“Fine. But I get to choose the next ride and you can’t bail out.”
“Fine.” Another smirk. Another false promise.
But I’d do it. I’d do it if it kept Harleigh out of Cherri’s warpath.
“Come on then.” She grabbed my hand in a gross display of ownership. But I shoved my disgust down to that place I reserved for all the bullshit in my life.
I was hardly surprised when my cell phone vibrated. Digging it out of my pocket, I read my text from Zane.
* * *
Zane: What the fuck are you doing?
* * *
I texted him back, careful not to let Cherri see.
* * *
Me: Get Harleigh out of here before Cherri spots her.
* * *
Zane: Me?
* * *
Me: Who else?
* * *
Zane: I knew coming here was a bad fucking idea.
* * *
Me: Yeah, well, it’s too late for that. Just… get rid of Harleigh.
* * *
Zane: Fine. But you owe me.
* * *
“Problem?” Cherri glanced down at my cell phone. I shoved it in my pocket and slung my arm around her shoulder.
“Just the guys giving me shit.”
We joined the line for the Ferris Wheel and Cherri droned on about her assessment of the first week of senior year. Who was hooking up with who, who had gotten fat or dropped a few pounds over summer, who had gotten hot. She was almost as superficial as the girls across the reservoir at DA. Same shallow judgments, just a different set of measures.
“Are you listening?” She nudged me as I searched the fair for Zane… and Harleigh. But I couldn’t see them from all the way over here, the crowd was too dense.
“Uh, yeah.”
“So you’ll… to Homecoming with me?”
“Homecoming?” I balked. I wasn’t going to fucking Homecoming, with Cherri or anyone else.
“Yeah. You know you’ll be crowned King, right? And chances are, me or Hope will be Queen. We have to go.”
“School dances aren’t really my thing, Cher,” I said, relieved as fuck that we were next in line.
The attendant took our tickets and pointed at the car he wanted us to sit in.
“Come on.” I strode over to it and climbed in, leaving Cherri to fend for herself.
“Nice, asshole.” She glowered, tucking herself into my side. She even went as far as to lift my arm over her shoulder.
The music pierced the air, drowning out her words, her fucking plans for the dance. But it wasn’t until the ride started and the balmy air whooshed past me as we climbed higher and higher that all the bullshit eddied out of my head.
Coach.
Joe.
Cherri.
Harleigh.
For those few precious minutes, I was free.
But Cherri’s shrieks of trepidation rose higher, bursting my bubble of silence as she buried her face into my chest. I looked down at her and frowned.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Me and her.
I’d ridden this ride with a handful of different girls over the years. Let my hands wander and my lips swallow their cries of exhilaration. But every single time, I’d wished it was Harleigh.
Every single time, I’d imagined it was her.
And I guessed some things never changed because when Cherri lifted her face and dropped her eyes to my mouth, leaning in to brush her lips against mine…
I was still thinking of little Harleigh Wren Maguire.
And wishing like hell she was the one here beside me.
Harleigh
It took Celeste and Miles forever to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl. I stood at the table, watching the world go by as they boarded a car, desperately trying to ignore the stares of my classmates, old and new.
At least it was busy. The noise and lights and din of the crowd helped.
I would have preferred not to be here, but it was better than the alternative—playing happy family back at the house, watching my father and Sabrina schmooze with their richer than rich friends, imagining all the ways I could cause a scene.
The hatred I felt toward Michael Rowe wasn’t superficial, like the way most teenagers hated their parents at one time or another. It was intrinsic, burrowed deep inside me. It was the result of years of abandonment and neglect and feeling unworthy.
He had so much wealth, enough that money would never be an issue for him and Sabrina, or Celeste and Max and probably their kids too. Yet, he’d happily stood by and watched my mom leave her home, her life in Old Darling Hill and settle in The Row.
She gave up everything and he let her.
I didn’t want his money, his life, or any part of it, but I couldn’t get over the fact he just… let it happen. He went on to marry the perfect wife and have two perfect children and live his perfect life, in his perfect fucking neighborhood while every day in The Row was a struggle for me and Mom.
Every day was like wading through quicksand, sinking further and further under, suffocating slowly, slowly, slowly until the pressure was so dense, so heavy that just taking a small breath seemed impossible.
But I’d persevered. I’d kept on pushing, keeping my head barely above the surface while Mom drowned. It didn’t happen all at once; it was a slow, festering process. Until she was so far under nothing could keep her afloat.
Nothing except a bottle of vodka. It became her life raft, her anchor. But in the end, even that wasn’t enough.
Or maybe it was too much.
I squeezed my eyes closed and forced myself to inhale a deep breath. When I opened them, I was certain I must be hallucinating. “Zane,” I whispered.
“Birdie.” His lips curled but I felt no warmth from his words.
“Hey, it’s been a while.”
“You need to go.” His expression was cold, devoid of emotion.
“E-excuse me?” My stomach sank.
“You can’t be here, Harleigh. Not tonight.”
“Last time I checked, it’s a free country.” A tremor coated my voice. How dare he. “I can go wherever I want.”
He blew out an exasperated breath, narrowing his eyes.
Zane Washington was an enigma. If Nix was a closed book, Zane was an impenetrable high security safe. But he’d always been patient with me.
Until now.
“Look, B… Harleigh.” He corrected himself, and it stung. I’d never been Harleigh to Nix, Zane, and Kye. But things were different now. “You need to stay away from Nix.”
“I need to…” I trailed off, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “Did he say something?”
“Nix tells me everything, you know that. But this thing between the two of you, it isn’t healthy. And it’s a distraction he doesn’t need, not again. So go back to your new life and forget about—”
“Harleigh?” Celeste appeared, glancing at Zane and then me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine.” My lips pursed, my heart hammering against my chest so hard I felt sure they must be able to hear it. “This is Zane. We… we went to Darling Hill High together.”