Scream
[Part 1] Ch. 10 - Why The Tears?
"Andy didn't lose Red," L.K said, facing her father in the hallway just below the stairs. Christian was holding his briefcase in one hand, his jacket was slung over his other arm.
"If he didn't lose the horse, then who did? You?" He lifted a skeptical brow.
"Yeah," she said with a sigh. Fidgeting, she added, "I, um, was made because no one was letting me ride my horse and so the other night I snuck him out of his stall, rode out by the old mill pond, got thrown again and lost Red. Andy found me, sent me home on another horse--the buckskin he'd ridden--and started looking for Red." She'd spoken quickly, trying to get the story out, afraid that her father, in his fury, would fire Andy and she couldn't let that happen. He couldn't take the fall for her mistake. "I know it was stupid to go behind your back," she said, sincerely repentant, "but jeez, Dad, I was tired of waiting around."
"You wouldn't be trying to protect him, would you?" he asked, frowning slightly, and L.K wished she could wipe her sweaty palms on her back pockets.
"Why would I do that?" Her heart was pounding with the truth, that she loved Andy Biersack, and though she wasn't lying this time, she would lie for him. Somehow, she managed to keep her face impassive.
"I don't know. Your mother seems to think you have some kind of fascination with the boy."
"He's just hired help, isn't he?" L.K replied, knowing that she had to keep her secret safe and hating the superior tone in her voice. Andy was more than the hired help. Much, much more.
"Hired help you don't mind hanging around." Abi, who seemed to have heard the conversation on the landing, breezed down the stairs in a short white skirt, wide belt and scooped-neck top. Cocking her head to one side, she fastened her second gold hoop earring.
"He takes care of my horse," L.K said nervously.
"Mmmm, right." Abi sent her sister a knowing smile. She reached into her purse for a pair of sunglasses, and L.K tried not to notice how her father seemed to light up whenever Abi was near, how his face relaxed the same way he did whenever he knelt before statues of the Virgin in church.
Standing on her tiptoes, Abi brushed his cheek with her lips.
"Where're you going?" he asked.
"Kaya and I are driving to Los Angeles. Shopping for something to wear for the barbecue " Abi replied, flashing a grin. "Have credit cards, will travel."
Christian laughed, a deep comfortable laugh.
"Want to come along, L.K? You could use something new."
"No, thanks."
Abi's eyes skated down her sister's tight skinny jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt. "You can't go to the barbecue looking like a hippie."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a formal barbecue and I know that's weird, but Judge Scodelario, he's a little strange. He likes to do things his way and we all know that his party isn't a place to go in your skinny jeans and tie-dye shirt."
"Which is stupid."
"Maybe, but that's the way it is."
"Look, I'm not interested anyway," L.K said, wishing she could avoid going altogether.
Abi's lips puckered in disdain. "Okay. Whatever. You can't say I didn't try." Then she was off, her white sandals slapping the cool floor, a cloud of Chanel No. 5 wafting her wake.
L.K didn't want to think about the Scodelarios' barbecue because it would be torture, sheer torture, watching Andy hold Abi in his arms.
The fire was straight from Hell.
Flames crackled.
Fire raged, burning and breathing, a living thing fed by a dark, malevolent wind.
Evil existed just behind the ring of fire, an unseen force that watched with cruel, hungry eyes.
Eva's heart pounded painfully. She felt the blast of heat, blistering against her skin, as she watched the flames burn ever upward, consuming whatever they came in contact with and separating her from her sons.
"Ashley!" she yelled in a voice that was muted by the raging firestorm.
"Andy!" she tried again, but to no avail. Her vocal chords were stilled, scared to the point that no words would pass her lips.
Panicked, she knew her boys were trapped inside the wall of flame that they could not escape.
And it was all because of the evil presence that was forever creeping after them. She watched the wall of fire grow ever upward, a flaming, immense mountain that roared and breathed, and she knew in her heart that her sons were doomed.
This was their funeral pyre.
Fire and water.
Just as she'd seen the water rushing over her young son the day that Joey had been caught in the stream, she now saw the ghostly inferno that would destroy Andy and Ashley.
