have been me uncomfortable since Elijah and Noelle dated for about three minutes.
“I’ve got an eight,” Cherry said as she flung her card at me.
“That’s not an eight,” I said. “That’s a king.”
“Shit,” Cherry yelled. “Wrong card!”
She then tossed an eight of hearts to the table.
I gently moved the card to the right pile.
“What’s your move now?” Elijah asked.
“What?” Cherry asked.
“You put down an eight.”
“So?”
“You get to pick what you want,” Elijah said.
“I pick going back a few hundred years and hitting the waves again,” Cherry said.
“Wait a second,” I said, putting my cards down. “You surf?”
“Used to,” Cherry said.
“No fucking way,” Elijah said.
“Language,” Cherry said. “If I wasn’t so happy right now I’d come across that table and smack you.”
