“What the hell?” Ryan choked out.
Archer threw him against the car “What do you think you’re doing?” exclaimed Archer getting close to his face.
“Whoa man. Calm down, I was just joking?”
“It is no joke, not when you play with someone’s life like that man?” Archer took a deep breath. “What if you were to slow, or what if that car had come just a fraction of second earlier? Huh?” Archer’s hand came up and gripped Ryan’s chin forcing it to turn in my direction. I was now by the hood of the car, my hand over my mouth, now words were coming to my throat. Nothing that I could must that wouldn’t be a scream.
“That.” Archer said, batting the rain out his eyes, the rain drenched through his jumper and soaked his hair. “that’s your girlfriend, the fact that would you try to force yourself on her just shows how vile your character is, but that would endanger her life.” He pushed Ryan against the car before letting go of him. Archer stepped back his heart rate was off the scale and he ran a hand through his head.
“You know what man,” Ryan said straightening out his jumper “You just need to mind your own business, like you said, that’s my girlfriend not yours.” Ryan was pointing at me, and I still couldn’t find anything to say. I just stood there. Like a dumb shrimp. He jabbed his finger in the air at me, I didn’t like it when he point. Not just at me but in general, it was a bad habit.
“Yeah and you better treat her right…” Archer said before turning an walking away, pulling the hood up on his jumper, although it did no good, he was already too wet.
“Can you believe him?” Ryan said, as he watched him walk away. Opening the car door he leaned forward and beckoned me back to the car, “Come on Delta, get back in the car.”
When I didn’t move Ryan’s voice picked up with anger “Delta. Get in the car.”
I started to move, but it wasn’t in the direction that he wanted it to be. I skipped onto the side walk and started after Archer who was close to his car a little bit further down.
“Delta?” Ryan called out, his arm catching me as he chased after me. “What the hell are you doing?” He asked, spinning me around, he held me by the shoulders.
Rain droplets flicked off my eye-lashes as I spoke. Ugh could this moment of my life be anymore cliché? “He’s right.” I said “He’s right. I’m your girlfriend, you should treat me right.”
“I do treat you right!” Ryan exclaimed.
“You don’t deserve to say that sentence.” I said shaking my head at him.
“Why not?!”
“Because you sleep with Charmaine!” I broke away from his hold, and stepped back. It was a heavy claim for me to make, and I could feel his phone pressing into my pocket.
“What? I didn’t…” I turned and started walking towards Archer’s car, he hadn’t driven off yet, and I assumed he wanted to stick around to see what would happened between us. Not because he was nosy, but probably, because he cared.
I almost expected Ryan to chase after me again, but the fact that he didn’t validated his guilt, in one part. I wanted him to run after me I wanted him to fight for me, to try and prove me wrong.
When I got closer to Archers car the passenger door opened.
I stepped out on to the road, and bet down, I was hit in the face with blast of hot air and the Beatles, Archer just stared casually at me, like my presence was a guaranteed thing.
“Uh…hi” I started with “could I get a ride, please?” I added in last minute.
“Get in.” Archer said instantly, a kind smile on his face, he reached over and picked up his bag from the passenger seat throwing it into the back.
Before I got in there was a screech of tires as Ryan came tearing down the street. Our eyes locked for split second before he continued on his way to the estate.
I slipped into the passenger seat and closed the door, “sorry about the water, I’m probably ruining your car.”
“Haha” he laughed “I don’t really care about the car, are you okay?” he asked, turning the key in the ignition.
I’m pretty certain I had just broken up with my boyfriend but so much was going through my head right now, it was hard to focus on one thing, should I focus on the almost car accident, the almost non-consensual sex or the fact that Ryan had practically admitted to sleeping with Charmaine. I shook my head, “not really, I think I just broke up with my boyfriend.” I said.
“Well good.” Archer, leaning he spoke “No offence, but he was bit of a dick.
“Why did you do that?” I asked as he pulled his car into the flow of the traffic.
“What?”
“Pull Ryan off me?” I asked.
He kept his eye on the road, and unlike Ryan had good control over his car, despite the horrible weather. “I couldn’t let him do what he was going to do.”
“How’d you even know that was us?”
He shook his head, “I didn’t, I came out of Morton Avenue and saw your car come flying through the intersection, nearly got hit you did. Then I saw you pull up. I mean I didn’t it was you, but I pulled over to see if the driver and passenger were okay. I recognised Ryan’s car from the student lot, and well when I got closer. I could see what was going on. I mean the rain blurred it all a little bit. But yeah—well that’s it I guess.”
“Thank-you” I said, earnestly.
“Don’t mention it. Okay you’re going to have to directed me a bit I don’t really know where I’m going.” he said as we turned the car into the estate it was that other end of the estate to where I usually entered from. But I still knew my way.
“Take a right here,” I said, propping my elbow up on the window sill, and resting my head my fist. “I can’t believe this night.” I breathed heavily.
“I’m sure it’s not, bet you never thought I’d be giving you a ride home.”
“Well, no actually I didn’t think that.”
He chuckled, and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the next tune that came on. “I wanted to thank you too,” he said.
“For what?” I questioned.
“For being nice. I’ve found people in Washington aren’t as welcoming as those in California.”
“It’s the weather” I explained. “people are grumpy due to the lame weather. Four seasons in one day, it annoys people- take a left here- and yeah.”