In her mind's eye, she saw pain and death. Black smoke that reeked of burning flesh
billowed to the heavens, and she began to cough.
"No, no, no . . . please no," she whispered aloud.
Fire and water.
"Ma, what is it?"
Ashley was beside her suddenly, shaking her awake, his blue eyes bright with concern. She'd nearly fallen asleep on the couch when the vision had slammed through her brain. Startled, she blinked herself awake but couldn't erase the image of death that lingered, like the foul breath of a demon.
"You can't go to this party," she said solemnly.
Ashley's concern gave way to anger. All the muscles in his face turned hard. "We've already been over this. I'm going-"
"And I'm serious. You and Andy, you must not go." She shook her head violently. "No way. There's too much danger. I won't hear any more of it." But her forbidding tone didn't seem to make any difference, and Ashley's chin only tightened in stubborn defiance. So like his father. The resemblance was frightening.
"Don't start pulling any of this crap, Ma. I've wanted to go to this for years and finally someone asked me. So I'm not letting Mary Kate Springer off the hook." He offered her the hint of a smile--the grin that always broke her heart. "Besides, I'm too old for you to boss around."
"You're going with the reverend's daughter?" Eva's insides dissolved.
"Just because she's related to old Bartholomew--"
"Oh, Lord, Ashley. Even Abigail Bale is a better choice than that Springer girl."
"But I didn't have a pick now, did I?" he said impatiently. "And don't give me any garbage about Abi. I know how you feel about her. You don't want Andy to have anything to do with her."
"Of course I don't. But Mary Kate is the reverend's daughter, and no matter how much he pretends to be a man of God, Ashley, he's evil, do you hear me? Evil."
"I'm going, Ma, it's important. I needed an invitation and Mary Kate was charitable to offer one." His voice was sarcastic, like acid. "Besides, I can meet a few people who might help my career; senior partners of law firms who might be looking for a law student or an intern to work in their offices. Believe it or not, I'm not going to spend my life working for old man Bale and kissing his ass like everyone else in this town."
She decided against wringing her hands but shook her head. Trouble. Big trouble. Mary Kate Springer and Abi Bale. Again the mountain of fire flashed through her mind.
"I can't believe Betty allowed her to go with you."
"The woman's a dishrag. Does whatever her husband says."
"Okay. So why is he allowing his daughter to date you?"
"For crying out loud, Ma. Am I so bad?" He chuckled.
"Of course not," she said proudly. "You're the best."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem."
"I can only hope." But her voice belied her confidence.
"Hey, don't be such a prophet of gloom and doom. This might just prove to be the best night of my life. Look--" He walked to the room he shared with Andy and brought a tuxedo wrapped in plastic back to the couch. "This is the big time, Ma. So quit pouting and wish me good luck."
"I do, son," she said. "But the vision . . ."
His eyes clouded, but Eva would have none of his disdain for her predictions. Curling her fingers around his forearms, she held on tightly as possible, her fingernails biting into his skin like snake fangs, the tuxedo quivering in its plastic sheath as he held onto the hanger. "Listen to me, Ashley. Do not mock me. Did I not see the water, just before Joey--"
"I don't want to hear any of this mumbo jumbo, Ma." He jerked away from her then, straightening and pinning her a vicious glare. "You're starting to sound crazy again,."
"I speak only the truth."
"Oh, for Christ's sake. You make predictions, Ma. Half of the time you're wrong. Most people think you're a nutcase."
"Do you?"
"I don't know," he said, honestly evident in his features. "I don't want to."
"Then trust me, Ashley. This tragedy will happen."
"Unless I give up the opportunity of a lifetime."
"Yes."
"God, help us!" He hung the tuxedo on the drapery rod and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Eva understood his feelings. He'd been taunted for years, called the son of a crazy woman who couldn't keep her husband or accused of being a mama's boy to a woman who was considered at the very least mentally incompetent, at the worst a sayer of evil. Ashley had found the dead cat hanging over the mailbox and he'd buried it himself, hiding his tears as he kicked the shovel to the ground. No doubt he wondered how he'd been so unlucky to have been born to such a strange woman.
