Out of his League_Prelude Series_Part One

by Meg Buchanan

  “We’re over,” he said.

  Milly blinked. She stepped back a little more. She drew in a deep breath and stood straighter. He’d never seen her look so classy.

  “If that’s what you want,” she said.

  “Yep. That’s the way I want it.” He left and slammed the door behind him.

  At the shed nobody was practicing. They were all just sitting around.

  Luke had his arm around Tessa and they were sitting side by side on the stage. “We weren’t sure you’d make it. Tre said Milly got hurt and is in hospital.”

  “She’s home now.”

  “How is she?” Isaac was with Jess, perched on the sawhorse, sitting close too.

  Everyone in his world seemed to be paired off. “Bruised and concussed. She’s meant to be resting.” He leaned against the bench. Noah and Adam had pulled up a couple of boxes.

  Tessa stood up. “You shouldn’t be here, Cole. She’s leaving tomorrow, isn’t she?”

  “Not now. It’s been put off a week.”

  “Still,” said Tessa. “She must want to spend time with you before she goes.”

  He shrugged. Yeah, right. She was probably upstairs packing, pleased to have got rid of him.

  He pushed himself away from the bench. “Are we going to practice?”

  “Yeah, in a moment.” Luke leaned forward, elbows on knees and tapped his fingers together. “We think it will be easier in the weekends if you and I stay in Hamilton on Saturday nights. These three,” he nodded at Tessa, Adam and Noah, “are going to flat together, and we could stay at the flat.”

  Cole shrugged again. “Yeah, that works.” He had nothing to get back here for now. “You would have been staying there anyway, wouldn’t you?”

  Luke grinned and looked over at Tessa. “Yeah, but no point in us taking two vehicles.” He stood up. “Now let’s run through what we’re doing next weekend.”

  Cole climbed onto the stage and went over to the drums. Tessa had just got a text. She read it then looked over at Cole. He ignored her. If that was Milly checking up on him, she could take a running jump.

  He’d already ignored a couple of texts from her. She deserved to be dumped. She’d ordered him around for the last month and when he wouldn’t do what she wanted she got mad and put herself in danger.

  He whacked the cymbals hard. She’s a bitch.

  He saw Tessa go over to Luke and say something to him. Luke nodded, fished in his pocket and gave her his keys.

  “Back in a minute,” Tessa said as she left.

  The practice started. Stardust first as usual. Isaac wasn’t playing the violin. Noah had taken that over. Isaac was still headed for university in Auckland, so he wouldn’t be part of this pub gig. Pity, because he was good.

  The violin wailed the introduction and he pulled his mind back. He waited for Luke to come in.

  He shouldn’t have left Milly on her own when he’d been told not to.

  Next year, Luke would still be in Paeroa, Tessa would be in Hamilton all year, Isaac was going to be in Auckland and Jess was staying here because she had another year at school. It didn’t look like they were breaking up.

  Maybe he should have been kinder. Maybe he’d been a bit blunt when he decided to finish it. But she didn’t ask him to change his mind. She let him leave. If that’s what you want, she’d said.

  The cymbals got another angry whack.

  24. Chapter Twenty-Four

  Luke lowered the microphone and turned back and looked at him.

  “Are you even listening to the rest of us?” he asked.

  “Sorry.” He couldn’t concentrate. He put the drumsticks down. He should go back to the house before Tom found out he’d left. His orders had been pretty specific.

  Luke stepped down off the stage. “We’ll take a break.” He went over to Isaac. “What do you think?” he asked.

  Cole sat behind the drums, picked up the drumsticks again and tried to decide what to do. Stay and finish this practice, or go back to the house and talk to Milly?

  He watched Isaac scratch the side of his chin.

  “You lot won’t even miss me,” said Isaac.

  “You could change your mind.”

  “No, too much driving.”

  Then the shed door opened and Tessa came through followed by Milly. Milly looked a bit damp around the edges, like she’d been crying.

  He should have stayed with her, and he shouldn’t have dumped her. He sat there and tried to decide what to do. Can you undo dumping someone? Did he want to? She still had that death wish. And was still leaving.

  Tessa wasn’t undecided. She said something to Milly, went to the edge of the stage, climbed up onto the pallets and strode over to him.

  “You dumped her!” she hissed. “What were you thinking?”

  “Stay out of this, Tess.” He wasn’t having someone interfering in his business, even if he’d known them all his life.

  He played the flourish he should have played a couple of minutes ago. He wasn’t going to hang around and watch Milly kill herself.

