by Komal Kant
The Siberian Husky was making the loudest sound I’d ever heard in my life. It was beautiful, but just not for me. The Chihuahua was yapping and jumping up against the cage. It definitely wasn’t what I was looking for.
“What breed is that one?” I asked, pointing at the brown dog.
Estella checked the clipboard. “He’s a Corgi cross Staffy. He’s been here for a while. We found him at the lake by the old bridge.”
“The lake, huh?”
I bent down to study him, smiling at the way his tail flicked back and forth as he watched me. All of a sudden, he let out a cough.
“Is he sick?” I asked Estella, who started laughing.
“No, no, that’s how he barks. He’s perfectly healthy,” she assured me.
Hadie bent down beside me. “He looks really friendly.”
“So he doesn’t belong to anyone in town?” I wondered. “Wouldn’t it be easy to find out whose dog he is since everyone knows everyone around here?”
“That’s true,” Estella said, “but he might have wandered in from another town. Or maybe the owner meant to set him loose. We’ve found a lot of abandoned dogs tied to something, especially in the woods.”
“That’s horrible,” Hadie said, straightening up. “I can’t believe people do things like that.”
“That’s why it’s so hard to work here,” Estella said, a hint of sadness to her tone.
“And your new job at the community isn’t hard?” Hadie asked. “You have to tell me all about it. We should give Lincoln some time to pick which dog he wants, anyway.”
“Sure, just let me know when you’ve made a decision,” Estella said to me.
I nodded and watched the girls go back to the metal grated door before turning back to the dog in front of me. The white Husky was still jumping up against the cage, and I gave him a half-smile.
“Sorry, buddy, I wish I could save you—I wish I could save all of you—but I can only pick one.” The brown dog waved at me as he was certain he would be the one. “What do you think? Are you and me gonna get along?”
He wagged at me again. It looked like he was saying yes.
I leaned in closer. “I think we’re gonna get along great, boy.”
He stared up at me with those large brown eyes of his, and a smile crept onto my face. He seemed friendly and laid-back—definitely what I was looking for.
I stood up and walked towards Estella and Hadie who were so engaged in their conversation that they didn’t notice me.
“…Lana’s being very stubborn about it. She said that it’s not her fault that your boyfriend wanted her. Frankly, I’m done with her. She has no right to treat you that way.”
Hadie looked worried as she regarded her best friend. “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her, but if you and Ray still want to be friends with her then I can’t stop you. We’ve all known each other since kindergarten; I don’t expect you two to give that up.”
Estella was shaking her head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hadie. Lana made that decision for us. When she betrayed you, she betrayed all of us. Ray gave her a chance to come clean and she didn’t take it. Let her hold onto her aspirations of becoming the next Kance Logan. We’ll see if it gets her anywhere.”
Even though Hadie had said that she couldn’t stop Estella and Mariah from remaining friends with Lana, I could tell she was relieved that they had taken her side. It was good that she had the support of her friends. She would need it even more once I was gone.
“Estella,” I said, hating to interrupt the moment between the two friends, “I picked out a dog.”
The two friends turned to me with equally startled expressions on their faces.
“Which one did you pick?” Estella asked as she and Hadie followed me back past the dogs.
“This little guy,” I said, stopping by the cage with the Corgi cross Staffy.
Hadie bent over to study the dog I’d chosen. “Aww, Lincoln! He’s so cute! What are you going to call him?”
I looked back at the little guy wagging back at me, glad that he had new lease on life. Picking a name for him wasn’t a hard decision to make.
“Chance.”
***
“Get that thing out of my house,” Mom said, her face turning red with every breath that she was taking.
“That thing is called a dog and I’m not taking him back.” My tone was firm as I stared her down.
Mom seemed to expand with anger. “Lincoln, I am warning you. I want it gone. Now.”
“No.”
Beside me, Chance had stopped wagging as though he’d sensed that something wasn’t quite right. Either that or Mom’s yelling was upsetting him.
“We’re not taking care of him after you…you…expire.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Expire? I’m not a bottle of milk, Mom. You can say ‘die’, you know? And you don’t have to worry about taking care of Chance after I die. Hadie’s going to take him, and her parents are fine with it.”
Mom’s eyes flickered to Hadie, who was standing behind me, and her mouth twisted. “So that’s how you got the dog? Hadie’s parents got it for you?”
I nodded. “Her mom did, yeah. She filled out all the paperwork and she said that they’ll take him if you guys don’t want him.”
“Then tell her to take him right now because he sure as hell isn’t staying here!” Mom snapped.
Hadie pressed up against me and I could feel how tense she was. I was just as tense, and my hand was bunched up as it held onto Chance’s leash.
“Chance isn’t going anywhere. I’m keeping him, Mom.”
Mom opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Dad stepped forward from where he’d been silently watching the argument unfold.
“Let him keep the dog, Maggie,” he said, placing a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “If that’s what he wants and it makes him happy then let him have it. Hadie can take him when Lincoln’s not here anymore and we move back to New York.”
I could tell that Mom wanted to argue, but instead she turned her furious eyes onto me. “Fine. You can keep it, but it’s not staying in here. Get it outside.” She pointed at the door to emphasize her point.
