What was I doing? At this point, I didn't even know. Something inside me was so glad when Tara called me that night, that when she invited me over — adding that it was a middle finger moment to Colby — I just agreed without question. I agreed and I changed for it, since I'd stayed in bed for half of the day. I chose a pair of black ripped jeans, a fishnet top with a cropped black hoodie, and ankle boots.
My thumb was through an intentional hole in the sleeve when I pulled up on the house's drive. The red car I'd seen of Colby's sat where it had yesterday, and I was tempted to kick it before I even went inside. But as I didn't feel like dying just yet, I didn't. I'd give him a chance — just a small one — to clean up his act; I doubted he'd take it though and was planning ways to castrate him. My feet were purposely stomping on the ground as I walked up to the front door and opened it. Tara was already in the hall waiting, a big smirk on her face. I felt like I was seeing my partner in crime again after some sort of big job.
"Hey, Beck," she said, dropping the 'y' in her nickname. I didn't want to question it, though I was. She led me to the red room again, and I saw that it was full once more, including the big, comfortable chair that was obviously fit for only the biggest asshole of the house. But Colby wasn't looking at me, lying across his chair, legs hanging off one arm, staring at his phone. I saw his nostrils flare, though, and I had a feeling he was angry.
Others in the room, not so much. Kevin stood up from the couch like he had known me his whole life and strode over. He was about to hug me, I think, but I held a hand out to him, frowning.
"Don't come any closer or I'll kick you in the balls."
He grinned. "That's the reaction I wanted! Hi, Rebecca."
I was frowning more as he walked away back to the couch.
Tara sat down with Jake — on his lap — and Katrina moved toward another couch for me. She was smiling, offering the seat next to her. In any other situation, I would have snorted and walked off to find a different seat, but something told me that getting along with Colby's friends would piss him off more than being bitchy with them, so I walked over to sit next to her.
"Can I call you Becky?" she asked quietly. I stared at her for a moment, really wanting to say no.
"I fucking hate that nickname but whatever."
She smiled a little. "I'll try not to say it too often." Kiss ass, I thought.
Tara leaned across the arm of the couch to talk to me quietly. "What happened with that asshole Jax?" she asked, recalling a very short, very angry conversation we'd had recently.
"Nothing. I told him he's fucking fired if he sleeps at the studio again."
"Studio?" Katrina echoed, tuning into our conversation. "What studio?"
"My family's studio." I didn't hide the distaste in my voice. "I get money as long as I go there sometimes and boss people around." I grinned. "My kind of job."
Katrina looked only more intrigued. I knew already that any attempt to be nice to her was going to go out the window if she asked me too many questions. "What do they do at the studio? Like, what kind of studio is it?"
"Designer." I shrugged, hoping she would drop it.
"Oh, like clothes?"
I nodded.
"So do you just manage it sometimes or do you design?"
My heart twisted with the question. How dare she ask me something so personal! Granted, she didn't know it was personal, but her questions still needed to stop.
"I get you like to know shit, Katrina, but I don't like being asked questions." My voice was hard. "Stop."
Katrina's face twisted into something resembling guilt as Sam pulled her closer to him for comfort. She smiled at me, nodding. I turned to Tara, but she was sucking face with Jake so I looked away again. Katrina didn't look like she really knew what to say, and it was growing a little awkward between us. As she opened her mouth, Xepher literally appeared in front of me, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. I spun to her in confusion, weighing whether or not what I had seen in the corner of my eye was real. She was with Griffin two seconds ago...
"Don't fucking do that," I said, motioning to her. "Sneaking up on me ends with a broken nose nearly every time."
She grinned. "I apologise, Becky."
My nose flared.
"I'll try to stomp around like you do."
I smirked, just a little, and nodded at my boots. Just one little thump and the sound practically echoed around the room. "Why do you think I stomp about? I give people warning before I break their faces."
"Hm, thats very generous."
"Or wicked," I suggested. "Make them wait for it knowing it's going to happen."
"You evil bitch." Xepher grinned at me, punching my leg. I just kept up a straight face, glad that I could at least a little bit get along with Xepher like I did Tara. Although, both of them had boyfriends who I'd witnessed them making out with instead of talking. Something told me that was a frequent occurrence around here.
