Fallen Crest Alternative Version

  And then I turned around.

  Malinda had come back around the corner. Her eyes were grave and her mouth was flat. She held out another cup of coffee to me. “It ain’t my business, but—”

  Mark yelled out, “Mom, stay out of it!”

  Her eyes mirrored her mouth. “—I think you’ve got too many adults who aren’t acting like it in your life.”

  My heart dropped.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The rest of my Saturday was spent at Garrett’s house. Mark and Adam knocked on the door later in the afternoon and walked inside. Mark ordered pizza and I showed them the theater. It was later, around seven, when Adam got a text message. He gave me a sheepish look and said that Becky was on her way over. An hour later the doorbell rang again. This time it was Emily, Mark had told her to come over. Slowly, one by one, the entire Elite group was in my theater room. More pizza was ordered. Someone found the beer and wine coolers. They were passed out, and the number of bottles had tripled by midnight.

  Cassandra and Amelia were quiet for the first hour. Their eyes were wide as they saw the rest of the house and their mouths stayed shut. I expected snarky digs, but I got none so I let it go. For now. Once they realized the punishment, I knew they’d be blamed for the ban from the Public parties at school. No one would be happy about that.

  After the second hour, they were both giggling on the laps of Peter and Mark.

  Emily caught my gaze at one point and snorted. She rolled her eyes but settled back into her recliner with a blanket and a bowl of popcorn.

  Miranda was the last to arrive and she was the quietest of them all. She gave me a polite smile at the door but remained in the background for the rest of the evening.

  Becky started to ooh and ahh every five minutes after the first movie. When the giggles started and she tried to hide them behind her hands, I knew she’d had too much to drink.

  It was after midnight before I realized there’d been no word from Mason or Logan. I wasn’t worried since Mason told me the team was going for dinner.

  I sent both of them text messages. An hour later there was no response. An hour after that, still no response.

  “What’s wrong?” Adam had been watching me pace for the last twenty minutes. He lounged back on the couch with an arm thrown over the back. A pile of beer cans were on the floor beneath him, along with crumpled napkins and the crusts of his pizza slices on his plate.

  “Nothing.” I kept pacing.

  He frowned and swung his legs over to sit upright. “Sam.”

  His voice quieted the group. The conversations and giggling stopped as they watched me now.

  Adam sighed. “What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head.

  Becky’s eyes were wide, but they enlarged twice the size as she watched me. She sat on the opposite end of where Adam sat and huddled back into the corner. She pulled her knees to her chest.

  Then Miranda spoke from the back. She was sober. “She’s worried because she hasn’t heard from Mason.” She rose and met my gaze. “Did I get that right?”

  I jerked my head in a nod.

  A frown flashed over Adam, but it was gone the next instant. He scooted forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “What were they doing tonight?”

  My mouth stayed shut, but my pulse raced.

  Mark cleared his throat. “They were doing some prank on Roussou tonight, remember?”

  Disdain filled Adam’s eyes. “Oh, yeah.”

  “What were they doing?” Miranda stood in front of me and crossed her arms over her chest. “Or don’t you know?”

  There was a challenge there, but I didn’t care. My arms trembled and my phone went off in that instant.

  ‘In your driveway. M’s hurt bad’

  I bolted for the door.

  “Sam, what is it?” Adam yelled after me.

  My heart pounded now. I felt it thump in my chest as I raced up the stairs and flew for the front door. Then I froze on the doorstep. Nate and Logan held Mason up between them. Both of his arms were over their shoulders as blood dripped down from his face to the ground.

  Then all three looked up, and I shrunk against the door.

  Bruises were already starting to swell over their faces. Fresh and dried blood were on their arms, faces, knuckles—everywhere. Mason’s shirt was soaked in it.

  I choked out, “What happened?”

  Logan grunted when they moved past me into the house. “We were jumped. Fuckin’ Tiger pussies.”

  “Oh my god,” someone screamed when they helped Mason to the kitchen table.

  Everyone had followed me up the stairs and stood in a small crowd. Becky was white in the face while the guys seemed closed off. Mark’s hands were in fists at his legs as he jerked forward and pulled out the chair for Mason.

  Adam circled around the group. His mouth was strained at the corners. “What happened?”

  Logan sneered and moved to the kitchen sink. Nate cast a shrewd glance at them as well before he lowered himself to the chair beside his best friend.

  “Sam?” Becky was that three year old again. She sounded so small.

