HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel, page 14
“Blame the parenting I’ve had,” Elijah said.
My mother and I traded glances for a split second.
Almost embarrassing.
“Oh, I loved the water,” Cherry said.
“Why did I never know this?” I asked.
“You never asked,” Cherry said.
“Stop it,” I said. “This is amazing. Tell me about it.”
“I second that,” Mom said.
“Third,” Elijah added.
Cherry giggled. A youthful giggle.
“Oh, I had this one boyfriend,” Cherry said as she started to fan herself. “You know the term washboard abs and all that?”
“Of course,” Elijah said.
“Well, I wanted to do a lot more than wash his abs,” Cherry said.
“Cherry!” Mom yelled. She started to blush.
I laughed and went wide eyed, looking at Elijah.
“Who was the lucky guy?” Elijah asked.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” Cherry said.
“Bet it was more than kissing,” Elijah said.
“Oh, I can’t hear this,” Mom said, gently patting her ears.
She looked at me again, still smiling as her cheeks turned red.
I suddenly wondered what she thought of me. If she thought I was still… you know… pure. Innocent.
Or maybe she just sensed it being near myself and Elijah.
My cheeks started to blush.
I turned my attention back to Cherry.
“He was something I never had before or ever again,” she said. “Almost like this… I don’t know… he was there and gone.”
“Broke your heart?” Elijah asked.
“Broke each other’s hearts,” Cherry said. “He couldn’t stay. I couldn’t go. We took it out on each other. I stopped surfing after that.”
“Over a guy?” I asked.
“That and a few other reasons,” she said with a wink.
“What about now?” Elijah asked.
“That guy?” Cherry asked. “Oh, he’s probably an old fart like me. Knowing him, he-”
“Not that,” Elijah cut in. “Surfing. Let’s hit the waves right now, Cherry. You and me.”
“She’ll kill herself,” Mom said.
“Excuse me, Leslie?” Cherry asked, frowning. “Are you calling me old?”
“You just called yourself old,” I said.
“I’m allowed to say it. Not you.” She looked at Mom again. “I’ll fight you.”
Elijah reached into his pocket and put money on the table. “I’ve got twenty on Cherry.”
“Thanks, Elijah,” Mom said.
“Sorry, Nova’s Mom,” he said.
It was so cute the way he called her that. She told him ten times to call her Leslie but he refused to.
“I’d bet with Elijah,” I said. “Cherry is brutal.”
“And I can still move,” she said. “Watch.”
Cherry stood up and threw the chair out of the way.
I started to laugh, clapping my hands together. My stomach hurt from laughing the way I was.
“Get a good stance,” Cherry said. She spread her legs a little and began to rock back and forth. “See that?”
“That’s terrible,” Elijah said.
“Then get over here and show me,” Cherry challenged.
Elijah threw his cards to the table and stood up.
He joined Cherry and bent his knees, putting his arms out. “You have to feel it. Get that balance. Clear your head and make sure nothing’s going to take you down. Especially the damn wave coming for your ass.”
“Nothing is going to take my ancient ass down,” Cherry said. “Except time!”
She giggled and snorted.
That made me erupt with laughter again.
I kicked back in the chair and got the sensation that I was going to fall. I caught myself and only laughed harder.
Cherry pointed at me and laughed too.
“You’re all freaking nuts,” Elijah said. “And you can’t surf, Cherry. Stay on land.”
“I can still move though,” she said. “Put some music on. Get out that bouncy garbage you all listen to. And watch this bitch groove.”
“Ohmygod,” Mom said, jaw dropped. “Did she just say that…?”
“She did,” I said, wiping tears from my cheeks.
Cherry thrust her hip at Elijah, almost throwing him across the room.
She moved her hip to the left and then back to the right again. That’s when she finally lost her balance. The happy juice catching up all at once.
Cherry reached for the table but was too far away from it.
“Oh, shit,” she said as her legs gave out.
Elijah was there to catch her though.
“Well, this is awkward,” he said to Cherry.
“Why?”
“You know I’m in love with Nova, right?” he asked with a grin.
I gasped.
I looked at Mom.
Her eyes were wide.
“Oh, I know you love her,” Cherry said. “You’ve loved her from that first summer. Why do you think I let you stay here when you needed to? You two remind me of my summer thing. Just without the horrible ending.”
“Here, let me get you back to the table,” Elijah said. “No more surfing or dancing.”
“I can still move,” Cherry said, as though we hadn’t heard her the first few times she said it.
“I know, Cherry,” Elijah said. He kissed her cheek. “You’re still the best ever to all of us.”
Elijah walked back to his seat and sat down.
Mom and I exchanged glances again.
A smile crept along her face.
I felt my cheeks burning red hot.
Elijah had just said he loved me in front of her.
“It’s your turn still, Cherry,” Elijah said. “Pick a color.”
“Lavender,” Cherry said.
“Let’s pretend she said red,” Mom said as she put down a two of diamonds.
