One of the Guys

by A. R. Perry

  I can barely breathe with how much perfume the girl is wearing. And her voice. Dear lord, how does Spencer listen to that all the time? Nails on a freaking chalkboard.

  “I can’t believe they killed off Freya,” Zoe says and rips me right out of my thoughts.

  “Wait.” I lean forward, forcing my head between the puppy eyes she is throwing his way. “Did she say Freya dies? As in Freya Swan from Dead Walking? You better not say you watched the season four finale without me.”

  Spencer winces, releasing a hiss that confirms that yes he did, in fact, watch our show with some random chick.

  “Wow.” I sink back into my seat.

  This is one of the worst friend offenses he’s ever done. Major violation. It’s up there with forgetting birthdays. No, you know what, it’s worse because he didn’t have the decency to ask me first.

  I hop out of the car the second he’s parked.

  “Ry, wait.” His words follow me as I march toward the front door but he sure as hell doesn’t. Nope. He’s standing by his car with that…leech wrapped around him.

  I throw the middle finger over my shoulder waving it high and proud to make sure he sees it.

  And to think I wasted my sick day yesterday.

  By the time lunch rolls around I’m still as angry as I was walking into school. In fact, my mood took a steep nosedive when I caught Jax walking with Haylee. Not abnormal or anything. They do all run in the same circle. But the fact that he ignored me kind of stung.

  I stab my spork into a tater tot and drown it in ketchup. The second I pop it into my mouth, a shadow falls over the table.

  Spencer meets my glare head-on although I do catch a slight flinch when I first meet his gaze.

  “What do you want?” I ask and add another tot. Hopefully, I’ll choke on them and fall, hitting my head giving me amnesia so I can forget this morning.

  His red tray hits the table across from me as his long legs step over the bench seat. “Still mad then.”

  “Oh, no. I’m super stoked that you cheated on me by watching our show with some chick. It’s every best friend’s dream.” I take a swig of my soda, letting my gaze drift over to where Jax is sitting. With Haylee. Awesome.

  Today can’t get any worse.

  “Listen, I’m sorry. She asked me over and had it on.”

  “Cool. So when I invite Jax over and we start season five, you’ll be completely fine with it?” Spencer shrugs, which sends my anger over the edge. “Maybe I’ll take him to the park and show him how to grind. I have that extra board in my garage. It was going to be your birthday present but it should go to someone who I’m assuming has better skill.”

  Spencer’s lips pull into a tight line. “What the hell is your problem? It’s just a stupid show.”

  My problem is that he ditched me to watch it with someone else. He couldn’t even be bothered to bring my ice cream up when he thought I was sick. Too concerned with sucking face and stabbing me in the back.

  “Not like you’ve been around,” he grumbles and takes a bite of his sandwich.

  My mouth pops open, then snaps shut. Crap. He’s right.

  “Okay.” I run a hand over my cheek, trying to calm down. “Okay, you’re right. I’ve been a little MIA lately. I wasn’t even here yesterday to make sure you ended up on Mr. North’s shit list, though I heard you bitched out.” My lips tip up into a half smile, but Spencer’s don’t. “Truce?”

  Truth be told, my reaction might have been extreme. Yes, watching our show without me is considered cheating. Normally when he annoys me, I punch him and move on. So what the hell is my problem?

  Another tray falls to the table with a loud clatter, drawing my attention away from my best friend’s surprised face. Blue eyes shine as Zoe throws me a huge smile and wraps Spencer in an almost possessive hug.

  Anything I was about to say dies. Actually, more than my words die because when she twists his head to the side so she can plant a sloppy kiss on his lips, something cracks in my chest. A gaping, ripping sensation that leaves me gasping for air.

  I stand, jerking back so quickly I almost trip over my seat. “I gotta go.”

  Spencer stands, shrugging Zoe off. “Ry—”

  “No, I uh, have to grab notes for English from when I was sick. No big deal.” I pick up my bag from the floor, trying to avoid both Zoe’s and Spencer’s gazes, only to land on Cora one table over who is watching us with rapt attention as if this is some daytime soap.

