I smoked my cigarette and played everything out in my head.
Jett showed up a few minutes later, climbing out of his jacked-up truck with the biggest coffee I ever saw in my life. Sunglasses plastered to his face, hinting to me that they weren’t worn because the sun was out.
“No sleep, huh?” he asked me.
“I just appreciate the value of work,” I said. “And I’m hanging here for the day.”
“The hell you are,” he growled.
“Jett. We’re short. And there’s work.”
“I don’t give a shit about that, Wes. You’re taking your ass to class.”
“I’m good for a day away.”
“Something happen?” Jett asked.
“Nah.”
“That’s a lie,” Jett said. “I’ve known you since you were shitting your pants, Wes. I know when you’re lying, scared, everything.”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“You sure about that?” Jett asked. “Because I think whatever is going on with that stolen ride has something to do with someone setting us up again.”
“What?”
“It just seems off. That’s all. There’s nothing that can come our way about it though. Hell, I’ll open our books for anyone.”
“Pop would kill you.”
“Oh well. Dusty knows we’re clean in this. But our reputation…”
“Yeah, I know. We’re the bad guys no matter what happens.”
“That’s our fault too, Wes.”
“So what’s the plan now with it?”
“Nothing,” Jett said. He walked into the garage and put his coffee down. He stretched his neck. “Dusty is still piecing things together. Someone messed with the brakes on the motorcycle. Or someone who put it together didn’t know what they were doing.”
“If there’s another fight starting up here…”
“Doubt it,” Jett said.
I don’t doubt it, Jett. You want to hear about me and Ryland…
Jett rubbed his face with his hands. He wore a skull ring on his left thumb. He had tattoos that came down to his wrists and stopped. Flames up his arms with so many colors and different pieces of ink, each one a part of his story in life.
“You better start talking about what’s going on with you,” Jett said.
“It’s personal, Jett.”
“The hell it is. You don’t have personal stuff, Wes.”
I laughed. “This time I do.”
“Over what?”
“Aira.”
There. I spoke her name.
“Yeah? What about?”
“She’s back in town, Jett. No idea why either.”
“Why’s it your problem?”
“She thinks we’re still eleven years old. Where her biggest problem was getting her new sundress dirty.”
Jett smirked. “That so?”
“What’s so fucking funny to you?”
“Nothing. Just don’t get why it’s your problem to worry about her.”
“You know what? Sorry I said anything.”
I walked back outside to soak up some of the early sun.
I heard the whining cry of a street ride and curled my lip.
It took all of ten seconds before I saw the neon green blur shoot down the road, slowing just enough as it went by the shop so Ryland could turn his head and look at me. Of course I couldn’t see his face because of his helmet.
But it was him.
I wiped my forehead again and looked back at Jett. “You know, maybe I will go to school today. Get some of that education they’re giving away.”
Jett didn’t say anything. His stare was enough though.
He was pissed at me. He knew I wasn’t telling the entire truth. That was okay though. My fight with Ryland was my business.
Hell, even that was a lie.
The shit between myself and Ryland went way beyond Aira or any other bullshit high school stuff.
And that was the stuff I needed to protect Aira from before it was too late.
* * *
I had my foot up on someone’s locker as I waited to see Aira.
Leo was next to me on the lookout for Ryland.
“Hallway’s not a good spot for this,” Leo said to me.
“Shut up,” I said.
Flynn was the one who told me that Aira had been jumped by Mika and her dumbass friends. Mika was crazy as sin. And not in the good bedroom way either. Well, she probably was there too, but that was something I had no desire to get tied into. She wasn’t only crazy but she had this fantasy that she and Ryland were going to end up married with twenty-five kids and ten mansions.
That was Ryland’s fault for the way he used her. She was his last choice when he needed something from someone. And she just went along with it.
But that wasn’t my issue.
My issue went well beyond that.
Through the thinned crowd of people walking, I spotted Charlotte. We called her Perfect Ten for the obvious reasons hanging off her chest. And god damn Flynn for somehow roping her in. Then again, watching Flynn by her side, holding her hand, looking like a horny puppy dog, Charlotte was the one in control of that relationship. Not that I could blame Flynn for it though.
Flynn looked at me and nodded.
When Charlotte looked, I curled my lip.
She hurried to look away.
I spotted Kailey and Emma walking arm in arm. They were talking and laughing but froze when they saw me.
I pointed at them and then turned to go the other way.
I wanted to know where the hell they were last night when this went down with Aira and Mika.
There were other reasons I stood there waiting too.
And the second Ryland turned the corner, with his arm around Cora, I stepped out into the hall. I was in my dirty clothes from the shop still and smelled like it too. My jeans were tore up with grease stains on them. My black shirt with dried sweat on it. And I didn’t give a damn that I took up half the hallway.
Ryland leaned down and kissed Cora on the cheek. She quickly touched her cheek and blushed. Then she bit her bottom lip. It was sometimes sad to see how foolish these girls could be with him.