Shooting Dad a grateful look, Hadie and I turned around and went back outside, Chance following after us on his stubby, little legs.
“That was insane,” Hadie said, letting out a long breath once we’d rounded the side of the house. “Lucky your dad stepped in.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s not usually like that.”
I hadn’t expected Dad to stand up for me at all. He never had the guts to stand up to Mom, so it was pretty amazing to see him disagree with her for once. Especially when it was so important for me to have Chance as company.
“Well, since you have to keep Chance outside, I’ll let you have Halo’s kennel. She never uses it because she’s inside ninety-nine percent of the time. And we have a lot of toys and stuff, so I’ll bring those too. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Hadie turned to go, but I reached out and grabbed her wrist. She faced me, her eyes wide and questioning.
“Thank you,” I said throatily. “You have no idea what this means to me. I couldn’t have done it without you or your mom.”
“Anything for you,” she said softly, planting a kiss on my lips, and walked back to her car.
I watched her drive off, a lump forming in my throat.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Hadie
“It’s so entertaining to see the way girls stare at you,” I said to Lincoln.
We walked into school on Monday morning, ignoring the way people looked at us. They were probably wondering what a guy like Lincoln was doing with someone like me. It didn’t really bother me though. Lincoln and I were secure in our relationship and it didn’t matter to us what other people said about us.
With him, I felt like I was at my very best regardless of what others thought of me. In a few short weeks we had formed a connection that was just as strong as if we’d known each oth
er for years. Lincoln made me see the beauty in the smallest things and he made me step outside of the box.
He made my life easier, but very soon I’d have to learn to live without him. I’d have to find a way to move on from the large gap he would leave behind. I tried to push the horrible thought aside as Lincoln spoke.
“Maybe they’re staring at you,” he supplied with a grin.
I turned my head to scrutinize the closest girl and that’s when I realized that something was wrong.
There was something strange about the way these girls were staring at Lincoln. They weren’t checking him out; they were watching him with wide eyes. And it wasn’t just the girls. The boys were doing it too.
What on earth…?
I looked up at Lincoln to see if he had noticed it as well and judging from the way his smile was quickly fading, I knew he could see it too.
“What’s going on?” I asked, grabbing onto his arm as a flurry of whispers followed us down the hall.
Estella and Mariah were standing by my locker, their faces grave. Before we’d even reached them, Lincoln stopped and turned to me. He only said two words, but they had such a profound effect on me that it felt like my heart had been dunked in a bucket of icy water.
“They know.”
My friends began walking towards us, shooting us both looks of pity and sadness. I ignored them for the meantime, my full attention on what Lincoln had just said.
“They know what?”
Lincoln’s face turned pale. “They know about me. This is the way everyone back at my old school looked at me when they found out. Did you tell anyone else?”
I shook my head. “Only my parents know and they wouldn’t tell a soul.”
Estella and Mariah stopped in front of us. The four of us were silent, looking at each other awkwardly until Estella finally spoke.
“Lincoln, there’s a rumor going around the school about you.”
“Something horrible,” Mariah added.
My heart drowned.
No. This couldn’t be happening. How could everyone know? Who could have told them? Lincoln was in no condition to deal with this. It didn’t make sense how this had gotten out. We had both remained tight-lipped about it. I hadn’t even told my friends because it wasn’t my secret to tell and because Lincoln had asked me not to. Who would do something so nasty to him?
It didn’t take very long to work that out either, because just then Bennett and Kance rounded the corner and came towards us. They were flanked by several of their friends and to my surprise, I found Becky walking alongside Bennett, her arm linked through his.
No way. There was no way in hell Becky was going out with that low-life.
A hush fell along the corridor, and Lincoln bristled beside me as the “popular kids” stopped a few feet away from us.
“Get the hell away from my sister.” Lincoln was the first to speak, his shoulders rigid from all the anger he was holding back.
Bennett’s lip curled. “What’s it to you, new kid? Rumor has it you won’t be around for much longer anyway. Maybe once I’m done with your sister, I can bang your girlfriend too. She’ll be lonely after you die.”
Several students let out loud gasps, including Mariah who was standing behind me. Becky shot me a dirty look, which I ignored. The last thing I cared about was her.
I had to give Lincoln credit. He did not flinch. Instead, he was stoic as he faced Bennett down, not an ounce of fear on his face at being confronted by one of the most popular boys in school. Maybe it was because he’d been at the top of the food chain at his last school. Maybe you gained a certain kind of confidence from being in that position that never left you.
Whatever it was, I could see Bennett’s smug expression slip a little at getting no reaction from Lincoln. He had expected Lincoln to crack. He wanted a fight—he was out for blood.
And it was all because of me. Because I had rejected him. Because I had moved on and I was happy. Out of all the girls he could’ve had, he’d picked Becky because he’d known it would get to Lincoln the most.
What an asshole.
“I’m sooo glad I stayed away from the new boy,” Kance cooed, “God knows what other diseases he’s carrying around.”
There was a chorus of “ooohs”. I wanted to smack Kance on her uppity little face and rip those curls off her head.
