Flutter

by Olivia Evans

  Dylan chuckled and ate another piece of sushi. “You know he’s not going to accept that you bested him, right?”

  Jenny winked. “Oh, I know.”

  For the next hour, Jenny and Dylan talked about work, sports, and every time he got a chance, Joel. He knew Joel had a thing for Jenny, so maybe he could help things along. When Jenny left, it was with a hug and a promise not to be a stranger.

  Exhausted, Dylan wasted no time cleaning up their mess and crawling into bed. The moment the room was washed in darkness, the lighthearted feeling faded, and Dylan was plunged back into thoughts of Cody and formulating a plan to slowly cut Presley’s medications. He knew there would be a change in her dosage the next time he worked at Hilltop, but at least he had an idea of what he was up against.

  He’d have to start with the Haloperidol first. He was fairly certain that her other medications had been added as a result of its side effects. He’d have to increase her Valium to keep her withdrawal undetected for as long as possible. His stomach twisted with unease. What he was planning was dangerous, and his uncertainty caused him to second guess his decision over and over. Going to the police or the press was an option he’d considered but dismissed just as quickly. Her parents had already made her disappear once. He wasn’t going to give them the opportunity to do it again. He needed Presley to find her way back first. Then they could fight her parents together, make them pay for every memory they’d robbed from Dylan and Presley the last six years.

  Chapter Eight

  October 2010

  “What about this one?” Dylan asked, waving the brochure he held toward Presley.

  Presley looked at the brochure from where she sat at her vanity and shook her head. “Too far.”

  Dylan mumbled under his breath as he spread out the stack of brochures on Presley’s red and yellow comforter. “This?”

  Presley wrinkled her nose. “Too close.”

  Dylan groaned in frustration and fell back onto her bed. He pulled in a deep breath, his eyes traveling around the room in an attempt to distract himself. It was so different from the rest of her home. Bright yellow and red curtains hung next to the large window overlooking Central Park. Band posters and wildly colored canvases covered the muted yellow walls. It was chaotic and calming. It was a lot like Presley. The realization made him smile and his annoyance dissipate. “Maybe you could give me a hint of what I should be looking for because I’m out of ideas.”

  Presley sighed and pushed the brochures to the floor before climbing over Dylan and lying down beside him, resting her head on his chest. “I don’t want to talk about college. Halloween is a week away. I’d rather talk about costumes, not four more years of school. We’re not even finished with high school yet!”

  Dylan exhaled. It wasn’t about four more years of school; it was about planning the next four years of their lives. And with any luck, the next forty or so after. “Look, I’d be perfectly content living off a trust fund the rest of my life, but Grandmother would do way worse than cut me off if I told her I wasn’t going to college. We only have a few more weeks to send out applications, and I really don’t want to end up at a different school from you.”

  Presley was quiet for a few minutes, and Dylan couldn’t help but wonder if going to a different school was something she wanted. Before he could work up the nerve to say anything, Presley sighed and rolled off the bed. Using her foot, she pushed around the scattered brochures before grabbing one off the floor and tossing it on Dylan’s chest.

  “This one.”

  Dylan’s eyes widened as he looked from Presley to the brochure. “You already had a school picked out, didn’t you?”

  Presley shrugged and scooted onto the bed. “Yeah. I have for a while. I just—it’s weird, you have to see that. We only started dating two months ago, and now we’re picking out colleges together? I feel like we’re in some cheesy movie, and we’re setting ourselves up for failure.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes and moved until he could wrap his arms around her. “You’ve been watching Lifetime again, haven’t you?”

  Presley groan-laughed. “Yes.”

  “We are not some cheesy Lifetime movie, Presley. We’ve been friends almost our entire lives. We know each other better than anyone. There’s a reason everything feels so familiar with us.” Pulling in a deep breath, Dylan decided to make it perfectly clear where he stood. “We’ve been working our way toward each other for years. You and I were always going to end up together, it was just a matter of when.”

  Presley’s eyes glistened with tears, and he could feel her body tremble. “Do you really believe that?”

  Dylan ducked his head and chuckled, his skin reddening with emotion. “I guess. I mean, yes. When I saw you the first day of school, something felt different. I knew I wasn’t going to let another second pass without telling you what I wanted.”

  Presley leaned into his shoulder and dropped her forehead to his bowed head. “I’m really glad you decided to romance the shit out of me,” she whispered.

  Dylan laughed and nudged her until she tilted her chin so he could claim her lips. “So, Penn State?” he asked, his eyes filled with excitement.

  Presley beamed. “Yeah. It’s far enough away from home that I can have some freedom from my parents, but close enough that I don’t feel completely detached from my life. As much as they drive me crazy, they’re still my parents.”

  Dylan bit his tongue. Now wasn’t the time to take another shot at her shitty parents. “Penn State is a great school.”

  “I know it's not Ivy League, but I just want to do something different.” Presley’s eyes widened. “Will your family be okay with you going to a state school?”

  Dylan smiled. “If it were any other school, probably not. But they’ll be okay with Penn State.”

  “Why?”

  “Because my grandfather went there. Grandmother will be very happy.”