Ryland wasn’t even paying attention to me as he tried to walk by.
I threw my left shoulder at him and he stumbled back, letting Cora go.
He looked at me, then looked at Cora.
“I’ll catch you later, sweetheart,” he said and blew her a kiss.
Cora trotted away to find her friends.
Because, ohmygood, the cutest and richest boy just talked to me and I think he’s going to want to finger me…
We just stared at each other.
I wasn’t dumb enough to not know Ryland had his hand in what happened to Aira.
Ryland had his sunglasses hanging from the front of his two-hundred-dollar t-shirt. He didn’t mind flaunting Alexander and Rosemary’s money. Those were his parents. And I knew them very well.
“Did you see Aira today?” Ryland asked. “Her lip looks all fucked up.”
I stepped toward Ryland and he stepped back, putting his hand out.
He casually let out a whistle as I tightened up my fist to break his jaw.
That’s when Henders came walking around the corner.
Mika at his side.
“See?” she said. “Right there. He looks unstable to me.”
Ryland stepped back two more steps, grinning. “You know, Wes, I can’t tell if she got hit in the lip or that swelling is from kissing you. Gotta to be careful spreading those STDs around these parts.”
“Fucker,” I growled.
I lunged forward.
Mika let out a helpless cry and stepped behind Henders.
“Help me,” she said. “He’s going to hurt me.”
I stopped and looked at Mika. “I’m going to hurt you? What did you do last night?”
“Mr. Jackson,” Henders bellowed. “We need to talk. Privately.”
Every muscle i
n my body stiffened.
Of course that was the moment Aira appeared.
Hugging books to her chest, looking confused and tired.
But goddammit, she was prettier than ever.
I saw her lip and I felt the anger boiling worse than ever.
She stood there and looked at Ryland. Then at Mika. Then at me.
Without hesitation, she turned and started to run.
“Aira!” I called out. “Wait!”
I took off after her.
“He’s going to hurt her again!” Mika yelled.
That fucking bitch…
Henders bellowed my name again.
He was hot on my ass.
I managed to get to Aira and blocked her way.
She turned and put her back against the wall.
I hurried to touch her face.
“I’m so sorry, darling,” I whispered. “I swear to you, they won’t get away with this.”
Aira shook her head. “Don’t…”
“Weslee Jackson,” Henders yelled as he slammed a hand into my shoulder. “Get the hell out of my building. Right now.”
“They’re full of shit,” I said to Henders. “The two of them over there.”
“If I find out any of it is true, you’re out of here for good,” Henders said.
“Mika did this,” Aira said, pointing to her lip. “Last night. Her and her friends.”
“Not on school property?” Henders asked.
“No,” Aira said.
“Then there’s nothing I can do right now,” he said. “Weslee, you need to leave.”
I leaned in and put my lips close to Aira’s ear. “Bleachers behind the track, darling.”
I brushed my lips to her ear and then backed away for good.
There was a door at the end of the hall.
“Don’t use that-”
Before Henders could finish his next bullshit command I punched the door open and was gone.
I walked across the sprawling campus full of perfect trees and perfect landscaping. Behind the old building were all the sports fields. Football. Baseball. Soccer. The track with its straight, white lines all the way around it. Everything in tip top shape and order for all the rich kids to pretend they knew what they were doing.
The second set of bleachers was where I stood and waited, helping myself to a cigarette. It didn’t shock me what Ryland and Mika did. As much as I hated Ryland, he was as smart and as calculating as his parents. There was a lot I could take on the chin and walk away from, but not with Aira.
When I saw her walking across the grassy field toward me, I stepped out from under the bleachers. I dropped my cigarette and crushed it with the heel of my black work boot.
Aira was carrying the same books in the same fashion. My eyes couldn’t stop looking at her lip. It probably looked worse than it felt.
“Hey,” she called out as she stopped way too far from me.
“Hey.”
“I can’t stay long. I don’t want to get into more trouble.”
“More trouble?”
She pointed to her lip.
“Darling, that should have never happened. I should have-”
“No, Wes. It’s not going to work that way.”
“Work what way?” I asked, curling my eyebrows down.
“Like this. You acting hidden and tough. I should have never met you last night. I did this to myself. I started things with Mika. And Kailey warned me.”
“Kailey? Oh yeah? What else did she say?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Aira said. “She was right. If I just stayed with her, Charlotte, and Emma, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Don’t say that,” I said.
“It’s true. Even if Ryland was there, they would have-”
“Ryland was there last night?” I asked.
I stepped toward Aira.
“Yeah. After Mika and her friends left. He helped me up. He apologized for her.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I said.
“No, you’re not,” Aira said. “You’re going to leave everything go, Wes. I didn’t come here for this.”
“Then what did you come here for?” I asked.
“To get away from everything.”
“You picked the wrong place for that, darling.”