Her reasons for picking on Lincoln were simpler. He had rejected her advances and she was pissed. When she had kicked Ashton out of the group, Bennett had stood by her and deserted one of his closest friends. This was her way of repaying the favor.
Once again, Lincoln didn’t respond. Instead, he fixed his eyes on his twin sister, looking desperate. “Becky, get away from him. He’s scum of the earth.”
Through the crowd, I could see Ashton and Eddie standing side by side, both unmoving. I didn’t know how long they’d been there for, but it was obvious they’d heard everything. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Eddie knowing the truth about Lincoln.
Becky’s expression darkened. “Don’t tell me what to do, little brother. Bennett’s a great guy. It’s sad that you can’t see that.”
“Now you know what it’s like when someone takes something that belongs to you,” Bennett said with a satisfied smile.
“Hadie doesn’t belong to you,” Lincoln said, gritting his teeth. “And Becky doesn’t belong to me. I just hate to see her with a piece of shit like you.”
“Oh my God, Link!” Becky fumed, gesticulating with her hands. “This has nothing to do with you! The world doesn’t revolve around you, so stop acting like it does! Don’t use your sickness as an excuse to get all the attention!”
“You must really be pathetic if your own sister can’t stand you,” Kance remarked with an evil smirk.
Just as Becky and Kance finished speaking, my eyes met with Ashton’s. Her face was calm and she gave me a meaningful nod. That tiny gesture made all the sense in the world, and immediately I knew what was going to happen next.
Ashton and I moved together towards where Becky and Kance stood as though we had rehearsed this. I didn’t know how I knew what was going to happen, but I just knew that Ashton had my back.
I stepped towards Becky, and Ashton stepped towards Kance. Then, before anyone could react, we raised our hands in perfect synchronization and slapped the girls across the face.
For a second no one moved. Then all hell broke loose.
“Don’t you dare speak about your brother like that! I could care less about you and Bennett! You two deserve each other!”
Becky stared back at me, her mouth hanging open.
“I’ve been dying to do that for a long time,” Ashton said, her voice cool and a lot calmer than mine. “You stole my best friend from me and you drugged my boyfriend, yet you have the nerve to go around and call other people pathetic. Who’s the attention whore, really? Who has to backstab and screw other people to get ahead in life?”
Ashton raised her hand again but before she could land another blow, Eddie and Luca—who had appeared out of nowhere—sprang forward and grabbed her. She didn’t try and fight them, only relaxed against them as they dragged her away from Kance.
Kance was swearing at Ashton now, calling her names that made my ears wither and burn—words that I would never repeat. Some guys had grabbed onto her, but her expression was venomous—she looked as deadly as a hissing viper.
Becky sprung on me and grabbed me by the hair but was quickly wrenched off me by someone a lot stronger than both of us. My head was on fire as Lincoln wrapped me up in his arms, and when I looked around I saw that Bennett was the one who’d pulled Becky off me. He was now pushing her away and she was staring at him, appearing confused.
“She hit me!” Becky cried. “Let me at her! I’ll break her face!”
Bennett gave her a withering look as though she was a piece of shit. “You’ll do no such thing. You’ve served your purpose, which was to make Hadie jealous. Obviously, it didn’t work because there’s nothing ab
out you that could ever make her jealous. So, scram. I’m done with you.”
“B-but I thought we had something special, Bennett. You told me you cared about me,” Becky sniffled, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“I would’ve said you were the most beautiful girl in the world if it would help me get Hadie back,” Bennett scoffed. “Get the hell out of here, Becky.”
Lincoln released me and stepped forward. “Fuck you, asshole.” Then all I heard was a sickening crunch, like a bone had been snapped in half.
The crowd of students was surging forwards and there were several flashes as people whipped out their phones and started taking photos. Bennett stumbled away from Lincoln, his hand pressed against his nose as blood spurted from beneath his hand.
My stomach churned as the blood spilled to the floor, and I had to turn away because the sight of Bennett bleeding like that made me sick. That’s when I caught sight of three teachers pushing their way through the crowd, trying to get to the students who were causing the disturbance.
My stomach jolted as I realized that I was one of the students who had caused the disturbance. Boring, bookish, straight-A student Hadie Swinton was the one slapping people and getting caught in the middle of a rivalry that was as ridiculous as Bella picking Edward.
I guess I wasn’t so boring anymore.
***
It was a wonder that the seven of us had managed to cram ourselves into Principal Lawson’s tiny office.
Becky and Kance were sitting on the chairs across from Principal Lawson; Lincoln, Ashton and I were squashed against one corner, while Bennett—his nose bandaged and no longer bleeding—occupied the corner opposite us. Despite Eddie not being involved in the fight at all, he was standing in between Bennett and Lincoln like a buffer.
We were the most unlikely group of people to ever be in the same room together.
Kance and Ashton were ex-best friends. Ashton and Bennett were ex-best friends. Lincoln and Becky were siblings. Bennett was my ex-boyfriend. Becky and Bennett had sort of been dating but I guess were over now. And Eddie? Well, he seemed to be the only normal person out of all of us, yet he was the one covered in tattoos and piercings.
