HIDDEN CREEK AGAIN: a hidden creek high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  “Oh,” I said. “Right. Didn’t want to get caught drunk.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “What?”

  “Hey, it’s me, Nova,” he whispered. “You can hate my guts. I would hate my guts too. There’s a lot we probably should eventually talk about. But no matter what, it’s still me and you. Right? You can tell me anything, babe.”

  “And you can tell me anything,” I said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like what you’re really doing here,” I said. “Is this really about Ryland?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Why?”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Nova, why didn’t you want to go home last night?”

  “I just told you,” I said.

  “Come on,” he said. “That’s bullshit.”

  “Excuse me? You’re bullshit.”

  I forced myself to sit up. The pain in my head was really bad. But I fought through it to prove my point. I tore the hoodie off me and threw it at Elijah.

  Then I made the bold move of getting out of his car.

  “What the hell are-”

  I slammed the door as he yelled for me.

  I hugged myself and stumbled as I walked.

  The sun was like a thousand knives piercing my eyes as I walked.

  Elijah hurried after me, grabbing my arms from behind and making me stop.

  “You are so goddamn stubborn, Nova,” he said.

  “And you are a goddamn liar,” I said.

  “How so?”

  I spun around. The world kept spinning. Luckily I had Elijah to save me from falling. My stomach ached and growled. I wasn’t sure if I needed to throw up or eat some bacon. Or do both.

  “You said you were never coming back,” I yelled at him. “And here you are. Fucking everything up again.”

  “I saved you last night,” he growled at me. “Where was your boyfriend? Studying? Worried about his fucking GPA?”

  “Fuck off,” I spat. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

  “Home. Listening to music. Writing. Right where I know she is.”

  “She going to write you some poetry, Elijah? Hang it up in your locker? Cut off her fingernails and make it into a necklace for you?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Isn’t that what freak ass poetry writers do?” I asked.

  I knew I sounded crazy.

  But… Elijah made me crazy.

  He started to laugh.

  “Shut up,” I said. “My head hurts and I’m hungry.”

  “Then get back in the car and I’ll fix that for you.”

  “No.”

  “What are you going to do, babe? Walk home from here?”

  “Yeah. Maybe I will. Or maybe I’ll call Conor to come get me.”

  Elijah let me go. “Go ahead then. He’s probably still sleeping. With one of those fucking sleeping masks over his eyes. So he gets his solid eight hours of sleep. Fucking loser.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s Noelle doing right now? Pining over the angst of the crashing waves. Wondering why their suffering is so great in parallel to the way the universe makes us all suffer so greatly.”

  Elijah kept backing up, grinning.

  The worst part?

  I wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and fucking kiss him.

  * * *

  It was a total standoff.

  I was literally standing.

  He was sitting in his car.

  His hands on the wheel, eyes staring at me.

  I folded my arms and pretended like the sun wasn’t trying to kill me.

  We were both too stubborn to make a move.

  And this was how all our fights went.

  Being in a relationship for just the summer we really didn’t have many fights. But when we did, they were this. On opposite ends of the world, waiting for the other person to crack.

  Elijah started the car.

  It was a really quiet engine.

  The car screamed speed.

  And he looked good behind the wheel.

  I reached for my phone and pretended to send a text message.

  I had plenty of people to call for a ride.

  Elijah brought his left hand to his mouth and blew me a kiss.

  I gave him the middle finger on my right hand.

  The engine on the car purred and he started to pull away.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I yelled at the car.

  It came to a quick stop right next to me.

  I ripped open the door and got into the passenger seat.

  “Don’t say a word about it,” I warned him.

  “Here,” he said. He reached into the console and got out a pair of all black sunglasses. “You look ready to puke, babe. Put these on.”

  I ripped the sunglasses out of his hand and put them on.

  Relief swept over me.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  Elijah took off.

  He drove back into the heart of Hidden and went right for Julia’s bakery.

  I looked around as though I should have felt guilty. But it wasn’t like I had done anything wrong. And I wasn’t even sure what Conor and I actually were. Even still… nothing happened.

  Nothing happened.

  Elijah parked and got right out of the car.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. “Don’t worry about what I want…”

  Elijah dipped into the bakery and came right back out a minute later, carrying two coffees.

  He got back into his car and handed me one.

  “No food?” I asked.

  “Spoiled brat,” he whispered.

  He took off again and headed toward the beach.

  To a nice little greasy spoon spot that overlooked the ocean.

  The smell of the grease… eggs and bacon…

  I drank the entire coffee by the time we got there.

  Which made sense.

  He got me the coffee to hold me over until breakfast where I could get more coffee.

  He knew that’s what I wanted. What I needed. He knew that’s how I liked to do my mornings.

  “I’ll get something for us,” he said.

  I wandered off toward the wood railing and looked at the ocean.

  I swallowed hard.

  I checked my phone.

  No texts. No calls. Nothing.

