Connection (Le Garde) (31 page)

“
Bender, let’s go!” Jordan called.

We started another song. This one was pretty energetic, and Jordan nearly got out of control. I thought he was going to drop his guitar a few times, and the microphone stand did fall. I caught it before it hit the ground, glaring at Jordan.

After we finished the song, I took the mic from Jordan. “Thanks, guys. We’re Pinwheel!” I turned to Chandler. “Turn the music on.”

He nodded, his gaze on Jordan as he stood and walked over to the stereo.

“
Hey, man, we’re not done,” Jordan said.

“
We are for now,” I told him. “You’re going to break our stuff if we keep going.”

Jordan sneered at me. He started to play the next song we had on our set list at the same time Chandler put on his hip-hop playlist. I walked over to Jordan’s amp and turned it off. Chandler turned the music up, and I turned off Jordan’s microphone before he could start singing. He glared at me and threw his guitar down, the clatter making me wince. He stomped off into the crowd, toward Vickie.

“
You think he’s okay?” Wendy asked as she took off my bass.

I nodded and waved my hand. “He’s fine.” I took her hand. “You want to go talk to Anna and her friends?”

“
Sure,” she said with a shrug.

We got two Smirnoffs on the way over. Steven sat on a chair, his crutches propped against the arm. Anna, Sam, and Kaylie danced next to him. I nodded to him as we approached. “Hey, Steven,” I said, “have you met Wendy?”

“
I don’t think so,” Steven said. “Are you a sophomore?”

“
Yeah,” Wendy said.

“
You guys were great!” Anna said over the music. “Nice job, Wendy!”

We made small talk for a while, and Wendy even started dancing with the other girls. I sat on the armchair of Steven’s chair, nodding my head like I was awesome. We talked a little bit, mostly about his leg and school. The music was pretty loud, too, so conversation wasn’t that doable.

Jordan joined us, another beer in his hand. He grinned at Anna and didn’t even hide it when he checked out her low-cut green top. “Oh, Beauvais, you’re looking as good as ever.”

She glared at him, her disgust rolling off her in waves. I knew if Jordan felt that, he would have stepped off. But he definitely couldn’t, and he looped an arm around her shoulders.

She pushed him off. “Don’t touch me.” 

“
Come on, don’t be that way,” Jordan said. He took a step closer to her. I stood up, but Steven’s crutch impeded Jordan before I could. Jordan laughed. “Oh, wow, Mr. Lacrosse is stepping up to defend his girl.”

“
Lay off,” Steven said.

“
Maybe you missed it, but this is my friend’s house,” Jordan said, leaning toward Steven, “and I can do whatever the hell I want.”

I clenched my teeth. “Jordan, just leave us alone.”

Jordan straightened, his gaze fixing on me. “Really, Aaron? You’re back to defending this slut?”

I flexed my hands into fists.

“
Don’t you dare call her that,” Steven said, moving forward on his chair like he might stand up. Anna stepped forward, putting her hand on his shoulder, and he brushed her off. “You’re pathetic,” he told Jordan.

“
I’m pathetic?” Jordan asked. He shoved Steven in the shoulders, and he fell back into the back of the chair. Steven’s legs flailed for a second, and a gleeful, drunken laugh bubbled from Jordan’s lips.

“
Stop it,” I told Jordan, pushing him away from the chair.

Jordan shoved me, too, and I fell back into Anna. She caught me, her hand touching the skin of my arm, and a surge of power left us. The lights flickered out, the music stopped, and cries of surprise came from people around us. Anna’s hand found mine quickly. I could see the mapping of the house, and we sent out a current to right everything. The lights came back on, and the stereo sent its sound out again.

Steven looked at our clasped hands, then at me, and I let go of Anna. Right then, Jordan punched me across the face. I fell to the ground, my cheek throbbing.

“
What the hell, Jordan?” I asked, getting to my feet. My lip was bleeding.

“
You really want to do this? Let’s do it.”

“
Just cut it out!” 

“
No, listen to me.” Jordan poked me in the chest, getting in my face. His breath smelled like alcohol, and his words slurred together. “You either stick with me, and I can call Beauvais whatever I want, and I can push the cripple around, and you can shut up. Or you can fight me right now in front of everyone.”

Anna mentally told me not to walk away. The people around us stared, quiet. The bass reverberated through the basement, vibrating my body. I wasn’t walking away from this. I wasn’t going anywhere when Jordan was still spreading his lies about Anna.

Steven said something, but I couldn’t hear him over the music.

Jordan pushed me again, and I reacted so fast I hardly knew what I was doing. I hit him across the face. He fell back sluggishly, but I didn’t give him time to recover. I tackled him down, and the two of us hit to the ground hard. Jordan roared, finally coming to his senses, and we wrestled around. I knew if he got me on my back, he’d pummel me and the fight could be over in seconds.

I got him on his back, and my whole body was pulsing with anger. How were we still friends after everything he’d done? I punched him across the face once, twice, three times as he struggled and tried to grab my wrists. Someone grabbed me by the shoulders, hoisting me off of Jordan.

“
What the fuck, Aaron?” Jordan yelled. Blood covered his face from a bloody nose, and he was fighting against Chandler to go for me again.

“
Hey, break it up!” Chandler’s dad said, shaking me. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.” He dragged me up the steps, Jordan and Chandler behind me.

Chandler’s dad pushed me into a seat at the kitchen table and Jordan went to the sink. Wendy sat next to me and touched my face, examining my bloody lip. I felt Anna downstairs, worried about me, but too concerned with Steven to come up.

“
Jordan, you’re out of control,” Chandler’s dad said.

