A Whole New Crowd (16 page)

I flinched. It didn’t hurt any less than the first time. A lump formed in my throat, but I refused to accept it was there. Screw him. I swept past him. “I hope Brian continues to hate you. I hope he hates you so much that he doesn’t want anything to do with you and leaves town, just like I did.” I got to the door and started to push it open.

“So do I.” His words stopped me.

Then I shoved through the door. The pain mixed with fury and I stopped just outside the door, bent over, and took gaping breaths. Then I brushed away the tears and headed to the back parking lot. Everyone was waiting for me, everyone that mattered now.

Samuel was taken to the hospital. Mandy cried into Devon’s arms, and Jennica rolled her eyes. Grant was fine. He’d been in the bathroom the entire time. No one asked what he was doing in there, but Amber remained by his side. Tray gave me a ride to the school and I went home in my own car that evening.

That was a week ago. Shelly and Kevin decided it was family weekend so Mandy wasn’t allowed to have friends over. They looked at me, ready to say the same warning, but it died in their throats. I snorted. I saw it on their faces. The same thought had flashed in both of their minds: Taryn doesn’t have friends. That was fine with me, though. After seeing Jace again, I was fine with some hibernating. When we went to school the next week, things remained quiet. A few others remembered my stand-off with Amber and were confused when the fighting hadn’t continued. I had to laugh at that. Her plan to get revenge backfired.

It was the next Friday when Mandy told me her and Devon were back together. I wasn’t surprised. She was an idiot, and I realized my sister would continue to do idiotic things. Did she enjoy hurting herself, because that’s what this would do to her. He was going to cheat again. She would be hurt. She would forgive him, forgive Jennica again, and the cycle would continue.

I was done. I washed my hands of my sister. When she told me about a party that night, I had no intention of going. I went home instead. Austin was downstairs and I could hear other voices, including a few girls.

“Hey, honey,” Shelly said as she bustled around the kitchen.

I hopped onto a stool. “What are you doing?”

“Austin brought a bunch of his friends home. He never acts like it, but it means a lot to him if I prepare food for them.” She put a grocery bag on the counter and threw me a grin. “Gotta do it, all those kids like to eat, you know.”

I grinned. “He got a girlfriend down there?”

Shelly laughed. “That’s my thinking too. Maybe we should ‘investigate’ later, hmmm?”

As she took out a pan from the oven, she washed her hands and then pulled out pizza dough. “You’re making homemade pizza?” I had never had homemade pizza. That was what normal people did with their normal parents. This was my family now.

“It’s Austin’s favorite. Mandy’s too before she decided her life was a diet. They have the same tastes in a lot of ways. Pizza, lasagna, but now Mandy loves salads. Poor thing.” Her eyes lit up. “So, Taryn, you and I haven’t had a lot of alone time. You’re not going out tonight? I know from Mandy that there’s always a party going on.”

I looked away. “Yeah, there is.”

“No party for you?”

I shrugged and turned back. She was staring at me, a slight glimmer of concern there, but she gave me another soft smile. There was pity instead. I hated seeing that. “You know, I could have friends.”

The pity disappeared and she straightened from the counter.

I added, “Just because I grew up in the foster system doesn’t mean I’m less than anyone else.”

“Taryn, I didn’t mean—”

“I’m here tonight because I want to be, not because I don’t have friends or I wasn’t invited to the party. I could go to any party I want. You might think to ask yourself why your adopted daughter is staying home and your real daughter isn’t?” As soon as I said those words, I cursed in my head. There was a fine line and I didn’t want to narc on Mandy.

Her hands fell away from the pizza dough. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Never mind.” I had to get out of there. Shoving off the stool, I went upstairs and grabbed my swim suit. I was heading back downstairs when the doorbell rang and Shelly came back with a stack of delivered pizzas. She saw me on the stairs and laughed. “Teenagers don’t want to wait for homemade pizza.” She put them on the counter and yelled down the stairs, “Austin! The pizza’s done, guys. Come and get it.”

