Page 11

Ashland

The day after the tornado was a wreck. If Koda hadn’t brought his Jeep, we never would have made it out. The roof was torn off of some of the cabins, and there was stuff overturned everywhere. Koda finally took the hint and didn’t try to talk to me. I wore my headphones to make a point, even though they’ve been broken for ages. I’m appreciative that he helped me with Penny and didn’t ask any questions. I’m sure it was just to boost his savior complex or some sort of ingrained chivalry. Either way, he was helpful, but the minutes in that closet with him were too real. He barely spoke, but he looked at me like I’m a puzzle, and he’s trying to figure out where the pieces go. That’s not what we’re doing here.

The next Thursday, class with Alexi is almost unbearable. He’s chattering away about how excited he is that we’re all going to our bar. His excitement reminds me of Penny, and it makes me that much more annoyed because it’s rubbing off on me. We’ve all been so busy recently that we haven’t gone to happy hour. This will be the first one in a few weeks. It’s not that Penny, Cole, and I don’t see each other. We do all of the time, but Happy Hour is sacred and now Alexi is going to be at it. Since Penny and Vale are back on again he’ll probably be there, too.

Immediately after class I head home to decompress and take a fucking nap on the couch. I haven’t been out all hours of the night drinking anymore, but I’m still not sleeping and it’s taking a toll. I wake up to Cole lightly scratching my back, telling me it’s time to get up. I fucking hate when he touches me, but I put on a brave face and say “Hmm?” instead.

“Is she up?” I hear Penny shout down the hallway.

“Yeah.” Cole smirks. “Pissed cause I did the back scratching thing.”

So he fucking knows I hate that.

“Well.” Penny’s voice gets closer. “She’d better get over it and get up because they’ll be here any minute.”

I groan in my groggy state. “What? Who?”

“Your favorite. Alexi.” Cole grins, offering me his hand. I slap it, which makes him laugh.

“Vale is coming, too. I don’t want to hear it. Oh, and Koda,” Penny continues.

“I’m sorry. What?” I sputter, fully fucking awake.

“Yeah, turns out he and Alexi are actually brothers. They were adopted.” Penny digs through the freezer and places alcohol onto the counter.

I don’t bother saying shit before I stalk off to my room and slam the door. What are the chances that I could get out of this? I check my phone on the charger, and I have a text from someone I renamed Micropenis.

Excited to see me?

Ugh. I go get in the shower, letting it get nice and steamy before I step in. I can hear the sound of people coming through the front door. When Vale arrives his whiny voice digs into my brain. I stay in the shower until the water gets cold, and with a big sigh, I finally step out. I take my time getting dressed. When I check the clock only ten fucking minutes have passed. That’s what I get for having a shitty water heater.

Cole knocks on my door. I can tell by the way the rap is so gentle. It’s repulsive.

“One sec!” I call out, falling face down onto my bed. My phone buzzes. Fucking Micropenis again.

Get out here before I come get you.

That actually makes me laugh. If he comes in here I will stab him fifty times in a row. Everyone knows the rule. Do not come into my room. Penny is the only one who is allowed in here.

I send him a picture of my middle finger with my tongue sticking out. Let him get that.

I unplug my phone and unwillingly leave the room. The voices down the hallway are loud and laughing. Cole is waiting, leaned against the wall in the hallway. “Hey, you good? I know it’s a lot.”

“Stop asking how I’m doing,” I snap.

He’s standing there in a red tee and blue jeans with a bottle of tequila in his hand. He silently motions to the studio, and we sneak in. Cole must be in some sort of mood if he’s trying to pre-game the pre-game.

“What’s the occasion?” I whisper, wincing when I take a sip.

He shrugs. “Nothing. It’s a weird group. I’m a little anxious.”

“You?” I gasp. “Is it because you’ve got a big man crush on Alexi.”

“Shut up.” He laughs, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I just feel out of my league.”

“Join the club.”

“That’s different.” He takes another swig. “You make yourself different, and people are still magnetized to you. I have to work to make people like me.”

