HIDDEN CREEK FOREVER: a hidden creek high novel, page 8
“What is this?” Ryder asked.
“You tell me,” I said.
“Just wanted to tell you in person that everything is set for the game,” Ryder said. “Friday night. We’re hitting that small town shit field just outside BFH.”
“I played a t-ball game there once,” I said. I took a deep drag of my cigarette.
“You played sports?” Ryder asked.
“Made it to the second game and then swung my bat at the coach for telling me what to do.”
“Ouch.”
“They asked me not to come back,” I said.
“Wonder why,” Ryder said.
His fancy ass SUV was parked facing mine. Kyle hung out the passenger window, drinking a bottle of something.
“Going to light those bitches up, Wes,” Kyle yelled.
I threw the middle finger to Kyle.
He wasn’t my fucking friend.
He never would be.
None of the jock douchebags in HCH would be.
“What’s your plan?” Ryder asked.
I laughed. “What makes you think I have a plan?”
“The marks on your face.”
I took one last drag of my cigarette and flicked it at Ryder. “Don’t worry about me.”
“I just want to know what to look for,” he said. “If I’m in danger. If my guys are in danger.”
“It’s just two rival schools who hate each other enough to resort to crazy violence,” I said. “What could go wrong?”
I got into my SUV and threw on the headlights. And then the high beams. Just to be a dick to Ryder.
“Everything okay?” Aira asked as she looked up from her phone in the passenger seat.
“Perfect,” I said.
“That’s a lie. Nothing is perfect.”
“You are.”
Aira smiled. “Promise me it’ll all end someday.”
“Sure. I can promise you anything, darling. Doesn’t mean shit unless I can make it happen.”
“I know,” she said. “I just want to be on the beach with you. And forget everything. Or not have to worry about anything.”
When Ryder peeled away in his bright and shiny white SUV with Kyle still hanging out of the window, I put my window down.
“Everything good?” Leo asked.
“We’re set.”
“Then let’s talk.”
“Not now.”
“When?”
“When I say.”
I put the window up, knowing Leo was pissed at me.
He wanted to get back at BFH in a big way.
Hell, I did too.
But Aira was far too tempting.
Leo and Flynn took off.
I then inched my SUV forward right up to where the pavement ended.
I shut it off and looked at Aira.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Taking you to the beach,” I said.
“Wes…”
I had already opened my door again.
I grabbed one of my giant towels that Aira seemed to love from the back. Of all the things in the world to have and that I could ever buy for her, she loved two things. Giant towels and my hoodies.
Well, three things if you counted something else…
I met her at the front of my SUV and grabbed her hand.
We ran down to the beach together as though we had never seen the ocean and as though we didn’t live in a little beach town ourselves. She threw her right arm out and threw her head back, laughing and letting out playful yells that bounced off the crashing waves.
I stopped right before the wet sand.
That’s where I spread out the towel and sat down, pulling Aira with me.
She crashed to her ass and turned to face me.
There wasn’t a second of hesitation before we started to kiss.
Her hands took a strong hold to my shirt.
And in between kisses, she decided to have a conversation.
“Wes.” Kiss. “We need to talk.” Kiss.
“Then talk, darling,” I said.
Kiss.
“What are you…” Kiss. “… going to do?”
“With what?”
I slipped my left hand to her bare leg. Her soft and smooth skin. Where her shorts were in the way wasn’t a problem for me.
Aira wiggled and groaned. “Wes…”
“What?” I asked.
She kissed me one more time and pulled away. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “But it’s nothing you have to worry about.”
“Am I going to be there?”
“I don’t know.”
“This isn’t fair, Wes.”
I touched her face and curled my lip. “Nothing is fair. That’s why we make our own way in life.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “This is.”
I pulled her against me one more time.
And when we kissed, there was no stopping now.
My hand eased up the inside of her shorts and when I touched her, she jumped and gasped for a breath.
That wasn’t the first time she lost her breath on the beach with me.
And it sure as fuck wasn’t going to be the last.
Chapter 8
Aira
“Sorry about that,” Miss Carson said as she shut the door. “My printer wasn’t working. Had to use the main one.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m just sitting here.”
“Yes you are. And first question… how are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“Nightmares?”
“No,” I said with a grin.
Do you really want to hear about me and Wes on the beach? The places his fingers explored. The feeling of him climbing on top of me and…
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
I laughed. “That’s why you’re here, right?”
“It’s why we’re both here, Aira. But I always try to play it cool.”
“Cool. Right.”
“You know, I’m not that much older than you.”
“I know how math works,” I said.
