By lunchtime, Keeley was worried. Her phone remained eerily quiet, setting her nerves on edge. It was the first time since their date that Talon hadn't messaged her back. She tried to rationalize it, telling herself he was busy with his own school's pep rally and preparing for the game that night, but her heart wasn't convinced. Deep down, she knew if he wanted to message her, he would have.
"Would you stop staring at your phone?" Nicky asked. When she didn't respond Nicky plucked it out of her hands and pushed it into her own backpack. "This is for your own good," she said cutting off Keeley's protest. "I won't have my best friend developing an ulcer over some boy."
"You said you would give him a chance," she accused. They had a heart to heart after the cookie incident. Nicky promised she would have an open mind where Talon was concerned. Of course this was after threatening to never bail her out of the shopping mall jail.
"And so far he's failing." She paused and raised an eyebrow. "Abysmally."
Sighing, Keeley pushed her half-eaten sandwich away. Everything seemed to be compounding on top of each other—the big game tonight, Nicky hating Talon, Talon hating Nicky, Zach and Talon hating each other, the situation with Claire, Talon ignoring her. It was enough to drive a girl mad. A part of her wanted to hide in her room and bury under the covers, blocking out the insanity that was her life.
Books made it seem so easy. The heroine would make a self-discovery about herself and voila! Instant epiphany! Why couldn't her life be so simple? Instead, it was a convoluted mess of conflicts and emotions. There was no straight line. It went up and down, sideways and diagonal.
"Listen, if this Claire thing is really bothering you I can look into it."
Keeley turned to her best friend. She didn't like the glint in her eye. It was far too impish for her liking. "Look into it how?" she asked suspiciously.
"Let's just say I have some..." Nicky leaned in and whispered, "connections."
Keeley sent her a dubious look. "Connections? Care to expand on that?"
"I've already said too much," she said gravely.
Her suspicions rose. This sounded like a bad gangster movie. "What exactly are you planning on doing? Hang out in the underbelly of Crosswell High?"
"Be quiet!" Nicky sent a furtive look around before leaning in even further. "Do you want people to hear you?"
"That depends on whether or not you belong in a mental ward," Keeley answered. "I may want some witnesses to testify at your hearing."
"I can get you answers. I just need a five batteries, a bottle of aspirin and twenty dollars."
"Because that isn't shady at all," Keeley said with an eye roll.
"Do you want to find out who this Claire person is or not?"
Of course she did! She was dying to know. But she wanted to come by the knowledge truthfully, not sneaking around in the bowels of Crosswell. She'd hoped Talon would tell her, but since he hadn't...
Her fingers drummed against the tabletop. Decisions. Decisions. Instinctively, she looked over to her brother. He was sitting with his football buddies, laughing and joking. Immediately, his lighthearted attitude dissipated as his gaze landed on her. His posture straightened, his eyes traveling down to where Talon's ring hung around her neck.
"Alright," Keeley said, her decision made. "I'm in."
Excitement poured off of Nicky. "Excellent. I'll contact my informant."
"Do I even want to know how you know this person?"
"It's best if you're left in the dark."
Wisely, Keeley let it go. She picked up her sandwich but found she still couldn't eat. Restless, she packed it up and said, "I'm going to my locker. Want to come?"
Nicky agreed and they gathered their things and walked across the quad. A voice yelled out her name and she looked over to see Zach waving her over.
"Aren't you going?"
Keeley shook her head and kept on walking. If his glare was any indication of what was to come then she planned on avoiding him at all costs. Her day was already a black cloud. She didn't need thunder and lightening as well.
As they approached Keeley's locker a tall, hooded figure stood in their way. The boy—she assumed it was a boy because of the broad shoulders and large feet—pulled back the black hood and scowled.
Shocked, she whispered, "Talon?"
"My God," Nicky grumbled in an exasperated tone, "the boy turns up everywhere. First, The Factory and now school. Can't he just stay away instead of haunting me like the Ghost of Christmas Present?"
"Wouldn't that be the Ghost of Crosswell Present?" she asked. "And I think he's haunting me, not you."
"Semantics."
It wasn't, but Keeley let it pass. She hurried over to him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing him into a corner. She looked around wildly, making sure no Edgewood students were around.
