HIDDEN CREEK FOREVER: a hidden creek high novel, page 19
“It’s been a mess,” I said. “I get that. I’m a mess. How’s that?”
“I don’t want to call you a mess,” Principal Henders said.
“Then what do you call it?”
“I call it time to make a tough decision.”
I swallowed hard.
Principal Henders stared without blinking for what felt like hours.
He put his hands to his desk and rose back up again.
“Aira, I’ve made it very clear how I feel about violence in my building. I’ve also kept an open eye and ear to many things happening. I’ve worked with Miss Carson and your family to understand what’s been happening. From a personal level, I cannot tell you how sorry I am. For what happened to your house. The realization of what your father has done. I’m speaking to you as a person, Aira. Not as the title on my door.”
Principal Henders paused.
“That has nothing to do with this,” I said. “I know what I did. And why I did it. The same as my father. I guess we’re not that much different.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Principal Henders said. “I really am. But you’ve left me with no choice.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m going to ask you to leave Hidden Creek High.”
My heart sank.
Which was strange. Because ten minutes ago we were planning on ditching anyway. Going to the beach to surf and laugh. But to be told not to come to HCH…
“I say ask you only out of respect,” Principal Henders said.
“Forever?” I asked. “You’re expelling me?”
“No,” he said. “This isn’t an expulsion. This is a chance for you to clear your head. I will be having a meeting with the others from this situation and explaining things very clearly. But for you, Aira, time away will be the best thing for everyone. Miss Carson has her hands full with students trying to come to terms with our loss…”
“Loss,” I said. “That’s right. The loss.”
“I understand loss to you is different,” Principal Henders said. “But in my position I have to make difficult decisions.”
“Say no more,” I said. I stood up. “I’m out of here.”
“I hope to see you again soon,” he said. He walked to the office door and opened it. “I don’t want to think of this as a punishment. I want to think of it as a chance at a new beginning. A way for you to understand the circumstances of your actions. And a chance to change things. Fix things. Move forward. For good.”
I nodded at Principal Henders.
I had nothing else to say.
So I exited his office as some kind of bad ass bitch. A rebel. Someone who beat the crap out of Nelle because she deserved it and because it felt good to do.
Wes was waiting for me.
His hands slid along my face. “What happened?”
“He kicked me out.”
“What?”
“I’m not welcome here anymore.”
“For good?”
“For now,” I said.
Wes gently pressed his lips to mine.
He walked me to my locker in silence and stood there as I packed up my stuff.
I looked around the halls and nodded.
What a wild ride.
But I’d be back.
I walked through the front doors with Wes by my side.
The last thing I expected to see was everyone waiting.
Kailey, Charlotte, Emma, and Nova.
Flynn and Leo.
“What happened?” Kailey asked.
“What happened to Nelle?” I asked.
“She, Kaci, and Mika went with Miss Carson. Probably to cry their way out of trouble.”
“No tears here,” I said.
“What happened?” Emma asked.
“I’m out,” I said. “Don’t know when I’m allowed back.”
Nova clapped her hands. “You are the baddest bitch in Hidden Creek High.”
“I’m not allowed in Hidden Creek High,” I said.
“That makes you even badder,” Charlotte said.
“Okay, enough hanging around,” Leo said. “Can we finally get out of here?”
“Let’s go,” I said.
I put up both hands, throwing my middle fingers to HCH.
That felt really good to do.
Chapter 21
Aira
I found myself lost at the beach which wasn’t normal.
And it wasn’t a good feeling.
I surfed with Nova.
We pushed each other to find bigger waves. And I had to admit that it was pretty crazy how smooth it felt to do compared to the first time I got on the surfboard. But that only lasted a little bit.
I was with my friends. Best friends. Good friends. Friends who weren’t really friends but would have my back if I needed them.
There wasn’t much more I could ask for when you factored in Wes being there.
Even still, I caught myself walking to the pier.
The pier.
Where I would walk in the middle of the night and find Wes walking the beach, smoking, staring at me. The pier where I had a showdown or two with Ryland.
It made me shiver and suddenly contemplate whether ghosts were real or not.
I put my hands to the railing and leaned forward, looking down at the beautiful ocean water.
“Hope you will tell me what you’re thinking sooner than later.”
“Couldn’t resist, huh?” I called out to Wes without looking back.
“I’ve been after your ass for a while, darling. Not stopping now.”
“Just my ass?”
“That’s where my eyes always seem to start.”
Wes stepped up next to me.
I looked at him and my mind flashed way back.
Mom is crying. Smoking a cigarette but not like other people. She has this thing that holds the cigarette. She looks fancy. Her makeup is messy though. Daddy is in the kitchen, tie undone, making ice cubes hit the sides of a glass.
They fight a lot.