I sit down on the futon and think about what he says. “You’re nice. People like nice.”

“You don’t like nice,” he points out.

I glance down at the bottle in my hands. “I don’t like anything, Cole.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m just your friend because I do shit for you.”

My face would be burning bright red if we weren’t sitting here secretly drinking by lamp light.

“That’s a great plus, but no. That’s not why we’re friends. You’ve always accepted Penny and I exactly as we are. We like having you around. I’m sorry I made you feel like that.”

“It’s fine.” He takes a swig from the bottle.

“Cole?”

“Yeah?” His brown eyes meet mine, and I can’t read them.

“Why are we drinking in the studio?”

“Don’t be mad.”

I take a deep breath. “Why would I be mad?”

He gives me a sheepish smile. “I invited Ava. So I guess what I’m really trying to get at is that you can’t be pulling the shit you normally do tonight. No reckless flirting. No hanging on me. For God’s sake, do not call her Stacy.”

Now all of it is making sense.

“I am so far from mad!” I squeal. “I swear, I will not tell Ava she has a great rack. I can’t promise that I won’t embarrass you, though.”

“You’re really okay with it?”

“Yes! This makes the Alexi and Koda situation worth it. Actually, now I can bug the shit out of them so they’ll never come with us again.” I give Cole a menacing grin.

“Alright.” Cole laughs, the dimples in his cheeks popping out. “We’re gonna meet her at the bar.”

“What the hell are we waiting for?” I shove him out, snatching the bottle from his hands.

We head into the kitchen and everyone is standing around. Vale is on some long winded explanation about something I don’t care about, per usual. I see he brought his own bottle of wine, and I have to hide my laughter. Alexi looks calm, cool, and collected as Vale speaks. I wonder what’s going on in his mind. Dark eyes glare at me from across the counter. Oh, this is going to be so much fun.

Penny’s eyes drop to the bottle of tequila in my hand. “What have you done, Cole?”

“She threatened me,” he lies.

“Told him I’d call his mom.”

Cole rolls his eyes. “You’re going to try to do that anyways.”

I realize Koda isn’t glaring at me. He’s looking beside me. I loop my arm through Cole’s, and he accepts it easily. Once we get to the bar I’ll avoid him like the plague, but it won’t take that long to send Koda into a spiral by the looks of it.

“Ashy!” Alexi uses the opportunity to escape Vale. “Is that how I sound to you?” he asks out of the corner of his mouth.

“Oh no,” I whisper. “Vale is infinitely worse.”

He rocks back onto his heels. “Got it.”

“We should probably get going,” Cole reminds us, using his bicep to escort me.

The humidity is heavy in the night air. Thirsty Thursday is already in full swing. Alexi is talking to Cole about football. I can feel Koda’s eyes burning into my back. I pull a blunt out of my pocket and light it, taking deep puffs, and drop back a few paces. I know Cole doesn’t mind weed, but with the whole Ava thing he really shouldn’t show up smelling like marijuana.

Someone snatches the blunt and throws it onto the sidewalk, stomping it out.

“What the fuck?” I spin around, staring straight up at Koda.

“It’s bad for you.”

Everyone is already twenty feet in front of us. I’m losing my lifelines quickly.

“Good thing I come prepared.” I pull out another, holding eye contact while I light it.

He’s about to say something when Cole calls back to us. “Hurry up, Ash. Once Bear is gone you know Jake won’t let us in.”

“What is he talking about?” Koda’s eyes flick to Cole, who looks uneasy.

I blow smoke into his face. At some point it'll make him snap. “Guess you’ll find out.”

I skip off, passing Alexi and Cole. I hand Penny the blunt and she takes a deep puff, handing it over to Vale, and we rotate. Vale is somewhat tolerable when he’s stoned. Maybe it’s because I’m stoned.

“How do you always have the best weed?” his voice rasps with the smoke, blowing rings into the air like a show off.

“Top secret security clearance,” I giggle. Vale and I both dislike each other, but every now and then he acts like a real person.

