I felt like we were an hour away even though the drive was probably ten minutes tops.
“I hate this place,” Gi said.
“Oh, shut up,” Iris said. “You’re a baby.”
“Can someone tell me something about this?” I asked.
Gi whipped her head around. “They come up here to fight and bet money.”
“What?” I asked.
“Here we are,” Iris said.
The SUV stopped and she turned it off.
“This isn’t close at all,” Gi said.
“This isn’t a public event,” Iris said.
“What?” Gi asked.
“I heard a little rumor about tonight. Private. But we can still spy.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Iris looked in the rearview mirror at me. “We’re not supposed to be here tonight.”
“Understand why I’m sort of pissed?” Gi asked.
“This is crazy,” I said. “They have a secret place to fight each other?”
“Well, Kip does most of the fighting,” Iris said.
My mind flashed the images of Pres at the beach.
You sure about that, Iris?
“Just keep quiet,” Gi said. “See what they’re doing.”
“Then you can go talk to Kip,” Iris said. “Show him you’ve been watching him as much as they’re watching you.”
“So fuck with the guys I’m told not to fuck with,” I said. “Do you really not like me that much?”
Iris shrugged her shoulders.
Gi reached back at me. “We can leave. I’ll tell you everything about this place. We can come up here when there’s a night we’re allowed to be here. For a fight. Throw some money around for fun. Okay? Because if they see you… or me…”
“Is it really that dangerous?” I asked.
“Yes,” Iris said.
“Then you two stay. If I’m not back in ten minutes then leave me.”
“Sounds good,” Iris said.
“Hey, bitch,” Gi snapped. “Cut it.” She looked at me. “Keep your phone on silent. I’ll text you.”
I nodded and climbed out of the SUV.
I half expected Iris to take off and leave me.
Fucking bitch.
But Gi probably wouldn’t let her.
I walked through the woods and had no clue where I was going.
It was just crunching step after crunching step.
Until I finally heard a voice.
And I saw a flicker of light.
That flicker of light was fire.
There was an opening in the trees and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. A clearing made up of a wide circle with tiki torches burning all around the edge. And the middle of the circle was down in the ground a little. Kind of… like a ditch.
And there he was.
Kip.
He was alone.
I waited to see if the other two were going to show up.
Kip stood there in a sleeveless shirt. His biceps were cut and rounded and defined. His long arms and big hands were tan from the sun. He definitely had that wild surfer bad boy look to him. So much more than Barr and Pres.
A smile crept across my face.
I could get to him. Just talk and find out the truth.
I reached for a tree and took another step forward.
That’s when I heard the sound of someone say, “Please… Kip…”
It was a familiar voice.
When Kip turned, his white sleeveless shirt had blood on it.
My eyes went wide.
His left hand was bloody too.
He’s fighting. He’s up here fighting.
I bit my lip, telling myself to not think it was hot.
But it was hot.
Bad boys fighting…
Kip stepped out of the circle for a moment.
When he came back, he wasn’t alone.
Dragging someone by their shirt, standing the guy up, going nose to nose.
“I didn’t mean to touch her…”
I covered my mouth.
It was Denny.
Kip had Denny up here.
There was a cut under Denny’s right eye.
Kip was gigantic compared to Denny.
I never really noticed that before. Not that I was trying to compare anyone.
But maybe I should have been.
Kip threw Denny back.
Denny put his hands out. “Come on, man. You know me. I was just fucking around. You know I’ve been hitting Beth, right? She’s a quick, cheap fuck. What the fuck do I want with the new girl? That’s your territory. I know that. We’re just friends.”
This is about me? This is my fault?
Kip walked forward and swung his left hand, hitting Denny in the cheek again.
He fell to his hands and knees and started to cough.
Kip swung his foot, kicking Denny in the ribs.
“Oh, fuck,” Denny groaned, now on his back.
“You were warned before,” Kip said, finally speaking.
“I know,” Denny said. “I swear, man, we’re just friends. She was laughing. I was laughing.”
My stomach twisted with a sickening anger.
The greatest part of my day was coming back to bite me.
Denny and I had been joking around. Goofing off.
That was it.
And Kip thought…
Again, why did it matter?
“Give me your right hand,” Kip said.
“Come on, man,” Denny said.
Kip put his foot to Denny’s throat.
Denny grabbed Kip’s leg and started tapping it.
“Are you going to argue with me again?” Kip asked.
“No,” Denny said. “Here. Look. My hand.”
Kip grabbed Denny’s right hand and pulled him to his feet with ease.
It was like Denny was a toy.
Just like Pres at the ocean…
I couldn’t stop watching. And as much as I wanted to rush into the circle I knew better.
“You touch her again and I’ll fucking kill you,” Kip said. “She’s off limits.”
Me? Off limits?
“I swear, Kip…”
Kip threw his head forward, smashing it against Denny’s face.
I gasped.
Kip turned his head and looked right at me.