Sighing loudly, she pushed herself onto her feet. She understood why he envied the people with money, those who didn't have to struggle as he had for years, helping put food on the table. He'd have a paper route when he was only seven, graduated to a busboy when he wasn't legally old enough to work but was willing to lie about his age just to make a little more cash.
Eventually he'd start working in the same mill his father had worked, but that wasn't enough for Ashley. He seemed to survive on less than three house sleep while putting eight- or ten-hour shifts. He managed to get straight A's, earn himself a couple of scholarships and now was nearly finished with his undergraduate studies. He planned to go to law school winter term.
She was proud of him, her firstborn, and she understood that he'd sacrificed everything, his pride, his social life, and his dignity, just to better himself. It had taken him extra years to graduate because of his devotion to her, and she felt a little jab of guilt at that. It was time he settled down with a nice girl, started his own family, lived his own life.
He sat glumly at the table and even she, with her knowledge of the future, couldn't deny him a little bit of happiness. "Just be careful tomorrow night," she said as she stopped at the sink, turned on the faucet and let the small stream of water fill a glass.
"Is the boogeyman coming to get me?" he mocked.
"I hope not." She stared out of the small window and bit her lower lip. "I hope to God that I'm wrong."
"What about Andy? Him, too?" He didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice.
"One of you or both. I can't tell which."
Ashley swore underneath his breath. "Ma--"
Knowing his argument before he uttered the hideous words, she held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not going to any psychologist. They cost a lot of money and usually have more problems than their patients."
"They're trained professionals."
She rested a hip against the sink and took a sip of the water from her glass. "They should be coming to me for advice," she said.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're stubborn?"
"Just a sassy, know-it-all son who thinks he's gonna be some hotshot lawyer."
One side of Ashley's mouth lifted. Lord, he was handsome when he smiled. "I don't think, Ma. I know."
"So do I, son," she replied, pride welling up inside her. "So do I."
Andy put his Harley through its paces, listening to the engine whine long and loud before he switched gears. The wind tore at his hair, screamed past his ears, and he hunched low, leaning into each corner, watching the countryside flashing past in a blur.
He'd managed to dodge Alex ever since their fight, but it wouldn't last. No doubt he'd run into him at the damned barbecue and Andy would be with Abi. That should set her older brother off as well as her old man. Jimmy and Adam, too, would see red. Come Monday he wouldn't have a job and there was a good chance he'd be sporting a broken nose.
However, the thought of Jimmy and Adam trying to beat the piss out of him made him smile.
Let 'em try.
But what about L.K?
He gritted his teeth. She was a problem. A kid. Jail bait Didn't even have much a body. But she got to him. In the worst way. Not only was she slim and athletic (RL: She's curvy and O.O HOLY DJFDF), her small butt round, her waist tiny, but she was smart, too, and had an irreverent wild streak that appealed to him. Squinting against the wind, he wished he'd never touched her, never kissed her, 'cause now he wanted her. Bad. And he respected her enough to keep his hands to himself. She deserved better than he had to offer.
As for Abi, well, she was a different story . . . she was begging for it. Why, he didn't know. He didn't trust her, she was one of those manipulative women who could turn a man's thinking around, and he wasn't going to fall for it. But it was damned hard not to take what she so willingly offered. She, too, was beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous with a body that wouldn't quit. Trouble was, she knew it.
Well, he wasn't one for planning the future--he left all the worry to his brother. He'd just go to the damned party for a little while, then he'd leave.
But not before having one dance with Lindsay Koljun Bale. Screw the fact that she was just a kid. He had promised himself that he was going to hold her in his arms for, at least, one time and the devil could take care of the rest of the night.
In the hallway near Abi's room, L.K heard the soft sobs, muffled by a quilt and a door.
She knocked softly.
"Go 'way!" Abi said, sniffing loudly.
"What's wrong?" L.K couldn't imagine why her older sister, the girl with everything, would cry.
"Just leave me alone."
L.K hesitated, took a calming breath of air and twisted on Abi's doorknob. It didn't budge. "Come on, Abi, let me in," L.K said.
