Impossible (9 page)

Riley pulled out two subs from his bag and handed me one. I nodded my thanks and scarfed it down. I hated the shit they served in the cafeteria, and Riley’s mom made the best food. She always gave Riley extra food for me and I wasn’t one to refuse.

There’d been a time, before Dad’s death, when Momma used to make me lunch, but now she was lost in her own world. She was slowly getting better though. She’d gone back to work a few years ago and seemed to use that as a distraction from thinking about Dad. Some days you couldn’t even tell there was anything on her mind, weighing her down. Those were the days I lived for.

As if on cue, Eddie entered the courtyard deep in conversation with Stace. She was shaking her head at him and he seemed to be trying to convince her about something. They were so into their discussion that they didn’t look around until they reached us.

“Oh, hey, guys.” Stace’s face was flushed and she seemed out of breath. She shot me a seductive smile and sat down beside me.

“Hey, Stace!” Riley said a little too enthusiastically. He jumped to his feet—maybe in an attempt to be chivalrous—and gawked at her.

I rolled my eyes and addressed the only normal person in our group. “Eddie, are you free to jam this afternoon?”

Eddie shook his head. “Nah, I can’t. My mom’s working a double shift tonight so I gotta babysit Hailie.”

Hailie was Eddie’s six-year-old sister. Eddie’s dad was in the army so he was away a lot, and his mom worked full-time at the hospital, so Eddie had to step in and take care of his sister. That’s how Eddie and I’d first met. Both our moms worked as nurses at the hospital and had introduced us. If people weren’t so fixated on the amount of piercings Eddie had, they’d see what an awesome guy he was.

That’s what pissed me off the most. We were all cool guys; we just wanted to make music, but people couldn’t overlook something as petty as our appearances. We were labeled freaks because we dared to be different. Everyone called us nuisances and troublemakers because we liked rock music and were in a band. It was fucking stupid. This town was seriously going to the shits.

“Well, we gotta practice a lot more. We have that gig coming up at Berkeley in a month,” I said, even though they didn’t need reminding.

It was impossible to forget about our upcoming gig. When I thought about it, my stomach twisted into knots. Sure, we’d performed at a few bars around town, but the people there didn’t appreciate our music. They didn’t get us. But Berkeley was a bar where the underground music scene was popular. We had to cross the state line, and drive for a couple of hours to get there, but it was all worth it. People in the music industry scouted Berkeley for the latest up and coming bands. We had to nail our performance.

“We need some new material,” Riley said, turning his attention away from Stace, “You got anything in the works?”

“I’m playing around with a few ideas, but nothing that I’m happy with yet. You can’t push the musical genius,” I said with a smirk.

Eddie spit out the energy drink he’d just taken a gulp of. “Yeah, you’re a real Mozart, Luca.”

Riley and Stace started laughing, and I scowled. “Some friends you guys are.” A few seconds later, I couldn’t help but join in.

As our laughter died down, I noticed a small crowd gathered around the benches where the jocks and cheerleaders always sat. They never let anyone else sit there unless they were considered “popular”. Those people seriously suffered from a superiority complex.

That’s when I noticed Ash standing with her back to me. She was speaking to that bitch, Kance, who was sneering at her. Even though I couldn’t see Ash’s face, my instincts told me that something was wrong.

“I wonder what’s going on with the Barbies today. Don’t they know how to play nice?” Stace remarked. She’d also noticed the hostility between the supposed best friends.

That body language was unmistakable. There was tension in the air, and all eyes were on them. People around here could sense a fight the way a shark could sense a drop of blood in water.

Were they going to have a stand-off, Mexican style?

“Ashton got kicked off the cheerleading team,” a quiet voice said to our left. It belonged to Elly, who was standing a few feet away, her eyes trained on Ash and Kance.

“She what?” My mouth fell open at the unexpected news. I knew Ash was upset yesterday, but I’d never asked her why. I figured it was because of her mom.

