Ace's Wild (7 page)

    “Do you ever wish parts of your past hadn’t happened?” she asks while looking in the distance.

    I take a moment to think about it before answering. “Yes and no. Of course there are parts of my past that I wish hadn’t happened, but what if they had to happen in order to be where I’m at now? I’m happy where I’m at now.”

    She nods her head and doesn’t add anything else. I get the feeling that this has to do with why she was upset earlier. I don’t want to push her, but I also want her to know that I’m here if she wants to talk. “Are you okay?” I ask.

    She bites her lip and shakes her head. Tears begin to pool in her eyes, and I immediately feel guilty for asking.

    I grab her hand and gently pull her to me. I wrap my arms around her and hold onto her firmly. She quietly sobs into my chest while I press soft kisses over her head and face. I know that sometimes words aren’t enough to show support. So I show my support through gestures and hope that she feels that she’s not alone.

    After a few minutes Mel calms down. She lets out a small laugh. “I’m so sorry. That is definitely not what I had planned for today.”

    I still have her wrapped in my arms, and I don’t want to let her go. But I know we can’t stay like this forever, as much as I’d like to. I let go but I bring my hand down to hers and entwine our fingers. She
looks up at me and smiles so I give her hand a soft squeeze before replying, “No worries. We can talk about it if you want to.”

    “It’s stupid really. Just a little bit of family drama that I’m sure you don’t want to hear.”

    We walk a few feet away from the shore and lay our towels down. We both sit with our legs crossed and our hands seem to find each other once again.

    “If you think it would help you to talk about it, I don’t mind listening. If I learned anything from rehab, it’s that talking really does help,” I say.

    She takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’m not sure where to start, I haven’t talked to anyone in detail about this before, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to.” She straightens the corner of the towel in front of her, nervously fidgeting with her available hand. “This summer it will be four years since I found out about my dad was cheating on my mom.” Her breath shakes as she inhales deeply again before continuing, “I suspected it before that though. It was the end of my senior year in high school, and my dad was behaving differently than normal. He worked late a lot, which was actually the norm but he began turning off his phone and then coming home in the early hours of the morning drunk. I heard him and my mom arguing a lot but I didn’t think anything of it considering things started going downhill when Lucas was a baby. I was so consumed with my social life that I didn’t bother to pay attention to my dad’s. I mean, who pays attention to their dad’s social life anyways?” she scoffs.

    “Around that same time, my best friend Emma started acting strange. She kept avoiding me and when I finally confronted her about it she acted like nothing was wrong. I have known her since we were just kids, so I knew she was lying, but I couldn’t figure out why. Sara even tried talking to Emma about it, but Emma wouldn’t let on what was wrong.”

    Melody takes a minute to collect herself before continuing. I start to see where this story is heading, but I don’t let myself assume the worst because I don’t want to believe that anyone is capable of that kind of betrayal. Unfortunately, I know through experience that those closest to you are capable of the worst kind of betrayal.

    “It was the weekend after graduation, and Sara, Emma, and I were having our annual end of school sleepover celebration. It was a tradition we had going since elementary school. We would gorge on junk food and stay up late watching our favorite movies from the last year, mostly chick flicks.

    “Anyways, Emma was still distant, and she was trying to get out of the sleepover. After a lot of convincing we finally got her to agree. We were halfway through our girl’s night when my dad peeked in to say goodnight. Shortly after that Emma got up to get a glass of water. I noticed we were low on popcorn so I went to the kitchen to refill it and that’s when I saw
them
.” Melody halts her story and is obviously trying not to fall apart. She’s taking deep breaths, and I’m stroking my thumb across her hand in comfort.

    She clears her throat. “I saw
them
sticking their tongues down each other’s throats, my dad and Emma. I dropped the bowl that I was holding and ran. I had no idea where I was going, I just had to get out of that house.

    “I was in my pajamas, barefoot, and I didn’t have my phone or keys. Needless to say, I didn’t go far. I ended up circling the neighborhood in an attempt to gather my thoughts, but nothing made sense. I even tried convincing myself that what I saw wasn’t real. That it was actually my mom and dad, not Emma and my dad. Even though my mom is short with blond hair, and Emma is taller with red hair. I was just trying to make sense of it all.

    “I was only gone for a half hour but as I walked up, there was already a cop car in front of the house. As I went inside my parents were talking to the cop while Sara was comforting Emma on the couch. I guess you could say that was the final straw for me, I completely lost it.