"Would you just go away! Oh, God, why me? Wait a minute, will ya?" A minute later the door opened and Abi stood barefoot in her bathrobe, one hip thrown out, her face drawn in irritation. "What'd ya want?" Her eyes were rimmed red, her face flushed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"But you've been crying--"
"Oh, for the love of God!" She opened the door a crack, pulled on L.K's arm and shut the door firmly behind her. "I have not been crying!"
"I heard you."
"Just allergies--" Abi grabbed a Kleenex from her vanity and dabbed her eyes.
"No way."
Sighing, Abi walked to the window, arms crossed over her waist. "It's nothing."
"Sure."
"Just my time of the month, you know how that is. And tomorrow's the barbecue and all.
I'm just nervous."
"Why?"
"Because the shit hit the fan, okay?" She sniffed defiantly. "Martina and Dad found out that I asked Andy to take me to the Scodelarios and they both hit the roof--told me I couldn't go with him. So much for Dad championing the little people. As far as I'm concerned, his philanthropy is all for show. Big talk; no action. A crock of shit."
"Oh." L.K, despite her sister's misery, felt her heart leap with joy that Andy wouldn't be able to escort Abi. "That's--that's too bad."
"Is it?" Abi turned and her eyes filled with tears again. "I've see you around him, Lindsay. You're half in love with him yourself."
L.K gasped. "No, I'm--"
"Save it for someone who'll believe it." Sniffing loudly she blinked back the tears and thrust her chin forward defiantly. "Doesn't matter," she said, squaring her shoulders. "It doesn't matter how you feel or what Martina and Dad think, because I'm going to the barbecue with Andy."
"They'll kill you!"
"I don't think so." A darkness slid across her eyes and L.K felt a premonition of doom. Abi swallowed hard and fresh tears sprang back in her eyes. "You see, L.K, I really don't have much of a choice." She sounded bitter--so bitter. "Andy and I--" She lifted trembling fingers to her temple and rubbed, as if trying to ease a headache out of her skull.
"Andy and you what?" L.K asked, her voice sounding far away, her heart beating in desperation as the seconds ticked by, and Abi fought a losing battle with her tears.
Clearing her throat, she managed a weak smile as she stared straight into her sister's eyes, but her eyes wavered to other objects from time to time. "Andy and I are going to get married."
"If he didn't lose the horse, then who did? You?" He lifted a skeptical brow.
"Yeah," she said with a sigh. Fidgeting, she added, "I, um, was made because no one was letting me ride my horse and so the other night I snuck him out of his stall, rode out by the old mill pond, got thrown again and lost Red. Andy found me, sent me home on another horse--the buckskin he'd ridden--and started looking for Red." She'd spoken quickly, trying to get the story out, afraid that her father, in his fury, would fire Andy and she couldn't let that happen. He couldn't take the fall for her mistake. "I know it was stupid to go behind your back," she said, sincerely repentant, "but jeez, Dad, I was tired of waiting around."
"You wouldn't be trying to protect him, would you?" he asked, frowning slightly, and L.K wished she could wipe her sweaty palms on her back pockets.
"Why would I do that?" Her heart was pounding with the truth, that she loved Andy Biersack, and though she wasn't lying this time, she would lie for him. Somehow, she managed to keep her face impassive.
"I don't know. Your mother seems to think you have some kind of fascination with the boy."
"He's just hired help, isn't he?" L.K replied, knowing that she had to keep her secret safe and hating the superior tone in her voice. Andy was more than the hired help. Much, much more.
"Hired help you don't mind hanging around." Abi, who seemed to have heard the conversation on the landing, breezed down the stairs in a short white skirt, wide belt and scooped-neck top. Cocking her head to one side, she fastened her second gold hoop earring.
"He takes care of my horse," L.K said nervously.
"Mmmm, right." Abi sent her sister a knowing smile. She reached into her purse for a pair of sunglasses, and L.K tried not to notice how her father seemed to light up whenever Abi was near, how his face relaxed the same way he did whenever he knelt before statues of the Virgin in church.
Standing on her tiptoes, Abi brushed his cheek with her lips.
"Where're you going?" he asked.
"Kaya and I are driving to Los Angeles. Shopping for something to wear for the barbecue " Abi replied, flashing a grin. "Have credit cards, will travel."
