© Copyright 2012
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.
Alexa couldn't hear her, but Devin's face dropped then twisted into a combination of hurt and anger. She used the back of her arm to wipe away tears that came. Alexa stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulder.
Sawyer, Sebastian, Robbie and Lane were all doing an impromptu acoustic song as a way to thank the pool party patrons for their attention. The plus side was, it made the crowd finally stop the lunatic style screaming.
“Are you okay?” Alexa said.
Devin could not speak. She shook her head no as Charlie grabbed on to her sleeve. “C'mon Dev, let's get out of here.”
Rachel made a face and pointed to the stage, “don't you guys want to hear the song?”
Devin shook her head, her blonde hair fanning around her face.
“Damn,” Rachel said.
Charlie looked down at her phone, her fingers flying across the keypad before looking up at Steve. “We need to leave,” she said.
Steve nodded, made some kind of hand signals to the others and they began their pursuit of the exit. When they were outside the gate, Devin mumbled something about her legs being jelly and collapsed down on a planter that flanked the pool entrance. The rose color which was normally so pronounced in Devin's cheeks flushed leaving her incredibly pale. She looked up at Charlie, “Did you know?”
Charlie looked at her high tops rather than her sister and kicked at the ground with her toes. “I only found out yesterday. Sawyer needed Sebastian's help. He told me about it when he got home.”
Devin frowned, biting on her bottom lip, trying to make it stop trembling. “Why didn't you tell me?”
Charlie's lips formed a thin, straight line as she sat herself next to Devin. “Because it's not my place to. Sebastian is the one with the big mouth, not me. This is kind of between you and Sawyer.”
Alexa sucked in a breath. She'd never been and never would be jealous of Devin but Charlie's words were a reminder that she did share him...in a way. She linked her hands together and uttered a silent prayer that Devin wouldn't ask her the same question. Did you know? Fortunately for her, Devin was preoccupied with admonishing Charlie.
“You should have told me!”
“Why Devin? So I could see how upset you are about it? You're growing up. I can't protect you from everything. I can't keep you so sheltered that the world doesn't deliver a few blows every now and then. It sucks. I know it does to feel like he's betrayed you. But I knew it was coming out today and you need to hear this from him. Not me.”
“He lied to me.”
“Not the case,” Charlie said. “He wasn't forthcoming as he should have been but he didn't outright lie. Does Sawyer ever talk about his past?”
Devin shook her head.
“There's probably a good reason for it,” Charlie continued. “Listen, we should go. Seb doesn't like me standing around in public. Thinks I'm like a sitting duck or an open invitation for a lynch mob. Besides, Steve has to get back to the stage to get them out.”
After witnessing the craze first-hand, Alexa couldn't blame Sebastian. Would Sawyer feel that way too if things between them got more serious?
“Fine,” Devin stood, brushed her hands on her thighs and started to walk toward the car. It was easy to tell she wanted to hold her head high and saunter out of there with an air of confidence she didn't feel but the stupid cast impeded her ability to do it.
