Telling her the truth, I said, “That I still love Luke.”
“Whew,” she said on an exhalation of breath.
Then I continued. “That doesn’t mean my feelings for Paul have disappeared,” I said. Her face change and before she could speak, I continued. “I love him too.”
Holding up a finger, I stopped her before she was able to interject. “I can’t help that. But what we have evolved over time at least for me. It’s just more brotherly than it is boyfriend like.”
“What are you going to do about Luke?” she asked.
I sat up leaving Maggie still lying on the bed. “What is there to do? He’s the one that broke up with me,” I said defensively, not knowing why I was angry all of a sudden. .
Her voice was soothing like it had been with Amber earlier when she said, “It’s obvious he wants you back.”
Knowing that didn’t help because I couldn’t act on it. And it was killing me. “Sending me a rose anonymously it’s exactly trying to get back with me,” I murmured, hearing the lie in my words.
“Eme,” she said harshly trying to get my attention. “He’s all broken up about it.”
She gave me a look that told me not to question the obvious. I opened my mouth to refute when she cut in. Her words were like a plea I should heed. “He rains on everyone’s parade. He mopes around and well you haven’t been to the last couple of parties where he got trashed.”
As much as I didn’t mean it, the more I said it may make the inevitable easier to swallow. “He should find someone else then. Maybe Nina?” I said. I really didn’t want him with Nina but who else was I going to say.
“No, no girl wants a guy that’s clearly not over another girl. That’s asking for heartache,” she said. But she did sound like she was totally convinced of her words. I figured that we both knew Nina would have him back anyway she could get him, not to mention Adelina.
I sighed. “He deserves to be happy,” I replied.
Then she blew out a breath. “He deserves you and you are just as miserable as he is,” she pleaded. Her words made me wonder if she was pushing me at Luke to ensure Amber’s clear path to Paul. But that thought died with her next words.
“Look,” she said. The way she’d said it had me turning to face her. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but that new girl, Kristen, is trying to get him bad.”
I blinked a couple of times to try to figure out who she was referring to. “Kristen,” I said, still mystified.
“She’s in our French class,” she said. Now, I remember the pretty petite Asian girl that sat across from us. The girl who’d eyed me at my locker then again at the lunch table yesterday. She had a name.
“Yeah, I remember,” I said rubbing at my eyes still tired from the previous sleepless night.
Maggie took no time in jumping in with details. She sat up so she could look me in the eye. “So you know that party you didn’t go to last week before the wedding.” she said, not really asking a question.
“Maggs, I don’t want to know,” I said vehemently. And I didn’t. The last thing I want to do was hear about Luke flirting or kissing or whatever with some other girl.
“Luke was moping around as usual,” Maggie said not listening to me and prepared to have her say. I held up a hand in protest, but she kept going. “Kristen came sauntering up and pulled him to the dance floor. She pressed herself to him like she was Velcro. I’m sorry. I lost sight of him after that.”
And I knew just how she’d lost him. Her vision was probably darkened while she hunted up treasure down Brent’s throat. I pushed back the anger. Maggie hadn’t done anything wrong. “Maggs, Luke can date who he wants. We aren’t together,” I said.
“You have to get him back before he moves on,” she said, pleading with me. Some evil part of me again wondered if her concern was with me and Luke or Amber and Paul. Once more I pushed those dark thoughts away.
Standing up, I was still angry and afraid I might say something I would regret. I walked over to her window and looked out.
“Eme, look, I don’t know what’s going on with you,” she said. “I thought we were best friends, but I have a feeling there is more to this story you are hiding from me. You are starting to act just like you did when you and Paul decided to just be friends.”
She was right. I wasn’t being a good friend. We were alone, so I should be able to tell her the truth. Would she believe me? I turned back from the setting sun, burning off the last of the daylight. Kids were still peddling their bikes on the street. Sometimes, I wished I could go back to those carefree days when my mom and I were still on good terms. A time when Maggie and I had big dreams and no one came between them. What I saw in her big green eyes was so much concern. I had to turn the tides.
Squaring my jaw, I leaned against the window frame. There was one way to end this conversation. “What happened with you and Brent last night?” I asked.
Her eyes seemed to lose focus. Although they still held my gaze, I knew she was no longer looking at me. Finally she shifted away. “Nothing,” she said flatly.
Immediately, I was glad she’d turned away. She didn’t see me visibly relax with that knowledge blowing out an inaudible gust of air.
Clearly there was something she needed to get off her chest. I let her talk. “I was ready to go through with it,” she began. “But in the middle of dinner, I got a call from Doug.”
Now it was my turn gape. I looked up before I closed my mouth and shook my head side to side. That was a disaster. Doug was Maggie’s ex-boyfriend. The easiest way to describe him was a dark shaggy haired skater boy with deep dimples and a super cute smile. He was the guy she seriously dated before Brent. She had claimed to love him oh, so much, until she up and broke it off for no apparent reason other than she was bored. Maggie was the kind of girl who got attention from guys all the time. I personally thought Doug paid her a little too much attention, giving in to her every request. There he lost his appeal in her eyes. He’d been so hurt by the break up. In fact, I didn’t think he even had a steady girlfriend since. I knew he’d taken some girl to Homecoming, but that relationship didn’t last long.
