Page 7 of Girl Violence

Did her dad say something to Diane? “He has a reason to be, I guess.”

“Why?” he questions, a teasing note in his tone. “Has sweet little Josette Preston turned into a raging bitch?”

“Yes,” she replies without hesitation. Vince doesn’t look surprised, and that irritates her. Josette isn’t the same girl he knew. She’s changed too.

Silence falls between them again. Music pumps in the distance, and Josette changes direction, moving toward it. They don’t speak as they pass a set of trees and walk into a clearing. Cars form a circle on a vast stretch of grass, their headlights brightening the space. There’s a large group of people standing around drinking and talking.

“Josette!” Josette almost groans when she recognizes who is running over to her. Leaving behind a redhead already glaring in her direction, Tyler stops in front of her. His wavy brown hair pokes out from beneath a black beanie. He’s wearing a white Ramones T-shirt, skinny jeans, and vans. Josette used to think he was nice-looking, but he isn’t anything special compared to Vince.

Her eyes narrow suspiciously, knowing Tyler never goes out of his way to come over to her. Or any girl, for that matter.

“Long time no see!” Wrapping his arms around Josette’s waist, he pulls her into a hug, which feels wrong, and has her cheeks bristling with heat. As she jerks away from him, his eyes move in Vince’s direction. “Who’s this?”

“This is Vince,” Josette replies, avoiding eye contact while shuffling back. “An old friend.”

If her comment bothered him, Vince doesn’t show it. In fact, he looks bored. Tyler smiles, though it’s forced. “Where you from, Vince?”

“Here,” he replies, expression blank. Something uncomfortable settles in Josette’s stomach. Eventually, Tyler clears his throat, his eyes darting to her and then back to Vince like he’s jealous.

“Okay, well, grab a beer from my trunk. Have fun.” He walks away, back to the redhead who latches onto him and shoots Josette another territorial scowl. Sitting in someone’s car, Tyler pulls her onto his lap, but his eyes remain on Josette.

Turning to Vince, she nods her head for him to follow. He does and watches as she pulls two beers out of the trunk of Tyler’s beat-up Toyota Corolla. Josette goes to hand Vince one, but he puts his hand up. “I’m good.”

“You want something else?”

“Doubt there’s water here.” He shakes his head. “I don’t drink.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t.”

“But you agreed to come to a party.” Josette feels impatient that he’s playing the mysterious card and not telling her anything. He stares at her with an annoying, sexy smile, which makes her want to punch and kiss him simultaneously. “Two beers for me then.”

“Enjoy.”

As Josette takes a swig of beer, she looks around for a place to sit. All the cars and chairs are occupied, but a fat tree stump is nearby. Going over to it, she sits down, surprised when Vince follows and sits next to her. “Is that guy ‘the boyfriend’?”

“I told you already—I don’t have one.”

His eyes squint like he’s figuring something out. Then he smirks. “I see.”

“See what?”

“You two have history.” She flinches. Is it that obvious?

“Let’s just say he’s a bastard and leave it at that.”

He laughs this time. “Can I guess?”

She rolls her eyes. “If you must.”

“I guess he gave you a little attention. Talked to you and laughed at your jokes, which I’m guessing are still bad.” Her jaw clenches. “He made you feel a little special and treated you differently than the rest. He became your friend first to make you care about him and his shitty life. Your guard went down, as did everythingelse.” This time, she flushes when his eyes burn into hers. “The next day, he treated you like you were nothing, and you quickly realised he’s a liar with a smile you probably still dream about. Am I right?”

Josette quickly turns away, her face a little hot. “Spoken from your own experiences?”

He smiles again. It’s almost cruel. “Answer the question, Josie.”

“I’ll tell you my answer when you tell me why you don’t drink,Vincent.”

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