  “I—uh—some Roussou guys jumped them.” The statement rattled me, even though it was mine. I felt my feet become unglued from the floor and I rushed to the sink. With a hand to his arm, I nudged Logan aside and gestured for him to sit down.

  Something surrendered in his eyes before he nodded and went to the table. He sat on the chair beside his brother. All three of them waited for me now as I filled up a small bucket of warm water. Washcloths were grabbed, along with the first aid kit Garrett left under the sink.

  Miranda was white as a sheet as she stood a few feet from Logan. Her eyes clung to him, but he had his head down. His chin jutted out, in a resolved set. Her chest lifted up and down as her eyelids fluttered. The corner of her mouth turned down before she moved back a step. She surrendered something in that moment. It cost her. As she turned away, I saw the tears at the corner of her eyes. She brushed them away but never met my gaze. She knew I saw them. She didn’t acknowledge them.

  I sighed as I sat the bucket on the table and turned first towards Mason.

  Then Emily dipped a washcloth in the bucket. “I’ll help you.”

  I nodded, with my throat full, and gestured towards Nate. She nodded and bent down before she dabbed at his face. He sucked in his breath but stayed put for the remainder of it. As she continued to clean his face, Miranda took the other washcloth. There was a haunted look in her eyes as she knelt before Logan and did the same. He cringed but that was his only response.

  She continued as she cleaned his entire face and hands.

  I sighed as I held onto my washcloth. Mason looked up with one eyelid swollen. He only had one eye that met mine and my lip jerked.

  No one spoke a word as we cleaned their cuts, washed the blood away, and put bandages where they needed them. When I started to take the shirt off Mason, he shook his head.

  “Cut it off.”

  “You sure?”

  He nodded and closed his eyes.

  Adam handed the scissors to me and I started from the bottom up. As I peeled it off him, his wounds started to bleed again. A bruise was already black over his ribs. It spanned from his pectorals and wrapped around to his back. It didn’t stop till the bottom of his stomach muscles.

  “Oh my god,” someone whispered.

  Some others sucked in their breaths and I heard a whimper come from Becky.

  My eyes jerked to his and I choked out, “Why are you the worst?” I held his gaze steady and ran a gentle thumb over his cheek. A tiny bruise had formed underneath his cheekbone.

  He shook his head again in a slight grimace.

  “How many?”

  “Enough.” Logan sent Adam a dark look.

  “They should go to the hospital,” Amelia whispered to Cassandra.

  Miranda whirled around. “They should go to the police.”

  She raised her hand to Logan’s cheek again with a washclo
th, but he shoved her away. “I’m fine.”

  She sighed in disgust. “You need to be cleaned up. You could get infected.”

  He grimaced and looked around. “Why are you all here? Sam hates you.”

  A giggle escaped from Becky. As they turned to her, she scooted away and hid behind me. All eyes were on me now. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” She ducked further behind me.

  I rolled my eyes and moved from Mason. “You guys should go. It’s late anyway.”

  “Can’t. Drunk.” Cassandra perked up.

  Emily threw her head back. “We’re all drunk.” She threw me a smirk. “Your dad has a lot of booze.”

  “Had.”

  Amelia burst out laughing. When she teetered on her feet, she grabbed Cass’ shoulder to steady her, but they both went down. Then she snorted as she rolled to her back. “Oh fuck. I can’t believe I did that.”

  Cass elbowed her. “Shut up.”

  That made her laugh harder.

  “Fuckin’ leave,” Logan snapped. His eyes were fierce.

  “We’re trying to help.”

  He whipped back to Miranda and glared. “You’re not doing anything. You’re a pain in the ass. Call a cab.”

  “Who’s—” Cass opened her mouth.

  Logan cut in, “I’ll pay. Just leave.” He reached for his wallet and threw a hundred dollar bill at Miranda. A sneer adorned his face. “I think that should cover it?”

  Amelia leaned to Cass’ ear and whispered for all to hear, “He’s grouchy.”

  She was given a dumb look in return. “He got jumped.”

  When more curses spewed from Logan, I started to nudge them towards the door. “Adam, can you call a cab?”

  His nostrils flared. “I’ll drive ‘em. I’m sober.”

  Mason glanced over. A corner of his mouth curved up. “Now you’re sober?”

