Between These Lines (A Young Adult Novel) (9 page)

“Next
project? Are you cheating your way through the whole year, Shane?”

“Why,
yes, yes, I am,” this seemed to amuse him. “See my work needs to be consistent.
There’s no margin for error, especially when it comes to more important things
like Yale, Harvard, Cornell . . .”

“Ty’s
writing your college applications for you?”

“There’s
a lot expected of me, Chase, and I don’t like to disappoint. I can’t be in two
places at once—hosting a party while making an exchange. But you can.”

“You
want me to make a deal for you while you’re at Jake’s party?”

“Uh,
uh, uh.
My
party, and you’re catching on finally.” he waved his finger
at me. “Who do you think supplies these parties? And let’s rephrase your
thought.
You’re
making a delivery. The deal’s already been made.”

Shane
really believed he could boss anyone around this school, including me, but he
wasn’t going to get me to do his dirty work for him. I watched as he hopped off
the counter and took two long strides until he stood right in front of me. He
was just as tall, yet he always appeared to tower over everyone when you
combined his height with his ego.

“I’m
all about loyalty. I want to see how far Evie will go.”

I
gritted my teeth. “You don’t deserve her.”

“And
you think you do?” Still in my face, I half expected him to explode with the
lip I was giving him, but instead, he took it, and I wondered what I could say to
mark I had gone too far.

“If
you back out, I’ll tell everyone how you hurt her. You get what I’m saying? And
it won’t look very good when I tell my uncle you supplied Ty to do a few
papers. Oh, and I’ll even go one step further,” he continued with pleasure.
“I’ll tell Evie your secret.”

“I
don’t have any secrets,” I whipped back, recalling last night’s conversation in
the car.

Shane
cocked his head to the side, sizing me up. “Don’t you?” He let a few seconds
tick away.

“I
know why Evie likes you so much,” he walked around me. “You’re that quiet,
rebellious type, the one who avoids everyone like they’re the plague. If they
only knew what you hid,

Chase.
If they only knew how much you wanted to be right where I am a few years ago,
how you insisted your parents race you to my house before anyone else showed
up.” He stopped in front of me, nose to nose, and waited for my reaction.
“That’s how the accident happened, isn’t it? You were in such a hurry. But
let’s just admit what really happened.
You
caused the accident, didn’t
you, Chase? Because
you
were so desperate to be
me.
”

I
glared back at him.

“Oh,
sure, Evie will pity you. She’ll take you under her wing and try to nurse you
back to health, because that’s the type of girl she is.”

“She
already knows about the accident.”

This
made him pause for a moment, but he still went on. “But when she sees your
other secret . . .” he grabbed my collar, “the one you hide every day, you
won’t be so intriguing to her anymore. You’ll disgust her.”

Abruptly,
Shane stepped away from me as if I was a living disease. The smirk was gone
from his face and replaced by absolute repugnance. He pulled on the handle of
the door and opened it. “Everything comes with a price, Chase, don’t forget
that.”
 

Chapter Twelve

Evie

“You can’t
hide in the bathroom all day,”
I told myself after slipping away from Tara for
the second time this morning. For once I wished I’d taken Shane seriously and
stayed home, but when I awoke this morning to find the bright purple
discoloration across my cheek, I couldn’t ignore the defiant swell surging
inside me, and I decided to go to school anyway. I had been growing my hair out
for about a month and was sure it was long enough to hide the left side of my
face.

I
hoped.

My
father had always given me advice about how to say no, how not to become a
doormat, how to end a relationship when a boy goes too far. I used to roll my
eyes and listen as my mother inevitably chimed her two cents in, saying how we
were avoiding all that by sending me to a school that could only allow good
breeding past its doors.

The
thing was, I really don’t believe Shane meant to hurt me. But every time I
questioned it, even the slightest bit, my dad’s voice echoed inside my head,
nagging me with his most important warning—
if a guy does it once, he’s
certainly going do it again
. And that was becoming something I couldn’t
guarantee these days.

So
that was the real reason I decided to come to school today—to stand up
for myself, to stand up against Shane, and it looked like it was going to work
until I stepped off the bus and felt everyone trying to figure out why I wore
my hair differently. That’s when I decided to skip going to my locker and hide
in the bathroom instead.

“Took
you long enough,” huffed Tara. A day without talking to each other seemed to
have gone by unnoticed. She was chewing gum and finishing up a homework paper,
while trying to walk, when I rejoined her in the hallway. I was glad to see she
didn’t notice anything different.

“There’s
Shane and the guys, want to stop?” Tara asked as her eyes peeked over the top
of her paper.

“Not
really.”

“Are
you kidding me? That’s unlike you. What happened, you and Shane get into a
fight last night, or what?”

“I
don’t want to talk about it.” I kept walking. The frown on Shane’s face followed
me.

After
we sat down in class, it took all of five minutes for Tara to notice my face.

“Whoa,
Eves! What’s with the shiner?”

“Geez,
keep it down,” I urged with a harsh whisper, and busied myself with organizing
my homework folders.

Tara
reached over and took my chin, turning my face one way and then the other.

“Unbelievable
. . .” she whispered.

Heads
lifted. People were starting to notice. “Just forget about it, okay?”

“You
knew I was only kidding when I asked if you and Shane got into a fight, but
this must have been some match.”

It
was funny to see Tara shocked. Not funny, as in “ha ha”, but more like, “I
didn’t know your face could look that concerned for me”, kind of funny.

