When I opened the stall door, one of the blonde nurses stood just outside. She was the one with the turned-up nose.
“Sorry, I think I might have left my phone in this stall,” she said.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as I nodded and moved past her.
The moment she entered the stall, she started looking around. I headed to the sink and watched her through the mirror as her hand went to the trashcan mounted to the side of the wall. She opened the bin, glanced inside, shut it, and continued searching.
I washed my hands slowly as I continued to spy on her through the mirror. The blonde nurse appeared a few seconds later and crossed to the sink next to mine.
“Did you find it?” I asked before rolling down a section of the paper towels and ripping it off.
“No.” She frowned as she made eye contact with me in the mirror. “I think I might have thrown it away, and it looks like the janitor was just here. I’ll go find her and see if I can track it down.”
“Good luck,” I said as I forced myself to turn away. I threw my paper towel into the trashcan and pushed open the door to the cafeteria. Mitch’s dark gaze found mine right away, and he widened his eyes before turning back to my mom.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, sending panic thrumming into my heart, but it was only a message from Justin.
Justin: not feeling good. Going to lay down. Throw the party without me.
Damn it. There was so much that I needed to tell him… meaning, we’d have to throw another stupid party. I sent back a message.
Me: want me to come check on you?
Justin: I’m falling asleep. I’ll head down if I’m feeling better. I love you.
Me: You too.
When I slumped into the booth seat across from my mother, she smiled over. “Hey, sweetheart, everything okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.” I nodded.
She squinted at me. “You look a little pale… are you getting enough downtime at this fancy school? I hope you take breaks.” She turned to Mitch. “January can get into these obsessive school modes where she loses all of her friends and doesn’t sleep. Sometimes I worry that she’ll waste her life without having any fun.”
“Mom, I’m fine,” I said, probably a little too snappy, because her lips pursed.
“It’s your last year of high school. You need to live a little before it’s all over. Wear sexy clothes, dance on a table, sneak into a bar, and get kicked out. You need to stop stressing all the time and be young for a while. Before too long, you’ll be old and married and having kids between working as a successful businesswoman, and you’ll have wished you let yourself go a little wild when you had the chance.”
All of a sudden, her words made me want to cry. She was wrong. I was never going to be old or married or have a kid and a normal, nine to five job. I was always going to be young and dead and working jobs that could, at a moment’s notice, end my undead existence. Normalcy had always been the dream. I’d somehow managed to raise myself while my mother drank and partied all day, every day. I thought that I could earn the grades to make it into a four-year university and work through it until I could get a good job and find a normal, boring life. That was forever out of my reach. I would always be trapped in a wild and dangerous existence.
“I’m dragging January to a party tonight,” Mitch said as he watched me a little too closely. “At Justin’s house.”
“Good,” Mom said with a grin as she stood from her chair. “I’m glad she has you, Mitch.”
“Yeah—because he’s like the male equivalent of you, Mom,” I snapped, probably loud and aggressively, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “Maybe it’s not good for me to be constantly surrounded by drunks who are ruining my life. You know what—no.” I jumped to my feet and pointed into my mom’s face. “Stop telling me that I’m ruining my life because I’m taking care of myself. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to if you weren’t a huge mess for my whole life.”
I hated the words coming out of my mouth, and I hated the wounded expression on my mother’s face. And, I hated myself, but at this moment, I couldn’t stop hating her too.
“Honey… I know, I’m trying to turn things around,” she said, her lips quivering.
I knew that if I opened my mouth, I’d remark that was what she always said. But, the only thing constant about her turning her life around was that it always fell apart again and usually pretty quickly. Anger and spiteful words were raging through my chest, and I needed to be somewhere where cruel, angry accusations wouldn’t come flying out of my mouth.
“I have to go, Mom. I’ll see you next week if that’s what you want.”
She sniffed and nodded. “Always.”
