“You go to school here? Have you always?” Blake interjects, his eyes hopeful as he looks at me.
“I just transferred,” I answer with a small smile, only to be shaken by the man-child beside me.
“And you didn’t tell me?!”
Shortly after Jace and I finished arguing about him asking too many questions and me not answering a single one, Braxton, Alec, and Charlie joined us in the parking lot. I like to assume that Blake ordered us an Uber but I’m not sure who truly called for the car service. So, here I am now sitting between Blake and Alec as Braxton sings in the front seat. Listening to Lovestruck by my cousin Zola, in an UberXL with singing hockey players was not how I expected my Saturday evening to go.
Zola’s a big name in the music industry, she was in a popular girl group, COSMIC, but they disbanded a few years back. She and her twin sister, Zahria, played a big role in my decision to transfer to Brighton. When shit hit the fan, Zola gave me advice about handling drama with boys and keeping my “energy” protected. Zahria, on the other hand, stressed the importance of me knowing that she’d “skin any fucker alive” for me.
Her words…not mine.
“Is he always like this?” I ask no one in particular but earn snickers from both Alec and Blake.
“Yeah, we got used to him being a Zola guyquickly…” Blake smiles as he watches his friend sing louder with the chorus.
“Good to know.” The giggle that bubbles out of me is completely foreign to my ears and I grimace as the sound rings through the car.
I've learned a few things on this short ride that I initially refused to go on: One, Blake is the second quietest of the group; Alec is the first. Two, Charlie cannot hold a pitch to save his life. And three, Braxtoncanhold one.
The car ride to the boys’ house is filled with laughter and singing as Braxton and Charlie try going bar for bar in a rap battle which lasts about five minutes until Jace cuts in with a rap of his own.
I sit content as I listen to the guys joke with one another, and it isn’t until we reach their house that I sort of feel sad that the ride is over. The six of us say our thanks as we hop out of the Uber and walk up to the other cars parked in the driveway. Stopping at the familiar dark green Ashton Martin SUV, I sigh as I wait for its owner to unlock it.
“Who says I’m taking you home?” Jace asks with a raised brow as he peers around the car.
“You did, or I can always call Georgia—”
“Get in the car… and stop speaking of the devil before she shows her face.” He groans unlocking the door as I smile hopping in the passenger seat.
A grin plasters itself across my face as I look around the familiar car Jace’s parents had gotten him for his eighteenth birthday. Jace’s family is a well-off group of CEOs and entrepreneurs, who love their sons to death. This car was one of their “I love you” gifts to their youngest.
The SUV shakes as more bodies than I can count file into the backseat, my eyebrows furrow as I watch Blake, Charlie, and Braxton slide into the car. The three of them are in a quiet heated discussion as Jace gets into the driver’s seat. I suppress a laugh as I hear something along the lines of“blonde bitch”and proceed to ignore them as we set off toward the River View complex.
The ride to my apartment is silent for the most part; I’m grateful that I don’t have to deal with Jace questioning me about things I’m not ready to talk about.
Lord knows when I'll be ready to talk about last year.
“So, who’s the girl, Wilder?” Jace chirps from the driver’s seat, and my back stiffens as I turn my head slightly to hear his response.
Girl? Does he have a girlfriend?
This cannot be happening…
“What girl?” Blake coughs from behind me.
“The girl from last night? The one who’s going to mess with our season—Oh, don’t worry about Cleo, she won’t tell anyone about this. Won’t you,bub?” Jace asks me, briefly looking at me before focusing back on the road. For once, I want to curse the nickname we gave each other fifteen years ago because I can feel the thickness in the air as the name leaves his mouth.
My and Blake’s eyes lock in the rearview mirror and I truly don’t expect him to answer Jace. But when he does, my heart does a summersault.
“I don’t fuck and tell, Heart.”
eight
Cleo
I love Mondays.
I love them because they bring a sense of newness; it’s the start of a new week, a new day, and a new me. I love knowing that no matter what I did the previous week or weekend, there will always be a Monday coming up to wash away my regrets and give me a fresh start.
