Between These Lines (A Young Adult Novel) (20 page)

“It’s going to work out,” Evie leaned over and
placed her hand on my arm to reassure me.

“Shane will get help. Then he’ll leave everyone
alone and maybe . . .”

“Maybe what?” My voice sounded thick and rough,
like it wasn’t my own. Maybe this wasn’t me tonight. Maybe I wasn’t the guy
who’d agreed to bring Shane Whitley down, who’d made a drug deal in my aunt’s
car, who was at a party surrounded by everyone I’d always tried to steer clear
of Monday through Friday.

We stood up, nearly touching. She was so close
to me. The rhythm of the boat on the water pounded louder and synchronized with
the thudding in my chest, with my heart. It absolutely was a time bomb and I
could feel how easy it would be to let it implode inside me, releasing once and
for all everything I had ever thought about her, felt about her, and spread
throughout me like a sweet poison.

“Shane
and I are . . .”

I
placed my finger across her lips, quieting them.

“I
don’t want to talk about Shane tonight.” I leaned closer, ready to kiss her. If
she had been turned off by my scars that night, she didn’t show it. I didn’t
repulse her. I didn’t need to feel ashamed. With Evie, I no longer needed to
hide—from anyone, or from myself.

She
closed her eyes and lifted her chin, making it easy for me, and I felt my
eyelids drift shut as I leaned my head to the side. Her face was warm and soft
as my hands cupped her jaw, and I felt her arms weave around me, her palms
splayed against my lower back near the top of my jeans.

Her
eyes flashed up to meet mine.

“It’s
just the wire,” I whispered, and felt her hand move higher, avoiding the thin
line of communication that held me tied to the other reason I was here tonight.

Her
lips opened slightly and . . .

Whiz.

“What
the . . .?”

Whiz.
           

A
second marshmallow hurtled past our heads, followed by another, and another.
The door to the house slid open and through it, two boys from school bounded
with boxer shorts on their heads and marshmallow shooters aimed at one another.

I
looked at Evie, dumbfounded and disheartened that our moment had been disrupted
by airborne mallows.

“I
forgot to tell you. They do this every year.”

“Really?”
I looked out across the lawn and watched with amazement as the two boys ran
around in the mud, dodging and pelting one other with sticky white blobs from
battery operated plastic guns.

“And
the boxer shorts are . . .

“Helmets,”
she replied with a decisive nod.

I
nodded my head in stunned agreement, “Definitely something you don’t see every
day.”

She
giggled softly. “It’s really the best part of the party.” The moon poked out
from behind a swaying tree and the light fell upon her face, illuminating her.
“Well, maybe not this time.”

It
didn’t take long for everyone to follow Alex and Max onto the lawn for the
spectacle; a full-on marshmallow war, complete with boxer short helmets.
Beneath the clear night sky, little blobs of white soared and pelted skin and
the grass looked as if a storm had just dropped Guinness Book of World Record
sized hailstones.

Not
caring who noticed, I slipped my hand into hers. It seemed most of the party
had migrated outside with us, but the marshmallow war was providing enough of a
distraction.

We
watched as Jake walked over to a gravel circle just off the deck and began
stacking logs.

“Looks
like it’s time to put those marshmallows to good use,” he said, and before
long, a fire was started, spitting and crackling against the damp bark.

Jake
stoked the fire and I watched as embers rose and flames curled. The orange glow
mesmerized me.
 
I couldn’t remember
the fire from the accident, but this one managed to have a strange effect on
me. It didn’t smell the same, lacking the tainted acrid aroma of the gasoline
that fueled the fire of my nightmares. This was a pleasant smell.

“Toss
that one over here,” a voice came from behind us.

Evie
stiffened, her hand suddenly slack in my grasp, and I turned to see Shane,
bottle in hand, staring at me with a wicked gleam in his eye.

Chapter Thirty

Evie

“Can we
leave?” I asked.

I
didn’t like the look in Shane’s eyes. I didn’t like how he paraded in front of
us, taking over, taking charge, like usual. Something was going on in that head
of his, I knew it, and now was the perfect time to skip out.

Looking
up at Chase, I yanked on his hand to get his attention. “We need to go,” I
murmured, but it was too late.

Shane
turned his back to us and faced the others. “Bet you didn’t know Chase has a
history with fire.”

A
chuckle came from someone who had no clue where Shane was headed with all this.

“Let
me rephrase that. Chase has a history with
accidents.
”

No.
Way.

But
yes, Shane was clearly competent and evil enough to hurl Chase down the road of
shame in front of everyone. Chase stood calm and still though, despite knowing
Shane was about to dig in.

“You
finally made it to the party.” Shane laughed, amused with himself. “Almost like
we’re eleven again, isn’t it?”

“What
does he mean?” I looked up at a very quiet Chase.
 

“What
do I mean? Let me explain it to you, Evie. This is the party Chase missed all
those years ago, only his chances went up in flames. Right, Mitman? Remember
the party you never got to?”

Shane
stood nose to nose with Chase, but neither looked away first.

“So,
how does it feel? And how did it feel to earn your ticket here? I’ll bet you
think you passed some sort of test with me?” Shane laughed crisply.
 

Shane
turned his attention back to me. “You played a hand in tonight too, Evie. After
all, you helped get him here.”