Not like hitting fighting.
No.
That’s bad stuff.
Boys don’t hit girls.
But they yell.
Daddy curses a lot.
Mom looks at me. She wipes her eyes.
“Oh, fucking hell, Aira, what are you staring at?”
Her words are colder than the ice in Daddy’s glass.
I gasp.
“Jesus, Stella,” Daddy says. “She didn’t do anything to you.”
“Fix this, Jack,” Mom yells.
She puts her cigarette out and walks away from the table.
I turn the opposite way and run.
One good thing about having a big house is being able to run away in my own house.
Except I always go outside.
I sit on the side steps.
I look at the house next door.
That’s where Weslee Jackson lives.
Jerk.
Bully.
And of course he’s coming my way.
His house is fancy too but he told me he was moving soon.
Yeah, well, I heard Daddy say the same thing about us too.
“Nice dress,” he says to me.
I touch my legs and hate the dress.
“Go away,” I whisper.
“What’s your deal?”
“Nothing.”
“There’s always something.”
“No there isn’t.”
Wes jumps up to the second step.
He looks down at me with his messy dark hair. His eyes are just as dark.
I hate him.
But in some way I kind of don’t.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“To know why you’re sad,” he says.
“For what? You gonna make me happy?”
“We can run away together, Aira,” he says.
“Oh yeah? Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would you run away with me?”
“Because you live next door,” he says. “It’s easy. Plus, you’re sad all the time. Do your parents fight still?”
“All the time.”
“Yeah. I know that.”
“You do?”
“Hey. Let’s go break one of their car windows. For fun. See what they do.”
“That’s kind of illegal, Wes.”
“You’re such a baby, Aira. You never have any fun.”
Wes lifts his right leg and makes a fart sound with his mouth.
Then he cackles and walks away.
I really think he hates me.
But then he looks back at me.
Maybe… he… doesn’t…?
That was the Wes I had known.
The one next to me was different. So very different. But that look in his eyes…
“Aira,” he said. “Talk to me.”
“That’s the spot,” I said as I turned.
“What spot?”
“Where you saw my leg.”
“Yeah.”
“I feel like everything changed then. Like if you didn’t see blood on my leg…”
“What? What would have happened?”
“Would you have been there the way you were? And then secrets. Rumors. Everything happening so fast.”
“I would have been all over your ass no matter what,” Wes said.
His right hand grabbed my ass and he squeezed so hard I jumped and yelled.
I stumbled out of his grasp and saw everyone down on the beach.
“Something is eating away at you,” he said. “If it’s about someone then speak up. There’s only one side to that story though now.”
“It’s not that,” I said. I looked at him again. “I need to go do something.”
“Name it,” he said.
“I have to do it alone, Wes.”
“Alone?”
I reached for his hand. “I have to go face my father once and for all.”
* * *
It was the same road but a different set of circumstances.
Sort of.
This time I asked Nova to give me a ride to the jail.
That question alone was very weird to ask, but Nova being Nova, she didn’t question a thing. She was there for me, getting her keys, ready to take off. With surfboards strapped to the roof of her car, we were off.
Of course, Wes wasn’t far behind.
On his motorcycle, tailing us, there was no way I could convince him to wait.
I really didn’t want anyone bothered by this entire thing but I guess friends were friends.
And Wes…
I looked in the mirror and saw him.
God, he’s really everything.
“Crack,” Nova said.
“What?”
“Crack. As in a crack in the road. That’s the C.”
I laughed. “That’s cheap.”
“Hey, this is about keeping our minds distracted.”
“Still…”
“You did blue sky for B.”
“And you did ass for A, then grabbed my ass.”
Nova giggled. “I bet the guys would have liked to see that.”
“Is that what they all seriously think about? I don’t get it. Don’t they want to fuck girls? So why do they get so hard over a girl fucking another girl? And even then…”
“Aira,” Nova said, laughing. “You’re thinking way too much about it.”
“How so?”
“Guys are gross. Always gross. And really simple. So to them they love boobs, right? What’s better than two boobs?”
“Four,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Now you’re getting it,” Nova said.
“Hey. Dumb.”
“Dumb?”
“For D,” I said. “Dumb as in all boys.”
We both laughed.
It was needed for where I was headed.
Nova tried to keep her little alphabet game going but we stopped at J.
When we arrived at the jail (hey, ‘J’ for ‘jail’) or prison or whatever you wanted to call it, my heart started to race.
“Want me to come in?” Nova asked.
“Nope,” I said.
“I’ll be here waiting then.”
I climbed out of the car and looked at the plain and boring building. This wasn’t some hardcore jail you’d see on TV. There were no mile high fences, barbed wire on top, and guards in watchtowers with guns.
This looked like a lame building. Like an office building or something.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Wes tossing a cigarette away as he approached me.