The lines around his mouth deepened. "The better question is why the hell didn't you answer my texts?"
"What texts?"
"I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past fifteen minutes, Keeley."
A glimmer of hope shown through. "You were trying to get a hold of me?"
Talon shrugged off her hand. "I thought you would at least have the decency to answer after dumping me like a sack of hot potatoes."
"Dump you? I—"
"Save it," he snapped. "I should have known better. You're a Brewer after all."
The warm, affectionate feeling she experienced was instantly doused. In its place stood a flicker of annoyance that started to grow and grow. "What does my being a Brewer have anything to do with this?"
"You're obviously trying to throw me off my game. Tell me," he threw out a hand, "was that the plan all along? Swap phones and make me fall for you? Then dump me before the football game?"
Infuriated, Keeley let out a strangled huff. How dare he question her! She'd never—not once—given him a reason to doubt her intentions. If anything, she should be the one asking that. She opened her mouth to refute the claim, but Talon powered on.
"Well let me tell you something, sweetheart," he sneered, his tone dripping with condescension. "I refuse to be duped again. Once was enough."
The patronizing nickname fueled her anger. She moved, intent on speaking her mind, but once again she was thwarted, this time by Nicky.
"Once was enough?" Nicky asked, pushing her way between them.
Talon's lip curled into a snarl. "You again."
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual, peanut bigot." Nicky propped her hands on her hips. "Now, what is this about being duped again? Does it have anything to do with Claire?"
The anger drained from his face, leaving behind a stunned expression. "How do you know about Claire?"
The way he said her name was a punch to the gut. She didn't even know the girl and she already hated her. "I'll take that as a yes," Keeley snapped, covering up the hurt she was feeling.
"Did your brother tell you?"
"No! And I wasn't dumping you! I sent that text because I wanted to talk about Cl—" she couldn't say the name, it physically pained her to do so, "—that girl."
Frustration exploded over Talon's face. His eyes flashed a steely blue. "You don't tell someone 'we need to talk' if you aren't planning on breaking up!" He bellowed the last few words, his voice ricocheting down the hallway.
"That's what you sent him?" Nicky asked, shaking her head.
Feeling foolish, she bit her bottom lip. "Looking back, that may not have been the best way to handle the situation," she admitted, wincing when Talon let out a loud groan. "Would you stop laughing?" she asked Nicky who was cracking up.
Talon squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand over his face. "Baby doll, you are quite possibly the most frustrating girl I have ever met."
"At least I keep you on your toes. You'll never be bored with me." The sides of his mouth twitched and she knew all was forgiven. She reached out and squeezed his hand, giving him a large grin. At that gesture, the hard edge of his temper softened.
"Well, this is awkward," Nicky drawled out. She motioned over her shoulder. "I'm just going to go now." She turned but suddenly changed her mind and spun back around. She pointed at Talon. "If you show up at our chick flick marathon this weekend I will go all Ghostbusters on your ass. You understand me?"
"Why would I show up?" he asked, his eyebrows hitched together.
"Just remember what I said." Nicky backed away, pointing to her eyes and then pointing to him. "I'm watching you," she mouthed.
"Your friend needs help."
"That seems to be general consensus today." She waited till they were alone before saying, "I'm sorry about the text. Honestly, I never thought that's how you would view it." She felt terrible. She'd been too wrapped up in her own head to realize how her text would affect him.
"It's fine."
"No, it's not. You drove all the way down here for a misunderstanding." A thought occurred to her. "What about class? Are you going to get in trouble for ditching school?"
"Stop worrying," he said, running his hands up and down her arms. A group of students walked by and Talon quickly dropped his head so they couldn't see his face.
"How did you even get on campus?" she whispered after the group passed.
He turned them around so she was pressed against the wall and his back was to the hallway. "It's not important. Listen, about Claire...." Her body went rigid at the name. "I don't know what you've heard, but it's not what it seems."
"I haven't heard anything," she said, frustration leaking into her voice. "The only thing I know is that she's somehow involved with you and my brother." She looked up into his clear, guileless eyes. "Who is this girl, Talon?"