  Almost like nobody knew I was gone last night.

  I was just forgotten.

  Except for one person…

  I looked over my shoulder and watched Elijah order our food. Pay for it. Balance the two coffees in one hand and carry the bag of food with the other.

  We sat across from each other and I dove into the food hard.

  I needed it.

  With enough coffee and greasy food, I would be able to tell the hangover to fuck off in no time.

  I caught Elijah watching me. Smiling at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  He grabbed a napkin and reached across the table and dabbed the corner of my mouth.

  I swatted his hand away.

  “Get away from me,” I said.

  “Just cleaning you up, babe,” Elijah said. “Don’t want to send you home all sloppy. I mean, more than you already look.”

  “Funny,” I said. “So funny.”

  “What are you going to tell your boyfriend now?” he asked with a grin.

  “Same thing you tell your girlfriend,” I threw at him.

  I stood up, grabbed my trash and walked it to the trashcan.

  “Where am I taking you now?” he asked.

  “Nowhere,” I said. “I can figure it out from here.”

  “So that’s that then?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I looked at him. I swallowed hard.

  “You’re never going to love him,” he said. “You don’t need to try and attack me, babe. It won’t work.”

  “I’m not trying to attack you,” I said. “Don’t be so full of yourself.”

>   “Why’d you get drunk last night?”

  “I felt like it.”

  “And you just went without your boyfriend? Or your other friends?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Not your business.”

  I tried to walk around him, but he touched my waist and stopped me. “Maybe not, Nova. But you were scared last night. You got drunk to hide your feelings. And you were left alone at a party with a bunch of other drunk assholes. And you cried last night to not go home. What the hell is going on with you?”

  I shoved Elijah’s hand away. “I already told you. You.”

  “Me… and that’s it?”

  “That’s it,” I said. “So maybe you’ll take the hint by leaving my fucking town. This is my town. My home. You’re just passing through. Or just showing up. Causing problems. And you don’t get it. And you don’t give a shit.”

  “You’re right. I don’t. I don’t get it. I don’t give a shit. But I’ll tell you one thing, babe…” Elijah touched my cheek. “I’m not leaving anytime soon. You’re hurt. And it’s not just because of me.”

  I backed away.

  I opened my mouth but didn’t say anything.

  I had to get away from him.

  I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to tell him he was right.

  I wanted him to save me from the truths nobody knew about.

  * * *

  Everyone was with everyone.

  If that made any sense at all.

  In other words, it was the same old crap as always. And that crap was normal for me. Except now it didn’t feel normal. I didn’t want to be around Aira if she was with Wes. I didn’t want to look at Wes because that made me think of Noelle and that made me think of Elijah. Or the fact that Elijah wanted to kick Wes’s ass. Or that no matter what anyone said there was always going to be tension between Wes and Elijah.

  Being alone was a strong feature of my personality, even if I caught myself leaving the water over and over to check my phone.

  Before I could actually slip away from Elijah for good, he decided to smirk like a cocky dick and tell me that while I was sleeping in his car, he put his number in my phone. Which went against our summer thing agreement. For all the time we spent together, we made a deal we would not exchange numbers. That left the entire summer up in the air. With this flirty, butterfly feeling in my belly, waiting to see him again.

  Now I had his number. And he had my number. Because he sent himself a text from my phone. He programmed his name as Summer Boy. And I was pretty damn sure he programmed my number as Surfer Girl.

  Besides that… I was waiting to hear from Conor.

  I texted him but he never got back to me.

  He was always at the beach with me while I surfed.

  Except today.

  “Hey, surfer bitch, look up from your fucking phone.”

  I lifted my gaze and saw Britt rushing toward me.

  She was in bikini bottoms and a hoodie, looking naked, her curly black hair dancing behind her.

  “Britt on the beach,” I said.

  “Sounds like a dirty movie title,” she said.

  “Gross,” I said.

  “Look at my knee,” she said. “I’m finally good to go!”

  I let out a playful yell. “Where’s your board?”

  “I’m going to get a new one today.”

  “Take mine out,” I said. “Go pop your cherry again.”

  “I don’t think cherry’s can be popped twice,” Britt said.

  We both snorted and laughed.

  “I was just enjoying a few waves,” I said.

  “And obsessively checking your phone,” she said. “Waiting for Conor?”

  “Something like that,” I said. “I haven’t heard from him today. Things were weird last night…”

  “Oh?” Britt asked. Her eyes flared for her love of drama.

  “There was a party and he didn’t want to go. Nobody was there. I mean, nobody I knew.”

  “Are you talking about Elmer’s?” Britt asked.

  “Who?”

  “Eddie,” she said. “His middle name is Elmer. So everyone calls him that. Pisses him off.”

  “Oh. Right. Yeah. His party.”

  “Ew,” Britt said. “That’s like a cesspool there. That’s where you go if you’re desperate to get laid. Are you… wait… have you and Conor not…”

  I shook my head. “It’s weird.”

