by Keilan Shea
I was wrong.
“You sound offended,” Blake says.
“I am.”
“Did you want it? I’m sure my father will sell it to you for three times the original price.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“An asshole who’s giving you enough money to choke on to stay in your ramshackle cabin.”
I roar like an angry grizzly bear and grab Corey’s slingshot. I don’t have ammunition, but the forest floor does, and I drop to gather what I can. There are five guys besides Earnshaw ready to stop me, and I expect them to, but that’s not what happens. Earnshaw takes the lead as if he’s some authority figure. Again. He catches my wrist and applies a precise amount of pressure, enough to hurt but not to break.
I lose my grip on the hastily gathered rocks.
Earnshaw binds me to his hard chest, arms like steel, and bends down to whisper into my ear. “I said I wouldn’t press charges and I won’t. You nailed me. Twice. Consider this your reward. But if you attack me again, you’ll regret it, Teagan Hackett. I can make your life hell.”
He lets me go before anyone can intervene.
Harvey grabs my shoulders. “We’re going home.”
“This is my home,” I say icily. “You shouldn’t have done this without me. I don’t care how much money he threw at you. Money isn’t everything. I thought you and Dad knew that better than anyone. You both told me how hard you worked to get to where you are.”
“We should talk privately,” Harvey says. “I promise everything will make sense then. You trust me, don’t you?”
If he were anyone but Harvey, I wouldn’t. He is Harvey, though, and he’s straining, holding something back. I know the face he’s making, skin stretched a little too tightly around his eyes.
“Let’s go home, all right?” he says quieter. “You’re driving with me.”
“What about my car?”
“Larry will take it.”
Reluctantly, I give Larry my key fob.
George frowns and says, “I don’t want you back here until Blake has moved out.”
“But it’s my house.”
“It’s for the best.”
“I’ll eject him. There has to be some loophole in whatever contract his father signed for him to stay here.”
Harvey nudges me toward the road, where his silver Honda Civic awaits. George and Larry go with us, leaving Earnshaw and his bodyguards behind to do whatever they want with my home.
“You can’t sling rocks at people, Tea,” Larry says.
“Earnshaw started it.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah, he was at my house, walking around as if he owns the place, when he shouldn’t be.”
“That’s on me,” Harvey says, “not Blake.”
I’m mortified when fiery rage transforms into a familiar burning in my eyes. Tears roll down my cheeks and I start sobbing uncontrollably. Harvey picks me up. He lets me bury my face into his neck, unperturbed by the snot oozing down my nose.
“I don’t understand,” I say between hiccups.
Harvey shushes me and gently sets me on the passenger seat. He buckles my seat belt, shuts the door, and says something to Larry and George. My heavy eyelids won’t be ignored any longer. My eyes close, affecting my hearing too. I’m vaguely aware of when Harvey’s in the driver’s seat, starting the engine. Normally, the lethal growl would pump me full of adrenaline, but it offers solace instead. Numbness.
Almost.
There’s a flickering flame at the base of my stomach that refuses to be extinguished, and a name is imprinted on my mind: Blake Earnshaw.
CHAPTER 4
It’s dark when I open my eyes. I’m not home. I’m at Harvey’s, in the guest room he made up for me. I’ve done nothing to personalize it, so it’s almost like a hotel room. Mom’s locket, Dad’s jacket, and Corey’s slingshot are laid out neatly on the desk across from the bed.
Apparently, I slept all day. My recurring nightmare didn’t wake me.
Rex is sleeping on top of my feet, which is why I can’t feel them. If I didn’t have a full-size bed, I’m not sure how we’d both fit. Great Danes are big dogs. Corey always managed, but he was smaller than me because he didn’t make it past thirteen.
Rex lifts his head and floppy ears when I cover my eyes with my arm. He scoots up the bed until his massive head is on my chest. I never used to like this dog. I didn’t hate him either, but he was Corey’s dog. These days, I’m not sure what I’d do without him. He’s quiet, not like everyone else. I tell him my sin, my plan, and he doesn’t tell me I’m wrong.