    “I lunged at Emma then began pulling her hair and throwing punches. I was quickly pulled off by the police officers. It probably wasn’t very smart to attack someone in front of the cops, but I didn’t care. Luckily they understood and only warned me not to do it again. After that, everything was out in the open. My dad and Emma couldn’t deny what I saw with my own two eyes, and they didn’t really try to either.

    “That summer was the worst of my life. My dad filed for divorce and my mom never came out of her room, so I was left to take care of my brother. At that point I was already accepted to UC Davis and was planning to move to this area anyway, but my mom decided it was time for her to start over as well. So, we packed up and left L.A.

     “Emma and my dad recently got married and are in the midst of their happily ever after but can you start a happily ever after when you destroyed one to get it?”

    Melody wipes a stray tear angrily from her eye. “My mom has since forgiven both Emma and my dad, she even went to their wedding. I’m not sure why, because I can’t bring myself to so much as talk to either of them. At least not until this morning before you came to pick me up. I had finally answered Emma’s call to tell her to stop calling me. She’s been trying to call me nonstop, but I’ve ignored every one of her calls. I said a few nasty words before hanging up and I was upset for letting her get to me. And that’s when you came over, in the middle of my pity party.”

    I let go of Mel’s hand and wrap my arm around her shoulders. I bring her to me and lay kisses on her head again.

    We sit quietly for a few minutes, and I begin to absorb everything she has told me. The betrayal she experienced fresh out of high school, I can’t fathom being stabbed in the back by your father and your best friend. What kind of father would take advantage of a high school kid?

    We sit for a little while longer then pack up and head home. We didn’t end up getting in the water, but it’s too damn cold for that anyway.

    On the way back to the car Melody’s hand is wrapped in mine once again, and it feels like home. Today was a turning point for us, one that we are both highly aware of.

    For once in my life I think I may have found a place that feels like home.

Chapter 8

Melody

   I was afraid that if I told anyone, particularly Ace, what happened with my dad and Emma that I’d be looked at differently and I didn’t want that. I have had enough sideways glances from people around town, and I didn’t want Ace to be one of those people.

    But I trusted my gut for once and told him. It brought back some of my bitter feelings but not as much as talking to Emma this morning did. Afterwards I felt refreshed; it felt nice to finally get it off my chest. And to make things better, Ace was more than supportive.

    And that kiss! (Enter girly squeal here)

    These last couple weeks I had been making myself believe that it was only a friendship blooming but part of me knew it was more than that. I don’t want to hand my heart over so easily, but Ace makes it hard not to. I’m practically handing it over to him on a golden platter.

    After the life altering kiss, we kept gravitating toward each other. If we weren’t holding hands, our shoulders or knees were touching.

    Like now.

    We’re driving back from the beach, and I decided to sit in the middle. I wasn’t ready to sit apart from him, even though it was only an extra two feet away—it felt like two million.

    Our knees are touching and every nerve in my body is aware of it. Every breath I take is laced with his scent, and I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to keep my hands to myself.

    The kiss is on the forefront of my mind, and there’s nothing I’d like more than to do it again.

    We’re just on the outskirts of town and the closer we get, the closer I squish myself into him. He notices and chuckles.

    “Do you have anywhere you need to be? I was thinking about making it a movie night, what do you think?” he asks.

    My stomach does a somersault at his question. I make an attempt to clear the nervousness out of my voice but fail. “Sure, that’d be fun,” I reply. Jeez, I’m pathetic. I always told myself that I’d never trust a man, and here I am, falling for the first guy who catches my attention.

    This is a recipe for disaster. Or maybe it’s the leap of faith I need to take in order to finally realize that not all guys are lying, backstabbing douchebags. There are good guys out there, you just have to trust yourself to tell the difference.

    The sun is setting behind the waves of the hills. The windows are rolled down and summer is still in the air even though it’s October. The only evidence of fall is the multicolored leaves on the trees.

    Once we get off the freeway, the drive to Nate’s house is short. When we park Ace tells me to wait a minute as he looks through the songs on his iPod. When he finds what he’s looking for he looks up at me. “Dance with me,” he gently demands.

    A surprised laugh escapes my mouth. “Seriously?”

    “Seriously.” He smiles and grabs my hand then turns the volume up and helps me out of the truck.

    Nate lives in a cul-de-sac so the traffic is minimal. Ace pulls me to the street and brings me close to him.

