The Original Crowd (21 page)

Huh—I needed to remember that one.

“Oh please,” Mandy parroted furiously. “How much does it hurt, Jasmine? Knowing that you’re the girl the guys go to second. You’re just second class,” she finished scathingly.

Yep. Mandy needed no help here.

Carter shifted next to me. “Hey,” he said, “you going to stop this?”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked, confused. “This is great. I finally get to watch this stuff.”

“Mandy will not be happy that you let her go off like this. You know it, Taryn.”

Mandy continued, “That’s because all you really are is white-trash. You look like it, you smell like it, you sound like it, and you sure as hell—act like it. Just saying it how it is.”

I’d missed whatever Jasmine had said before.

This was good. Really good. Mandy needed to do this. Really. If anything, this would help Mandy get back to her old fighting, bitching—popular—social elite self.

I can’t believe I just thought that was a good thing.

“Really,” Jasmine said in a voice that dripped acid, “if anyone is white trash, it’d be you. I mean…you have the first rate poster child for it right in your own home.”

Now I interjected.

“You really want to go there?” I drawled, stepping into the circle, pinning Jasmine down with a glare.

She shut up.

“Go on,” I said smoothly, stepping back.

Mandy glared and opened her mouth, delivering another round of insults. I patted Carter on the shoulder and murmured, “She’s all yours.”

I moved back through the crowd and found Tray at the kegs—where else would he be?

He’d been watching me as I weaved through the crowd.

Most of the people had moved inside, more interested in catching the latest shake-down than waiting in line for more beer.

“Everything okay,” Tray stated. ,

“She’s good,” I murmured, moving closer.

“And you.”

“I’m good too.” And I was, probably because I wasn’t as drunk. I did not like being out of control or stupid. Not when so many people wanted to kick me while I’m down.

Tray was watching me evenly.

“You,” I stated.

“I’m always good.” He grinned arrogantly.

I wanted him.

Seeing it, his eyes widened a bit. It must’ve been blatant because he grabbed my hand and swept me into the pool-house.

Locking the main door, he locked the bedroom door.

Our mouths met and clung to each other. I raked my hands through his hair, groaning in frustration. I couldn’t get enough of him. Wrapping my arms around him, I felt him lift me and my legs wrapped around his waist. He turned and pressed me against the door.

I gasped, arching up against him as his lips trailed down my throat and neck.

Suddenly, we were on the bed and both of us were blindly pulling at our clothes. A second later, Tray was sliding in, pushing deep and I could only hold on. It was rough, deep, and the best sex I’ve ever had.

Groaning, Tray pulled out of me. We’d gone another round before we heard pounding at the door.

Seriously?

“What?” Tray yelled angrily.

“Collins and Helms are going at it,” Grant said timidly. He knew full well what he was interrupting.

“For the—,” he cursed. “Go and break it up.”

“We got another situation.”

“What?”

“Um…Mandy’s locked herself in your parent’s bedroom. She won’t let anyone in.”

I let out a deep breath of air then started getting dressed. I called out, “I’ll be there in a little bit.”

Tray yawned widely, grabbing for his clothes.

“Hey,” I murmured a little uncertainly, “um…thanks for before. You know, with Gentley’s crew.”

He shrugged. “It’s not like the first time Pedlam’s come here and stirred up shit. Gentley’s usually harmless, at least with me, but he’s got it in him to be nasty, and he had that look tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Plus, I didn’t like how he was looking at you,” Tray murmured, leaving the room.

That surprised me. Neither of us had made any comment about…well…about us. The most we had even acknowledged is that we were screwing around—that was it. There were no emotional ties that went with a relationship, but his statement hinted at one—slightly. Then again, Tray was particularly cautious about anyone who didn’t live in Rawley. He considered Rawley his and from I’ve seen—it was.

Which still made me wonder how he’d accomplished that.

Gentley didn’t own Pedlam. He might run the school now, but he didn’t run the town. Jace ran everything else. And, I guess, Brian was trying to get some of that action. But Gentley never wanted to go against Jace. For one, Crispin was just a high school student. Jace had graduated a couple years back, but Jace got a world-class criminal education.

And Jace was just intelligent as hell. Gentley was not. Neither was Brian. They couldn’t match him.

But Tray.

Tray was different. He ran a different game, and I hadn’t figured it out yet. Not that I was actively trying to figure out his secrets. I really was trying to get out and live my life.

Which reminded me…Mandy.

It was much later in the night, but the party was still going strong. A lot of people were sitting outside at the patio tables, enjoying the night’s warmness. There was a slight breeze in the wind.

