Starlee's Home (The Wayward Sons 3) - Page 18
This time, she doesn’t miss.
The chair rocks with our weight, our skis clanking together. I shift to keep my distance but I knew what I was getting into. A fifteen-minute ride in solitude with Christina. Something four years ago I would have wanted. Now it’s to take care of some unfinished business.
“Sorry about that,” she says, pushing her goggles up her forehead. “Sometimes I’m a goof.”
“You’re not, though,” I say. “You’re the best skier in the class.”
“Maybe besides you.” She glances at me. “Maybe I saw a chance to be alone with you. We don’t get to do that very much anymore.”
“There’s a reason for that, Chris,” I say, using the name I used to call her. “You kind of fucked up any relationship we could have.”
She rolls her eyes. “Isn’t it time to move past all that? So what? People know you have a hard time reading. It hasn’t done anything to your reputation. If anything, people like you even more.”
Of course it’s not her fault. Nothing ever is. “It’s not about people knowing. It’s about the fact you have no respect for anyone in your life. No consideration. No decency.”
“Oh, so I’m the villain. Sure. Whatever. Hate on the pretty, popular girl.” She pushes her hair over her shoulder. “It’s not like my life is so easy.”
I clench my jaw, so tight I think that it may snap. Telling this girl how I really feel would be easy. Exploding all the emotions I’ve been holding in would feel awesome, for a minute. Then she’d twist my words, spread them around school and use them to cause further trouble. I stare into the distance, out at the white-covered hills as we inch higher and higher to the more challenging courses. Claire said we needed to get her where it hurts. Shut her mouth. Play her game. It’s not my style, but desperate times…
“I know your life isn’t easy,” I say suddenly. “I remember.”
Her dark eyes narrow slightly but she plays it off, shrugging.
“You didn’t used to be like this,” I continue. “The Christina I dated was fun and sweet. She was kind. She supported me when I struggled and she was super cool when her best friend came out.”
“You’re saying I’m no longer those things.”
I laugh. “Not a chance. You’re vind
ictive and mean and you’ve seriously fucked up my family.”
She gives me a bored look. “No, you live with a bunch of delinquents. You’re better than them.”
I see the end of the lift in the horizon. I’ve got to pull the trigger before we get off or I’ll never do it, because if I have my way, I’ll never talk to this girl again.
“I’m not better than them and neither are you. I remember, Christina. I know what you’ve experienced and lived through. I know your life isn’t perfect even though you want to pretend like it is. I know that your mother is addicted to painkillers and that she sleeps around. Shit, she hit on me and I was only fourteen.”
“Liar.”
“You know I’m telling the truth. You told me and Claire all about it and we never told a soul.”
Her eyes water, but it’s cold enough tears don’t fall. “Shut up, Jake. Like you didn’t tell those guys. I’m sure the whole house knows. I’m sure Starlee knows, because why wouldn’t she?”
“Because I know how to keep a fucking secret, maybe when I shouldn’t. I don’t share other people’s problems, Chris, even when I’ve been betrayed over and over again.”
“You can’t prove anything. That was a long time ago. Everyone will think you’re just bitter.”
I shake my head. “I’m not talking about telling your little cheer friends. Because of your little stunt, my house is swarmed with caseworkers and police. We’re being watched. Don’t you think they’d want to know what’s going on in your house?”
Christina isn’t dumb but it takes her a minute to process what I just said. That after all this time I was willing to tell everyone the truth about her house, the way she did with mine.
“You wouldn’t.”
The end of the lift arrives and we both get off, gliding to a clear section. I reach for my goggles. “I would, and I will, if you don’t back off. No more flirting. No more lies. No more making Starlee miserable. I gave you a chance to move on gracefully and you didn’t take it. This is on you.”
She looks small, like her world is crashing down, and I guess for her, it is.
“Are we clear?” I ask, pulling the goggles over my eyes.
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