As we exited the recovery center, Mitch turned to me. “I’m not going to drive you here if you’re going to be a total bitch to your mother.”
“Stay the fuck out of it, Mitch,” I snapped as I pointed in his face.
He glared. “Your mom is cool, and she fucking loves you. Not everyone has that shit.”
“Like you? What the hell, Mitch? Are you comparing your suffering to mine? Seriously? Don’t you ever talk about my life,” I yelled into his face. “You don’t know what it’s been like for me—”
“Hard. It’s been hard. I get it, January. And no, I’m not fucking comparing our fucked-up childhoods. Yes, your life was fucked up and still is, and a lot of that is her fault. But that’s always been true. That’s not why you lashed out at her today…” he pointed back to the building, “You’re mad because you love her more than anyone else in this world, and everyone sees that, and they’re using her safety against you. She’s not safe, and it’s fucking terrifying you, and you’re taking it out on her. That, that right there, is not her fault.”
A tear dropped onto my cheek, and I scrubbed it away and turned toward his stupid, muscle car. “Leave me alone, Mitch,” I mumbled under my breath. “Just shut up and leave me alone already.”
He threw up his hands. “Can’t do that. You told me that you wanted to be my friend, January, and this is what you get.”
CHAPTER SIX
I sat on a lawn chair beside the pool as the majority of the student body chatted around me. I’d dropped Bailey off with my grandmother an hour ago, and I really wanted to go hang out with them, but I needed to stay in case Justin, Mitch, and I could seize another opportunity for a secret conversation. Justin had already been here when we arrived, smiling and talking with several of the legacy students.
The moment he saw me, he’d pushed through the crowd and gave me a kiss that made my toes curl. The memory of that was all that was getting me through this social purgatory.
Ten feet away, partygoers were grinding together to a loud techno beat. Justin and Mitch stood central in a group of guys. Mark stood beside them with a big ass smile on his face. He was unsteady on his feet with Amber tucked under his arm.
The red-headed, mean-girl, queen-bee of Blackburn Academy only had eyes for Mitch, and more than once, I saw her try to pull him aside. Mitch wasn’t having any of it, though. If I had picked anyone for an informant, it would have been her. Instead, her name was high up on the watch list?
It didn’t make any sense.
Justin, Mitch, and I had only found moments to talk earlier, and all I’d managed to tell either of them is that in the bathroom, a contact that I made from inside Alderwood Reformatory provided a list of student informants and a list of students that were being watched. We three were at the top of the second list. Then Corey Mitchel had broken into our group, and I’d shot the two a look and tapped my fingers on my lips.
Informant.
They either automatically got my meaning or knew better than to make a scene. After a few minutes of listening to Corey drunkenly go on about something called the Blood Moon Patrols, I excused myself and slipped away to the lawn chair, taking a seat beside a girl who was passed out in a bikini and snoring loudly. From the impatient glances Justin was shooting my way, I owed him more of an explanation than an ano
nymous source gave me a list of Blackburn informants.
The girl beside me leaned over, and one of her boobs popped out of her red bikini as she pitched over and hurled on the patio.
“Fuck!” a guy called as he and a group of others dodged out of the vomit splash zone.
“Here. I’ll help you,” I said under my breath as I pulled the elastic from my hair and combed back the girl’s hair into a high bun. She started to cuss as she vomited liquid on the sidewalk, and one of her boobs was just hanging out in the open.
“Someone give me a shirt,” I yelled, not turning around as I held the girl’s shoulders. Wadded material landed in my hand. It was a guy’s shirt, and I did my best to hold it over her front as she finished vomiting while streams of spit trailed down from her mouth.
The moment she was done throwing up, I helped the girl slip on the oversized T-shirt, which I recognized as a shirt from one of my favorite Irish punk band’s tour a few years back. A glance back told me that it was indeed Mitch’s shirt, and he was now standing shirtless a few feet back. Not only that, but he’s started a fad, and a few other partygoers had their shirts off and were offering it our way.