“I think that’s the best thing I’ve heard all year,” Stace said at the same time.

Elly joined us on the wall and began fidgeting with a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair. “It happened yesterday at training. Kance felt guilty about the way Ashton had bullied me, so she told Coach everything. Coach suspended Ashton indefinitely.”

I seriously doubted Kance felt guilty about anything. The girl had no conscience whatsoever.

“Is there a new captain yet?” Stace asked.

Even before Elly said anything, I already knew the answer. Kance was the only person vindictive enough to get Ash to pick on Elly, and then turn on Ash so she got kicked off the squad and she could become head cheerleader herself.

Now, it made sense why Kance hadn’t picked Ash up this morning. Obviously they wouldn’t be talking to each other after something like that.

“Kance is the new captain,” Elly said simply and continued twisting her hair around a finger. “I mean, I can’t say I feel sorry for her. Not after what she did to me or the way she treats everyone else. Kance was the only one brave enough to stand up to her.”

What Elly was saying was true, but it still annoyed me. A part of me had to defend Ashton, regardless of the way she acted towards me. “Kance isn’t brave. She’s a snot-nosed bitch and a hundred times worse than Ash ever was.”

My friends stared at me in stunned silence, like they didn’t know me. Finally, Riley broke the awkwardness. “Did you…just stand up for Ashton Summers or is all the weed getting to my head?”

“You know, you’ve been acting really weird since Ashton came to your house. Is there something going on with you two?” Trust Eddie to be the perceptive one. Only he would notice a small change in me and immediately link it to Ash.

“Guys, get off my case. Of course there’s nothing going on with me and
her
.” The lie came so easily to my lips that I didn’t even feel guilty about it.

Besides, there really wasn’t anything going on between Ash and me. Sure, she’d broken into my house and I’d kissed her. And when she’d been upset I’d made her feel better, and today I’d driven her to school. But those things didn’t matter and they definitely didn’t change how I felt about her. She was arrogant and self-absorbed, and I had to keep reminding myself that.

“Yeah, leave him alone. As if he’d ever go for someone like her. Luca has better taste than that.” Stace shot me a flirty smile as she brushed her hand against my thigh.

I knew what that look meant. She wanted to hook up, and I was happy to oblige. Besides, she would get my mind off all of this Ash bullshit. Stace was an attractive girl—most importantly, she was laid-back and easy to get along with—and if she was into me, then I wasn’t going to refuse her.

Grasping Stace around the waist, I brought my head closer to hers. “Come over to my house this afternoon and I’ll show you how good my taste
really
is.”

The brown of her eyes gleamed with excitement and she nodded eagerly. “I’m looking forward to it.” She brought her lips to mine and gave me a brief kiss before pulling away.

Riley groaned, putting his sub aside. “Do you guys really have to do that here? I’m trying to eat here.”

Moments like these were ones where my suspicions seemed to be spot on. It was starting to become obvious that Riley really had a thing for Stace, but she just never noticed it. And here I was getting in the way.

I rolled my eyes at him and glanced back to where Ashton stood. It was pretty obvious Kance was saying nasty things to her—the malice on her face said it all. Damn, I wanted so badly to go over there and find out what was going on, but I had to teach myself not to care about her. Just like she didn’t care about me.

She’d been embarrassed to be seen with me this morning and wanted to pretend that I hadn’t done her a favor. As hard as I was trying to break through her defenses, she wouldn’t let me in.

I still wanted to know what she was hiding, but I didn’t have to get involved with her personally. If she wanted to stay away from me, then I would give her exactly what she wanted, no matter how hard it was.

***

Ashton

There was a small crowd forming around me and Kance as we argued, but I didn’t care. What mattered to me was talking this out with her and trying to fix the problem before it got worse. I knew Kance was going through a hard time because of her parents’ divorce and it looked like she was lashing out at me. I was angry at her, but I could forgive. My reputation was that important to me.