I grinned at Trent, seeing him at a table with Sasha on his lap. He flashed a smile at me before commenting to someone at the table they were sitting sat at. Amber was there too, with Bryce. Justin Travers was glaring at Trent, which—of course—didn’t even faze Trent.

Devon and Jasmine were there, wrapped around each other. Huh, guess the couple decided to go public.

Slipping through the hallway, I circled to the stairs and climbed upwards.

The place was just huge, which said a lot because it was currently crawling with people. I could just imagine it without people in every inch.

I spotted a large double door at the end of the hallway. They looked extravagant, so I figured I might’ve gotten the right room.

Plus, Honey was outside the door, speaking into it, “Can I get you anything, Mandy?”

No answer.

I moved to her side.

“Hey.” She looked up, standing up from kneeling. “She’s been in there for a while now. She won’t talk to anyone.”

“Where’s Carter?”

Honey shrugged, her wheat blonde hair falling off her shoulders. “I have no idea. Bit came and got me before. She went to see if Evans has any pizza. It’s worth a try, right?”

I grinned at their names. They’d kept using them.

I was struck by the sincerity in her voice. She was really nice. Like, actual nice. Not fake nice. Or trying to gain something nice.

“Mandy likes Canadian bacon and pineapple. If he doesn’t have any, you could just order. I’ll pay you back,” I offered.

“It’s worth a try.” Honey grinned shyly.

“What?” I asked, dumbly.

“I just thought it was hilarious. Jasmine’s about to go off on you and you just step in, cool. She backs off. It was priceless. I know it made my night.” She giggled softly.

So others felt the same way I did about Jasmine and her previous reign at Rawley.

“Mandy,” I knocked, “let me in.”

We heard sniffling a second later—Mandy must’ve gotten closer to the door—because she murmured, “Go back and have fun, Taryn. I’m just crying right now. I need some time alone.”

Okay, I was much more comfortable verbally sparring with someone than comforting someone. Being soothing? Nurturing? So not my forte. But I knew this is what Mandy needed and it was a skill that I eventually need to develop, sometime in my life.

“Mandy,” I said softly, “Grant came and got me so that means he was worried. I’m betting there’s a lot of people who are concerned. So let me in so I can do my sisterly-duty.”

“Taryn, seriously. Just go away.” She sniffed. Honey and I shared a look. Mandy wasn’t fooling us. Mandy needed attention and comfort twenty-four/seven.

Mandy was not a loner. No way in hell.

“Mandy, either let me in or I’ll break in. Your choice,” I said sweetly, rocking back on my heels.

Honey’s eyes went wide at my words, and even wider when the door opened a second later—revealing Mandy, swamped in a terry-cloth robe, her eyes swollen and puffy.

She took one look at me and I saw the break down. I moved in and wrapped my arms around her.

“Hey, hey,” I murmured softly, “it’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” she sobbed, clinging to me. “It’s not okay. It’s over. Me and Dev…we’re over.”

Oh. Understanding finally dawned on me. Mandy got through this past week because she thought she’d get back together with Devon at some point. She was allowed a little revenge fun and then…her and Devon would be okay again.

Okay. I could do this…I think.

I turned to Honey and gestured for her to shut the door. Which she did, with her on the inside, with us.

I was not the girl for this.

Honey must’ve seen my discomfort because she shifted to sit on the bed with us. She placed a hand to Mandy’s shoulder and murmured, “He was yours.”

Was that really helping?

Mandy sobbed harder.

Honey continued softly, “But that chapter has to close.”

Mandy kept crying.

“For you and him. It’s a new chapter. And you’ll have someone who’ll enter your chapter. But you have to let that last page end. Finish your chapter with Devon.”

Wow. This was even making sense to me. Brian and I had an entire set of books between the two of us. Maybe I needed to figure out where my new chapters were—with Pedlam friends, Geezer and Grayley, and with my new life. Shit—maybe Tray even needed to be included.

No. Not yet.

Honey was still murmuring to Mandy, “He was yours.”

Mandy turned to hug her instead. Honey wrapped her arms around her and propping her chin on Mandy’s shoulder, she whispered, “Four years. You guys were a part of each other. And now…he’s not a part of you anymore. It’s okay to not be okay with that. She won’t replace you. No matter what. She can’t go back to those four years and take your place. Those four years were yours.”

God. That’s what I’d been doing. I was so focused on moving forward, cutting all my ties—I’d just now started mending those with Grayley and Geezer again. But…a part of my identity had been with Brian.

And I’d been floundering because I hadn’t even realized it. That a part of me was missing. Or that I needed to figure out who I was again.

