Blue Madness: (Blue Raspberry Series #3)

by D. K Lake

  "No that's probably the peanut butter jar you just devoured in one sitting." I remind him.

  I snuggle up to Mitchel and tuck my legs up under me and rest my head on his chest. I listen to his steady heartbeat through his chest and get lost in my thoughts. The way he drapes his arm around me and plays with my hair, and how he holds my other hand on his waist and rubs his thumb in circles on the back of my hand. I try to memorize his smell...wait, what the hell is that? Eww.

  "Boston, seriously, that's gross!" Mitchel laughs, tucking his nose into the collar of his hoodie.

  I almost gag and bury my face into Mitchel's hoodie, fearing I might throw up.

  "Uh...I'll be back in a minute. Or ten." Boston says as he gets up off the couch.

  "That's disgusting." I laugh.

  A few minutes later, Nessie walks back into the living room with JT in tow.

  "So who's hungry?" Nessie asks with a big grin plastered on her face, and lips that look all pink and swollen. Mitchel puts his hand up to say he's hungry.

  "Dirty's should be serving lunch by now. Is everyone ready to go? Wait a minute, where's Boston gone?" Nessie looks around just as the bathroom door opens and Boston walks through.

  "What's that smell?" Nessie chokes and JT laughs as he covers his nose.

  I cringe and stand up and cover my face.

  "Sorry. I think the smell followed me out." Boston shrugs.

  "Oh, gross! Can we please leave, like, now!" Nessie hurries to the front door and we all follow her, chasing fresh air. Outside I uncover my face as we all stand around while JT locks the front door.

  Boston's phone beeps in his pocket and he quickly pulls it out to read his message.

  "Leesha wants to know if she can hang with us?"

  "Leesha?" Nessie says with a disgusted look on her face and briefly glances in JT's direction.

  I remember Mitchel saying Leesha is Boston's cousin, the one I caught JT having sex with.

  "If I so much as see her I swear I'll-" Nessie starts but JT turns her around and walks her toward the car.

  "I'll tell her no, then?" Boston says unsure.

  "Definitely no." Mitchel confirms.

  We all climb into JT's Mustang, and I get stuck in the back with Boston and Mitchel, with Boston sitting between us.

  JT starts the car and we all hear a loud backfire.

  "Please tell me that was the car?!" Nessie says and we all cover our noses.

  "Sorry!" Boston says.

  Everyone lowers their windows and JT blasts air into the car.

  "You do that again and you're walking." JT tells Boston as we pull off.

  54

  Dirty Willy's is one of those old traditional bars. The wallpaper is peeling off the walls and there is mold in the corners, beer stains on the carpet and rude graffiti in the bathroom stalls, but the food is pretty good and the prices are super cheap and they never ID anyone, and it's a regular hangout for a lot of teenagers.

  They have a corner for karaoke, a German Shepard called Bruno that lives behind the bar and no one really knows who he belongs to, quiz night on Thursdays, bar fights nearly every day, and it wasn't unusual to see some random drunken old man asleep under a table. My dad used to bring us here as a family when I was younger, but back then the place was a little cleaner and smelled less of piss.

  Boston stumbles out, and Mitchel holds out his hand to me and helps me climb out.

  The smell of cooked food drifts our way and I suddenly realize I'm starving. As I make my way around the side of the building, I glance over at the garden area where there is a couple having a drink, and there is a small child in a stroller beside them sucking on a soother and waving a stuffed giraffe around.

  I have a lot of happy memories of playing in the garden on the swings and feeding the ducks that live down by the stream. But as I walk up the patio path outside I can see the swings are long gone and the ducks are probably all dead.

  I get lost in my head and Mitchel pulls me out of my daze by tugging on my sleeve and guiding me inside where we find an empty booth at the end of the room with a view of the parking lot.

  Nessie slides in next to the window and JT drops in next to her. I slide in opposite Nessie and Mitchel sits next to me and Boston sits in the booth on the other side of us. He turns in the seat and rests his arm on the seat behind Mitchel and me.

  A young woman with red hair comes over and hands us the menus. I can't decide what to have.

