I dipped potato salad out on my plate and moved on to the baked beans. I was watching a car crash and even though I knew it was coming, there was nothing I could do to stop it. Short of killing Jenny. Which was, sadly, something I’d considered for about two seconds. She was sitting between Theo and August at the picnic table, across from Russ, laughing happily, like she wasn’t tormenting me. Russ, who had no clue what was happening, seemed like he was having a good time, to the utter fury of Lisa, who sat next to him, glaring at Jenny.
The kids were at a little plastic picnic table, cheering about the cupcakes Lisa brought. They were far enough from the adults’ table that if Jenny chose to ruin everything, the kids might escape some of the fallout.
Charlie moved to my side with a hot dog in one hand, a beer in the other. With his damp blonde hair, tan skin, and bright blue eyes, he was the picture of summer happiness to me. The only thing missing would’ve been fireworks going off behind him. His dimples were on full display as he stopped next to me. “Everything okay?”
I had a flash of a little boy who looked just like him, the two of them playing catch in the front yard. Dropping my plate on the table of food, I shook my head and hurried into the house. Rushing to the bathroom, I barely made it to the toilet before throwing up. I chanted in my head that the heat and the sun had just gotten the best of me. It was the middle of the afternoon. There was no way it was morning sickness. Of course, not. There was no way. I’d taken my birth control religiously. Pearl’s words haunted me, though.
After brushing my teeth and washing my hands, I stumbled back outside, terrified to leave Jenny alone with the guys, with my brother, for too long. Only when I got to the table, I realized that things were already tense.
“If you just came to start trouble, Jenny, you should go.” Theo shook his head and pushed away from the picnic table. “No one here needs that.”
I froze as I watched Jenny turn to me. For a second, I saw pain there and almost felt bad for her, but then her gaze turned ice-cold.
“I wasn’t starting trouble, Theo. I was just commenting on the food. I mean, if Reagan is a professional chef, shouldn’t it be better?”
Lisa scowled. “She didn’t cook. I did.”
With a giggle, Jenny waved Lisa off and kept smiling at me. “Hey, Reagan, what’s Russ think about how you’ve been spending your time in Lunar?”
August stood up and stepped closer to me like he was going to physically block her ugliness from touching me. “Jesus, Jenny, when are you going to grow up and realize that high school ended a decade ago?”
“What the hell is going on?” Russ growled as he stood up, too. He looked around at all of us and braced his hands on the table. “You’re all keeping something from me. I can fucking tell something is going on.”
“Watch it in front of the kids, Russ.”
“Don’t, Lisa. I know you know something, too.”
I covered my mouth in horror and shook my head. Lisa didn’t deserve Russ’ wrath. That was all me. Stepping closer to him, I reached out to touch him arm. “Russ, don’t be like that to her. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“So, she didn’t know that you’ve been fucking his best friends behind his back?” Jenny tossed her napkin down and kept right on smiling. “Wow, Reagan. You’re like really good at keeping secrets.”
Russ swung around to face me, shock and fury warring on his face. “What?”
Theo swore and moved closer while Charlie grabbed my arm to pull me out of Russ’ path. That just seemed to piss Russ off even more, though. He grabbed me and yanked me behind him, turning with me to glare down at me.
“Is she lying? Tell me she’s fucking lying, Reagan.”
“Inside, girls. You, too, Iris.” Lisa hurried to get the girls, who were already starting to cry, inside.
August moved to my side again. “Let her go, Russ.”
I whimpered when Russ shoved me away and walked away. I tried to go after him, but August wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me back. It didn’t matter, though, because Russ came marching right back.
“How long?” His eyes went to August’s arm and narrowed. “Guess I don’t need to ask which friend.”
Jenny snorted. “Oh, Russy. It’s all three of them.”
August swore and pushed me out of the way when Russ charged at him. I screamed at the sight and watched in horror as Russ punched August hard enough to bloody his nose. Charlie and Theo stepped in to push Russ back and took several punches, too. None of them fought back against my raging brother and I couldn’t take it.
I rushed into the chaos and grabbed at Russ’ arms while screaming at him to stop. One of Russ’ wild swings landed across the bridge of my nose, making my vision darken for a second. I stumbled but came right back at him. The guys, seeing me get hit, reacted finally. Russ took a few solid hits that knocked him backward, where Charlie shoved him to the ground and August pinned his arms behind his back, both of them shouting at him for hitting me.
