Phoenix: The Rising (6 page)

Julie clutched the dash with both hands as they bounced out of the parking lot and made a sharp right onto the gravel frontage road that ran in front of the school.

“Slow down, Kas! Please!”

Kas laughed and then accelerated. “You need to get out more.”

Julie bit her lip and looked out the side window. She wished, now, that she had taken up Eli on his offer of a ride. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kas glance her way. He slowed a bit more.

“Sorry, Jules, I just don’t like it when a guy moves in on my territory.”

Territory?
Julie snapped her head towards Kas. “I am not your ‘territory’, Kas Penemue!”

Kas smiled, drove silently for another minute, and pulled to a stop. “We’re here.”

A couple dozen cars riddled the front lawn of the two-story home, which was ablaze with lights. Music blared through the open windows. Off to the side of the house, a bonfire burned. Someone manned a keg by the fire, handing out clear plastic cups to the kids gathered around it. Just as they were about to enter the house, one of the cheerleaders Julie recognized from the game ran by, squealing, with the Sloan kid in pursuit. He held two cups of beer high as he ran. The beer sloshed out of the sides of the cups, narrowly missing the front of Julie’s shirt.

“Watch it, asshole!” Kas yelled after Sloan, who had already disappeared around the corner of the house. He boldly wiped at a few spots of foam clinging to Julie’s chest. Julie flinched from his touch and pushed his hand away.

A smile spread across his face. “Just trying to help, Jules.”

Julie shook her head as her face burned with embarrassment. “Thanks, but I can do it myself.” She brushed away the foam. Within a few seconds, the dry desert air erased the last remaining traces of moisture.

As soon as they stepped in the door, Julie saw Charsey across the room. Charsey stood on her tiptoes and waved. The crowd of kids parted like the
Red Sea
as Charsey made a beeline towards them.

She stopped in front of them, chomped her gum and looked up at Kas. “I can’t believe you actually got our little Julie to come. She’s not much for parties, you know.” Julie could have belted her, not for the comment about parties because it was totally true, but for calling her “our little Julie”. Instead, she bit her tongue and forced a smile.

“Charsey Winters. You’re looking delicious, as usual.”

Julie saw Kas’s eyes drift down to Charsey’s cleavage, which was billowing over her tube top. Charsey’s hand snaked up to Kas’s face. She pulled him to her and gave him a full-on kiss, pressing her chest up against his. Julie could swear she saw an exchange of tongues before Kas pulled away from her. Julie cleared her throat and looked up at Kas.

“Kas, could you get me a beer?”

Kas tore his eyes from Charsey’s cleavage.

“Sure, babe. Be right back.”

Julie had no intention of drinking. She just wanted to get Kas away from her for a few minutes so she could talk to Charsey.

“Where’s Eli? I figured you’d be here with him.”

Charsey’s eyes flashed. “Well, you figured wrong. I decided Eli isn’t my type.” Her eyes trailed over to Kas. “Now Kas, on the other hand...” Julie couldn’t care less if Charsey was interested in Kas. As a matter of fact, she would gladly turn him over to her. But right now, she wanted to know what was going on with her ditzy friend. She grabbed Charsey by the arm and dragged her down the hallway. Finding an empty bathroom, she pulled her in and locked the door behind her.

“Are you drunk, Charse?”

Charsey pulled out a tube of strawberry lip-gloss from her pocket, turned to the mirror and applied a double layer, smacking her lips together in approval.

“No.” She put the tube back in her pocket, then leaned forward and kissed the mirror, leaving a perfect imprint of her lips. “I’m not drunk, sweetie. I am in total control.”

“Then why are you acting like this?  Like a—”

Charsey finished her sentence, “Ditz-extraordinaire?”

She turned back towards Julie and cocked her head. “That is what you think of me, isn’t it, Julie?”

Julie lowered her eyes, ashamed that Charsey knew exactly what she thought of her.

“Ummm ... well, yes, sometimes.” 

She looked back up to see Charsey smiling.

“I’m a pretty good actress, aren’t I?” Charsey lifted an eyebrow. “Boys love the ditz, Julie. Well, most of them, anyways. Plus, it keeps me out of your precious AP classes. Those kindergarten courses I qualified for are a breeze, and that’s how I like it.”  She unlocked the door and pulled on it. “You know what they say, Jules, ‘all work and no play makes Charse a dull girl’. A paraphrase of a very old proverb.”

Charsey hesitated, closed the door again, and walked back to a now baffled Julie.

“I like the second part of the proverb better, ‘all play and no work makes Charse a mere toy’.” She leaned in and whispered directly into Julie’s ear, “I like being a toy, Jules. I like it very much.” 

Julie swallowed and stood frozen to her spot as Charsey breezed out the door, humming.

