“I’ll pay for the windows,” I said.
“I figured that already, Wes.”
“Then there’s nothing else to say.”
Jett put his hand to my chest. “This isn’t like other times, Wes, is it?”
“Nope.”
“It’s because of Aira?”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do, Jett.”
“That’s what worries me.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what that feels like,” he said. “And it has me torn in two.”
“Meaning?”
“The responsible side of me wants to smack you upside the head right now. Tell you that whatever you think you’re doing, you’re wrong. And you’re a damn idiot. But then…" Jett rubbed his jaw. “Well, the other side of me…. wants to tell you to do what you have to do. To do what I didn’t do.”
“You mean Julia?” I asked.
Jett nodded. He grabbed my shoulder again. “Just don’t get my shit busted up, Wes. Truck windows are one thing. No more of my shit.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said.
“Good. Now get your ass to school.”
Jett slapped my face and walked away.
I looked back at Pop and he just shook his head.
Normally I’d hang around the shop, smoke a few cigarettes, and skip school.
Don’t worry, I still lit a cigarette.
But… I was going to school.
Chapter 20
Aira
“Did you just get here?” I asked Wes as he stood at my locker.
“Little bit ago,” he said. “How’s your day?”
“Can’t believe I would ever say this, but I’m happy to be here. In these halls.”
“So, Stella is a no go?”
“What the hell is she doing here, Wes?” I asked.
I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that my mother was here.
Wes touched my face. “Hate to say it, but it’s what they do. They float. You know?”
“Float?”
“She probably got lonely. Sober. Thinking about the fire. The town. She started missing you.”
“Why can’t she miss my father? Go bother him?” I asked.
“I don’t have that answer. But you know her. She won’t last long at Julia’s. She already made a comment about the house.”
“You missed what happened after…”
“What happened?” Wes asked.
“She scoffed at Julia’s bathroom. Then she put her bags into my room. Five bags, Wes. Five. And I’m talking giant bags. I basically have no room right now.”
“Just gives you more of a reason to hang at my place.”
My toes curled in my shoes. “Wes… I know things are…”
There was a slam next to me and I jumped.
It was freaking Kailey.
She turned and threw herself against the locker next to me.
“Hey you two,” she said. “Rekindling that old flame?”
“Question,” Wes said. “If I get romantic and make Aira cry, can she use some of the tissues you have stuffed in your bra?”
“Oh, so funny,” Kailey said. “Your cousin doesn’t seem to mind my chest.”
“Well, to be fair, Ryker isn’t the smartest guy…”
“Fucking asshole,” Kailey said.
“Both of you shut up,” I said. “Kailey. Your tits are perfect. And good for Ryker. Wes. You’re a fucking moron. Leave Kailey alone.”
“Truce?” Wes asked.
Kailey put her hand out.
Wes reached for it but pulled away.
He winked.
“Prick,” Kailey said. She pushed away from the locker. “Thought I would see how you two were doing. I regret that now.”
“Stay,” I said. “I don’t feel like going anywhere.”
“Her mother showed up,” Wes said.
“What?” Kailey asked.
“Whose mother showed up?” Emma asked.
She appeared from nowhere.
Standing on the other side of me.
Icy as hell but at least she was here.
“My mother,” I said. “She stopped drinking wine and now suddenly cares about me.”
“Gross,” Emma said.
“That’s gross,” Wes said with a head nod.
Charlotte and Flynn were tongue fucking each other in the middle of the hallway.
“Get a room,” I called out.
“Get an antibiotic too,” Emma added.
Flynn put his pointer and middle fingers to his mouth and flicked his tongue between them. Then he said, “Don’t be jealous, Emma. I know what I like for breakfast.”
“Shut up, Flynn,” Charlotte said, smacking his chest. “You said you weren’t going to say anything to anyone about that.”
“No way,” Wes said. “She was breakfast?”
“Backseat of the car,” Flynn said. “Right in the parking lot.”
“Charlotte,” I said, shaking my head.
Her face was bright red. “You all suck.”
“Except Flynn,” Wes said. “He slurps.”
Charlotte walked away, pissed off.
Flynn shrugged his shoulders, a mile-wide smile on his face, then hurried after her.
“Hey, good for her,” Wes said.
“Bitch,” Emma whispered.
“Jealous?” I asked.
Emma side eyed me. Then she looked at Wes.
I felt jealous, but I let it slide.
I grabbed for Wes’s shirt, staking my claim. Even though I wasn’t sure what that was at this point. I mean, he spent the night, right? And in the middle of the night we kissed. He touched me. He made me feel… everything. He kissed me good morning. He held my hand while we faced off with my mother. He waited for me at my locker.
“I have to get this full story,” Kailey said.
