by Iris Taylor
Chapter 5
Ella
“Ella. Elle. It’s getting late, time to wake up.”
My mom’s soft voice penetrated the thick fog of slumber. I shook my head, feeling my sore muscles protest at having to abandon the restful sleep I was getting. I guess I should have stretched more before tryouts yesterday. Or not abandon exercise completely after the move. It wasn’t that I was normally a couch potato. I just wasn’t used to the cold weather yet. Gray Lake was exactly like its name, I found. Days were often sullen with overcast skies, and a sharp chill more often than not permeated the air. If I still had the overactive imagination I had had as a child, I would’ve said the town of fifteen thousand was the perfect setup for a murder mystery. Thankfully, I had grown out of that.
I swung my legs out of the plush queen bed and trudged towards my en suite bathroom. After enjoying a semi-rushed hot shower, I quickly put on the school uniform and an extra-thick pair of black tights and tucked a dark blue sweater into my messenger bag. My hair wasn’t behaving today, so I decided to put it up in a messy bun for now.
My breath caught the moment I remembered I was in Gray Lake and didn’t have my own car. I should really sort that out soon. Feeling significantly heavier on my feet, I opened my bedroom door and peeked out. The hallway was clear. I fingered my bag strap as contemplated skipping breakfast, then half-ran down the stairs when I decided I was too hungry to survive that. The kitchen was empty too, save for some cheesy burritos on the table that made my mouth water. I loved mealtimes – Susan made the best dishes that never failed to excite me. Where was she, anyway?
After taking a double helping, I washed it down with a mug of sweet coffee and looked out the window. I felt my heart sink. The Range Rover was gone, and so was my mom’s Camry. Now how was I supposed to get to school? It looked super-cold outside, with gray clouds overhead and a stiff breeze making the trees sway. At least it’s not raining, I thought with a sigh. I hadn’t yet seen a bus stop in the vicinity of the house. The front gates were about a five-minute walk from where I was, and it would probably rain before I even found myself a bus.
I heard footsteps enter the kitchen and whirled around, heart thudding. Marcus entered, appearing sharp in a crisp suit, deep in thought. He smiled when he saw me. “Still here? Have you had your breakfast yet?”
I nodded. I watched him pour himself some coffee, savoring it with his eyes closed. After a few minutes he smiled at me again, this time looking energized. “I’m every bit as caffeine-driven as I used to be in college. My brain doesn’t work before that first mug. That was delicious.”
He frowned as he took me in. “Did the twins leave you behind?”
They must have.
“Um, I didn’t ask them for a ride this morning.”
“That goes without saying. You guys are headed in the same direction.” He fished in his pocket and produced a set of keys. “There. That’s a spare for Cole’s car.”
My eyes must have popped out of their sockets. “The Audi?”
He looked up from the newspaper he had begun to read. “Yes?”
I swallowed. Would Cole have my head if I drove his car? “Uh, maybe I should ask him first...”
Marcus waved his hand dismissively. “No need. I’m paying for it, so it’s my car, technically.” He tossed me the keys. “Come back before dinner. Your mom and I would like to discuss the wedding preparations.”
I nodded, hyperaware of the buzzing in my ears. My hands shook as I drove the Audi TTS all the way to school, trying to find the perfect balance between crawling at a snail’s pace so I wouldn’t wreck Cole’s car but fast enough so I wouldn’t piss off anyone driving behind me. It was the most luxurious car I had ever driven, which didn’t help with my nerves. A delicious spice-and-mint scent mingled with the expensive aroma of leather, further adding to my apprehension. Cole’s gonna kill me.
I carefully eased the Audi into an empty spot a few rows away from where I saw Hans’ Range Rover parked. Unfortunately, a couple of people were still lounging between the rows of expensive cars. Please let them not be there. Please, oh God of all things holy.
A sharp rap on the car window startled me. I turned to find an expressionless twin. Cole or Hans? Did it matter? According to the hammering organ in my chest, it mattered very much. I could feel my face heat up.
I rolled down the window carefully, just a narrow space so that I could hear him but not enough that he could reach out and throttle me.
