Page 30 of Boundaries

If you would have heard the strength of my tone, you’d have believed it. I spoke the truth after all. Nixon and Jenna would never work.

Betty was unconvinced. “Really? What makes you so sure?” She had always been the sceptical one.

I released a tired grunt. “Because Nixon is a controlling, overbearing toad. All the McKenna boys are the same. Well, apart from Seth, but that’s only because his twat genes haven’t fully developed yet.”

Rachel suddenly looked uncomfortable and she shuffled forward to grab another beer from James’s cooler. Alex sat in silence, occasionally checking his phone. I knew he didn’t like to speak about the McKenna family, especially after what had happened in the pub. The whole situation had seemed to significantly ruffle him for some reason.

Suddenly Chris decided to butt in. “Are you talking about Mason McKenna’s family?” he questioned, leaning forward. He spoke his name like Mason was some type of fucking celebrity and it needled me.

“The very same, why?” I replied in a fake bored voice.

“I heard that the Taylor-Joy family burned down their house.” Ah, we hadn’t exchanged second names when we’d been introduced. Oops. The tool had no idea who I was.

His statement set a proper cat amongst the pigeons as everyone eyed each other in shock. Rachel cleared her throat nervously, her shrewd eyes roaming over my face with a silent apology.

Betty beat her to a reply. “Did we not introduce you properly earlier, Chris? Meet Amy, Amy Taylor-Joy,” she said with a cheeky grin. Betty loved fucking with people.

I didn’t believe it possible, but Chris went even paler and I smiled, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable, even after his man-envy of Mason.

“It’s fine. My family had nothing to do with the fire. It was all investigated,” I replied in a cool voice, even though my skin was burning from the sun. I finished my beer and placed the bottle on the sand by my feet. James threw me another. We had contributed to the booze, but our beer and my white wine were not quite cold enough.

Everyone then started talking about the fire and how it had escalated. Luckily no one had been hurt, although Nixon had suffered some smoke lung damage, having gone back into the property to save their parrot, Frank. God rest his soul; he was dead now but from old age not from being burned alive.

Frank’s cage used to be set out on their porch and when I’d sneak under the house, I’d feed him swear words and mean things to say about Mason. I’m still certain I took the credit for teaching him ‘Mason’s a cock.’ Funny.

Betty and I went for a paddle in the sea a couple of times, and I could feel all-eyes-on-us as we waded in there in our scanty swimwear. A couple of the boys playing volleyball even stopped to shout suggestive comments. I lapped up the attention. There had been a serious compliments drought recently, even from Alex. And that moment with Mason didn’t count. He had been that fired up that evening, he’d probably have shagged anything. I didn’t take him kissing me or inviting me back to his bedroom as a compliment.

Talking of Alex, he’d been quiet and not his usual jokey self. I’d touched his knee a couple of times and managed to get him in the sea once, but he didn’t make any moves. I felt disappointed.

Later, during the afternoon when the sun was really beating down on us, Betty and James shared a kiss or two and I felt a yearning for some passion of my own. Maybe Alex and I could go for a walk. They had wooden beach huts which people rented a bit further up the coast where the burger vans were. Maybe we’d have some privacy there. I shook off the tacky thought. Snogging in public was so not me.

I was just about to suggest we go get food, but Alex got pulled in for a game of volleyball as they were a player down. I eyed his back moodily, suddenly feeling rejected.

The rest of the day went by at a snail’s pace, which wasn’t a bad thing. I still enjoyed myself, and being surrounded by my friends was always a pick-me-up, but I still missed some romantic action. The sun had started to set and Alex opened my bottle of wine and filled a solo cup. He’d been messaging on his phone quite a bit and I started feeling paranoid that he was texting another girl.

Rachel was sitting on Chris’s lap. His mouth appeared to have been oiled by the booze and he was now Mr Talkative. I found his monotone voice annoying.

The wine was delicious and added to my buzz. What I wasn’t aware of at that point, was that the relaxed atmosphere was about to be taken away.

Six

“Well, fuck me. If it isn’t Amy and Alex. You two are like a reoccurring dose of the clap,” Boyd McKenna’s voice drilled into me. He was such an insulting git. His comment drew raised eyebrows from both Betty and James. “Bit far from your neck of the woods, isn’t it?” he added.

My eyes must have reduced to the size of slits. What the hell he was doing there was anyone’s guess. My pulse twitched, the countless memories of the battles I’d had with this boy, springing into my thoughts. I had been to this party for the last three years and the McKenna boys had never come before. Just my fucking luck. I needed to be on my guard, and so I attempted to chase away the alcohol-infused fog in my brain. Luckily, I sobered up with impressive speed.

Twisting my head to the side, I observed him warily as he joined us and stood in our group with a bottle of Bud Light in his hand. Boyd was wearing shorts and a tank top, displaying his rather large arms. I so didn’t fancy him though, not even slightly. I noticed he wore flip-flops, those huge ugly feet of his sinking into the sand. I wasn’t into feet in general, they were unsightly things; even my own, but men’s feet were worse. Especially Boyd’s with his, gross hairy toes. Fucking Hobbit.

I saw a nod of recognition exchanged between Chris and Boyd. From the looks of things, they’d known each other before that night of the fight. Betty and James also acknowledged his arrival with a smile and a nod of the head. Fucking traitors.

“We could say the same Gate Crasher,” I sneered, pushing my sunglasses up onto my head so I could deliver a well-deserved level of glaring. The look I gave him could have frozen molten lava.

Alex shifted in his seat and withdrew his phone. I knew he was using it as a distraction so Boyd didn’t start with us. Good luck with that pal.

“We were invited. Unlike you the other night,” Boyd shot back with a crooked smile. He wore aviators and so I couldn’t see whom he was looking at.

I didn’t relish his reply, and ignored his comment about me being at the fight, “We?” I questioned, twisting in my seat to glance around the beach. It was quite messy now with beer bottles, cans and cups strewn around. There were also piles of clothing which people had shed so they could go in the sea.

“Yup. All the McKenna boys are here. It wouldn’t be a party without us.”

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