Fallen Crest Forever

  Heather asked that as soon as I got back to Courtney and Grace’s. They both waved from the living room as Heather followed me to my bedroom.

  I’d been a bit more with it the last couple days, but I remembered how my roommates had acted when Heather came in, took over, and handled me. They idolized her, and after she stood up to Logan, they idolized her even more. I didn’t blame them.

  I lay down on the bed.

  Heather raised an eyebrow and turned around. She’d been putting on lipstick in the mirror. “What’s that look mean?”

  I pushed myself up, resting on my hands tucked behind me. “Thank you for coming and staying.”

  She shrugged, her eyes still narrowed and studying me. “You’re my best friend. You haven’t told me what happened, so I can only imagine it was bad.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Why didn’t you push?”

  “It’s your business.” She turned back to the mirror and pulled her lipstick out again. “You’ll tell me if you want, but I know you guys. If you don’t tell me, I figure it’s for a reason.”

  I nodded. “Still. Thank you.” I gestured to Logan’s empty cot in the corner. “Thanks for being okay with him being here too.”

  She finished applying her lipstick. A fresh red coat in place, she came over to sit next to me. She sighed. “He loves you. They all love you.”

  I glanced to her.

  “I love you too,” she said.

  “I know.” I sat up and squeezed one of her hands. “I love you too.”

  “And Taylor’s freaking adorable. Her and Logan. He really loves her.”

  I nodded. “He does.”

  “That’s good. Taylor completes him. He’s found his someone. You’re a lot happier now,” she added. “Are we moving back to the Kade house?”

  I shook my head, running a hand through my hair before sitting forward and leaning my elbows on my knees. “No. We went too far with something, but we’re going to fix it.”

  “Okay.” She stood up, patting me on the leg. “I have no idea what that means, but I trust you. And personally, I don’t want to know. But I do know that you have two friends out there who really care about you. It’s Friday, and technically, you’re single tonight.”

  “I’m not single.” I was. Was I?

  Pain sliced through me. I didn’t want to think about it.

  She pulled me up, grinning, and headed for the door. “I’m not saying you should hook up with someone. That guy would just wake up in the hospital, and we’d both know who put him there, single or not. But you can do what single girls do.” She let go of my hand and led the way to the living room.

  Both Courtney and Grace had drinks in front of them. They looked up.

  “What’s up?” Courtney was grinning, her cheeks red.

  Grace tried to stifle a laugh.

  “You guys are both single, right?” Heather asked.

  At the question, Grace spilled over onto the rest of the couch. She couldn’t stifle the laughter anymore, and she buried her head in a pillow.

  Courtney said in between her own laughs, “We were just talking about that. Matteo made a cameo here last night. He and Logan ran into each other in the hallway. Neither was expecting to see the other.” Her eyes suddenly widened and she sucked in her breath, looking to me. “I was supposed to tell you they slept together. I forgot.”

  “Logan and Matteo?”

  “No.”

  Grace was laughing again.

  Courtney scowled at her. “You should tell her. You’re the one who slept with him.”

  But Grace couldn’t. She was still laughing.

  Courtney rolled her eyes. “Grace and Matteo slept together.”

  She waited, watching me.

  Heather frowned, turning to me too. Grace finally stopped laughing.

  I shrugged. “So?”

  “So . . .” Courtney and Grace shared a look. “Is that a problem? You know, is that going to cause drama or anything?”

  I looked at Heather before raising my shoulders again. “I don’t know why it would.”

  “Oh.” Courtney blinked a few times, relief flashing over her face. She nodded to Grace. “She’s okay with it.”

  Grace was nodding. “Matteo said she would be.” She turned to me. “Are you feeling better?”

  She was asking about Mason. I changed the subject.

  “Matteo and Logan ran into each other? We missed this?”

  “Yeah.” Courtney’s cheeks reddened. “Logan was dressed. Matteo was not.”

  Heather chuckled. “I’m sure that was a fun time. So, are you and Matteo lock, stock, and barrel?”

  “Huh?”

  “Did Matteo wife up?” I asked, trying to explain.

  “No!” Grace’s entire face flared up. “No. I mean . . . no.”

