“Okay, okay,” she concedes. “Well, as fun as this is, I think I’m over this little soiree,” she announces. I’m surprised, but too happy at the prospect of leaving to question what changed her mind.
“I should get home to check on Scar anyway. She’s always trying to sneak Shane in when I leave my post.”
Clutching my arm as we cross the lawn, Jules laughs. “Lighten up, BJ! They’re just friends. Despite being brothers, Shane’s nothing like—”
“Don’t … say his name!” I interject again. “If you say his name, you’ll summon him like some kind of … I don’t know … wickedly persistent demon.”
“Wickedly hot demon,” she mumbles, which prompts me to nudge her ribs.
She rolls her eyes with a smile. “Fine. Whatever you say. I won’t say his name.”
My heart relaxes a bit as we stumble through the grass arm-in-arm. “Thank you.”
She’s eyeing me, and it’s when she bites the side of her lip that I know what she’s about to do. I’m too late to stop her.
“Ricky Ruiz!” She blurts it out to the universe and there’s no taking it back. Not even when she clamps a hand over her own lips. The big, dumb grin she’s hiding behind it makes me want to arrange a meeting between my fist and her nose.
“See?” she beams. “I said it, and nothing happened.”
I hear her loud and clear, but she knows why I keep distance between Ricky and me. Because rules equal order—no unsolicited visits, no casual phone calls.
Not that he’s respected either boundary in recent months.
I’m hit with a barrage of memories, reminders of how he morphed from being my big brother’s best friend, into… it honestly doesn’t even matter.
Water under the bridge.
“The sky didn’t fall,” Jules’ continues, trying to push her agenda. “The Earth didn’t open up and swallow us whole. You were worried for absolutely—”
The phone sounds off and I’m speechless for a few seconds, in shock by how accurately I called it.
“Looook what you’ve done, Jules!” I scream toward the sky, unable to hold in a smile when she belts out a laugh.
“But wait, you seriously have this dude saved in your contacts as ‘The Mistake’?” She’d seen that before I hit ‘ignore’.
I decide not to answer her or him. Meanwhile, her red mane quivers with a head shake.
“A little harsh, don’t you think, BJ?”
“About as harsh as you continuing to call me that, after I’ve asked you not to on countless occasions.” I conveniently ignore the rest of her comment.
“Yes, we’ve discussed it, but after over a decade of friendship, I think I’ve earned the right to discreetly call you ‘Blow Job’ for a cheap laugh,” she argues. “Now, stop trying to change the subject.”
Busted.
“You know from the bazillion texts he’s sent he’s not calling about a you-and-him thing, so why not pick up? Put him out of his misery, maybe?”
In theory, Jules is one-hundred percent right, but she’s forgetting something. I have no interest in speaking to or about Hunter. He’s made his bed, now he’ll lie in it.
Alone.
“How far is the Uber?” I ask, instead of continuing this conversation.
Jules clearly doesn’t want to drop it, but she knows I’m stubborn, hard to push once I plant my feet.
“Five minutes away.”
Cool. Pretty sure I can avoid a resurgence of that conversation for five measly minutes.
We stand at the edge of the road in silence, which is unlike us. Her stare is burning a hole through the side of my face, now that she’s frustrated I’ve shut down.
“Fine, we’ll talk about something else,” she concedes, and then releases my arm to cross both hers over her chest. “Tell me what you thought of tonight.”
I’m not quite sure what she’s getting at, so I shrug. “It was fine, I guess. Bunch of spoiled rich kids smoking weed and drinking. Just like the south side, there’s just bigger houses and money.”
She rolls her eyes, which means that isn’t the answer she was looking for.
“Do you think you’ll, you know, be okay?” I don’t miss the genuine concern in her tone when asking. “Most of these people will be your classmates at Cypress Prep. Guess I just need to know you’re cool with the change.”
“CP is a means to an end,” I answer with a sigh. “It’s an opportunity, and I don’t get many of those, so … carpe diem and whatnot.”
I fall silent when my thoughts shift to how I lucked up on said opportunity. As much as I don’t want to think about my brother right now, I have Hunter to thank.
“You’re always so evasive,” Jules accuses, which isn’t a lie.
“And you love me just as I am.”
“Mmm … more like I tolerate you just as you are. Big difference, BJ.”
The set of headlights heading our way brings a sigh of relief to my lips. It’s the first step to there being an end to this night. I’ve had my fill of pretending I fit in here, had my fill of pretending my life hadn’t been turned upside down this year.
In so many ways.
All I want is to go home, enjoy summer break, and revel in the last stretch of normalcy I’ll have for a while.
With the clock winding down, I better enjoy it while I can.
@QweenPandora: As expected, the party was epic. Thanks to the north side’s favorite triplets, TheGoldenBoys! No one called the cops with noise complaints, no random acts of violence were committed, and only one idiot nearly drowned. Any way you slice it, that’s a win! Hats off to our hosts, KingMidas, MrSilver, & PrettyBoyD.
P.S. Several new faces were spotted among the crowd, including a rather free-spirited redhead and a reserved blonde. Anyone got info on them? One thing’s for sure; if they stick around, you can count on me to report back.
P.P.S. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you use protection. If we learned anything from the a-hole who almost drowned in three-feet of water, it’s that the world isn’t quite ready for this generation to reproduce.
Later, Peeps.
—P
Chapter 2
—July, one month later—
WEST
Sterling sticks his head into the study from the hallway. He’s on lookout, and also scared shitless, which isn’t exactly helpful.
“Hurry the hell up!” he warns. “Dane just texted. They’re pulling in.”
I hear him, flip him off, then keep searching. They’d spend a couple minutes inside the parking structure, then a minute and a half riding the elevator up twenty-six floors. If I’m not done by then, we’re screwed.
“Where the hell is it?” I whisper the question to myself, wishing Dane had stayed to help me cover more ground, but having him keep watch in the lobby is better. It’s the reason we now have an ETA on our parents. Still, we might’ve planned better if the whole ‘heist idea’ hadn’t been drafted up about ten minutes ago.