  A dark loathing flared over Adam. His hands jerked up, already in fists, but he stopped. He froze and his chest rose up and down, but they slowed after a moment. In slow motion, it seemed his arms went back down. His voice came out garbled, “You know, I was trying to be concerned for Sam’s sake. I know she’s worried about you guys, but I’m not. I can’t pretend otherwise. I’m glad you got jumped. You’ve had it coming for a long time and I’m glad you got the shit beat out of you.”

  All three of them shared an amused look, but Nate’s the one who surprised me. He cast a shrewd look over the group and spoke in a soft voice, “Fuckin’ leave because I’m starting to forget about the guys who jumped us …”

  The threat lingered in the air for a moment.

  The corners of Adam’s mouth flattened and he skewered me with a look. I felt torched by it and splayed a hand over my stomach. A storm had started inside of me, and I needed to calm it down. Everything tightened in me, and my heart beat was a slow loud thump as I waited for the moment to pass.

  “Ass,” someone whispered in the back.

  Nate rolled his eyes. “What a shock. Get out!”

  Mason and Logan shared a grin.

  “Fine.” Cassandra twisted her elbow clear from Amelia’s hold and started for the door. She took one step, and her knees buckled. Adam and Peter both grabbed for her. Adam’s hand held her up from the arm while Peter’s had a weak hold on her hand. They glanced at each other as Cassandra whooshed between them. A drunken giggle came over her again. She tried to steady both her feet, but one of her heels had fallen off. A frown came over her. “I can’t…stand. Why can’t I stand?”

  Adam and Peter still studied each other.

  Miranda rolled her eyes and shot between them. She grabbed Cass by the waist and propelled her for the door. Once there, she deposited her on the porch and whirled back. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Let’s go. They don’t want us here.”

  Mark went between the two guys and patted both on the shoulder. “Let’s go, dudes. Sleep over at my place?”

  Amelia swooned.

  The strained moment was broken and Adam cleared his throat. He blinked a few times before he met my gaze. I sensed his confusion but stepped back. Mason curved a hand around my leg and pulled me between his. He tucked his head around the side and gave Adam a pointed look. “Get out.”

  Adam flushed. “You’re an ass.”

  “Well aware.” Mason yawned and let me go to stretch in his chair. “Well aware.”

  As they went, Becky gave me a shaky smile and giggled before she lifted both her thumbs in the air.

  “Let’s go, nerd.” Miranda reached for her and was the last. She started to pull the door behind her but glanced at Logan for a second. Her face shuttered, and the corner of her mouth dropped abruptly before she shut the door behind them.

  Once we were alone, Logan let out a loud sigh of relief. He tipped his head back. “Finally. Hell.”

  Nate grinned and moved towards the freezer. “Sam, do you have ice packs in here?”

  I shrugged. Mason nudged me against him again. He pressed a kiss to my stomach and my hand cradled the back of his head. The knot in my stomach unraveled a bit more. “Probably. Garrett seemed to have everything here.”

  “Ah ha!” Nate produced three ice packs and tossed them over.

  Each of them was caught in a smooth grab.

  “We’re sleeping over.” Logan pressed his against his cheek and closed his eyes from the pain. “Is that okay?”

  “Yeah. Uh, I think there are some bedrooms downstairs. You and Nate could use those.”

  They both nodded.

  Then Mason stood and moved into the kitchen. He started to look through some of the drawers and cupboards.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Brandy. Your dad has to have some.”

  My stomach kicked again. My dad. He wasn’t my dad. Well… I spread my hand against my stomach again. It kept doing somersaults. “I think there’s a cabinet in the living room.”

  “I got it.” Nate found it and pulled out a bottle. He started to pull out four cups and held the last one out towards me. I shook my head. Three cups were placed on the table and he filled each one to the top. The three were stiff as they picked up their glass and tipped their heads back.

  “Oh—ugh.” Logan wiped a hand over his mouth. His eyes watered a bit. “That stuff is nasty.”

  Mason grunted and put his cup back down. “It’ll help with the pain.”

  Logan groaned. “I’m going to bed. Where’d you say the room is?”

  I showed them the rooms, and Nate and Logan bid me goodnight as I started up the stairs. Mason wasn’t in the kitchen, so I went up the next set of stairs and found him in my bed. He had pulled on a loose tee shirt with baggy sweat pants tied at his waist. His eyes were closed with the ice pack held to his ribs.

  I shut my door and took a breath.

  “You okay?” One of his eyes opened a crack.

  I shook my head. “I’m supposed to ask you that.”

  He held a hand to me. “Come here. I just want to sleep. Is that okay?”