by Raathi Chota
I let out a bitter laugh as I approached him. I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall next to us.
“I’m fucking pissed, and you’re the right person to take it out on, Parker Collins.”
***
I decided to ditch the rest of the day and went to Rodney’s store. Since Axel worked there after his classes, I went there mostly to listen to music and chill with them. As I entered the store, music played. Axel was behind the counter busy with a customer while Keene sat by a table. He was on the phone when I sat next to him.
“Hey, brother…what happened to your hands?” Axel asked. I looked down at my bruised knuckles.
“Oh, I was just beating the shit out of Parker.” I shrugged.
“Cool—wait, the asshole who did those things to pumpkin?” Axel asked as he walked around the counter.
“The one and only,” I muttered.
“Blake’s here too,” Keene said as I turned to him. Keene placed the phone down and pressed the speaker. Levi spoke, and I immediately rolled my eyes.
“Where are you?” I asked because the background was noisy.
“I’m driving, and there’s a shit load of traffic,” he answered.
“Listen, I can’t do this anymore,” Axel said. “Every time I talk to pumpkin, I just feel sorry for her, and I just want to tell her.”
“Same,” Keene replied, then looked down.
“Dude, we all agreed that we’d tell her everything after she graduates…when I see her this summer. So just fucking wait and think before you speak,” Levi said.
“We’re hurting her even more—you know that,” Axel mumbled as he slumped his shoulders.
“We’re only doing it to protect her. The truth hurts like shit. We don’t want something like that to happen again,” he said, referring to when James came out of nowhere and shot that guy.
“What if someone snitches?” Keene asked as he looked at me.
“The fuck. I won’t.” I squinted my eyes at him.
“I’m not saying you. I mean your friends, Carter, Ethan, and Aidan. They know too.”
“They won’t tell. We kept cocaine a secret for two years; I’m sure we can do this for a few more months,” I said, then gave Keene a fake smile.
“My battery is gonna die soon…Axel?” Levi asked, and I looked at my brother to see him stare at the phone.
“Yeah?”
“When you see Lana again, tell her I love her,” he said as I balled my fists even though it hurt like a bitch.
“I thought Levi Radcliff doesn’t believe in love,” I interjected before Axel said anything.
“Dude, you know what I mean,” Levi scoffed. “That night in the jail cell, I told you I can’t give her the life she deserves.”
The other side of the call went quiet, but I heard the traffic. I glanced up at Keene, who tapped his fingers against the table.
“Besides, love is a weakness. It’s like a game,” Levi added.
“Yeah.” Keene nodded as he stared me dead in the eye. “And you two keep playing with her heart.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lana
It’s been two weeks, and in those two weeks, Benny and I communicated. Even though it tore me, we decided to give each other space and see other people. Not because of the argument we had, but because of everything from school, the James situation, the Jack situation, and what we wanted to do after high school. When he told me that we should see other people, the first thing that went through my mind was Britney. I asked about her, and he said they’re friends. In my mind, I found ways to rip her face off, then when he left, I cried myself to sleep that night. I didn’t want to see other people, and I saw in his eyes that he didn’t want to either, but it was for the best. I told the guys, and Blake said we should go out and celebrate. I didn’t know what he meant by celebrate, but we ended up at one of Jaden’s parties.
As I walked down the dimly lit hallway, guys eyed me up and down and smirked. I put the thing to my lips and inhaled as I closed my eyes. I entered the kitchen, slightly dazed as I looked around. A couple made out on the counter, and I wanted to gag. Ugh, they looked so happy. Wait till shit hits them. It was the guys, Tiffany, and me here. I invited Miranda to come, but she didn’t want to go to another one of Jaden’s parties ever again since she lost her virginity to Keene. It was understandable because she had Marcus, and it’d be awkward if she bumped into Keene.
“Lana?” I spun around to see Ethan. He looked hot in his sleeveless muscle top, black jeans, and Nike shoes. A lazy smile filled my face as I locked my arms around his neck. I almost fell but felt his hand on my back. I laughed, then inhaled the smoke. He narrowed his eyes at the thing between my lips. “Are you smoking a joint?” he asked, and I nodded. “No, no, this is not how you should be getting over him.” He frowned as he leaned against the counter. I leaped forward as he caught me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Then how? It’s probably better than Benny, who’s getting a blowjob from Britney,” I mumbled. “I’m just casually smoking a joint, waiting for some guy to screw me…so where’s Blake? Or even Carter?” I stated, then glanced around. I had a few drinks before Jaden gave me the joint. I depended on dangerous things to take my pain away.