“Thanks… um, can someone pull the hose over here,” I said to the crowd, before turning back to the girl.
Tears were streaming from her eyes, and her nose was running freely. There was also the distinct smell of pee in the air.
The girl looked up at me. “Fucking shit, it’s you,” she sputtered. “Go get Justin for me…aren’t you his girlfriend or something?”
“Justin?” I glanced over at Justin, who had just caught sight of us from within the crowd.
“Leave her there,” Justin yelled, and for some reason, his jaw was tight and his golden eyes practically glowed with fury. “She’s not even supposed to fucking be here.”
“What?” I asked, baffled on why I was suddenly seeing the resurgence of asshole Justin after all this time.
“It’s not your job to clean up after this drunk asshole. I’ll just call the cops and have them pick her up,” he said. “Parker, get the fuck up. You’re going.”
“Parker… Cleary?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“How do you know who I am?” the girl asked, her voice cracking on the words.
My head was spinning. Parker Cleary had been the first name after ours on the watch list and it had also been on the informant list. As far as I could tell, it was the only name on both registers.
Justin stomped off, looking even angrier as he joined the crowd. He halted a dozen paces away. Justin grabbed a beer from someone’s hand, crossed back over to us, and held it over Parker’s head. “You know the fucking consequences of gate crashing better than anyone, Parker—you were the one who used to love to enforce them.”
What the actual fuck?
“Justin, back off,” I snapped. “What is wrong with you?”
I raised my gaze to meet his and startled. The look in his eyes… it was beyond the cold front that was asshole Justin. The boy I knew was gone, absent. It seemed so wrong, like he was possessed.
“Hey, Justin, buddy.” A hand landed on Justin’s shoulder, and we all looked back toward Mark Yates. He’d pulled back his long, highlighted locks into a man bun and looked a little unsteady on his feet. “Let’s go share a drink, friend, and cool off before something happens that you’ll regret in the morning. The Clearys—you know—its best not go there.”
Mark’s interruption seemed to have Justin hesitating, but the rage in Justin’s eyes blazed all the hotter.
I stood and turned back to offer Parker my hand. “Hey there, let’s go right now. My grandma lives behind the pool house, and I have a shower and a room full of clothes back there. I’ll call someone to take you home.”
“Okay… good idea.” She nodded and tried to get to her feet when she staggered into me. Her body collided with mine, and my stomach flipped as I stumbled toward the pool.
There was a flash of movement, and then suddenly, Mitch was there. Holding me up with a hand at my back. “Get your shit together, Parker.”
“Fuck this! Are you trying to kill her?” Justin growled, and he was suddenly wrenching Parker away. “January can’t fucking swim.”
“Calm down.” I glared across the stumbling drunk girl. “Back off. I’m taking her to my grandma’s. Somebody, come help us, yeah? Instead of just standing around and watching.”
Every single person was gaping at us now, but thankfully, several guys closed the distance, taking the drunk girl from Justin and me.
“Yo, Parker. Are you okay?” A couple of people called from the crowd.
“Why is Justin freaking out at Parker Cleary?” I heard someone say, and there was a strange trepidation in the way they said her last name.
Mitch raised his eyebrows at me. “What the fuck is going on? You know who that is right? Why are you talking to her?”
“I don’t know her, but can you stop Justin?” I asked.
“Stop me from what, exactly?” Justin asked from beside me, and when I turned to meet his eyes, again, I saw that pure rage brimming from him, boiling behind his gaze.
Justin had never scared me before, but at this moment, I felt a undercurrent of fear thrumming through me. I lifted my hands slowly. “Everyone calm down, okay? Parker and I are just leaving, alright?”
“No, that’s not alright, January. You’re in danger. What about that can’t you get into your head?” Justin hit his forehead. There was something so strange and un-Justin-like about the aggressive move. “All Mitch and I do is try to protect you while you run around doing stupid shit that puts you in danger.” He gestured to the pool. “Maybe we want to have fucking lives instead of having to worry about you all the fucking time.”
