Dealing with Blue Page 16

  “J.J.” Gemma said firmly, her fringed eyes brimming with a mixture of angst and steely determination. “Look at me.”

  “I’m looking.” He tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice but failed, so he dropped his arms at his sides and resigned himself to the spiel.

  She reached out with her pink-tipped fingers and coasted her palm down his jacket sleeve to grasp his hand. Her grip was warm, strong, yet cloying. Before all the games, her touch would have pierced his heart like a firecracker. Hot, fast, and full speed ahead. Two weeks ago, it might have even meant something. But now? He shot a look through the shimmering heat tripping up on Suzy’s blue gaze, and he jerked his hand free.

  “Spill it,” he said curtly, twisting back to Gemma. Forget it. He should walk away.

  “Don’t worry about her. She’s got Will…and, wow, Charlie, too. That girl moves fast.”

  Charlie! J.J. craned his neck to see Will slapping the good ol’ mysterious Up Chuck on the back like they were besties. J.J. curled his lip, ready to snarl, and just as quickly, his face dropped. No, no, no. Suzy threw her head back, laughing at something chuckhole said.

  “What do you want with me?” he said impatiently. “You told me to think about it, and I did. When I told you it was over, you hung up on me. So now what?”

  “J.J., come on. I don’t want to fight.” Her palms flew out to him. “I want to make up. Why aren’t we back together right now? It’s been so long. I miss you.”

  “Miss me, huh? You’ve been jerking me around for weeks, I miss you, I want you, but I need my space. I need you, I love you, but I’m with Ron.”

  “Ron’s not the issue. We broke up because I always have to make the first move, like now.” She swished her hand through the air, ready to lay down a full catalog of his misdeeds. “I call you. I say I love you. I meet you at your locker. I plan time to be with you. In fact, I have to tell you when it’s our anniversary.”

  I…I…I! There were a lot of I’s going around. She acted like she’d carried the entire relationship. He had an anniversary alert on his phone, for crying out loud. Especially after he’d forgotten the first one. How was he supposed to know it was a quarterly event? But this last time, he’d been fully prepared.

  “Hey, I remembered.” J.J. scoffed. “I get some credit since it was my idea to—”

  “You wouldn’t have if I hadn’t left hints all over the place. So when Ron asked me to prom, what should I have said?” Gemma’s blonde brows shot up her head. “I waited, and you never asked me.”

  “Yeah, I did.” J.J. plowed his hands into his hair and left them anchored there to keep his head from popping off. “We were standing in the meadow, and I didn’t ask you the way you wanted me to.”

  “You ignored me for an entire week after we broke up. No calls, no texts, no notes. Instead you jump all over Suzy. Not once did you go out of your way to…” Her voice hitched with brewed emotion. “…to try to make up with me or to see me at all.”

  “You’re the one who ended things. You wanted space, and I gave it to you. The way I see it, you ditched me, so you could date Ron.” J.J. dropped his hands and turned to search the other side through the roiling smoke. Why was he here again? This conversation was pointless.

  “That’s not true.” Her sharp tone snapped his head around. “I already explained how he needs someone to talk to, and I’m the one to listen because I know.” She jack-hammered a finger against her ski tags. “I know exactly what he’s going through. He’s a good friend, okay? He understood when I told him I couldn’t go to prom with him. Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I did, Gemma.” J.J. flared, tired of the guilt treatment. “You hung up on me because you didn’t like what I had to say. This is done. We’re done.”

  “Would you listen?” she wailed, her outlined eyes glistening with tears. “I told you I’m not going to prom with Ron.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m going with Suzy.” He flicked his finger back and forth between them. “You and I, we’re over. You broke up with me, and I’ve moved on. So go with Ron, I don’t care.”

  “No,” Gemma sobbed and clamped her hand around his wrist like a steel cuff. “J.J., please don’t do this.” Tears gushed over her cheeks, taking black mascara down with it. “Holly said to make you jealous, so I did. I wanted you to see how it feels for once.” She let go of his wrist only to band her hands behind his neck. She pulled him toward her puckered lips and breathed lemon drops into his face. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I swear. I made a mistake, J.J. I’m sorry…I’m so sorry. All I want to do is make things right.”