  Great. I’ll hear about this tomorrow.

  On my way out of the door, while I’m paying zero attention to what’s in front of me, I run smack-dab into a wall of muscle clad in a black polo.

  My gaze jerks up and right into gorgeous blue eyes. I let out a shaky laugh as Jax rights me, keeping a hand on my shoulder. Right then is when my stupid traitorous brain directs my attention behind me where I see Spencer scowling at me. He doesn’t even seem to notice Zoe who is trying desperately to get his attention.

  “Rylee?”

  My eyes snap back to Jax. “What?”

  There’s a second of irritation on his face before he laughs it off, and pats my upper back. “Falling into my arms rattled you that hard, huh?”

  His friends laugh, ones I didn’t notice were standing on either side of him until now. One of them elbows Jax in the side and he throws me a cocky grin before continuing on.

  “I asked what you are doing tonight?”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yeah, like after today.” The irritation grows on his face. He must not be used to girls who don’t give their full attention.

  “Oh, sorry, my mom is dragging me to some charity event.”

  Not a total lie. She asked me this weekend to which I replied hell no. But hanging out with her and a bunch of women as they sell baked goods to raise money for a new roof for the church suddenly sounds a hell of a lot better than hanging out with Jax.

  He steps closer to me, trailing a hand up my arm. “Too bad because my parents are out of town.”

  His two friends snicker behind him. Did he just imply I would come over for sex?

  “Rats.” I snap my fingers then cringe. Did I just say rats?

  Jax’s face falls as he takes a step away from me, running fingers through his hair. “Oh…kay then. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Yup.” I sidestep him and rush down the hall to the course of his friend’s laughter.

  I have a strong feeling that is the last time Jax Lever ever tries talking to me.

  When I arrive home, the last thing I want to do is talk to my parents. Yet, they both stand on the porch speaking in what appears to be calm words.

  This will last only so long…

  I drag my backpack with me as I climb out and cast a worried glance across the street at Rylee’s empty house before turning my attention back to my parents. I guess this is what I deserve for not coming right home and locking myself in my room. It’s not as if skating helped my mood. The place was crowded as all hell and every time I hit an impressive trick I wanted to rub it in Rylee’s face. Only she wasn’t there.

  She was probably off with her boyfriend celebrating the fact that he couldn’t keep his hands off her while half the school watched.

  He made his pursuit of her public knowledge. By tomorrow everyone will know.

  Yippee.

  “Hey, Spence.” I scowl at my father who smiles.

  I swear he loves pissing me off.

  “What are you doing here?” The irritation in my voice is clear making my mother frown.

  “Your father,” my mom bites back making it clear I need to shape up, “is here so we can sit down and talk about this whole moving thing.”

  “Joy.” I shoulder my bag and walk past them. “Seems kind of pointless though.”

  My mom is the first one to follow me in, sending me a warning glance. “I think you’ll be pleased with the decision we both came to.”

  “Can’t wait to hear what new plan you’ve come up with to ruin m
y life.” I slump on the couch as my dad sits in the recliner in front of me, all humor from earlier gone from his face.

  I should feel bad, but now he has a taste of what he’s put my mom and me through these past few months.

  “Spencer Jacob Hendricks,” my mother admonishes as she sits next to me. “Knock off the attitude right now.”

  I press my lips together until they ache. Now that I’ve dished out a slice of the resentment simmering inside, it’s kind of hard to stop.

  “As you know your father and I put the house up for sale,” she continues when she’s sure I won’t butt in. “However, after talking I decided that I can wait to move home until you’ve graduated. Your father will be buying a small place out in Sacramento and I’ll be renting an apartment nearby so you can finish at the same high school.”

  My heart races faster with each word. There’s no way my father did something selfless. I don't even think he knows that word anymore.

  “Did you hear me?” my mom asks.

