by Chloe Walsh
Grabbing the house phone off the coffee table, I dialed my uncle's cellphone number and waited impatiently for him to pick up. He'd better have some pretty good calming remedies stashed in the house or some top-shelf liquor because I was so not putting up with this crap.
Uncle Max's phone rang three times before going to voicemail. Great. Lovely. Love you, too, asshat.
Hanging up without leaving a message, I stood and paced the lounge as I mentally tried to rein in my emotions.
Every fiber of my body demanded I go next door and confront them, have it out once and for all.
But what good would it do? That was my rational side talking, the superior part of my mind I hated listening to because it was usually right.
Checking the time on my watch, I realized it was just after eleven. I would give it an hour, I decided. If they were still making noise after midnight, then I would give myself full permission to go next door and kick some ass.
I hated to admit it, but I was feeling lonely and bitter. And weirdly enough, the majority of the bitterness festering inside of me wasn't because of the party next-door, it was because I was sitting here while there was a party going on next door – his party.
Liam.
That's it, I could talk to Liam – distract myself from the debauchery happening next door.
Whether Liam and I were together or not anymore was irrelevant. The facts were I'd spent three years of my life as his girlfriend. He was the first boy I'd ever loved, the first and only boy to stick his tongue down my throat – in the back row of the cinema when we were fourteen – and the first and only boy to put his penis in my mouth – granted it was a one-time occurrence and he dumped me straight after, but still…
Opening my laptop, I decided to log onto Facebook to message Liam.
Facebook was a lot like fake tan; time consuming, completely pointless, and utterly addictive. It was the lair of a few billion elite 'socialites' who preferred to conceal their real lives with perfectly concocted propagandas. I still used it, you know, because I had no willpower, and I still used fake tan because I was Irish. I guess I wasn't much of a rebel after all.
To; Liam Harte
From; Teagan Connolly
Message; So… I know we agreed not to do the long distance relationship thing, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? How's school? Please say you're awake and can talk. P.S what time is it back home?
The second I pressed the send button I had an attack of second thoughts. When I'd told Liam I was moving to America, the night Uncle Max dropped the bombshell on me, Liam had made it clear that he wasn't interested in having a long distance relationship.
But when we didn't break up straight away, and continued seeing each other, I'd thought…I wasn't sure what I'd thought, but if I'd have known the outcome I wouldn't have done what I did with him.
Maybe I should let it be? The night we broke up was not a pretty one, with plenty of tears – on my behalf – and almost five months had passed since then…
My inbox pinged causing my stomach to erupt with butterflies.
To; Teagan Connolly
From; Liam Harte
Message; It's 05.30 in the morning. I can talk for a while. School's school. Got a nice American fella yet?
Wow. Okay, so he was in a pissy mood. Well, at least he'd messaged me back. Cracking my knuckles, I began to write back.
To; Liam Harte
From; Teagan Connolly
Message; don't be a dick, Liam. You're the one who decided to end things. It's not my fault I'm here and you're there. I'm suffering too.
I held my breath until my inbox pinged and then I dived into the message.
To; Teagan Connolly
From; Liam Harte
Message; I'm sorry, Teegs, for everything. The way I left things… It was a shitty thing to do to you. I know I hurt you and I know you may not believe me when I tell you that hurting you was something I never wanted to do.
Liam's words of apology didn't quite erase the rejection I still felt because of the way he'd treated me – and the horrible feeling I had that he'd used me – but they helped.
Another message pinged while I was replying to his first one.
To; Teagan Connolly
From; Liam Harte
Message; I can't be your fella anymore, Teagan, but I can be your friend. Tell me about school and your neighborhood. Have you joined a gym yet, or a soccer team?
Comfort flooded through me, making me feel a little less lonely.
To; Liam Harte
From; Teagan Connolly
Message; School is okay, and I made a couple of friends. The Hill isn't so bad, but my next-door neighbors are awful. There's this girl Ellie, and she hates my guts. God only knows why. But her stepbrother Noah is worse. He thinks he's so tough. I mean he's our age, but the guy is covered in tattoos, Liam. And he smokes and gets into fights…
And that’s how I fell asleep, curled up on the couch, emailing my ex-boyfriend about the boy next-door.
****
Noah
I was going to lose my shit over the girl-next-door.
It was Saturday night and I was still brooding over her antics this morning.
Who the hell did she think she was? No, scratch that, who did she think I was, some junked up asshole who would slash her tires? It pissed me off something fierce to think she held that low opinion of me.
Teagan Connolly was getting under my skin like a goddamn itch that needed to be scratched and no amount of alcohol seemed to be able to force the image of her face from my mind.
Dammit…
Our house was crammed with people from school, courtesy of Ellie and her impulsive nature, and my brain was like a broken record, replaying this morning's events until I was thrumming with pent-up frustration.
"You're awfully quiet tonight," Ellie mused as she sidled up against me. "What's up?"
"Did you slash Teagan's tires?" I straight-out asked her.
Ellie's face was a mask of innocence for a moment before a sly smile crept over her lips. "Has someone been telling tales?"
Teagan was right – she'd been dead on the fucking money.