Miss Carson nodded. “Right.”
Now it was silence.
Miss Carson lifted a coffee cup to her lips and made a face. “It’s cold.”
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“I want to talk about your father.”
“Go for it.”
“What’s happening there?”
“Nothing that I know of,” I said. “He did what he did. My mother divorced him. That’s that.”
“That’s really not all of it,” Miss Carson said.
“Of course not.”
“How do you feel, Aira?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say. My father set our house on fire. He tried to kill me. And my mother. Okay? I came here, to Hidden, and look at everything that’s happened. Now my mother is trying to make money off the entire thing.”
“Money? How?”
“She’s talking to anyone who will listen to her,” I said. “Wanting to spread the word of the story. Rich guy gets involved with illegal stuff and torches his own house, trying to erase everything he’s done, including his wife and only daughter.”
“I’m really sorry, Aira,” Miss Carson said. “Have you talked to your father yet?”
“Nope.”
“Do you plan on it?”
“Don’t know,” I said.
Miss Carson nodded. “Okay. Let’s talk about Hidden Creek High.”
“Let’s not,” I said.
“Aira, these meetings between us are important.”
“For you. For Principal Henders. You two think I’m going to do something crazy. And, hey, why not, right? I’m the daughter of the guy whose entire life was a lie.”
“Lie?”
“Everything he did,” I said.
“Everything…”
“Just everything. Okay?” I slowly stood up. “Are we done here?”
“I don’t want to be done here,” Miss Carson said.
“I do,” I said. “Look. I’m not hurting myself. I don’t have nightmares anymore. And if I do, it’s a normal nightmare. I’m not up all night, at least not unless I want to be. I haven’t made any lists of names either. Those I keep to myself now.”
Miss Carson let out a sigh. “Are you happy here?”
“You know what? Fuck happiness.”
Miss Carson’s eyes went wide. “Oh?”
“I said it. I’ll talk to you later. I’m sure of it.”
I left the office and felt my blood starting to boil.
There were times when talking to Miss Carson wasn’t the worst thing in the world. And then there were times when it was a waste of time. I felt like a science project for her. I could see the gleam in her eyes looking for something even more fucked up about my life.
I hated that feeling.
I hated the feeling almost as much as seeing Ryland at the end of the empty hallway.
Standing at a door, looking right at me.
Waiting for me.
I curled my lip and was ready for a fight.
“Are you waiting for me or for one of the dumb sophomores?”
“Undecided,” Ryland said.
“I’ll make it easy then. I’m not talking to you.”
“You just did talk to me,” Ryland said.
His cocky and evil eyes stared right down at me.
I gave a wave and turned.
“Forget what you saw,” he said.
Chills went through my body.
I stopped.
“Forget everything, Aira. Trust me. It’s for your own good.”
I turned back to face him again. “And what did I see?”
“Whatever you think you did,” he said.
“And what if I don’t forget it?”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“Help me? Is this one of your famous spread the truth speeches? If so, spare me.”
“No, this is about surviving.”
“Surviving what, Ryland?”
“I can’t tell you that,” he said.
I laughed. “Of course you can’t. The guy who spreads everyone’s secrets around keeps his own.”
“I told you about Mika.”
“Yes, you did.”
Ryland moved from the door and closed in on me.
I didn’t trust him.
I didn’t like him.
But there was a sliver of something hidden behind everything he showed me.
“What are you involved with, Ryland?” I asked.
“You’d love to know,” he whispered. “You’ve cared about me from the second you walked through those doors, Aira. And the only reason you ever doubted us was because of something you had with Wes when you two were kids. And, hey, I get it. I wish I was there pulling up your skirt or putting worms in your hair.”
“Wes never put worms in my hair,” I said.
“Of course not.”
Ryland moved his right hand and I backed away, gently shaking my head.
He made a grab for my shirt and I smacked his hand away.
“Keep playing the game,” he said. “I don’t mind.”
“There is no game, Ryland,” I said. “You say you’re looking out for me. I guess in some way I’m looking out for you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Because if you don’t stop whatever you’re doing…”
“Ah, let me guess,” he said. “Big bad Wes will come after me. Right? I don’t think you realize how many fights we’ve had. So what’s another? And, hey, maybe if he does something crazy enough, he can join your father in jail. And I’ll be there to comfort you.”
Ryland winked.
My right hand balled up into a fist.
I wanted to attack him.
But I remembered where I was.
Standing in the halls of HCH.
Where I had a target on my back from a lot of people already.
“I won’t forget anything I saw,” I said.
