I salute him. “Yes, Father.”
“Oh, your boxes tipped over in your room, might wanna get that cleaned up if you plan on bringing any ladies in there tonight.” He grabs ahold of the door handle to leave, but stops—again, then nods his head at the open front door across the street with a smirk on his face. “Looks like you’ve got some competition.”
I ignore him, as far as he’s concerned. Then wait until he’s out the door, before parting the blinds and looking across the street. “Who the hell is that?” I mutter under my breath. Harper is twirling around in the arms of some dude with her legs kicked in the air. A smile of pure happiness on her face.
Something switches on inside of me. I wouldn’t say I’ve lost my breath, but I’m definitely struggling to catch it. It’s not jealousy. It’s something worse.
Watching his hands all over her body has me wondering what other parts they have touched. I don’t like Harper, in fact, what I feel for her is more like hate, but the idea of another guy exploring her body, in ways that I never could, has my skin crawling and leaves me with a desire to fuck shit up.
Without even thinking first, I’m out the door. My bare feet hitting the dry pavement in hurried steps, as I stalk toward her. The sun beats down on my bare skin, amplifying the heat in my rage-filled cheeks.
I slow down as I approach them. All eyes shift to me, as she stands there with his arms around her waist. I’m immediately drawn to his fingers that drape over her ass. “Change in plans. You’re coming tonight, Harper.” I grind my teeth, as my jaw ticks in fury.
“And you are?” the tall blonde Ken doll asks, as he steps away from Harper and extends his hand to me. I look at it and snicker, before shutting him out completely.
I look over to Harper who has her arms crossed over her chest, her sizable cleavage peeking out of the revealing tank top. I want to tug it up and tell her to put those things away. My eyes shoot up to hers. “Knox asked me to invite you. It would mean a lot to him.” My tone shifts, and I drop my forward stance. “What do you say?”
“What do I say?” She cocks an eyebrow and scoffs. “I say you’re out of your mind.” She then looks me up and down in disgust.
I draw in a deep breath of dry salty air, as the breeze picks up. “It’s gonna be a great year.” My gaze darts around to each person standing here.
“Go away.” She sweeps the air with her hand and walks toward the house.
“I like that backbone you grew, Adara,” I shout, as she keeps on her path, “just remember that bones are easily broken.”
“Are you threatening my girlfriend?” Ken doll steps up to me.
I press my lips together to refrain from laughing in his pretty boy face. “Girlfriend? Is that what she is?” I can’t help the laughs that escape. Along with a string of spit as I don’t even try to control my hysterics.
I stop abruptly, getting serious. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” I pat him on the shoulder and turn around, but stop to look back at the girls. “You two,” I point, “are still coming, right?”
“If you quit being a jerk we might,” Taya snaps. She’s a tiny little thing, but she’s feisty as hell. She can’t be much taller than five-foot-two, with wavy blonde hair that matches Harper’s, but hers is much shorter with light pink highlights throughout it.
Taya never used to be so outspoken, but she’s come out of her shell since graduation. She knows our history and part of her sees my reasoning in the way I treat Harper. How could she not? The girl dumped me on one of the worst nights of my life, then things just went south from there, very south. However, chicks always take each other’s side. It seems as if my boys always take their side, too.
The new girl looks back and forth from me to Taya, like she was just thrown into a frenzy and has no idea what the hell just happened here.
“See ya in a bit.” I flirt with the short brunette, tossing her a wink, then jogging back across the street to get ready for the party.
I feel pretty satisfied with myself, knowing that I can still get under Harper’s skin.
I just can’t let her get under mine.
2
Harper
My heart hammers in my chest as I walk in the house. I fight the urge to cry but a stray tear escapes down my cheek. It’s nothing new. Axel has treated me this way since we broke up exactly one year ago. They say that time heals all wounds, but how is that possible when he keeps cutting them back open?
It’s not that I miss the guy living in the house across the street from me. It’s the Axel Thorn who I met when I was seven years old that I miss the most. The one who had my back when I let people walk all over me. The boy who swore he’d knock any guy on his ass who ever tried to hurt me. Yet, of all the boys in the world, he hurt me the most.
The truth is, that part of Axel doesn’t exist anymore—he died with his mom. But Axel wasn’t always this cold; in fact, there was a time that his warmth radiated through me by just his touch alone. The last month of our relationship, when his mom's sickness progressed, his bitterness toward the world evolved with it. I take blame for the words I said that night. I know that I should have handled things differently, but his actions, after I left, spoke volumes of the angry jerk he had become. For that, I can never be with him again—not that he’d want me.
Not that he even cares.
I won’t let him get to me.
I step into my new bedroom. Horrid neon green walls surround me. Along with chipped paint and a broken window. I feel sickness pool in my stomach when I think of home. I miss my mom and dad so much already.
I stare at the broken window, wondering if this is an omen to what the school year will be like.
“I’ll have that window fixed for you tomorrow,” Nate says, as he wraps his arms around me from behind.
“Maybe coming here was a bad idea. I should have just stuck to community college like I planned.” I turn around, resting my head on his chest.
“Don’t even think like that. You are exactly where you should be.” He takes my face in his hands and presses his firm lips to mine.
Nate is much taller than I am. He’s thin and lanky with hair so blonde it’s almost white. He’s from this area and spends most of his free time surfing. We met when I came here in the summer with Taya to look at houses, and we immediately hit it off. His dad is the owner of this house, as well as the one that Axel and the guys are renting; I’m just not so sure they realize it.
When we picked out these houses, Taya and Kip were getting serious. We’ve been friends our whole lives and have done everything together, so we thought it would be fun to have the whole gang together in one area. Being here now, it feels as if we are more scattered than ever. If I could change one thing in my life, it would be the night I went to the movies with Axel and let him hold my hand. It may seem harmless, but everything changed after that night.
I wish I’d never found my feelings for him, then I would have never lost him.
Taya and Kip are still cordial to each other, and I know that they will work things out, eventually. He isn’t attending UCLA; he’s working a full-time job, instead, and taking a couple night classes at a community college. He needs the money, right now, more than the degree.