“What story?” Emma asked. “It was Charlotte. She did what she does best. Falls on her ass and spreads her legs wide open for Flynn.”
“Oh, she’s totally jealous,” Kailey said. “She needs to get a little action.”
“At this point I’d take a little action, sure,” Emma said.
“There’s always Walker,” Wes offered.
“You never know,” Emma said.
“Let me know so I can prep him,” Wes said. “He’d come in his pants thinking about it.”
“Gross,” I said and punched Wes’s shoulder.
“Really gross,” Emma said.
“Ladies, if you’ll excuse me for a second,” a voice thundered around the hallway.
It was Principal Henders.
I cringed every time I saw that man now.
His eyes first went to Wes, then to me.
“Good morning,” I said.
From the corner of my eye I saw Ryland walking down the hallway. His eyes were big and almost sunken in. He stopped and smiled.
“We need to take a walk, Aira,” Henders said.
“Why?” Wes asked, stepping in front of me.
“Mr. Jackson, I would advise you to move out of my way,” Henders said.
“He’s right,” I said. “You have to tell me what you want.”
“Actually, I don’t,” Henders said. “Not in front of everyone else. For your sake, Aira.”
I curled my lip.
I glanced back at Ryland, wondering what he had done now.
“I’m fine,” I whispered to Wes.
I made it two steps before Henders paused.
He looked around at the rest of us. “I might be needing to talk to all of you as well. So stay close to the school. Don’t make me send the police to find you.”
Confusion spread across all their faces.
What the hell was going on now?
* * *
Miss Carson put her hand on the piece of paper and slid it across her desk.
“Here we are again,” Henders said. “Aira and Wes causing problems. And I’m left standing here, waiting for an answer. When the easy answ
er is for you to vacate this building for good.”
I saw the piece of paper and my heart slammed inside my chest.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“Well, your mother found it, Aira,” Miss Carson said. Her voice wasn’t as soothing as usual. “She thought maybe it was of concern. She said you’ve been acting differently lately.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, laughing. “How would she know? She hasn’t been around. She’s been drunk. She showed up to Julia’s house, sober. And now…”
I looked at the paper.
The list of names I had made of everyone who could have been messing around behind my back. Half written by me. Half written by Kailey.
But the way it looked…
I moved my eyes to Henders. “What do you think it is?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “A list of names. Many of whom you’ve had issues with.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything, Aira,” Miss Carson said. “But the way it looks…”
“So it’s a crime to make a list of names?” I asked.
“No,” Miss Carson said. “But… your mother called me directly. She said she felt she had no choice but to come to Hidden. Almost against her own will. To check on you. And then she found this.”
“She snooped. She went through my stuff.”
“I can’t speak to that,” Miss Carson said. “But I do have to take this seriously.”
“Take what seriously?” I asked.
“Aira, this is a list of people you’ve had issues with. Like Principal Henders said. People you could consider enemies. People you maybe hate. I mean… just the names Ryland and Mika alone…”
“It’s garbage,” I said.
“Then why did you make this list?” Henders asked.
I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Actually, it does,” Miss Carson said. “This is something very serious. Something we can hand off to the authorities.”
I swallowed hard.
My hands were shaking.
I looked down.
“Once again, Aira, we all sympathize with your situation,” Miss Carson said in a soft voice. “It’s been a hectic road for you.”
“Enough of that,” I said. “I’m tired of hearing that.”
“Then maybe you’ll tell us what this list is,” Henders said.
“Okay, fine. It’s a list of names I wrote.”
“Looks like two different handwriting samples here,” Miss Carson said.
“Nope. Just me. I can write in different ways. For fun.”
“I respect you sticking up for your friends,” she said. “But if someone else wrote part of this list… someone who’s been here longer with deeper grudges…”
“Nope,” I said.
I felt the intense stare from Henders.
He was reaching his edge.
Join the club, dude.
“So you wrote this entire list,” Miss Carson. “Alone?”
“Sat on my bed and wrote it out.”
“I’m still waiting for the reason why,” Henders said.
There was a knock on the door and it flew open.
“I’m so sorry to bother you,” Miss Janine, Henders’s secretary said. “I need you right now.”
“What for?” Henders snapped.
“There’s a scuffle in the hallway.”
I jumped up.
Wes. Ryland. Shit.
“You sit back down,” Henders snapped at me. “We’re not done here.”
He stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
I bit my lip.
I wanted to know what happened.
If Wes went after Ryland, assuming he did something to me…
“Aira, sit down,” Miss Carson said.
I looked at her. “This is bullshit. I can’t write a list of names?”
“Not when your mother is concerned.”
“My mother isn’t concerned about anything. She’s lonely. And she’s not drunk right now. So she went through my room looking for something.”
“She said you were acting strange. You slept outside like a homeless person?”
“I slept on the deck. Next to the beach. Because it was comfortable.”
