Collide: A Riverbend Novel (8 page)

"He's been known to pop
pills with girls in the bathroom, then they..." She shook her head.
"That's confidential. I can't believe I let that slip." She smacked
her forehead. "Why were you crying?" She asked, changing the
subject.

I shrugged. "I'm just tired
of being called a murderer."

Thoughts raced through my
head as what she said sunk in completely. I just couldn't wrap my
mind around what she let slip.
Havock,
what the hell were you in to?
I wondered as
I sat there.

She started writing
something down. "Who has been calling you a murderer?"

"Everyone but Havock,
Garrett and Jude," I said as I picked at my nails.

She set her pen down and
looked at me. "Is school too much for you? Do we need to get
someone to home school you?"

"I don't want to leave the
Satterly's," I said as I started to panic.

We had talked about
homeschooling before, and they had said I'd have to go to a special
place for that.

"So, you're willing to
tough it out here?"

I nodded as I grasped my
hands to keep them from shaking.

She nodded and wrote
something down.

"You're free to go. See you
in the morning. Oh and Reese?"

"Yes ma'am?" I asked after
I stood up and grabbed my bag.

"Havock's name suits him
well. Just be careful. And you didn't hear that from
me."

I nodded and opened the
door. I gave Havock a weak smile as I saw him standing there
waiting.

"You should be in class," I
said softly as we walked into the hall.

"She doesn't like me," he
said with a humored grin. "I heard what she said about my name.
She's right. I'm terrible." He laughed.

"I'm not much better. At
least you're not-" I stopped myself and shook my head. "Never
mind."

He stopped and leaned
against some lockers. "Not what?"

I looked at him and
shrugged. "I had to go see her because she heard we were popping
pills in the bathroom together."

"Oh." He chewed on his
bottom lip. "Well, do you want to?"

"No," I said firmly then
started walking again. He didn't understand. I didn't do that stuff
for fun. There's only one reason in mind to do that, and I didn't
want that right now.

He caught up with me. "I
was kidding."

I closed my eyes. "You
can't kid like that with me. Okay?" I begged as I looked at
him.

He held back laughter. He
nodded. "I'm going to smoke before my last class. Want to come with
me?"