Jordan stopped splashing water over his face to glare at Chandler’s dad, who was holding out an ice pack. He grabbed it with force and pointed at me. “Look at my face, and look at his!”

“
You started the fight,” Wendy snapped.

“
Just cool off,” Chandler’s dad said before walking into the living room. He sat down at his desk, occasionally glancing over at us.

Vickie came upstairs and gasped when she saw Jordan. “What happened?” she asked, running to Jordan’s side.

“
You’re out of the band!” Jordan told me.

I glared at him. “Oh, really? What are you going to do without a bassist?”

“
You’re not the bassist anymore, Wendy is.”

“
I’m not staying in the band with you,” Wendy said, crossing her arms. “Besides, it’s his bass.”

Jordan huffed, shaking his head. “Well, screw you both.”

My shoulders slouched. I’d done so much for this band, but I was sick of Jordan. I glanced at Chandler, who was staring at the floor. “Half the equipment you guys use is mine,” I said.

“
We’ll replace it,” Jordan said.

“
You don’t even write music.” I rose my voice. “You should leave the band.”

“
You can’t sing!” Jordan started to walk toward me.

“
Jordan!” Chandler’s dad called.

Jordan ignored him. “We need to finish what we started downstairs—”

Chandler’s dad came in and shoved Jordan in the shoulder into one of the chairs across from me. “Do I need to kick you out of my house?” he asked.

Jordan glared up at him. “No.”

Chandler’s dad stared at him and finally backed away to the living room. Jordan turned to Chandler. “Chandler, who should stay?”

That wasn’t the question, though—it was who was Chandler going to choose. Chandler shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “Come on, guys. We don’t need to break up Pinwheel.”

“
He chose that bitch over me again and again!” Jordan said, raising his voice.

“
I’m not playing with him again,” I said with clenched fists. “We’re not friends anymore at all.”

Jordan shook his head. “You’re disgusting. What do you see in her? She doesn’t even put out.”

Vickie stared at Jordan. “What are you talking about? She sleeps with everyone.”

“
That’s what she wants everyone to think,” Jordan said.

“
That’s what
you
want everyone to think,” I said. I had a feeling I was going to hit him again, so I stood up. Chandler’s dad yelled at me, but I went into the living room. I sat on the couch. 

Wendy came in a moment later and sat down next to me. “Hey.”

I put my head down, burying my hands in my hair. “This is ridiculous.”

“
You guys are really good friends, aren’t you?”

Somehow I knew she was talking about Anna. “We’re more than that,” I whispered.

Wendy said nothing, and I finally looked up at her. She was staring at me. “What do you mean?” she finally said.

“
I.
 
.
 
.look, I’m sorry, Wendy.
 
.
 
.I like her. I’m in love with her.”

“
Oh.” Wendy leaned away from me.

I sighed. I was seriously the scum of the earth. “I’m so sorry. I never should have gone out with you. But I had a fun time and I didn’t want to ruin what we had. I thought maybe we could.
 
.
 
.you’re really cool, but I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop.
 
.
 
.feeling this way for her.”

Wendy didn’t respond. When I looked at her again, her eyes were shining with tears.

“
Wendy, I’m sorry,” I repeated.

She just shook her head. “It’s fine. I should have known.” She jumped to her feet.

I grabbed her wrist. “Wait, known what?”

She twisted out of my grasp. “That this was too good to be true.” She walked to the front door, a shuddering breath coming out of her as she left.

20. le libre arbitre (the freedom to choose)

Anna

I watched Aaron and Jordan go upstairs as I chewed on my lip. Wendy didn’t hesitate to go after them. I thought about it, but I turned toward Steven and sat on the arm of the chair. “You okay?” I asked.

“
I’m fine,” Steven said, glaring at Jordan before they disappeared upstairs.

Kaylie touched my shoulder. “He’s such a jerk.”

“
Aaron’s like the opposite,” Sam said, looking toward the stairs. She glanced at me, then away. “Whoever ends up with him will be lucky.”

“
I told you this was a bad idea,” Steven said.

I gritted my teeth and twirled a curl around my finger. “You didn’t have to come.”

Steven shot me a dirty look. “Oh, right, I guess you didn’t need me, since you have Aaron to rescue you.”

I let out a breath. “I’m not going to fight with you about this.”

“
We’re not fighting,” Steven said, crossing his arms.

I rolled my eyes at Kaylie and Sam, even though they probably couldn’t hear our conversation over the music. I tried to relax, dancing again with Sam and Kaylie, but I felt Aaron upstairs. He was upset about something—I couldn’t tell whether it was about Jordan or Wendy or both. After a few minutes, I went upstairs to check on him. At the top of the steps I walked into the kitchen. Chandler, Jordan, and Vickie sat at the table, and they stopped talking when I walked in.

“
Oh, look who it is,” Jordan said. His nose was bruising, as well as his right eye. Blood was on the collar of his shirt, but he’d mostly gotten it off of his face except for a small cut in his right cheekbone. He stood and swayed on the spot. Vickie leaned back instead of steadying him.

I tried to walk by, but Jordan grabbed my arm and pulled me to him.

“
You’re just a tease,” he said. The alcohol on his breath nearly made me gag.

I shoved him away, and he stumbled on his own feet. He fell flat on his butt. I almost laughed, but I was more disgusted.

“
Jordan!” Chandler’s dad grabbed the back of Jordan’s shirt and pulled him to his feet. “Get out of my house.”

“
Oh, Mr. Gallagher—” Jordan began.

“
Chandler, take him home before I call the cops,” Chandler’s dad said, tossing Chandler some keys. “And come straight home.”