Crushed

by Amity Hope

  Cleo shrugged. “I don’t care.”

  But Cleo knew they were both lying because she could see it in her eyes. Mia did believe her. And even though Cleo didn’t want to, she definitely did care.

  She wanted her to know.

  But more than anything, she just wanted her to leave.

  “I don’t get you Mia. I’ve never bothered you. I’ve never tried to be your friend or hang around you.” Cleo knew there would be no point. She was trash as far as Mia was concerned. “You’ve always acted like I’m so far beneath you. And yet, you still spend an awful lot of time going out of your way to harass me. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  Before Mia could respond Lauren cut in.

  “Just…Go. Away,” she said as she made a shooing motion. “No one wants you here. No one cares what you have to say. All you do is make yourself look like a needy old hag. We all know the only reason you treat Cleo like you do is because you feel so threatened by her.”

  “You’re jealous Mia,” Emma chimed in.

  “Hardly,” Mia said, her voice oozing derision.

  “Definitely,” Lauren growled back. “You’re pathetic Mia. You’re mean and vindictive. If Reece wasn’t so out of his head right now, he’d never even look twice at you.”

  Cleo cringed. That was harsh, even for Lauren.

  She could feel Mia’s gaze burning into her. She didn’t look up. She busied herself tearing her napkin into shreds. After all of the nasty comments Mia had made to her—about her—over the years, she tried telling herself she shouldn’t feel bad about what she’d just said. But she did. Because it was mean and she’d let her emotions get the best of her.

  “Seriously, Mia, get out of here,” Emma ordered. “You’re even stupider than I thought if you really think you can come over here to our table and insult our friend right in front of us.”

  “You’re right,” Mia said lightly, “you are all a complete waste of my time.”

  “You were with Reece last night?!” Emma whisper-yelled once Mia had gone.

  Cleo glanced up. Both she and Lauren had huge smiles on their face.

  “We were talking. That’s all. I swear.”

  Lauren put her hands up. “Hey, I’m not judging. I’m all for you being with Reece.”

  Cleo sighed. “It wasn’t like that. It was more like…I think we were just getting some closure.”

  “Closure?” Lauren scoffed. “For there to be closure, you would have to be over. You two? Are far from over.”

  Cleo just shrugged. She didn’t want to argue.

  When she didn’t say anything Lauren started in again.

  “So guess where I’m going,” she commanded in an oddly airy tone. Cleo wasn’t sure why Lauren’s attention was direction solely at her and not on Emma.

  “Where?” she asked, both her tone and her expression mirroring the question.

  “To the Lightning’s season opener,” Lauren admitted with a grin.

  “That game is always sold out,” Emma said. Her tone was laced with suspicion.

  Lauren leaned across the table, her whole demeanor conspiratorial. “Adam made me promise not to tell,” Lauren admitted. “So if I tell you, you have to promise not to repeat it.”

  Cleo didn’t waste time pondering the irony of her statement. Or why Lauren thought she would be any more—less?—trustworthy than she herself was. Cleo simply said, “I promise.”

  Lauren treated her friends to a devious grin. “Okay. Apparently that class you have? Community Participation?” Cleo nodded. “Well, Reece made Adam trade projects. Only Adam didn’t want to trade projects. Until Reece made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

  “What offer?” Of course the memory of Reece pulling Adam off to the side that day flitted around in her head.

  Lauren paused dramatically. “He gave Adam the tickets to opening night, the game against the Wolverines and he let Adam pick the game against the Maverick’s. Because…” she paused longer this time, until Cleo made a motion for her to continue. Then she rolled her eyes—maybe she’d been waiting for Cleo to guess. She couldn’t. She didn’t want the answer to be what she was sure it was going to be. “Because he wanted you to have the project you wanted. Not the crap one he accidentally got you guys signed up for.”

  “Awww,” Emma cooed from beside her. “That’s so sweet!”

  Cleo groaned. “He can’t be doing things like that for me.”

  Lauren smirked. “I’d like to see you try to stop him.”

