“Isaac, don’t even think about it!” Zeke bellowed as he rushed up the steps. I got to my feet and stepped out of the water as everyone else was yelling. It didn’t even slow Isaac down.
Fear filled my heart, sharp and stabbing.
“He’s not going to…” I muttered as Isaac moved to the edge at the very top. “Oh, God.” Asher was only halfway up. Everyone in the quarry was watching, talking about how no one had ever jumped off the top without hurting themselves. “How dangerous is that level?”
“If you don’t land right? Bad,” Ethan said, his voice tight. I reached over and took his hand. His fingers tightened on mine.
“Brother, don’t!” Ethan shouted.
Isaac backed up to get a running jump.
“Isaac! Stop!” I shouted.
He paused, but it was only for a couple of heartbeats before he ran for the edge and jumped. He seemed to fly for forever, but it was still not long enough. He moved into the pencil position just before he hit the water, hard.
I covered my mouth as my body shook, my stomach knotted. “Oh God, no.”
Miles dove in and swam for Isaac’s entry point.
Fear tore through me. I couldn’t lose Isaac. We couldn’t lose him. Life without Isaac flashed before my eyes; no more blue hair, no more pranks, no more of that smile, no more limes… never another touch...
Tears filled my eyes as the seconds stretched into what seemed like hours.
Miles reached Isaac’s entry point just as Isaac came up.
He whooped and raised his arms.
He was fine.
The pain in my chest eased. Relief swamped me. I took several deep breaths. Ethan sat down on a rock and took deep, shuddering breaths.
I was just glad he was alive. But when he got out of the water smiling that shit-eating grin, I got pissed.
“What the fuck, Isaac?” I shouted. His eyebrows went up, his smile fading as he stepped closer.
“It was fun,” he offered.
My eyes met his. “You promised me,” I reminded him. His smile disappeared completely. “You fucking promised me! No more crazy stunts!” Anger washed through me, making me shake.
“That wasn’t—”
“You could have died,” I growled, tears falling down my face. “You promised me. And then you go and…” I shook my head. I couldn’t even deal right now. I thought I had lost him. For those seconds he was under the water, I had thought he was dead. I turned and walked back to the blanket, stuffed my things into my bag, and began pulling on my sandals.
“Red—”
My eyes snapped to his. “Don’t Red me!” I grabbed my bag. “You know how much your stunts scare me! And you fucking did it anyway!”
“It was a challenge!” he shot back.
“The third level would have been a challenge!” I pointed at the cliff. “That was a fucking stupid risk!” I strode past him with tears streaming down my face and climbed the path, passing Asher and Zeke as they came down.
“Ally?” I didn’t stop.
"Watch your footing," Zeke warned as I passed him.
“Lexie!” Isaac shouted. I ignored him, my throat tightening. I climbed into the Blazer and gunned it out of the gravel lot. I went home fuming and crying.
Jessica
Isaac surfaced.
My knees gave out. I dropped to my towel as I tried to breathe again.
That son of a bitch! My hands shook as I watched Isaac swim to the shore. Why the hell does he keep doing this shit? I pressed a shaking hand against my face as I tried to get control of myself again.
“Damn, I hoped the fucker would break something,” Jason said. Jason’s friends agreed and started talking about what should have happened as they sat down. I shot him a look.
A girl’s voice was shouting. I looked around and found Lexie shouting at Isaac about his stupid stunt. For once, I agreed with her. My eyes went to Ethan and his hunched over form as he tried to get his breath back. He looked like he was going to be sick. Didn’t Isaac realize how much he scared him with this stuff? My heart ached as Lexie shouted at Isaac again and stormed up the stairs, leaving the guys behind. At least someone finally told him to knock it off.
“And there goes the bitch,” Jason announced. The guys laughed.
“At least she was nice to look at,” Hale offered. I rolled my eyes.