  I nod, not sure what I should say. Thank you maybe? But we never should have come to this point. They should have been thinking about how their actions would affect me from day one, not scrambling at the last second after being called out.

  “Someone is already interested in the house,” my dad says, eyes flicking to me for a brief second. “Which means we will be in a rush to get the house packed.”

  “Okay.” I nod, knowing I have at least ten empty boxes up in my room. Ones that sat there as a symbol of my defiance when it came to the move.

  “By this weekend,” he finishes.

  My stomach drops out of my body. This weekend? Man, they really don’t give a crap about how I feel about this whole thing. Yes, I’m no longer being dragged across several states, but still. Four days to say goodbye to the only house I’ve known since I was a kid. Not nearly enough time.

  I sit in stunned silence. Really. This has got to be the longest any of us sat together in a room and not shouted. Mom keeps shooting Dad worried glances until he clears his throat and stands.

  “Which means you should start packing. Now.”

  Right. I nod and stand, giving my mom a small smile as I pass her. It’s been a long time since they have been civil and even though I don’t agree with their decision, I’m not going to mess with the tightrope of civility they are walking.

  Although I do expect some kind of blowout while I’m upstairs because, let’s face it, my dad can’t keep it together that long.

  My bedroom door clicks shut behind me and I stop, resting my head on the cool wood as I survey the room I’ve grown up in. Behind my headboard is a hole from Ryan’s foot after a board game went south and Rylee couldn’t handle the loss. She had pushed him a good five feet. Spitfire of an eleven-year-old. The window has a crack in it from a rogue football. It’s when I learned I’m not too good at those kinds of sports and wouldn’t be following in the elder Everett brothers footsteps. And somewhere there’s a stain on the carpet from an out of hand paint war when we were eight.

  I grab a handful of stuff off the oak bookshelf by the window and drop it into a nearby box. The next armful knocks loose a green-and-orange friendship bracelet Rylee made for me at camp when she was ten. That was a long summer what with her not being right across the street. Six whole weeks of boredom. It was the summer Ryan and I became sort of friends. But he wasn’t Rylee and no one ever would be.

  She’s going to flip when she finds out I’m moving. No longer a hop, skip, and a jump away.

  A flash of light catches my eye and I peer out of the window just as Rylee hops out of her mom’s car wearing a long white dress. Even from here I can tell she’s annoyed, but she gives her mom a tight smile and makes her way to the front door.

  That’s when it hits me like a freaking bolt of lightning thrown by Zeus himself.

  I’m not leaving.

  My hand tightens on the friendship bracelet that’s torn and frayed from the time it spent around my wrist. Two years to be exact before it was too gone to last another day.

  I’m not moving to Washington.

  Which means….

  My heart pauses before jumping up into my throat to beat wildly. I don’t have to do this anymore. I only agreed to help Rylee land that moron because I thought I wouldn’t be around to make sure she was happy. But now…

  I stumble back from the window. I can fix this. She listens to me. My stomach drops again and I’m so not up for this gastric roller coaster. But my gut knows something my stupid heart is refusing to listen to. And that’s the fact that Rylee used to listen to me. Past tense. Ever since Jax started showing her attention, it was as if she became obsessed with it. Possessed more like it.

  But that doesn’t mean I can’t try. I have to try. Starting tomorrow.

  I can do this. I can get us back on track and maybe…I swallow down the hope fighting its way to the surface. We will never happen, but the least I can do is make sure she’s not wasting any more of her time with that idiot.

  I nod once to solidify my thoughts and sweep more junk into a box. That will have to do for tonight because right now I have to text my best friend and tell her she’s all mine tomorrow.

  “You’re in a good mood this afternoon,” my mom calls from the kitchen.

  I grin as I toss my backpack down by the pile of shoes. I am. I really am. Today has been a breath of fresh air and I feel more like myself than I have in weeks.