  Chapter 14

  “You have got to get up Sweet Pea, we’re going to be late,” Cleo said as she gave Luci another shake. Luci had her own alarm clock. But she shut it off almost every morning, completely ignoring that it had gone off at all. She groaned and burrowed down deeper under her covers. “See, this is why I wanted you to stop staying up so late over summer break. It just makes it harder to adjust once school starts. You need to start going to bed earlier, starting tonight. And from now on, you should probably start setting out your clothes the night before, too.”

  “Fine,” she mumbled as she flung her covers off. Her normally big blue eyes were squinting to keep out the sun. She’d thrown off her blankets, but she made no move to actually get out of bed.

  “Pancakes or waffles?” Cleo asked as she started to step out of the room. As usual, their mornings were rushed.

  “Waffles,” she replied as she yawned hugely. She stretched, baring her midriff in her almost too-small pajamas. Cleo realized she was going to need to remember to pick her up a new pair. Maybe next paycheck. Getting some cash from Paul for some of her school clothes had been enough of a battle. She wouldn’t bother with the pajamas.

  She made her way into the kitchen, listening to be sure that her sister really got up. Luci had a bad habit of pulling the covers back up and dozing off again. When Cleo heard the bathroom door close, she was satisfied Luci was fully awake.

  She pulled the nearly empty box of waffles out of the freezer.

  She had just popped two of them in the toaster and thrown the box away when the kitchen phone rang.

  She instantly recognized the number. Ethan called to check on her frequently, especially the past few months. But he’d never called so early before.

  “Hello?” Curiosity colored her tone as she rushed about the kitchen.

  “Hey darlin’,” Ethan drawled comically, making her smile. “Sorry to call so early but I wanted to catch you before you left for school. You know, since you haven’t joined the world of modern technology and gotten yourself a cell phone yet,” he pretended to grumble. He knew she hadn’t wanted to join the world of cell phone bills.

  “Okay, what’s up?” Cleo wondered. She could already feel the first sparks of concern and worry igniting inside of her stomach.

  “I thought I should let you know I’ve started seeing someone,” he said.

  She forced a laugh as she pulled a plate out of the cupboard and then moved on to getting Luci some milk. “And you’re telling me this because…you want dating advice?” she tried to tease.

  “Hey girl, if anyone would be schooling anyone, I’d be schooling you,” he teased back. Then he got a little more serious. “No, I’m telling you because Bobbie Fremont saw us together over the weekend. Remember that party I told you I was going to? Well, she happened to be there. I just wanted to give you a heads up. You know, maybe it’ll come up, maybe it won’t. But I wanted you to be prepared. And uh, actually, considering the nasty look she was giving me, I’m pretty sure it’ll come up,” he said apologetically.

  Her stomach plummeted as the waffles popped up. She had been afraid he was going to say something like that. Of course she had known it was just a matter of time. And truly, she was surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner. Ethan never had trouble finding girls that were interested.

  “Thanks,” she sighed as she began spreading the butter.

  “No problem. Kylie and I have only been together a few weeks, so you’re welcome to be my pretend
girlfriend until then. If it does come up, just don’t make me out to be some lying, cheating, rat-bastard, okay? I have a stand-up-kind-of-guy reputation to uphold,” he joked.

  She smiled, despite the complications this posed. “I wouldn’t dream of tarnishing your stellar reputation. So, did you break up with me?”

  “No, it was mutual. The distance got to be too much. We’re still friends,” he decided. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked after a pause.

  “It should be fine, Reece is with Mia now.” She sighed as she squirted some syrup onto Luci’s waffles.

  “Cleo, I’m sorry,” Ethan told her.

  “Thanks. I never could’ve pulled this off without you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said flatly. If Ethan hadn’t been there waiting, watching over her, she would’ve caved. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. She didn’t think Reece would’ve let her go. He wasn’t going to let her go. Not until Ethan stepped in and pulled her away.

  She tried to laugh but it came out sounding all mangled.