  He twisted in her grip with frantic eyes only for Suzy, and she was right where he’d left her, next to Will, who shook his head at J.J. You’re blowing it, Rad-boner. Will leaned down, his lips moving as he nudged Suzy and Charlie. Whatever he said urged them into the dark trees. Where were they going? No! Wait!

  Party fun was officially over.

  Blake Shelton, singing The More I Drink, stalled in the speakers. The laughter, the hoots and hollers, all the party vibrations died down until the only thing echoing in the night were the shuffling feet, the snaps and pops from the smoldering fire, and the murmurs.

  His ex hung on his neck, begging for forgiveness with black tears and pink lips, the outcome he’d envisioned for weeks. But instead of flooding with elation, he searched after brilliant blue eyes and red hair. Suzy was everything right, and he was everything wrong…wrong place, wrong time, wrapped up in the clutches of the wrong girl.

  Gemma leaned in with her pink-glossed mouth as he struggled to pry her fingers loose.

  “Get off me, Gemma,” J.J. snapped, yanking free. “And go find Ron.”

  “Oh, you found me all right.” A deep voice cut in and a strong grip swung J.J. around. The gonad’s rigid fist ratcheted back and plowed forward into J.J.’s mouth.

  Pow!

  J.J.’s lips mashed into his teeth, vessels popping, and his jaw torqued to the side. He bounced off the dirt and landed flat on his back with stars twinkling behind his eyes—sparkling lights, so pretty—as a frenzy bloomed around him.

  “Oh, my God!” Gemma cried and knelt beside him. “J.J.!”

  “Cops!” someone yelled. “Run!”

  A herd of sneakers, boots, and flip-flops galloped by, kicking up dust as J.J. rolled to his side and moaned. Goodbye, pretty twinkling stars. Hello, whirling shards of pain.

  “Gemma, leave him. You don’t need to put up with that cazzo anymore.” Ron reached down and pulled Gemma’s arm. “Come on. We have to get out of here.”

  “I’m sorry, J.J.” Gemma sobbed. “I really, really am.” Her voice faded away.

  “Coward,” J.J. croaked at the departing couple. “Sucker puncher,” he muttered crawling up onto his knees. Better run fast, gonad. A coppery taste pooled in his mouth, and he licked his—just great, a fat lip. Run fast, hobgob, because when he stood up, say, in ten minutes or so, there’d be hell to pay. Ow! He gingerly rubbed the back of his melon, spitting blood and saliva onto the packed ground below his face.

  “Get up, dude, cops.” A voice said somewhere above him. “We gotta go.”

  J.J. pushed up to standing and paused—oh, mama. His brain spun and finally caught up.

  “Like, now!” Will yelled and hauled denim into the fringe of trees as he tossed a “J.J., run!” over his shoulder.

  “Stop!” A voice barked with authority and two cops broke into the circle with flashlights bobbing. The single command, stop, pushed adrenaline through J.J’s veins faster than get up and run, which is exactly what he did, hot on Will’s trail.

  J.J.’s heart stumbled and then his feet, too, as flashlights chased him. Boom, boom, boom. His heart jack-hammered in his chest, and he launched over logs and dove under low branches with—Ow!—his neck—Ow!—his fat lip, and—Ow!—his throbbing jaw. He raced behind his buddy, like a bull chasing a clown. This wasn’t their first rodeo. There was only one direction to go, and with each pa
inful jostle, J.J. followed Will farther and farther away from where Suzy had stood earlier. Away from the trail, away from the lake, away from Badger Court. The only direction to go was toward the thicket, a place where the salal shrubs grew dense and plentiful. Will slowed, clutching his side and panting, and J.J. finally caught up to him.

  “Man, why’d you leave Suzy? Where’d she go?” J.J. asked. But Will only panted, looking over his shoulder with eyes bright and searching. “C’mon, Will. Stop.”

  “Dude…she’s with…Up Chuck.” Will chuffed, trying to catch his breath. “They headed…for the meadow.”

  “Meadow.” J.J. hissed in a low voice. “There’s no cover there, unless they’re lying down in the grass together—”

  Snap! A twig broke, and J.J. jerked, blurring his vision with pain. He launched into the leafy salal and clutched his neck. Damn, it hurt. The surrounding shrubs held whispers and giggles, hushes and more cracking twigs.