“Uh, yes?”
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Cole then?
“Um, I’m going to class?”
Now his perfect eyebrows arched and his mouth twisted into an angry sneer.
“Are you really that dumb? Do I need to ask you again?”
When I didn’t answer, my brain blanking out from my fear, he let out a frustrated breath and gritted out, “Get. Out. Of. My. Car.”
I hurried to grab my stuff from the passenger seat and opened the car door quickly. Too quickly, it seemed, when I heard a howl of pain coming from Cole, who was glaring at me as he rubbed his stomach. Despite the ringing in my ears, my brain managed an Aha! Serves you right! I hid my pleased grin and put the keys onto the car hood and half-ran in my effort to disappear.
“Not so fast.”
His face crowding me, so close that I could see the golden flecks in his dark irises, he placed his hand on my throat, gradually tightening his grip so that he was cutting my airway off. I felt a surge of panic as I watched his pupils dilate a fraction as my oxygen supply started to deplete. “Don’t you ever, ever touch what’s mine again.”
He squeezed painfully to emphasize his words before pushing me away, and I fell to the ground, my legs collapsing beneath me.
Next to him, Hans appeared, looking at me briefly before placing a hand on Cole’s arm, placating him. My heart dropped when he turned away without a second glance. What did I get myself into? Who are these people?
A couple of guys and girls snickered as they went past me. I got up, dusted off my skirt and picked up my bag and some scattered books off the ground. Someone helped gather my things and I looked up to see Sarah standing there, a bright red apple in one hand and my books in the other.
“Forget about them,” she said quietly. “They’ll find fresh meat soon.”
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure I believed her. She helped me carry my books and we walked quietly together towards the granite building, the skies threatening to blanket us with heavy rain. After handing over my books, she left me at my locker after a squeeze on my shoulder and headed towards her own class.
The day dragged on, and soon it was lunch. I was happy to find Sarah again by my locker, because I couldn’t see myself skipping lunch just because I had nowhere to sit. As we walked down the hallway, I heard a few whistles. Hank walked towards me, flanked by a few guys I didn’t recognize. One of them tugged on my bun, letting my long hair loose. “There, looking less like an uptight virgin and more like the cheerleader we saw yesterday.”
Sarah shoved him away from me hard and gave him the middle finger. “Get lost, you bozo. Leave her alone.”
My heart thudding in my chest, I hoped Hank remembered the threat Cole had leveled at him yesterday. He eyed me up and down like a piece of meat, a sneer cutting across his face, but passed by me and said nothing. I let go of the breath I was holding.
“Some guys can be so revolting,” Sarah said, her lips curled in disgust.
I nodded in agreement. “Hank seems to have quite a few henchmen.” I fished out a hair tie from my bag and hurriedly put my hair up in a loose ponytail, remembering how unruly it was today. I had yet to figure out what to do with my hair in this weather.
The cafeteria was a din of constant chatter and raucous laughter. We weaved our way through the web of tables occupied with the usual groups – the popular kids, the geeks, and the nondescript - and stopped at an unoccupied corner table with trays of half-eaten food on them.
&n
bsp; Setting her backpack down, Sarah tilted her chin at the line of people queuing up for food. “You go ahead. I’ll wait here.” She rummaged through her backpack and fished out an apple.
I waited in line and finally managed to grab two cartons of yogurt and some lasagna, and as I headed back to our table I caught sight of an Isaac twin sitting on a bench, surrounded by other aesthetically pleasing people like him. Cole, maybe? But he saw me looking and waved me towards them. Hans.
My gut clenched remembering how the twins had so far made no move to acknowledge my existence in school save for when Cole decided I needed to be put in my place. I lifted my chin and took a deep breath, hoping I wouldn’t regret my decision. Walking to their table briskly, I saw the moment Cole noticed me heading towards them, his jaw tightening and eyes steeling themselves, whereas they appeared bored just before.
“Guys, this is Ella. Ella – Jeremy, Hunter, Sean.” Jeremy was the guy who had attempted to be friendly before, dark-haired and muscular, although leaner than the twins. He gave me a solemn smile, probably remembering my stupid moves in the hallway with Hank.