“I know,” she said. “I have to go. Don’t get yourself into trouble because of me, Wes. I don’t need that on my mind on top of everything else.”
I curled my lip and watched Aira turn and walk away.
My eyes traveled down her womanly figure and rested at her ass.
My god did time take care of her.
My hands balled up into fists again.
I wanted everyone to pay for what they had done.
Anyone who had said something bad about me to Aira.
Mika for setting Aira up.
I wanted to kill Ryland… and I meant it.
And I was far from done with Aira.
Chapter 12
Aira
I survived the day and the run on the beach with Kailey, Charlotte, and Emma. They did their best not to talk about my lip and what had happened, but the conversation kept going back there. Apparently there was some dirt on Mika that involved a certain vegetable and a certain body part, but Kailey didn’t think that would be good enough to get her back since everyone already sort of knew about it.
When we finished running, I sucked down a disgusting kale smoothie and then I went to see Julia at the See B’s.
The fresh smell of the bread and coffee made me feel alive. And seeing Julia made me feel safe.
She didn’t bring up my lip that morning but I knew the look on her face. Burning to ask me about it.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she said to me as I eyed a blueberry muffin that was whispering my name.
“What?” I asked.
“You work for me for a little bit right now and I won’t ask about your lip.”
“Can I have a coffee and some real food?” I asked. “Kale smoothie…”
“Oh. Gross.”
“Totally gross,” I said.
“Take whatever you want,” Julia said. “Get an apron. I’ll give you the tour.”
I walked around the counter and Julia tossed me a black apron to put on.
She grabbed my hand and offered a weak smile. “Heard from your parents too.”
“Great,” I said. “They can’t call me?”
Julia shrugged her shoulders. “They’re worried about you. I told them to call you. They don’t want you to get upset.”
“About what?”
“The house, Aira.”
“It’s not their fault the house burned down.”
“Well, your father is in Seattle for a conference. Your mother is staying with Regina?”
I rolled my eyes. “That means she’s in wine country. There goes the insurance money.”
Julia snorted. “I knew I liked you, Aira.”
“They can be snobs. That’s not me.”
“Good. Now let’s get to work.”
Julia and I worked until she closed up the bakery. I didn’t even realize how late it was. And when we were done, we sat on the counter and shared a croissant and had coffee.
“I know it’s hard to talk about,” Julia said. “But is everything going okay?”
“You said you weren’t going to ask about my lip.”
“I didn’t ask about your lip. I asked about you.”
“I’m good. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You’ve been through a lot, Aira. I hope you know that. I hope you aren’t holding all that stuff in.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m finding my way through it all.”
“Okay. I’m sorry about your parents. Jack and Stella.” Julia waved her hands.
I curled my fingers together and made a jerking motion.
Julia laughed. “You better stick to that stuff so you don’t get pregnant.”
“Ohmygod,” I said, shutting my eyes. My face
burned hot. “Did you really just say that?”
“What?” Julia asked. “I mean, it’s important…”
“I’m not a kid,” I said. “You realize how old I am?”
“And you’re in my house and in my care. I just want to make sure…”
“You know what? Here’s some news for you. I got jumped last night by a bunch of girls because of a guy. And I’m also a virgin. So that’s my life right now. Okay?”
Julia’s eyes went wide. “When you say jumped…”
“Forget it,” I said. “I took care of it today.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I took care of it.” I jumped off the counter. “I’m going to go for a walk on the beach.”
“Let me drive you home,” Julia said.
We left the bakery and drove home in silence.
I kept that silence going too.
I was standing at the fridge and saw some kind of weird looking red juice.
I took the cup out to smell it when the door shut and Julia stood there.
After screaming, I spilled the juice on my jeans and the jar hit the floor, shattering.
“Crap, sorry,” Julia said.
“What was that?” I yelled at her.
“Trying to corner you. To say something.”
“To say what?” I asked.
“That whoever jumped you… I hope you beat the living shit out of them. And if you decide to do that, I’ll have your back all the way. Sorry about your jeans. I’ll get you new ones.”
I took a deep breath. “Thanks.”
“I’ll also clean the floor.”
“What was that stuff?”
“Pomegranate juice,” Julia said.
“Oh. Cool.”
I walked to my bedroom and stripped out of my stained jeans. It wasn’t even worth trying to salvage them. I balled them up and tossed them to the corner of the room. Just what I needed. More of my stuff lost or ruined.
I opened the middle drawer of the dresser and took out a pair of shorts.
It was dark out and I was going for a walk by myself. So I didn’t mind wearing the shorts.
I grabbed my favorite hoodie and left the house as Julia was finishing up cleaning the mess that I caused but was her fault.
Maybe I should have stayed and helped.
Oh well.
I jogged down to the water and when I felt the first cool rush of water on my feet, I wiggled my toes into the thick wet sand and I put my head back and smiled.
HIDDEN CREEK SECRETS: a hidden creek high novel Page 8
