I squinted, feeling my heart climb angrily inside my chest. The ceaseless ache that was there moments ago was morphing into a gaping hole filled with a hefty amount of apprehension. I ping-ponged my gaze between the couple making their way toward Frankie and this Tank guy. Before I knew what was happening, my feet were dragging me closer and closer to the forming crowd.
I was dodging those who were not-so-casually going in the opposite direction so I could get a better look at the girl, and when I did, I saw red.
What the fuck was Piper doing here?
Chapter Three
Piper
My brother wasn’t always like this. His dull and lifeless eyes used to be the same shade of sparkling green as mine. His hair wasn’t tattered at the ends like he took a rusty razor to the strands. In fact, his auburn hair used to have an even healthier shine than our mother’s. The scruff on his now-sunken face used to be shaved each and every day before school, which typically made us late every morning, but alas, he was bright, happy, and healthy. Now, he was a shell of who he used to be, and every time he came around, the memory of my big brother grew even more tainted.
I often tried to reminisce on the good times I had with him—the happier memories. The ones of us playing outside on our freshly landscaped lawn while our nanny cleaned up the house and made dinner before my parents came home from a long day at the office. That was another thing ripped away from me after Jason drug our family name through the mud. All the stealing, vandalism, suspensions from Wellington Prep, and then of course the drugs, caught up to my parents, and they shut him out, taking me along with them. They uprooted me and all that I knew from one rich community to the next, not caring that I was being affected in the worst of ways. I had to say goodbye to my friends and familiarity at Wellington Prep—even my ten-year nanny, Margie. “She knew too much.” Per my father’s explanation. Then followed by my mom. “You're too old for a nanny anyway, Piper.” Now, some random woman came during the day while I was at school and prepared meals for the week, did laundry, and tidied up the house only to be gone by the time I came home.
It didn’t really seem fair to me at the time, and it still didn’t. I promised myself that I’d stop caring about Jason, that I’d keep our better memories locked away in a pretty, ribbon-tied jar inside my head and let everything else wash away, including him.
Yet, here I was.
Enabling.
I knew what an enabler was, and it went against that very promise I made a million times over again. I was going against everything my parents drove into my head since leaving Wellington Prep—my old life. They’d washed their hands of Jason, and they expected me to do the same. After all, Jason did tear apart our family—what little of it we had. A ginormous, black hole was left in its place after my parents threw him out onto the streets. My life was forever changed the day they found him cleaning out my father’s safe for money that he owed someone. I cringed at the memory hitting me fast and hard. Sounds of flesh being pounded, lots of yelling, and fallen tears hitting the floor. Slowly, after that night, things started to change. Jason was gone. My parents buried themselves even more into work—I’m sure in an attempt to try and push away the thought of their son being a drug user. They left me alone to deal with everything in an empty house that felt even more alien than walking into English Prep for the first time.
Try being the new girl from your current school’s biggest rival.
So yes, I should have been pissed at Jason and shut him out. That was what my parents expected of me, but here I was, making my way to some desolate corn field on the outskirts of Pike Valley with one of the shadiest guys I knew by my side. I almost laughed at the predicament I was in.
My phone continued to go off in the back pocket of my skinny jeans, and I was certain it was Hayley, wondering why I hadn’t texted her back, but I needed to figure out a good excuse before doing so.
I hated lying to my best friend, but this was something I wasn’t willing to tell anyone, because if I confided in someone,—even someone like Hayley, with a wicked past of her own—then it made it real, and I wasn’t quite ready to face my decision of enabling my brother. Again.
My morals were being smashed with every blade of grass I stepped on.
/> My parents would kill me if they knew I was helping him.
I kind of wanted to kill me, too, because I wasn’t sure what I was walking into.
Cole, my cousin Andrew’s friend and the guy who decided to give me my first kiss when I was twelve only to tell everyone at Wellington Prep that he only kissed me because he felt sorry for me, paused and grabbed my wrist. He was bad news, and that was exactly why I asked him to come with me. Cole had no issues looking for trouble. In fact, he loved trouble, and I knew he’d be all in if I hinted at just that. But to be honest, I’d much rather do this alone. Only I couldn’t, because soon after Jason and I came up with a plan to fix things, he snuck out the door, driving off in my car, leaving me a note while I took a shower.
He’ll kill me if he sees me.
I have to hide out.
Here are the directions.
The only downside to asking Cole for his help was that I was almost certain he’d want something in return. He was a little too eager to give me a ride when I’d messaged him, and it was going to be difficult to get him to keep his mouth shut about this. If he told Andrew, and Andrew told my aunt and uncle, I’d be toast.
I snatched my wrist out of Cole’s grasp. “What?”
“Do we know what we’re walking into? I need some more detail, Piper, especially if I’m going to be fighting someone. You’ve given me nothing.” Cole, with his dark eyes and naturally tanned skin looked out into a flock of people. “What the fuck is this?”
I bit my lip. “Um...” Hell if I knew.
He shot me a look, his brown eyes deepening. “You don’t know? What the hell are we doing here, Piper? What? Is some guy fuckin’ around on you, and you’re trying to bust him?” A wicked grin formed on his face, and I took a step back. “Show me who. I’ll make sure to land a kiss right on your lips in front of him, and then once that happens...” He brought his thumb up to his mouth and swiped it over his lip as if he were now ten times hotter because of the simple gesture. “You’d be hooked on this dick.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, annoyed. Crossing my arms over my chest, I shot back, “I’d rather shave my head and walk around school naked than let you kiss me again.” Yes, I was twelve when he first kissed me, but the after-effect was mortifying enough that it was still fresh in my head.
“Again?”
A gasp flew out of my mouth just as a gust of wind blew over my shoulders. I quickly spun around, the tall grass brushing over my ankles. My mouth dropped. “What the hell are you doing here?” My words were rushed and sounded like I’d sucked a balloon full of helium. I was already on the verge of losing my footing and letting the nerves fill me with fear, walking side by side with Cole, ready to throw not even a fraction of the money owed at who I assumed to be my brother’s drug dealer. And if you add that to Ollie looking at me with his usual light and casual expression gone and replaced with furrowed brows and hooded eyes… I was nearly swaying on my feet.