Our audience released a collective, Whoa! Ben looked around, nodding like he thought he’d won. I tried playing nice.
A rumbling growl built in my chest and exploded out of me, echoing through the change rooms as angry red colours coated my eyes. My fist shot out and slammed into his jaw, sending him reeling.
I didn’t give him a chance to get back up. I physically launched myself at him, ramming him into the brick wall pummelling him with my fists. He got a few good hits in before I was hauled off him, kicking and spitting, swearing I was going to take his life if he touched her again.
“You’re fucking crazy,” he yelled, swiping at his mouth and finding blood.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, motherfucker.”
Next stop, the principal’s office. Neither of us talked. So our parents were called, and we were suspended for three days.
I didn’t give a fuck about the suspension. Ben deserved every cut and bruise I gave him. But my mother didn’t see the justice behind my actions, grounding me for an entire month. I was to go to school and come straight home—no fun, no friends, no... Trina.
* * *
Late that night, a gentle tapping on my window told me Trina had already heard about Ben’s and my fight. Knowing this could turn into a shit fight, I sighed before I got off my bed and opened the curtains.
“What are you doing here? You can’t go walking around at night on your own,” I hissed through the darkened window.
“Want to explain to me why Ben broke up with me over the phone this afternoon?”
“He broke up with you? Good.”
Her hands went to her hips. “Good?”
“Yeah. Good. The guy’s a jerk.” I pulled on a pair of shoes and jumped out the window onto the ground next to her. “I’ll walk you home. It’s not safe around here.”
“Why is it safe for you to come to my window, but it’s not safe for me to go to yours?”
“Because you’re a girl. Girls shouldn’t walk around at night on their own. Simple as that.”
“You’re such a chauvinist sometimes.”
“Yeah, well, I’m the only guy around who’s looking out for you.” I started walking, knowing she’d come too.
“Beating Ben to a pulp is looking out for me, is it?”
“Yep,” I said, letting the ‘p’ pop as we walked side by side.
“Did you tell him to break up with me too?” When I glanced at her, I could see that her eyes were red and swollen from crying. I hated that she was hurting. But I still didn’t regret what I did. If she knew what Ben had been saying about her, what he was planning, she’d be humiliated.
“I told him to stay away from you.”
“Why? What did he do to warrant that?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“My boyfriend dumped me, David.” Shoving me in the shoulder, she got in my way so I needed to sidestep her to avoid stopping. “Don’t you think I deserve an explanation.”
“From him? Absolutely. But from me…” I glanced in her direction, my jaw tight. “I need you to trust that I acted for you. Not against you.”
As she seemed to consider that we walked in silence for a bit. “Are you badly hurt?” she asked, trying a different tack.
“I’m OK. I'll heal.”
She pulled me to a stop under a streetlight and grabbed me by the chin, turning my face from side to side as she took in my battle wounds. She then picked up my hands and ran her fingertips lightly over my grazed knuckles.
It wasn’t cold, but a chill ran through me as she gently stroked my hands. I wanted so many things from Trina, all of which I denied because I knew without a doubt I’d only cause her pain and leave her wanting. She smelled like strawberries, and I inhaled her greedily. She’s too good for you, David.
Lifting her gaze, she looked into my eyes. “Tell me what the fight was about.”
Pulling my hand from hers, I moved toward her house. “Let’s keep walking.”
“David,” she called, jogging to catch up. “Answer the question.”
“We got into a fight because the guy’s a fuckwit, all right?”
“That isn’t an answer.”
The only reply I had was a shake of my head. Sure, I could’ve told her he was talking shit about her. But then she’d want details, and I wasn’t going to be the one to give them to her. She’d feel dirty, used, violated. I wasn’t about to do that to her. This way, she’s angry, and she’s frustrated, but both those emotions are preferable.
“This is bullshit,” she said, walking a step ahead of me in stormy silence until we were back at her house.
“Here. I’ll give you a boost,” I said, interlacing my fingers and holding my hands open for her.
“What did he say about me?” she demanded in a harsh whisper.
“Trina.” I pressed my lips together and looked away.
“I know you, David. The only reason you’d beat him up and tell him to stay away from me was if he said something about me you didn’t like. What was it?”
“Are you going to let me give you a boost or not?”
“You seriously won’t tell me?” She dropped her hands so they slapped on her thighs. I met her eyes with silent determination. “Fine,” she said, planting her foot in my hands and letting me heft her over the fence while she mumbled about squeezing blood out of stones.
“Good night, Trina,” I told her as I turned to leave.
“Whatever David,” she said from the other side of the fence before her head popped up again. “You know something? I would have thought out of everyone in that locker room, you would have been the guy to tell me the truth. What is this? Some stupid bro code? I thought I meant more to you than that.”
I moved closer to her, taking her head in my hands as I planted a soft kiss upon her forehead. “You mean the world to me, Trina, and I don’t want to upset you over guy talk. I took care of it OK? You don’t have to worry about it. Now go inside before your parents hear us and ground you too.”
She rolled her eyes. But I still saw the tears escape as she turned away.