Folding my arms across my chest, I glared down at her, feeling furious. "Why the hell would you do that to her?"
"Why the hell would you care what I do to her?" Ellie shot back, her glare mutinous, as she copied my movements and folded her arms over her chest. "In case you've forgotten she wrecked your car, Noah."
"I haven’t forgotten," I snapped. "And I care, Ellie, because she's under the illusion that I'm somehow responsible."
"Well maybe that's for the best," Ellie sniped before disappearing into the crowd of people, leaving me fuming.
The sooner this school year was over the better. I didn’t think I could stand much more of this bullshit…
"Dance with me, Noah," Reese Tanner, Ellie's cousin and bff slurred as she rubbed herself against my body.
Her red hair was loose and flowing freely over her barely concealed breasts – nice breasts I remembered – and that sparkly black little number she was wearing hugged her curves enough to rouse my interest.
"I don’t dance, Reese," I told her as I stood in front of the bay window looking out onto street.
I was not in the mood to deal with clingers. And I knew Reese was a clinger. She was a nice girl, unbelievable with her tongue, but had been like permanent marker to get rid of the last time.
"Walk away, sweetheart," I told her. The fact that Reese worked part-time in reception at Low's dad's hotel made it especially hard to avoid her since I used the gym at least four times a week.
"I'm sure you can make an exception," she purred, dropping her hand to my belt buckle. Her fingers slipped under the waistband of my jeans and she tugged me closer. "For me."
I gazed down at the stunning redhead and found myself weighing up my options.
Stand around brooding over the girl-next-door who hated my guts and treated me like I was the fucking p
ariah of Colorado, or get my dick sucked.
Dropping my mouth to hers, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "My room," I murmured, pushing everything else to the back of my mind. "Now."
I led Reese up to my room and after locking my door I walked over to the shelf that held my stereo and switched it on – anything to drown out Ellie's shitty taste in music.
Good Charlotte's Little Things bellowed through my ears and I felt some of the tension zap away.
Tugging my shirt off I dropped it on my bedroom before turning around – pleased to see Reese already naked and spread eagle on my bed.
"This is a one-time thing, Reese," I told her as I climbed onto my bed and leaned over her. "No strings."
She nodded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around my neck. "No strings, Noah," she agreed with a breathy moan, "I know the rules," before pulling my face to hers.
****
Chapter 7
Teagan
"So you've made it through almost two whole months of high-school," Hope teased Monday evening after school as she sat on my kitchen counter, swinging her legs back and forth and helping herself to my Ben and Jerry's. "How do you feel?"
"Accomplished," I chuckled as I grabbed a spoon from the drawer and took a spoonful of ice-cream before Hope cleaned out the entire tub.
In the short time I'd known Hope I had to admit her appetite impressed the hell out of me. I'd never met another girl who could put food away like I could and not gain weight. Well, she was luckier than me in the shape department, being that she actually had one. Hope had killer curves whereas I had hipbones – not that it bothered me too much. I was happy in my skin – skinny or not.
"Well you should," Hope said with a grin as she hopped down from the counter and handed me the ice-cream.
Taking a hair-tie from her wrist, she pulled her hair back and tied it in a loose ponytail. "And hey, Colt already got himself suspended for exposing himself to the girls' swim-team which totally takes the limelight off you."
"What the hell was he thinking?" I asked through fits of laugher as I thought about Hope's baby brother being dragged out of the pool hall by Coach Johnson on Wednesday.
"He's Colton," Hope grumbled as she grabbed two cans of coke from the fridge and followed me out to the garden. "He doesn't think, period."
The weather was fiercely warm all day so Hope and I had made plans to laze around in the garden after school and hopefully catch some sun.
"We don't get enough days like this," Hope mused as she rolled the legs of her jeans up to her knees before sprawling out on the grass. "I'm gonna miss this."
"What, lazing on the grass?" I asked as I lay on the grass beside her and slid my sunglasses on.
"The sun," she replied sadly. "Winter's drawing in which means parkas, hats and scarves. I mean Halloween is tomorrow."
"I can't wait for winter." I sighed contently. "I've never seen snow before."
"You'll see plenty of it here." Hope chuckled. "Oh yeah, I meant to tell you earlier…" Hope yawned loudly and folded her arms behind her head. "I overheard Logan and Noah talking last night."
My ears perked up immediately.
Things had been quiet on the western front since my altercation with Noah over the tires. He hadn’t looked in my direction since that day and that suited me just fine. I didn’t care. I didn’t.
"Noah told Logan that Ellie's throwing a party tonight for his birthday," she said with a lazy sigh.
"Don’t they have parents to wrangle them into line?" I asked in disgust. "It's Monday for Christ's sakes. Who throws a house party on a Monday night?"
"Apparently Ellie does." Hope sighed heavily. "And Noah invited my brothers to it."
"Isn't he a little old to be hanging with your brothers," I tossed out airily, desperately trying to keep my voice level even though the mere sound of his name caused my body to coil tight. "They're juniors, right? Shouldn’t Noah have some friends his own age?"
