And if she really had a crush on me…
I shut my eyes.
This is all wrong.
I made a bed for myself on the floor and went outside for one last cigarette.
The plan was to sleep on the floor just in case Mara got sick or something.
And that was that.
Me on the floor.
Which proved it…
If something was happening, I would have found my way into the goddamn bed.
So taking the floor proved it…
Nothing was going to happen tonight between Mara and I… or ever.
* * *
‘Do you really love me, Uly? I bet you say that to everyone.’
‘Ah, come on, doll, don’t put words in my mouth. And don’t compare me to anyone else… who else would break into this shitty cafe for you?’
‘I have a key to it…’
‘It was more fun to break in.’
I grab Penelope’s hand and pull her from the stage and walk her to the counter. I pick her up and put her on the counter.
She’s driving me damn crazy here.
I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop wanting her.
Everything is just so intense.
She’s got me thinking about the future. Like a real future. Fuck, I’m starting to think about her wearing a diamond ring.
She grabs my shoulders and bites her lip.
I slide my hands to her back and pull her against me.
Our lips touch. Just for a second.
My heart aches a little. I’d seen her talking to Hil… and I heard a little bit of rumbling that she and Hil had gotten a little too friendly outside the cafe last week.
But that was fake, you know?
Penelope and I were real.
I kiss her again.
It’s real…
I want to-
Something hits my stomach hard.
My eyes popped open and I wasn’t sure if I coughed or growled, but I made some kind of noise that resembled both.
I saw Mara standing on me.
She looked down, more than half asleep, and when she realized she had stepped on a person in her room, she screamed.
Then she kicked herself back, digging her ugly feet into my gut even more.
She toppled back onto the bed.
I got to my knees and grabbed the covers on the bed.
She was on her knees, wearing the same clothes from the night before.
Her hair sticking out on the right side where she must have slept hard.
Her eyes screamed hangover, wide open as she was startled to see me.
“What the hell, doll?” I asked.
“Uly?” she yelled. “What are you doing here?”
I put my feet on the floor and stood up. “I crashed on the floor next to the bed.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you to be alone,” I said. “In case you got sick.”
Mara folded her arms to cover her chest as though she weren’t dressed. She tried to touch her hair, realizing she looked like a morning mess. Then her face turned red. She dove face first down to the bed and covered her head with a pillow.
“Get out!” she yelled in a muffled voice.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked.
“I have to pee. Get out.”
“You’re going to pee the bed?”
“Uly!”
“What?” I smirked. “Would this be a good time to tickle you?”
She kicked her feet and rolled to her back, grabbing the covers.
She sat up and her hair was even messier.
I stood there, my eyes now wide, not sure what I was witnessing.
She hurried to her feet and ran toward the bathroom.
She looked back at me. “I hate you right now. More than you’ll ever understand.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “You’re welcome. Glad I hung around to make sure you didn’t end up sick or hurt or dead.”
Mara slammed the bathroom door.
I grabbed my phone and cigarettes off of the floor then stormed through the beach house to go outside and have a smoke.
I lit a cigarette and smoked it with aggression.
For no real reason.
Well… the dream wasn’t one I wanted to relive.
Why the fuck am I thinking about Penelope again?
There were a million dreams I could have had about Penelope. And each one was the same bullshit ending. I would have rather dreamed about trying to swim away from sharks in the middle of the ocean. Or one of those falling dreams where you lose your stomach and think you’re going to actually die in the dream.
And then to be woken up by Mara stepping on me… and that was my fault somehow?
I took a few deep breaths in between drags of my cigarette.
That helped a little.
What didn’t help was when Mara came out onto the porch.
The first thing I noticed was her hair was pulled back and fixed.
Worried about me making fun of you, doll?
She waved her hand at my cigarette smoke.
“Why are you out here?” I asked her.
“Sorry for yelling at you,” she said. “I had no idea you were on the floor, Uly. It scared me.”
“So you looked down at me and got scared,” I said. “Ouch. I didn’t know I was that ugly.”
“Stop it,” Mara said.
She grabbed my arm and shook me.
She secretly loved that you kissed her. She secretly has had a crush on you for a long time.
That was just drunk Mara talking though.
And she obviously didn’t remember saying it.
I finished my cigarette and stretched my neck.
Mara leaned against the right post on the porch steps.
“You need some coffee and food, doll,” I said.
“And a shower,” she said.
“Too bad your mother isn’t here to cook for me.”
Mara lifted her middle finger. “Asshole.”
I laughed. “I’ll call and have something delivered.”
“From where?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “There’s got to be a place, right?”
Mara shook her head. “You rich people are the worst. Can never fend for yourselves.” She pushed from the pillar. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Is that an invite to join you?
I looked away and gritted my teeth.
That was the kind of shit that needed to not go through my head.