The tattoo shop looms ahead. While the shop is on the upper level, there’s a stairwell that leads to a basement where the bar is. We finish up smoking before heading in the door. I slide down the railing and flail off.

“You’re gonna break an arm someday, and we are not going to be liable,” Bear warns from his position by the door.

I throw my arms around him. “Bear, you beautiful strong man, you.”

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, begrudgingly hugging me back. “Do you have some ID, Bradshaw?”

“My beautiful smile.” I bat my eyelashes. “And some weed?”

He sighs and holds his hand out. I place a baggie in it, and he shoves it into his pocket. “I only do this because you’re so fucking annoying when you stand out here and check IDs with me.”

“You know you love me,” I sing song.

“Cole.” Bear nods. “Penny.”

“Hey,” they greet him in tandem.

“ID?” he asks Vale. He knows I hate Vale, and it’s even funnier to watch Vale get flustered.

He pulls out his wallet and shoves his ID into Bear’s face. “I’ll have you know that in most countries the legal limit is eighteen years of age.”

“If it weren’t for Penny I wouldn’t let you in at all,” Bear growls. Vale shuts up at that and saunters in behind Penny and Cole.

Koda and Alexi both pull out their wallets.

“Alexi Daemon and Koda Armory? Are they here with you?” Bear asks.

“If I say no do they have to leave?”

Bear checks out their birthdays. “Daemon gets a pass for last weeks game, and Armory is twenty-one. So he’s allowed to be here.”

“The Universe hates me.” I cross my arms and scrunch up my face.

Alexi winks at me as he heads inside, and Koda has a smug fucking look on his face.

“What are you doing hanging out with football players? Isn’t that practically against your religion?” Bear asks.

“I didn’t say it was by choice.”

“I mean the quarterback? Really moving up in the world.”

“Alexi is the running back. Ugh, I hate that I know that,” I grumble.

“Not Daemon.” Bear drops his voice. “Koda Armory. He’s the captain of the football team. Led them to a Championship last year.”

Koda is the fucking quarterback? This is so much worse than I could have imagined. I figured out that he was on the football team at the Weekender, but the team captain? I want to deck myself in the face. Of course I had sex with the king of football assholes.

“Can you get tickets?” Bear interrupts my thoughts.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking serious.”

“Ask them yourself.” I huff, shoving past him into the bar.

Penny and the others are sliding into a booth where Ava is sitting next to Cole. They’re cute together. He hangs on every word she says before getting up to get her a drink.

“You’re not twenty-one.” If I hadn’t smelled him when I stepped through the door I would have jumped.

“You’re on the football team.”

He laughs. “You’re saying that like you had no idea.”

I shake my head no slowly. A fucking football player, both of them. I don’t know how Alexi ended up grouped with a bunch of narcissistic assholes, but I refuse to believe he is one of them. He might be annoying, but he isn’t a dick.

“Jesus, Ashland, you really didn’t? I thought you were bullshitting that you don't know who we are.” Koda looks shocked.

“Uh, no. I don’t watch. Football is pointless.”

“This is a football school,” Koda snorts.

“No.” I shake my head adamantly. “It has one of the best art programs in the country.”

“You’re not an art major,” he points out.

I glare. “Penny is.”

“So you came here just because Penny did?” It sounds pathetic when he puts it like that.

“She wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t.” Is that true, though? It definitely felt like it at the time. I didn’t want to go anywhere but away. She pushed me to apply and told me it would be the beginning of our lives. She showed me enough college movies to convince me that it would be a good idea, even if it was for the stories. Did I do this for her, or did she do this for me? No, we did this with each other.

“What did I say?”

“Huh?”

“I said something that upset you.”

“Don’t pretend you give a shit what I’m thinking, Koda. You want to fuck me, and we can do that. It doesn’t require talking.” I push my way to the bar and order a drink, gulping it down before I get another.

I glance over to the table where everyone is gathered, and my mind runs. Penny looks so comfortable there with Cole, Ava, and Vale. I’m getting the awful feeling that I’ve somehow been holding her back. If I go over there I’ll end up running my mouth and fucking up their night. I’m about to dip when Alexi and Koda both slide up to the bar, trapping me between them.