Hunter had unruly blond hair and a single ear piercing, and looked at me thoughtfully. “She’s your new sister? Damn. I don’t mind hitting that.” It earned him a loud smack on his head from Cole, whose fierce eyes looked back at me loathingly. I quickly looked away, unable to hold his gaze. Sean - who sported the sexy nerd look, with his black hair short on the sides and falling onto his forehead on top, glasses magnifying his intense dark eyes - merely shook his head and continued munching on his burger. I decided I had had enough and gave a small wave and smile before turning to leave the table.
I passed by the cheerleaders’ table and found one of them I recognized from the tryouts giving me a genuine smile. Tasha, I think her name was. I smiled back. Next to her, Monica was examining her nails, pretending she hadn’t noticed me. “Hi, Ella.” Another girl waved. I waved back, wondering if I had made the team. The results were supposed to be out any day now.
Joining Sarah, who by then was polishing off the last of her meager lunch, I plopped down and hurried to assuage my rumbling stomach. The lasagna tasted a bit more like canned tomatoes and less meat and cheese, but was otherwise okay. Sarah tossed me a can of cold coffee and watched my eyes gleam with delight. “Thought you might enjoy that.” I tossed her a carton of yogurt in return.
“Hey guys!”
I watched as Jules sauntered over to the table, camera in hand. “Anything new?”
She smiled slowly. It seemed she took delight in being the first to know things at school. “You made the team.”
My eyebrows must have shot to my forehead in wonder as I looked up at her standing there.
“Bulletin board, just now,” she explained. I guess that explains why they’re being friendly.
My heart leaped, and I couldn’t keep the wide smile off my face. I made it!
“So you’re the cheerleading type, huh? I wouldn’t have guessed,” Sarah said. Coming from her, it didn’t seem like an insult. She didn’t seem to care what type I was, looking over a pile of papers, a pen in between her lips.
“Yeah, I didn’t know it either until I managed to not trip over my feet that first day,” I said with a laugh. “Studying already?”
Jules peeked over at Sarah’s notes and groaned. “That’s for next week’s quiz.”
Sarah shrugged. “It never hurts to prepare is all I’m saying.”
I mentally filed this away to be revisited at a quieter time later tonight – I already had a ton of homework piling up and hadn’t registered that we had a Math quiz, too. My mom, as sweet as she was, was super strict about my grades and made sure I performed to my fullest potential. Which was why I didn’t tell her that I was considering applying to med school. There would be no backtracking from there, and I didn’t want the possibility of disappointing her once her expectations were raised.
I glanced at Hans again, remembering his pointers about the various classes. Be careful in Math. Ms. Jones will find any excuse to penalize you. Mr. Bennett likes it if you offer to put away all the Bunsen burners afterward. And: Avoid the last seat in the second row in English. It brings bad luck.
I had trouble gauging him and what he thought of me - specifically, what his thoughts were of my mother and I. Cole read like an open book, although the extreme hatred befuddled me, but Hans played with his cards kept close to him. He didn’t make me feel welcome, exactly, despite his apparent easygoing ways. I just hoped I wasn’t overcalling it and losing a chance to let someone who could be really like family in. And family was something I had always craved for. We were a tiny unit, my mother and I, ever since my father left us when I was one. Of all the things I was thankful for, it was that he left at a time when I had barely formed an understanding of who he was to me. It meant there was almost no pain, that my tender age acted as a cushion to stop all the questions from tumbling in. Like: How could he? How does anyone leave their own child, their toddler, their flesh and blood and never look back? Don’t they feel any attachment to the little being they brought into the world? I looked like him. My mother had never told me that, but I had found a picture of the two of them in a box under my mom’s bed back home. I had his blue eyes and light hair, and he looked exactly like a boy any girl would fall for: white, cocky grin and sexy dimples. Sometimes I even asked myself, even though I knew it was pointless: was it something I did wrong? Was it me? So I was glad to never have any memories of him, not to have had that bond with him that I might have had had he left at a later period in my life.