  "Ness, what you having?" I ask.

  "Hmm....Caesar salad, maybe."

  "No, you're not. If you want to eat rabbit food I'll give you a bag and you can go outside and pick your own dinner." JT says, dropping his menu on the table and leaning back in the seat to pull out his phone.

  "Fine. No salad. I'll have the chicken and mushroom in sauce. Happy?" Nessie drops her menu on the table.

  JT doesn't respond and tucks his phone back in his pocket and rests his arm on the back of the seat behind Nessie and plays with her hair. Nessie pulls out her own phone and starts messaging someone, and I can see JT is keeping one eye on her phone.

  "What are you having?" I ask Mitchel.

  "If JT's paying then I'm having the cheeseburger with all the extras, cheesy fries, dip, onion rings, coleslaw, and cheese bread." Boston answers instead.

  "I'll have the same, cheeseburger and fries. What do you feel like, you can have what you want?" Mitchel tells me.

  "Um...I think I'd like the chicken panini with all the fillings."

  "What are you guys having?" the red-haired waitress asks having returned with a notepad and pen.

  "One chicken and mushroom in sauce, one chicken panini with all the fillings, cheeseburger and fries, no side dressing. And I'll have the steak well-done." JT tells her.

  "And what about you?" the waitress asks Boston.

  "One cheeseburger with cheesy fries..."

  I gather up the menus into a pile for the girl as she writes down the long list of extras Boston wants.

  "And what do you guys want to drink?" she asks.

  "Can I get a sparkling water." Nessie asks.

  "We'll have three cokes?" Mitchel's gestures to me and Boston and I nod.

  "And for you, sweetie?" she asks JT and Nessie all but growls at the girl after she calls him sweetie.

  JT orders a beer and the girl looks him up and down.

  "You're driving." Mitchel reminds him.

  "Just the one." JT says and flashes the girl a smile that somehow convinces her that he's twenty-one. I'm sure he has a fake ID but I doubt he ever uses it because he just naturally looks older than he is and the ladies fall for his charm.

  "I'll be back with your drinks in a minute." She smiles sweetly, looking in JT's direction as she picks up the menus and flashes him her cleavage.

  Nessie is still typing away on her cell and all I want to do is to talk to her because the silence at the table is starting to get to me, so I decide we need the toilet. I try to gently kick her under the table but I manage to kick JT instead.

  "Oww." JT growls, looking up at me.

  "Sorry. Nessie, bathroom." I tilt my head in the direction of the toilets, giving her my best now face.

  "Ok. Ok."

  Nessie rolls her eyes at me and climbs over JT to get out of the booth and Mitchel slides out to let me out. I link arms with Nessie and lead her toward the door at the back that leads into the corridor and down to the toilets. Once inside, Nessie yawns and jumps up onto the counter and crosses her legs and carries on taping on her cell.

  "Who are you messaging?" I ask as I walk into one of the toilets and shut the door.

  "Just Sammy from cheerleading, we're thinking about changing our cheer moves, most of the routines Amber came up with and none of us really like them. But now the queen bee is out of the picture we can change it up a bit."

  "Arghhh, how awkward is it out there? Everyone is being so quiet."

  "What do you expect? You're leaving."

  "And?"

  "And
no one knows what to say. You just spring it on us at the last second and expect us all to act normal."

  "Since when do any of us act normal anyway?"

  "Yeah, but still...this isn't exactly fun for anyone, not now your mom's decided to ship you off to Fairy."

  "It's Prairie, and it's not like I want to go but I don't have a choice for the remaining months of school."

  "You should just move in with me."

  "I can't. Mom would be straight onto Dad and he would be straight onto your dad to send me home."

  "Ugh. Your mom is a right grumpy cow since your dad left her."

  "I know, I have to live with her."

  "Do you think there will be any hot farmers there?" Nessie asks.

  I hear the restroom door swing open.

  "Why? You interested in having a ride on a tractor? I hear they're rather bumpy. Just ask JT, I'm sure he'd give you a bumpy ride for free and you don't even have to date him." I laugh as I unlock the door and freeze when I see Zeke standing near the doorway with a mop and bucket.

