A Different Side (University Park #4) (68 page)

“Are those gun shots?” Shawn turned his head, looking out the back windows.

“It’s fireworks.” Lexi pointed outside as I caught a glimpse of flickering lights.

I rose from the piano bench and followed Josh to the windows. Another spark lit up the sky and I saw a couple of guys on the beach. “Someone’s popping fireworks.”

“This is private property.” Josh yanked his guitar strap from around his neck and set the guitar on the floor. He flung the door open and rushed outside.

“I’ll go with you.” I followed him out the back door, peering over the tall grass and sand dunes to see how many idiots were out there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shawn, Luke, and Kyle trailing behind me. I flew down the wooden stairs leading to the beach.

“Hey, you guys can’t pop fireworks right here,” Josh yelled.

I trudged through the soft, deep sand to see four guys hovering over a pile of fireworks stacked on a piece of plywood. A battery-powered lantern revealed they had enough firepower for a small show and it was all pointed toward Josh’s house.

“Says who?” A guy about the same height as Josh approached him, shining a flashlight in his face. His build was much smaller than Josh’s, and he had a short crew cut and tattoos covering his chest. “We can pop these wherever the hell we want. This is a public beach.”

“You might be standing on a public beach, but your stash is on private property, my private property.” Josh pointed to the fireworks. “Get it off now.”

“Alright, man.” The guy motioned for his friend to help him move it. They pulled the wood a couple feet back and stopped. “Now it’s not on your property.” The guy was being a total jerk, and his friends laughed along with him.

Josh’s jaw protruded and he popped his knuckles like every time he got ready to punch someone. “Yeah, but they’re all facing in the direction of my house. There are too many homes right here, it could start a fire. You need to take them down to Beach Access number five.” Josh hooked a thumb behind him. “It’s all open down there.”

The guy rubbed the scruff on his chin and snickered. “And who’s going to make us.” He stepped up to Josh, squaring his shoulders.

Shawn shot me a quick look and then went to stand behind Josh. Kyle and Luke lined up next to me. We were all looking at each other, waiting to see who was going to throw the first punch. I took one more swig of my beer, emptying the bottle before tossing it behind me. It would make a good weapon, but I didn’t need to go to jail for assault.

“I said to get your shit and leave.” Josh didn’t back down.

“Fuck you, man.” The guy bumped Josh’s chest and then took a step back. He acted like he was going to walk away and then turned around with a quick swing. Josh’s head whipped back, but before he could return a hit, Shawn locked his arms through Josh’s and pulled him back.

“Hey!” Shawn yelled. “We don’t want any problems. You heard him, get your fireworks and leave.”

The guy hovering over the fireworks and the two guys next to him sprang to their feet, standing face to face with us. I did a quick once over, looking for any signs of guns or knives, but it was too dark. Nasty tattoos covered their forearms and chest. These guys probably weren’t strangers to street fighting.

“Raven, don’t!” Lexi yelled as she stumbled onto the beach along with Shelby and Delaney. “Let’s just go back inside.” I signaled for them to stay back, but they drove a line right between our opponents. The guys took a few steps back as the girls stepped in front of us.

The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt. Knowing she was out here in the middle of this situation made it more difficult. Not only did I have to worry about my friends, but Lexi too. I wasn’t the type of guy who went around fighting, but I’d been in enough throw downs to know how to defend myself.

“Get the fuck off my property!” Josh yelled as he struggled to break free from Shawn’s grip. He had been hit and he was ready to make them pay for it

“Josh, stop!” Shelby pleaded with him to calm down, but he was too pissed to listen. “Please, sweetie. Not tonight.”

“What are you going to do about it? Huh?” The guy who hit Josh approached Luke. “Huh? Whatcha gonna do?” He lifted his chin, egging him on. These guys obviously wanted a fight.

“Look, man,” Luke held up his hands, “we don’t want any trouble.”

“Just get your shit and leave.” I pointed to the mound of fireworks. “Like my friend said, this is private property. You need to pop that elsewhere.”

