Page 11 of Please Don’t Go (The Midnight Strike #1)
JOSEFINE
I suck in a sharp breath, and then another one, doing my best to tether the frustration bubbling inside me.
I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to teach Daniel how to swim. I saw the discomfort that crossed his eyes, his pulse ricochet against his neck, and how his lips strained into a smile.
It’s obvious he didn’t want to do it, and the moment I noticed his hesitation, I shouldn’t have pushed. But I did and now I’m angry at myself, not at him.
Angry because I told myself not to overanalyze his unmistakable trepidation. I should’ve listened to the voice in my head to drop it, but I didn’t. All because I kept replaying his stupid boyish grin in my head and his words.
Something about them just made me feel…a little warm.
It was an odd feeling, something I hadn’t felt before, but the warmth didn’t last long because a few hours ago he texted me.
Daniel: I’m sorry but I have too much going on and won’t be able to commit. I don’t want to waste your time
There’s nothing wrong about what he said.
I’m glad he told me. I’m just annoyed at myself for agreeing to begin with.
I don’t change my rules, but for him I did.
How stupid. Who would willingly want to spend time with me?
Why did I think Daniel of all people would want to?
I should’ve known better but no, I had to learn the hard way, again.
At least now, I don’t have to be with him more than I need to.
Walking down the cobblestone walkway, I shift my focus on the quaint fairy-tale town. This coastal town looks like it came out of a book. With its cottages, the beach right next to you, and the incredible views.
But as pretty and calm as it is, I don’t know if I’ll keep living here. This place holds too many memories that I wish I could forget. Once I get my degree and sell Mom’s house, I’m leaving. I’m not sure where I’ll go, but it doesn’t matter as long as I’m far away from here.
I wouldn’t even be here, but since that night Daniel intervened, I haven’t been able to bring myself to end it.
Maybe it’s a punishment from Mom. If she were here right now, I know she’d reprimand me for attempting to take the easy way out. She’d tell me her exit from this world wasn’t easy, so why should mine be?
My chest constricts painfully, but the tightness dissolves once I stand in front of Coastal Swim and Surf. Shaking the thoughts of her away, I enter and stand in front of the register.
“Hey, how can I help you?” The employee greets me with a professional smile.
“I need to return these items.” I set the foam kickboard and goggles on the counter.
I didn’t have a board big enough for Daniel. All the kids I teach are between the ages of three and ten, and they’re all half the size of Daniel. So I knew I needed to get him something bigger and I always get all my new clients goggles.
“Was something wrong with them?” the lady asks.
“No, I just won’t need them anymore.”
She nods and once she’s done, I walk out of the store and head back the way I came.
I contemplate grabbing something to eat since I’m in town, but I decide against it. I think I still have a frozen meal in my freezer.
I don’t make it very far before I hear familiar voices behind me. “Josie!”
Spinning, I find Pen and Vi beaming at me, bags hanging from their hands.
“Where the hell have you been?” Pen is the first to say.
I stare at her, puzzled. “Here?”
“We know that. She means, why haven’t you answered your phone?” Vi questions. “We’re going to a party tonight. You need to come with us.”
I grab my phone from my back pocket and realize I forgot to charge it again. “It’s dead and I don’t do parties.”
I’m awkward as hell. I get too hot, too claustrophobic, and I’ve been ditched too many times to ever want to go again.
“You have to come, please,” Pen begs, lacing her fingers together, placing them under her chin and pouting. “I promise you’ll have a lot of fun and there’s a pool. I swear it’s clean- ish .”
“Heavy on the ish but you don’t have to get in the pool if you don’t want to. Just come with us,” Vi insists.
“No, I really don’t?—”
Vi scoffs, pinning me with a look that holds me in place. “It’s Friday night. Unless you’re going to another party or hooking up with someone we don’t know about, you’re coming with us.”
It’s been a few months since I last hooked up with someone. It was mediocre at best or maybe it’s my fault because everything in me has died. After that night, I swore I was done. It was pointless when I couldn’t feel anything.
“I’m not, but I really don’t do parties.” I shrug.
“What are your plans for tonight?” Vi cocks a brow, folding her arms against her chest.
“A frozen meal and cleaning my house.” My homework is already done.
They both blow raspberries.
“You’re coming with us and that’s final,” Vi adamantly states, leaving no room for discussion.
