"He's such a dick. Seriously. Put your fucking lipstick on and let's go." Marissa scolded in the full length mirror from her position seated on my bedroom floor.
"Maybe he had an emergency..." I argued weakly.
"An emergency that kept him from getting in any sort of contact with you? For a week?" She rolled her dark eyes.
"He did contact me though..."
"Yeah, what did the text say again? 'I'm sorry I kissed you, but I'm a pussy and can't deliver'?"
"No." I crossed my arms over my chest. "He said he 'had something come up and he would call me when he could'." I knew how flaky it sounded, but my crushed ego wanted to pretend like he was stuck on some deserted island for a photo shoot without cellphone reception.
"You're in denial, Adams." Marissa shook her head. "Put on the damn lipstick and go out and get laid." If only I had ever gotten laid to begin with...
"There'll be plenty of cute boys at this USC party. Trust me, Elijah West will be the last thing on your mind." She grinned at me sideways through her reflection in the mirror as she clipped her bangs to one side.
"I'm just surprised Mister Lacrosse has stuck around so long..." I said awkwardly through swipes of peach lipstick across my lips.
"Me too. I will say though, he does this thing with his fingers where-"
"Marissa!" I howled, tossing my lipstick cap at her.
"What're you whores screaming about?" Collin's grumpy blonde face appeared in my doorway and I glared back at her.
"None of your business. Get out." I barked, pointing at the door, but she ignored me and plopped onto my bed, looking bored as always.
"I need your car for the weekend..."
"Not happening." I crossed my arms over the chest of my black dress. "You already had it last weekend." After Collins found me at Eli's shoot she'd blackmailed me into letting her have my car for the past two weekends. I was already having trouble getting the smell of her blackberry vape out of the seats.
"Come on. Don't be a bitch." Collins rolled her bright hazel eyes that matched our father's. Aside from the color of our eyes and her perpetual scowl, we were practically carbon copies. Wavy blonde hair (mine cut short, hers to the middle of her back), tan skin, and a petite strong build with curves in all the right places. Collins had embraced our genetic blessings, wearing as little clothing as possible and sleeping with a handful of different partners at once, while I had a more subdued approach to life.
"It's not my fault you totaled your car." I countered and Marissa smirked in the mirror. Being an only child in a very conservative Asian household, she loved when we fought.
"It's not my fault you snuck Elijah West into your bedroom last week. I'm sure Daddy would love to hear you had a late night guest..." She flipped her phone around to show the feed of Eli outside of my bedroom window on my trellis. My heart seized seeing his handsome face and large body in the frame. I tried to grab the phone but she shoved it back into the back pocket of her leather miniskirt.
"I thought the cameras weren't working." I glared.
"That one magically started working again, straight to my cellphone." She feigned shock, but I knew better. Collins was a literal genius when it came to technology. She could solve all the world's problems if she wasn't so busy creating them.
"Delete it now and I'll let you live...." I threatened.
"And use your car?" She probed, not backing down.
"God you're annoying! Fine. Use the car. Whatever." I growled and she grabbed the keys from my desk.
"Good doing business with ya, sis." I flipped her off as she paraded from my room and Marissa laughed.
"That girl's got some skills."
"Yeah." I agreed, walking to my bathroom to grab my black nail polish from the top drawer. "But she's not the only one." I walked past Marissa and opened my bedroom window crawling onto the trellis.
"What are you doing?" She giggled as I dipped the brush into the inky, sticky polish and painted the camera like I was fucking Pablo Picasso.
"Evening the playing field." I smirked back at her, the wind billowing through my hair, and for the first time in seven days I didn't think about Eli.
**************
The small brown house in Crenshaw was packed when we arrived, and I pulled at the hem of my black dress, feeling sorely overdressed in the crowd of barely dressed twentysomethings. Marissa had unsurprisingly disappeared twenty minutes ago with Mister USC and I was beyond ready to go home.
I sipped on my seltzer in the middle of the living room. It was only eleven-fifteen, but the way the pounding in my skull from the techno music echoed, it felt much later. I sighed and pulled out my phone again, using my heavily made up face to unlock the screen. "Still nothing." I muttered, noting my blank text message receptacle.
"Excuse me?" A voice behind me cooed and I turned to see a very attractive, familiar face.
"Oh nothing, I was just talking to myself." I blurted.
"That's cool." Beckett Press ran one of his tan hands through his longer dark hair. "I get it. Sometimes you're the coolest person in the room, so it's more fun to talk to yourself than anyone else." He grinned crookedly and a bead of sweat ran down my spine. Beckett had a reputation for being cocky, not that I was cool enough in high school to know him personally.
I grinned back, my hands shaking a little as I took a long sip of my beer, buying myself some time. I didn't know what else to say to him. He was easily the best looking person in the house in a black T-shirt and black straight leg jeans with a pair of black Doc Marten combat boots.
"Second time running into you this summer, and it's only June..." Beckett grinned, taking a sip from his red solo cup. "It's like fate keeps pushing us together." I choked and he patted me on the back twice, his hand feeling warm against my spine.