Christian laughed, a deep comfortable laugh.
"Want to come along, L.K? You could use something new."
"No, thanks."
Abi's eyes skated down her sister's tight skinny jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt. "You can't go to the barbecue looking like a hippie."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a formal barbecue and I know that's weird, but Judge Scodelario, he's a little strange. He likes to do things his way and we all know that his party isn't a place to go in your skinny jeans and tie-dye shirt."
"Which is stupid."
"Maybe, but that's the way it is."
"Look, I'm not interested anyway," L.K said, wishing she could avoid going altogether.
Abi's lips puckered in disdain. "Okay. Whatever. You can't say I didn't try." Then she was off, her white sandals slapping the cool floor, a cloud of Chanel No. 5 wafting her wake.
L.K didn't want to think about the Scodelarios' barbecue because it would be torture, sheer torture, watching Andy hold Abi in his arms.
The fire was straight from Hell.
Flames crackled.
Fire raged, burning and breathing, a living thing fed by a dark, malevolent wind.
Evil existed just behind the ring of fire, an unseen force that watched with cruel, hungry eyes.
Eva's heart pounded painfully. She felt the blast of heat, blistering against her skin, as she watched the flames burn ever upward, consuming whatever they came in contact with and separating her from her sons.
"Ashley!" she yelled in a voice that was muted by the raging firestorm.
"Andy!" she tried again, but to no avail. Her vocal chords were stilled, scared to the point that no words would pass her lips.
Panicked, she knew her boys were trapped inside the wall of flame that they could not escape.
And it was all because of the evil presence that was forever creeping after them. She watched the wall of fire grow ever upward, a flaming, immense mountain that roared and breathed, and she knew in her heart that her sons were doomed.
This was their funeral pyre.
Fire and water.
Just as she'd seen the water rushing over her young son the day that Joey had been caught in the stream, she now saw the ghostly inferno that would destroy Andy and Ashley.
In her mind's eye, she saw pain and death. Black smoke that reeked of burning flesh
billowed to the heavens, and she began to cough.
"No, no, no . . . please no," she whispered aloud.
Fire and water.
"Ma, what is it?"
Ashley was beside her suddenly, shaking her awake, his blue eyes bright with concern. She'd nearly fallen asleep on the couch when the vision had slammed through her brain. Startled, she blinked herself awake but couldn't erase the image of death that lingered, like the foul breath of a demon.
"You can't go to this party," she said solemnly.
Ashley's concern gave way to anger. All the muscles in his face turned hard. "We've already been over this. I'm going-"
"And I'm serious. You and Andy, you must not go." She shook her head violently. "No way. There's too much danger. I won't hear any more of it." But her forbidding tone didn't seem to make any difference, and Ashley's chin only tightened in stubborn defiance. So like his father. The resemblance was frightening.
"Don't start pulling any of this crap, Ma. I've wanted to go to this for years and finally someone asked me. So I'm not letting Mary Kate Springer off the hook." He offered her the hint of a smile--the grin that always broke her heart. "Besides, I'm too old for you to boss around."
"You're going with the reverend's daughter?" Eva's insides dissolved.
"Just because she's related to old Bartholomew--"
"Oh, Lord, Ashley. Even Abigail Bale is a better choice than that Springer girl."
"But I didn't have a pick now, did I?" he said impatiently. "And don't give me any garbage about Abi. I know how you feel about her. You don't want Andy to have anything to do with her."
"Of course I don't. But Mary Kate is the reverend's daughter, and no matter how much he pretends to be a man of God, Ashley, he's evil, do you hear me? Evil."
"I'm going, Ma, it's important. I needed an invitation and Mary Kate was charitable to offer one." His voice was sarcastic, like acid. "Besides, I can meet a few people who might help my career; senior partners of law firms who might be looking for a law student or an intern to work in their offices. Believe it or not, I'm not going to spend my life working for old man Bale and kissing his ass like everyone else in this town."
She decided against wringing her hands but shook her head. Trouble. Big trouble. Mary Kate Springer and Abi Bale. Again the mountain of fire flashed through her mind.
"I can't believe Betty allowed her to go with you."