    I immediately recognize the song that’s playing because it’s one of my favorite covers “Kiss Me” by Jason Walker. I’m surprised Ace knows this song because it doesn’t seem like his type of music. Not only does he know this song, but it is on his iPod, and he’s softly singing to it. I haven’t heard him sing other than on the songs that play on the radio, and it sounds eerily familiar. I’m sure it’s just because of his popular hits that I’ve heard but there’s something else about it that I can’t pinpoint. It’s a crazy feeling to try to explain.

    We rock back and forth in place as he whispers the lyrics into my ear. I get chills from head to toe from him being so close. Every time he exhales, I feel his breath on my neck.

    “I’m surprised you know this song,” I joke.

    When he replies, I can hear the smile in his voice. “You’d be surprised by some of the songs I know, but yes, this one is actually one of my favorites. Sometimes mellow tunes are necessary.”

    I nod my head and inhale his crisp scent. I lean my forehead on his shoulder to get control of myself. I can’t seem to keep my thoughts straight.

    I lift my head and look into Ace’s eyes as he sings. The song finally comes to an end, and we’re left motionless staring into each other’s eyes. His eyes drop to my mouth and my breath hitches as he begins leaning down to touch his lips to mine. When he’s only centimeters away the front door to Nate’s house bursts open and a little old lady with a neon track suit comes running out.

    “Jason, is this your Melody?!” the lady asks animatedly. I’m wondering if she’s hard of hearing, resulting in the volume of her voice being so loud, or if she’s just a loud talker. Either way, the woman is seriously rattling my ear drums, and she’s not even halfway to us yet.

    Ace reluctantly backs away from me. He brings one hand to rub the back of his neck and looks over at me nervously before answering, “Yes, Grams, this is
my
Melody.”

    My cheeks flame as I realize that he just called me his. My eyes drop to the ground as I try to hide my smile from his view.

    Ace’s grandma gives him a quick hug, “What in the world are you two doing standing out in the middle of the street? It’s nighttime, do you wanna get mugged?” she asks without a hint of humor.

    Ace laughs it off before answering, “Grams this is a nice neighborhood, no one is going to mug us. We’re in the middle of suburbia for goodness’ sake.”

    She brings her hands to her hips. “Jason Christopher Caplin, are you calling me a liar?”

    He bites back his smile. “No, ma’am”

    “That’s what I thought. Now let’s get inside before you catch a cold,” she says as she swats at him.

    I’m confused by her comment because it’s not cold outside. Like, at all. The summer has stuck around, as it usually does in this part of California. The closer you get to the coast the cooler it gets, but we’re inland so although it was raining at the beach it was clear skies and eighty degrees here. I shake off my observation and remember the next one.

    “Your name is Jason?”

    “Yes,” he says seriously. “And if you tell anyone that then I’m going to have to kill you.” He gives me a side glance, and his mouth lifts into a smirk. I nudge him with my elbow as we walk up the driveway.

    Ace stops at the truck to grab his iPod and roll up the windows. That leaves me with Grams.

    We slowly make our way to the front door, and she loops her arm with mine. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that my little Jason has found you. I know we don’t know each other well yet but we
will.” She looks up at me and smiles.

    I smile back out of politeness. I really like Ace, and I’m hoping that morphs into something more but the way his grandmother is talking confuses me a little bit. I’m all for dating but she’s insinuating that we’re more serious than we are. We just passed the friend zone. I don’t know if I’m ready for the forever zone just yet.

    When we get inside Sara and Nate are sitting on the couch each holding a glass of wine. They look like they may have been interrupted recently as well by the looks of not so covered annoyance on their faces. Sara’s newly dyed electric blue hair is slightly disheveled as well. I raise my eyebrow in question and Sara nods her head toward Grams. I fail at my attempt to hide my laugh.

    Ace comes back in and shakes his head with a smile as he notices the same thing I had noticed only seconds prior.

    “So, Grams—” Ace comes up on the side of his grandmother and wraps his arm around her shoulders while looking down at her. “What’s with the spontaneous unannounced visit?” He notices her giving him the stink eye before he adds, “Not that we don’t love your company, I just wish I would have been able to plan your favorite dinner.”

    She rolls her eyes. “Oh that’s pooey, you can’t cook for squat, and we both know it. I’m just passing through town. Carol dropped me off, and she’s going to stay with her male friend tonight. I thought I’d stop by to see my handsome grandsons.
I’ve been missin’ you boys. You’d think you both forgot that I exist.” She fake pouts.

    “Grams, I just talked to you a couple of hours ago,” Nate says.