Elijah looked at me and winked.
I smiled.
But Cherry’s words rang through my mind.
You two remind me of my summer thing. Just without the horrible ending.
Cherry had just spoken the biggest worry I ever had in my life…
What was the horrible ending for Elijah and I going to look like?
* * *
“Please tell me all that surfing talk doesn’t have you wanting to go,” I said to Elijah as we walked the beach hand in hand.
“No,” he said.
“Good.”
“It was your idea to come out here anyway.”
“I figured it would give Mom a chance to put Cherry to bed. She’s going to feel tonight tomorrow.”
“Nah. Knowing Cherry she probably has some kind of concoction in a jar to drink that makes hangovers non-existent.”
“True,” I said. The beach breeze grabbed some of my hair and slapped it across my face. I peeled it back. “Hey. Are you okay now… I mean, with Wes and everything?”
“Okay with what?”
“I mean, just what’s going on,” I said. “You know it wasn’t him. You know it wasn’t BFH or the Rulz.”
“I know, babe.”
“Sorry for saying something.”
Elijah cut in front of me. “Hey. Don’t ever be sorry. You’re a good friend. Aira is lucky to have you. And things will work themselves out. I promise. I’m not fake, Nova. I’m not going to shake Wes’s hand and ask him to have a drink with me. There’s still stuff there.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Since we’re asking uncomfortable questions…”
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Why the hell didn’t you move on from me?”
“What?”
“I’m serious, Nova.”
“Well, if my memory is correct, we had an agreement for the summer. We never cheated on anyone to be with each other. That was a big deal for me.”
“How many hearts did you break?” he asked with a sly grin.
“Why? So you can track down every boy I ever liked and punch them?”
“Yup,” Elijah said. “Every single one.”
“That’s a short list.”
“Bullshit, babe.”
“I’m not bullshitting,” I said. “Why? How big… never mind.”
I tried to take a step but he blocked me. “You want to know?”
My stomach did a flip. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. But there’s something about breaking someone’s heart for someone else.”
“That’s mean.”
“That’s love,” he said.
He touched my cheek and I began to melt.
“There was never anyone serious, Elijah,” I said. “Just casual things. You know?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Dates. Dating. Getting pizza. Going to the movies. Hitting parties.”
“Surfing?” he asked.
I put my hand to his chest. “Never. You’re the only one I’ve ever surfed with.”
“Okay,” he said. “As long as I have your surfing cherry and keep it…”
I groaned. “Surfing cherry. Weird.”
“Truth, babe,” he said.
He kissed the tip of my nose.
As he started to back away, I grabbed his shirt. “You tell me now.”
“About?”
“The girls. The in between girls. The ones that could never live up to me. What I could do in one summer they couldn’t do for the rest of the year.”
Elijah laughed. “Well, you’re full of yourself tonight.”
“Do you want to feel it too?” I teased.
Elijah moved at me and I pushed him back. “Spill it.”
“Same as you,” he said. “Casual. Movies. Pizza.”
“Surfing?”
“Never.”
“Did you ever love anyone?” I asked.
“Whoa. That’s a deep question.”
“Is it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Which means you did love someone…”
“No, babe.”
“Well, it must have been someone important since it just made you pause,” I said.
“Not that important. She’s not here, is she?”
“Who?”
“Nova…”
“Elijah, just tell me,” I said. “I mean, it’s… it’s really mean of me. I’m such a bitch… but knowing you gave up something serious for me… I’ve never felt loved. Wanted. Needed.”
Elijah sighed. “Shit. Okay. Fine. Her name was Rory.”
“Rory,” I said. “Okay.”
“Look, babe, it wasn’t that much of a thing.”
“But yet you remember. You’re talking about her.”
“You told me to.”
“But you picked her.”
Elijah curled his lip. “Want to know why?”
“Sure.”
Elijah closed in on me and cupped my face. “She wasn’t you. She wasn’t from where I lived. She wasn’t from HCH. I met her at a party and when she told me where she lived, I told myself that’s what I needed. Things were messy at home. As they always were. She was a distraction. Summer was coming and I knew it was going to be yours and my last summer together. And it hurt. It really fucking hurt, Nova. It was the now or never summer and what did I end up doing? I gave you a letter to shatter your heart.”
“Because you wanted to go back to Rory?” I asked.
“What? Hell no, babe. She and I were long done before I gave you that letter. I remember Rory because she fell in love with me. I let myself slip. Because even though she wasn’t you, she reminded me of you. The way I had to leave town to see her. I had to sneak around to meet up with her. Late at night. Late nights turning into early mornings. That whole vibe. It just worked and I got used to it. I liked it. I didn’t even see her falling for me until it was too late. She told me she loved me.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I told her the truth,” Elijah said. “I told her I loved someone else. I told her I loved you. And I was really sorry for letting things happen the way they did.”
“You broke her heart,” I said.
