by Rachel Leigh
“I’m sorry to say this, B, but your parents are fucking crazy. If anyone has issues it’s them. I’m seeing it more and more each day.”
“You’re just being nice.” I smile. “Haven’t you heard the saying the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?”
“Of course I have, but I also know that no apple is perfect, and eventually, they all fall.”
“I just need to know…”
I’m cut off when Jasper begins to pull at my arm. The coast is clear. We shuffle down the hallway until we reach Talon’s room. I swing open the door and my heart drops. Empty.
“Where did he go?” I gasp.
“Stay here.” Jasper instructs me, shutting the door behind him as he goes back into the hall.
For once, I do as I’m told. Minutes feel like hours as I stand here with the tube dangling from my arm. I look at the bag of fluid that is almost empty and realize I don’t have much time before this thing starts beeping.
The first time it happened I was twelve. It was just over one year after the accident. It was summer vacation, and I had just got my first designer purse. I couldn't wait to show it off. I was riding my bike to meet Meg halfway when a van pulled up beside me. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Redwood is a pretty safe town. I’ve never encountered anyone who gave me reason to feel that some of the residents were anything less than friendly.
“Hey there, young lady. Our dog seems to have run off. Have you seen him come through here at all?” The passenger said, through the cracked window that was rolled halfway.
Smoke rolled out as he exhaled a cloud with his words. I look to the driver who had a devilish grin on his face that instantly told me to keep moving. But my feet didn’t move. It’s as if I was frozen in place. My mind kept telling my body to go but my body didn’t listen, in typical Blakely Porter fashion, always being stubborn.
The van door opened as the hinge screeched. I focused on the movement and the orange rust that had replaced some of the blue paint.
Go, Blakely. Just go.
I still couldn’t move.
I felt his strong hand wrap around my bare arm as his calloused fingers scratched the surface of my skin. Just as he gave a pull, I heard a voice that shook me from my slumber.
Meg.
“Blakely, what are you doing? Who are they?” she asked, now at my side. Just as oblivious to the situation as I was.
The grip on me released and the door slammed shut, kicking off a chunk of rust and leaving behind a fog of exhaust. I watched as the van drove off and it wasn’t until it rounded the corner that I was finally able to move. I brushed my hand over my drenched forehead and credited it to the high heat. Unknown at the time that it was more. So much more.
The door swings open and I expect to see Jasper alone, only he’s not. A young lady in scrubs is shaking her head with her arms crossed over her chest. Jasper pierces his lips in an attempt not to laugh, and I smile at his response to the awkward encounter.
“You, young lady, should be in bed.” The nurse hisses, taking hold of my temporary accessory and pulling it toward the hall, forcing me to follow.
I stumble into the hall. “Where is my brother?” I mutter with worry behind my words.
“He was released. That’s all the information I could get.” Jasper shrugs. He’s seemingly unaffected, which means one of two things. Talon really is okay, or he doesn’t have anything to go on to assume otherwise.
I stop in my tracks and endure the pull of the tube in my arm as the nurse continues. Once she feels the resistance, she turns around. “Come on. You can catch up once your back in your room. The doctor is waiting to release you.”
I drop the subject for now. I’m getting released. I can figure out what’s going on once I get the hell out of this dreadful place.
Chapter Seventeen
Jasper
In Psychology class last week we touched on a subject that stood out to me. Solipsism. It’s the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.
Would I call B a solipsistic person? No, I wouldn’t. Though, others see things a bit differently than I do. After her father lashed out at me and told me to stay the hell away from his daughter, for reasons unknown to me, he proceeded to tell me that she’s manic. His exact words, “She’s crazy enough without you making her worse.” I didn’t respond, though he kept talking.
I knelt down beside B while they got her onto the gurney. I brushed her drenched hair away from her pale face and whispered in her ear that I wouldn’t leave her side, and I meant it.