“The weather” he repeated to himself. “I suppose so, high schoolers in Washington surprise me. Twilights really over exaggerated the whole big welcome and everything.”
“We don’t really live in a dinky little town with vampires now do we?”
Vampires? No. invincible people? Yes. Ahh small town America, it’s a wonderful thing.
He chuckled again “Yeah I suppose so, but you never know do you? It’s not like they run around telling everyone.”
“True.” I counted, thinking it as a valid point, it’s not like I tell everyone. “Look you’re a nice guy, you just have to wait, people will warm to you. I mean look at you and Paxon tonight, huh, is that a bromance I see blooming?”
“It just might be.” He said in the best girly voice I could muster, laughing his way out of it.
“Turn left again.”
“But seriously. Paxon’s a cool guy, he was telling me about this gig he’s going to tomorrow night, a local band call something like Spicy Unicorns or something?”
“The Red Hot Unicorns” I corrected him.
“Yeah! That’s the band.” He announced, “you know them?”
A brief smile flashed across my lips “Take a right here,” I told him as he pulled the car into my street, “Yeah, that’s my brothers band” I explained.
“Oh awesome, are you going?” he asked.
“Just pull up here, that’s my house.” He did as told him and puled the car onto the nature strip of my house; the rain had started to die down again. “Yeah, I am I told him, it should be fun.”
“Great well I may see you there.”
I nodded “Sure,” I opened the door and turned back to thank him for the ride, before I ran across my front lawn to my house. Once I was inside and the door was closed I heard his car take off down the street.
I found mom and dad sitting together on the cough in living room watching some intense Morgan Freeman movie.
“Hey guys,” I said standing in the doorway.
Mom turned around a glass of wine in her hand “Hi darling how was the game?”
“They won.” I said my tone didn’t change, and it’s not like it’s a really big deal anymore, people are just sort of used to it.
“How fantastic,” mom said.
“Do you know where Luka is?” I asked, generally concerned.
Mom nodded taking a sip from her wine, “He’s in his room darling, just got home a few minutes ago, you know last minute rehearsals or something for the gig tomorrow.”
I let out a sigh of relief knowing that he was home safe and sound.
“Night guys” I said, giving them a wave before I took myself up to my room and closed the door for the night. I changed into my PJ’s and checked my messages before I got home.
1 new message: Poet
‘Get home safe? xx’
I typed a quick reply of ‘home :)’ before I turned off the lights and went to sleep.
It was miserable the next morning, the rain was constant and sloppy, but nothing gave me more pleasure than eating cereal while watching cartoons. Mom usually did the food shopping on Saturday morning and I sometime helped her out, but she left me a note saying that she wanted me to sleep in and get the rest because I was going tonight.
It was about 10:30 when I knocked on Lukas bedroom door, he threw a pillow at the door and told me to go away because he was ‘meditating’?
I don’t really know what he was on about, something to do with pre-show jitters or something. So I let him be.
I sat on the couch down stairs, the cartoons created white noise in the background while I went through some homework. The quicker I got it done and out of the way I could enjoy the rest of my weekend.
Dad came in after about half-an-hour from a run. He kissed me on the forehead and asked if I needed help. I told him that I had it under control then he disappeared into the study to finish off some work of his own.
It wasn’t long until Poet was over and we getting ready.
“So how did it go?” she asked running the curling through her hair, turning her usual waves into perfectly sculptured curls at the bottom of her long dark hair.
“Well…” I said, stifling a laugh at the humour of my situation “Where should I begin? Do you want me to start with how I stole his phone, because I saw him texting Charmaine? Or where we nearly got into a car accident? Or how about where my boyfriend tried to force himself onto me? Or when Archer pulled him off me, tossed him around a bit, then gave me a ride home?”
“Oh shit,” Poet said, burning her hand “Yeah that might have been a bit hard to put into a text. Wait what do you mean he was texting Charmaine? As in Charmaine Cahill?”
I sat down on my bed, “I overheard her telling Regan that her and Ryan did stuff, like sex stuff.”
“Do you think she was telling the truth?” she asked switching the curler off at the wall.
I shrugged, and I could feel the tears wielding in my eyes again, “I think so, he didn’t say anything to deny it.”
“Okay well I know a way that we can prove it,” she sat down next to me on the bed.
“What?” I asked, resting my head down on her shoulder.
“You just said that you stole his phone? Have you been through the messages?”
I lifted my head up so that I could shake it. “No, I kind of didn’t want to do it alone.”
“Where is it?” she asked.
I rose and walked over to my bed side table, I lifted my jewellery box and retrieved the phone. Poet was no standing behind me and place it in her palm when I turned to face her. “You’ll have to do it, I can’t” I explained as she took the device.“9875” I told her when she turned it on and faced the pin-coded access panel. Ryan had told me long ago and he hadn’t changed it since.
Poet moved back to the bed and sat down, I moved and sat down next to her. I watched as she opened the inbox, and no doubt, the first bank of messaged where from ‘Charmaine ;)’
I covered my eyes with my hands and waited for Poet to dig through the texts.
“Umm…” she finally squeaked and I forced myself to pull my hands away from my face.
I looked down to glance at the phone screen.
From Charmaine:- I had such a good night tonight, again soon? xx
To Charmaine: Yes. Defiantly. You are amazing. I don’t know why you think your body is bad, it’s amazing babe xx ;)