“I fucking crushed her heart,” Elijah said. “And I hated myself for that. Not because I actually felt the same way she did. But because I let myself slip. I got lost in the feeling of it all, wishing and convincing myself it could be the same with you.”
“Did you ever talk to her again?”
Elijah shook his head. “She’s tried to reach out to me a few times but I don’t bother. There’s nothing else I can say to her. Ever. And the last thing I want is for her to see me and talk to me and feel anything. And I’m not saying that trying to paint myself as some kind of hot guy trying to get attention. I genuinely feel like shit over what happened there.”
“Good,” I said.
“Good?”
“Yeah. Good. You should feel like shit. You’re an asshole, Elijah. A terrible person.”
I pushed away from him and gave a playful grin.
“Oh, you didn’t…,” he said.
I turned and took off through the sand.
Elijah raced after me, catching up way quicker than I expected him to do.
His hands wrapped around my waist and he picked me up and started to go for the water.
I kicked and yelled. “Don’t! I don’t want to get wet!”
Elijah just laughed.
I was sure screaming the word wet made him think other things.
He put me in the ocean water, but only ankle deep.
We stood facing each other, the waves next to us, the moon above us.
“But anything I say to you I mean,” he said. “I don’t just throw words around for the sake of the words. I’m not afraid to hurt someone.”
“I know that,” I said.
“I do love you, Nova.”
“I know you do. And I love you back. And I…”
I trailed off as I watched the direction of Elijah’s eyes.
He was no longer looking at me.
He was looking behind me.
“Elijah, what’s wrong?” I asked.
He cupped my face again and looked me in the eyes. “Babe… you need to run… for real this time.”
* * *
I didn’t run.
This wasn’t him chasing me down the beach for a little kiss or to carry me into the water.
When I saw the two guys racing toward us, wearing black hoodies, their faces covered by black masks, my heart raced and my body froze. And my body refused to unfreeze. Which is why I didn’t run. Which only made whatever this situation was worse. Which pissed Elijah off, as he kept looking back at me and then forward to the guys charging after him.
He ended up turning sideways and bending his legs a little. It almost reminded me of him and Cherry surfing.
That moment when the world didn’t seem so bad. When things felt normal. When it felt good to laugh a little.
Now I was going to pay for that…
I covered my mouth and forced my right foot to lift up out of the wet sand.
“Fuck,” Elijah said.
I turned and ran toward the two guys.
“No!” I yelled but it was too late.
Elijah put his arms out and dove at the two guys.
He hit both of the guys with his arms. Enough to stop them but that was about it. Elijah’s feet hit the wet sand and by the time he turned, the two guys were on top of him. They swallowed him right up, throwing punches at Elijah, leaving him on the ground, in the shallow water where the waves ended.
This was supposed to be my happy place. The one place that never let me down. The ocean. The waves. The water. The sound.
Now these two guys were trampling in the water, punching and kicking the guy I loved.
But Elijah being Elijah, he wasn’t going to cover his face and roll over and just take it. He had dove at the two guys to make sure they kept their attention on him. To protect me.
“Get him,” one of the guys yelled. “Break his jaw so he stops talking.”
As the second guy dropped to one knee to get closer to Elijah, he made a daring move. He grabbed the guy’s shirt and pulled him down. Elijah jumped up and smashed his forehead off the guy’s nose. Now I knew there were no bones in the nose, but the sound of that guy’s nose crunching made my stomach stick.
The guy fell back, screaming, but the first guy was still in position…
He swung his foot and kicked Elijah in the face.
I gasped as I watched Elijah fall back to the sand.
That’s when something broke inside me… again.
I started to run.
Right toward the guy.
He lifted his foot, ready to stomp on Elijah’s body or head or somewhere.
I didn’t know what to do so I screamed.
The guy turned his head and looked right at me. His eyes had a yellowish glow and there was black scruff on his cheeks and jaw, but a line missing where there was a scar. I took a mental picture before I swung my right hand and punched him in the mouth.
His head snapped back for a second and then he set his sights on me.
“You cunt,” he growled.
He moved toward me and my eyes went wide.
Oh… shit…
I stepped back but that wasn’t going to be good enough.
I wasn’t going to be able to run.
So I stood my ground.
I refused to let fear overtake me.
My mind served up all those memories of all those nights at home. My mother and father. Listening to that hell. Watching my mother just succumb to it. Take it. Then pretend like it never happened. The sound of my father and Dr. Harold laughing together.
I screamed again and swung my right foot.
My shin smashed against the guy’s balls and he fell instantly.
And not just to his knees, he crumbled.
Kicking his feet, grabbing between his legs, crying.
Elijah got back to his feet and hurried toward me.
He grabbed my shoulders. “Babe…”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Get them out of here.”
It was like I was unleashing a lion.
Elijah turned and ran to the second guy. The guy was back on his feet, holding his bloody nose. Elijah hit him two more times and dropped him down into the sand.
“Who are you?” Elijah growled. “Who sent you here?”