I realized my hands were fisting the bedcovers. I was trying to restrain myself to stay there. But every instinct I had in me was screaming for me to get the hell out of there. Just—run and hide.

Yeah. I confronted. I confronted when it was a battle that had to be done. But this stuff—this feeling stuff—I always ran the opposite way.

So I was forcefully keeping myself there. Anyway I could.

Mandy needed me. She, at least, needed my presence there.

So I stayed.

And I felt my insides tearing as I listened to Mandy’s suffering.

*

I was still really uncomfortable, but I hung in there. Mandy had cried—sobbed really—for most of the night. Honey had stayed with her. I’d laid back on the bed, content to say a few words every now and then. But Honey had done most of the heavy-lifting. Bit had even been granted access. At one point she helped Honey out and—of course—Mandy had cried even harder.

I’d persevered.

I probably aged a good twenty years because of it. But I stayed.

“What time is it?” Mandy asked, hoarsely.

“It’s, like, four in the morning,” Bit replied, sighing happily.

“Four in the morning?” Mandy gasped, sitting up. “I can’t believe it’s that late.”

“Just tell Mom and Dad what you always tell ‘em.” I suggested tiredly. Mandy usually told ‘em she’d crash at a girlfriend’s. She didn’t want them to be worried about her driving late at night. It always worked.

“Well, I know…and I already did. But still—we spent almost the entire party in here.”

“Tray had three kegs. And I’m pretty sure they were carrying in a fourth one when I came up here,” I murmured, yawning.

It was the best timing because we heard a knock at the door. A second later, Amber stuck her head in. “Hey.” She grinned, cautiously, at Mandy. Her eyes skimmed over Honey, Bit, and myself, but they lingered on Mandy. “Can I come in?”

Mandy took a deep breath and nodded. Soothing her hair back, she said, “Thanks, guys. I’ll be…I’ll be okay.”

I studied Amber intently, trying to figure out if she had intent to harm or foul.

Mandy sighed. “Taryn, leave her alone.”

So I did and followed behind Honey and Bit outside the door.

They were sharing a look when I closed the door behind me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Bit spit out, sounding irritated.

“What?”

“It’s just…this is how it always is.”

“What do you mean?” Seriously. I was clueless.

“They always get into a fight and one of them spends the entire party crying, locked in a room. We pick up the pieces—”

“Lori,” Honey interrupted hastily, looking at me uncomfortably.

“No,” Bit—Lori—cried out. “It’s so unfair. And then one of them shows up, after the party’s almost over, and tomorrow it’ll be like nothing ever happened. They’ll all be giddy and—”

Ah. Now I got it. These two girls were nice, but the problem is that they were too nice. They were social-climbers, just like Stephanie’s wannabes

I could, kind of, sympathize. Bit liked Bryce. I knew that, I could tell from the card game. And Honey—she was just nice and almost—too wholesome. These girls didn’t have enough bitch in them to climb that last rung on the ladder.

So they were nice to whichever ‘it’ girl was down and out. They were kind of—like Band-Aids. They were there to cover the wound, but the ‘it’ girl needed to show up to make things
really
alright. These two didn’t cut it, because…they weren’t one of the social elite.

I was pissed off at myself because I was feeling sympathy for these two—because they couldn’t get popular.

How trivial and annoying is that.

So, I said flatly, “Try being mean.”

“What?” Bit asked, confused. I’d checked out of their conversation a few seconds ago.

I shrugged, moving down the hallway. “You’re too nice. Be mean.”

I caught sight of Tray outside. He was sitting at the table with the rest. Trent was there with Sasha on his lap—still. I think the girl had to have a new lap to sit on whenever she sat down. She was probably worried her own would get bruised or flattened.

I know it’s irrational, but I didn’t like her. I could think whatever I wanted.

Jasmine and Devon had left. Thank God.

I caught Tray’s eyes for a second. His were unreadable, but I veered to his pool-house where I curled up in his bed, slipping underneath the covers. A second later I was asleep.

Blissfully.

I woke up later and checked the time. It was ten in the morning. I had a good six hours of sleep. Rolling over, I saw Tray asleep beside me, his head was turned my way and he had one hand on my leg.

How had I not noticed that?

I tried to get up without waking him to no avail. Tray’s eyes opened to small slits when he saw me moving across him.

He grabbed me and pulled me on top of him. “Hey.” He nuzzled my neck.

“Hi,” I whispered, inhaling his scent. The guy smelled good, even after a night of drinking. How screwed up is that?

“Where are you going?”

“Shower, breakfast, and then home.” I listed my destinations off.

“Okay.” He yawned, letting me go.