  “You never should’ve had to do this. That ass never should’ve put you in this position,” he said, his voice hardening.

  “Which one?” she asked with a bitter laugh.

  “Good point,” Ethan agreed.

  Luci came stumbling into the kitchen. Cleo placed her plate on the table, motioning for her to sit.

  “Eat!” Cleo whispered to her.

  She picked up her fork and yawned before taking a bite.

  “Gotta run so I don’t miss the bus,” she told Ethan. “But thanks for the call.”

  They hung up and she turned her attention back to her sister.

  She’d slumped into her chair and was blinking sleepily at her breakfast.

  “Holy moly!” Cleo exclaimed. “Look at your hair!”

  “Is it bad?” Luci asked, instantly waking up. Her hands flew to her head. It was haloed in flying, staticky strands of hair.

  “Um,” Cleo said impassively, “don’t worry about it. You eat, I’ll get a brush. I’ll put it in a braid and we’ll have you fixed up in no time.”

  She was glad for the distraction, no matter how brief. Today, she was sure, was going to suddenly be full of complications.

  ***

  As Reece walked to class, he wondered how awkward seeing Cleo would be. He wasn’t sure how she felt. But he felt like they’d left things in a weird place. Then again, he thought, maybe weird is just going to be the new normal for us.

  He’d seen Mia earlier. She’d glared at him and marched away—her mini entourage trailing behind—before he’d reached her. Maybe that meant they were over even though neither of them officially said it? He didn’t know. But he hoped it meant they were.

  The crowd was thinning because first bell was just about to ring. He was running late because he had tried to go after Mia. When he was almost to his classroom he saw Adam standing off to the side with Cleo right outside of the door. He had his arm around her shoulder. Even though Adam was his best friend, he wanted to throw it right back off.

  Cleo was looking at him like she was suddenly nervous around him. Her eyes looked a little wide and her lips were turned down. Her fingers were fidgeting with the folder she was clenching in one arm.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” he wondered as he stopped next to them.

  She didn’t look at him.

  Adam ignored him, too.

  “How’s Ethan?” Adam demanded. He looked at Reece after he asked Cleo the question. He had a stupid grin and raised eyebrows. A few people were trickling in, giving Adam an odd look for asking the question.

  What does he care how Ethan is? He’s my best friend, Reece wondered.

  Cleo squirmed awkwardly under the weight of his arm. Her gaze swung around to Reece and she definitely looked nervous. He didn’t know if he should be relieved or annoyed that now Adam, who she used to be just fine with, made her uncomfortable too.

  “Ethan is fine,” she said. She turned her eyes away from him again. Her voice sounded off as well. She gave Adam a smile that Reece just knew wasn’t genuine. “In fact, I talked to him this morning.”

  Reece thought she was going for a carefree tone. She was not pulling it off. His guess? Because he was standing right there he thought maybe Cleo, being Cleo, didn’t want to rub it in.

  “How’d that go?” Adam asked.

  Her face fell into a look that Reece couldn’t comprehend.

  He was already thinking things with Cleo would be tense enough this morning, after Friday night. He didn’t want to add to that. He really didn’t want to hear about the lovebird’s phone call so he took off to his desk. He wasn’t sitting that long when Adam dumped himself into his desk and turned around.

  “Dude,” he said as he dropped his elbows on Reece’s desk and leaned in. “What did you take off for?”

  “You think I want to hear about Ethan?” Reece gave him his What-the-hell? look to let him know that he didn’t.

  “Yeah, actually I do,” Adam said smugly. “I think you would want to hear what I have to say.”

  Reece doubted it. But Adam just sat there looking at him, obviously waiting for him to take the bait. He finally did. “What?” he asked.

  “Bobbie saw Ethan with some chick at a party on Saturday night. Like, with her. As in she was on his lap and her tongue was down his throat.” He stared at Reece, the smug look still plastered in place.

  Reece stared back at him for a minute. Then he shrugged because he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with that information. Bobbie was Adam’s sister. If she said she saw Ethan, he believed she saw Ethan.