Not being very good at hiding my emotions from my facial expression, she saw I was reserving comment. “What?” she asked. For a second I felt vindicated now that the tables were turned on her.
“How did Brent react?” I inquired.
She stood and began animatedly flaying her arms around as she spoke. “He actually blew up at me. Like it was my fault,” she blurted out. “He’s in my bloody AP Chem class, I can’t help that the teacher paired us up for a project.”
“When did this happen?” I said with a hint of the hurt I felt because she hadn’t bothered to tell me. But I wasn’t one to speak about that.
“Yesterday,” she said. “I had no idea Doug would call me on Valentine’s night to discuss the project. I mean he knows I’m dating Brent.”
Calmer now that I knew Maggie hadn’t been holding back on me I said, “Well isn’t that the point. Of course he knew.”
She stopped pacing about and still her hands. “What am I going to do?” she asked. “We got in a huge fight over it and I ended up leaving.”
“You didn’t go to Doug, did you?’ I asked keeping the commendation out of my tone because I knew how that felt.
“Of course not,” she said with scorn on her face that I would dare think such a thing.
Neither one of us wanted to talk anymore how messed up our lives were. We looked at each other and in unison said, “Ice Cream.” We nodded and headed downstairs. For once, we were sort of in the same place, relationship limbo.
We shared a half gallon of ice cream and opted to watch a movie. Maggie chose a romantic comedy. It may not have been what we needed right then, but I’d let her pick. She forever had to watch science fiction and horror movies because Paul and I always outvoted her. Riding on good vibes after laughing hysterically watching Confession of a Shopaholic movie, I headed home.
B
efore I left though, Maggie asked me about what was going on with Tom, Sebastian, and Flynn. I rethought my answer while I drove home. Tom, I was so sure about. He was definitely not interested in me. Sebastian was a little trickier. Just why was he here. What were his motives? And that rose with You and Me on the hang tag? He’d just been my friend for the last two months. Why was he at it now? I told her under no uncertain terms that there was nothing between us. She’d given me her signature look. I hadn’t backed down. There could never be a Flynn and me. One more thing I hadn’t told Maggie about. There was the kiss we shared and his declaration. But he was Luke’s best friend. So there would never be a Flynn and I, at least not for the foreseeable future. Not only would I not damn Luke, I would not destroy his friendship with Flynn either. Especially since Flynn only wanted me because I didn’t want him. He wasn’t used to being rejected, I told myself.
It was late when I got back, although I should have been prepared for it. I was nervous at seeing Luke’s car in the drive.
Chapter Ten
cogent (adj.) intellectually convincing
There were many voices coming from the basement when I walked in the house. Curiosity had me descending the stairs to see if Flynn decided to throw an impromptu party. There had been another car in the driveway, I didn’t recognize.
At the bottom of the stairs, I froze. Flynn sat on the couch with Adriana press so close to him you’d think they were super glued together. Luke sat on the love seat with Adelina’s adoring face looking up at him in her seat on the floor pressed against his legs. Then there was Tom with some girl I didn’t recognize.
“Are we going to play or what?” Adelina asked.
Flynn looked at her. “Sebastian’s going to find an empty bottle,” he said. They were going to play spin the bottle. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
She nodded. Adriana leaned over to Flynn and began kissing at the nap of his neck. He smiled and gave her a rueful grin.
Adelina’s hand began to rub at Luke’s leg. That was enough for me. I was about to make a quick retreat. I took one a step up.
“Mercy,” Sebastian said coming down the stairs. I didn’t have to turn back to know all eyes were on me. “Are you going to play?” he asked, holding the empty bottle of liquor. His voice was a bit too chipper. I wondered if our resident demon was a little drunk. “We’re short a player,” he said, grinning at me when we stood toe to toe.
There was no need to bother with a response. My words would give me away. Instead, I shook my head and made my way past him up to the main level.
I had to get out of there. Seeing Adelina with Luke turned my stomach and there was nothing I could do about it. And there was no way I was going to let her see how uncomfortable I was with her being there. Not able to confine myself to my room, I headed out the back door into the late night air. It was well past midnight and all was silent. I sat on the deck chair leaning into it, like it was a lounge chair. I propped my feet up until I finally placed them on the table with my feet crossed at the end. The air was frigid but it was the wakeup call of fresh air that I needed.
How was I ever supposed to get through the school year if I had to watch Luke be with someone else? The door cracked behind me and I knew someone was now outside with me. I made no move to turn. Keeping my eyes closed, I hope whoever it was would see I really wasn’t in the mood to talk.