I had enough time to step out of the way when Austin and five pubescent boys and three girls rushed upstairs, zeroing in on the pizza in record time. The girls were slower, looking at the pizza with caution. I knew how they were feeling. They wanted it, they were salivating for it, but being skinny meant not eating,
especially
in front of boys, who were inhaling the food without chewing.

“Hey, your sis is hot, man!” one guy said as he stuffed an entire slice in his mouth. He nudged Austin. “You never told us that.”

The girls stared at me.

“Shut up, dick,” Austin retorted, wiping his mouth.

“Austin,” Shelly reprimanded. She tried to look stern. She failed. The adoration she had for her son was evident.

“Whatever.” Austin rolled his eyes. “Mom, where’s the soda?”

“Oh. I’ll go and grab them. I left them in the car.”

He leaned back to wait.

Uh, no. I spoke up, “Why don’t Austin and all his friends go and get them?” One of his friends stood next to me and his hand was too close to my ass. As I said that, I shifted away from him. He looked up, saw he’d been caught, and his head went back down. He shuffled away, but I saw the smirk on his face. He was another little punk.

“Oh, come on!” Austin cried out.

“Go,” I ordered. They went, but Austin flicked me off—it was becoming his favorite gesture—just as they slipped out the door. I didn’t even waste my time wondering if Shelly saw that. She wouldn’t reprimand him anyway so I turned to the girls. “Grab your pieces and head downstairs. I’ll hold them off for a while.”

They didn’t wait a second longer. They grabbed their pizza and ran downstairs.

“Well,” Shelly gave me an appraising look, “I didn’t even think of that.”

“I’m a girl and I remember what it was like when I was that age.”

Pretty soon, the guys bounded back inside, each with a twenty-four pack in their arms. Unloading them on the counter, they grabbed another piece of pizza, but I tapped one of the boxes. “These can go in the pantry, where the soda
always
goes.” I gave Austin a pointed look. The kid was testing the boundaries right now; he knew where they went. Shelly was letting him get away with it.

Grumbling, Austin showed them where to go—half of the guys knew where they went anyway—and when they came back, I saw his hand slowly raising, his finger was inching upwards…

“If that finger touches the air, you’re computer’s going to come down with a virus and all your porn’s going to be gone.”

The finger stayed in place, and the hand was lowered back to his side, but he still glared at me. The rest of the little dudes inched away from me. The one who tried to touch my ass suddenly looked like the pizza had gone down the wrong tube.

“Whatever.” Austin shrugged, grabbed the rest of the pizza, some soda, and headed back downstairs.

Shelly was fighting back a grin and burst out laughing the second they were around the corner. “Oh, dear. I shouldn’t be laughing, but I’ve never seen Austin handled like that. I’ve never been able to get him to do anything.”

I gestured to the door. “I’m going swimming. I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Oh. You swim?” When I didn’t stop to answer, she yelled after me, “Okay. Have fun!”

The water felt great. No one else was there and I took longer than normal. I lost track of my lap count after the first hour and when I finished an hour later, I saw a guy sitting at a table in the corner. Pulling myself out, I went to grab a towel, and said to him, “That’s not creepy.”

He was in an area that wasn’t lit so I couldn’t make out who he was, but I saw his teeth when he smiled. He stood and came over. As he drew closer, I noticed he was wearing a Rawley High School staff shirt with a whistle around his neck. He was in his mid-forties, trim, with specks of grey mixed in his black hair. He nodded to the pool. “You’re a good swimmer. Is that the fastest you can do?”

“No. That was fun tonight.”

“Can you go faster then?”

“I can go a lot faster.”

He nodded, narrowing his eyes at me. Then he said, “I’m the coach. Our season is starting up soon. Can you try-out?”

“I’m not into team sports.”

“Yeah, but swimming doesn’t have to be all-team. You do your own thing and I see the fight in you. My gut is telling me you want to try-out because you want to see if you’re the best.”

“I doubt I’m the best. I just started swimming again.”

“Yeah, I’m still going with my gut. You’ve got an itch in your eye. You’re a fighter. Swimming for fun, alone, on a Friday night won’t satisfy you for long. We’ve got try-outs Monday. I’ll pitch you against my best swimmers. You can tell me then if you’re interested or not.”