* * *
During my suspension, my mother left me a huge list of jobs I needed to have completed by the time she got home each day. She also swore that she was going to drop by randomly to check on me and alluded to having some sort of surveillance set up to make sure I stayed home.
I didn’t believe that, but I wasn’t in the mood for socialising, anyway. I spent my days trimming trees and weeding garden beds as well as cleaning out all of our storage areas. I wished the list of jobs took my mind of things, but they didn’t. I hated—hated—hearing Ben talk about Katrina like she was any other girl out there. It made me sick. And before I left the popular group I’d always been part of, he never would’ve spoken about her like that because she was under my protection, and I was one of them. But, I guess that’s what happened when you changed friendship groups; your alliances and respect changed too. I was never going to stand by and take it. I wasn’t to be trifled with.
On the third day of my suspension, Katrina detoured past my house on her way home from school. I was busy raking leaves in the front yard, so I didn’t realise she was there until she called to me.
“Are you back to school tomorrow?” she asked, standing on the council strip and talking to me over the garden bed.
I paused what I was doing and leaned on the rake, happy she was here speaking to me after she seemed so angry the other night. “Yeah. How’s it been in my absence?”
“Boring, enlightening, and a little lonely.”
“Enlightening?”
She bounced a shoulder and chewed on her lip a little. “Do you know Ethan? He’s in year twelve and gets off a stop before us on the bus.”
“Yeah. I know Ethan.”
“Of course you do. He’s on the basketball team isn’t he?”
I nodded, feeling pretty sure what was coming next.
“Well, Ethan sat next to me on the bus today. He told me what B
en was saying about me and what he said would happen after the formal. He told me how he was provoking you.”
I tapped the rake on the ground a couple of times, before I gave her a shrug. “Like I said, guy’s a fuckwit.”
“Yeah, but the stuff he said. It’s not true. Half of it hasn’t even happened, and I’m certainly not ready to…you know. Anyway, I’m glad we broke up. I really liked him at first, but then he started pressuring me to do more and well, it’s a relief to have that over. And I don’t like being locker room fodder. It’s supposed to be private, you know?”
I met her eyes, working my jaw as my memory reminded me of Ben’s bragging. “Yeah, Trina. I do know.”
“Do you ever do that? Talk about girls like they’re things to conquer?”
“No,” I assured her. “The guys who talk that way do it because they think they have something to prove.”
“And you don’t?”
I shook my head. “Not to them. Not to anyone.”
Reaching out, she nudged me on the shoulder and smiled. “Not even to me?”
Catching her hand, I pulled her into a one-armed hug. “There’s nothing to prove. If you don’t know me through and through by now, we’re doomed.”
Hugging me back tight, she took a deep inhale. “Sometimes I think I know you better than I know myself. I just wish you wouldn’t clam up the way you do.”
Releasing her, I offered a half smile. “Gotta have some sort of mystery going on.”
“Not really. I always know what’s wrong with you. I know why you do what you do.”
“You just want the gory details, huh?”
“I want to hear the truth from your mouth, actually.”
“And what truth is that?”
Repositioning her backpack, she smiled the way the Mona Lisa does. “I should go.”
I held my hand out to the side. “Aw, come on, Trina. You can’t leave me hanging like that.”
“Annoying, isn’t it?” She giggled as she turned away, the squeaking of my mum’s brakes stopping her in her tracks.
“Ah shit,” I muttered, immediately returning to my rake. I am so dead. “You need to leave.”
“Relax,” she whispered before turning her attention to my mum as she parked the car in the driveway. “Hi Mrs Taylor!” Katrina bounced on her toes and waved. Mum did nothing to hide her dissatisfaction.
“David’s grounded, Trina. That means no friends, not even you,” Mum said as she got out of the car.
“Oh, I actually came to talk to you, Mrs Taylor. If you have time, of course.” Trina smiled, pulling her bag from her shoulder and leaving it on the ground near me. Mum narrowed her eyes suspiciously before she nodded toward the house to tell Katrina it was fine to follow her.
“Back to work, young man,” my mother said to me. “Your suspension isn’t over yet.”
While I wondered what the hell Trina and Mum were inside talking about, I finished up in the front yard. I scooped up the leaves and cut up the palm fronds that never seemed to stop falling from the tree next to our letter box. By the time Trina walked out my front door, the green waste bin was full of clippings, and I was in desperate need of a shower.
“See you tomorrow morning,” she said, smiling as she skipped down the front steps then started off for her place.
“Hang on. Aren’t you gonna tell me what that was about?”
She threw her head back and laughed while she just kept walking. I couldn’t help but smile. She was playing me at my own game.
When I turned back to my house, Mum was standing in the doorway.
“You’re not grounded anymore. And you can go to the formal too.”
“I can?” This probably isn’t the best time to tell her I was never planning to go...
She nodded. “Trina just told me what the fight was about. Frankly, I think that kid deserved a good hit for talking about our girl like that. You should have told me, David. I wouldn’t have been so hard on you.”
I bounced one shoulder. “I’m not exactly proud of it.”
“You should always be proud of fighting for the people you care about.”