But now an Earnshaw is living in my house, defiling Corey’s sanctuary.
My stomach boils as I clench my hands into fists. “Move it, Rex.”
The spotted dog wags his tail and licks my face before I can shove his head aside. He slides awkwardly off the bed and waits for me, tail wagging faster when I join him. I’m wearing the same shorts and T-shirt I did this morning. Harvey must have carried me to bed when I was dead to the world. I consider scooping up the gold locket, hunting jacket, and slingshot, but it’s time I resume my facade. Only the locket will join me. That last break was totally justified, but it requires damage control.
Harvey’s house is easy to navigate. It’s small, but it isn’t a townhouse, and he has a decent-sized yard. He’s told me that he doesn’t need any more space when he’s a single guy and usually has an empty guest room anyway. He’d rather live more frugally, have his space, and be near the Rainbow Hearts Club.
I find him at the rectangular kitchen table, typing on his silver laptop. He stops the moment he sees me. It isn’t hard to get Harvey’s attention. He never divides it, because talking with someone is basically sacred to him. Every human being deserves the utmost respect even if you don’t agree with them. This life philosophy is why he’s an excellent counselor.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
I shrug. “All right.”
He arches an eyebrow high, gracing me with his most dubious expression. “Glad to hear it.” He stands to offer me a chair with a padded seat. “Sit with me, please.” I accept it and Rex makes himself comfortable by lying on my feet. “I owe you an explanation.”
“Yep.”
Sighing, Harvey plops onto his chair. How long have those dark circles been under his eyes? His voice is scratchy, too. “Where do I even start?”
“With the truth. I don’t believe your story.”
“What I said is true, but the whole truth is more complicated.”
I fold my arms. “I have time.”
“It began like this: Jeffery Earnshaw called me and proposed to buy the chalet outright. I told him no and almost hung up, but then he mentioned renting. I thought that was strange. Hell, I thought the whole thing was a prank call at first, but he told me about the mansion under construction and all the land he bought in Raindrop. Everything checked out. He must’ve done his research on your home and me, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jeffery started buying all that land this summer. He has his eyes on more than that, but no one’s been interested in selling to him. No houses and no businesses, which isn’t surprising seeing as most of the residents built their dream homes and lives in Raindrop. With his mansion well on its way, this should have been no real problem, especially for a man like him who doesn’t need any of this or to move in at all, right?”
“Right.”
“Except for Blake transferring to Raindrop High.”
“Which is bullshit. So what if he had to transfer late? It happens. He could have waited.”
“Alone. Blake moved to Raindrop without his family.”
“He’s seventeen though?”
“Yes.”
“I’m lost, Harv.”
Harvey places his elbows on the table and laces his fingers into a hammock to rest his chin on top. “You’re not allowed to tell a soul what I say next. It’s confidential.”
“Okay.”
&nb
sp; “Promise.”
“I promise.”
“Jeffery told me something troubling. He said his firstborn son isn’t safe in El Sol, California, anymore, that he’d gotten in with a bad crowd.”
“Okay, but how bad can it be? He lives in a ritzy neighborhood.”
“He does. Gilded. It’s a home base to some of the wealthiest people on the planet, but it’s a relatively small part of El Sol. The city grows and compacts more and more every year, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The inner city is overpopulated and has plenty of problems, homelessness and crime among them. Jeffery didn’t go into too many details, but he caught Blake with hard drugs earlier this summer. He thought he could control it. He’s been donating to skills-and-training programs and youth groups, but change is slow. He’s done everything in his power to ensure his younger sons know nothing about Blake’s situation, but ultimately decided he needed to send Blake away to rehabilitate him. What better place is there for that than quiet Raindrop?
“Jeffery cried over the phone, sounded so sincere when he pleaded with me, and I … I couldn’t say no after that. I told myself it wouldn’t hurt you since I didn’t expect you to ever find out about it. All of your things are in storage and Jeffery assured me that everything will be put back the way it was found once Blake vacates, so you don’t have to worry about that. It’ll be as if he was never there. That’s a promise.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you immediately because you should have made the final decision. It wasn’t my house to give.”