I was tucked away in the dark enough he didn’t know I was there.
There was a little bit of blood on his forehead from Denny. Almost like warpaint.
I swallowed hard.
Kip let out a whistle.
Barr and Pres entered the circle.
Barr flicked a cigarette away and cracked his knuckles. He walked up to Denny and punched him in the back.
Denny let out a cry of pain.
Pres was slower, more commanding and powerful than the rest.
He walked up to Denny and grabbed his right hand from Kip.
“Are we done here?” Pres asked.
“I’m done,” Kip said.
“I’m good,” Barr said.
“Good,” Pres said. “Break his hand and we’re done.”
Break his hand? Because he touched me?
“Jesus, please, no,” Denny said. “Please…”
“You fucked with the Rulz,” Pres said. “Now you pay.”
Kip and Barr pulled Denny away from the circle.
Pres then walked the circle, killing the flames to all the tiki torches one by one.
I slowly crept back so there was no chance of him seeing me.
Even at my distance, as he walked by to put out the closest flame, I could smell him.
Off in the distance I heard a loud thud followed by the echoing scream from Denny.
I turned and started to run back to Iris and Gi.
Except I had to stop halfway.
To throw up.
Pres, Barr, and Kip were going after any guy that even thought of paying attention to me.
Yet they wanted to
torture me at the same time as though I meant nothing to them or to anyone at BFH.
The question why burned through my mind like the bile in my throat.
And there was only one answer… one way to solve this…
I had to leave Bay Falls High before it was too late.
ten
I opened my locker and there was a blood stained white towel waiting for me. I knew who it was from… who put it there and whose blood it was.
There was no way I was touching the towel.
I slammed the locker shut and just kept my bag with me.
It didn’t matter.
I was done with BFH.
When I saw Beth, she tried to walk away as though I wasn’t there.
I had to chase her down through the hallway and grab her arm.
“Ti, stop,” she said.
“I know what they did to Denny,” I said.
Beth looked at me. “Yeah?”
“I saw it. I saw the ditch. I saw…”
“Don’t talk about it then,” Beth said. “What’s done is done.”
“What does that mean? They attacked Denny.”
“Stop saying his name,” Beth said. She blinked fast.
“Beth…”
“Look. Sometimes things just go too far. That’s all. Okay?”
“Meaning what?”
“I told you about Denny. The way he was. Things he did. Right?”
“You mean that he’s fun and flirty? I didn’t know that was a crime.”
“Well, he messed with the Rulz and he got busted.”
“Because of me,” I said. “They did that because of me. What does that mean?”
“That means anyone who goes near you is going to pay.”
“But why?”
“I guess you’ll find out,” Beth said. “I’m sorry. I have to get going.”
Beth slipped away and hurried to get lost within everyone else working their way toward class.
I felt someone hit me in the back and I stumbled forward.
Then I felt someone hit me in the shoulder, throwing me against the wall.
When I turned, it was Blair and Vicky.
Blair swung her hand and cracked me across the face.
It caught me off guard and I lost my breath for a second.
Vicky put her forearm to my chest and pushed me back against the wall.
“We know who you really are,” Vicky said. “You don’t belong here.”
“Careful,” Blair said. “I bet her mother was using when she was pregnant. Probably passed on a bunch of diseases.”
“Nothing compared to what you have crawling between your legs,” I said to Blair.
“You should talk, street trash,” Vicky said.
I looked at Vicky. “I bet these rich boys would like it dirty. Nasty, poor, dirty girl like me…”
Vicky pushed at me. “Shut up. We can make you disappear in a second.”
“One phone call and you’re gone,” Blair said. “Jacobson is already on the fence about you being here.”
I smiled. “Is that the best you’ve got? You think I want to be here?”
“Don’t fuck with us,” Blair said.
“Maybe you shouldn’t fuck with me,” I said. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”
“Yes you do,” Vicky said.
She pulled at the strap of my bag and wrestled it off me. When I tried to fight back, Blair took the easy grab by getting the back of my hair where I had it pulled back into a bun.
She twisted and I cringed in pain, my eyes looking at her.
Vicky hurried to open my bag and dump it all over the floor.
Books, notebooks, everything.
“Looks like you lost something,” Vicky said as she let my hair go.
My right hand was already balled up into a fist but I held off swinging.
I knew how this story would go. I’d hit the rich girl and then because I was the poor, dirty girl, it would be all my fault.
“Let’s get out of here,” Vicky said. “I feel poorer just being near her.”
Blair shoved my shoulder one last time as she walked away.
I stood there and looked down at the contents of my bag spilled in the hallway.
I crouched and told myself at least there weren’t a hundred people trying to get by like a few minutes ago.
The hallway had calmed and I-
A foot stepped down on a notebook that was open.
Right on a clean, white sheet of lined paper.
I slowly looked up and swallowed hard as my heart started to race.
