Pepped Up and Ready (Pepper Jones #3)

by Ali Dean

  When Dave and I turn back onto Shadow Lane, I find myself running up to the Wilders’ house instead of our apartment building. Running worked its magic. The veil of melancholy has dissipated to a dull ache that I’ve grown used to suppressing.

  Jim waves hello to me from the breakfast table and Dave meanders to the kitchen, hunting for scraps, while I make my way down the stairs of their bi-level house. I’m not surprised Jace is still asleep. He has the entire downstairs to himself, and I wonder if Jim will change the space when Jace moves out.

  Jace’s lower body is tangled in his bed sheets, and I drink in the sight of his broad back before jumping on the bed next to him. Expecting to startle him awake, he takes me by surprise, tackling me onto my back and smothering me with kisses.

  “I heard you coming down the stairs,” he tells me between kisses. “You think you’re pretty stealth, but I was just lying in wait.”

  My giggling dies down when I take in the boxes stacked up at the end of his bed. I went straight for Jace, and didn’t notice how empty the rest of his room was.

  Jace follows my gaze. “I hope you came ready to work,” he tells me.

  “You want me to help you move?” I ask. We have avoided talking about the move. Avoided talking about college. But it’s here now, and it can’t be ignored any longer.

  Jace turns to look at me. “I assumed you would.” His voice holds a question.

  What exactly are you asking me, Jace? Do you want me to stay by your side? Or do you want some space? Are you going to put distance between us in more ways than one?

  “I will,” I assure him.

  I watch Jace dig through what’s left in his closet for a pair of athletic shorts.

  “Hey, I almost forgot!” I tell him. “The head coach from Oregon called and invited me on a recruit trip.”

  Jace pauses before pulling on his shorts slowly. “You sound really excited.” His voice is flat, his jaw tense.

  “Well, yeah. It’s Oregon. The best running program in the country. Elsa Blackwood went there.”

  “The marathoner?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you going?” Jace asks, unmoving.

  “On the recruit trip? Yeah, I mean, it’s a free trip. But I’m going to UC, Jace. You know that’s never been a question.”

  Jace shrugs. “If you go visit other schools, you might change your mind.”

  “You didn’t,” I remind him.

  Jace runs a hand over his face. “I know,” he admits. “We need breakfast,” he announces, steering the conversation away from dangerous territory. Talk about the future must be avoided at all costs. It’s simply too scary. The unknown.

  ***

  Jace is in a dorm reserved for freshman and sophomore athletes. I don’t know what makes these dorms special – I suppose less partying so the athletes can sleep. But I do know that Jace’s dorm is guys-only. Most of the other freshmen are housed in co-ed dorms and I’m thankful other girls won’t be ogling him as he walks down the hall from the showers in a towel. I’ll be the first to admit how powerful that image is, and I don’t want anyone else getting its effect but me.

  Jim pulls his pickup into a crowded lot and we start to unload the truck bed. Before we can make the first trip up to the third floor, three guys approach the pickup.

  “Hi there, we’re here to help you move in,” the one with Greek lettering on his shirt announces, as he looks us over. “You must be Jace Wilder,” he says with a politician’s smile. He reaches out his hand to shake Jace’s. “Gage Fitzgerald, president of Sig Beta, and these are two of our pledges.” He gestures to an absurdly tall guy with a buzz cut, and a nervous kid who doesn’t look old enough to be a college student.

  Gage doesn’t offer the pledges’ names but moves along, introducing himself to Jim and me. He seems to know who we are already and it unnerves me.

  The pledges unload boxes and duffel bags from the truck’s bed, and Jim, Jace and I ignore Gage’s protests and fill our arms. I can hear him rambling on about various upcoming social events as we make our way up the staircase and I’m happy to hear Jim tell the fraternity guys we can take it from here. It’s a relief when it’s just the three of us in the dorm room. I need to process this. Take it all in without any distractions. This is Jace’s new life.