  Tessa grabbed the drumsticks. She wrenched them out of his hands. Then stood facing up to him, hands on her hips.

  “No, I won’t.” She leaned in and spoke quietly. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.” She waved the drumsticks at Milly.

  Milly stood there back to looking restrained and classy. He knew her well enough now to know that was just the way she acted when she was unsure of herself. But she must have texted Tessa and asked her to come and get her.

  Maybe that was because the doctor said she couldn’t drive for a few days. Maybe it was Tessa and Milly working it, so he had to give Milly a lift home.

  That wasn’t going to happen.

  He tried to grab the drumsticks off Tessa. “Mind your own business,” he told her.

  She stepped back. “No,” she said again.

  Luke, Adam, Noah and Isaac were all watching the argument.

  “Give him back the sticks, Tre,” said Luke. “Break’s over.”

  “No,” said Tessa, then turned back to Cole and waved the drumsticks at him. “Milly wants to talk to you, and I’m going to use these to knock some sense into you if you don’t get over there and sort this out. You love her. She loves you. You’re not going to let her leave without patching things up, whatever happened.”

  Jesus, he was surrounded by bossy females.

  Luke climbed onto the pallets again. “Give him the sticks and get off the stage, Tre. He’s big enough to sort his own sex life.”

  “Typical,” Tessa fired at him. “That’s all you can think of.”

  Cole stood up. He didn’t need Luke and Tessa fighting over him and Milly. He’d go and find out what she wanted to say. He owed her that.

  He leapt down off the pallets and went over to her. The ‘been crying look’ was still there and she bit her lip when he got close.

  He’d really upset her. The only other time he’d seen her cry was when he’d killed one of her horses. He should have known her saying, if that’s what you want, was an act.

  “Come on.” He slung an arm around her shoulders. He turned her towards the door. He didn’t know how this would turn out, and he didn’t need an audience for whatever happened next.

  He heard Luke mutter. “Looks like we’re taking another break.”

  Outside, the sun beat down on the dusty driveway and the cars and utes parked there. It looked like someone had just mowed the lawns. They rolled out past the house, the grass smooth and green like velvet.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked Milly. She might want to go back home.

  “Could we sit over there?” She nodded at a seat under a tree. She sounded tired. Maybe her father and the doctor were right. She should rest.

  “Okay.” At least they’d be in the shade and sitting down, and nobody would hear anything they were saying.

  Under the tree, Milly sat on the bench with a sigh. Cole sat beside her and leaned, elbows on knees, fingers linked. Now it
seemed silly that he’d dumped her. Because maybe Tessa was right, maybe dumping her because she was leaving and because she kept taking risks, meant he loved her, didn’t want her to go and didn’t want her to get hurt.

  They sat there without talking.

  “Isaac’s parents’ have beautiful gardens, don’t they?” Milly said in the end.

  He looked around. Stunning. But then, usually when they came here at least one of Isaac’s parents was working on keeping the place looking good. Fancy that.

  “Yeah.” He leaned back and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Tessa said you wanted to talk.”

  She swivelled around so she faced him and tucked one leg up. He glanced at her and was caught again by the way she looked and moved. So small compared to him, and graceful. Her hair long and straight and shiny like a horse’s tail. It glowed mahogany where the sun caught it. The flawless creamy skin just touched by the sun. The eyes, a dark amber with dark brown flecks.

  Yep, she was beautiful. But she still had that bruise on her cheek from hitting the ground and getting knocked out, because she chose to ride Tobias and that horse couldn’t be trusted.

  “I’m not going to be away forever,” she said. “And there’s Skype and email and phones, and WhatsApp, and Facetime.”

  “And plane tickets,” he said.

  Milly nodded. “And I’m coming back in a year.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You do still like me, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He leaned over the few inches, cupped her cheek and kissed her.

  He nodded. “What are you doing for the next week?”

  “I was hoping I was spending it with you.” She smiled. “I’m not allowed to ride. I thought maybe you could put that canopy back on your ute, and we could go somewhere?”

  “Yep. I could do that.” He stood up and took her hand. “And you could come to the pub and watch us play in the weekend.”

  “I’d like that.” Milly smiled.

  It looked like they were on again. Tessa was right. He loved her, and she loved him. He could wait for her for a year.

  “Come back to the shed. We’ll talk about it when practice is over.”

  The End

  Prelude Series- Part II

  Song for Jess

  Meg Buchanan

  Chapter One

  Jess just rang.

  Fuck.

  I borrow Mum’s car. I tell her it was Luke on the phone, and I’m going to see him.

  I should go see Jess but can’t figure out what to do when I get there.