  Nessie is staring at him in shock and Zeke looks ridiculously awkward.

  "What are you doing here?" I ask as I hurry over to the sink to wash my hands.

  "I'm on bathroom duty, Linda usually does the girls' bathroom but she's out sick today."

  I glance over my shoulder as I dry my hands under the dryer. Nessie has gone quiet and is now staring at the floor and Zeke is staring at his bucket. I notice he has no fresh bruises so that's good.

  "Since when do you work here?" I ask.

  "Started a few months ago. My dad cut off my trust fund 'cause my grades weren't up high enough so..."

  Nessie edges closer to the exit and Zeke wheels his bucket out of her way.

  "Nessie, can we talk?" Zeke starts but Nessie is already out the door.

  He turns to me and gives me this sad smile.

  "She won't reply to any of my messages. The only one she returned is the one where she told me to leave her alone and never talk to her again. And I don't think she sent it either."

  "Yeah um...look, Zeke, you'd be best to give her some space. After the whole JT thing...and the fact that he's out front."

  "What?!" he gasps.

  "We all came in here for lunch."

  "Shit."

  "Just don't start anything." I say, stepping around his bucket and heading for the door.

  "I really like her, Kelsey." he sighs.

  I feel sorry for him. Zeke Tellerman, bad boy, misfit, the one that sits at the back of the classroom and never talks to anyone is telling me he has feelings for Nessie. But Ness likes JT. Maybe if Zeke had decided that he liked Nessie before JT had arrived at school things may have been different, but now that JT is in the picture I don't think Zeke has a chance with her. I know Nessie is crazy about JT, even if she denies it constantly and says otherwise.

  "Zeke..." I have no idea what to say.

  "So she's with him now?"

  "Uh...no. I mean, I don't really know what's going on between them. But I think you should stay out of it."

  "Don't worry, I learned my lesson not to push JT."

  I just nod and slip out the door. I have too much going on with my own life to worry about Zeke and his feelings for Nessie.

  Nessie has already disappeared when I make it out of the restrooms. I start to walk down the corridor that leads back to the bar when I look down and realize I have tissue stuck to my foot.

  How embarrassing. I'm just glad there's no one else here.

  I stop just before the door and try to remove it by using my other foot when the door suddenly opens in on me and I recognize the voice.

  "Yeah ok, one sec, I just need to piss." Richard says right before the door smacks me in the head.

  "Oww! Fudge Brownies!" I yelp, falling back into the wall, holding my head.

  "Shit. I'm sorry...Kelsey?"

  "Yeah, douche. Might wanna slow down there."

  "Are you alright?" Richard stands over me and tries to inspect my head.

  He's dressed in a black Green Day t-shirt with jeans and a pair of ridiculously white sneakers.

  What are the chances of running into both Zeke and Richard here? Just typical.

  "I'm fine." I lie, my head pounding as though it might pop.

  He accidentally pokes me in the eye with his thumb as he tries to check my head.

  "Oww! Just stop already." I gently slap his hand away.

  "Sorry, I was just checking you were alright."

  "I was until you knocked me in the head with the door and poked me in the eye."

  "You shouldn't have such a big head." he says but he smiles at the same time.

  It's a different smile, not an evil one but a playful one. After the other night, things have changed between us and I finally get why he has been picking on me since we were kids is because he has a crush on me. Who would have thought it, Richard Moore the school jock and prankster has a crush on me, Kelsey Moon; the odd one out.

  "So um...is it true that you're leaving? Nessie was saying all this shit about you leaving when she was drunk."

  I nod. "Yes, I told you the other night I was leaving."

  "Yeah, but I thought you were joking 'cause you didn't want to go on a date with me."

  "No, Richard. If I didn't want to go on a date with you I would just say so."

  "Oh. So you're really, really leaving?"

  "Yup. Really, really leaving."

  "Are you coming back?"

  "I hope so. It's just until I finish school and then I'll be back."

  "I'll be back." Richard jokes in the Terminator's voice.

  I smile awkwardly at Richard as I hear voices behind the door.