  “So he’s cheating on her?” he asked pretty much in disbelief. He couldn’t quite comprehend the concept of cheating on Cleo. It just shouldn’t be done. He suddenly wanted to kill Ethan for an entirely different reason than the reason he’d had all summer.

  “They broke up.”

  “Who broke up?” Reece asked. Adam couldn’t mean what he thought he meant because just a few nights ago, it sounded like they were together.

  Adam punched him in the arm and made a face at Reece like he was the stupidest person he had ever talked to. “Cleo and Ethan.”

  Reece’s eyes darted around, looking for her. She was chatting with Emma who was frowning. Emma probably wasn’t real pleased, Reece decided. Because she probably did like having her brother and best friend together. Although, she had warned Reece that their relationship was complicated. He had no idea what she’d meant by that at the time. And even less of an idea now. Then again, it was Emma who had said Reece and Cleo belonged together. So maybe she wasn’t frowning about Ethan.

  Girls, Reece thought. Mia, Cleo, Emma…none of them make any sense!

  Mr. Jessen flew into the room, squeaky shoes and all, just as the bell rang. Everyone took their seats.

  They were supposed to be doing work out of the textbook. But he couldn’t stop wondering when that had happened. Before Friday night? Why didn’t she mention it? Unless, probably she thought it was none of his business. Or was it after? Was it because of Friday night? He shook that thought from his head. Thinking that way would only end up backfiring on him, he was sure.

  His eyes kept drifting over to her throughout the hour. She never once looked his way. What he did notice was that she didn’t look too shaken up. And shouldn’t she be? If she was so into Ethan?

  He thought so. But what did he know? Nothing. And he doubted she’d be willing to tell him.

  Or was she just working hard at looking unaffected?

  When the bell rang he hadn’t noticed how late it was. He scrambled to get his things together. Natalie cornered him when he finally made his way to the door. She was furious.

  “Were you with Cleo on Friday night?” she demanded.

  “Why?” he asked as he tried to sidestep her.

  “It’s a yes or no question,” she hissed back.

  “Yes.”

  Her face turned livid.

  “We were
talking.”

  “I’m sure you were,” she said.

  “I think Mia and I broke up,” he told her.

  She gave him a look that seemed to be somewhere between confusion and horror before taking off.

  Not that it mattered—or maybe it did, to him anyway—but he wondered how Natalie knew that. And if Natalie knew, he was sure Mia knew. He hadn’t told anyone. Not even Adam. So that meant Cleo had to have told someone. But who? Emma? He was sure Emma wouldn’t blab if Cleo had told her. That led to only one explanation.

  Thinking that Mia and Cleo had had a confrontation didn’t sit well with him.

  Mia could be vicious and Cleo was typically an expert at holding her tongue. But apparently, she hadn’t. If that was truly the case, he was proud of her. Because he was sure she wouldn’t have said anything unless Mia pushed her into it. It was about time she let Mia have it.

  By the end of the day, he decided it didn’t matter. Things with Mia were over as far as he was concerned. He was sure she thought so too since she’d gone off campus for lunch without telling him. He’d tried calling her but she was still ignoring his phone calls, which was really starting to piss him off. Her running off at lunch nixed yet another chance for him to be certain things were over.

  When it came right down to it, none of this really surprised him. He’d realized Mia was good at making things difficult.

  When Adam asked if he wanted to go to the batting cages after school, he was glad to have something to do for a while. Nothing beat letting off some steam like slamming a baseball. Between what was going on with Mia and what wasn’t going on with Cleo, he definitely needed it. It also meant he could avoid his dad for a while.

  They spent a few hours there. When they left, Adam turned in the opposite direction of the school parking lot, where Reece’s vehicle was parked. It wasn’t until then that he realized Adam might have an ulterior motive.

  “Where are we going?”

  “There’s something I think you need to see,” Adam told Reece. He glanced at his dashboard clock. It was almost six.

  “On Mia’s street?” Reece asked as he looked around.