  “That’s not weird. That’s… well, yeah, it is weird. You’re fucking sexy. He’s hot. What’s the deal?”

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Does it have to do with a certain someone in town?”

  “You should go get that surfboard,” I said. “I prefer you in the water.”

  “Oh, hell no, bitch,” Britt said. “What’s going on?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” I said. “I got wasted. Elijah saved me. I slept in his car.”

  “Damn.”

  “Not like that. I literally slept in the passenger seat. I woke up, got breakfast, and came here. No Elijah to be found.”

  “Are you pretending to fool around with Conor to make Summer Boy jealous?” Britt asked.

  “You know, you’re not the first to ask me that. And everyone else I got pissed at.”

  “But you can’t get pissed at me,” she said. She grabbed my face. “I’m your first true love.”

  She planted a big kiss on my lips and laughed.

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. You’re something.”

  “Hey. I was there for everything. When you first got tits. When you got your first period. Who showed you how to-”

  “I don’t need a history lesson,” I said. “I get it. You’re the best ever.”

  “So spill your guts. What happened?”

  “I told you everything. I swear.”

  “Okay. So what is happening? What are you thinking? Feeling?”

  “How much time do you have?” I asked.

  “I’ve got nothing to do for the entire day,” Britt said. “So start spilling.”

  I laughed.

  I looked out at the ocean.

  Where it was busy and peaceful.

  Where I wanted to be.

  My phone rang with a text message.

  I moved so fast to look, it was embarrassing.

  Britt stared at me.

  It was becoming so obvious of what I really wanted.

  I looked at the text message.

  It wasn’t Elijah.

  It was Conor.

  I let out a sigh.

  “Something wrong?” Britt asked, raising her voice.

  “I guess there’s nothing to talk about now,” I said.

  “Why not?”

  I dropped my phone to the blanket and grabbed for my surfboard.

  “Nova?” Britt called out.

  I looked back at her.

  “Conor just broke up with me through a fucking text message.”

  Chapter 12

  Elijah

  She walked away and I let her go.

  I replayed the entire night out in my mind.

  This wasn’t like Nova.

  Not my Surfer Girl.

  There was no doubt in my mind that my presence was fucking a lot of things up. But that wasn’t all of it. Nova could survive on her own. She always loved to be alone. She kept a close group of friends… hell, not even a group. There was Britt. I remembered her vividly. She was the complete opposite in terms of looks compared to Nova.

  So something happened that had her hanging out with Wes and his crew.

  And I guess I broke that up.

  But it would work itself out.

  I wasn’t done with Wes just yet.

  I needed all the answers to the note in my pocket.

  No matter what it took.

  Except now there was a side thing happening.

  I knew seeing Nova was going to stir up old shit. That was a given.

  But this…

  I lit up a cigarette, leaned against the railing and wat
ched the ocean.

  My phone started to buzz and when I saw the screen, I laughed.

  “What’s happening, asshole?” I asked, taking the call.

  “Holy shit, you’re still alive out there?” Darius asked.

  Darius and Simon were my crew back home.

  Guildings was a boring ass town. But we always found a way to shake things up. When I told them I was leaving for Hidden, they thought I was crazy. They knew how things went with Ryland and none of it made sense to them. Of course it didn’t. It wouldn’t make sense to anyone unless I told them the truth.

  “I’m alive and well,” I said. “Smoking a cig, staring at the ocean.”

  “Ah, fuck that, man,” Darius said. “Why aren’t you looking at some hottie as she sleeps in bed?”

  “Maybe I already did that,” I said. “This is my second smoke.”

  “The after morning sex smoke,” Darius said.

  “Fucking right.” I laughed. “What’s happening?”

  “Not much,” Darius said. “Just wondering what you were doing. You kind of just split on us, man. Out of nowhere. Figured something happened. You never said it though.”

  “Just life. I’m, uh, trying to win over the love of my father,” I said.

  “You are?” Darius asked.

  I laughed. “No. Fuck that.”

  “Okay. Good. That guy’s a piece of shit. If anything, tell him to write the check. You know?”

  I nodded. I took a drag.

  Write the check.

  That’s what my mother always wanted. One big check to make my existence go away forever. As though she had Alexander locked down as a target. She spread her legs, knew what she was getting, and hoped for the big payday.

  There was no big payday but there were several decent ones that were always on time.

  Just as long as I was a secret.

  I was the nephew, to make sure Alexander’s reputation held up.

  “I’m not worried about that,” I said. “I’m just digging through some things.”

  “Your brother?”

  “Yeah. Need to get some definite answers. Whether I loved him or hated him… murder…”

  “Yeah, that’s a tough one, man,” Darius said.

  We were silent for a few seconds.

  I flicked my cigarette away.

  “Something tells me you didn’t call me to have girlie chit-chat,” I said.