She laughed. “You’re not dating him because of me, are you?”
“No,” I yelled. “That was a joke, Carly. Damn.”
“Okay. Good. He really likes you.” Carly giggled. “I mean… he really really likes you, Nova.”
“That’s good.”
“No. I mean… like… loves you…”
I cringed a little. “He told you that?”
“I’m not saying anything else,” Carly said. “Just giving you a heads up. I don’t know how you feel about everything. But if you really do like him, this could be something amazing. He’s a really good guy. And he’s got an amazing future.”
I looked at Carly. “What are you, his mother?”
“Shut up,” Carly said. “I’m the cousin who had to help him for years. Who do you think wiped his bloody nose when he got beat up for being a dork? I pep talked him so many times… just, whatever. Enjoy yourself, Nova. But know what you’re walking into.”
Carly drove me to Conor’s house. She was able to pull right up to the large house because she was family. It was normal for her. She could have gotten out of the car and walked right into the house too.
I got out of the car instead.
I fumbled with my phone to text Conor.
Telling him to get his sexy ass to the front door because there was a surprise waiting for him.
When he opened the door and saw me, Carly gave a quick beep and she sped off.
I slowly climbed the steps of the white pillared front porch, swaying as I did so.
It was like I had somehow gotten drunker on the ride over.
“Nova?” Conor asked.
He was in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
Totally relaxed hot guy kind of clothes.
The perfect chance to escape the memory of Elijah.
Hell. Yes.
I got to the second to last step from the top and tripped.
I hit the step hard.
Really hard.
My knee exploded with pain and I instantly thought of Britt.
My eyes filled with tears.
“Holy shit, Nova!” Conor yelled.
He dropped down and grabbed for me.
I threw my arms around him and pressed my chest to his chest.
“Conor, save me,” I whispered.
“Save you?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
He broke the hug and I turned.
My knee was cut. And swollen. And throbbing in pain.
“Fuck tonight,” I said. “Fuck the entire fucking night.”
“Nova, what are you doing here?” Conor asked.
I turned my head. I looked at him.
I felt sloppy.
And I knew I looked it.
A fucking mess.
Not even a hot mess either.
Not even a drunk mess.
Just a mess.
“Carly told me that party was a joke anyway,” I said.
“Yeah,” Conor said.
“Are your parents home?”
“Yeah.”
“Mine too.”
“Nova, I’m going to drive you home. You need to sleep this off. Whatever this is.”
“No,” I said. “Conor. No. I don’t want to go home. I can’t go home.”
“Come on,” he said. “You have to go home.”
“Oh, I have to go home? You’re kicking me out?”
“Stand up,” Conor said. “I don’t know what else to do here. I’m not used to this.”
Can’t handle me? Thought you really, really liked me? You just like a certain version of me, huh? Well, guess what, dude bro? I’m a mixed bag of craziness. Nobody can handle… it…
My chin quivered.
I was still fighting the thoughts of Elijah.
I shook Conor away and managed to get to my feet.
He was right by my side to help me down the steps.
When we got to the bottom I turned and jumped at him.
I kissed his lips but he didn’t kiss me back right away.
I kissed again.
He kissed me back.
I grabbed his shirt tight.
“Nova… you have to go home…”
I kept kissing him.
“Nova…”
“Shut up, pussy,” I whispered.
“What did you just say?” Conor asked.
He jumped away from me.
I stared at him. “What? Just do something. Sack up, man.”
“Man?” he asked. “Who are you right now? You can’t be here. I said no.”
My eyes went wide.
I shook my head and kept my tears to myself as I walked to Conor’s car.
He kept to his good boy word and drove me home.
He drove me right to the house.
And I sat in the car for a few extra seconds, desperate for him to drive.
Drive the fuck away from the house.
But Conor didn’t drive away.
He waited for me to open the door.
Then he grabbed my hand and kissed it.
“Good night, Nova,” he whispered.
“Yeah. Good night.”
I got out of the car.
He was too good to be bad. And he didn’t understand what bad actually meant.
I was starting to get a little bit sober as I approached the house.
Which was the worst thing that could happen at that moment.
I waited for Conor to leave and then I sat at the front door.
I sat alone.
I stared down the driveway.
Then I thought of something worse than what was already the worst.
And that was… there was only one person who could understand it all. And save me. And make it all seem right.
But he was the one who broke my heart.
Chapter 8
Elijah
There wasn’t much for me to do.
At least during the day.
Walking the halls of Tech. Dropping in and out of classes. Everyone had an idea of who I was and why I was there. And nobody said anything.
Same with HCH.
I could hang there -outside, of course- and wait and watch.
I respected Wes for standing up for himself. Not that it was a shock to my system. I deserved to get roughed up. But it did help me understand how the town worked a little better. Now, there wasn’t much in my head or heart that really suggested Wes or his crew -or his family even- had anything to do with my brother’s death.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t have fun with it though.
Coming to HCH was for a fight.