"The woman's a dishrag. Does whatever her husband says."
"Okay. So why is he allowing his daughter to date you?"
"For crying out loud, Ma. Am I so bad?" He chuckled.
"Of course not," she said proudly. "You're the best."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem."
"I can only hope." But her voice belied her confidence.
"Hey, don't be such a prophet of gloom and doom. This might just prove to be the best night of my life. Look--" He walked to the room he shared with Andy and brought a tuxedo wrapped in plastic back to the couch. "This is the big time, Ma. So quit pouting and wish me good luck."
"I do, son," she said. "But the vision . . ."
His eyes clouded, but Eva would have none of his disdain for her predictions. Curling her fingers around his forearms, she held on tightly as possible, her fingernails biting into his skin like snake fangs, the tuxedo quivering in its plastic sheath as he held onto the hanger. "Listen to me, Ashley. Do not mock me. Did I not see the water, just before Joey--"
"I don't want to hear any of this mumbo jumbo, Ma." He jerked away from her then, straightening and pinning her a vicious glare. "You're starting to sound crazy again,."
"I speak only the truth."
"Oh, for Christ's sake. You make predictions, Ma. Half of the time you're wrong. Most people think you're a nutcase."
"Do you?"
"I don't know," he said, honestly evident in his features. "I don't want to."
"Then trust me, Ashley. This tragedy will happen."
"Unless I give up the opportunity of a lifetime."
"Yes."
"God, help us!" He hung the tuxedo on the drapery rod and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Eva understood his feelings. He'd been taunted for years, called the son of a crazy woman who couldn't keep her husband or accused of being a mama's boy to a woman who was considered at the very least mentally incompetent, at the worst a sayer of evil. Ashley had found the dead cat hanging over the mailbox and he'd buried it himself, hiding his tears as he kicked the shovel to the ground. No doubt he wondered how he'd been so unlucky to have been born to such a strange woman.
Sighing loudly, she pushed herself onto her feet. She understood why he envied the people with money, those who didn't have to struggle as he had for years, helping put food on the table. He'd have a paper route when he was only seven, graduated to a busboy when he wasn't legally old enough to work but was willing to lie about his age just to make a little more cash.
Eventually he'd start working in the same mill his father had worked, but that wasn't enough for Ashley. He seemed to survive on less than three house sleep while putting eight- or ten-hour shifts. He managed to get straight A's, earn himself a couple of scholarships and now was nearly finished with his undergraduate studies. He planned to go to law school winter term.
She was proud of him, her firstborn, and she understood that he'd sacrificed everything, his pride, his social life, and his dignity, just to better himself. It had taken him extra years to graduate because of his devotion to her, and she felt a little jab of guilt at that. It was time he settled down with a nice girl, started his own family, lived his own life.
He sat glumly at the table and even she, with her knowledge of the future, couldn't deny him a little bit of happiness. "Just be careful tomorrow night," she said as she stopped at the sink, turned on the faucet and let the small stream of water fill a glass.
"Is the boogeyman coming to get me?" he mocked.
"I hope not." She stared out of the small window and bit her lower lip. "I hope to God that I'm wrong."
"What about Andy? Him, too?" He didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice.
"One of you or both. I can't tell which."
Ashley swore underneath his breath. "Ma--"
Knowing his argument before he uttered the hideous words, she held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not going to any psychologist. They cost a lot of money and usually have more problems than their patients."
"They're trained professionals."
She rested a hip against the sink and took a sip of the water from her glass. "They should be coming to me for advice," she said.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're stubborn?"
"Just a sassy, know-it-all son who thinks he's gonna be some hotshot lawyer."
One side of Ashley's mouth lifted. Lord, he was handsome when he smiled. "I don't think, Ma. I know."
"So do I, son," she replied, pride welling up inside her. "So do I."
Andy put his Harley through its paces, listening to the engine whine long and loud before he switched gears. The wind tore at his hair, screamed past his ears, and he hunched low, leaning into each corner, watching the countryside flashing past in a blur.