“You’ve been drinking, and now you’re smoking. Don’t do this to yourself,” Ethan said as he took the joint away. I watched as he dumped it on the ground and crushed it with his foot. “I know you’re sad about this whole Benny thing, and I know that you two really care about each other.”
“Sad doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel, Ethan.” I laughed. “About everything.”
“Do you wanna go home?” he asked. I frowned because that’d be the best thing to do. I told my parents I was gonna stay with Tiffany, but both of us were invited to Ethan’s house.
“Yeah, I’ll get Tiffany and Aidan. You find Carter and Blake,” I stated, then walked off. I went into the living room—it was packed with people. I pushed into the crowd with people’s sweaty bodies. It was congested in here, and my head ached. A catchy song came on, and everyone danced. I smiled as I swayed my hips to the beat. I felt someone’s hand on my waist and looked up to see a guy with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, and stubble. He sent me a wink as we danced. I turned around to lean on him but looked up to see…him. And another one who looked exactly like him a few feet away. The one I danced with gripped my hips as he forced me to grind against him. I tried to let go, but he was stronger than me. His twin walked toward us with a smirk. I spun around and pushed the one off me, then walked out of the crowd. I saw the bar not too far ahead, and I quickly walked toward it. When I reached the bar, I felt a hand grab my waist to pull me around. As I spun around, I grabbed the vodka bottle that was on the table and swung my arm. A glass shattering echoed in my ears as I realized I hit the guy in his temple. My eyes widened as he staggered a bit.
“Lana! What the hell happened?” Aidan demanded as he approached me. Tiffany was next to him as she gaped at the guy who swayed.
“Him and his…” I trailed off yet saw no sign of his twin. The guy fell to the ground, and Aidan crouched down. He stood up again and turned to us.
“He’s unconscious,” Aidan said, then looked around. “Let’s get out of here before anyone notices.”
“Aidan, do something!” Tiffany screeched as she gestured to the guy who had a piece of glass sticking out of his head.
“Should I call an Uber for him?” Aidan suggested. Tiffany and I glared at him.
“You bitch! What the fuck?” I whipped my head around to see the twin brother with a pissed-off look. He walked toward me but was held back by someone. As he turned around, Ethan balled his fist and punched the guy.
“It’s your cocky-ass brother who started this shit,” Ethan muttered. My eyes widened as the man tried to punch Ethan, but he took his wrist, twisted it, and shoved him away. I thought he’d land against the wall, but instead, he knocked into a very pissed-off Blake Gunner. Blake was solid as a rock as he lo
oked at the guy. As the guy got up, Blake raised his knee and kicked him in the stomach. Apparently, the guy had friends, and they came over to help. Ethan and Aidan ran to help Blake. Tiffany and I turned to the unconscious guy on the ground with clueless looks. I tapped a random blond guy who appeared drunk as shit on the shoulder.
“Your friend, he, err…he needs help,” I blurted out as the blond guy gaped at the unconscious man on the floor.
“Oh no. Should I call him an Uber?” the guy asked.
“Sure.” I tilted my head. He nodded, then stared at the man as if he waited for something.
“You should call now!” Tiffany blurted out.
“Oh yeah! Good idea.” The guy laughed, then took out his phone. Even though stuff like that happened at Jaden’s parties, I couldn’t help but get the image of Jack August in my mind. I hit him in the head too. I was snapped back to my senses when Tiffany grabbed my hand and said we should get out of here. I nodded, then followed her as we walked to the front door. As we passed, I saw Blake take on three guys who had blood all over their faces. The place looked crazy. Aidan hovered over a guy and punched him. Ethan shoved a guy against the wall, while other people started their own fights. Once we got outside, I folded my arms and leaned against Ethan’s Corvette Stingray. Tiffany and I looked at the house and heard the yells. After a few minutes, everything went silent, then Jaden shouted like there was no tomorrow.
“There they are.” I pointed to Aidan, Ethan, and Blake, who casually walked out of the house.
