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“I’ll walk with you, if that’s okay?”
“Sure, why not.” The two of us walk side by side, the soft sand giving way under our feet.
“Bexley will be out for blood once school starts up,” she says.
“Something tells me Ace isn’t going to worry about a guy like Bexley.”
“I still can’t believe he did that. And did you see some of his friends?”
We’d all seen them. Tatted, pierced guys who looked like they belonged in some motorcycle club, not at a bonfire party in the Bay.
“What’s their story, anyway?”
“You care?” I throw back at her.
Hadley isn’t a gossip. She doesn’t live for school cliques and classroom politics. She mostly keeps herself to herself. If it wasn’t for her being in the cheer team, she’d be invisible.
“No, I don’t care,” she chuckles, “but you’ve got to admit, it’s the most exciting thing to happen in the Bay since Krystal Gavin had an affair with the vice principal.”
“Scandalous,” I mock.
Krystal is a girl a couple years older than us. She and the vice principal back then got caught exchanging dirty texts. He was fired, and she was shipped off to her grandparents in Pasadena to finish out senior year there.
“You know, senior year is going to be a hell of a lot more interesting with the Jagger brothers around.”
“Don’t remind me.” I press my lips together.
We hit the path leading away from the beach. There’s a row of beach houses lining a quieter section of the Bay. Mom and I live in the end house. It’s by far the smallest, but it's ours, and it has the best views of the ocean.
“Well, this is me,” I say as we reach the spot where the path splits.
“See you at school Monday?” There’s a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Like me, Hadley doesn’t fit in. But unlike me, she never has. And I’m not sure which one of us has the better deal.
“I can hardly wait.” Sarcasm drips from my words, but it doesn’t faze her.
“It’s senior year, Remi.” She gives me a weak smile. “Who knows, maybe things will be different this year.”
I want to believe her, but I learned to stop wishing for things a long time ago.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Mom greets me with a mug of coffee as I pad into the kitchen. “How was the party?”
“You should probably ask Bexley.”
“And what is that supposed to mean, young lady?”
“He and Ace got into it.” There’s no use in lying to her, she’ll find out soon enough. The Danforths are one of the most well-known families in Sterling. They live behind us in one of the houses lining what we locals call ‘Palm Tree Avenue.’ Technically we’re not neighbors anymore, but we were for my entire childhood. When my mom and dad separated, Mr and Mrs Danforth insisted on helping us. I think they secretly hoped that, one day, me and Bexley would fall hopelessly in love and ride off into the sunset together. But that was before.
Now the Danforths don’t look at me and see their future daughter-in-law. They look at me and see a charity case.
And I fucking hate it.
“They were fighting? I find that hard to believe,” she scoffs. “Bexley is such a good boy.”
“Bexley got his ass handed to him.”
“Oh my... well, boys will be boys, I suppose. There’s going to be an adjustment period for everyone.”
“Adjustment period… sure thing, Mom,” I grumble beneath my breath as I slide onto the wooden bench and watch the waves roll in from the window.