He'd managed to dodge Alex ever since their fight, but it wouldn't last. No doubt he'd run into him at the damned barbecue and Andy would be with Abi. That should set her older brother off as well as her old man. Jimmy and Adam, too, would see red. Come Monday he wouldn't have a job and there was a good chance he'd be sporting a broken nose.
However, the thought of Jimmy and Adam trying to beat the piss out of him made him smile.
Let 'em try.
But what about L.K?
He gritted his teeth. She was a problem. A kid. Jail bait Didn't even have much a body. But she got to him. In the worst way. Not only was she slim and athletic (RL: She's curvy and O.O HOLY DJFDF), her small butt round, her waist tiny, but she was smart, too, and had an irreverent wild streak that appealed to him. Squinting against the wind, he wished he'd never touched her, never kissed her, 'cause now he wanted her. Bad. And he respected her enough to keep his hands to himself. She deserved better than he had to offer.
As for Abi, well, she was a different story . . . she was begging for it. Why, he didn't know. He didn't trust her, she was one of those manipulative women who could turn a man's thinking around, and he wasn't going to fall for it. But it was damned hard not to take what she so willingly offered. She, too, was beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous with a body that wouldn't quit. Trouble was, she knew it.
Well, he wasn't one for planning the future--he left all the worry to his brother. He'd just go to the damned party for a little while, then he'd leave.
But not before having one dance with Lindsay Koljun Bale. Screw the fact that she was just a kid. He had promised himself that he was going to hold her in his arms for, at least, one time and the devil could take care of the rest of the night.
In the hallway near Abi's room, L.K heard the soft sobs, muffled by a quilt and a door.
She knocked softly.
"Go 'way!" Abi said, sniffing loudly.
"What's wrong?" L.K couldn't imagine why her older sister, the girl with everything, would cry.
"Just leave me alone."
L.K hesitated, took a calming breath of air and twisted on Abi's doorknob. It didn't budge. "Come on, Abi, let me in," L.K said.
"Would you just go away! Oh, God, why me? Wait a minute, will ya?" A minute later the door opened and Abi stood barefoot in her bathrobe, one hip thrown out, her face drawn in irritation. "What'd ya want?" Her eyes were rimmed red, her face flushed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"But you've been crying--"
"Oh, for the love of God!" She opened the door a crack, pulled on L.K's arm and shut the door firmly behind her. "I have not been crying!"
"I heard you."
"Just allergies--" Abi grabbed a Kleenex from her vanity and dabbed her eyes.
"No way."
Sighing, Abi walked to the window, arms crossed over her waist. "It's nothing."
"Sure."
"Just my time of the month, you know how that is. And tomorrow's the barbecue and all.
I'm just nervous."
"Why?"
"Because the shit hit the fan, okay?" She sniffed defiantly. "Martina and Dad found out that I asked Andy to take me to the Scodelarios and they both hit the roof--told me I couldn't go with him. So much for Dad championing the little people. As far as I'm concerned, his philanthropy is all for show. Big talk; no action. A crock of shit."
"Oh." L.K, despite her sister's misery, felt her heart leap with joy that Andy wouldn't be able to escort Abi. "That's--that's too bad."
"Is it?" Abi turned and her eyes filled with tears again. "I've see you around him, Lindsay. You're half in love with him yourself."
L.K gasped. "No, I'm--"
"Save it for someone who'll believe it." Sniffing loudly she blinked back the tears and thrust her chin forward defiantly. "Doesn't matter," she said, squaring her shoulders. "It doesn't matter how you feel or what Martina and Dad think, because I'm going to the barbecue with Andy."
"They'll kill you!"
"I don't think so." A darkness slid across her eyes and L.K felt a premonition of doom. Abi swallowed hard and fresh tears sprang back in her eyes. "You see, L.K, I really don't have much of a choice." She sounded bitter--so bitter. "Andy and I--" She lifted trembling fingers to her temple and rubbed, as if trying to ease a headache out of her skull.
"Andy and you what?" L.K asked, her voice sounding far away, her heart beating in desperation as the seconds ticked by, and Abi fought a losing battle with her tears.
Clearing her throat, she managed a weak smile as she stared straight into her sister's eyes, but her eyes wavered to other objects from time to time. "Andy and I are going to get married."
:(
8/11/17