Blind Side Of Love (13 page)

“Hey there, my handsome guy!”

“Hey!” He smiled, sweeping his hand across my face. I took his hand and led him through the house and out onto the patio. My mother turned her attention to Drew and me when she saw us walk out the door. My father was deep in conversation with Dr. Barrett and didn’t even notice, of which I was kind of grateful.

“Well hello!” my mother exclaimed as she approached us, finally getting the attention of my father who turned around to see whom she was addressing.

“Mom, this is Drew,” I said.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Drew.”

“You too, Mrs. Keeton.”

My stomach dropped when I saw my father approaching us while eyeing up Drew questionably. “Drew, you remember my dad, right?” I asked, finally pulling it together to form a coherent sentence. The look on my mother’s face almost matched the anxious one that I was sure was plastered all over mine.

“How are you, Dr. Keeton?” Drew extended his hand to my father.

“I’m well, thank you,” my father replied, shaking his hand back. I started to let out a little sigh of relief and was so grateful when Mrs. Barrett came over to help break up the tension.

“Drew! It’s so nice to see you, Honey,” she said, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Now if you could only get my Ashton to find a nice sweet girl like Becca, I’d be a very happy mom!” Drew smiled and looked down at the ground. “I told Ashton that you were going to be here tonight, so hopefully he will come by.”

I sighed a little louder than I probably should have at that thought and I was hoping that Mrs. Barrett didn’t realize why.

“So Drew, when are you headed back to school?” my father asked.

“My classes start up again at the end of August.”

“Becca will be going back at the end of July,” my father said.

I furrowed my brows in confusion. “What!? No I’m not. I’ll be going back at the end of August as well!”

“Oh, I just assumed that you were going to be volunteering for the summer outreach program again.”

“No, not this year. I need a break this summer, my course load in the fall is jam packed.” I grabbed Drew’s hand and stared into my father’s eyes.

“Drew, come and get something to eat,” my mother said, trying to break up the tension between my father and me. My father finally gave up on his intimidation tactic and went back to talking to Dr. Barrett.

“Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll make you a plate?” I whispered in Drew’s ear.

He smiled at me and pushed my hair behind my ear. “I’m actually not very hungry yet, but thank you for being so sweet.”

“Do you two ever get tired of gazing in each other’s eyes?” Krista teased as she approached us.

“Hey you! No Mr. Muscles tonight?” I joked as I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Ah, no more Mr. Muscles ever again,” she said, waving her hand in the air. I shook my head and giggled, not at all surprised. Krista never kept the same guy around for very long.

My brother immediately appeared out of nowhere when he saw Krista. He had always had a secret little crush on her and now he was becoming a little more open about it. She, of course, would play along with him and flirt back just to tease him. “Hey Krista. Hey Drew,” my brother said. He didn’t care that his girlfriend, Lindsay was standing right next to him as he began to check out Krista from head to toe. His eyes finally met mine and I shook my head in disapproval at him. I could tell that Lindsay had just witnessed his recent eyeball assault on Krista and was feeling really bad about it.

“Oh, Lindsay, this is Drew,” I said, trying to distract her from what had just happened.  I grabbed my brother’s arm and pulled him aside as Lindsay was talking to Drew. “Quit being rude to her!” I said in a loud whisper. He rolled his eyes at me and took Lindsay’s hand, looking a little defeated.

“Let the party begin!” I didn’t want to turn around at the voice I heard approaching. The hairs on my arm that were standing at attention already confirmed who it was. If that wasn’t enough, the smile that was stretched across Krista’s face was a guarantee. I finally looked up from the ground and was staring into Ashton’s cold blue eyes. I hated the way he looked at me, making me feel like I was the only one around even though we were surrounded by a ton of other people. He made me feel dirty, uncomfortable, and most of all, nauseous when I looked at him. “So Becca, do Mommy and Daddy approve of the guy that popped your cherry?” I glared at him in disgust, becoming even angrier when I saw Krista giggling.

“Shut the fuck up, Ashton!” Drew said.

“Calm down, it was
a
joke,
bro!” Ashton said,holding his hands up in defense
.
"You're still in for paint ballin' tomorrow, right?" Ashton asked Drew as his eyes shifted over to me to catch my reaction.

"Yeah, just let me know what time," Drew replied half-heartedly.

"Ashton, you came!" Mrs. Barrett exclaimed.

He nodded. "Hey Mom, I need you to spot me a few hundred for tomorrow."

She shook her head in disgust. "Honestly, Ashton, you really need to get a job for the summer." She was just about to walk away before stopping dead in her tracks and turning back around. "Oh Becca, a new benefactor just called. I'm going to need you to drop off their welcome packet tomorrow. I'll text you the address when I get home."

"No problem," I said, taking a deep breath while trying my best to hide my frustration.

"What time are you doing that?" Drew asked with concern.

I shrugged my shoulders. "No clue, guess it just depends on where she has me going or how long it's going to take to get there. And here I thought I was done with being errand girl. Oh well!" I sighed.

"I'll go with you," he said.

"You don't have to come. Go do your paintballing thing. I will be fine."

"No. I want to go. I don't want you going by yourself."

"Drew, really, it's okay."

"Becca, I'm going with you."