“You’re right,” I say, “it wasn’t, but at least it all makes sense now.”
Harvey smiles, but it’s a sad, small thing. “I offered to regularly meet with Blake while he’s staying in Raindrop, but Jeffery already had everything arranged with a local therapist. We sealed the deal, he thanked me, and that was the end of it. Blake arrived a couple of days ago with a moving team.”
“So,” I muse, “do drugs and you can have your own mansion and a lake. My dad would have had my head if I was doing shit like that. How hasn’t the media caught wind of this?”
“Not sure, but it’s a family issue and none of the media’s business. Jeffery told me the truth knowing I would keep the secret safe. This is why you won’t speak a word of it either.”
“Ever think you’re just a bleeding heart, Harv?”
“I know I am.”
I don’t buy it. I don’t say that out loud because it’s clear Harvey does—even though he admitted to suspecting Jeffery Earnshaw sought him out because he knew Harvey would sympathize with his plight. Something else is going on. Blake isn’t trashed. Hard drugs have serious side effects. It’s possible Blake hasn’t been using for long or that he’s been taking small doses to go unnoticed, but I don’t know. It seems strange. He was agitated and angry, but that wasn’t drugs. It was my Prius and Corey’s slingshot. He also moved with precision. If you’re an Earnshaw, you’re good at everything. Blake’s been trained in some martial art or he’s taken self-defense classes.
I think the Earnshaws are playing Harvey for a fool. I know Jefferey’s MO. He wants to own and “improve” everything in Raindrop, meaning Blake is here for a different reason. Maybe some rite of passage before he turns eighteen?
The specifics don’t matter. I know what I have to do.
“You’re right,” I say. “About everything. I want to attend Raindrop High.”
Harvey hesitates. “What? You do?”
“You told me before that it would be good for me to see old friends and do the things I like again.”
“I think it would be, yes. But why the change of heart?”
“You, Mom, and Dad used to talk about how I’d marry Johan, that you were counting on it. I used to play along, but I think we all meant it. Johan and I were inseparable. Even Corey loved him. Corey. Then it all fell away. I miss him and my friends, but it’s been hard to figure out how to … reconnect. School will make that easier. Maybe Coach Brown will let me join cheer practice, too. I forfeited the season, essentially quit the team, but regular exercise will help me get my strength back. It’ll make me hungrier, I’ll eat more, and then I won’t be so skinny that you can carry me around like a kid.”
Harvey hums. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Blake Earnshaw, does it?”
“Of course not.”
“Teagan, don’t lie to me. If you think lying protects yourself or me, it doesn’t. My lie didn’t do either of us any good, did it?”
“I’m not lying. I miss Raindrop, Johan and Sarah most of all …” I lace and unlace my fingers. “So, will you register me at Raindrop High, please?”
“You won’t start anything with Blake?”
“Blake and I will never cross paths. Okay, we might cross paths, but that’s it.”
“Then consider it done. We’ll both drive to Raindrop High early tomorrow morning, get everything sorted out so that you don’t miss two whole days of school, and move forward.” Harvey pats his laptop. “Yes, I think things are looking up.” He clears his throat and hides a sniffle. “Your dad, mother, and brother are proud of you for fighting so hard.”
Rex nudges my thigh, and I blink away the sting in my eyes. Cheap shot, Harvey. Cheap shot.
CHAPTER 5
“That went quickly and smoothly,” Harvey says as he leans inside my Prius’s open window. “You’ve got your schedule on your phone, locker number and combination, too. Guess that means you’re all set to go.”
“You can go home with some time to spare before work,” I say.
“You didn’t have to come out here with me, you know.”
“And sit alone in the foyer like a loser? No thanks.”
Harvey taps my steering wheel. “I didn’t see any funky driving. You’ve got your backpack and your mother’s locket. You did your makeup and you’re wearing one of your favorite off-shoulder tops.” He pinches the fabric and tugs as if to straighten it on my shoulders, but that’s not how the cut works. “I don’t understand these.”