  Two flashlights roved in the distance.

  “Let’s move,” Will whispered lightly into J.J.’s ear. “I can’t get busted.”

  Busted was not an option. J.J. would never see the light of day again.

  Will crawled silently and slowly through the interlocking branches, farther into the night, and J.J. followed, his mind flickering like a silent movie of Suzy holding hands with Charlie, running from the cops with Charlie, lying in the grass with Charlie.

  This date was a colossal failure. J.J.’d practically shoved Suzy into Charlie’s arms, and all because he’d listened to Gemma, Gemma, Gemma.

  J.J. winced and touched the tip of his tongue to what must be a hideously fat lip.

  He had to get Suzy back. And kill Up Chuck.

  Chapter 15: Knuckle Sandwich

  Suzy planted her hands on the aluminum frame and jumped up; she tilted forward, and face-planted on top of her covers. A cloud of bonfire smoke wafted around her from her hair, her skin, her clothes…ugh! She reeked.

  Back out the window, down on the lawn, Charlie stood. His dark rims sat askew on his nose in a cute way, and his plaid shirt was untucked yet still buttoned up to the collar. It hung loose for once, wrinkled and carefree. She nodded down to him, and he lifted the crate up to her.

  “Thanks for walking me home, Charlie,” Suzy tried to smile. “Close call with the cops and all that.”

  “Sure thing. I’m glad we left when we did.” Charlie’s deep voice drawled out slowly. He pushed up his glasses, framing his dark eyes.

  “I wish we would have left earlier,” she said. She didn’t need to see the whole J.J. and Gemma reunion. He was going back to her, right? He let her hold his hand. He let her hug him. He let her pull him down into a kiss…they kissed, didn’t they? It all seemed so cozy over there on their side of the fire.

  “You got my number.” He held up his hand in a hang-loose sign. “Have a good night, Suzy.”

  She nodded and kept her mouth pulled tight in a grim smile. No quivering lips, here. No tears. Not in front of Charlie. He flashed a quick wave as he walked into the night. Suzy closed her window, watching until his plaid shirt faded completely. He was a good guy. He’d turned out to be quite something. Mid-trek across the meadow, he’d told her he sang in his church’s choir and took piano lessons at Giddy’s Guitar, the music store on Main. And, there you have it, a Rock star. And with that voice, he could growl out some heavy baritone, no problem.

  She rolled away from the window and pressed her face into the cool fabric of her pillow. J.J.’d made a fool out of her tonight in front of everyone. How stupid could she get? She knew it would happen. Knew it, knew it, knew it! Their kiss earlier must have muddied her brain or something because she still went out with him. And what happened? He ran straight into Gemma’s arms at the first chance he got.

  When Suzy’d looked across the fire to see him in a tight wrap with his ex, her heart cracked like a scorching hot teapot suddenly filled with ice, fast and broken. Everyone at school would talk about it. They’d feel sorry for her or giggle about her behind their hands. Would J.J. even look at her, or was she so easily forgotten?

  The cream bath towel barricading the one-inch gap under her bedroom door hadn’t moved, a good sign. She clutched J.J.’s skinny flashlight from her fleece pocket and rolled off the mattress to kneel on the carpet. She swept the light beam back-and-forth under her bed with a triple-check in each corner. No rats.

  Suzy shoved the flashlight back into her pocket and climbed onto her covers, her knees tucked under her chin. Would J.J. remember the things he’d told her when they were caught in the rain? Their “real” relationship hadn’t even lasted thirty-two hours. Pathetic.

  Her ceramic heart cracked open a little more and a fat tear rolled down her cheek. Then another. She squeezed the pillow to her face and let them fall, fast and furious. After a long, damp pity-party, she slumped like a boneless chicken and fell into a dreamless sleep.

  Suzy jerked awake and blinked. What the…?

  Rap, rap, rap!

  Oh, God! It had to be J.J. She straightened and chased any smudges off her face with the heel of her palm before glancing at the time on her phone. It was late…very late. She should have turned off her lights and closed her blinds right after Charlie left. But now? Her lights were on and J.J. waited outside. She finger-wiped under each eye, and crawled across the covers to open her window.