He took my hand and kissed my cheek. “Let me come with you.”
“No,” I said. “This is about me.”
I brushed my lips to his and sucked in a breath.
I entered the jail and was ushered through the building, feeling like a prisoner myself. A man and a woman in uniform walking in front and behind me. The halls gloomy, concrete walls, boring colors, cheap lighting. The sound of their footsteps to the floors like a rhythm march.
At every door we had to stop and wait for it to be opened.
Everything was locked.
Jail. Prison. Hard time. Incarcerated. In the slammer. In the big house.
My chin quivered when the last door was opened and I was taken to a room that was all white. With a white table in the middle of the room. There were windows but they were covered with what looked like chain link fencing. I walked to the window and looked out. The view was actually kind of pretty. Right over the mountain down to the ocean. Then again, it was probably the view of a haunting reality that once was so close but so far. Untouchable. Because you were locked away.
Locked away. Locked up. Put away.
“Aira.”
The voice went through me like an icy chill.
I spun around and saw my father.
The rich and the powerful… Jack…
It was the first time I could remember not seeing him in a suit and tie. The only other memories I had of him not dressed fancy was probably Christmas morning when I was really young.
He was in a tan outfit. A jumpsuit, I guess.
He wasn’t wearing handcuffs though.
His hair was slicked back nice and he had grown in a little facial hair.
But there he was.
My father.
“Want to sit and talk?” he asked with a smile as though he were selling a piece of shit car.
“No,” I said.
“We’re good here,” he said to the man and woman in uniform.
They looked at me for confirmation.
I nodded.
“We’ll be right outside,” the woman said. “You just yell or bang on the door. There’s cameras here too.”
I kept nodding.
The entire thing made me want to throw up.
I was left alone with my father and he made sure to keep his distance. Not that I expected him to hug me or anything. We never really had a Daddy Daughter relationship. All he did was work and travel. I thought everyone was happy but he decided to move us into the new, bigger house that he ended up trying to burn down.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” he said.
“Questions? It’s more than just questions.”
“I’m sure it is, Aira. And I can start by apologizing but that won’t do much.”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t know you were home.”
“That’s it? You didn’t know we were home. You almost killed your wife and your daughter.”
“No, Aira. Listen to me. I didn’t know you were home.”
“That’s what I said,” I said.
“No. You’re missing the point.”
I opened my mouth but froze.
He didn’t know I was home.
Which meant…
I lowered my head. “You knew Mom was home.”
There was silence.
His silence screaming pretty damn loud though.
I lifted my head and refused to cry.
“Why?” I asked.
“It was to protect everyone,” he said. My father slowly walked to a window. “That’s what it all came down to. Everything had gotten so far out of hand. So far out of hand.”
“What does that mean?”
“I tried to hold my empire together,” Dad said with a laugh. “Empire.” He looked back at me. “I heard about Ryland. Is that something I should be sorry for?”
“Depends on if you knew him or not,” I said.
“I knew his parents.”
“So I’ve heard. We moved before they came to town. How…”
“Money, Aira. Just leave it at that. Okay? I did what I thought was best for my family all of the time. And it spiraled.”
“Why did you move us? I was happy in Hidden.”
“Nobody was happy in Hidden,” he said. “And once a deal fell through to get the Jackson land, I wanted out of there. I had a lot to make up for too.” Dad looked me in the eyes. “You don’t really want to know this, do you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “What you did was wrong though. Not just setting the fire.”
“Wrong is interpreted by those who think it,” he said.
My father was a dirty criminal. Which meant everything about my life and all our money was a dirty lie too.
“So answer why then,” I whispered.
“Your mother thought she had a way out. Selling me out. That’s what she wanted to do. Because she found out I had someone else in Seattle. And New York.”
“You’re a cheater too,” I said.
“I don’t know if it’s cheating with the way we felt about each other, Aira.”
I shook my head.
Dad looked out the window again. “I remember the first time I took you to the ocean. You were a baby, Aira. Your mother got mad at me for taking you into the water. She was afraid a shark was going to jump up and grab you. But I held you tight. And the second the water touched you, you screamed. But your little hand grabbed my arm. I’ll never forget that feeling. I walked you into the water, whispering to you that it was okay. It was safe. That the ocean would never hurt you as long as you paid attention to it. Meaning never turn your back on anything that could hurt you in life.”
I blinked fast.
No crying. No crying. No crying.
Dad touched the metal over the window. “I was drunk. And I wanted to destroy all the paperwork I could. I thought I could get rid of it all. Then leave. Find my own happiness somewhere else. I was going to take care of you though, Aira. Set you up for life. Then everyone would be happy. I’d be gone. You’d be on your own. And your mother…” Dad laughed. “She’d finally be quiet.”
