Her lips curve into a gorgeous, sparkly-white-toothed grin.
I want her. And I’ve never really wanted anyone. But this girl is…well…like a bucket of sunshine, and I just want to dump her all over my head. Maybe I should take advantage of the liquid courage flowing through my veins and ask for her number, see if she wants to have coffee sometime. “Keni, do you want to—”
“Keni, what’s going on?” growls a deep voice.
That tall guy I saw in the kitchen earlier, the one with the cropped dark hair, is looming over us. From this new angle, I can see he probably weighs at least two hundred and twenty pounds. Pure muscle. I’m just a throw pillow to a guy like that.
“Oh, hey, Blake.” Keni hops to her feet like she’s been caught doing something she shouldn’t.
“You told me you weren’t coming,” Blake snarls.
“I changed my mind. I’m allowed to do that,” Keni says.
“Who’s this guy?” Blake glares down at me like I’m a shit-covered roach that just crawled out of a sewer drain.
Keni rolls her eyes. “He’s a friend of River’s. And don’t start, Bla—”
“Whatta you lookin’ at?” Blake says to me.
Great. Just what I need, to be humiliated in front of the first girl to ever flirt with me. Then again, what’s it matter? Looks like she’s taken, which means I mistook her kindness for flirting, like a desperate moron.
Keni gives Blake’s huge shoulder a push. “Knock it off. He was nice enough to keep me company while you were doing bong hits in the kitchen. And don’t think I didn’t see you, Blake.” She shakes a finger at him. “What the hell are you thinking, huh? You know you can’t take anything with that prescription. And your ass’ll be off the team if you test positive for anything more than a Tic Tac.”
By now, everyone in the living room has stopped what they’re doing to watch the drama. And apparently Blake notices because he squares his shoulders and makes sure to speak in an extra-deep, extra-loud voice. “What? You my mother now, girl?”
Keni crosses her arms over her chest, her green eyes flickering with anger. “Did you just call me girl, like it’s a fucking disease?”
Blake stares, probably too high to answer in a coherent sentence. Also, he’s backed himself into a corner. I wonder how he’ll get out of this.
I watch Keni’s sweet face turn from flushed pink to rage red. “I’m not a girl. I’m a woman. And you’re a shitty little child. I don’t know why I even bother with you.”
Blake’s face turns an equal shade of red, but I can guess from his shifty dark eyes that he isn’t feeling rage. Humiliation.
Yeah. Welcome to my planet. Be sure to get a stamp in your passport so you don’t forget you were here.
Keni’s lips pucker into a tight little ball. “You know what? I’m going. I just knew you’d act up.” She turns to me. “Super nice to meet you, Huff. See ya ’round.” Keni storms off through the front door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Blake marches after her while everyone snickers, and I just sit there feeling like I’ve been involuntarily cast in a sick reality TV show: My Totally Lame, Nonexistent Love Life.
Thank God for lotion.
But seriously, what the hell is someone like Keni doing with a monster-truck-sized douche kayak like Blake?
Maybe I’ve misjudged her.
But as I sit here, my heart pounding away like a mad bass beat, all I can think about is how damned much I like her. Instant chemistry.
I suddenly break out in a nervous sweat. How or when will I get to see Keni again? I never got her number. I’d ask River, but it’s not the same. Texting a girl without an invitation is taking a huge risk. What if she doesn’t want to see me? What if she was only being polite and friendly? I’m a loser. What business do I have even fantasizing about a girl like that?
Fuck. I can’t breathe. I stand, and the room spins like I’m inside a blender. Faint voices murmur: “What’s the matter with that nerd?” “I think he’s going to hurl.” “First time out of your padded retard room?”
I clutch my shirt, gasping for air. “Can’t breathe.” But does anyone care? Does anyone try to help?
No. They just laugh as I drop.
When I come around, the room is too bright to see clearly. “Where…wher—”
“See, man. Told ya. He’s fine. Just another dumbass freshman,” says some guy wearing a Go Blue T-shirt.
“He looks pretty bad. I think we should call Meg. She’s in charge of kicking out the baby party crashers. He’s not even sixteen yet.”
Sixteen?
I stagger to my feet, ignoring all the stares.
Where’s River? I still can’t breathe right.
Panting, I head to the front door and go outside, my feet dragging. A few small groups are gathered on the front porch, sitting on the railings and drinking out of red cups.
No sign of River.
River. Need to find her. Figuring she might be in the bathroom or out back, I turn to head inside when I hear her voice nearby. Sounds like she’s at the side of the house.
I go down the steps and walk around, following the sound of her voice yelling at someone. “Blake, you can’t keep doing this to yourself. And don’t even go there with me. You’re with Keni now.”
“Well, she’s not here, Riv,” he says.
“So? I’m not going behind a sister’s back.”
“Is it because of that guy you’re with?” Blake says.
“Huff? He’s like a brother. And tell your idiot friends to stop giving him death stares. He’s done nothing to you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Blake says in a snide tone.
“See. That right there is why I don’t want anything to do with you. You’ve turned into this massive dick, and so have your roid-head friends. Just leave me alone. And stop fucking with Huff.”
“Or what?”
“You’ll be banned from our house,” River warns.
“Go ahead and try. I’m fucking half your sisters. They seem to like me just fine.”
This guy is screwing twenty different girls? How’s that possible? He sounds like such an asshole.
“They can have you, Blake. But you can’t have me,” River replies. “And get your shit together. I mean it. You’re supposed to be an example to your team. Stop or else.”
Stop what?
There’s a break in the conversation, followed by a yelp. “Blake! Let go.”
“I’m not done talking to you,” Blake says.
“Ow!” River yelps, followed by a muffled scream.
I freeze, my feet glued to the ground. That guy is hurting River, so why am I just standing here?
I should go for help. But then I remember a bunch of this guy’s friends are right around the corner at the front of the house. They aren’t going to help.
But River’s sisters will. I’m about to run back inside, but my feet won’t move.
Suddenly, I’m right back in high school, staring down the crowded hallway after seventh period. River is yelling at me to help Joy. It’s a nightmare I’ve relived a thousand times. If only I hadn’t acted like a huge pussy, maybe I would’ve gotten to Joy in time. At the very least, I would have caught Manda and her friends in the act. They would have gone to prison if there’d been a witness. But that didn’t happen. Joy died. No one paid. And it’s my fault.