  Presley frowned. “What about you? Are you happy? Is Penn State the best fit for your degree?”

  Dylan laughed. “Presley, I have absolutely no idea what the hell I plan to major in. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you don’t either. You picked this school because of the location, not because of a program you want to study. Am I right?’

  Presley sniffed indignantly and crossed her arms. “No, the location is not the only reason I picked Penn State, thank you very much.” When Dylan’s only response was to smirk and lift his brow, Presley huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. I look awesome in that shade of blue. Happy?”

  Dylan laughed again and lunged toward her. He attempted to pin her to the bed but ended up sending them both crashing to the floor. In a fit of giggles and tangled limbs, he cupped her jaw, placing playful kisses on her lips.

  “So now that we’ve got college all figured out, what are the chances of you dressing as Jack the Pumpkin King for Halloween?”

  Dylan smiled, his dimple sinking into his cheek as he brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Elvis.”

  “How do I look?” Presley asked as they climbed out of Dylan’s car in front of their friend’s house.

  Dylan’s eyes drifted over Presley’s body, his stomach tightening as she smoothed her hands down her dress. “Like I’m going to get into a fight tonight,” he answered, completely serious.

  Presley smiled. “That good, huh?”

  “I don’t understand why you had to alter the dress. It was fine the way it looked before. I don’t remember Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas ever looking like you do.”

  Presley stared at him with a blank expression, her hands on her hips. “It looked like a potato sack.”

  Dylan’s eyes widened as he nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. It was perfect.” The patchwork dress stopped mid-thigh and hugged each and every one of her curves. Her white knee-high boots with black stitching matched the gloves that went up to her elbows. Even with the crazy stitchwork-pattern makeup, she was drop-dead gorgeous. His eyes moved over her
face to the long red wig she wore. He hoped she kept that.

  “You’re ridiculous. It just fits better. I didn’t even make it shorter. I bet if we made a drinking game out of how many girls are wearing costumes that show the bottom of their ass, we’d be plastered in five minutes.” Presley narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she stared at Dylan. “Maybe you’re right. This party isn’t such a good idea, after all.”

  Dylan laughed, suddenly feeling a little better as he pulled her against his chest. At least she understood. “I’m going to stay right by your side the whole night. You have nothing to worry about. You’re the only girl I want.”

  Before Presley could respond, someone from inside the house yelled their names. After a quick kiss, they made their way toward the crowd of half-naked teenagers holding red plastic cups filled with spiked punch and cheap beer.

  For the first couple of hours, Dylan kept his promise. They made their circuit around the room, talking and laughing with classmates. As the night wore on and they begin to relax, thanks to their own cups filled with spiked punch, they drifted off to their respective groups of friends. Dylan’s friends pushed for details about how far he’d gotten with Presley, but Dylan blew them off. His relationship with Presley wasn’t like with other girls. She was more.

  He looked in her direction, smiling, but his lips pulled into a frown when he noticed her expression. Unlike the times before when she’d been laughing and joking with her friends, her face had grown serious, almost sad. Maybe she was drunker than he realized. Before he had a chance to excuse himself, she turned and starting walking toward him.

  “Hey, you,” she said, sliding her arm around his waist.

  “You look pretty. Pretty, Presley.” Maybe he was drunker than he realized too.

  “Why, thank you. Thank you very much,” she replied in a deep voice, her lip curled in that way Elvis made famous.

  Dylan let out a loud laugh and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re funny.” Yes, he was definitely drunker than he’d realized.

  “And pretty. Don’t forget pretty,” she reminded with a wide smile.

  Dylan’s breath caught for a moment as he looked at her face. The thick red hair of the wig framed her slender face and her hazel eyes sparkled, but it was her smooth, plump lips that made his heart race. Presley’s skin pinkened from Dylan’s intense gaze, and it only made her more attractive.

  She looked away, her eyes darting around the room until she found whatever she was looking for. “Come on,” she whispered, tugging his hand and pulling him behind her. She twisted the knob, looking over her shoulder once before dragging him into the darkened room and closing the door.

  “What are we doing in here?” Dylan whispered, sliding his hands around her waist and cupping her backside. She was so soft.

  “It seems to me you have a pretty good idea.” Presley fumbled around behind her before hopping onto the wall-length counter and pulling Dylan between her parted thighs.

  Dylan groaned when he felt the heat radiating from her body. His lips dropped to her neck, pressing soft kisses across her skin. She felt like heaven. Presley locked her ankles around his waist, grinding against him. Dylan froze, feeling like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on him.

  “You’re going to give me a horrible case of blue balls,” he joked, shifting away as much as he could with her legs wrapped around him like a vise.

  Presley lifted her brow. “Not necessarily.”

  A small smile lifted one side of his mouth, and he shook his head. “I’m not fucking you in the pantry at a Halloween party.”

  “Why not?” She seemed pissed for reasons Dylan couldn’t comprehend.

  “Because you’re more than that. You’re not a random drunken hookup. You’re my girl. I’d never disrespect you like that.”

  Presley’s expression softened as she dropped her legs from his waist. “What makes me so special?” she whispered.