He nodded again, going to an office door in the corner. Before he shut it behind him, he said again, “Try-outs are on Monday. Here. 4:00. I’ll see you then.”

I wasn’t going to do it. I already knew I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t shake his words. He had a gut feeling. I was a fighter. I wouldn’t be satisfied with swimming alone. Maybe… No.

I stopped thinking about it. When I got home, the house was dark. The lights were still on in the basement, but I went upstairs. It wasn’t long until I heard Shelly take Austin’s friends home. When they returned, she told him in the hallway, “Go to bed, honey. I’ll give you a ride to Patrick’s tomorrow.” Then she knocked on my door. “Taryn?”

“Yeah?” I was at my desk and I closed my computer when she opened the door.

She smiled, skimming over me. She leaned her head against the door. “How was swimming?”

“It was good.” I tried to suppress the small surge in me when I saw her warmth. My throat swelled up. “The swim coach was there.” Why did I tell her that?

“Really? Coach Hayes?”

I nodded.

She gave me another tender smile. “He’s a good man. He’s a good coach too. Did he talk to you?”

No other foster parent had been interested in my swimming. The fact that she was even asking questions sparked a longing in me that I hadn’t known was there. My voice was hoarse when I said, “Yeah. He invited me to try-outs.”

“Oh good. That’s great, Taryn. Are you going to try-out?”

“No.” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I think you should. I think sports are always a good idea. I know you aren’t that fond of Mandy’s friends, and if you’re on the swim team, you might meet other girls like you. Who knows. Maybe they like swimming for the same reason you do.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” My chest was so tight. She seemed so interested. I was having a hard time remembering why I’d been angry at her before.

“Okay, honey.” She came in, smoothed back my hair from my forehead, and pressed a kiss there. “Have a good night. When Mandy gets in, let her know that I have to take Austin to Patrick’s early in the morning. They have a tournament this weekend.”

“I will.” My throat was still so full. I could barely get my words out. She left and I closed my eyes. A tear slid free. I let it go. I never had an adult care before. My chest tightened and then I wiped another tear away. I tried to ignore the fear I was feeling. They adopted me. They must love me. This wasn’t a charade. I kept telling myself that when I got ready for bed and laid there, staring at the ceiling. It wasn’t a charade. They really did love me.

My phone buzzed and distracted me. “Hello?” I didn’t want to analyze why I was glad for the distraction.

“Hey, where are you?” It was Mandy.

“At home.”

“Mom and Dad home?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s in bed. I don’t know where your dad is and your mom said to tell you that she’s taking Austin somewhere early tomorrow morning.”

“Thank God.” She breathed in relief. “Listen, if Mom and Dad ask, tell them I came home late and left early.”

“Are you at Devon’s?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end for a moment. “Are you going to be mad if I say yes?”

“No,” I muttered. “You already know how I feel.”

“Yes, I do,” she said, “but this is my decision.”

“I know, I know. I’m just looking out for you, you know. We’re sisters and all,” I mumbled. All this family stuff was new to me.

“Okay,” she trailed off for a moment. “I thought you’d be at Tray’s.”

“No.” Since we went to the Seven8, things had cooled between Tray and me. I wasn’t sure why, but I hadn’t been ready to tackle that either. We were at a standstill. I hadn’t seen him around other girls and I had kept to myself too. “He wasn’t with you tonight?” Then I heard a muffling sound on her end. “Is that Devon?”

“Yeah. Amber and Erin are here too. We just ordered some food.”

“Who’s Erin?”

“A friend of mine. She’s on the student council with me,” Mandy replied, her voice half-turned from the phone. “If Mom asks, tell her what I said. I came home late and left early. Tell her I went running. She’s all about exercising.”

“Alright, I’ll pass along your lie to Shelly.” I paused a beat, frowning to myself. “Watch Devon. Make sure he doesn’t cheat on you with Amber or that Erin girl tonight.”

“Taryn!”

I hung up, rolled over, and stopped thinking about everything.

*

The next morning Shelly woke me up, a frazzled expression was on her face. “Taryn, I have a huge favor to ask of you.”