Collide: A Riverbend Novel (5 page)

"My brother." He smiled a
little. "Princess," he mumbled under his breath. Jude reached over
me and shoved his shoulder.

"Do you think he'd teach
me?" I asked as I frowned at him.

"He might if you ask him
nicely. And I call you that because you fit the role."

I scrunched my eyebrows at
him. "Do you see a crown on my head?" I asked quietly. "I'm not a
princess," I mumbled.

"Your dad kept you locked
away like you were too good to mingle with the common folk of
Riverbend. You were driven around in shiny cars. You had a maid.
You don't need a crown to fit the role, princess."

"One, I didn't have a
driver. I didn't leave the house. Two, I didn't have a maid," I
said in aggravation.

"Or you did have a driver
and you killed him and the maid too? Therefore, leaving you with
neither. Damn, your life sounds like the game Clue."

"Yes, that's exactly what I
did. Maybe you should be concerned since I'm living in your house
right now," I said as I tried not to cry. Dammit, he wasn't going
to make me cry!

Jude laughed at my comment
as he sent his cigarette butt flying out the window. After he
rolled the window up, he put his hands up to the vents to warm
them. Havock didn't say anything else.

We arrived at the school,
and after he parked, Havock got out along with Jude. I just sat
there.

I gripped my bag tightly to
me and stared at the building, not moving.

Havock leaned into the
truck. “If you don't get out, I will drag your ass into the
school.”

For some reason, I believed
him. I sighed and got out of the truck. He slammed the door and I
flinched. I gripped my bag tighter then stopped. "Dammit!" I swore
as I pulled out my blood sugar tester. I put my bag down and took
my blood sugar. It was rather high. I placed my test back in my bag
and grabbed my insulin shot. I lifted my shirt a little and gave
myself the insulin shot. When I was finished, I put the safety cap
on and put it in a pocket on the side of my bag. When I looked up,
Havock and Jude were looking at me funny.

“What?” I asked as I
grabbed my bag again.

"What the hell did you just
give yourself?!" Jude asked while Havock gagged a
little.

"Weak stomach. Hates
needles. You should've seen him the day Red Cross came and he got
talked into giving blood.” Jude laughed.

"It's insulin. And I'll
remember not to do that in front of you again."

"What, lift your shirt? I'm
completely okay with that." Havock laughed.