  Spencer was waiting for me this morning with his usual smile on his face. When I asked if we were stopping to pick up Zoe because she had to be what put that smile there, he shook his head and opened my door. Shotgun. Right where I belong.

  The day fell back into place. Zoe didn’t join us at lunch although I saw her shoot a few nasty looks his way, which meant their time ran out but not on her terms. Something I’m sure she’s not used to.

  Jax never tried to talk to me and Haylee seemed too pleased with herself as she hung all over him at their table. After my behavior, I expected as much. The weirdest part though was how little it bothered me. Not even a pang of jealousy.

  And now, now I’m going to change so Spencer and I can hit the skate park for some much-needed boarding. Nothing, and I mean nothing could kill my vibe right now.

  My mom clears her throat as I grab my board out of the coat closet next to the door. “And where do you think you’re going, young lady?”

  “Um, to the park?”

  “Nuh-uh. Tonight is the church fund-raiser. Will and Ryan already canceled dates so you might as well call Spencer and tell him you’ll have to go another time.”

  Ah. There it is. I forgot about my mom’s innate ability to ruin anything fun.

  “Mom—”

  “Nope.” She holds up a hand, silencing me. “You’re going. End of story. So march your butt upstairs and change into something presentable. I laid an outfit out on your bed.”

  By something presentable, she means something girly. Which after everything shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Commanding me to do something as if I’m some child who can’t dress or think for themselves. I’ve never regretted giving her an inch more than this moment.

  And whoever heard of a stupid two-part fund-raiser. I spent all last night parading around as perfect daughter Rylee. Lasted all of two hours. Needless to say, she was peeved when I disappeared to hang out with the little kids. Slides and monkey bars aren’t the best thing for a white dress, but anything was better than faking a smile that could rival Miss America.

  “So this is another one of our perfect family moments?” I ask, tossing the board back into the closet hard enough to leave a dent in the wall.

  “Go upstairs,” she commands, the vein in the middle of her forehead popping out.

  “And if I refuse?”

  “Then you can kiss freedom goodbye until graduation.”

  “I’ll be eighteen in a few months. Then what?” I cross my arms over my chest, well aware of how childish I sound. But for crying out loud she already
dragged me to some tea party last night with a bunch of women I haven’t seen since I was five. That of course came with dressing me up like a doll.

  “Rylee N—”

  “Noel Everett,” I finish for her. “Yeah. Yeah.” I wave away the rest of her rant. The last thing I want is to spend the night filled with suffocating tension. So I have to wear another dress. Not as if I was so against the idea when I thought it would win over Jax. When it did win over Jax.

  I stomp upstairs to the sound of her banging around in the kitchen. Will is glowering at me when I reach the top.

  “What?” I snap, shoving him aside so I can maneuver into my room and shut the door.

  “You really had to piss her off? Now she’s going to be on everyone’s case.”

  “I aim to please.”

  Will rolls his eyes, leaning against the wall with one foot resting on the doorframe, blocking my escape. “Would it kill you to be nice to her for once?”

  “Probably.” I elbow his stomach, trying to limbo underneath him, but he doesn’t budge.

  “Did you ever stop to think she doesn’t know how to relate to you?”

  This gets my attention and I stop trying to shove past my wall of a brother. “Huh?”

  “Think about it, genius. She has three boys and a girl who wishes she was a boy.” I stick my tongue out not even gaining a smile. Or scowl for that matter. Just a flat almost bored expression. “Dad’s got sports with you and guy talk with us. What does Mom have?” His foot hits the floor with a loud thud, making me jump. “You were willing to change who you were for a boy. Maybe you can stop being so stubborn for a second and at least try with Mom.”

  I stand frozen with my mouth hanging open as he saunters down the hall to his room. Seconds before the door closes, I regain my composure.

  “Since when did you become the levelheaded one?” I ask. Out of all of us, he used to be the one whose temper could be compared to a raging forest fire. Yet here he is counseling me as if he never smashed a controller against the wall when he lost in some stupid video game.