  “All the more reason for tonight.” Heather clapped her hands together. “I have a feeling I won’t need to be here much longer, so how about we go to a club and pretend we’re all single ladies tonight.” She held her hands out. “Not as in hooking up with guys, but some fun drinking and dancing. No guys involved. We can do stupid dances, if we want.”

  “We have a race tomorrow.” Courtney looked at me. “Coach asked me earlier if you were going to come.”

  I wasn’t.

  I said, “I’ll email him.”

  Coach would understand, and I would start running again tomorrow. It’d been two weeks, and I was feeling the itch to pound pavement. I wouldn’t be able to stay away now that I felt sturdier.

  I knew I could stop.

  “Will one bad race affect you guys that much?” Heather asked.

  I had to laugh. Heather wasn’t messing around. We were going to drink. We were going to dance. And we were probably going to get fucked up doing it.

  Why we were outside the loud nightclub still escaped me, but we were here. Taylor was coming, and Courtney and Grace were in line right next to Heather and me. The music was booming, and the rest of the people in line with us were talking, complaining, smoking, or already dancing. I’d been to the club once before, when Mason was a freshman and I was visiting him from Fallen Crest. Nate’s fraternity had a private room that night.

  That felt so long ago.

  Heather snuffed out her second cigarette and came back over. “This is ridiculous.” Her hands found her slim hips as she surveyed the line. “Can’t you use Mason’s name to get us inside? If he were here, you know we’d get in right away.”

  “Yeah, but Mason and I broke up.”

  She waved that off. “Yeah, right. You’ll get drunk tonight, call him, and I’ll end up sleeping on the couch. I can read the writing on the wall.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. I’m not the most patient one.”

  Her phone had buzzed nonstop the first couple days after she came to Cain, but it had stopped after she stepped outside for a heated conversation with Channing. I knew he’d come up with her and spent time with the guys, but I wasn’t sure what had happened after that.

  “You and Channing have a fight?”

  She groaned.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head, still scanning the line. “It’s fine. He partied with the guys for a night, then headed back to Roussou. There are things going on with his sister, and he’s got this idea we should chill for a while, for her benefit. It’s all bullshit.”

  She’d mentioned Channing’s sister before, but I’d never met her. “I’m sorry I’ve not been the best friend this week.”

  She squeezed my arm gently. “Samantha, seriously. You and Mason broke up. Granted, I don’t think that’s going to last long, but still. That’s apocalypse sort of stuff. Like, end of the world stuff—”

  “Are you Samantha Strattan?”

  A security guard stopped and blinked a few times at me as he passed.

  “Yeah?”

  Heather nodded. “That’s Mason Kade’s fiancée. And she’s an Olympic hopeful.”

  “What are you doing in line?” He motion
ed for us to come with him and gestured to the other security guards at the door. “Just tell those guys who you are. You should never have to wait.” He led the way and held the door for us. As we swept in, he winked. “Just use my name if they don’t believe you.”

  “And your name would be?” Heather turned to walk backward behind me. Her tone dropped low.

  “Bass.”

  “Bass?”

  I glanced back and saw a slow smile spread on his face, his eyes darkened. “Oh yeah. Bass. That’s all you need to find me.”

  “I might put that to the test one day,” Heather said.

  Courtney and Grace laughed as they ducked around Heather and me to get inside. Once Bass closed the door, the nightclub was startlingly dark—until red, pink, blue, and green neon lights lit the way and we found a bar. That’s when the shots started.

  Shot one. Shot two. Three. Four.

  It wasn’t long until I was fucked up.

  I began feeling the music. The lights blurred around me. The edges of my vision closed so I wasn’t aware of anyone except my friends, and before long, I was smiling. I was laughing. I was enjoying time with these girls. Mason was still with me—he was always there, always in the back of my mind, but he was sleeping right now. He wasn’t active in my mind, not like these friends.

  Feeling someone behind me, I turned, a wide smile already on my face.

  “Taylor!” I threw my arms around her.

  “HEY!” Courtney raised her drink, sliding off her stool, and she hugged Taylor too. “You made it.”

  “I did.” Taylor was laughing but as she took us all in, she shook her head slightly. “When you said you were going out for drinks, I thought one or two.” She eyed the half-empty glass in Courtney’s hand and the shot I’d just taken. “How many are you guys on?”