  “What are you doing here? It’s late.” Suzy leaned down and gasped. J.J’s chin was purple, and his lower lip looked like a jiggling water balloon. “God.” She flinched. “What happened to your face?”

  “Ron gave me a knuckle sandwich.” J.J. licked his lip and touched it tenderly.

  “So that’s what you get for kissing Gemma, huh? I hope it was worth it.” She wasn’t going to feel sorry for him. No way.

  “I didn’t kiss her.” He shook his head vehemently and then winced.

  “Apparently, you’re drunk and lost.”

  “No,” he said with his eyes fixed on hers. “I walked straight here to see you.”

  “Well, I don’t have blonde hair and my name’s not Gemma. You have the wrong window, J.J.”

  “C’mon, Suzy. Cut me some slack.” He reached up and planted his hand in the track. “I’ve been hiding in the woods for the past two hours, freezing my balls off, and worrying about you and—”

  “Charlie?” Suzy glared down at Mr. Cool, who looked a lot like Christmas with his bright green eyes, his ghostly white face, and that cherry red lip. Ho ho ho.

  “Drop your crate and let me in,” J.J. said softly.

  “No way. Go home already. You’re going to wake everyone up.” She pulled the window pane to bump against his hand, a helpful hint that he better pull back or fingers were going to fly.

  He pushed the window aside and jumped up clumsily, but fell back on his feet. Hissing, he squeezed his eyelids shut and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think the gonad gave me whiplash,” he muttered, looking up and bracing his neck with both hands. “C’mon, Suzy. Help me out. Drop your crate. I want to know what happened with you tonight. I want to talk, be with you…but no kissing.” He chuckled drily at his joke, and the good side of his mouth lifted in a careful half-smile. “I mean look at my face. I need some TLC.”

  “What?” Suzy snorted with disbelief. The nerve! “You’re insane. Go find the right window. Gemma’s…you horndog.”

  “Horndog!” J.J. dropped his hands and scowled. “If I’m a horndog, it’s all because of you.”

  “Oh, so you only want to get laid. Uh huh, now I see how it is.”

  “Did I ask you to put out? Geez! All I wanna do is apologize and talk. And yeah, okay, maybe I wanna do other things, too. I’m not dead. But not necessarily tonight, if you know what I mean—”

  “Other things?” Amazing! He was digging a big, fat hole the size of his lip. “What kind of girl do you think you’re dealing with here?”

  “The kind I like. How many times do I have to say it? And why is it such a crime to want to be with y
ou? I just want to talk, talk, talk. I thought that’s what all girls liked to do. Talk.” J.J. closed his eyes and visibly deflated. “Listen, it’s completely over with Gemma, and if you’d let me in, I could tell you all about it, you know? Make things right.”

  “Over?” Suzy said and glanced away tiredly into the black night. Over sounded good, but right now, she was an emotionally drained husk of a person and her warm, comfy bed called to her. They could do that talk-talk-talking thing tomorrow. “I’m tired, and it’s too late—”

  “Do I need to kill Charlie?” J.J.’s eyes narrowed into slits.

  “Charlie?” Suzy shrugged. What was he talking about? But then the cobwebs cleared and she narrowed her gaze. “What are you suggesting? You’re the one who was busy hugging Gemma, kissing Gemma—”

  “We never kissed!”

  “—fighting over Gemma—”

  “The stocky-jock sucker-punched me!”

  “Gemma, Gemma, Gemma.” Suzy sniped. “I’m sick of that name.”

  “You know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of always frigging defending myself. I know I’m innocent, but what were you doing in the tall grass with onion-boy? Huh?”

  Was that bold-faced table-turner seriously accusing her of getting it on with Charlie while they were running from the cops? “You have quite an imagination, don’t you?” She seethed.

  “That’s it.” J.J. planted his hand on the window track. “Move. I’m coming up.”

  “No!” The filth. The rats! Gah!

  Without thinking, she rammed the window shut, piling his fingers into the corner. The window bounced back, so she leaned to the side and rammed it shut again. This time, J.J. had the good sense to pull his hand down.