Mara went back into the house and I followed.
She went to the left toward the guest area. I went straight and into the kitchen.
I was a rich asshole, but I wasn’t useless.
I made coffee and I made pancakes.
From scratch.
That take, Mara.
I left everything on the counter and found a piece of paper and drew a middle finger on the paper and placed it on the counter next to the pancakes.
I’ve only ever made breakfast for one other person…
I shook away the thought and walked toward the bedroom.
I had to get out of the house. Back to BFH. I had to go for a drive at the very least. Just to clear my head a little bit more. There was too much in there. Way too much.
As I entered the bedroom, I saw the bathroom door was opened a little. The mirror was fogged up from the steam.
Steam meant hot water. Hot water on Mara’s body…
I walked to the door and knocked. “Hey, doll.”
“What?” Mara called out.
“Don’t worry, I’m not sneaking a peek,” I said. “Left you breakfast on the counter. I have to get going. Have to head back to BFH. I’ll be back down when my mother gets released from the hospital.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Are you going to miss me?”
“Hell no,” Mara said.
I smiled. “Good. I’m not going to miss you. Enjoy your shower. I’ll lock you
in. The house… not the shower…”
Are you getting flustered, Uly?
“Okay,” Mara called out. “See you later.”
I stared at the door.
All I needed to do…
“No,” I whispered.
I started to turn and I noticed Mara’s phone.
On top of her clothes on a bench just outside the bathroom.
Her clothes… those white jean shorts, ugly orange shirt… but there were other pieces of her clothing. The ones that were hidden by the shorts and shirt.
I gritted my teeth and told myself to calm the hell down.
But her phone caught my attention.
Last night she gave me the name of the guy who was bothering her.
Adam.
I reached for Mara’s phone and there was no passcode on it.
Was it wrong? Of course it was wrong. But I wasn’t snooping through her phone for pictures or anything.
I just opened her texts and scrolled for a few seconds until I saw Adam’s name.
There was a string of texts to Mara.
Calling her trash. Poor. Dirty. Asking if she digs through the dumpsters to find dinner.
Mara replied with a middle finger emoji every ten texts or so.
I scrolled up far enough to see the tone of the messages change.
Quotes of poetry. Love quotes. Emojis of hearts and kisses.
The anger it made me feel…
I took a deep breath and pressed at Adam’s name so I could get his number.
I put Adam’s number in my phone.
I placed Mara’s phone down on her clothes.
My eyes looked at the bra and panties just resting there.
The shower water turned off.
I froze in place… she’s going to grab a towel…
I swallowed it all down and walked out of the room.
I walked out of the house.
When I got into my car, I took off and drove as fast as I could.
Uly… what the fuck are thinking about doing next?
Chapter 6
I opened the classroom door and found Lake sitting on her desk, Belle sitting on the floor, head down in a notebook.
“Hey, Uly,” Lake called out with a smile.
I nodded and let the door shut behind me.
Belle looked at me. “How’s your mother?”
“She’s fine, doll,” I said. “We’ve gone over this.”
“Can you lie and say she’s not fine?” Lake asked.
“That’s cold,” I said.
“She’s cold.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s fired three nurses already.”
“Already?” Belle asked.
“It’s been a day,” I said. “She’ll fire ten more before tonight.”
“You sure she doesn’t need to lose her leg?” Lake asked.
“What has gotten into you?” I asked.
“I hate that woman,” Lake said.
“I need to hear all the stories now,” Belle said.
“Not from me,” I said. “I’m done with the past. Everything to do with the past.”
I stared right at Belle.
“What do you need?” Lake asked me. “Belle and I are working on something.”
“Just trying to catch up with Ash,” I said.
“He’s not here,” Lake said.
“I know that.” I looked at Belle. “Have you seen him?”
“No,” Belle said. “I’ll text him.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll leave you two be.”
I didn’t even mean to go into the room like I did. It was almost a force of habit. A need to check up on Belle. And Lake. I considered Lake like a big sister, but only in age. Because I sort of took care of her. She was just older than me.
Out in the hallway, I started to walk when I felt someone staring at me.
“Uly, wait up,” Belle called out.
Fuck.
“What’s up, doll?” I asked.
“You didn’t need to come in there for that,” she said. “You can text Ash.”
“Your point?”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay with everything going on?”
“I’m fine.”
“Stop saying that word,” she said.
“What do you want me to say then?” I snapped.
“You’re off,” she said. “Something is way off. It’s okay to care about your mother. I know she’s a little psycho…”
“I’m not worried about her at all,” I said. “She’s on her own. The way she’s always wanted it. The leg thing? It’s a perfect distraction for her. She’ll get all the love and pity she craves.”