“I wouldn’t mind hitting that,” Brendon added. They continued talking about Lexie’s body as I watched Isaac walk off into the trees. Someone needed to talk to him. Asher was right… I hadn’t been around the guys for a long time. Maybe…
“Hey, who are you looking at?” Jason snapped.
I turned back to him. “I was just thinking someone should talk to Isaac.”
He scowled. “Why do you fucking care?”
“How can you say that?” I snapped. “Isaac’s family.”
Jason’s eyes flashed to me. His hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. “Oh, you want to screw him, right?” His fingers tightened on my wrist painfully. I tried to pull back, but his grip was too hard. “Don’t you?” he snapped.
“Ew. He’s family,” I reminded him.
“Bullshit.” His grip tightened.
Miles
Lexie stormed out of view at the top of the cliff. Isaac cursed and walked off into the trees. Well, that was horrible. I looked at the others.
“Who do we go after, Isaac or Ally?” Asher asked.
I thought about it. “Let Lexie go, she probably needs some time to calm down.” I turned to look the way Isaac went. “Ethan? Do you want to talk to Isaac?”
“Fuck no,” Ethan growled. I turned. He was still sitting on a rock, his face pale, taking deep breaths. “That asshole just scared the shit out of me.”
“I’ll talk to Isaac,” I decided.
The guys agreed, so I headed after Isaac.
“This shit needs to stop,” Zeke snapped.
“Let Miles deal with it,” Asher said.
I stepped into the tree line and followed the path that Isaac seemed to have taken. Isaac wasn’t one to break a promise, so what happened today? I walked for several minutes before I heard him.
“Stupid, worthless piece of shit,” Isaac growled. Wood snapped. “You can’t even fucking keep a promise. It’s not that hard! But no, you can’t even fucking remember. You just had to make her cry.”
I stepped into the clearing. Isaac was snapping down branches and throwing them into the woods. His face was red, his mouth hard, as he continued cursing at himself.
I had to be the calm one. Asher didn’t want to do it, Ethan couldn’t do it, and Zeke wanted to hit him. I had to be the calm one. “Isaac.”
He shot a look at me over his shoulder before picking up a fallen branch and bashing it against a tree trunk. I moved a bit closer and waited until he broke the branch and threw it through the trees.
“Leave me alone,” he bit out.
“I came to listen,” I reminded him. I always came to listen. It was the only way to get him to talk about what was bothering him.
“Yeah, well.” He grunted as he smashed another branch before he turned back to me. “I don’t feel like talking.”
“Alright,” I said carefully. “Then I’ll just be here.” I sat down on a log and watched Isaac work his anger out. It took time and patience.
When he was finally done, he turned around, out of breath and sweating. He spotted me, shook his head, and turned away. “I fucking made her cry,” he muttered.
“Yes, you did,” I said carefully. “You scared her pretty badly.”
He shook his head again. “I wasn’t thinking about the promise I made her.”
“What were you thinking about?” I asked gently.
Isaac shook his head and looked at the ground. “You know what. Don’t worry about it, I’ll fucking fix it,” he snapped before he moved down another path and out of sight. Knowing Isaac, I didn’t follow. It was different than our usual talks, and that bothered me. I walked back to the
quarry, running scenarios through my mind.
Lexie
I was in my room, lying on my bed with Hades, when the door downstairs opened. I ignored it and continued scratching his ears as his head lay on my stomach. Footsteps moved up the stairs. Figuring it was probably Tara, I continued to sulk in my misery.
There was a knock on my door. “Ally, it’s me.” Asher’s voice broke my intense staring contest with the ceiling.
“It’s open,” I called.
He opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes ran over me, making me aware that my shorts were riding up my legs.
His eyes met mine. “Hey, you coming to the market?”
I looked back up at the ceiling. “I don’t know,” I admitted. That had been the plan, but Isaac’s stunt this afternoon had just knocked me sideways.
Asher sat on the futon beside me. “Come on, Ally, Ethan can’t really go on without you talking him through his pre-show freak out.”