Somehow, my eyes moved across the room to Colby. He was still laid across his chair staring at a screen, but something about his eyes made it look like he wasn't focusing, like he wasn't seeing what was in front of him. I barely had to shift my head to see some sort of news article about a girl going missing just yesterday, open halfway down. But even after a minute or so, he hadn't scrolled. Eavesdropper, I thought — or lost in his thoughts. I decided to test my theory and looked at Tara. I nudged her shoulder to pull her out of her lusting make out session.
She was aggressive when she turned around. "What?" she snapped.
I raised a brow. "Calm your horny-ass down, bitch. Just wanted to talk to you." Her mood changed instantly, though I could see that she didn't want to move away from Jake.
She looked at me and nodded. "What is it?"
"What's Colby's deal? He looks like a moody teenager. I mean, I'm a bitch to my friends" — I was saying to the only friend that I had — "but at least I fucking acknowledge their existence."
Humour flashed in Tara's eyes. "He doesn't socialise, just pays for the house and looks broody."
"Well, he's doing a fucking fantastic job at that. You sure he's brooding, though? I thought that required a thought process."
In the corner of my eye, I saw him react to my words. He wasn't the only one; Kevin and Elton were staring at each other and grinning. I thought I saw Jake laugh behind Tara. But Colby didn't react with humour, only clenched his jaw and turned completely still.
"Maybe you're right," Tara agreed. "Okay, let's stick with moody. Pays for everything and sits around looking moody."
"Sounds right." I nodded.
"Tara." Colby's voice was like a shock to my system. It had only been a night since I'd heard it — argued with it, even — but it sounded like music to me. It sounded like the only thing I wanted to hear for the rest of my life. I couldn't deal with the thought of that.
"Oh, he speaks," I whispered, trying to distract myself.
"You remember what I told you?" He was staring so intensely at Tara that I thought there was more to it than just whatever they were talking about. I saw a deep conflict there, a hatred, almost. He hated her, and I hated him for it.
"You're going to bring this up here?" Tara asked as she glanced at me. "Don't think that's a good idea, man."
"It won't matter anyway."
I watched the fear in Tara's eyes when Colby stood up. But it wasn't fear for herself so much as it was fear for me. I knew because she automatically moved closer to the arm of the couch, and Xepher shifted just in front of me. I looked at them both a little confused, then up to Colby. He wasn't coming this way, only watching.
"I warned you, Tara. Not my fault if you don't listen."
"Colby, I swear, if you-"
"I warned you," he repeated. He gave me a sinister look, just like the one he'd given Tara, but it didn't look the same when he focused on me. Some unknown difference made it lose its effect in translation. Whether he knew that or not, he turned to walk out of the room. Everything was silent after the door slammed. I knew it had something to do with me — me being here, more specifically. But what was the worst he could possibly do to me? Sure he felt dangerous when he was around, but much of that translated into actions? I doubted it was much.
"If he's trying to scare me, he's miserably failed," I said loud enough for all to hear. They did, and there were a couple of reactions around the room.
Xepher smiled and shook her head, Devyn looked at me worriedly, Tara scoffed, Kevin full-blown laughed. And every different emotion came over me in waves, some stronger than others.
"You're strange, Becky," Cassie said through a chuckle.
I looked at her weirdly.
"Nothing he does scares you. You just bite back."
"I like that about you, by the way," Xepher told me, craning her head all the way back to see me.
"I wonder who would win an argument. It seems like an equal match," Elton mused.
I raised a brow. "Well, I won yesterday when I kicked his fucking car. How's that hole in the wall, by the way?"
Jake snickered.
"Fixed," Sam said as he nodded to the door. "We get things done quickly around here."
"You don't say. I'm guessing you don't want another hole in your wall?"
Sam shook his head.
"Might wanna keep his bitch ass out of here then so I can keep my cool."
Tara gasped. "You don't hate us!" It sounded like a cheer. I rolled my eyes but I didn't disagree with her. She was right, I didn't hate them at all, though there was a lot to work on around here. A lot.