I shook my head. "I'm
staying after school to finish my art project. Just so you know." I
tried not to be angry. He didn't know about the things I had done
or tried to do. There was no reason to be angry at him. I gave him
a weak smile then went to class.

~~~

I finished the last
painting, and it was dry. I'd just finished cleaning up my brushes
and area when Garrett came in. "Hey, I figured you'd be at home by
now."

He walked over to the sink
and wet a paper towel. He wiped my nose and cheek. "I stayed to
work out in the gym. And then one of the guys told me you were in
here, so I wanted to come see if you needed a ride home." He threw
the paper towel in the trash.

"Yes, thank you." I grabbed
my backpack slung it on then grabbed the four covered art pieces,
or tried to. "Mrs. Jacobs was going to drive me home, but it's out
of her way," I said still trying to balance everything.

He caught one of the
paintings before it fell. "Let me carry all that for you." He
laughed.

"Just don't look. And thank
you." After I said bye to Mrs. Jacobs, we headed to Garrett's
truck.

He placed the paintings
carefully in the back. He climbed in and started the truck. "Why
can't I look?"

He pulled out of the
parking lot and tugged on the bottom of my shirt for me to scoot to
the middle.

"Because." I smiled a
little as I moved over.

"I like surprises," he
smiled as he took my hand in his. "Can we drive around for a bit so
we can talk?"

"Sure," I said nervously.
"Am I in trouble?"

"No. I want to talk about
us..."

Us? I scrunched my eyebrows
at him. "Okay," I said as I waited to hear what he had to
say.

"I like you, Reese. And not
just as a friend. It's more than that for me."

I had no idea what to say.
I liked Garrett a lot, but I liked Havock too. I also knew nothing
could come of either of them. "You can't," I said as I removed my
hand. "They'd make me leave, Garrett."

"They won't
know."

"Who won't? Your parents,
brother, school counselor, teachers? I'm on watch by all of them."
I ran my hand through my hair. "You don't need to like me. I'm not
stable, Garrett."

"But I could be that
stability you need, Reese." He stopped the truck on the side of the
road. He looked at me as he touched the side of my face. "No-one
has to know. Not my parents, my brother, the teachers,
no-one."

A tear rolled down my
cheek. "I don't know. Part of me wants to say yes. Right now I
think there's just too much going on in my head."

"So, that's a
no?"

"It's a not right now or at
least let's just see where it goes. Could you do that? If not I
understand."

"I can do that." He smiled
and kissed my cheek softly. He held my hand the whole way home but
didn't say anything else.

I liked Garrett a lot. He
was stable which I desperately needed. And I really cared for him.
There was just something holding me back. Honestly, I don't know if
it was Havock, Garrett's parents, my issues, fear or a combination
of it all.

When we got home, everyone
was sitting at the table waiting for us.

"A phone call saying you'd
be late would've been nice," Johanna said as she cut her eyes at
Garrett.

We put down the covered
art. "It's my fault. I wanted to finish my paintings.
Sorry."

Havock scoffed, stuck his
earbuds in and started drumming his fingers on the table. Garrett
sat down and handed me a plate.

"Havock, take those things
out of your ears now," Mr. Rick said firmly.

Havock pulled out one.
"Better?"

His dad sighed heavily.
"Whatever."

Johanna started passing
food around. "So, we leave first thing Saturday morning to head to
the mountains! Denver is so pretty this time of year."

"Awesome," Garrett replied
with a smile.

"Yay," Havock said with
little excitement.

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!
Skiing is a blast." Mrs. Johanna smiled at Mr. Rick. "Isn't
it?"

"I like staying locked up
in our room better," Rick said with a wink.

Havock put his other earbud
back in when his mom giggled and smacked his dad's hand.

"Get that look of your
faces boys. How do you think you got here?"

Garrett choked on his
drink. "I'd rather not go there, dad."

I laughed.

Havock didn't hear a word.
He was busy eating and listening to his music.

I chewed on my lip
excitedly. "I've never been to the mountains," I said
excitedly.

"Oh, Sweetie, you'll have
the time of your life!" Mrs. Johanna smiled.

Havock heard that and
grinned. I didn't want to know what he was thinking.

My leg started bouncing. I
wanted to give them their gifts now. "May I give you guys
something?" I asked.

"Um sure," Johanna
nodded.

I jumped up excitedly and
grabbed Johanna's first. It was of all of them. It had several
pictures in one. Some of her and the boys now, some when they were
little, and some of her and Rick. I handed it to her and chewed on
my lip as I grabbed Rick's. It was a picture of him and the boys.
Half were him and Garrett playing football the other were him and
Havock working on the truck. Johanna covered her mouth as tears
filled her eyes.

"Oh, they're beautiful,"
she said as she ran her fingers over the picture. She turned it
around to show the guys.

Rick looked shocked. "This
was really kind of you. You're really talented, Reese."

"It's a Christmas gift. You
guys took me in and gave me a home when you didn't have to. It's my
way to say thank you." I smiled then looked at the boys. I grabbed
theirs.

Garret's had four pictures
in one. One of him and his brother. They're both laughing about who
knows what. One of him and his mom. One of him and his dad and the
one in the middle is of him leaning against his truck smiling. Both
dimples showing.

Havock's was the same as
Garret's except it was him leaning against his truck, his right
dimple showing and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Somebody's been snooping
in family albums," Havock teased.

I shrugged and
blushed.

"They're great!" Johanna
squealed. "Rick, you and the boys will be hanging these up as soon
as we're done eating." They all set their paintings down and
continued eating. Johanna talked about my talent the whole time we
ate.

"What college do you want
to go to?" She asked as she pushed her empty plate away.

"I don't know. I've never
thought about it."

"Garrett is going to
Florida State to play football," she said proudly.

"That's great!" I said as I
smiled. I scrunched my eyebrows together. I'd never thought about
college. Every time I had tried to bring it up to dad, he'd tell me
that I didn't need to go then changed the subject. "And what about
you, Havock? Have you picked a school?" I asked as I tried to get
my mind off of what I couldn't have.

"I don't plan on going. I
want to travel the world. Figure out what I want out of life before
I decide on a career."

His dad lowered his eyes at
him.

"Sounds logical if you
don't know exactly what you want out of life yet." I
smiled.

"What, that not what you
wanted to hear dad?" Havock laughed coldly.

His dad stood. "I'm going
to get the tools to hang up the pictures." He left the
table.

Johanna kept on smiling.
"Reese, help me clean up?"

I nodded and stood. I
grabbed the boys plates then headed to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," she
said as she washed and I dried.

"Don't apologize. Families
are supposed to fight, right?" I asked. A pain filled my heart as I
thought about the fact that the last words I said to dad had been
in anger.

"Yeah, I guess." She smiled
as she washed the last dish.

Rick came in with a hammer
and nails. "Show me where you want them."

I sat on the couch and
laughed as Rick and Johanna argued about where to put them. I
looked at Garret who was laughing. I held a book on my
lap.

"Garrett, where's Havock?"
Johanna asked as she pointed to a spot on the wall.

"He went outside
earlier."

I closed my book, giving up
reading. "Do you want me to go get him?"

"That'd be great. I want to
discuss our trip some more."

"Okie dokie." I hit Garrett
on the side with my foot then took off towards outside when he
tried to grab my foot. I looked around outside and spotted Havock.
"Hey your mom wants to discuss the trip," I said as I came over to
him. I chewed on my lip. "Did you actually like the picture? You're
honest enough you'll tell me."

He looked at me and smiled
a little. "Yes."

I smiled. "Okay, so
inside," I said as I motioned towards the house.