His gaze fell to the ground, his lashes obscuring her view. A terse silence hung between them. She waited and watched as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He cleared his throat several times but made no move to speak.
"It's not that hard of a question."
He sighed and dropped his hands, his shoulders hunched over. The action worried her. It spoke to the enormity of his feelings. "She's my ex-girlfriend," he said flatly.
"Oh." She tried to think of something better to say but her mind was blank.
"It's not that big of a deal."
A small sound of disbelief escaped from the back of her throat. "Obviously it is. You can't even talk about her."
"I can," he said, his shoulders straightening, "I just choose not too."
She refused to believe him. His boast was all bluster with no bite. What had this girl done to hurt him so? One thing was clear, she meant a lot to him.
She must have said the last sentence out loud because suddenly his arms were on either side of her, caging her in. He bore down, his face intent. "She means nothing to me, Keeley—not any more."
The last bit made her stomach clench. Any illusions she held about being special shattered. It was foolish to think she was the only girl who managed to capture his heart. She knew going into this relationship he wasn't a monk. There were others—lots of others—but she could deal with that fact because he hadn't really cared about them, not like he cared about her. Hearing his confession changed all that.
Bracing herself, she asked, "What happened?"
He swallowed hard before answering. "I met her my freshman year. She was in my art history class and we were paired together for a project. Instantly, we hit it off and started dating. I thought everything was great, but..." He shrugged and looked away.
"Did it have something to do with my brother?"
She heard his nails scraping against the wall as his fingers dug in. It seemed it was just as hard telling the story as it was hearing it. "Somehow he found out I was dating Claire. The bastard pursued her—texting, calling, sending her presents—all without me knowing."
Keeley's eyes closed. Damn. She knew where this was headed.
"One night right before a big Edgewood/Crosswell game I get a text message from my buddy Mitch. It's a picture of Zach and Claire kissing at a party. Right there out in the open. They hadn't even tried to hide it." He let out a humorless chuckle. "I felt like such a chump. We'd only been dating for four months and already she was cheating on me."
"I was furious. I jumped in my car and drove like a madman. I found them sitting on one of the couches still making out." He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe it. "Turns out Zach had planned the whole thing. He wanted me to find out so it would mess with my head. And it worked. I lost the game that weekend."
"You can't blame yourself," she said, hearing the self-recrimination in his tone. Football was a team sport.
"Oh yes I can. I punched him on his side, right where his liver was. He went down and I got thrown out."
It sounded familiar. "That was the game deciding who would compete for the State Championship right?"
He nodded. "I've never seen my dad so angry in his life. He wouldn't speak to me for days." His arms moved as he pushed off the wall and rocked back on his heels. "That's why I was so angry when I got your text. I was flashing back to the situation with Claire."
She understood. His yelling made sense now however... "Can you promise me one thing? Next time will you listen to what I have to say before jumping to conclusions?" She didn't appreciate the way he verbally attacked her. If he'd bothered to talk to her first they could have avoided a lot of yelling.
He leaned down and kissed her. "I promise, baby doll."
A sharp whistle caught her attention. She turned and angled around Talon. Two boys she didn't recognize stood off to the side. The shorter of the two wore a dark blue cap and a grey hoodie. She guessed he was the one who whistled because he kept tapping his watch impatiently. The other was his complete opposite. Twirling a set of car keys on his finger, he appeared almost bored with the whole situation.
"I've got to go," Talon said, kissing her once more. "I'll see you tonight at the game. You'll be sitting on Edgewood's side right?"
She nodded but guilt clouded her eyes. It felt like a betrayal, especially after hearing what her brother had done.
"Hey, hey." Talon grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him. "It's okay for you to sit there. I'm a big boy. I can handle it."
"Keyword is boy," a voice said. It was the one who'd been tapping his watch. Up close she could see his cap had been hiding a head full of curly, copper hair. He slung an arm around Talon and smirked at her. "What you need is a man."
Annoyed, Talon pushed his arm off. "I've seen you changing dude. Trust me, you shouldn't be bragging."
"Bigger than yours," the boy shot back.
"Shut up." Talon flicked the brim of his cap, sending it flying down the hall. As the boy went to go retrieve it Talon introduced them. "Keeley, that idiot over there is Finn and the silent guy off the side is Mitch. Guys, this is Keeley."