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel nice that someone actually wants me around.
“Okay, I’ll need to go home and change.”
“Yay!” They perk up, their smiles lifting again.
“We’ll send you the outfits we’re wearing and we’ll pick you up in forty minutes or so,” Pen lists, already pulling her phone out and typing away. “Oh, and Danny will be there. I hear you guys have a class together and are hiking buddies?”
“Yeah, but not by choice.” I want to ask her what all he said to her or anyone else, but I don’t. I’m sure if he had told her about the cliff, she would’ve said something, right?
Pen softly chuckles. “I promise he’s not that bad. He’s sweet and very single.” She wiggles her brows, giving me a knowing grin.
“Not interested,” I quickly supply.
Her grin only grows, but she doesn’t comment on it.
Once they’re done, we go our separate ways. A voice in my head tells me I’m not ready to leave the house and be around other people, but another is fighting against it, screaming that it’s time I live.
I just wish I could figure out how to do that.
The streets are packed and the house is overflowing with people. The music is blaring loud enough you can hear it a block down. I’m surprised the cops haven’t been called, and for a moment, I worry about it. The last thing I want is to get arrested.
“The houses had been vacant, but someone bought them and now they rent them out to students,” Vi explains as if she could read my thoughts. “Trust, I wouldn’t be here if that were the case. The last thing I need is to lose my scholarship.”
I nod, folding my arms across my chest, regretting not wearing anything other than a green bikini top, linen mini skirt, and my white high-tops.
Despite living in California, the weather gets cooler around here at night.
Though I know wearing a sweater or something thicker would’ve been pointless; it’s a pool party, after all.
I’ve been to a few parties, so I know how hot the houses get.
“I love that green on you.” Pen runs her eyes down the length of my body and lingers on my chest. The mesh bikini top has different shades of green—some dark, light, and bright. “Vi, you did a fantastic job on the makeup.”
The girls insisted I do a little more than just mascara and lip gloss. I have nothing against it. I used to wear it, but all my makeup expired, and I never cared to replace it.
But Pen came prepared. She brought her makeup bag just in case I needed something. And because we’re the same skin tone, it worked out. Vi told me to sit, and I didn’t argue. In no time, she was done and when I looked in the mirror, a thick shard of glass lodged itself in the middle of my throat.
It wasn’t only because I felt pretty, which I hadn’t felt in a while, but it reminded me of a picture of Mom when she was my age.
I swallow hard, pushing past the discomfort.
“I feel like Edward,” I joke but it comes off so dry, I wince realizing that may have come off rude, but Vi snorts and hums the beginning of “Eyes on Fire” by Blue Foundation.
The girls burst out into fits of giggles, and my lips twitch.
I’m flooded with relief, the nerves that had quickly built up disappearing.
In Vi’s defense, she was going for Euphoria vibes and she nailed that. Our skins are sparkly from the body spray Pen brought, and our eyelids are shinier than a disco ball.
“Hey, I’m all for it. Who knows, I might have a biting kink.” Vi winks at me, voice louder as we enter the house. “Let’s go to the kitchen for drinks!” she shouts, interlocking hands with Pen, and Pen interlocks her hand with mine.
She does it so casually, as if it’s something we’ve always done, it catches me off guard. I almost tug my hand away at the instinctual reaction that I have about people touching me.
I know I’m thinking too much into something so simple but it really…threw me off.
We squeeze past the crowd, taking every inch of space in the living room. I don’t make it a few feet in before I get hot, I’m elbowed, and I’m hit in the head with a beach ball.
Pen peers over her shoulder, smiling at me, and squeezes my hand before she looks forward again.
“Ladies!” We’re greeted by a guy with a slight deep Southern twang, sparkling green eyes, unruly light brown hair, and a well-maintained mustache.
His lips stretch into a wide smile, gracing us with the whitest and straightest pair of teeth I’ve ever seen.
He and a few girls stand behind a table, two large glass dispensers filled to the top with some kind of punch.
One is filled with blue liquid and the other with red liquid.
There are also tons of alcoholic beverages and chasers that litter the table. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite Garcia.”
“I better be.” Pen beams teasingly. “Grayson, these are my friends, Vienna and Josie. Girls, this is Gray. Don’t let his pretty face and abs fool you. He has a thing for being nice and forgetting your name.”