    “Oh that’s right. Please forgive me, my mind isn’t what it used to be.” She brings her hand to her head in mock forgetfulness. “We were on our way up from Pasadena when we talked, and I wasn’t sure if we were stopping by yet.”

    “Mmmhmm, sure Grams. It’s not like you’ve ever dropped by without telling us before,” Nate says with a roll of his eyes.

    Grams brings her hand to her chest, “Me? I’d never.” She looks over at me and winks. It was so quick that I’m not sure I really saw it. “Any who,” she continues, “we’re going to San Francisco for a Celine
Dee-on
concert.”

    “You drove all the way from Pasadena to see a Celine Dion concert?” Ace asks incredulously.

    “Not Dion honey, it’s Dee-on. She’s a professional celebrity imitator. I guess if you want to get technical
she
is really a
he
.” She swats the air in front of her as if to clear her prior comment. “Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that she’s supposed to be better than the real thing. Plus, Carol and I have a bet going, and I’ve got big money on it.”

    My mind is reeling from all the random information it’s trying to absorb.

   Ace sighs. “I’m afraid to ask but what bet?”

    “Well, Carol thinks that Celine Dee-on had her
man bits replaced, if you know what I mean.” She nudges Ace. “But I think they’re still intact. You don’t change your name to Dee-on if you don’t have a “D” on that body.”

    I hear sputtering coming from the couch, and it appears that Sara is choking on her wine from Grams’ comment. Once she gets over the choking, she begins laughing uncontrollably. Ace and Nate don’t look too surprised with their grandmother’s behavior. They give the occasional eye roll, but they appear to be used to it.

    “How the hell are you going to find out who the winner is?” Ace asks.

    “I’m going to ask of course. And men can’t get away with hiding their junk, I don’t care how much they tape ‘em down. Those bad boys can’t be hidden.”

     Now it’s my turn to laugh hysterically.

    “Are you boys slippin’ these girls somethin’ in their drinks?”

    “Come on Grams, you taught us better than that.” Nate laughs.

    “Damn right I did.” She proudly stands tall which is really only five-foot at best. Her short permed hair might add an inch or two.

    “Well Grams I appreciate you coming over. The other guest room is open for you to crash, but I have a date to get to.” Nate says as he walks over from the couch and embraces his Grams in a hug.

    “Take it easy on that poor girl, you were practically mauling her face when I walked in.” I
look over at Sara, and her face is beet red.

    “That reminds me- I need to hide the spare key,” Nate says

    We all say our goodbyes to Sara and Nate as they make their way out the front door. It’s that moment that I realize I’m not sure how I’m going to get home, but Ace sees the question on my face and informs me that they are taking Sara’s car that way Ace is able to take me home. A small part of me is just a tad bit disappointed that I won’t be staying here, but I know we’re not ready for that, even though I have already technically stayed the night.

    We’re still standing in the kitchen and decide to take seats across the way in the living room.

    “Ace, would you be a dear and go to the store to get me some heartburn pills? My chest is on fire, and I seemed to have forgotten my medicine.”

    “Just take some of the antacid tablets we have, they’re in the bathroom. I’ll go and get them for you.”

    “No, no, no,” Grams replies hastily. “I can’t eat those disgusting things they make me want to vomit.”

    Ace looks confused, but he agrees to go. I stand up to go along with him but Grams pulls me down “Stay here with me, we’ll have a girls’ chat.” I look up at Ace questioningly, but he shrugs his shoulders and says he’ll be back in a few minutes.

    As the door shuts behind Ace, Grams lets out a relieved breath. “Phew! I never thought I’d get rid of everyone.” She pats my knee. “There’s nothing that I want more than to see my grandbabies happy, but I feel like there are some things you should know that I’m not sure Jason will be able to tell you.” I immediately take interest in what she’s saying, but I hope to hell it is not a warning to stay away from her grandson because I can’t promise to do that.

    “I’m not sure how much he has told you about his past, but I assume it’s not much?” I shake my head in answer and she continues, “I didn’t think so. He’s a stubborn boy but I’m sure you already know that.” She smiles.

    “When Jason was only nine his parents were killed in a car accident. It was a tragedy and this is not something any of us normally talk about, because even after all of these years, it is still a raw subject.” She lets out a sigh. “He and Nate were sent to live with me and although we’ve gotten along great, Jason has a lot of feelings bottled up that he hasn’t shared with anyone. The closest he has gotten to share his emotions is with music but even with that he limits himself.”