I felt a little bit of satisfaction, knowing that he was choosing me over Ashton but at the same time I didn't want him missing out on something that he wanted to do because of me. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed me on the head. I closed my eyes and smiled, only to open them again to find my father glaring at me from across the backyard. I looked away before wrapping my arm around Drew and pulling him closer.

Once I saw that Drew was deep in conversation with my brother and Lindsay, I decided to run inside and use the bathroom. As I got closer to the powder room off the kitchen, I heard voices coming from behind the closed door. There was no doubt that the familiar giggles were Krista's. When I heard the male’s voice, I felt the bile rising in my throat.

"Yeah, right there Baby, oh fuck yeah."

Anger soon replaced my queasiness. I would expect nothing less from Ashton; it was Krista that I was irritated with. I used the upstairs bathroom, still in shock that Krista actually stooped that low and that she had the nerve to do it in my parent's house. As I walked back outside, I noticed that the downstairs bathroom was now unoccupied. I had a huge knot in my stomach when I saw Ashton and Krista standing next to Drew, laughing away. I couldn't even look at them. I pulled away when Krista went to touch me.

"What's up with you?" she slurred. Her eyes were glassy and in that instant I knew that the two of them were doing more than just having sex in that bathroom.

"Oh nothing is wrong with me, but obviously you're as high as a kite," I snapped.

"Geez Becca, why don't you say it a little louder? I don't think everyone heard that!" she snapped back.

"The two of you make me sick. Have you resorted to having sex with low lifes in exchange for drugs? And if that wasn't bad enough, you had to do it right in my parents’ house.”

Her jaw dropped. Krista and I never fought in all the years we had been friends. We always had the perfect relationship. "You know what, Becca? I always defended you to everyone that said you were nothing but an uptight, stuck up bitch. But the more I'm around you, the more I'm finding it's the truth!"

Ashton chuckled, enjoying every minute of it. 

"Becca, just come on," Drew said, placing his hand on my arm, trying his best to pull me away.

"Yeah, Becca, better do what he says since you're attached to him at the hip, just because he’s the first guy to ever fuck you! Hey Drew, did you know that Becca thinks that you are her first and last? Stupid little naïve girl. Better watch out. She may go all psycho on you if you try and break up with her." I stared at Krista in disbelief. It was as if I didn’t even know who she was. We had been there for each other for
everything.
We always had each other’s back, and now it was as if we were complete strangers.

"Leave now!" I shouted. I could feel the tears filling my eyes.

"Gladly!" she screamed, finally getting my mother's attention.

"Girls, what's going on over here?" my mother asked as she came rushing over, looking at each of us with concern.

"Nothing. I was just leaving," Krista said in a huff. "Ashton, can you give me a ride home?" Even though she had pissed me off beyond words, I knew that neither one of them were in any condition to drive.

"Drew, could you give her a ride?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Oh no Becca, that's okay, I wouldn't want to inconvenience your boyfriend by taking time away from you to drive me home," she slurred.

My mother looked both her and Ashton over. "Krista, either let Drew drive you home or you’re leaving me with no choice but to call your parents. Neither you, nor Ashton are in any condition to drive like this," she said, keeping her voice down in an effort to not draw attention from the other guests.

"Whatever!" she shouted as she and Ashton staggered off.

"Drew, would you mind driving Ashton home as well? His parents had to leave to go to another party," my mother said.

"Yeah, no problem."

Krista turned back around and pointed her finger at me. "You and I -" She furiously grabbed the chain around her neck and ripped it off, throwing it in my face. "We are no longer friends."

Tears filled my eyes when I looked down at the ground to find the other half of the best friend charm that we each had worn since we were eight years old. My mother placed her hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me as Krista stormed out of the backyard. I bent down to pick it up as tears rolled down my face. It was all so surreal to me. It was as if she had turned into this person that I didn’t even know almost overnight. Or had I really been that wrapped up in my own little world that I failed to recognize that my best friend was fading away? My biggest fear today was getting into it with my father over Drew. I was prepared for it and had my battle gear on. Never in a million years did I imagine that Krista would be the reason that I would need to break out that shield around my heart.

Two weeks had passed and I had finally broke down and called Krista. She, of course, didn't answer but I still left her a voice mail, apologizing for what had happened, even though I didn't believe that one was warranted on my end. I was worried about her. The Krista that
I thought
I knew was always a party girl but I never thought that she would turn to drugs. Again, Ashton was involved the same way he had gotten my brother involved. I hated that Drew still remained friends with him, but I knew I had no right to tell him who he could hang out with. I was so grateful to him over these past few weeks. Not only was he helping me out with all of the charity stuff that Mrs. Barrett was piling on me, but he was also a sounding board, listening to me vent over my frustration with Krista.

I didn’t want to open my eyes. I was feeling so relaxed with the warm sun beating down on me, but when I felt Drew’s cold lips on my bare back I couldn’t resist. He dried himself off before sitting down on the beach blanket next to me. “Oh my God, that water must be freezing,” I said.

“Nah, you get used to it. I have to do something to cool off from looking at you in that sexy bikini.” I sat up and kissed him on the lips. “That’s not helping my cause, you know.”

“Sorry.” I smirked. “I really should get home and take a shower.” My parents were out of town for a wedding for a few days and had made my brother go with them after the last incident, leaving the house all to me for three days. I was happy that Mrs. Barrett didn't have anything planned for me within the next couple of days. I felt like I needed a mental break from everything. “Did you want to come over later on?”