One of the guys started gathering the fireworks but before we could claim victory, his friend turned around jammed his finger into the middle of my chest. “Fuck that. You can’t make us leave.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Gabe, leave our shit there. We’re not going anywhere.” The guy was about the size of Cage, but it looked like he did more eating than working out. I’d be able to take him — no problem.

“You need to take your finger off of me before I break it,” I warned him.

The guy sneered and then retrieved his finger. We entered into a stare down, neither of us flinching. I straightened, extending to my full height, and fat ass stuck out his stomach. The dude had no idea what was about to hit him.

“Yeah, we’re not going anywhere.” Gabe dropped the fireworks in his hands. Fatty turned around and gave him an approving nod. “So take your punk asses and go back inside.” Gabe crossed his arms over his body, taking a defensive stance. These assholes were the ones being punks, not us.

Kyle darted toward Gabe. “You need to go. Now.”

Gabe threw his head back and let out a deep cackle. “You jocks think you’re tough shit with your fancy houses and fancy cars. But you ain’t shit without Daddy’s money.”

“Fuck you.” Josh twisted and turned, struggling to get free from Shawn’s grip.

“Screw you, man.” Kyle shook his head. “You don’t know shit.”

“I know enough.” Gabe stepped in Kyle’s space. Even though he was a head shorter than Kyle, he didn’t back down. His hands curled into tight fists and the muscles in his arms twitched, ready to spring into action.

“You need to get the fuck out of my face.” Kyle shoved the guy.

Gabe stumbled back, returning with a hit to Kyle’s face. Kyle’s head snapped to the side and he staggered, trying to catch his footing in the thick sand. Shawn released Josh and they rushed forward, barreling the guy who had punched Josh. Shelby screamed, but Josh ignored her.

“No! Stop!” Lexi reached for me, but I pushed her out of the way.

Using my shoulder, I barreled into fatty, but flung back when I hit his solid mass. I retracted my arm and shoved my fist in his jaw. He returned with a solid punch to my gut and I coughed. We were in an arm-to-arm battle, blocking each other’s hits and blows as our legs sunk deeper into the sand.

I caught a quick glance of Delaney punching one of the guys and Lexi scrambling after her. I tried to break away from fatty so I could get her to safety, but stopped when Luke and Delaney unleashed on the guy, punching and kicking him. I landed a hard punch to fatty’s throat and he fell on his back, coughing and gasping for air. I looked up to see Shelby straddled on the back of one of the guys. She had him in a chokehold as Josh delivered blow after blow to his stomach. I whirled around and caught Shawn and Kyle pounding on Gabe’s face.

We outnumbered these idiots, seven to four, and they were getting their asses beat by the girls too — except for Lexi. She scurried around the beach as though in search of something. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but I was glad she was away from the fighting ring. Just as I was about to deliver another punch to fatty, I heard the siren and stopped mid-air. I was totally fucked.

Σ

Chapter 44

Experience: that most brutal of teachers.

But you learn, my God do you learn.

~C.S. Lewis

I felt like I was drowning. Water covered my face, entering my mouth and lungs until I couldn’t breathe any longer. And then slowly, I drifted away, as wave after wave washed over me, carrying me into the sea, never to return again. I’d ruined everything — all because of two beers and a group of idiots. And the sad part, I wanted a beer so damn bad, but no amount of alcohol could take away the torment I felt.

Spring Break had started out great. It was sad how something so wonderful quickly turned into something so horrible. I didn’t regret going or taking Lexi — just regretted the fight on the beach. But it happened and there was no reversing it. I had to deal with the consequences, ready or not.

“Time to go, dude.” Josh stuck his head in my room, pointing to his watch.

“Alright.” I got up from the bed and stood in front of the mirror, adjusting my tie. The week had zipped by and my hearing was in thirty minutes. It felt like déjà vu, except this time, my gut told me the results wouldn’t be the same. After we returned from South Padre Island, I called Coach and told him what happened. There was no hiding it, and Mr. Marshall advised I tell him I received a ticket for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

Mr. Marshall said he’d work on getting the tickets dismissed, but it didn’t help that everyone else got a ticket, too. He also told me I should’ve never agreed to a Breathalyzer test, but Lexi argued with the cops, telling them I wasn’t drunk and to give me one. We had no idea it would come back showing a blood alcohol level of .09. Just .01 over the legal limit. Who knew two beers in thirty minutes would do that to me? I didn’t feel drunk. The more I thought about it, the more the entire situation pissed me off. Lexi should’ve never told the cops to test me, but she was only trying to help get me out of the ticket I ended up receiving anyway. A ticket that could result in the end of my football career.