It didn’t mean I was perfectly happy without him, however. At a time when my friends had a father to hold their hand and stop boys from teasing them, I learned that crying didn’t solve very much and turned to biting those boys whenever they pulled on my pigtails instead. My mother did her best, but she couldn’t stop me from looking at my friends when their dads came to pick them up from school and gave them bear hugs.
And now I was seventeen, too old to form any real sort of daughterly attachment to Marcus. Count your blessings. I took a deep breath and resolved to think positively. Not too old to be making new relationships with people who mattered. Looking at the twins again, I wondered what sort of relationship we were likely to have twenty, thirty years from now. I couldn’t see it, but then I again, I had always thought I’d stay in that small house my mom and I used to live in, and live a mediocre life, perhaps becoming a nursing assistant at an old folks’ home. And now, I was thinking of med school. Neurosurgery even. Never say never.
Chapter 6
Cole
There she goes again. I allowed the familiar resentment seep into my pores, washed down further by bitterness and a healthy dose of anger, as I watched the innocuous girl strut down the halls without a care in the world. As if this life were meant for her. As if she could come here and take over my life, my family, my house, my food, my car. I knew she slept well at night, whilst I tossed and turned until I finally gave up, only to doze off in the early hours of the morning and be met by the same horrifying nightmare. It was as if someone had their finger on the replay button and was having the last laugh. Sometimes I gave up all pretense of trying to sleep and just watched her, her eyelids fluttering as she slept, letting my mind go wild and imagine all the ways I would exact revenge.
The girl didn’t know, but her arrival in Gray Lake breathed life into the skeleton of a being I had become. Being a football star, worshipped by most of the school and town - it would mean something to someone who cared. Caring was only possible for those who had a heart, and mine had died a long time ago.
Visions of dark water and heavy breathing flashed in front of me, and my breath caught, keeping me in a stranglehold until I felt myself my oxygen supply cut off, my eyes brimming with moisture from the pain. And I relished the pain, felt it burn inside me, fueling me with a reminder of why I was still here. Anger commanded my entire being, dominating my black soul, and I pushed off the wall, pushing Hunter
aside as he sweet-talked Delilah. I followed Ella round the corner and up the stairs, ignoring whoever was calling my name. Where was she headed to? She walked all the way down the deserted hallway and turned to the right. Her long golden hair was up in a ponytail, and with her big blue eyes magnified by her stupid glasses, she looked every bit the virgin the guys liked to speak about. I didn’t doubt for a second that this was all a part of her act, one she had down pat.
Why was she always going to places where no one else went to, anyway? This girl’s just asking for it. I padded quietly down the hallway towards the door she had disappeared into and stopped short of entering the girls’ washroom. Weren’t there washrooms downstairs? After a couple of minutes, I pushed the door and entered.
Hans
Cole’s eyes lit up as he followed Ella up the stairs. You sicko. I knew she was going to make our lives better, somehow. I laughed and turned back around, shoving the can of Coke I got for Cole back into my backpack. He had a one-track mind at times and now was one of them. Lunch was probably the last thing on his mind. Or maybe she’s lunch. I laughed at my own sordid joke. I joined Sean and Jeremy as we headed towards the cafeteria. Lindsay linked her arm through mine the moment she saw me. As cute as she was, I was beginning to get bored of her, and decided now was as good a time as any to let her down easy. I removed my arm from her and shook my head firmly when she sat down next to me at our usual table. I watched as her eyes widened with understanding and she stood up and left in a huff, bringing a doleful Delilah with her, whose brown eyes were looking longingly at Hunter. Hunter, being the dick that he was, remained oblivious to the lovesick girl and turned to smack me on the back instead. “Man, we need new broads around here,” he whined. I guess he wasn’t that oblivious to Delilah, then. “Wanna have a party this weekend? Invite chicks from all the schools?”
Sean looked up from the book he was reading. His sporty nerd look drove the girls wild, and I couldn’t decide if it was really him or just a cover. But he could be counted on to have our backs, and had grown up with us. “Already? The school year just started.” He went back to reading and was promptly shoved by Hunter.