Finn jammed the cap back onto his head. "We know who she is."
"Well then stop being dick."
"I'm not being a dick. You're a dick."
This was the first time she met one of Talon's friends. Curious, Keeley watched as they continued to bicker.
"They can go on like that for hours," a low voice, who she assumed was Mitch, said from behind her.
Her eyes widened as Finn cuffed Talon on the back of the head. Not to be bested, Talon returned the gesture. Soon they were both wrestling, each trying to put the other in a headlock. "Should we stop them?"
"Nah. They're always like this."
Keeley twisted her hands together, not sure what to do or say. "So...are you on the football team with Talon?"
"Talon?" Mitch asked, his eyes furrowing for a second then smoothing out. "Oh, you mean JT. Yah, we all play."
Her head bobbed up and down. "Cool." She cringed. Cool? She really wished Nicky was here right now. She was the master of small talk.
They watched in silence as the two boys wrestled. Grunts filled the air and Keeley was starting to become concerned. For one thing, they could get hurt, but more importantly a teacher could walk by and see them. No one but Edgewood students was allowed on campus. Before she could wade in, Talon dropped Finn to the ground with a loud smack.
"And that's how you do it ladies and gentleman," Talon said. He stood behind Keeley and wrapped his arms around her, forcing her to lean back. His chin dropped onto her shoulder and she could feel him smiling.
"Whatever," Finn growled. He stood up and brushed off the dirt. He eyed the two of them for a moment before sending her a sly smile. "Keeley, are you coming to the party tonight?"
She felt Talon's arms suddenly tighten around her. "What party?"
"You didn't tell her, JT? Shame on you." Finn cocked his head. "What my friend here forgot to mention is that I'm hosting a party at my house to celebrate our victory over Edgewood."
"That's assuming you'll win," she said, feeling the need to defend her school. Plus, she didn't like crafty look on his face. It reminded her of a fox—devious and cunning.
"Oh we'll win," he said confidently. "You'll come, right?"
The invite gave her pause. She looked at Talon hoping he would say something but he was too busy glaring at Finn to notice. Did he not want her there?
Finn didn't wait for an answer. "We'll see you tonight. JT can fill you in on the details later." He tapped his watch again. "We better go before Coach finds out we're missing."
That seemed to light a fire under Talon. "I'll text you later," he promised.
"Good luck tonight."
He winked. "I don't need luck...I have you." Ignoring Finn's gagging sounds, Talon kissed her goodbye. The three boys then hurried down the hallway and went out of sight. It was a good thing they left when they did, because not a minute later the bell rang and the hallways were filled with kids.
Keeley fished out her books from the locker and walked to class. She was halfway there when she saw a gathering of students near the gym. Every step she took more and more kids rushed over. Interested, she veered toward the crowd. On her tiptoes, she strained to see what was so fascinating but there were too many people.
"Somehow I don't think lover boy was too upfront about why he was at our school."
She landed on her heels and turned to Nicky. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think seeing you was his only agenda." Nicky nudged her arm. "Look." She motioned over to the side where a small break in the crowd had formed.
Through the throng of people she could see their school mascot, Monty the bulldog. It wasn't abnormal for him to be on campus. In fact, most students were use to seeing him wandering about. However, what was not normal was his fur. Instead of brown and white, his coat was dyed a bright green—Crosswell green.
"Oh crap," Keeley murmured. She bet this was Talon's revenge for Zach painting his truck.
Suddenly, the crowd hushed as her brother and his friends pushed their way through the masses. Everyone stared, waiting with bated breath for his reaction. If they were expecting an outburst of anger they were sorely mistaken. Instead, Zach's spine went ramrod straight. His expression frosted over, his face a mask of cold, hard ice. The only sign of emotion were his eyes. They went up in flames and then smoldered, turning a deep brown that reminded her of burnt wood.
She knew what it meant. This was a declaration of war. He was out for blood and he would be gunning for one person on that field tonight—her boyfriend.
****
A/N I get a lot of questions about when the next chapter will be posted...if you look on my profile I have a schedule of my updates. Thanks for reading and if you liked it please vote and comment! :)