  He couldn’t believe she still didn’t get it. “You’ve always been different. I’ve waited a long time to be with you like this. I’m not going to fuck things up by making the first time we’re together a typical teenage stereotype.”

  Presley’s brows dented. “What do you mean you’ve waited a long time to be with me like this? You’ve never asked me out before.”

  Dylan laughed. “Not because I didn’t want to. Every time someone would ask why we weren’t dating, you always answered for both of us. I thought eventually you’d change your mind, but you never acted like you were interested in anything beyond friendship. When I saw you on the first day of school talking to Chris, well, I knew it was now or never. This is our last year. I didn’t want to let you go without even taking a chance at having you.”

  “First, I would never date Chris. Second, I had no idea you felt that way, but I’m glad you waited. Who knows how things would have turned out had we tried this thing sooner. And third,” she said with a smile, “I really need you to kiss me right now.”

  “I can do that,” Dylan answered, all of the tension and urgency gone. His kiss was tender and sweet, exactly how it was supposed to be. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  Presley narrowed her eyes and grinned. “Are you trying to have your way with me, after all?”

  Grabbing her hips, Dylan lifted her from the counter and set her on her feet. “Nope. I’ve just had enough of all these assholes staring at you like they’re picturing you naked. Although I’m not against making out with you until the sun comes up.”

  Presley giggled and threaded their fingers together. “I think that’s a perfect idea.”

  Chapter Nine

  November 2010

  “God, I’m so ready for Thanksgiving break,” Presley groaned, dropping her backpack to the floor and face-planting onto her bed.

  “One more week,” Dylan chuckled, crawling onto the bed to lie beside her. “Speaking of, you’ve been invited to attend the Walker Thanksgiving dinner at Grandmother’s summer home.”

  Presley peeked from under her hair and smiled. “Are your parents coming?”

  Dylan shrugged. “Who knows. Last weekend was the first time I’ve seen them in a month.”

  Presley’s mouth hung open. “What?”

  “It’s not entirely their fault. I’ve been spending more time at Grandmother’s.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she just lives closer to you. It makes getting to you easier.”

  Presley laughed and snuggled against his chest. “Three months later and you’re still romancing the shit out of me.”

  Dylan scoffed. “What kind of fool do you take me for? I know better than to start slacking before I even get laid.”

  “Dylan,” Presley screeched, giggling when he quickly wrapped her in his arms to stop her from assaulting him. “You’re a jerk.”

  “You know I’m just kidding,” he murmured, dropping a kiss to her forehead. “So, Thanksgiving?”

  “Will your cousins and their flavors of the week be there? I’ve heard so many stories about the complete shitshow that turns out to be. I’m dying to see it in person.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “I’m sure they’ll all be there. Last time, Davie got so drunk he couldn’t remember who he brought with him. Needless to say, when Patrick caught Davie with his tongue down his girl’s throat, things didn’t end well. I’m sure you’re in for a show.”

  “Your family is a total train wreck.”

  Dylan nodded. “At least they keep things interesting.”

  “I’d love to go.”

  “I never had any doubt.” With a quick kiss, Dylan sighed and stood from the bed. “I promised Grandmother I’d help her with her plants. Don’t ask me why she insists on doing it herself. You know how she is. I’ll be sure to let her know you’ll be joining us for Thanksgiving.”

  Presley nodded and followed Dylan to the front door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Dylan moved toward the elevator, but he stopped suddenly when he heard Pr
esley’s father’s voice. He sounded angry. Looking up and down the hall, Dylan tiptoed back to the front door and pressed his ear against the wood.

  “Don’t you think you should check with your parents before making holiday plans?” Alexander snapped.

  “We never do anything for Thanksgiving. Last year, you and Mother went to Palm Springs. I didn’t realize it would be an issue,” Presley said, her voice nonchalant.

  “Well, it is. This year we’ll all be volunteering at the soup kitchen.”

  “What?” Presley all but shouted, mirroring how Dylan wanted to react. What a complete asshole. “You expect me to spend the day feeding a bunch of strangers for a campaign photo op instead of spending the day with my boyfriend’s family? That’s completely unfair!”

  “Not only is it what I expect, it’s what you will do. I won’t hear another word about it. We need to appear as a united front. I can’t have you traipsing around with the Walkers as they make complete fools of themselves in the Hamptons. I seem to recall photographs surfacing in the tabloids of the police being called to their house last year. I won’t have you anywhere near that.” The way Alexander spoke of Dylan and his family made Dylan hate him even more. He knew her father was a mean bastard, but the Walkers had always been good to the Coopers.

  “A united front?” Presley asked. “I’m not that good of an actor.” Dylan could hear the strain in her voice. He wanted to rush through the door and wrap her in his arms, protect her from her asshole father.

  “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you will stop this behavior immediately. Maybe allowing you to date Dylan was a mistake. Your attitude is deplorable. His negative influence on you is becoming more and more evident.” A chill ran down Dylan’s spine at the venom in her father’s voice. No, running through the door was the last thing Dylan should do. He had to be smart. He wouldn’t lose Presley.