A Whole New Crowd(7)

“Just think about it.” He had gone hoarse.

I didn’t trust myself to speak so I just nodded.

“Fine.”

I expected him to go. I expected him to pretend like I didn’t exist, like he’d done over the week, but he didn’t. He lingered and watched my lips.

Oh good god. My heart began beating faster. I hadn’t signed up for this. Before this week, he had never said a word to me. Before this school and before my new family, he would’ve been in a different league than I was.

Guys wanted me. I knew this. I used it as a weapon at times. Guys were dumb. Girls were jealous and while they were experiencing those emotions, I used it, getting what I needed while they were distracted by their internal feelings.

But this guy, I licked my lips without thinking, this guy was different. I felt unbalanced with him. I didn’t have the upper hand, and in those moments, I retreated. That’s what I needed to do now. I started to go, but he hauled me back. My hand went to his chest and I stopped him. “Don’t.”

He ignored me. His hand slid inside my pocket and he pulled my ringing phone out. A new surge of heat rushed to my face as I realized I’d been so distracted by him, that I had missed that. Swearing in my head, I took it from him and pulled away, turning my back to him. “Yeah?”

I didn’t check who was calling. I should’ve.

“Babe.”

It was Brian. Memories of being with him, of being held in his arms, of being sheltered by him assaulted me. I shook my head. “You can’t call me.”

“Taryn,” he said so softly, “come on.”

I shook my head. “You can’t. We talked about this.”

He paused on the other end. I heard his pain. I felt it too, but he was my past, and he had become a bad part of my past. I glanced at Tray. Here was a different guy, one from the ‘right side’ of the tracks. He was asking me to go back there. Hearing Brian’s voice was torture, but I was glad. The decision to keep clean was reaffirmed and I remembered what I could lose, or worse yet, I shuddered, what I could go back to.

“You can’t call me.” My throat swelled. “I’m sorry, Brian.” Then I hung up.

“That was your ex?”

I didn’t respond. No one needed to know my business.

“Look, I get it. I do.”

He didn’t, but I remained silent. My back was still turned to him.

“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. Your sister said you could get into any building. That’s what her parents had been warned about, that you’re one of the best. I don’t know that world. I don’t. I know my school. I know my friends, and I know that I have to take care of us. Getting into Pedlam will help.”

“It’s a stupid rivalry.”

“It’s not. They fucked us up last time. A lot of guys lost scholarships. I know it sounds stupid, but it’s important to us. It’s important to them.”

It was a stupid rivalry. I couldn’t shake that thought. One prank couldn’t ruin their lives, but it could ruin mine. I turned around. “I’m not doing it. Figure out another way.”

*

Tray had a party that weekend. Mandy had invited me, but a house full of drunk people? It was not tempting. I went for a ride instead. The parents weren’t home, Austin was sleeping at a friend’s for the entire week and weekend, and Mandy had plans to sleep at Devon’s. I didn’t want to spend so much time alone in that massive house. The emptiness was too much at times, so I headed towards Pedlam. Tray mentioned they had new security, and I wanted to check it out. Rawley and Pedlam were two towns in the middle of nowhere. A large river ran between them, but there was no significance to either town. We were surrounded by fields and forest, set smack in the middle of the United States. So it was perplexing why Pedlam would want new security. As I pulled into the parking lot across from it, I wondered why they would post cameras at every corner, including the light posts in the parking lot, and why would they have armed guards? There were two going into the building.

As I watched, nothing stood out. There had been renovations done over the summer, but the new security didn’t make any sense, especially when Pedlam was smaller than and not as wealthy as Rawley. That had been another reason why I hadn’t been so ecstatic when I heard where I’d be living. Rich people were targets for me. I would steal from them, not rub shoulders with them, but it was what it was. On that thought, I headed back. As I pulled out onto the road, a truck was heading my way. It slowed and turned down a gravel road. As I passed it, I saw there were three men in the bed of the truck. They looked rough. No distinct facial features stood out. They were nondescript, but they looked hard. As the car disappeared around a bend in the road, I pulled over and studied where they had gone. The road led out to a field. I’d been down that road before. There was nothing there, a field, trees, and the river. Then I shrugged. They were too far ahead, and I didn’t want to follow them. I drove home. When I got closer to Mandy’s home, I stopped at the diner first. I knew it was the school’s hangout, but since Tray was having his party, I figured it would be empty.