Six
With only a couple of weeks until the formal, things had gone back to the way they’d always been between Trina and me; easy and comfortable. She’d migrated from the celeb group to mid-level group I was a part of. We were the people who were friendly with everyone within the high school hierarchy. It was way less stressful hanging out with people who weren’t constantly trying to be better than everyone else, I can assure you.
Unfortunately, Trina’s and my perceived downgrade didn’t come without its fair share of drama. Cassie became an absolute bitch. I know I shouldn’t talk about people like that, but it’s what she was. I don’t know if she was pissed at me or Trina, but when she found out I’d changed my mind about going to the formal, she lost it and started up a rumour saying she was pregnant. Of course she claimed it was mine, making matters even worse by adding that I ordered her to get an abortion or else I’d punch her in the gut to get rid of the kid myself.
How seriously fucked up is that? I felt like such an idiot for ever getting involved with her in the first place. I mean, a girl who throws herself at you repeatedly, despite you constantly telling her that you don’t want a relationship is, in my books, either totally self-aware, or a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. I wish I'd been smart enough to stay away from the psycho. Never listen to your dick, fellas.
On the upside, I felt incredibly lucky to have found a group of friends who didn’t believe the shit Cassie spouted for a second. They stood up for me and called bullshit whenever they could. Still, there were a lot of people in our grade who ate bullshit with a shovel and loved it.
It sucked. I hated that my character and personal life were being discussed in vivid detail yet again. People felt they had the right to ask me questions, and if they didn’t confront me directly, they were happy to make unfounded comments behind my back. The writing returned to the bathroom walls.
“That’s the last of it in the girls’ bathroom,” Trina said, pink cheeks and messy hair from her hard work. We stayed back after school with Loren and Jeremy to scrub the graffiti about me off the toilet stalls. It wasn’t gonna do much, but it felt like we were being proactive.
Loren placed her cleaning bucket on the ground. “I wanted to write something creative about Cassie—give her a taste of her own medicine—but miss take-the-high-road here wouldn’t let me.” She pointed her thumb in Trina’s direction.
I met Trina’s eyes and grinned. She knew I’d hate stooping to Cassie’s level. “Thank you,” I said to everyone. “Thick shakes and fries are on me. I mowed my neighbour’s lawn last weekend, so I’m cashed up.”
“What’d they pay you, ten bucks?” Jeremy asked.
“Fifteen,” I replied with a laugh. “It’s why we’re eating off the two dollar menu.”
While the four of us sat around a table at Maccas, laughing and talking shit, I realised how fucking grateful I was for these new friends of mine. They’d already proven themselves more true than any of my old friends ever were. And despite the shit I had to go through to get here, I was happy for it. This felt right.
“Watch out, Trina.” The last voice any of us wanted to hear sounded from behind me. “He’ll get you pregnant then threaten to beat you up.”
Cassie moved into my line of sight, her arms folded across her middle, lips pursed, eyes dead.
“Why don’t you go sprinkle your hate glitter somewhere else?” Loren said, popping a fry in her mouth.
I fought a grin while Cassie popped a hip, unimpressed. “Can we talk?” she asked when her gaze swung my way, one hand twisting her hair.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I responded, keeping my voice even as I leaned back in my chair.
“You don’t have to talk. Just listen.”
“Aren’t you listening?” Trina added. “No one wants you here.”
Pride swelled in my chest. Trina ne
ver stood up to anyone. And here she was, standing up to the queen of year ten. It was glorious.
Cassie didn’t share the same opinion. Her expression darkened, her lips tightened, and she turned her hateful eyes on my favourite person in this world. She opened her mouth, ready to splash her venom in Trina’s direction. But before she could get a word out, I stood, blocking her view and towering over her.
“Walk away, Cassie,” I said.
“Or what? You’ll punch me in the stomach?”
Narrowing my eyes slightly, leaned in real close so she was the only person who could hear me. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last woman on this earth. You and your bullshit lies disgust me.”
“You won’t even consider that the baby is yours?” she asked, surprise registering in her eyes.
“I won’t even consider the possibility of you being pregnant.”
“Birth control is only 99 percent.”
“But maths is absolute. And if you were pregnant by me, you’d be showing. We haven’t been together for months. Now get out of my face and never speak to me or my friends again.”
We locked eyes in silent challenge. I could see the hesitation flit through hers, like she wasn’t sure if she should keep going or stand down. But Cassie has never been too smart. “I’m going to make your life a living hell.”
“No, Cassie. It was hell dealing with your neediness. This is a cakewalk.”
Her mouth dropped open then she spun on her heel and stomped off. I knew I’d poked the beast, but for the life of me, I didn’t care.
“What did you say to her?” Jeremy asked when I sat back down and reached for my shake.
“I told her to leave.”
“Looked like you said more than that,” Loren added, lifting a brow.
“David doesn’t elaborate,” Trina said with a knowing smile. “You have to read between the lines. I’m guessing he told her she wasn’t worth his time and that he didn’t even believe she was pregnant.”
Beautiful Boxset: Beautiful Series, books 1-4 Page 34