“What
are you looking at?” Tara shot out to the boy a row over from us. He
immediately faced forward, his cheeks burning red.

I
chewed my bottom lip and smoothed my hair back over my cheek, knowing she could
see through my efforts, and the feeling of utter misery slowly forced its way
beneath my skin.

“Look
at the bright side—it’s a pretty shade of purple.”

I
shot her a look.

“Want
to explain?”

“Do
I have to?”

“Yes,
you do. So out with it,” she urged me on.

I
let out a big sigh, along with a swift glance at the neighboring desks. If
anyone was listening, they were doing a good job of pretending not too.
Finally, I leaned over close enough to Tara’s face until I was positively sure
no one else would be able to hear me.

“Shane
did it.”

Tara’s
reaction was one of slow shock. She looked at me without saying a word for
several minutes until I had to actually question myself if she’d heard me.

“You
asked,” I said softly and smoothed the front pleats of my plaid skirt.

Finally,
her voice resurfaced and she was able to shake off the alarm of my words.
“Why?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I
met Chase at the library last night. Shane showed up at my house, and then
after Chase left…”

She
interrupted me before I could finish.

“Chase
was in your house?”

“No,
he didn’t make it past the driveway. He was walking me to the back porch. My parents
weren’t home. It was dark.”

“And
Shane
hit you
?”

“Pretty
much,” I said with a bit of reluctance. I wasn’t ready to give Tara the entire
story. It was one I wanted to forget ever happened. Besides, I wasn’t too happy
that today was day two of learning secrets about me.

“Is
there more to it?” Tara leaned in my direction now, realizing the gravity of
the topic, and that it was of absolute secrecy right now.

I
sighed and gave her a look, hoping she would catch on without my having to go
and explain it all. Somehow, I knew she would get it.

“Evie,
this is serious.”

I
played with the pencil lying on top of my folder.

“Really
serious,” she pressed. “What are you going to do?”

“What
can
I do?”

“Uh,
for one thing, you can break up with the jerk.” A new Tara was beginning to
show herself, and I couldn’t help but smile a little as I rolled my pencil back
and forth across my desk.

“I
wish I could.”

She
shook her head like I was speaking a foreign language. I set my pencil to rest
and turned in my seat to face her, leaning over, elbows on my knees.

“If
I break up with him, he’ll go after Chase. He’ll think we’re together.”

“Uh,
you’re working on a paper together, that hardly qualifies as
going out
.”

“I
know that. But Shane . . .” I let out a deep sigh. “Staying with him is the
only way I can make sure Chase doesn’t get hurt.”

“And
you’re willing to take a few smacks to protect the dork you’re writing a paper
with? Is a grade from Mr. Floyd
that
important?” Tara raised her
eyebrows, confused at my reasoning.

“No,
the grade’s not important.”

“Then
what is?”

Mrs.
Cognetti stood at the board and I sat up straighter so she could see me. I
shrugged, hoping Tara would just drop it, but I sighed to myself anyway,
murmuring just beneath my breath, “I think Chase is.”

Chapter Thirteen

Chase

I was
going to have to revoke my promise to Evie about being at Jake’s party. As I
saw it, there was no way I could get out of the deal—the one arranged by
Shane. Evie would have to understand that I didn’t want to be at the party in the
first place. I wasn’t one of them. Would never be one of them. I was only going
for her, because she asked me, and well . . . things change.

Truth
was, I wasn’t all that afraid of Evie knowing about me. The little I told her
last night, about my parents, about the accident, felt so good — like
coming clean. I was sure in time, when the moment was right,
if that moment
ever came
, I would tell her about my scars. I would show her if I had to,
but not because I wanted her to feel sorry for me. I wanted to show her because
as much as I hated them, they were a part of me. The real me. If it appalled
her like Shane had so pleasantly predicted, well I guess that was a chance I
was willing to take.

I
stood outside English Lit and pictured her at her seat. Shane had me so angry
this morning that I needed time to come to my senses and calm down, causing me
to skip Social Communications. Something I’d never done before.

Evie
was quietly smoothing her hair with her fingers as I approached her row. She
didn’t know that I knew about the mark on her cheek, and I felt myself tense
with hidden rage at the thought of Shane’s hand coming into contact with her
smooth skin. I wanted everyone else to disappear so I could take her into my
arms and hold her, but I had to play it her way for now, and pretend I had no
idea what was behind the blonde locks she so earnestly played with.

She
tilted her head, careful not to let the length of her hair move too quickly out
of place so that I would see. If that happened—if I saw—I would never
take my seat.

By
the time I got to her row and stood in front of her desk, I realized nothing
could make me move and walk the few steps I needed to get to the back of the
row. My feet wouldn’t budge. I searched for the mark beneath her hair, to see it
for myself, but I couldn’t get past her eyes. I couldn’t get past how sweet and
gentle and amazing she was, even though the deepest part of me knew Shane had
done this to her—and that was the part that was killing me.

Voices
whispered around us—how odd I looked standing there without saying a
word, staring at her. She looked back at me, her eyes filled with fear, then
worry, but then they quickly softened and her hands settled on top of her desk,
as if giving up the battle to hide her face. As if it wasn’t really worth it. I
smiled back and finally, my feet were able to move, leading me to the rows
behind her where I belonged.

Professor
Coleman broke us up into our study groups, and she and I moved to the back of
the room.