I snorted. “Yeah he can. Remember Winter Formal?”
He huffed. “Yeah, and he said he kept missing notes.”
I smiled.
“Why does he do this?” I asked, knowing he didn’t have an answer.
“I don’t know. But maybe you should ask him,” he suggested.
“Me?” I asked doubtfully. Why would he listen to me?
He nodded. “Yeah, you. Miles didn’t get anywhere talking to him after you left. But you might.”
I thought about it.
“Besides, if he resists, you could always cry and he’d break like a cheap broom,” Asher added. I chuckled as he smiled down at me. “So, are you coming or am I hanging out here all night?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m coming, let me get my shoes on.” I scooted to the edge of the bed.
“Are we bringing Hades?” he asked as he got to his feet.
I slipped my sandals on. “Yeah, my poor baby was home all day.” Hades made a soft bark.
Asher chuckled as he headed out the bedroom door with Hades following. I locked my door and headed down the stairs. Asher already had him on the leash.
“Where are you two off to?” Rory asked from the kitchen.
“Farmer’s market,” I answered. “Ethan’s playing tonight.”
“Good, I’ve got a list. Well, Asher gave me a list.” Rory went to the fridge.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you cooking this week?” I asked, getting a bit scared. Rory could barely boil water, and that was being generous. Asher chuckled.
“Asher’s teaching me a few dishes.” Rory grabbed a list off the fridge and brought it over.
“Is that… safe?” I teased.
Rory shot me a playful glare as he pulled his wallet out. “Ha ha ha.” He handed me several bills. “Just get the groceries.”
I grinned and took the money. We were about to walk out the door when Rory stopped me. “Wait, you’re taking Hades?”
I turned back from the door. “Yeah?”
“Check the cement outside before you do,” he told me as he went to the couch.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow.
He gestured to the driveway. “It’s in the high nineties outside; cement gets hot. Go put your hand on the driveway for five seconds.”
Okay… I gave Hades’ leash to Asher and then went outside and did as he asked. At the count of four I was yanking my hand off the cement. My skin was pink and painful as I went back in. “I had to take my hand off.”
Rory nodded. “Then it’s too hot for Hades to go walking around on asphalt.”
I didn’t like it, but he had a point. The cement was too hot for my baby. I bent down, took off his leash, and rubbed his ears. “I’m sorry, baby. You can’t go with us.” He gave me puppy-dog eyes. He really knew how to play me. “I’ll take you for a walk tonight after it cools off. And I’ll bring you a treat or something from the market.” Hades licked my cheek before he moved to the couch where he promptly started pushing Rory over. He didn’t seem too broken up about it. I put the leash on the hook and left with Asher.
The farmer’s market was held in the town square, which was a large park of grass and trees. The small stage was set up, along with the games for little kids. The four blocks around the square were closed off. Booths and stalls were already bustling in the late afternoon heat. At least the trees gave some shade. Asher parked several blocks away and we walked in. I was eyeing the list when I realized how much there was.
“Damn, I didn’t bring a bag for all this,” I muttered as I put the list away.
“There is usually someone who is selling canvas bags for cheap,” Asher told me. Well, that solved that. We turned the corner and saw the crowd. I paused. The market was busy - very busy. I was missing Hades when Asher took my hand.
“Ally?” he said gently. I looked up at him. “If it’s too crowded we can wait till it thins out.”
I looked back at the crowd and chewed the corner of my bottom lip. The crowd was rather large. Almost as large as the party the other night, and I had handled that alright. Come on, Lexie. Grow a pair. You got this.
I gave Asher a smile. “It’s okay, I can handle this. I hope.” He squeezed my hand and waited until I started walking. We moved into the crowd. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. You got this, you got this.
Asher found the stall for the bags and suggested I buy three. Apparently we were getting a lot of veggies this week. With bags in hand, Asher walked with me to pick out produce.