“Stop. I’m seventeen. You don’t have to fuss over me like a mother hen.”
“If you say you’re good, I’ll go. But keep me posted. Text or call if you need—”
“I’m fine. No lies, right?”
“No lies. Yes. Okay. I’ll leave you to it, then.” Harvey isn’t convinced, because he lingers, catching the loose strand of hair I purposefully kept out of my ponytail and tucking it behind my ear. “See you later.”
You’d think I was his first child going to kindergarten with how sentimental he gets, all teary-eyed and everything.
When Harvey’s in his Honda Civic, he waves at me. I wave back. Then I squeeze my steering wheel and concentrate on breathing to soothe my accelerated heartbeat. “It’s Friday,” I tell myself. “You get to ease into this.” I don’t let go until Harvey’s out of sight.
I’m the only student in the parking lot since we got here so early. Raindrop High hovers over me, a sturdy, and stylish, two-level stone structure with window walls that almost put my chalet to shame. Not to mention the impressive gyms. While Raindrop High is a public school, it’s prestigious, rivaling and often surpassing any specialized academy. The school offers its students many extracurricular activities complete with high-caliber mentors. Since Raindrop High has some of the best facilities, even elementary and junior high students practice here if they’re serious about winning competitions and becoming the next generation of leading Tempests—not Raindrops.
My All Star Cheer team took first at Worlds in the Senior XSmall Coed division last year. It wasn’t that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime. Maybe because it happened in a different life.
I shake my backpack, listening for a muffled metallic tinkling noise. It’s there, so I reach under the passenger seat to recover my dad’s jacket and Corey’s slingshot. I shouldn’t have brought them, but the thought of going inside the school again, for the entire day, is making me nauseous, so I’m glad I did. I slip on Dad’s jacket. It�
��ll get hot fast with the sun rising higher and no air blowing through my sleeping car, but I don’t care.
“Get me through this,” I whisper and trace Corey’s slingshot. Corey was diligent through every stage of its creation. The finishing is faultless. He sanded down the wood nice and smooth before dousing it in olive oil to better preserve it. I can’t find a notch or a bump.
A familiar roaring engine comes up from behind me, and I glance at my rearview mirror to identify the gas-guzzler. Sure enough, it’s a blue Raptor with Johan Radebaugh at the wheel. He parks next to me rather than anywhere else in the almost-empty parking lot because he must recognize my Prius.
If it were possible, I’d sink under my seat and disappear, but unlike my dad’s jacket and Corey’s slingshot, I’m not so easy to hide. The Raptor’s engine cuts out, a door closes with a dull thud, and feet scuffle around my car. He’s at my window, arms resting on the door, before I turn my head to look at him.
Johan’s wearing his letterman jacket; it’s colored Raindrop High’s forest green and sky blue. He more than earned his place as the varsity team’s first-string quarterback last year since they went undefeated and were crowned state champion in Class 5A. Raindrop High is technically a 4A school, but changes were in order when the team consistently dominated every season.
I became captain of my cheer team near the end of that same school year. My cheer team didn’t have an official captain, nor was one strictly needed, for years because Mia and I were always nominated, and then the votes resulted in a tie. Until they didn’t. So, all at once, Johan and I ranked among the most influential Tempests. It seemed like fate, in that lovey-dovey couples way. Our senior year was going to be epic. We planned to celebrate after I came back from Disneyland. Obviously, celebrating didn’t happen, and I did the right thing by ignoring him. None of this has affected him. He bulked up more over the summer.
“Please don’t let this be a dream,” he says.
I forgot how deep his voice is. I’ve known Johan since I was a bossy five-year-old (not sure why he and Sarah played with me). We started dating when we were fourteen. That was the version of his voice I expected to hear, though I’m not sure why. I was taller than him until he grew like a weed and made me feel short by fifteen. That was when we shared our first kiss. We had sex a year later.