“When things get real, she makes herself pass out. It’s all for attention and you’re feeding into it. Blakely lives in her world and nothing else matters.”
I expected her dad to stick around, but once they took her back into a room to examine her, he left. Never even asked how she was getting home. Apparently, he needed to catch a flight for business.
It’s obvious that B has some issues that have always been brushed under the table and saved for another time. Only, that time will never come for her parents. They will continue to sweep away her cries for help, just like they did with Talon. Now he is on his way to California for the next thirty days to a rehabilitation center, before moving in with his Aunt and Uncle. In my opinion, it’s for the best. If only B would take an out and get away from her self-absorbed parents. She insists that she has to stay until after graduation. I’ll never understand it, but I don’t have to.
I look over at her sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat of my car. Her hair is a beautiful matted mess. Her mouth agape. Every couple of minutes, I catch her wiping drool with the back of her hand. I smile each time. Blakely Porter drools. Another new thing I’ve learned and another thing that I love, because it makes her, her. B isn’t solipsistic; she’s a normal girl who faces normal problems.
Her phone vibrates on the seat for the twentieth time since we’ve left the hospital. I glance down, Knox again. I could answer it and let him know that she’s okay. I’m sure he’s worried about her. For my own selfish reasons, though, I don’t. I want to be her hero today.
We pull into my driveway, and she immediately jumps up. “Are we home already?”
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” I smile.
She runs her fingers through her hair, catching them on some of the snarls. Fighting to break through, she gives up.
“Ugh, I need a shower.” Her fingers wrap around her phone when she sees all of the missed calls. “Knox.” She gasps. Tapping away at her phone, she brings it to her ear with her eyes pierced in front of her. “Hey. Yes, I’m fine. I swear, Knox. It was just a little episode. Talon called you? Good, I’m glad he’s getting out of here.” She goes quiet. “Knox, can I stay?”
My heart drops a little. We live in the same house. Couldn’t she just ask me? I suppose I need to get used to the fact that he will always come first. How can I compete with that? I open the door and climb out while she finishes her conversation.
I grab my bag from the back seat and momentarily stress over the fact that I missed an entire day of classes. I give myself a break when I remember that it was for good reason. Somehow, I need to catch up, but I don’t dare ask any of my delightful classmates for notes.
I stand outside the car with my back pressed against it and wait for her to wrap up her phone call. I could just go in the house since it looks like she’s staying here, but she’s still a little loopy from the meds, so I wait it out. B has never been one to pay much attention to time. I feel sorry for the guy she ends up marrying, he’ll spend his entire life waiting on her to move her feet.
Ten minutes later—yes, I stood in the cold for ten minutes just to wait for her, she finally emerges from the passenger door.
“You can go inside. Knox is coming to help me grab a bag for the night.”
I look over and see him walking in our direction. I guess it’s time to fold up my cape. She doesn’t need me anymore. I give her a nod and head toward the door. The next thing I know
a strong grip on my arm stops me. I swing around and before I can even speak, B’s lips are pressed against my cheek.
“Thank you.” She smirks, releasing her grip on my arm and jogging back over to Knox who is standing there watching her like she’s lost her damn mind. Maybe she has. If that’s the case, I don’t want her to find it. I’ll take crazy B over Queen B any day. Hearing her say thank you, when those words aren’t even in her vocabulary, is enough for me. The kiss was an added bonus—even if it was just a peck on the cheek.
For the first time since I’ve moved here, I joined the members of this house for dinner. Only because B begged. And begged. And begged some more. And by begging, I mean teasing and flaunting herself in the doorway of my bedroom for fifteen minutes while I tried to study for my history test. Making promises or telling lies. One way or another, she owes me a blowjob. It’s nice seeing her smile. As soon as she got in this house, it’s like someone else stepped inside of her body and gave it life.
After getting an earful from Dad about skipping school and missing practice, I was finally able to convince him that it was important. He knows I’m well aware that Redwood High is my last chance if I want to graduate. He also knows that aside from my temper, I excel in all of my classes.