“Are you guys okay?” Tiffany asked as she hugged Aidan. Blake walked toward me with a concerned look; he pulled me into an embrace, then rested his chin on my head.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and I nodded. I didn’t know why, but I felt safe when Blake’s arms were around me. The past parties we went to he was by my side. At school, whenever he saw Parker, he randomly pulled me into his chest and glared at him.
“Turns out that’s the Willis twins. Jaden said they’re always harassing girls at his parties,” Ethan explained as he clenched his fist.
“It’s stupid that they’re invited,” I muttered as Blake entwined his fingers with mine. I looked down to see his knuckles had a purplish color. I glanced up at him, and he shrugged me off.
“Where’s Carter?” Aidan asked as he looked at us.
“We thought he was with you gu—”
“There’s the idiot,” Blake stated, and I followed his gaze to see Carter Halls climb out of a window, naked.
“Dude!” Aidan yelled as he covered Tiffany’s eyes with his hands. The rest of us laughed as Carter climbed down. He landed on his feet, then held his crotch as he ran toward us.
“Where are your clothes?” I demanded as he looked at the house.
“In the room. We have to go now!” He attempted to open the door, but it was locked.
“Carter fucking Halls! Where are you?” Jaden’s voice echoed from the house.
“Carter, what did you do?”
“He just caught me having sex with his sister…no biggie.” Carter shrugged as he hid behind the car. “Now can we please go!” he added. I laughed as I got into the car with Ethan. Aidan brought his car, so Blake and Tiffany drove with him. The drive to Ethan’s house was awkward since Carter was naked, covered only by a blanket.
***
We got to Ethan’s place and decided to stay in the cinema room again. I didn’t drink so much, so by the time we were home, I was sober. Tiffany brought clothes, but I completely forgot mine, so I had to borrow a shirt from Ethan. We watched a movie on the screen, then chilled the rest of the night. Aidan made a fort, so the whole cinema room turned into a massive cuddle fort. Tiffany and Aidan were at the top, while Carter, Blake, Ethan, and I were at the bottom and shared a bottle of whiskey. Carter came to sit next to me; I noticed he had my glasses in his hands.
“You found them!” I cheered.
“Yeah, they were in my truck,” he stated, then smiled at me. I watched as he opened them and looked at me. He slowly put them on me, then put a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Shots!” Blake’s voice startled me as he stood between us, then sat down. Carter shifted away. Ethan placed small glasses in front of each of us and filled them. I bit the inside of my cheek as I thought how the rest of the night would go.
***
I let out a yawn as I opened my eyes. A few feet away were my glasses, but the thing that bothered me was the heartbeat against my ear. I slowly looked up to see Blake’s lips parted as he slept. We fell asleep on the floor, so we had many blankets thrown over us.
“Psst.” I heard a voice behind me and turned around to see Carter with his morning hair. He motioned me toward him. I did because I was curious as to how I fell asleep. I slowly removed Blake’s arm from around my waist and put it on his chest. I shuffled to Carter and laid on my side. He brought me closer to him and put his arm around my torso. Our faces were inches away as I gazed into his blue eyes.
“How did I…”
“Well, after the many shots we took, you sort of had a breakdown. You cried about Benny.” He looked at my lips.
“What did I do?”
“You were talking about Britney, then you talked about how you missed him. Then you—err…” he stuttered as I sighed.
“What, Carter?”
“You called yourself a whore, which you’re totally not. We even tried telling you, then you got mad, and that’s when Blake came in,” he muttered as his eyes locked in on my lips. “He comforted you, and well, you fell asleep. You’re anything but that, Lana. You’re beautiful, funny, caring, and unique.” He placed his hand on my chin. My lips parted as he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I watched as he stared at my lips eagerly. Everything happened so fast as he leaned forward and smashed his lips against mine. My eyes widened as Carter moved so that he hovered over me. On a side note, he’s an excellent kisser; no wonder he’s the player of the school! Yet I didn’t want to get hypnotized by his beauty or his amazing lips; he’s a player. He had sex with Jaden’s sister!
Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Blake stirring. Carter sensed it too, then pulled away. He landed on the other side of me, right next to Blake.