“What are you drinkin’, Ashy?” Alexi smiles.

“Tequila.”

“So we’re really going to take Thirsty Thursday all the way, then?”

“If you’re too much of a wuss you’re welcome to grab a mojito or whatever you losers drink.”

“Don’t you dare talk shit about mojitos.” Alexi gasps, putting his hand to his chest.

Koda rolls his eyes. “When we were in high school he spent an entire cruise flirting with drunk soccer moms and getting them to feed him mojitos. He’s never gotten over it.” It’s the first time he’s ever said something normal to me. Not that soccer moms giving an underage boy mojitos is normal.

“Can’t relate. Never been on a cruise.” I sip my drink.

“You’ve never been on a cruise?” Alexi’s jaw drops. “That’s, like, the easiest summer vacation ever. Your parents don’t have to watch you, and you can run around and get into trouble. Seems like it would be your scene.”

“Sounds like something rich people do.”

“Right.” Alexi quiets. “Well, what did you do for family vacations then?”

“This is supposed to be happy hour,” I point out.

“You can’t tell me that you don’t have one good vacation memory.”

“Okay, fine. One time my mom’s dealer took me to a theme park on my birthday.”

Alexi looks like he regrets asking. “Got it.”

“What theme park?” Koda asks.

“I’m sorry, what?” I turn to him, bewildered.

“Koda,” Alexi admonishes him.

“What theme park? On a scale of Disney to Holiday World, where did you go?”

I’m not used to people talking after I’ve made them uncomfortable. They usually fucking drop it. “Six Flags.”

“Did he buy you one of those souvenir cups?”

I run my tongue along my bottom teeth. “Yes.”

Alexi glares at Koda. “I’m sorry about my brother. He’s a dick.”

“She’s the one who said it.” He shrugs. “I’m just engaging like you asked me to.”

It’s the first time I’ve thought Koda might actually be kind of funny in an underhanded way. He’s also not the kind of person to get uncomfortable because something isn’t pretty. I look him over. A layer of his collected persona peels back momentarily, exposing the humanity underneath.

Alexi changes the subject. “So what’s Vale’s deal?”

“He’s an architecture major. Wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps to prove himself or something. He’s also a dick.” I laugh.

“I thought he’d never shut the fuck up.”

“Should I call him over here and ask him about his trip to Dubai last summer?”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Bradshaw.”

Penny sees the three of us standing there, and she waves us over.

“What’s the probability that we can pretend we don’t see them?” Alexi asks.

“Zero. If we don’t go there, she’ll come here and bring Vale with her. Looks like he has Ava stuck in a conversation, so now is as good as ever.” I sigh. “I’m gonna get another drink. I’ll be there in a second.”

Alexi salutes me, making his way over to them.

“I didn’t realize Cole had a girlfriend,” Koda says, leaning next to me.

“You’re still here?”

“I mean, he lets you use him like a doormat. What does she think of that?”

“Ava isn’t his girlfriend, but she wants to be.”

“But he’s in love with you. He’ll never date her.”

“I dunno. Seems like it’s going well to me.” Cole has his arm around Ava as she leans into him.

“So you know he’s in love with you?” Koda raises his eyebrow in question.

Alexi forces his way into the booth with Penny and Vale, squishing Vale between them, which makes me laugh. He shoots me a wink before shoving a little more, which just makes Vale purse his lips.

“Where’s Stacy? Shouldn’t she be on her knees right about now?”

“I’d prefer you.” He’s moved closer. Koda is intimidatingly tall, and he knows it. What he doesn’t understand is that I’ve been short my entire life. I’ve had much scarier men than him standing over me.

“How kind of you, but I’ll be refusing your offer. Don’t want herpes.”

“And you’re clean?”

“Unlike you, I know how to wrap it.”

“I didn’t.”

“Is that what this is about? Went in raw and now you’re obsessing over it?”