“Aira…”
“Look at that list again,” I said. “You think maybe for a second that is a list of people who did stuff to me?”
“I understand that. I’ve considered it. But why write that down?”
“Maybe to remind myself of how bad I’ve messed things up in my life.”
“How so?”
“All those people hate me. I guess I’m not the person I thought I was.”
“So what are you going to do about it? What’s the plan with this piece of paper?”
“What do you think, Miss Carson? You think I’m going to just… what… hurt people?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I have to consider everything.”
“Maybe one of those people are trying to hurt me.”
“Is that happening?” she asked. “Is someone bothering you?”
Crap.
It would have been easy to spill everything right there.
What had been happening.
But I didn’t want her involved. I didn’t want anyone else involved.
Bad enough the cops had already talked to everyone about the night Jett’s truck windows were smashed.
“Aira?” Miss Carson asked.
I opened my mouth. “The truth… is…”
The office door opened again.
It was Wes.
“I need to talk to you,” he blurted out.
“Weslee Jackson, get out of here,” Miss Carson said as she jumped up. “You can speak to Aira-”
“I need to talk to you,” he said to Miss Carson. “It’s important and personal. It can’t wait.”
“It will have to wait,” Miss Carson said.
“I can’t stop,” Wes said.
“Stop what?” she asked.
Wes walked to her desk. He put his left hand behind his back and waved for me to move.
I started to inch away.
“The wet dreams,” Wes said.
“What?” Miss Carson asked.
“The intense wet dreams,” Wes said. “I need your help, Miss Carson.”
“I’m going to go,” I said.
“Aira, wait,” Miss Carson said.
“I don’t want to hear about this,” I said.
“She shouldn’t be here for what I have to say next,” Wes said. “This is really personal, Miss Carson. I mean, I could say it’s about someone I know…”
Wes leaned forward and whispered something to Miss Carson.
I swore I heard the word cock and I felt my own cheeks turning red.
Miss Carson’s eyes went wide.
Wes slid his hand along her desk and curled it around the piece of paper with the names on it. He stuck his hand out behind his back.
I hurried to grab the paper.
I touched Wes’s back. “Is this the thing you were afraid to tell me about?”
I loved playing into the story.
“Aira, you better leave,” Miss Carson said. “Go to Principal Henders’s office.”
I turned and hurried out of the office.
I ripped up the paper with the names on it and threw it out.
Then I darted down the hallway toward the first door I could find to get out of the building.
I leaned against the building and started to laugh.
Wes just walked into Miss Carson’s office to talk about wet dreams.
Ohmygod…
I kept laughing.
Alone.
Like an idiot.
An idiot that was crazy in love with Weslee Jackson.
And I told myself not to move until he came out that same door.
Chapter 21
Wes
Miss Carson kept clearing her throat and shifting around in her chair like she was uncomfortable. I pulled no
punches for about three minutes straight as I talked about blowing loads in my sleep as though it really happened. I felt bad for Miss Carson, but my distraction worked. I told Leo to pick a fight with someone to get Henders attention. And then I knew I needed to think of something crazy to get Miss Carson to leave Aira alone.
Charlotte somehow knew that Miss Carson had a list of names that Aira made which made it seem like she was planning on doing something dangerous.
“Weslee…” Miss Carson touched her forehead. “This is…”
She was still thinking about what I whispered to her. Let’s just say it involved something with the back door, a dream, and a banana.
“I’ll let you figure it out,” I said. “I’m going to walk away now. I can’t believe what I just said. Maybe we should just forget it.”
“Yeah, maybe… but…”
“Thank you for your ear,” I said.
I put my hands together and bowed a little before her.
I walked to the door and got out of there.
Maybe for some people that would have been embarrassing. Hell, maybe it should have been for me. But my only focus was getting Aira out of that office. And I hoped to everything that she was smart enough to leave the building too.
I pointed to the door at the end of the hall.
I opened it, looked right, and there she was.
Leaning against the building with one foot up against it.
“Wes,” she said.
“Darling,” I said.
She jumped at me, throwing her arms around me. “What the fuck did you just do?”
She was laughing.
I put her back on her feet and grabbed her hand. “I could ask you the same. But not here. We have to go.”
“Where?”
“I don’t give a damn. We’re out of here.”
I started to run and Aira ran with me.
She let out a playful yell.
I loved watching her shell crack even more. I loved watching her not be afraid of whatever was happening behind her back.
But at the same time all that did was add more pressure to me.
To figure this out and make it all go away.
Because a girl like Aira…
Damn, she deserved to smile every second of every day of her life.
* * *
“Come on in,” Aira called out.
I stood at the shore and shook my head as I smoked.
HIDDEN CREEK DARKNESS: a hidden creek high novel Page 18
