Page 19 of Wilder Love
Mom lit a cigarette and sat on the hood of her car. She prodded me with a red-painted fingernail. “Talk to your brother and haul him back here, sugar.” She smiled, but the smile wasn’t aimed at me. It was for Travis and Shane. Fuck my life. I chased after Dylan, wishing I could just keep running. Shane was agoodthing, and I didn’t want him to keep seeing how messed-up my life was.
“Dylan. Wait up.” I grabbed his arm to stop him. He shook me off and lowered his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I can’t deal with her shit.”
“It’s going to be okay.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Everything will be different here, right?”
“We just have to get through the next two years, Dylan. Then we’ll be free to go wherever we want. To do whatever we want.”
“Feels like a lifetime.” Sixteen and he sounded so weary of life already.
“I know. But we can do this. We’re in this together, remember? Don’t give up now. Stick it out with me. I can’t do this without you.” I wasn’t only talking about this morning, but he knew that without my having to explain it.
His shoulders sagged under the weight of the promises we’d made each other. He would do anything for me and I would do anything for him.
* * *
I cleanedout the garbage in my locker—white trash, so freaking clever—and stuffed it in the dumpster. Welcome to another day at Costa del Rey High.
I grabbed the books I’d need for my morning classes and stuffed them in my backpack, slamming my locker shut.
“Here you go, babes.” Sienna pressed a Starbucks drink into my hand.
I tried to force it back into her hand, but she refused to take it. It was the third time she had done it this week and now I felt obligated to reciprocate. I couldn’t afford overpriced morning beverages. “You need to stop doing this. I told you—”
“It’s Frappuccino. Not my firstborn. Get over it.” She flashed me a big white smile. Sienna was one of those effortlessly pretty SoCal girls with perfect blonde beach waves, a golden tan, and cute designer clothes. I’d been to enough schools to recognize the popular crowd within five minutes of stepping foot inside the door. Judging by appearances, Sienna belonged in that clique. Yet she had befriended me on day one.
“I’m in the market for a new best friend,” Sienna had said.
“What happened to your old best friend?” I’d been immediately suspicious and skeptical of her motives.
“She met an untimely death.”
“Did you bludgeon her with a blunt object?”
“I killed her with my withering glances.”
I had laughed, and we’d bonded over our taste in music—90s grunge. And our favorite movies—old-school horror and Alfred Hitchcock.
Six weeks later and she was bringing me Frappuccino, inviting me to hang out at her pool, watch movies at her McMansion, and occasionally she stopped by Jimmy’s Surf Shack on Saturdays when I worked. It had been a long time since I’d bothered making a friend at school, so it was nice to have one. What wasn’t so great was the crowd Sienna used to hang out with, the kids she grew up with.
My drink flew out of my hand and splattered on the floor. I jumped back, my shoulder slamming into the lockers, and looked down at the puddle at my feet in dismay.Shit.
“Oops.” Paige held her fingers over her open mouth, her baby blues wide and innocent. “Now look what you’ve done, skank.”
I gritted my teeth and dabbed at the coffee stains on my Pearl Jam T-shirt with the napkins Sienna pressed into my hand. The cold liquid seeped into my Chucks. There was no hope of salvaging them.
“You’re the skank,” Sienna said.
“Poor Sienna. Still bitter over losing Tristan to me?”
Sienna laughed. “Trust me. He’s no prize. In fact, you two are perfect for each other. Speaking of the devil.”
“Slumming it, Sienna?” Tristan asked, wrapping his arms around Paige from behind. She leaned back against him with a smug smile, but his dark eyes were on me.
“Au contraire,” Sienna said. “I’ve upgraded.”