Without warning, Mitch picked me up by my waist and moved me a few feet away from Justin. “I got this. Justin, cool down. You’re running your mouth. Buckle your fucking lip.”
“Fuck you, Mitch,” Justin growled, and then his fist was flying straight at Mitch’s face.
Mitch could have ducked out of the way as quick as lightning, or blocked the punch with his super strength, but instead, he just stood there as Justin’s fist smashed into his jaw. There was a loud crack, and Mitch’s lip split. A thin line of blood dripped from his mouth, and for a second, I saw a flash of memory. It was Mitch’s face, black and blue, after his brother beat the crap out of him. Here and now, Mitch wiped the blood off with his bare shoulder.
“Feel better?” he asked, but Justin’s fist was flying at him again. Instead of taking the punch, this time he shoved Justin, sending him tumbling into his own pool.
Justin hit the water with a splash, and he immediately came up gasping with murder in his eyes. “Get out of my house, Mitch. You’re not fucking welcome here anymore.”
What the actual fuck?
It felt like Justin punched me instead of Mitch. Shock knocked the air completely out of me. Justin’s personality just flipped in the space of a few minutes. The only explanation that made any sense to me was that this was some sort of play-acting that the guys had arranged in advance.
Mitch swiped an alcohol bottle off a nearby table, and before he took a sip, he called out to a sputtering Justin, “I’m fucking done with your bullshit, anyway.”
Mitch headed through the crowd, and I took a step to follow, when Justin called out, “Don’t you fucking dare go after him, January.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” I snapped back. “Do you have any idea the shit he had to go through to clear your name? Mitch is the best friend you’re ever going to have, and you’re fucking that up.”
Justin swam over to the side of the pool and his voice went flat. “I know how fond you are of him.”
“Honestly, what I’m doing right now is helping this Parker chick, but after I help her, I’m going to find Mitch and make sure he has a safe ride home.”
Justin’s gaze raged all the hotter. “If you leave with Mitch tonight, you’re not welcome back he
re. You go with him, we’re over.”
My mouth fell open. Shock hit me so hard, I had to take a step back. “You’re breaking up with me in front of the whole school? Really?”
He held up his hands, like, “clearly.”
I shook my head as pain sliced through my chest. “You know what, Justin Roberts, you can break up with me and kick me out of this party, but you can’t kick me off of this property. Not now or while my grandmother works here.”
Justin nonchalantly draped his arms over the side of the pool. “That’s easily remedied—she’s a crap housekeeper anyway.”
I pointed in his face. “Say whatever the fuck you want about me, but don’t you ever, ever talk shit about my family.” I pointed around at the party. “That goes for all of you, I am a nice fucking person, but I will not hesitate for one moment to kick your ass if you say a word against my family.” I grabbed up a red plastic cup from the nearest table. “And clean up your mess when you’re done partying.”
I didn’t wait for anyone to respond. My chest literally ached as I turned away, away from Justin, and away from this stupid group of gawking assholes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Everything had spun out of control so fast with Justin and Mitch, and I still wasn’t sure what was even real. The only thing I knew to be true was that even if Justin was faking his asshole act, he’d taken things too far. He’d demeaned my nana in front of half of the senior class.
No one tried to stop me as I left the party. When I passed Parker, I recognized the guys holding her up as Spineless Corey and one of the Elites from my floor. The three of them followed me around the side of the pool house, where the automatic lights blasted on. As we crossed into the harsh illumination, I could see the grimness in the two guys’ expressions.
When we reached the detached garage, Parker shrugged off the guys’ help and tumbled into my front door. She patted down her legs and groaned. “Full stop… Someone give me a cigarette.”
Broken Elites (The Vampire Legacy Book 3) Page 6