“What the heck? How’d you get here?” Blake croaked out as he squinted at the blond. Carter shrugged with a smirk molded onto his face while I stared at the ceiling. Blake held a sour expression as he looked at me, then Carter. He laid back down and turned on his side so that his back faced us. As I licked my lips, I realized that Carter Halls kissed me. I felt his hand intertwine with mine under the blankets. I turned my head to the left to see Ethan a few feet away from me, jaw dropped. My face drained of color because he witnessed the whole thing.
Very soon, everyone else woke. Tiffany had extra clothing in her bag, so she lent me her white shirt dress that I had to zip up. Ethan told us we could use his room and bathroom to get changed while the guys used another room. Tiffany came out in a gray sweater and red pants. I gathered whatever I had from my last visit to Ethan’s house, along with the shirt dress.
“Hey, are you okay, Lana?” Tiffany asked as she brushed her ginger red hair.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Carter told me that you barely remember anything from last night,” she stated as I lowered my head. “Well, now that you’re sober, what do you miss about Benny?”
“I don’t know. Seeing him having fun with Britney…it makes me confused. Because while I’m here suffering to get over him, he’s out there having fun.” I frowned.
“Don’t think that. Maybe he’s just trying to move on or hide his feelings from everyone.” She pulled me in for a hug. “Aidan told me that when he went to Benny’s house to hang out with them, Benny was up in his room,” Tiffany said as we pulled away. “Nick went to check if he was okay and…”
“Wha-What happened?” I croaked out.
“I don’t know, but Benny never came down that night,” she said, her face filled with confusion. Afterward, Tiffany left the
room, and I showered. Once I was done, I put on my underwear, then the shirt dress. It was still a bit cold outside, but I decided to put on my black woolen tights later. I walked out of the room to see Blake’s back faced toward me. He wore his baggy sweatpants, which meant that he still had to shower. As I walked, he spun around, and that’s when I noticed the cigarette.
“Heard you were looking for me last night.” He stepped forward, then exhaled the smoke. “Heard you wanted to screw me.”
“I was drunk.”
“Not an excuse,” he said, then pressed the cigarette on Ethan’s desk. He reached underneath for the trashcan, then cleaned it up. He turned back to me and ran his hands down my arms. “You still wanna make him jealous, baby girl?”
“We’re not even together anymore.”
“Still.” He cupped my cheeks and pressed his forehead against mine. “You want him to see what he’s missing out on.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I realized we’ll be using each other in our own way. I’ll finally get you out of my system by just doing it, and you’ll get Benny back for being with that bitch,” he whispered, and I bit the inside of my cheek. “Plus, you’ll be mine before time runs out.” I gave him a questioning look, and he chuckled.
“How are we going to make him jealous?” I asked as he eyed me up and down. If I looked at myself in the mirror, I’d see myself as desperate because, yes, I did miss Benny since I saw the good in him. He changed for me, and he made me happy. I was too stubborn to admit it, and now he’s gone. The only way to get him back was to make him jealous, to do it.
“I’ll start off slow,” Blake stated, then wrapped his left arm around my torso and rubbed my back. It wasn’t so bad—his other hand glided down the back of my body until it landed on my butt. He gave a tight squeeze, and I exhaled loudly. “I’ll do stuff like this…” His left hand went to my waist. He kissed up my neck, and I leaned my head to the side and shut my eyes. “Then when we’re alone…” I felt his fingers on the back of the shirt dress. He zipped down the dress, and I let it fall to the ground, which left me in a bra and panties. I watched as Blake went down on his knees and kissed down my stomach. His hands wrapped around my thighs as I got goosebumps. He stopped and grazed his finger over the scar I got when Axel threw the bottle at me. Blake kissed the scar, then continued to run his fingers along my skin. He kissed my hips, then stopped again as he looked at my tattoo. Blake firmly gripped my hips, then stood up. He lifted me up and gently put me on the bed. As Blake hovered over me, my fingers got lost in his hair, and he grunted. He kissed down my neck and on my collarbone. His hand went to my tattoo, and I felt his thumb rub the ink. “When we’re alone, I’ll make you feel like a queen.” He tapped my tattoo. I raised my head and pressed my lips against his because I wanted to feel his hard lips against mine. He responded quickly when he kissed back and pressed his chest against mine.