Pres looked down at me with those super dark eyes of his. And then came the blanketing smell of his cologne. I had no idea why I liked the smell so much. I had no idea why I didn’t reach up and punch him in the balls as hard as I could.
Maybe because when I saw Pres’s face, I saw him holding that guy under water. And I saw him giving the final command to break Denny’s hand.
“Everywhere you go, you make a mess, sugar,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Stupid me.”
I grabbed my bag and started stuffing notebooks back into it.
My eyes looked at Pres’s shoes. They were thick, black, heavy shoes. Almost like boots. And his pants… dark jeans… not some preppy khaki color with a fancy logo and the feel of a rich asshole.
But trust me, Pres gave off the feel of asshole for sure.
Just a different kind.
The kind that had more power than money and that was scary because of how much money he had.
My hand moved toward my trig book and Pres moved his foot faster. The tip of his shoe touched the back and I pulled my hand away. I leaned back and fell to my butt right there in the hallway.
“What?” I asked him. “Denny didn’t do anything wrong. He made me laugh. We were laughing together. Talking. Picking on Beth. It was the first time I actually laughed since coming here. And if you think I really want to be here… I don’t. At all. I’m just trying…”
Pres pulled his foot back and kicked, sending my trig book sailing down the hallway.
He started to walk, without saying a word to me.
I finished packing my bag and walked to get my trig book.
When I threw that into the bag, it was like a two ton weight came down on my shoulders. I looked around the quiet, empty hallway and had no problem admitting I didn’t belong there. But I was there.
I saw a door to a bathroom to my right and dove for it.
The bathrooms were cleaner and fancier than my entire old school.
“Fucking rich people,” I whispered.
I ended up in a bathroom stall, sitting there, listening to my breathing bounce off the walls. My breathing led to tears. And I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to cry over my mother. I didn’t want to cry over missing Ruby and Amelia. I didn’t want to cry over what happened to Denny. And I definitely didn’t want to cry because of Pres, Barr, and Kip.
But it was too late.
I was already fucking crying.
* * *
When I was ten years old a boy named Nicky said he loved me and wanted to marry me. So we made plans to get married at the stop sign down the street. I wore my favorite dress and when he showed up, he had his friends with him and he told me I had frog lips, wart eyes, and I smelled like rotten cheese.
It was all for laughs.
But I was hurt.
That’s when Mom told me it was okay to cry. And it was okay to cry over boys. But I was only allowed to do it for ten minutes. She told me take ten minutes and get it all out. Then I had to stop crying and move forward or else I’d get stuck in the past.
And that stuck with me.
So when my ten minutes were up, I stopped crying in the bathroom stall.
It had been a rough day. That’s all.
I had a crap night of sleep, picturing Pres, Barr, and Kip up at the ditch. All the nuances of BFH making themselves known to me. And of course all my secrets floating around. Which they really were
n’t secrets, were they? I wasn’t trying to hide who I was or why I was here. That idea went out the window on day one.
My plan to leave was still intact.
And would remain intact.
I stood up and opened the bathroom stall.
I screamed when I saw Pres sitting on the long, marble sink top.
I froze in place, almost instantly hypnotized by him.
He sat there with a black t-shirt against his body, revealing he was actually bigger than I thought. Making him look more powerful. More evil. And those eyes pointed at me.
I opened my mouth to say something when the bathroom door opened.
A girl let out a gasp when she saw Pres.
She then looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I have to pee,” she whispered.
“I don’t mind,” Pres said.
The girl’s cheeks turned red. “I’ll go somewhere else.”
“Better yet,” Pres said. “Stand outside the door. Anyone who comes near you tell them it's out of order.”
The girl rushed out of the bathroom.
“You were crying, sugar,” Pres said as he interlocked his fingers and rubbed up and down.
Why the fuck is that turning me on? What the fuck is wrong with me?
“So you heard,” I said.
“You know, it’s just a trig book,” he said with a grin. “It’s not like you lost it.”
“It’s not about the book,” I said. “You know what it’s about.”
“Right,” Pres said. He jumped off the sink and stood taller than I remembered. “If you don’t follow the Rulz things get bad.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said, trying to be cocky.
In reality, my heart was pounding. My body was trembling, inside and out.
“There was this guy name Zeke,” Pres said. He rubbed his jaw and started to pace the bathroom. “We told him to mind his own business. He just kept pushing though. Working his way into a place he wasn’t supposed to be. So we had no choice.” Pres turned and put his foot up against the wall. “I had no choice. There was no way I was going to let any heat come here. So I told him I wanted to talk about his arrangement. Zeke liked the idea. He liked that I had the power and the money to make it bigger. He was stupid, sugar. Why the fuck would I care about some stolen parts to motorcycles.”
“Stolen parts?” I asked.
“See? Even you realize how stupid it is. I made sure to send my message to Zeke. You saw that message. He was one breath away from…”
UNtouched: a bay falls high novel Page 9