  I drive around a bit and end up at old Collins’ house.

  I knock on his door.

  Collins opens it. “Isaac? To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  I shrug, and don’t say anything. I haven’t been to see him since Christmas, and even then, I don’t usually turn up uninvited.

  “Do you want to come in?” asks Collins.

  I nod.

  He pushes the door wider and stands back.

  I go inside.

  He shuts the door behind me.

  We’re in his kitchen. I slump down on a chair. I just know I can’t face Jess yet. I don’t want to be at home but can’t figure out why I’m here either.

  I can’t see me trying to learn about writing lyrics now.

  Collins picks up a tea towel and starts drying the dishes.

  “Is there something I can help you with, Isaac?” he asks after a while.

  I stick my elbows on the table and rub my forehead with both hands. I try to unfreeze my brain.

  “Has something happened?” Collins is starting to sound worried.

  Has something happened?

  Fuck.

  Jess is going to have a baby. Fuck. How did that happen?

  “Would you like a drink of water?” Collins goes to get a glass out of the cupboard, like he thinks a glass of water might fix this.

  I shake my head.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  Collins goes back to drying the dishes.

  Finally, I spit it out.

  “Jess is pregnant.” It just sounds unreal said like that. Jess is going to be a mother.

  There’s this long silence from Collins.

  “When did you find out?” he says finally.

  “Just now.” I’m still studying the table top, holding my head with my hands.

  Fuck, I’m going to be a father.

  “Do your parents know?”

  I shake my head.

  “Do Jess’s?”

  Another shake.

  “Where’s Jess now?” he asks.

  “At her house.”

  “Is she on her own?”

  “Don’t know.”

  Collins puts the tea towel and plate down, leans over the table, and grabs hold of my wrists.

  I lift my head. Startled.

  He doesn’t touch anyone. Ever. He’s real careful about it.

  I look up at him.

  “Isaac,” he says forcefully, his eyes holding mine. “You can’t leave Jess on her own.”

  I move my head to get away from the eyes.

  “Look at me,” he says. “You have to go around there now.”

  I nod.

  “Now,” he says.

  I nod again.

  He lets my wrists go. “Jess will be as shocked as you are.”

  She didn’t sound shocked, she sounded frozen.

  “Are you all right to drive?” asks Collins.

  I nod again.

  “Do you need me to come with you?”

  I shake my head. I stand up. Jess will be as shocked as I am. I need to get to Jess.

  “Isaac,” says Collins, breaking through the feeling I’m swimming in a fog. “You and Jess can’t deal with this on your own. You have to tell your parents. You both have good parents. They’ll help you.”

  I nod again and go to the door.

  “Do I need to come?” he asks again.

  I shake my head.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.” Finally, I can say something. “I need to go to Jess,” I say like I’m repeating a lesson.

  “Isaac,” says Collins again as I open the door. “None of this is going to be easy. If you need someone to talk to again, or,” he waves at the piano and guitars sitting in the lounge, “just peace and quiet, you are welcome to come here, anytime.”

  “Thanks,” I say, and walk out to Mum’s car.

  I drive to Jess’s place and find Jess.

  In the empty house.

  She’s alone.

  In bed.

  Under the duvet.

  I lean against the doorway.

  “Hi,” I say.

  She turns over carefully and gives a half smile.

  “Hi.” She’s real pale. Like she belongs to another world.

  “Are you all right?”

  She nods. “I just don’t feel very well.”

  It doesn’t look like the razor blades have come out, I think that’s what Collins was worried about.

  “You took a long time to get here, where have you been?”

  I shrug. “Around.” Pretty weird going to see Collins first. She doesn’t have to know that.

  “What are we going to do?” She shivers even though it is still the middle of summer...

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  About the Author

  I live in Paeroa, a small town in New Zealand, with my husband and a black labrador. Most of my books are set in my home town, simply because it has a rich history, and the streets already have names, so do the rivers and the mountain nearby, and the neighbouring towns also have names, so I save time on world building.

  I have been writing for seven years. Before that I was a teacher, then a kitchen designer, and for a year, the creator of resources for drug education. But now writing is what I do.

  I love creating books about ordinary people doing interesting things. The characters in my story are just a little better looking and more charismatic than in real life, but they think and feel like normal people.

  My books cover many genre, action adventure, scifi, historical fiction, and romance. Up until now you won’t find a vampire or werewolf in any them, but in the future, that can’t be completely ruled out.

  I wrote Scavenger Hunt to enter it in a national competition, just to see if I could write. It won the competition and really it has all gone on from there.