"Noah's closer to their age than mine," Hope informed me in a sleepy tone.
"How's that?"
"Dad suffered premature empty-nest syndrome the year I was supposed to start kindergarten," she told me in an amused tone. "He held me back, therefore I'll be nineteen before I graduate high school."
I turned my face to stare at her. "I've heard of mothers getting it, but fathers?"
Hope smirked. "What can I say about my dad," she mused. "He's an unusual guy."
"That he is." And incredibly hot…
"Anyway," she continued. "My brothers turned seventeen in early September, and Noah turned eighteen today, October thirtieth – the same month as my mom, who, by the way, is on a flight to New York with Dad."
"A belated birthday present?"
Hope nodded. "Apparently Dad couldn’t take time off work until this week – which means I'm stuck on my own with Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest until December."
"Until December?" I shook my head. "A whole month?"
"Yeah," Hope mumbled. "I know they're up to something else," she muttered. "I overheard them talking about letters and release dates, but they're so damn secretive it's impossible to figure out." She let out a weary sigh. "I swear my parents live in their own personal little bubble. They're so wrapped up in one another it's sick."
"It's rare," I mused.
"So anyway…technically there's less than a year between Noah and my brothers."
"Where's his mother?" I surprised myself by asking.
"Whose?" Hope mumbled.
"Noah's. She's married to Ellie's dad, right? Well, I've had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Dennis, but I've never even laid eyes on Noah's mom. Where is she?"
"That's a very good question, Teagan," Hope muttered without elucidating any more information.
We lay silently after that, basking in the heat of the sun, and enjoying the peace and quiet. The sound of a door banging next door and raised voices burst our serene little bubble.
"…Get out of my face, Ellie, I'm not talking about this right now…"
My ears pricked up at the sound of Noah's deep voice and I sat up.
Resting my weight on one elbow, I nudged Hope with the other, but she didn't stir. She was breathing slow and even and I realized she was asleep.
"Since when did you grow a conscience, Noah?"
"What makes you think I've grown a conscience?"
"The Noah I knew wouldn’t take shit lying down…"
"I'm not lying down…"
"Hope?" I hissed. "Wake up. They're fighting."
"Go away, Cam," Hope mumbled as she rolled onto her stomach and tucked her face into her arms.
"Then when?" I heard Ellie demand and I lay back down quickly, hoping they wouldn't notice me eavesdropping on their conversation.
Noah didn't answer her, well, let me rephrase that to Noah didn't verbally answer her, but the sound of a punching bag being decimated was proof enough that the conversation was over for him.
"If you don’t then I will, Noah."
A door slammed again and then all I was left with was the sound of a punching bag being pulverized and some very masculine grunting noises.
Thoughts of Noah that I really didn't want to have while I was sprawled half-naked with sweat trickling between my breasts plagued me.
I tried to push him out of my mind but he wouldn't fuck off. The more he punched that bag the more I squirmed.
Dammit, I couldn't cut a break.
****
Noah
I was regretting ever looking out my kitchen window.
I had been trying to keep my distance from the girl-next-door, but the view of her sprawled out on her garden lawn – with those killer fucking legs and that mane of unruly blonde hair – from my kitchen window was too much to ignore.
I couldn’t cut a break…
"Looking good, birthday boy." Ellie's painfully irritating voice filled my ears and I closed my eyes, willing myself to be calm.
"Thanks," I told her. Today was my eighteenth birthday and so
far it had been nothing short of a disaster. I screwed up in a biology test this morning because I had to work last night instead of studying. I'd been refused visitation at the hospital this afternoon and to top it off Cameron Carter had showed an abnormal amount of interest in my after-school activities during lunch. Worrying about that hot-headed idiot was something I could do without…
"So, I invited Reese, Abby, Pam and Kate over tonight to celebrate – oh and Jason of course."
"Of course," I mimicked, rolling my eyes in disgust.
Jason Graham was Ellie's latest string-along. He devoted himself entirely to her every need and demand and she in return fucked him on a regular basis. That was the only way I could explain their relationship because it sure as hell wasn’t a monogamous one.
"Who have you invited, Noah?" she asked, placing her hand on my arm.
"Cam, Colt and Low," I replied in a frustrated tone, brushing her hand off as I turned to look at her. I was fucking frustrated because I didn’t want to talk to Ellie. I wanted to stare at Teagan and Ellie was preventing me from doing so.
"And Teagan and Hope?" Ellie asked in a sarcastic tone. "Did you invite them too, or were you just planning on staring at them the entire evening?"
Busted…
"What are you talking about?" I grumbled as I stepped around her and made my way to the back door. Shit, I hadn’t even noticed Hope out there…
"I'm talking about you, Noah," Ellie hissed as she followed me into the back yard. "And your twisted fascination with her," she grumbled. "It's been over a month and you're still without a ride because of that bitch. She's trouble for us – I can feel it…"
"Get out of my face, Ellie," I snapped as I stalked down the garden towards the plastic-roofed, make-shift gym I'd built when we first moved here. "I'm not talking about this right now," I told her.
Unfortunately Ellie followed me. "Since when did you grow a conscience, Noah?"