Theo pulled me into his arms, holding me as gently as he could while I fought to get away, needing it all to stop. I was in a full-on panic, tears pouring down my face.
Russ went still as he saw my face and jerked out of his best friends’ grips. Standing and dusting himself off, he glared at the four of us and finally settled his hard gaze on me. “I want you out of my house.”
A sob escaped my mouth and I sagged against Theo. “Russ, I’m sorry. Please, just—”
“Shut up, Reagan! I don’t want to hear it. You’ve all been lying to me and I want nothing to do with any of you right now. Be out of my house by the time we’re home from the lake tomorrow.”
I watched him storm into the house and slam the door shut behind him. My chest ached painfully and I cried harder, feeling like I’d just lost my brother, the only person in the world I had left connecting me to my parents. I felt the guys surrounding me, each of them stroking my hair and holding me in turn.
“Unfortunately, I have more bad news for you, Reagan.”
“Go the fuck away, Jenny!” Theo’s loud demand felt like it shook the ground, he yelled it with so much conviction.
Jenny wasn’t leaving without pushing in the final knife, though. “How does it feel to know that you just lost your family for these three and that you were just a bet to them?”
I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying, but the guys had stiffened around me. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Yeah. They made a bet. Whoever got you would get to avoid stocking and cleaning this place, something I know how much they hate from the time I spent here with Theo. No wonder they worked so hard to get you. So, who won?”
“Fuck off, Jenny. Jesus.” Charlie didn’t sound like himself.
“You’ve done enough.” August even sounded worried.
I looked up at them and saw it. There was guilt in their eyes. My stomach cramped and I put my hand over it. “You made a bet about me?”
“It wasn’t like that, Rea.” Theo glared at Jenny. “It wasn’t some dirty thing.”
“Poor Reagan. You were a joke to them back in high school and you still are. Do you want to know what they used to call you?” She laughed. “Russ’ kid sister. You didn’t even get a name. And when I told everyone there was no way that they’d ever touch Russ’ kid sister? They laughed along like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. You’ve always been a joke to them. A joke and an easy, freak lay. Now, they just learned to put something worthwhile on the line. Cleaning and stocking this place.”
“She’s full of shit, baby.” Charlie bent forward so he could look me in the eye. “You know what we have isn’t fake.”
August wiped tears from my face and roughly kissed me. “Stop listening to her. She’s trying to hurt you, Rea. You’ve spent every night with us for weeks. You know this isn’t a joke to us.”
“Looks like the bet isn’t over yet, Reagan. Better tell them who you pick and put them out of their misery.”
I held up my hands and stepped forward, closer to Jenny. “I saw it earlier, you know?’
She rolled her eyes. “What?”
“How sad you really are. I don’t know what caused you to be so nasty when we were kids, but I can see it now. You lost the best thing that will ever happen to you and it hurts, doesn’t it? You pushed Theo away and let him go and now you fall asleep every night, knowing that you can do everything in your power until the day you die, but nothing will ease the pain of losing him. For a woman who thinks so highly of herself, it must kill you to know that you don’t deserve him. And everyone knows it.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and took another step closer. “And maybe you’re also sad because you were just never what any of them were truly looking for. Maybe it isn’t me, Jenny, but it’s never been you, either. How bad it must hurt to know that you’re no better than the girl you think so lowly of.
“I hate that you’re in pain, but you should know that you’re going to be stuck in this ugly place until you stop trying to bring everyone down to your level. You may be happy in this moment. You hurt me. Congrats. You also hurt my brother, who did nothing wrong. You hurt the guys behind me. You hurt the girls who had to see that. So, celebrate now, because tonight? Tonight, Jenny, you’re going to be just as alone as you were last night. And the night before.”
She glared at me with tears filling her eyes and her hands balled into fists. “You’re just a bitch. What do you know?”
“I know that you should leave now.”
She shoved past me without another word, leaving Iris inside the house. The guys surrounded me again after she left, ready to comfort me again, but they didn’t understand that Jenny’s poison had gotten to me.
I pulled away from them and looked at my feet. “I’m going to take a walk. I’ll be back to get my stuff.”
With no room to argue, they stayed behind and watched me walk away, unaware that I couldn’t think of anything but running. I didn’t care about my stuff. I didn’t care about anything but trying to outrun the pain.
