Page 79 of Frenemies

The only thing I needed was to punch Chase in his fucking fertile nut sac. Son of a bitch! What the hell was I gonna do with a baby? Well, Gucci did have a cute kids line, and so did Prada. Just the other day, I saw the most adorable little sailor suit.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad? I’d have a nanny to change diapers. We’d have to get a foreign one, of course. They were all the rage right now.

Paisley was constantly telling Mother about their Swedish nanny and how Tristan would be bilingual. Swedish was hardly a useful language, though. Now Asian. . .

Ava threw her hands up and proclaimed, “ice water” as if she’d just discovered the key to the fountain of youth.

“What?”

“Don’t worry.” She walked over to the sink and grabbed a cup. “I’m going to take good care of you.”

What the hell was she talking about—had my best friend finally lost her mind? I got my answer when Ava turned around and threw the cup of water in my face.

“Do you feel better now?”

I spat out a mouthful of water and smacked my lips. “Great, thanks.”

Her grey eyes sparkled as she puffed her chest out and gave me a big smile. Why did I ask her to do this with me? Oh right, I didn’t. Chase asked Jaz to go and get a pregnancy test, and Ava was in the room. I hadn’t been able to shake her since. Though I would admit, it was pretty funny when she knocked Tanner in the head with the handle of a baseball bat because he was crowding me.

Honestly, there was no one else I’d want in here with me, and Chase tried. No way I was peeing on a stick in front of him. Ava was different. Sometimes, it felt like she was the only person who got me.

Other times, like now, she lost herself. But that was okay. I knew who Ava really was, and I’d always be there to guide her back. Just like I was the day her soul died. . .

The mechanical beep,beep, beep echoed around the dimly lit room. My mom said that sound was a good thing—it meant Ava’s heart was beating. My mom was in the hall now, talking to Ava’s dad. When she wasn’t looking, I slipped in. I had to see for myself that Ava was alive. I thought Ryker killed her.

I stepped a little closer to the big bed Ava was lying in and tipped my head at her closed eyes. She looked dead, and it was creepy in here, with nothing but the sound of the machine. I wanted to go back out and clutch onto my mom’s leg, but Ava was here because of me. She stood up for me and got hurt for it. I couldn’t leave her now, but I couldn’t get any closer to her either.

“She hasn’t woken up yet.”

I yelped and jumped back, afraid that Ryker had flowed me here. It wasn’t him, though. It was Ava’s brother, and Preston was creepy enough. Why did he have to hide in the shadows? That’s where the boogeyman was.

He sat forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “It was Ryker, wasn’t it?”

None of the adults knew what happened—they thought Ava fell down the stairs. Ryker showed us pictures of what would happen if we ever said anything. Davy Benet’s parents were still looking for him. I did try telling Daddy once—he said I shouldn’t talk about things like that. That people might think I was dirty.

“You were there, Naomi.” I took a step back when Preston rose to feet. “Tell me what happened to my sister.”

“Why?” He couldn’t change anything. Ava would still be in the hospital. “You can’t do anything about it.”

“Not yet,” he said while staring over at his sister. “But one day. . .”

My eyes trickled over his sandy hair to the serious look on his face. Did he really think he could take on the boogeyman?

“You’re just a kid.”

“I am now.” I watched him walk over to Ava’s bedside and reach under the blanket to hold her hand. “But there’s worse things out there than the boogeyman.”

I stood there, thinking about what Preston said. I’d seen Ava’s brother do some pretty bad stuff. Maybe he was right, and there were worse things out there. But if that was the case, shouldn’t we be running from them?

“How come you’re not scared?”

Preston shrugged. “Seems like a waste of time to me—it’s so much easier when you don’t feel anything.”

Huh?

SeeingPreston unphased as his sister clung to life was one of the defining moments in my life. While the rest of us were timid little fragile things, Preston bided his time and patiently waited until he could get revenge. Of course, he was a sociopath, so he probably just didn’t care, but he seemed like a pillar of strength back then. And he was right—things were easier when you didn’t care.

The problem with that was when someone went cold—they missed out on the good things. Like the love of a good man. Something I was beginning to realize. Chase told me he loved me, and I didn’t say a thing back. Why? Because I was scared to open up?

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