I rolled my eyes then
headed off to class.

~~~

I stood in the bathroom
looking at myself in the mirror. Some bitch poured soda all down my
hoodie. I pulled it off and started trying to clean it up. I wiped
at the tears as they fell. Once I got all the soda out, I dried it
the best I could. I went out to my locker and opened it just as
Garret came over.

I hung the hoodie in my
locker. I was shivering. I was so cold. The building was freezing.
I grabbed my books without looking at him. I didn't want him to see
I had been crying.

He leaned against the
neighboring locker. He touched the hoodie and frowned. "What
happened?"

"Some girl poured soda on
me," I shrugged as I tried to show it was no big deal.

He lightly held my arm and
looked both ways before pulling me into the guys
bathroom.

A few guys at the urinals
covered their business with shocked looks.

Garrett laughed and pulled
me into a stall.

He took off his long
sleeved shirt and slipped it over my head. He opened his backpack
and grabbed a t-shirt and slipped it over his head.

"Work out clothes." He
smiled.

"Thank you," I said as I
gave him a small smile. "But why did you bring me in
here?"

"Dude! Get her out!" One of
the guys yelled.

Garrett laughed and opened
the stall. "I wasn't going to pull my shirt off in the middle of
the hall."

"Sorry," I whispered to the
guys as I hurried out of the bathroom. My face turned bright red as
I got back to my locker. I grabbed my stuff then looked at
Garrett.

"So, you gonna tell me who
did this to you?"

"It's no big deal." I
looked around. "I need to head to my last class." I had just
started to walk off when I stopped and looked at Garrett. "Could
you teach me how to drive?"

"Sure. Ride home with me
after school?"

I nodded then walked to my
last class.

HAVOCK

As the school day went on,
the shittier I felt. Jude said he heard the flu was going around
and even threw in an,
I told ya’
so,
about me not getting a flu shot. I
never got sick. Feeling bad was new to me. I leaned against my
truck and waited for Reese to come out of the school.

A half hour and four
cigarettes later, I started getting worried. I looked around the
parking lot and noticed Garrett's truck gone. I dialed his
number.

"Is Reese with you?" I
asked as I got in my truck and cranked it up so I could get the
heat going. Man, I felt like shit.

"Yeah. You sound pleasant.
What's up?"

"Sick. Tell her thanks for
making me wait." I hung up the phone and headed home.

When I got in the house, I
fell onto the couch. I didn't plan on leaving the couch for the
rest of my life. I'd die there. That's how bad I felt.

About half an hour later I
heard doors slam shut. Reese and Garrett walked into the
house.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell
you," she said quietly.

"Whatever," I
mumbled.

She sighed. "Do you need
anything?"

“Death.”

“Damn. That bad, lil bro?”
Garrett seemed concerned. I figured it was just a show for
Reese.

“Worse,” I
groaned.

"Well, I guess we could
continue the Clue game," Reese mumbled.

I wanted to laugh, but if I
did, I was risking throwing up from the movement. "Just make it
quick and not painful."

Reese smirked a little.
"I'll go do some research now," she said as she left the
room.

When I sat up, my stomach
churned. I hurried up the stares to the bathroom and made it to the
toilet just in time. After I was done, I shut the door and turned
on the shower.

I stayed in the shower
until the water ran cold and even stayed longer because the cold
water felt better than the warm.

I turned off the water and
grabbed a towel as I stepped out. I wrapped it around my waist and
put my dirty clothes in the hamper, I brushed my teeth then walked
out into the hall, running into Reese. My towel fell to the floor
and her eyes widened when she looked at me. That would have been
hilarious if I didn't feel so bad. I picked up my towel, wrapped it
back around my waist and went in my room without saying anything to
her.

I put on a pair of boxers
and climbed into bed. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I
heard a voice outside my door.

"Come in," I mumbled into
the pillow.

"I brought you some
medicine," Reese said as she came into the room.

“Did mom send you up
here?”

"No, she's not home yet,"
she said as she placed a cup of water on the table next to my
bed.
She felt my head. "You're burning up.
Here take this medicine. I promise it's not poison."

"Wouldn't care if it was.
It'd put me out of my misery." I took it then laid back
down.

She stood up and left the
room. It wasn't long and she was back. She put a cold washcloth on
my head.

"That should help some,"
she said, her fingers lingered on my skin a little before she
pulled back.

"Do you need anything
else?"

"Will you read me a bedtime
story, tuck me in, and turn on the nightlight?" I said, making my
eyes big and pouty like a toddler.

"I was just trying to help.
You don't have to be an ass," she said as tears filled her eyes.
She stood up and walked towards the door.

"Holy shit! Are you
seriously crying, princess? I was kidding. Damn, loosen
up."

She stopped walking for a
moment, but then walked out of the room shutting the door behind
her.

~~~

I woke up a few hours later
to a noise outside. I stood up and looked out the window. Reese was
bent over the engine of my truck, working on it.

I opened my window and
whistled. I was already feeling better. Must've been a short lived
bug, or maybe it was the nice view taking my mind off being sick.
She hit her head on the hood of my truck then turned and looked up.
She rubbed the back of her head then blushed.

I put the window down,
threw on a hoodie, pajama pants, and shoes. I went outside and
opened the door to get my cigarettes.

I sat in the passenger seat
with the door open and smoked while I watched her work.

"I didn't mean to wake
you," she said quietly as she continued to work.

"It's fine. I'm feeling a
lot better. But I have to ask, what the hell are you doing fixing
my truck at three in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep and I
thought since I made you run into a tree, I'd fix your
truck."

I laughed. "This thing has
always been a piece of shit."

"It's not a piece of shit.
It just needs some love." She shut the hood as she finished up,
looking up at the sky. "Well, see you in the morning."

I shut the door and hurried
after her. "Wait up." She stopped and waited for me.

I stepped in front of her.
"How do you know so much about vehicles? You don't seem like the
type."

"Dad told me that if I
could build a car he'd teach me how to drive. So I learned." She
looked down at her hands.

My head started pounding,
and I knew I needed to lie back down. I half grinned.

"Night, princess." I walked
inside and headed up to my room.

I laid down but falling
back to sleep wouldn't be happening. Dark eyes and long dark hair
consumed my mind. There was something mysterious about Reese that I
found undeniably attractive. As much as I'd like to tell myself to
stay away, I liked the idea of having something I shouldn't way too
much.

After being around her the
past two days, I realized she wasn’t crazy. She was
wounded.

I got up and sat down at my
desk. I picked up my pen and grabbed a piece of paper. It had been
a few months since I had wrote anything. I didn't have any
inspiration, but I think I found my muse.

I spent the next few hours
writing about dark hair and dark eyes. Her lips and her curves. I
painted her entire image with words. I pulled the curtain back as
the sun rose and looked outside to see the ground blanketed in a
sheet of snow. I knew today would be different somehow. I didn't
know if that was a good or a bad thing.