“Then what is it?” Belle asked. “Is it because we showed up? That was my fault, Uly. I told Ash to drive me or else I was going to drive myself to see you. I wanted to check up on you. I needed to see you.”
I curled my lip. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Belle said. “Are you mad at me?”
“No, doll. I’m not mad at you. Maybe I’m mad at myself.”
“For what?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“Is this about Mara? Did something happen with her?”
I shook my head. “None of this is your problem, doll. Go work on your project with Lake.”
Belle grabbed my hand. “She really hates your mother.”
“She has good reason to.”
“Does that bother you?”
I pulled Belle toward me. Her body crashed into mine. “Listen, doll, I love your heart. I love that you’re worried about me. But last time I checked, it was Ash’s eyes you were staring into. Not mine.”
“But you’re a friend to me, Uly,” she said. “Maybe more, but not all that much more.”
“Then trust me when I say it’s fine,” I said. “I need to find Ash. And Hil.”
“The pill guy?”
“There’s always something going on.”
I stepped back but Belle didn’t let my hand go.
She stretched her arm as far as it would go.
“If it has anything to do with Mara, just go for it,” Belle said. “And if Hil gets in your way, I’ll run him over with Ash’s truck.”
“Can you just do that anyway?” I asked with a grin.
“I’d love to,” she said.
She let my hand go and walked back to Lake’s classroom.
I continued my walk through the hallways, alone, now thinking about everything I said I was going to forget.
I went back to the beach house to be there when my mother came home.
It was busy as shit though. She had a team of nurses show up to help her. She cried for Paula, yelled at Mara for no reason, and then asked me to take a picture with her. She fired one nurse right on the spot and then two more over the rest of the day and first night there.
Mara locked herself in the bedroom and I left without saying goodbye.
That’s what weighed on me.
Knowing Mara was there and I wasn’t.
Or the fact that my attention was locked on her.
My pretty distraction.
And a place for my anger when it came to Adam.
Though I almost completely convinced myself to let the Adam thing go. I had his number and if anything else happened with Mara, I’d step in.
That was the right thing to do.
I threw my shoulder into the nearest door to get the hell out of the BFH building.
I smelled cigarette smoke and turned my head to see Hil leaning against the building, smoking.
He looked at me and nodded.
“Should we talk music or pill guy?” I asked him.
Hil laughed.
“Let’s talk about both.”
* * *
Music was first.
We went to the cafe that we used as our practice area.
While we waited for Ash to show up, we jammed to a few new songs. There was something awesome about writing music with Hil. He and I just clicked when it came down to it. Maybe
it was all the hate we had for each other. Two musicians ready for a fight, yet we were able to pick up two guitars and make something happen.
I sat on a table and he sat on the stage.
We sang at each other, running through lyrics that weren’t exactly perfect yet.
When we stopped, there was clapping.
I knew the little clapping sound to be Belle.
I felt my lip wanting to curl.
Fuck, Uly, what is with you?
“About time, Ash,” Hil said.
“I had him busy,” Belle said.
I gritted my teeth.
I moved from the table and put my guitar on it.
I lit a cigarette and stared at Ash.
“We’re going to have to sneak around Aaron,” Ash said. “I think he’s protecting her.”
“Fucking hell,” Hil said. “I’ll break his hands. Or take a dump in his bag.”
“Hil,” Belle said. “That’s disgusting.”
“He’s protecting her?” I asked.
“I think he’s scared now. Maybe he’s afraid she’ll run off with the pill guy. Or maybe she’ll just toss his ass aside for talking to us.”
“So what’s he doing?” Hil asked.
“He told me to tell Ash to let it go,” Belle said.
“What?” I asked. I stepped toward Belle. “Aaron talked to you about this?”
“Hey, take it easy,” Ash said, putting his left hand out toward me. With his right hand, he slipped it around Belle’s body. “I’ve got this part.”
“Ash, we all have this part too,” Hil said. “Belle is yours. We know. But we’re Them. We’re protecting her just as much as you are.”
I kept my eyes on Belle. “That’s what he said?”
“Yeah,” Belle said. “He hurried up to me in the hallway. Said to tell Ash to let it go. Forget about what happened. That everything was okay. But you could tell he was messed up.”
“Messed up how?” Hil asked.
“Fuck,” I said. “He’s on the pills too?”
“No,” Belle said. “Maybe. No. Wait. He was just… scared. Flustered. Worried about Ash. And you two.”
I looked at Ash.
“That’s all we’ve got,” Ash said.
“You didn’t knock him out?” Hil asked.
“Haven’t gone to see him yet,” Ash said. “Wanted to talk to you first.”
“This is interesting,” Hil said.
“Aaron isn’t fucked up,” I said. “He’s protecting Jasmine.”
“Which we assumed,” Ash said.
ULY (Bay Falls High - Them Book 1) Page 5