“Jasper, I’m so glad you’re joining us.” Val beams as she tosses a couple of potholders in the middle of the table. “Blakely helped me cook you all up something special.” She looks to B who is walking into the dining room, sporting a black and white checkered apron overtop an oversized tee shirt and sweatpants. A casserole dish and two big oven mitts holding its place in her hands. She sets the dish on top of the pot holders and returns back to the kitchen.
“Smells amazing,” Dad says, as he brushes his hands through the air, moving the scented steam in his direction.
Val and B return again with a basket of dinner rolls and a tossed salad. Sitting down for dinner like this beats TV dinners and frozen pizza, but it’s an adjustment that I’m not sure if I’m ready for. It brings back memories of Mom. She was always adamant about sitting together as a family. When our bundle came apart, Dad and I made a new normal. Dinner in front of Sports Center.
“Dig in,” Val insists as she sits back and waits for everyone to fill their plates—a typical mom for you, making sure everyone is satisfied before she satisfies herself.
I watch as B scoops something scary onto her plate and sinks back into my seat. What is this family trying to get me to eat?
She must have caught wind of my disgusted expression. “What’s wrong, Jasper? Never seen a tomato before?” She giggles, taking her seat and stuffing a forkful of... egg, was that egg on top of this casserole?
“Alright,” I fess up, “I’m not eating this stuff.” I push my plate away and all eyes land on me. I grab a dinner roll and start picking it apart, sticking a small piece in my mouth to make sure it’s safe before devouring it. I don’t want any more surprises, and I have no idea what’s in this roll. “Who puts eggs and tomatoes on a casserole. Where’s the meat?”
Everyone laughs, seeming all too amused with my distaste.
“It’s a Caprese Quinoa Bake. Just give it a try,” B says, stretching her arm over to me with a fork full of some rice looking stuff on it.
“Uh uh, no way.” I turn my head. I’m suddenly reminded why I don’t do dinners with the fam. Of course, just like any other time B senses hesitation, she becomes more forceful. I’m unsure if it’s a power trip or the fact that she doesn’t like the word “no,” but she doesn’t back down. The fork moves closer as my head moves farther away.
I can smell it now, and I’m on the verge of vomiting all over their shit casserole.
“One bite.” She pushes the fork so close that I can feel the steam of the contents rolling onto my cheek and up my nostrils.
Everyone is watching us, which doesn’t bother me one bit, but I’m not sure if they are going to like hearing the sound effects if I take a bite of this stuff.
“Double or nothing.” she whispers with a smirk, but loud enough that I’m sure everyone has heard. Either way, the next thing I know I have a mouthful of gritty grains. I don’t even chew it, I just swallow. Which is exactly what she’ll be doing later.
Sitting here right now at a table full of people who probably still wear clothes while they fuck, I’m rock hard and gulping down a glass of water to chase the remnants of what I’d do just to have her mouth wrapped around me.
B sits back in her seat with a satisfied smile plastered on her face that has begun to return to its normal color. She gets a rise out of obedience from others, I get off on her smile.
Everyone decided to go catch a movie after dinner. After convincing Dad that I really did not want to go, he finally gave up asking. I promised to look after B, even though Knox wasn’t exactly keen on that idea.
Dinner wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It doesn’t mean that I’m ready to toss on an apron and strut around making small talk with the people of this house every night, but it was tolerable. I made a promise to myself that I would avoid all distractions for the next couple of hours while I study and try and get some notes from Petra for a couple classes I missed today. I sent her a message before dinner, and she agreed to help me out. B is taking a shower and as much as I’d love to sneak in there and collect on her debt, I use this as an opportunity to Facetime Petra and go over everything.