“I
. . .” it was hard to find the words while Shane stood in front of us, happy to
see it all unravel. Chase could be home right now reading one of those worn
chapbooks of his if it weren’t for me. If I hadn’t been so eager to jump on the
assignment and ask him to lunch, the attention would never have been drawn
toward him. And now, there were two things Shane was waiting for me to
confess—that Chase was only here for a grade; a grade I could care less
about right now, and that I preferred Chase’s company over his. Either would
make me look awful in front of everyone right now. I opened my mouth, but
closed it quickly, wishing I could have foreseen this turn of events. All along
I had hoped I could spare Chase the misery Shane was capable of inflicting on
him, I never realized I too would be targeted.

And
the look in Shane’s eyes told me he knew everything. He knew how I felt about
Chase, probably for a long time now.

I
had Tara to thank for that—which should mortify me. Every part of me that
had ever felt Shane’s anger began to twitch. Chase stood silently beside me. I
couldn’t read him. Then his eyes flashed to mine, and his fingers gripped mine
tighter.

Chapter Thirty-One

Chase

One thing
I had come to learn about Shane Whitley was when he stabbed someone in the back
it usually wasn’t just that person who felt the knife. He played people, even
those who were supposed to mean something to him. I held even tighter onto
Evie’s hand, knowing all the attention was no longer just on me.

Shane
nodded toward our entwined fingers. “You’re a fool if you think that means
anything.

You’re
nothing more than Evie’s assignment.”

I
stepped a little closer to him, crossing a very deep line. “Are you afraid of
what she’ll find out, Shane? Are you wondering if she’ll see she’s more like me
than she is you? That maybe this assignment helped her discover the kind of
person she’s been dating all along?”

The
party came to a screeching halt as all eyes fixated on the two of us, and I
kept delivering the blows. “You’re waiting for this to blow up in my face
because, according to you, I’m socially beneath her. There’s no way she’ll ever
lower herself to my level.”

I
watched the indignation in his eyes turn to hatred.

“But
what if she’s already lowered herself?” I heard Evie take in a deep breath of
shock,

“What
if she’s already lowered herself to yours?”

“You
think you’ve got this one, don’t you Mitman?” Shane asked me.

“This
assignment’s opened a lot of eyes.”

Shane
then venomously turned on Evie. “So you’d rather hook up with a freak like
him
,
than someone like me, is that it? Because he
is
a freak.”

Evie
squeezed my hand as Shane’s twisted smile aimed back at me.

“You know, it was all over the paper,
freak
,”
he said coarsely to me.
  

I
know what I am.

“Everyone
pitied you.” He was in front of me now.

I
see it every day.

“But
after the headlines lose their luster, you know what comes next?”

I
was a fool to think Evie would want anyone like me, so damaged, inside and out.

He
leaned into my face to say it, “The whispers.”

I
leaned back. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you Shane?”

“I
am
smart.”

“You
think you know what makes everyone tick.”

Shane
glared at me. “I’m pretty sure I know what makes
you
tick.”

“Do
you?” I asked. I didn’t have to look over at Evie to know I was already pushing
Shane too far, but I couldn’t stop. This was the moment I’d wanted to taste for
myself for so long.

Vaguely,
I could tell everyone gathered around the fire was watching and waiting to see
who would move first.

“Toss
me a marshmallow, Alex.” Shane called out, leaving everyone to wonder what he
was up to. Within seconds, the white marshmallow flew through the air, landing
with a soft thud in the grass next to Shane’s shoe. “Aim a little better. Toss
another one.”

This
time Alex took the time to skewer the marshmallow onto a stick, and flung it
towards Shane’s open hand. He took the stick and held it in the middle of the
fire for a few seconds.

When
he pulled it out, the marshmallow was an orange fire ball, its black crust
splitting all around. Instead of blowing it out, he waved it in front of my
face. The marshmallow was completely black now, its texture lost as it slid
down the stick, leaving a gooey white trail. It continued to burn and I felt
the heat begin to creep beneath my skin. Shane gave no regard to boundaries. He
held the stick as close to my shirt as possible without touching the flame
directly to it. I felt myself react, my chest pulling away from flame.

“Shane!”
I Evie shrieked.

“Some
tests you can pass,” Shane taunted.

I
had the sense of another body stepping close to us, but for the life of me, I
couldn’t take my eyes off the fireball inches away from my skin.

“This
isn’t cool, Shane. Put it down.” It took a few seconds longer than normal to
realize it was Jake, trying to put an end to the nonsense.

The
stick waved in front of me again, and on instinct, I reached out, grabbed his
wrist and gripped it tightly. “I didn’t come here to prove anything to you, and
you don’t need to prove anything to them by doing this.” I nodded to the group
standing around us.

It
was like dead space between us for a fleeting second, and to my surprise, Shane
nodded. I heard Evie suck in a breath of relief, and slowly, I found the will
to let go of Shane’s wrist, watching as he held his arm out and chucked the
stick into the fire.

Then,
without warning, he yanked my shirt, and my face planted against the muddy
ground.

Feet
scampered back, giving us room, and then, I felt the crunching blow of a kick
to my stomach. Before I could catch my breath, my shirt was yanked, drawing me
back onto my feet and suddenly, the open air feathered against my skin. A
unified gasp floated around me as

Shane
thrust me towards everyone gathered around the fire.

“I
told you he was a freak.”

I
raised my arm then let it go, hearing the satisfying crack of my fist against
Shane’s jaw, but it was too late. They had seen my scars. I watched as feet
began to back away from us. The whispers came next—about the lines on my
skin, the way the fire had melted and rippled my flesh. I leaned on my knees to
catch my breath, wanting to look up and find Evie, hoping she was still
standing there for me, when another round of punches came hurtling into my
ribcage.