  The room is too warm and I crack a window before plopping down on Jace’s rolled-up comforter in the middle of the room. It’s a common area with four bedroom doors in addition to the main door to the hallway. Someone else has already started moving in because a mini fridge is hooked into an outlet and one of the bedroom doors is propped open with a fan.

  We’re all silent, breathing heavily from hauling everything up the stairs, as we look around. Jace pulls the key he was given from his back pocket and unlocks the door with the letter B on it. Before he has a chance to look inside, a bellowing voice greets us. “Hey! The first roommate has arrived,” he greets us jovially. I swivel around to find a very large bald man filling the main entry. Not exactly fat, just extremely . . . big. Meaty is the word that pops into my mind. A meaty bald man. “Frankie!” he hollers over his shoulder.

  A younger version of the man peeks his head over his father’s shoulder. “Oh, you’re right there, Frankie,” the older ones says. “Your first roommate is here.”

  Frankie might be younger but if possible, he is even larger than his father. Frankie’s face breaks into a grino when he sees Jace. Jim and I exchange confused glances when Jace and Frankie head toward each other for a manly hug.

  “You’re my roommate? I seriously have to put up with your stink for an entire year?” Jace jokes, punching Frankie’s humongous bicep.

  Frankie rubs his arm in fake pain. “Dude, you know I’m your dream roommate.” Frankie finally looks around, noticing his audience for the first time. When his eyes lock on me, his smile gets even wider.

  “You must be Miss Pepper,” Frankie says as he makes his way toward me. “I’m Franklin Zimmer.”

  When I stand up, I’m enveloped in a bear hug. “It’s nice to meet you,” I manage to get out, though it’s muffled.

  “All right, all right, take it easy, Frankie,” Jace mock-warns.

  As the introductions are made, we learn that Frankie and Jace were roommates for two summers at football camp in Texas. Once that’s been established, I recall Jace mentioning Frankie on several occasions, especially when he found out Frankie would be a freshman with him at UC.

  Frankie’s from Kansas, and his dad, Rick, is disappointed Frankie isn’t going to his alma mater, KU. Frankie tells us not to feel sorry for Rick because he has four more opportunities to see a son play football at KU, since Frankie has four younger brothers.

  The afternoon is spent unpacking and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach grows as the boxes and bags empty out.

  “All right man, we gotta head out for practice in five!” Frankie calls from his bedroom several hours later.

  Jim says a quick goodbye to Jace. They aren’t sentimental types. And besides, he’s not going to be far away. Geographically, that is. Frankie and Rick have been going on about all the various football workouts and social functions lined up for the team over the next few weeks, and I know I won’t be seeing much of Jace.

  It’s just me and Jace in the room now, and he tugs the bottom of my tee shirt until I’m close to him. There’s no denying how I feel any more. The fear is weighing down on me, making it hard to breathe.

  “Pep.” Jace’s voice is pained, and I know he can read the emotions on my face. “It’s going to be okay, you know? Of course it will be different, but we’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, I know.” The confidence in my voice is false, and we both know it. “I just hate change,” I finally admit after a moment of silence. And upon that admission, a stupid tear escapes and trickles down the side of my face. I quickly wipe it with the back of my hand and look away. “Argh!” I feel like stomping my foot in frustration, hating myself for acting like such an emotional girl.


  This is Jace Wilder, and you don’t ease into anything with him. We won’t ease into this transition. It will come on full force, like everything does with Jace. And when it hits us we won’t be the same. Maybe it will be a good change, and maybe it won’t.

  When Frankie returns, our goodbye is cut short with a brief kiss before Jace is hustling me down to the pickup so he can head over to the field house.

  Zoe’s sitting on the stairs outside my apartment building when Jim drops me off a few minutes later, and I’m thankful for the distraction. She gives me an annoyed look for blowing her off this morning, but all it takes is a simple apology from me, explaining it was Jace’s moving day, and she’s over it.