"Thanks." I wiped the spittle of beer from my chin, feeling even more like a loser than I had five minutes ago. Even more than when I'd tried unsuccessfully to talk to him in the cafeteria Junior year, spilling my milk all over my top as he walked by.
"You want another?" He motioned to my drink, but I shook my head.
"No thanks. I was actually about to get going." I sighed.
"What's the rush?" He challenged. His tone was annoyed, but his smile was warm.
"One A.M. curfew." I admitted, feeling even more like a child. "It's okay though, I already requested my Uber."
"Cancel it." He downed the rest of his drink.
"What?"
"I'll drive you. I need to head back toward Malibu anyways." I eyed his empty drink, questioning his sobriety and if I should trust getting in a car with him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and lead me from the house, leaving behind my reservations as he squeezed my sweaty palm with his.
***************
Beckett drove a little too fast on the way home, I imagined he was trying to show off in his white Mercedes sports car, but it was giving me a minor heart attack. I tried to ignore the terror, and how loud and crappy his emo music was, focusing instead on how cool it felt to be riding in a car with Beckett Press.
"So what do you usually do for fun?" I asked lamely, practically screaming above his music.
"What?" He screamed back and I shook my head.
"Never mind." I screamed back and he nodded.
"Cool." My mind wandered to the remote island I was convinced Eli was currently on, picturing him shirtless on a beach, thinking about me too. I spent most of the rest of the drive back thinking about Eli while Beckett held my hand. I knew I should be present, enjoying being with Beckett Press when that was all I wanted for most of high school, but Eli West was what I wanted for most of my life.
Palm trees and expensive ocean front began to flash by and I sighed into the salty breeze out my open window. I loved living in Southern California, which was why I'd stayed close to home for college. Beckett wove quickly around the curves on the PCH and exited onto the road to my private gated neighborhood. Beckett explained how he lived ten minutes down the road in yet another elitist gated community. Malibu was full of them.
I leaned across Beckett to punch the code to our gate into the receptacle, and his hand touched the back of my bare thigh, sending my heart racing and goosebumps across my flesh. I leaned back into my seat and let my hair fall across my face to keep him from seeing the blood beneath my cheeks.
He drove more slowly up the drive and parked to the side of the driveway in an area of our front lawn where the flood lights couldn't quite reach. I felt my heart pound again and nervousness settled into my stomach. I chastised myself for feeling so jumpy. Most girls would kill to be alone in Beckett Press' car, but the way he touched my thigh without permission moments ago made me feel panicked.
"Thank you for driving me home." I smiled sweetly, but reached for his door handle.
"Come on Adams, how about a kiss goodnight?" Beckett leered, already leaning across the center console. This was not a question. His lips pressed to mine before I could respond and I kissed him back politely, moving my lips against his, but made no move to deepen the kiss. His hand gripped onto the back of my head and he growled, shoving his tongue inside my mouth. I squirmed, trying to pull away from him, but his hand was too strong, holding me in place.
"That's enough." I pushed at him, as he moved his lips to my neck. His hands roamed from my head to my chest clawing at my breasts above the black dress.
"God you're so hot. Everyone thought you were such a prude in high school, but I always knew better..." I tried to shove him again but he was too strong.
"Get the fuck off me." I screamed and his mouth was back on mine, silencing me, as his hands lifted the hem of my dress. I reached behind me for the door handle, but he was pulling me too far into the center of the car for me to reach it. I shoved my hands against his chest, over and over again, until he miraculously gave way, flying straight backwards through his open driver's side door.
"What the-" Beckett snarled before a very tan hand punched him directly in his mouth.
"She said no, you sick piece of shit." Eli screamed landing another punch before Beckett struggled away from him.
"What the fuck, West!" Beckett screamed as I opened the passenger door and climbed out shakily. "You know what it's like. The bitches love us. She was all over me..."
"You're a fucking liar!" Eli shouted, going to charge him again until the distinct clicking of a gun filled the air. Both boys froze, as my own eyes snapped to my father's hazel eyes on the porch where he was holding a shot gun toward the sky like this was a western movie. Where the fuck did he even get that?!
"Now now, boys. That won't be necessary. I'm sure the security footage will tell the real story..." Asher Adams laughed like he was relaxed, but the gun and the strained veins on his neck told a different story. I hurried toward him even though the gun made me nervous...but not as nervous as Beckett Press did.
"Whatever." Beckett grunted, opening back his car door. "I should be getting home anyways." He climbed into the car, but not before winking at me once and I felt my beer bubble up the back of my throat. My eyes blurred as I sprinted into the house and up the stairs, emptying the contents of my stomach in the cool porcelain bowl. Twice.
I hugged the base of the toilet, crying until the tears dried up and hiccups racked my body. I stayed that way for what felt like forever, until I got the strength to stand. My toothbrush shook in my hand as it hummed around my mouth. I could've been raped tonight, had it not been for Eli intervening. He'd saved me. But he'd also broken me, and I was so fucking sick of being broken.
My mind swam as I opened the door, wishing to see him sitting on my bed, but my room was empty as I stripped out of my dress and into my pajamas, almost like Elijah West had never been here at all...