I open up my MacBook and begin the video call. I gasp, trying not to sound too taken aback by the huge bruise that’s been masked terribly on the side of her face. Part of me wants to laugh, the other wants to cringe. Petra may have an angry heart, at least that’s what B says, but she’s gorgeous on the outside. Her jet black hair falls like a satin curtain and sways with each movement. And, her matching eyes have a slight curvature at the end, leaving me to believe she has a mix of Korean in her Hispanic blood.
I scoot up with my back pressed against the headboard of my bed and my notebooks scattered around me.
“Hey, thanks for agreeing to help me out.”
“No problem at all. Let’s start with Math. Mr. Grimmard was out today, so we had a lame sub who basically just made us do all of Chapter 14 on the Mathletics site, so that should be easy enough for you.”
I take notes in my textbook to the side of my computer as Petra continues to talk, filling me in on Math, Bio, and sending me screenshots of her History notes for the test.
“How is she doing?” Petra asks. She doesn’t say who ‘she’ is, but I know she’s talking about B. I’m just not sure if she really cares or why she would.
“She’s good.” I don’t elaborate; it’s not my business to share and B would kill me if she knew I had talked to Petra about her at all.
“Are you two like a thing now?”
I shake my head. “No, we’re just friends. Why?”
“Rumor has it that you two are sleeping together to try and make Levi jealous.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I chuckle. “I don’t give two fucks about that douche and what he thinks.” I shake my head at the notion that I care about whether a failed QB and his plaything are jealous. “Besides, aren’t you and Levi together now? Probably for no reason more than to make Blakely jealous.”
“Blakely Porter’s feelings are about as valuable to me as the Walmart bra my Gram bought me in the ninth grade. I give her no thought. Except if you’re talking about this little number on the side of my face.” She points a finger at the bluish stain on her cheek. “She’s lucky I didn’t call the cops on her.”
“I think everyone can agree that you and B need to just steer clear from each other. Now,” I flip through my Biology notebook. “Did I miss anything of importance in Bio?”
“Mr. Somers came in sporting a snug pair of cargos and had to escort Paul Davis out when he kept throwing spit wads at Mrs. Gregory.” Petra smiles, flashing her perfect white teeth.
“No clue who that is.” I shrug blankly.
“Anyways, you didn’t miss much.” Petra b
egins swirling a strand of her black hair around her finger. “Can you get the English notes from Knox’s mom?” she questions.
“Yeah, I guess I can do that.” I’d rather not, but my pride is going to have to take the back seat for this one.
I look back to my notes to see if there is anything else that I need from her, but she cuts my concentration. “Jasper?” she says softly, yet my name is loaded rolling off her tongue.
I look up, and she suddenly seems nervous, which catches me off guard.
“You know, since you and Blakely aren’t together and Levi and are not together, contrary to what people may think, maybe we could,” she pauses, “hang out sometime.” She lifts one shoulder, tilting her bruised cheek into it.
My feelings for B have magnified more than I could have ever imagined. Up to the surface and ready to break through the layers of walls I’ve built up. I also know that B has no interest in anything more than having fun with me. I’m not even sure how long that will last, considering she’s pining for Levi, and it sounds like it won’t be long until she gets what she wants and leaves me hanging high and dry, my feelings being the noose around my neck because I put them out there.
Regardless, I couldn’t do that to B or myself.
I open my mouth to speak but before the words come out—before I even know what I’ll say, my bedroom door swings open, and B is standing there. In nothing but a white towel. Wet blonde hair falling carelessly, releasing beads of water that roll slowly down her chilled arms.
She closes the door, pushing in the lock, and I’m speechless. Staring wide eyed at her beautiful body as the towel drops to the floor.
“Jasper, is everything ok?” Petra’s voice breaks my gaze, and I suck the air back into my emptied lungs when I step back into reality.
I close the laptop quickly. Just slamming it shut without even saying anything to Petra. I look to B who has picked her towel up off the floor and has begun tucking it in place.
“Was that Petra?” Her head’s twisted and her lip is sucked between her teeth so hard that I fear blood will begin spilling from her mouth.