And not just one fight either.
I stood outside one of the bathrooms in Tech and unfolded the piece of paper. I had an unlit cigarette between my lips as I carefully poured over the words for the millionth time.
“Fuck,” I mumbled to myself.
I folded up the paper and went into the bathroom.
It was like I was going to read the note and it was going to magically say something different.
I went into the last bathroom stall and had a seat.
The bathrooms were the cleanest I had ever seen in my life.
It was the perfect place to sit, think, smoke, and waste a little more time as I thought about my next move in life.
I was halfway done with my cigarette when the door opened.
I stood up and ditched my cigarette into the toilet.
My hand grabbed the stall door but I waited a second.
“We got this one,” a voice said.
I knew the voice.
“As long he shows up alone,” another voice.
I grinned.
It was the brothers, fucking idiots here.
Walker and Ryker.
I looked through the little crack where the door of the stall was.
They walked to the sink.
“We have to make this move now,” Walker said. “I don’t give a shit what happens. We’re not dragging Wes into it either.”
“No way,” Ryker said.
“Wes has enough going on. This is personal for us. I know Nero fucked with my ride. I just know it.”
“Use that then,” Walker said. “We need to send a message. A clear message. Plus, doing this on our own without Wes gets everyone else to shut the fuck up too. That we don’t need him.”
“I don’t give a shit about everyone else,” Ryker said. “This is personal. Plus, Wes doesn’t race.”
“I bet if Ryland was still alive he’d race,” Walker said.
“Nah,” Ryker said. “We always just fucked with their races. Drop their rides. All that bullshit. Plus, Ryland was too smart to race. He got the cash and ran.”
“That caught up to him.”
“Yeah. Right.”
“What? You know something finally bit him in the ass, bro,” Walker said.
“We all do. It’s not our problem. It never fucking was either. Shit. Listen…”
The bathroom door opened again.
Ryker elbowed Walker.
I slowly opened the bathroom stall door.
Walker was against the wall, hidden from view.
Some guy made the fatal mistake of entering the bathroom alone. Especially if he was a targeted guy.
Shit.
“Hey, Nero,” Ryker said.
“Ryker,” Nero said. “What the fuck do you want?”
Nero was in all black, including his slicked back hair. A lip ring on the right side of his mouth. Dime sized holes in his earlobes.
“I want to talk,” Ryker said.
“I want to fight,” Walker said as he jumped out and threw a punch.
I cringed and shook my head.
Nero toppled to the left and put his hands out and hit the wall. He pushed off and turned, throwing a crazy punch that went nowhere.
Ryker jumped in and punched Nero in the ribs.
Walker then hit Nero in the face again.
The two brothers were like hyenas attacking a lion. Diving in for a punch here and there, then darting back before Nero could hit them. A real man would have stayed right there in the line of fire, taking a punch or two to keep things fair.
Walker took out Nero’s legs and he went down to the floor.
I pushed the stall door open all the way.
Ryker kicked at Nero’s gut.
Walker aimed for Nero’s head.
Whatever warranted the beating, it was satisfied. But since the two brothers weren’t stopping, it meant this was something or they were just being assholes. The whole two on one thing was a bogus move to make.
I cracked my knuckles and decided to make it fair.
I grabbed Walker by the shoulder and turned him around.
“Oh, fuck,” he said.
My right fist connected to his jaw.
Walker flew back and smashed into the wall.
Ryker brought his foot back for another kick. I kicked his knee of the leg planted to the floor. There was a pop sound and Ryker toppled back into the sink.
I looked down at Nero. “You better not be some fucking sicko or murderer.”
Walker was back at me, hitting me in the cheek.
I stepped back and shook my head.
I lifted my fists. “Come on. Let’s do it.”
“You think you’re getting Nova again, bro?” Walker asked. He took a swing and missed. “She’s never going your way again.”
“That’s all you’ve got?” I asked Walker.
“She’s too busy guzzling on Conor,” Ryker said.
I turned my head and saw Ryker holding his knee.
I lunged at him.
Walker lunged at me.
Walker ended up on my back as Ryker started to swing.
I took the punches and growled, throwing Walker away.
My hands finally got to Ryker and I slammed him against the mirror, spider cracking it instantly.
“Bad luck, man,” Ryker said.
I threw my head forward and smashed it against his nose.
Walker came for me again but Nero was back on his feet, ready to take him on.
“Nero!” a voice screamed.
“In here, Lars!” Nero called out.
The door opened again and in ran another guy.
Taller and skinnier than Nero but no fear of what was happening.
Except he came after me.
He slammed his hands to my shoulders, breaking me away from Ryker.
He brought back a fist.
“He saved my ass,” Nero said.
Lars skipped hitting me and went for Walker.
Nero and Lars took Walker down while I stood guard and watched Ryker rub the back of his head.
“That’s enough,” I called out.
“The fuck it is,” Lars said.
I pointed to Ryker as a warning.
