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I fight a bone-deep shiver. Wiggle my bare toes under the covers. Nod my head to the music.
No, everything will be okay. This is just a passing tremor, a tiny earthquake. My little world is strong, it will wither this small shake. Here it is safe, and what was in the past, is in the past. No more bullies.
No more being afraid to
walk in the street.
And Sydney will talk to me. We’ll figure this out. I’ll get her counseling, if needed. Will make sure she doesn’t go looking for chemical relief again, for herself or her friends. It’s dangerous. Jarett made it clear by the way he hauled me away.
Rett. That’s what I used to call him.
It has to be him. No boy ever sparkled so darkly in my eyes quite like Jarett… no other boy ever meant anything to me.
Why didn’t I recognize him right away? How could I not see who he was from the moment he appeared, when I’ve been thinking so much about him all this time? Replaying in my mind the things I told him, his brooding profile, his limp that got worse when the weather turned cold and that he refused to talk about, his dark outline behind his attic bedroom window.
His sudden, rare smiles that turned my heart inside out.
But I guess the different name threw me off. That, and Sydney’s weird behavior.
Okay, so it’s more than that. He changed, I think. There’s something profoundly different about him, and it’s not the way he looks. His hair is shorter, sure, his shoulders broader. I think he even grew a few inches taller.
His eyes are the same, though. His mouth. But his expression was harder when he looked at me. His smile sharper. His eyes darker.
I frown, rising up on my elbows, the song coming to an end. I hit stop on my phone playlist and frown harder.
He lied for me.
He told his brother my boyfriend was looking for me. He came to rescue me. What would his brother have done to me? What a screwed-up brotherly relationship is that? It was like… like he’s used to stopping his brother from doing something awful, smoothing his ruffled feathers and nudging him back into line.
What was it he’d said to him?
“Plenty of chicks around. Take your pick.”
Yikes.
God.
Also, it finally strikes me as I lie back down, hitting play on “The Boys are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy, this is the first time ever that I’ve heard him string so many words together. Back when I knew him, he almost never talked.
What else about him has changed? I wonder…
Chapter Four
Jarett
The girl in my bed rolls over and yawns, stretching her thin arms over her head. The covers fall down, revealing her tits and nipples.
Annoyed, I look away and lean out of the window, sucking on my cigarette and blowing smoke out into the chilly morning air.
“Morning,” she calls out from behind me, way too chipper for my darkening mood. “Got any coffee?”
“Ran out,” I say flatly.
“Can I bum a smoke off you?” She wanders up beside me, naked. I wonder if the neighbors across the street get an eyeful. Should I care?
Nah, I don’t give a damn.
“Here.” I pass her the smokes and the lighter. “Help yourself.”