When he sat on the table next to my feet in front of me, I opened my eyes. I would have never guessed he would be the one to come out seeing how cozy he’d been. We stayed for a minute, assessing each other.
“Why are you here?” I asked dryly. Maybe I could have been less bitchy, but my patience had run out for the night. I was tired and didn’t want to play any games. I had too much to think about.
“To see you,” he said straight face. His mood seemed much like mine.
“You don’t owe me anything,” I said. Tipping my head back, I broke our eye connection. I closed my eyes blocking out all external stimuli.
“Mercy,” he said, this time with more emotion.
I opened my eyes but made no move to look at him directly, opting to look at the stars that brilliantly lit up the sky. “Yes,” I finally answered, letting the word linger out of my mouth.
He moved swiftly and with purpose. Covering my mouth with his, he kissed me. His hand rested on my shoulder and I did nothing to stop him. Heck, I kissed him back placing my hand on his arm. I let him explore my mouth like it was the first time. All the while I didn’t breathe.
“So that’s where you went,” a voice said.
Luke didn’t make a move to stop on Flynn’s account. He kissed me a few moments more before he pulled away. I looked in time to see the stern look Luke gave Flynn letting him know he didn’t approve of being interrupted.
Luke held a hand out to me. Feeling like I couldn’t make Luke look bad, I took his hand and let him lead me away to the pool. Everything was dark for a moment before the lights under the water kicked on. I jumped because I wasn’t expecting it. Luke chuckled. It made me grateful he wasn’t pissed at Flynn like I thought he was.
“Where were we?” he said, leaning down while he held my chin.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness clued me in at first. We were airborne. In a huge splash down, I sank to the bottom of the pool. Unfortunately, my mouth had been wide open in surprise. So I drank a huge mouthful of pool water on my way down. I kicked off the bottom and made my ascent to the top. The next thing I gulped was great gasping amounts of air as I scissored my feet keeping me floating. I pushed my wet hair back from my face and saw Luke do the same minutes before Flynn cannon balled it right between us sending a wave of water in our face.
When he surfaced, I immediately pushed my hand slapping a wall of water at him. “You are such an ass,” I yelled.
Flynn just laughed at me. Luke took the opportunity to duck under the water when I spoke. Next thing I knew Flynn was immediately pulled under with the same surprised expression my face must have had held moments before, mouth agape and all. Then I found myself giggling.
Luke surfaced slyly behind me so quietly I didn’t notice he was there until his arms encircled my waist. Flynn surfaced again gagging and choking and Luke laughed whole heartedly and I joined him. Once Flynn collected himself, he smiled gingerly and laughed too. My grin faded when the twins made their way outside and to the pool.
“What’s going on guys?” Adriana said to everyone yet she was staring at Flynn.
Flynn’s wicked smile crossed his lips as he eyed her up and down. “Why don’t you come in? The water’s warm,” he said.
The water was warm despite the cool temperature. Since living here, I hadn’t taken a swim. If I’d known the pool was heated, I might have. Adelina just looked at me with hateful eyes. I couldn’t understand how she could become so fixated on Luke if they only had a few dates. There just had to be more to that story. I began to wonder if he’d slept with her. The subject hadn’t come up, but I was more than certain Luke was no virgin like me.
Flynn swam away from us and over to the edge of the pool where Adriana was. “Hey, can you give me a hand?” he asked her.
I saw that one a mile away. But apparently she didn’t. She held out her hand and just like us she found herself in the pool. Adelina let out a snicker. Her face softened and she actually looked attractive for a moment. I wanted to tell her that frowning all the time didn’t make her look good, but I doubted she’d take my advice.
Soon, the rest of the group was outside. Sebastian and Tom just shook their heads. The other girl I didn’t know stood slightly behind the two boys. She looked a little bit older and she wore an expression that said she was totally bored. She had short strawberry blond hair that was styled in short waves to her neck. She wore a sleeveless top and jeans that would need to be peeled off her. She was quite pretty.
When Sebastian and Tom both moved forward towards Adelina, I turned my focus back to Flynn. He was giving them a look. Adriana twistin
g her long wet hair as Flynn kissed at her neck. Looking up at her twin she said, “Don’t be a bitch, the water’s warm. Come in.”
Luke’s hand pushed my hair across my back and over my shoulder. His touch sent goose bumps down my spine reminding me of my recurring dream. “I missed you,” he murmured in my ear just when Adelina spoke, so I didn’t really hear what she said. But I saw her gesture her hand down either side as if to say her precious white shorts and blue top were too cool to get wet.
It was then that Tom and Sebastian made their move. But I have to give it to Adelina. She wasn’t stupid. When they put their hands on her arms, her hands shot out to grab their wrist and all three came crashing into the pool. I closed my eyes a bit to wait out the rain of water that came with the splash. Then, I watched the strange girl sit in a lounge chair and begin to type on her phone. She acted like she didn’t want to be here and no one even acknowledged her.
Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) Page 11