I turned and grabbed Lars and pulled him away.
“I said that’s enough,” I ordered. After I tossed Lars away, I did the same for Nero. Then I looked down at Walker. “Get the fuck out of here. You have three seconds. One… two…”
Walker crawled to Ryker.
They fled the bathroom.
“You’re fucking dead, Elijah,” Ryker said.
Lars slammed his hand to my shoulder.
I turned and twisted his arm and threw him back.
He came at me and Nero got between us.
“Relax,” Nero said. “This is on me. They set me up. I fell for it.” He looked at Lars. “This guy here saved me.” Nero looked at me. “And this guy here… Lars… he’s my best friend. I give the word and we’ll take you out.”
I pushed away from Nero and ran a hand through my hair. “Fuck.” I reached for a cigarette and offered them each one.
Nero declined.
Lars didn’t.
My face bloodied (again), I bonded in silence with Lars over a cigarette.
“What’s the deal there?” I asked Nero.
“Pussy and life,” Lars answered for Nero.
“Pussy is life,” I said with a grin.
“Ruins your life,” Nero said. “That’s just old bad blood there. We have a shop north of here and get better parts for our rides. They hate it. We always beat them in street races.”
“They accused us of stealing some shit not too long ago,” Lars said. “Almost dragged us into a war.”
“That shit was tied to Wes’s old man though,” Nero said. “So the cousins got pissed.”
“And that other fucking moron,” Lars said. “Ryland.”
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Lars asked.
“Ryland’s my brother,” I said.
“Was your brother,” Lars said.
“Was,” I said.
“Shit, man,” Nero said. “I’m sorry.”
“No worries,” I said. “I’m sure he had it coming.”
“Wait a second,” Lars said. “You’re related to Ryland. Tied into those two asshole cousins somehow. Why the fuck are we talking to you?”
“Because he saved me,” Nero said.
“Hey, I don’t need any fucking friends here,” I said. I flicked my cigarette into the dry sink. “I don’t give a shit. I only jumped in because you were going to get your head stomped in, Nero.”
Nero faced me, lip curled. “Anything else you want to say?”
“Whatever you got on my brother, keep it to yourself,” I said. “Unless you think you can point me in the direction of who killed him. As far as the rest of HCH goes, everyone can get on their knees in front of me. That’s what I think of them all. Walker and Ryker… yeah, they deserved a good beating.”
“They talked about Nova,” Nero said.
“You know her?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Lars said. “That okay with you?”
“Whatever,” I said. “She was a summer fling for me.”
“It’s not summer yet,” Lars said.
“Tall, skinny dude can read the fucking calendar,” I said.
Lars laughed. He took a long drag of the cigarette. “You’re enough of a prick I
might like you.”
“It’ll wear itself out,” I said.
“Listen, we have common ground here, man,” Nero said. “Wherever Walker and Ryker shit, Wes isn’t too far away. And with Wes comes Aira. And that entire group. Including Nova. I don’t know what your deal is here, but having a friend or two isn’t the worst thing.”
“I don’t do friendships,” I said.
“Neither does Lars,” Nero said.
The bathroom door opened again and I looked over my shoulder and saw two more guys walking toward us.
“You fucking good, bro?” one asked.
“Guys, this is Elijah,” Nero said. “He just saved me. Walker and Ryker jumped me.”
“Looks like you took a few hits too, man,” the other guy said to me.
“You do what you have to do,” I said.
“Oh, shit, who broke the mirror?” the first guy asked.
“Ryker’s head,” I said.
“Right on.”
“Elijah… this is Turner and Paxton,” Nero said.
“Yeah, I see that,” I said.
“You’re the new guy,” Turner said.
“Ryland’s brother,” Lars said.
“Oh, damn,” Paxton said. “Hey, I know your brother was a dick and all…”
“Don’t say it,” I said. “I’m over hearing it. Unless you know something about who did it.”
They both shook their heads.
“What’s your deal with that?” Lars asked. “You think you’re going to kill the guy who killed your brother?”
“What would you do?” I asked Lars.
He nodded. “Probably the same.”
“Listen, we’re solid here,” Nero said to me. He made a fist and held it out. “You’ve got our protection here. You need anything at Tech you let me know.”
“We expect the same in return,” Lars said.
“One thing I know for sure, I never back down from a fight,” I said. “Hell, if I get bored enough I’ll start one.”
“Right on,” Paxton said.
I stepped up to Paxton. His bright blonde hair was spiked a little. The cool dude, pretty boy.
“Say right on to me and I’m going to put you right on one of these shitters. Face down. See how long you can hold your breath.”
Paxton stuck out his chest and got closer. “I never back down from a fight either.”
“I think we’ve had enough blood in this bathroom for one day, guys,” Nero said.
“Yeah, it’s getting like the girls’ bathroom when they’re on the rag,” Lars said.
HIDDEN CREEK AGAIN: a hidden creek high novel Page 8