Asher was picking out strawberry baskets when I spotted Laura. The girl was shy as hell. It had taken her months to say a word to me. Her brown hair was down and in her sweet face, as usual. Even in this heat she was wearing sleeves almost to her wrists.
“Hey, Laura,” I said with a smile. “How’s your dog?”
Laura’s head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Oh, Lexie. I - I didn’t see you.” Her eyes darted to Asher. They grew wider then shot back to me. “His cast is off, and the vet says he should be fine.”
Yep, Laura was still super shy. “That’s great. Why don’t we take them out to the dog park someday soon?” I suggested.
She swallowed hard. “Um… yeah. That’d be fun. Call me and we’ll set it up,” she said quickly. Before I could answer, she disappeared into the crowd.
“She’s still really shy with you,” Asher said.
“Yeah.” I tucked a flyaway hair behind my ear. “I’m trying to be her friend, but… it’s like she doesn’t want one.” I looked up at him. “Am I not catching a hint or something?”
Asher thought about it. “No, I don’t think so.” He looked at another basket of strawberries. “She didn’t seem too comfortable with me here. Maybe that was it?”
I sighed. “Maybe…” We went back to shopping.
It was fun, even with the sun beating down on us. We walked from stall to stall, holding hands as if we… as if we were a couple. I pushed the thought away. It’s not going to happen; he doesn’t think of you that way. But what if he did…?
I still couldn’t. Zeke had kissed me months ago. Even though we still hadn’t talked about it, or kissed since, it had still happened. And until I knew one way or another, I shouldn’t even think about Asher. Right? I didn’t know. Feeling this way for all of them was confusing.
“Ally, are you okay? You just turned pale, even for you,” Asher asked.
I met his eyes, guilt eating at me. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He looked like he didn’t believe me. “Uh, Sylvie’s stall is next on the list. Do you want to see Isaac?”
I sighed and thought about it. “No, not yet. But Sylvie does have a lot of the veggies we need.”
Asher smiled. “Give me the list and the empty bags. I’ll get the rest of the list.”
“You’re sure?” I asked. My voice had grown raspy. “I can suck it up.”
He shook his head. “Come on, let’s get some water and find the others.”
Asher kept my hand as he headed towards one of the stands. We both bought waters before we
headed for the grass area. We spotted Miles and Zeke sitting in the shade, under a tree in the corner of the lot.
“I can go from here,” I croaked. I opened my water and took a quick drink.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind walking you,” he said, his brow drawing down.
I grinned. “I can make fifteen feet.”
“Just making sure,” he told me before heading back into the crowd. I headed over to the guys.
“Hey.” I set my bag down, took a drink of my water, and then lay on the grass and enjoyed the shade. The ground sucked the heat from me, cooling me off.
“So, what’s happening?” I asked as I closed my eyes.
“I was thinking about going and looking at some of the non-food related stalls.” Miles turned to me. “Lexie, would you like to go?”
I smiled. “That’s Miles for ‘I want to check and make sure you’re alright.’” I announced.
His cheeks tinged pink. “Maybe.”
“Hey, sweetness!” Jake’s voice had me half sitting up.
“Hey!” I smiled. Jake was smiling down at me. Derrick was next to him with his usual grin plastered to his face.
“I heard you caught Dylan with his pants down at the party the other night,” Jake announced as they sat down.
“Literally.” I snorted. “But yeah, you should have seen his face,” I told him. “He looked like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar.” Derrick and Jake chuckled.
“What happened?” Miles asked.
I lay back down and tilted my head back so I could see Miles. “When I took that walk with Isaac, Dylan came out of the bushes zipping his zipper.”
“So? He was taking a leak,” Zeke pointed out.
I chuckled as I turned my head to look at him with a smile. “I thought that too, until some chick told him to wait because she couldn’t find her underwear.” Jake, Derrick and I burst out laughing. Zeke shook his head while Miles stayed silent.
“Yeah, you’ll never believe who the chick was,” Derrick told me.
I snorted. “I don’t care—”
When Evil Comes to Play Page 12