“How could you do this to me, Kance?” I demanded. “You knew how much cheerleading meant to me. I don’t understand what I did to make you hate me.”

Kance looked bored by my statement. “I don’t hate you, silly. I pity you. I need to weed out the good from the bad. You of all people should understand that. After all, isn’t that what you tried to do with Elly? I can’t have someone like
you
on the team. For all I know, you could be the daughter of a drug dealer or an ex-con.”

My mouth was dry and I was finding it difficult to speak. Somehow, without even realizing it, I had become an outsider. Kance had used me to get what she wanted, and now she was the one in charge. She had everything, except for one thing. She didn’t have Oliver. I still had a chance with him, still had a way to restore my status.

Oliver was sitting on the table watching the confrontation between me and Kance. Bennett sat beside him, a mixture of surprise and sympathy on his face. At least he still cared about me. I knew I could always count on him.

Ignoring Kance, I walked over to Oliver. He didn’t smile at me like he usually did and there was something off about the way he was looking at me. Surely, Kance hadn’t gotten to him already. It’d only been a day, for God’s sake!

“This is pretty stupid, isn’t it?” I asked him.

Oliver shrugged, looking past me. “I don’t know, Ashton. I try and stay out of it.”

Okay, that was a good thing. I still had a shot here. I could still ask him out, maintain a good reputation, and rub it in Kance’s face. I’d show her for kicking me off the team. You couldn’t get rid of Ashton Summers that easy.

I stroked Oliver’s arm and flashed him a coy smile. There had always been chemistry between us and I was hoping to play on that. “You’ve been training so hard. You should get out and have some fun. Why don’t we do something tonight?”

Before Oliver could say something, Kance pushed me aside and linked her arm through his. “He’s not interested in dating a loser like you. He’s into girls who are on his level. Someone who isn’t a bastard like you.”

Oliver put an arm around Kance’s waist, and whispered something in her ear. Kance giggled and let him pull her into a slobbery kiss. My heart sank at their indiscretion, and I knew there was nothing left to lose anymore. Kance had taken every last thing from me.

“So, you’re together now?” I asked. “You work fast, Kance.”

“Actually,” Kance began, a smug expression on her face, “Oliver and I spent an amazing weekend together, didn’t we?”

Oliver nodded and planted a kiss on her neck, practically mauling her in the process. As I watched them, I felt like, very quickly, the control in my life had completely slipped away. Oliver was the only guy I’d ever truly wanted, and now Kance had taken that away from me too. The extent of her betrayal weighed down on me, and I bit the inside of my cheek, adamant that I wouldn’t shed a tear in front of them.

There was only one thing I could do. I would take a couple of friends with me, and we’d start our own group, away from Kance and her boy toy. Bennett was one of my closest friends, and the only one I could count on. He’d been my friend longer than Kance and he was all I had left.

When I looked over at him, he was staring pointedly at the ground. “Bennett?”

He glanced up at the sound of my voice, and heaved a sigh. Getting up from his spot, he took me by the elbow and led me away from the others. Thank God I had Bennett. I didn’t know what I’d do without him. I knew he’d never listen to Kance or let me down.

Bennett stopped walking and turned me around so I was facing him. He didn’t say anything at first and I began to worry because it wasn’t like him. By now, he would’ve been complaining about Kance for what she’d done to me. His silence was mystifying. Maybe he was upset because he’d have to leave the rest of group for me. It was a sacrifice he’d have to make and we’d both have to get used to being treated differently.

“Thank you for doing this,” I said, hoping my words would encourage him to speak.

Ben looked up with blank eyes and my heart sank. No, no. This couldn’t be what it looked like. Ben had always been on my side. There was no way he would ever choose them over me. I had obviously misinterpreted his expression. I was overreacting.

“Don’t thank me, Ashton,” he said, “I don’t deserve it.”