  I held up my hand, my fingers spread out. “Seven!”

  Grace tripped over to us, giggling, and she held up two fingers next to my hand. “Now that’s right.”

  “Oh yeah.” I turned, looping my arm around her shoulders. “Thank you for that. I forgot.”

  Heather handed Taylor a glass. “Here. Drink up. You have a long way to catch up.”

  Taylor took it, still eyeing us with raised eyebrows. “We’re cabbing it home, right?”

  I nodded. Even drunk, my cheeks were hurting. “And no calling Logan for a ride.”

  She would call him, and he’d call Mason, and both of them would come, and then Mason would find me. We’d find a dark corner, and tonight would be for nothing. I held up a finger. “Tonight is about friends. Not boys. Friends.”

  Taylor watched me, sober.

  Courtney’s eyes were glazed over as she propped an elbow on the bar to rest her head. She was watching me. So was Grace, weaving, her cheeks flushed, and a hand over her mouth to keep in the infectious giggles that’d been spilling out all night long. And then Heather stood next to Taylor. Her long dirty-sexy blond hair was messed, and her black eye shadow was smudged, but her eyes were still alert.

  I took a moment, looking at all of them watching me back.

  They were here because of me, for me.

  I opened my arms to them. “I love you guys.” I couldn’t look away from Heather. “How’d I get so lucky? Why do you like me?”

  “Oh, Sam.” Taylor sighed.

  Courtney brushed a hand over her eyes, and Grace’s hand fell from her mouth.

  Heather reached for me. She held me tight, whispering against my hair. “I’ve got my dad and brothers, and I’ve got Channing, but you’re family too. You gave me a family too, you know.”

  I clasped on to her. I meant what I said—why did she like me? Why did anyone like me? Some days I was weak, whiny, and wishy-washy. And those were the only W characteristics I could think of when I was intoxicated.

  I was so goddamn lucky.

  “You’re not any of those.”

  I pulled back.

  Heather shook her head, wearing a wry grin. “You’re not weak. You’ve never whined. And you’re damn sure not wishy-washy. You love, and you love hard, and you never complain. I know you stepped away from Mason, and I know it probably killed you to do that. Don’t think of yourself that way. Anyone who says that shit about you is the weak one. They’re the whiny ones. Don’t ever let yourself be defined by someone else’s biases. Got it? You’re one of the strongest people I know, and that’s saying a lot.” Her hands caught my shoulders. “Got it, Sam? Tell me you got it.”

  “Got it.”

  The words spilled from my tongue. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud. But she was right. I was strong. My shoulders lifted and straightened. I did love hard. I was more than what others might say. They were the things they said.

  “Thanks, Heather.”

  Her smile turned gentle.

  I groaned. So many tears. I was sick of them. “I think we should do more shots.” I lifted my hand to order them, but Heather pulled it down.

  “I think you’re good with those,” she said. “Here.” She gave me a different drink, like the one she’d given Taylor. “That’s a Long Island Iced Tea. You can sip on that the rest of the night.”

  “Sip?” I sneered. “You mean chug?” And I proceeded to do just that.

  “No!” She laughed, and so did Taylor. Both tried to pull the drink away from me.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this, Sam.”

  I rarely was. I’d drink one or two, then stop. I couldn’t remember the last time I was really inebriated.

  “Me neither,” Heather added.

  Then Grace announced, “I’m so glad we became friends this year.”

  “Yes! Friends!” I reached for my glass again. This time it was half-full. I could finish the rest, no problem.

  “No!” All of them kept it from me.

  “Come on.”

  “No.” Courtney grabbed it and pushed it far behind her on the bar. I couldn’t get to it without losing my place by my friends’ side. The bar was dramatically busier than when we first arrived. I swayed on my feet, taking it all in.

  “Where’d all these people come from?”

  Taylor chuckled again beside me, and Heather said, “They’ve been here since we got in.”

  “Really?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Oh.”

  I hooked my fingers around the loops on my jeans and tried not to sway. They were staring at me, waiting for something.

  “What?”

  I felt another wave of gratitude crash over me. Jessica and Lydia were my best friends growing up, but neither was loyal.

  Then there was Becky.

  Oh, Becky.