“Yeah, fuck you, too,” I hoot to some asswipe who threw an empty beer can our way. I bend down and pick it up off the gravel driveway, grab the open water bottle from Josh’s hand just as he’s about to take a drink. I dump it in the can until it's half full and step closer to him, chucking it right at his forehead. “Inertia, mother fucker.” We all laugh as he rubs the red spot on his head.
“Let’s just drink all their beer, get fucked up and go back to Marco’s, his parents are gone for the night.”
The music grows louder and louder the closer we get. A large fire blazes in a pit on the outskirts of the lawn. The yard is full of people, ninety percent of which, I don’t even know.
We walk closer as I take in all the faces, looking for a familiar one. The front door is propped open as people make their way in and out of the house.
I spot a couple of guys from the team. A couple that I already know I can’t stand. A few that are tolerable. “Jasper, nice save today man. Welcome to the team.” Axel throws his arm over my shoulder, eyeing the guys I walked up with. “Mi Casa es su Casa, get yourself a beer in your hand and a lady on your lap and live it up.”
Josh and Marco don’t say anything. They stand at my side with a glare that bounces from one guy to the next. If we can get away from the team, I think we could all have a good time. It’s not the entire school that we rival with, it’s solely the football players.
I don't respond to Axel with more than a nod. I’m not here to make any friends, but if there was one person who I’d consider being decent to, it would be Axel. He isn’t so bad.
The idea of a lady on my lap and a beer in my hand sounds intriguing though, so I take him up on it. We head out back where a fire is blazing in the middle of the lawn. Cute girls surround the place. Most of them are all a sloppy mess already. The only good thing I’ve noticed since moving to Redwood is the ladies. Las Verdes is much smaller and everyone who isn’t family is dating family, so guys like myself are limited. There was one girl, until she decided to screw me over, with none other than Levi Maddox himself.
Karma is a fucking bitch.
We walk through the yard to a keg that’s placed in a barrel by the fire. As I’m filling my cup, I spot a girl sitting alone on a porch swing overlooking the private pond.
“Be right back.” I tell the guys, who are deep in conversation about football.
I walk through the damp grass and look out onto the lake. So peaceful, so still. The best view out of any of our house windows was the backside of Harmons Grocery store that had a big four leaf clover spray painted on it. My new room isn’t much better. Just the side of Blakely’s mansion sized house. I’ve always been a little envious of those who get to look out their window and see the stars at night. Tonight is a perfect night for that.
I stop in my tracks and go to turn around when I realize who it is.
“You here to rain on my parade, Mr. Scott?” Her voice is quiet and doesn’t hold that same sarcasm I sensed earlier today.
“Just looking at the view.” I turn back around and walk over to her side.
“Go ahead, give it your best shot. I don’t think you could push me down any further than I already am.” Her feet are planted firmly on the ground as she pushes the porch swing back and forth.
“I didn’t come over to taunt you. I didn’t even know you were over here.”
“Then why are you here?” She turns around and I see that glimmer in her eyes again, only this time, they’re wet—her cheeks stained with black streaks beneath them.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I saw someone sitting over here alone and thought that I might say hi. If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
“Why is that? Because I’m such a bitch?” Her expression is blank, and if it wasn’t for the evidence of her crying, I’d think she was emotionless. She turns back to face the lake, and against my better judgement, I take a seat next to her. I may be an asshole, but I’m not as cold as she is. I actually do give a damn about some people's feelings, not many—certainly not hers, yet here I am... for some unknown reason.
“I never said you were a bitch, not to your face anyway.” I turn to her with a smirk, feeling as though this might not be the best time for jabs.
“That makes it all better. We can be friends now.” She glares at me with daggers and that sarcasm has returned.
I go to speak but stop myself, remembering that she’s already hurt and that if I say what's on my mind, she will voice hers even louder. Trying to save an argument, I clear my throat and pull out the bottle of jack from the pocket of my hoodie. I unscrew the top and take a swig and then extend it to her. She looks over at me, questioning me with her eyes, but takes the bottle anyway. She takes a drink, a long drink. Stops and then takes another. “Damn girl, you better slow down.”
“I’m a big girl, I can handle it.” She takes one more swig, making a sour face, and then hands it back to me. “So, tell me Jasper, why are you here?”
“I told you, I didn’t know it was you….”
“No, I don’t mean here... here. I mean, why are you attending Redwood, playing for our team? Why not just drive the extra fifteen minutes and go to the school you attended your entire life?”
“If I told ya, I’d have to kill ya.” I smirk, slamming the rest of the beer in my hand then tossing the red cup to the side. “I had no choice. I got expelled.” I don’t even know why I’m telling her anything about myself. I barely know the girl. We can’t stand each other. She doesn’t give two shits about why I’m here. She just wants to know why I’m not leaving.
“Ahh, a rebel.” She holds her gaze straight ahead and hasn’t once looked at me since I’ve sat down. I get the feeling she’s intimidated by me. She should be.
“It takes one to know one.”
She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t call myself a rebel, I just don’t take shit from anyone.”
“Yet, you expect others to take it from you.” It was a statement, not a question really, but she answers anyways.
“No, I just expect people to respect me. If I get an inkling that someone has it in their head that they can walk all over me, I squash that shit before it even starts. Like you.”
I slouch further into the bench, watching her while she messes with the pop socket on the back of her phone. My mouth curls upward and I almost find humor in her tough girl facade.
“In my defense, you attacked me before you even let me speak.”
“Because I know people like you.” She stands up and steps toward the lake. “I am people like you.” She looks down at the ground and digs the tip of her closed toed heel into the dirt.
“If we’re so much alike then what are you scared of?”
She spins around quicker than a tornado. “I never said I was scared.”
“Calm down there, Queen B.” I stand up and attempt to approach her, but she makes the move first.
Digging her fake nail into my chest. “Don’t call me that again.”
“Ohh, that’s it. That’s your soft spot. What? Because the Queen didn’t get the crown?” I laugh, instantly regretting it.