Idiot.

“Here’s your jacket.” Lexi held up my coat and I shoved my arms through it. I adjusted the collar and rolled my shoulders a few times, trying to shake off the tension. Nothing helped. “You look really good in a suit.” She eyed me and smiled.

“Lexi, now is not the time.” I put on my championship ring and took a deep breath.

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the load.”

She was trying to be positive and supportive, but right now, I wanted to be left alone. Nothing she or anyone else said would help me. I fucked up and now I was going to pay for it. I grabbed my phone, shoved it inside of my jacket, and walked out of the room.

“Ready?” Josh asked, slipping on his jacket.

“I guess.” Mr. Marshall advised my friends to attend the hearing and give a testimony about what happened, since they received tickets too. I honestly didn’t give a shit whether they went or not. They weren’t the ones with their football career on the line. If anything, they’d get a warning about the ticket and continue taking classes so they could graduate. I, on the other hand, would probably not be as lucky.

I trudged down the stairs and as soon as I cleared the building, I saw my mom’s car. She rolled down the window. “Get in. Now.”

Fuck.

“I’ll see you there,” I told Josh and got in my mom’s car. Lexi got in the back seat, but Mom didn’t bother saying hello. She peeled out of the parking lot, tires spinning and rubber burning.

“Mom, aren’t you supposed to be at work? You didn’t have to come. I would have called you.” I grabbed the handlebar above the window as she sped down the street.

“Yes, I am supposed to be at work,” she gave me a quick glance, “but since you decided to be irresponsible, I had to take off. Tell me, Raven, did you and Lexi have a good time in Padre? Was it worth it?”

“Mom—”

“Don’t
Mom
me. This is serious, Raven. What the hell were you two thinking?” The light turned red and she slammed on the breaks. My body flung forward, but the seatbelt locked, keeping me in place. Lexi gripped the back of my seat, obviously trying to keep steady.

“Trish, Raven only had two beers that night. Everything was fine until those idiots started popping fireworks by the house. You should actually be proud of him. With the exception of that night, he didn’t drink the entire week we were there. We even went to a club and he drank soda. He was our designated driver.”

Mom looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows pulled together tightly. “You want me to be proud?” she bit the words out sharply. Never had I heard her talk that way to Lexi. The light turned green and she gunned it, plowing through the busy intersection as she headed toward campus. “Raven might lose his one and only chance of ever being picked up by a national football team. And all for two beers. I hope those beers were damn good.”

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Raven promised to take me for my birthday. I knew we shouldn’t have gone, but I wanted to.”

Hearing Lexi take the rap for what happened wasn’t right. She was hesitant to go and I assured her it would be okay. I was the one to blame, not her. I turned around and stared at her for a moment. “Don’t listen to her, Mom. She told me we shouldn’t go and I talked her into it.”

“That’s why I’m pissed at both of you.” Mom stopped at the light. “Where the hell am I going?” She threw her hands up in the air.

“Turn right and then pull into that first parking lot.” I pointed down the street.

Mom found a parking spot in front of the building where the hearing was scheduled. We got out of the car and headed inside. Everything felt like it was rushing past me, blurring along the way as it pulled me into a state where only numbness existed. This couldn’t be happening. But it was and there was no turning back the hands of time.

Lexi tried to hold my hand, but I refused. I didn’t need her support or comfort. I didn’t need anyone’s help. I made my choices and now I had to face them. Mom continued lecturing us, reminding me how I really screwed up this time. She didn’t let up either, pointing out all my faults, mistakes, and letdowns. As if I didn’t already know. All it did was unleash the demons already dying to come out. And they took over with a vengeance. I tried some of the techniques Dr. Galen taught me, but nothing worked. The demons were right. I was the biggest loser and fuck up ever.