A Piece of Heaven (Allendale Four 1)

“Nothing. I can’t wait to see it.”

There was an edge to her voice…something I couldn’t quite place until she followed up with, “I was just, um, hoping that it’s appropriate. You know, for a formal occasion.”

Ahhh. There.

“It is.” I looked at my mother and said, “You’ll love it. I promise.”

“I just want to make sure you know that you don’t have to dress a certain way to get a boy’s attention. You know that, right?”

Boy did I know about that. I could write a book on how one little thing like a prank with your friend and changing your wardrobe could change your life. For the worse and better.

“Mom, I’m confident in my relationship with Jackson.” And the others, I silently said. “I just decided to change things up this year. You’re the one that always wants me to put myself out there a little more.” She shot me a look. “Okay, bad choice of words. But it’s true, and look at me now. I’m in a hoodie and jeans. Doesn’t get more basic than that.”

The last thing I needed was my mom suddenly paying more attention to me and my love life. I’d defend the guys to the end of time, but if she’s worried about one guy…I could only guess how she’d react to four. Fortunately, my answer seemed to satisfy her and we rode the rest of the way to Oceanside in a strange, uneasy silence, but thankfully without bringing it up again.

*

After a stop for greasy food and milkshakes, Justin and I took a walk down to the beach. The path was rocky and dark but he carried a flashlight with a wide, bright beam. Tiny crabs scurried on the edge of the light, freaking me out a little.

“They won’t hurt you,” he laughed.

“I know, it’s just all those legs and feet and pinchers." I shivered dramatically.

“They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”

“I doubt that,” I mumbled, grabbing on to his arm for support.

Down the beach, we could see the soft glow of a fire. “Who’s that?” I asked.

“Probably the guys. Wanna go down there?”

“Sure,” I said, feeling a little nervous. I hadn’t seen most of them in a while. My new social life kept me busy. “Things still okay? Post-post-deflowering?”

“Yeah. I still owe you one.” In the semi-dark I could see him shove his hands in his pockets. “It got everyone off my back and…” he rubbed the back of his neck, “It helped take the pressure off and cleared things up for me a little.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve been dating.”

“Oh really? Names. I need names.”

“Yeah, uh, Eric actually, but it’s a small, small, small place and neither of us are ready to go public. I just don’t want the judgments.”

Oh my god. My first thought was that I got it. I wasn’t ready to go public with my relationship(s) either.

My second; great, now my reputation would be the girl who turned Justin Blackwood gay.

I couldn’t win.

“I get it. Living under the scrutiny of judgmental people sucks.”

He shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “The photos?”

For one thing. “Yeah, they keep coming.”

“Are you sure everything’s okay? I mean…” he looked off at the crashing waves coming from the ocean. “Some of the photos are pretty explicit and there are a lot of different guys.”

I stopped, feet squeaking on the sand. “You know the photos don’t represent everything going on. There are ones of me and Eric. You know nothing happened there.”