“Then I guess you’ll have to watch your back too,” Ryland said. “You never know when things could just burst into flames.”
Ryland opened the door and left the building.
My heart raced at the words burst into flames.
I took a deep breath in and held it.
A bell started to ring and I jumped.
Before the halls flooded with people, I darted toward the bathroom.
These bathrooms were huge with bright, clean tiles.
I stopped at the first sink and took another deep breath.
Fuck Ryland. Fuck his fire comment.
He did that to get to me.
To scare me.
I wasn’t afraid of fire.
Maybe.
But I was afraid of losing Wes.
Or if Ryland had something in the background that was going to put Wes over the edge.
He was already dealing with the BFH stuff. Plus his father was still lingering around.
“Fuck,” I whispered at my reflection.
“Aira?” a voice echoed around me.
I screamed and turned.
But nobody was there.
* * *
I stood at the bathroom stall.
“Emma?” I asked.
“Hey,” she said.
“What are you doing?”
“Using the bathroom.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Okay then,” I said. “Need something?”
“Go get my baseball bat.”
“Uh… why?”
Emma opened the lock and opened the door.
She had black lines of mascara on her cheeks.
She had been crying.
“Emma…”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“Why are you crying?” I asked.
“I said it’s nothing.”
I reached for her face and when I touched her cheek she winced and jumped back.
“Emma,” I said.
“Stop.”
“No. What’s happening right now?”
“Nothing,” she said.
She pushed me out of the way and tried to get away.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
She turned and swung a hand.
I got out of the way so the slap missed.
“Did you just try to hit me?” I asked.
“Don’t fucking get in my business.”
“Your business? You said my name.”
“I thought you were my friend.”
“What did I do wrong?”
“Just stay away,” Emma said. She put her back against the wall and slid toward the door. “Don’t tell anyone what you just saw.”
“Emma…”
“I said to fuck off, Aira,” she snapped. “Got it?”
I moved toward the door but it opened before Emma could get there. A group of girls came rushing in, laughing and chatting away.
Emma slipped out of the open door.
I tried to go after her but she was gone.
In the hallway, I felt an arm around me, pulling me back.
“Don’t move, darling,” Wes’s growling, sexy voice said.
I threw an elbow to his gut and broke away.
“What was that for?” he asked.
I spotted Flynn and Charlotte.
They were kissing against a locker.
I got between them and nudged Flynn away.
“Your turn?” Flynn asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Let me get my phone ready for this,” he said.
I let the comment slide.
“Char, did you see Emma today?” I asked.
“This morning. For a second. She said she was hungover.”
I shook my head. “I think something’s wrong with her.”
“What do you mean wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Kailey asked as she joined our group.
Nova was next to her.
“Emma,” I said.
“What about?” Nova asked.
“She was crying in the bathroom. I think…”
My mind flashed the images of her wincing.
I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and start a rumor of my own.
“You think what?” Charlotte asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Emma is a tough girl. I’ve never seen her cry.”
“Oh, crying,” Kailey said as though a light bulb went off above her head. “She must have broken up with Eric.”
“True,” Charlotte said. “She cries over boys she likes.”
I don’t think it was that…
I nodded. “Yeah. It must have been that.”
A bell rang.
“I have to get going,” Charlotte said. “I can’t be late again. I’ll be screwed this time.”
“You’ll be screwed after the last bell today,” Flynn said.
“How romantic,” Nova said.
“Keep it in your pants,” Kailey said.
“Kind of hard to when Aira has Charlotte up against the locker like that,” Flynn said.
“I second that,” Wes added.
I looked back at him. “Shut up.”
“Love you too, darling.”
I looked at Charlotte. “Just check on Emma. She got pissed at me for no reason too.”
“That’s Emma,” Kailey said.
“Probably embarrassed,” Nova said.
“Okay, I really have to go,” Charlotte said.
She gave Flynn a quick kiss and took off down the hall.
Wes wrapped an arm around me again. He pulled me close.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m worried about Emma.”
“Heard that.”
“Can you find out from Ryker what’s going on?” I asked.
“That’s a slippery slope. Ryker’s fucking Kailey. And you want him digging up dirt on Emma’s boyfriend.”
“I know,” I said. “But she… I think he hurt her.”
“Hurt her?” Wes asked.
“Like hurt her.”
I made a fist.
“Oh, fuck,” Wes said.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll find out for you.”
“Thanks.”
We kissed and Wes walked me to my next class.
I didn’t want to be alone, even if I was in a class full of people.
There was one person missing from that class.
Emma.
Just what we needed in Hidden Creek High.
