Paradise Lost (Private 9)

"Is this because of her?" Poppy asked.

"Not entirely, no, "Upton said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I just don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry."

Paige and Sienna stepped forward, but Poppy whirled around, searching the club for someone.

Oh, crap. Me.

The girl crossed the few feet between us in about half a second, knocking over an oblivious partier in the process, sending her margarita flying. Poppy got so up in my face that I could count the pores on her nose. My heart pounded with trepidation, and I could only hope it didn't show on my face.

Never let your rival see you sweat.

"I've been meaning to ask you. How does it feel to be a one-person natural disaster?" Poppy spat. Literally spat. Her saliva pelted me just below my left eye.

"What are you talking about?" I replied, quickly wiping away the spittle.

110

"You! Hurricane Reed. You leave a wake of destruction everywhere you go," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Broken relationships, crushed hearts . . . death."

Tears stung my eyes as I stared back at her. I so wanted to be unruffled by her attack, but how could anyone remain unaffected in the face of that sort of characterization? Was this actually what people were saying about me? Was this really what people thought? Every inch of my skin burned with anger, humiliation, and hurt.

"Don't think I don't know what happened to Thomas, to that girl in your dorm," she went on. "People talk--and somehow, they always talk about you. You're dangerous."

I was so stunned, I didn't know how to respond.

"Poppy. That's enough," Upton said, coming up behind her.

"Screw you," she said, whirling on him. "Screw the both of you. Good luck trying to survive the storm."

Then she turned and ran out of the club. Daniel tried to follow, but she was too quick. She hopped in her white BMW and peeled away so fast that she almost spun out and crashed into a sand dune. Everyone in the place gasped, but she managed to backup and race off. Hertail-lights disappeared around a bend, and the crowd slowly returned to its partying. I simply stood there, staring after her. No one had ever said anything that cruel outright to me. I couldn't keep her words from repeating themselves in my mind.

Wake of destruction . . . one-person natural disaster . . . crushed hearts . . . death . . . Part of me felt the truth of it all. I was a huge sucking funnel cloud of bad luck, bringing misery to everyone I knew.

111

Thomas, Cheyenne, Ivy, Josh, Dash, Noelle. Even Taylor and Kiran still would be enrolled at Easton if I had never shown up there. No one was safe from Hurricane Reed.

"Well, that was fairly intense," Upton said, reaching for my hand. "Are you all right?"

"No. Not really," I replied, my voice trembling.

"Hey. Don't listen to her," Upton said, tipping up my face with his finger. "That's just Poppy. When she's upset, she feels the need to tear down everyone around her. And she's always been quite skilled at it."

A breeze caught my hair, and I shivered violently. I could only imagine how Poppy was going to treat me for the rest of our vacation. At the very least I was sure I was in for a lot of glares and behind -my-back whispers. But if she was anything like the rest of her friends, I also could look forward to a lot more childish pranks like the shower fiasco--probably worse. Was anyone, even Upton, worth all that?

And did he really want to stand directly in the storm path of Hurricane Reed?

"She's right, though," I said, pulling away from him and hugging myself. "You should stay away from me. Every time anyone gets close to me ... something bad happens."

Upton smirked. "Well, that's a risk I'm just going to have to take," he said, stepping closer and reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ear. He let his fingers linger on my cheekbone as he looked into my eyes. "You still don't get it, do you? You've done something to me, Reed Brennan. I can't seem to stop thinking about you. "He took a deep breath and gazed out at the ocean. "It's bloody annoying, actually."

112

He cracked a smile and I couldn't help it. I smiled back. Okay, so maybe he was worth it. There was something about being with Upton that made it difficult to stay in a negative frame of mind. Jealousy, apprehension, sadness, self-pity--they all seemed to flit away when he was near. When it came down to it, it seemed that he was exactly what I needed. The light and happy yang to my seriously depressing yin.

"Sorry. I hate to be an annoyance," I joked in return.

He pulled me into a hug, the warmth of his arms instantly chasing away the chill, and rested his chin atop my head.