  Instead of hearing all about her trip to Mountain West yesterday, Zoe surprises me with news of a party she is dragging me to later tonight. Normally I would beg off immediately – I’m usually only one for big parties if Jace is with me – but I’m reluctant to be alone with my thoughts tonight. Gran has bridge night and the apartment holds too much of Jace – too much of him that is already starting to feel like the past. Like distant nostalgic memories.

  “Yeah, so I ran into Dana this morning at the gas station and Tina’s throwing this end-of-the-summer thing. I guess we hadn’t heard about it because it’s not, like, something everyone at Public is invited to,” Zoe explains. As usual, she’s practically bouncing with energy. “I got the feeling it was sort of exclusive, and that Dana thought she was doing me a big favor inviting us. And she made sure to tell me at least three times that you should come too.”

  I roll my eyes as I fill two glasses with lemonade from the fridge, handing one to Zoe. “Cheers.” We clink glasses.

  “To senior year!” Zoe raises her glass.

  Senior year. Why do I not share Zoe’s excitement?

  Zoe continues, “I mean, I know Dana and Tina think they’re better than everyone, but I figure it is our senior year after all, and we should try to have fun, right? So we are totally going to this party. If it’s lame, we can leave.”

  Dana Foster and Tina Anderson have been the popular girls in our grade since middle school. They tried to befriend me when I was in eighth grade and essentially friendless since Jace and Wes left for high school. It wasn’t hard to ascertain that they were using me to get to Jace and Wes. That they thought I was only worthy of being their friend because of my friendship with two of the most popular guys in Brockton. Some things never change, apparently.

  I don’t doubt that Zoe sees through Tina and Dana too; she’s not stupid. But she doesn’t care. Zoe doesn’t let much bother her.

  We hadn’t been part of the parties or associated with the popular people for most of high school, and we were comfortable on the sidelines. Our running teammates were our friends, and that was all we needed. But then Ryan Harding came to town our junior year, and his instant popularity offered a bridge between the running crowd and the partying scene. And then Jace Wilder became my boyfriend, and, well, going to parties became a regular part of our lives.

  “Fine, just let me shower and get something to eat,” I appease her.

  “Excellent!” she says with a little clap. “Rollie and Omar are picking us up in twenty, so be quick.”

  I raise my eyebrows at her presumptive planning before heading to the bathroom. With Charlie Owens and Claire Padilla graduated, Roland Fowler and Omar Hernandez are the only teammates left we are close friends with. I’ve become closer with Jenny Mendoza, another teammate, since she started working at the same restaurant as me this summer, but she’s only a sophomore.

  Rollie’s a nerd at heart, but he’s transformed into sort of a cool nerd since joining the partying scene with us last year. Omar has always been the most socially accepted amongst our running friends because he plays varsity baseball in the spring. I’m not surprised he got an invite to Tina’s party, and with Rollie as his best friend, they sort of come as a package. Like Zoe and me. You don’t invite one without the other.

  In some ways, with Jace off at college, things have returned to the status quo. Zoe and I will spend more time together with our boyfriends gone, and the main focus in my life will return to running. I let the warm water run over my sticky skin and shake my head at this foolish thought. Ever since Jace became more than a friend, I knew my life would never be the same.

  Chapter 3

  The party at Tina’s is lame, but apparently my friends don’t share my opinion. There are about two dozen people at her house, all congregated in the open kitchen and living room area. It’s classier than any party I’ve been to, and I’m glad I’m wearing a sundress instead of my usual cutoff shorts and plain cotton tee shirt. People are drinking wine in actual wine glasses, and there are little cheese cubes with toothpicks and an assortment of healthy cracker options laid out on the counter.

  Not that I’ve ever been a big drinker, but I stopped drinking any alcohol at the beginning of the summer when I ramped up my training. I need to eliminate any potential weaknesses this cross season and drinking and National Champion don’t seem to go together. I’m probably the only one in the room drinking water, and my annoyance that I promised to be the DD tonight isn’t because I feel like drinking. It’s because I’d rather go home and get a good night’s sleep before weight lifting tomorrow morning. School starts in a couple days, and I need to maintain a decent sleep routine if I expect to lift weights at the gym before classes three times a week.