  "She was right behind me." I hear Nessie saying.

  The door swings open, narrowly missing me and Richard. Mitchel stops at the sight of us with his hand still on the door and I can see Boston looking over his shoulder and Nessie is leaning against the wall outside the door. We hadn't been doing anything wrong but I feel guilty for even talking to Richard, probably because I'm afraid Mitchel will do something to him.

  Richard takes one look at Mitchel and goes deathly pale and drops his arm away from me. Mitchel takes a step toward us but I slide out and plaster a smile on my face.

  "Hey," I intercept Mitchel's attempt to get closer to Richard who is ever so slowly backing away.

  "What's going on?" Mitchel asks, glaring at Richard.

  "Nothing, Richard was just asking about where I'm moving to."

  Richard nods and pulls out his cell phone from his pocket.

  "Oh...I need to take this." Richard says, pointing at his phone that isn't even ringing before he practically runs down the corridor and into the boys' bathroom.

  "What's that smell?" Nessie cringes.

  "Probably Richard. You literally scared the crap out of him." I mumble which gains me a dark smirk from Mitchel.

  "Actually, that was me. Sorry." Boston admits.

  "Oh gross." Nessie squeals and shoves Boston away from her and she hurries back through the bar. Boston pulls a lazy grin and just shrugs and follows her back to the table where JT is recreating the Eiffel Tower with the condiments.

  I smile at Mitchel and go to walk past him but he stops me.

  "What happened to your head?"

  Ah, crap. I had almost forgotten Richard had nearly knocked me out. I probably have a massive red bump on my forehead.

  "The door." I blurt.

  "The door? Did that dick hit you with the door?"

  "Yes, by accident. I'm such a massive klutz." I laugh and quickly pull him out of the corridor before he follows Richard into the toilet.

  "Please, leave it alone." I beg.

  "Fine. But if he tries to kiss you again-"

  "He won't."

  Mitchel puts his arm around me and pulls me close to his body and we walk back to the table. I slide back into my seat.

  "What happened to your head?" JT asks between balancing the salt shaker on top of the pe
pper.

  "Nothing, I walked into the door." I say, brushing it off and sipping my Coke that has arrived at the table since we've been gone.

  "Why is your eye so red?" Nessie asks.

  "I'm just tired. Can we just please try and get through lunch without getting into a fight or creating any drama?"

  "What's the fun in that?" JT says with a grin right before his tower crashes to the table and most of it rolls onto my lap.

  I quickly pick up the condiments and move them out of reach.

  JT grunts, leans back and crosses his arms and scans the bar at the exact moment Zeke strolls out of the door at the back.

  JT's body goes all rigid and my eyes shoot to Nessie. She forces a smile and casually flips her hair, trying to pretend she hasn't seen Zeke who is blatantly staring at her.

  "So I decided what we can do for Kelsey's goodbye thing." Nessie says, trying to distract JT.

  Everyone turns to look at her.

  "Ok, that sounded bad. Um, how about we call it Kelsey's going away thing but she's definitely coming back again thing?"

  "Better." I say.

  "Ok, I was thinking we should throw a party tomorrow."

  "What?" I groan. "I think I've had enough of parties for a while."

  Nessie pouts. "JT already said we could."

  I glare at JT. "Don't encourage her. I just want to leave quietly." I tell him.

  "Sorry, babe, no can do. We're throwing you a party, it won't be anything crazy, just a few friends." Nessie says.

  "Where?" I ask.

  "JT's." Nessie smiles.

  I look at JT. "Won't your mom mind?"

  "She's on the night shift so she won't be there and as long as we clear up afterward it will be fine."

  Fine. Everything will be fine.

  "What do you think?" Nessie smiles, pleased with her suggestion.

  "I think it's a terrible idea." I grumble.

  "Cool." JT grins.

  "So it's decided. We're off to the fair tonight and tomorrow we're going to throw you the best party ever. This weekend will be epic." Nessie tells me.

  Or an epic disaster. I don't think I can handle another party. I'm already hungover and tired from the last one, I'll most likely be dead by Monday.

  55