  Zoe is basking in a newfound popularity, which I find amusing given her past criticisms of the very girls she now chats with happily. It doesn’t bother me though. Not really. Maybe she needs a distraction from Charlie leaving, and I can’t blame her for that.

  Rollie actually seems to have the attention of not one, but two girls, who I recognize as juniors on the soccer team. But what shocks me the most is Omar, who is practically groping Tina on the couch. Tina Anderson. The classic social-climber. I thought Omar had better taste than that. But I’m here too, at her house, so who am I to judge?

  I didn’t think I’d miss the Barbies – Zoe’s label for the three most popular girls at Brockton Public last year, who have since graduated. They could be petty and social-climbing but they were a lot more down to earth than the girls I’ve talked to tonight.

  I’ve texted Jace already, who is at a team meeting, and has an early morning workout tomorrow. I make my way outside to the porch, and I discover it wraps around the entire house. Finding a comfortable porch chair by the front door, I settle in and, without thinking, I find Wes’s number on my contacts and tap his name.

  “Pep, what’s going on?” he answers on the first ring.

  I tell him where I am, and he immediately senses that I’m not exactly having the time of my life.

  “Want me to pick you up?” he asks.

  “Nah, I’m the DD so I need to stick around,” I explain. “I just felt like talking, and Jace is at a team meeting.”

  “Oh yeah, right.” The tinge of hurt in his voice makes me realize I’ve just told him he’s my second choice, and I cringe. But what’s the big deal, obviously my boyfriend is my first choice, right?

  “What are you up to?” I wonder, surprised to realize there’s no background noise or indication he’s out with others.

  “Just home, watching TV.”

  It’s silent for a moment as I process Wes’s tone. He sounds down, and I can’t even remember the last time Wesley Jamison sounded bummed out.

  “Hmmm…” I drawl out, hoping to get Wes talking.

  “I’m not going to Princeton next week,” Wes finally says on a long breath.

  “What?” I couldn’t have heard that right.

  “Princeton. I’m not going. I’m deferring a year.”

  “What?” I ask again. “Why? When did you decide this?” I’ve always had this feeling Wes was going to mess up his life somehow with all the partying he does. It’s been on the verge of out-of-control pretty much since we rekindled our friendship about a year ago. And I’m afraid my fear i
s now true.

  “I guess I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I just told my dad like, a couple hours ago. David, that is. I haven’t told Jim yet.” David is the one everyone else thinks is Wes’s father. The one he’s called Dad his whole life. Jim is Wes’s real biological father. And Jace’s too. “I haven’t told anyone else yet, actually. I wanted to make this decision on my own. And David was the hardest one to tell. Jim, Jace, my mom, they won’t flip their shit like he did.”

  “Yeah? What’d he do?”

  And that question is all it takes. The floodgates open and Wes tells me just how screwed up his relationship with his non-biological father is. David had always known that Wes was the product of his wife’s affair. In some ways, David acted like it didn’t bother him. That was most likely because David himself has had countless affairs. “He probably has other kids out there somewhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if I had more half-siblings I don’t even know about,” Wes says bitterly.

  “What’s fucked up is that I’m like a toy or something to him. He’s hardly ever around, but he’s always controlling me with his demands, his money, and my mom. He knows we depend on him and we need him. My mom should’ve just divorced him years ago but she’s afraid she won’t get much. Apparently there was a prenup, but I don’t know much about it.”

  I’ve always known things weren’t exactly all warm and fuzzy in the Jamison household, but I’d never witnessed the anger Wes held toward David. “He uses me to brag to his friends about, to give himself credibility as a good guy who can raise a good kid, but David didn’t do a damn thing to raise me besides write a few checks. Big ones, but they sure as hell didn’t come with a fatherly hug. I only get those if his business buddies are around.”