Who the hell was that?

****

Kas turned around just as Julie came back into the room. The scowl on his face made it pretty obvious that he had been looking for her. “Where’ve you been?”

“Umm ... sorry, I just needed to use the bathroom.” That seemed to appease him, and his scowl softened just a bit. “Did you happen to see where Charsey went?”

Kas, being at least a head taller than most of the kids at the party, scanned the room. He motioned with his head to the top of the stairs. Julie turned just in time to see Remy disappear around the corner of the upstairs hallway with a giggling Charsey flung over his shoulder.

“Looks like she and Remy are gonna have a good time tonight. Lucky bastard.”

Julie swallowed in disgust.

“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, Chica.” Kas handed Julie one of the three beers he carried. He downed one of the remaining ones, crumpled the cup and threw it over his shoulder. “Drink up.” He tapped his cup against Julie’s.

“Right.” Julie took a sip and watched Kas as he downed his second beer in three gulps.

“Come on, Jules. Finish that one and I’ll get you another.”

“I really don’t drink much, Kas.” Not only did she not drink much, but she also wasn’t relishing the idea of him driving her home in a drunken stupor. Julie thought that maybe she could reason with him. “How about I just have this one, then I can be the designated driver and get you home in one piece?”

Kas laughed and held his hands out to his sides. “You see this body? I can handle a dozen beers and still walk a straight line, so don’t worry about me. Besides, you need to loosen up.” He pushed her beer towards her, and it splashed down the front of her shirt, soaking it. Kas’s eyes followed the trail of beer. She looked down and could clearly see the details of her bra showing through the front of the white shirt. She dropped the cup and crossed her hands over her chest as she felt the heat of embarrassment and anger race up her throat.

Julie ran out the front door and marched down the long, dark lane that led out to the road, mentally kicking herself for being so stupid. How did she let herself get in this predicament? If she had just followed her instinct—if she had just listened to that little voice—then she wouldn’t be in this mess! She’d be sitting in her room, by herself. Alone. Again. She couldn’t stop the tears as they flowed down her cheeks, tears of anger and embarrassment, regret and loneliness.

Julie heard the roar of an engine behind her, and headlights lit up the lane as she ran to the side. A horn blared and the vehicle screeched to a stop. Julie tripped over her own feet and tumbled down a shallow ditch.

“Julie?” It was Kas. He appeared at the top of the ditch as Julie stood and brushed herself off. He reached down and grabbed her by the hand, hauling her back up. Kas was the last person on Earth she wanted to see right now, but she accepted his help without complaint.

“Get in. I’ll drive you home.”

That little voice inside her suddenly sounded a lot like Eli Sullivan telling her to steer clear of Penemue. This time she intended to heed the advice. “No thanks, I’d rather walk.” She took off down the lane.

“Don’t be stupid. A girl was run down last week, remember? Do you want that to happen to you?”

Julie stopped. He was right. Her house was almost three miles away, and there would be a bunch of drunken kids out on the road. She glanced back at Kas. “Okay. But please take me straight home.”

Kas drove silently, occasionally glancing over at Julie who sat staring straight ahead, watching the road signs. She leaned forward and squinted as the
Wilkie Road
sign came and went.

“You just missed my turn!” She looked over to Kas.

“Oops.” His voice was too calm.

Julie’s stomach lurched to her throat, and her heart began to race. “Turn around, Kas.”

Kas looked over to her and he smiled. “Just relax, Jules. I’ll turn around up here.”

Julie exhaled. She felt a bit better, but only for a brief moment. Kas turned onto a gravel road but instead of turning around, he kept driving. Her heart began to pound as the fear mounted.

“Kas, you promised you’d take me home.” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice.

Kas pulled to a stop and shut off the headlights. He turned to Julie. “Yes, I did. And I will.” He grabbed Julie and pulled her across the bench seat. “But first, we’re gonna have a little fun.”

Before she could even react, Kas had his arms around her. Being in Kas’s arms was like being caught in a bear trap. She couldn’t move. She pushed uselessly against his unyielding chest as his mouth fell on hers, ravaging her lips and forcing them apart. As his mouth moved from her lips to her neck, she gulped in some air, tasting blood.

“Kas,” she pleaded, “please don’t do this!”

He snorted as his mouth moved lower.
This can’t be happening
!
 
Julie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to wedge her hands up between them to protect herself. She heard a door open.

“Get your hands off her, Penemue!”

Julie’s eyes shot open. Eli Sullivan was standing behind Kas in the opened door. Kas pushed Julie back onto the seat and swung around to confront Eli. Just as he turned, Eli’s fist smashed into his face, sending a spray of blood and Kas’s body reeling back towards Julie. She scrambled for the door, flung it open and hopped out as Kas fell over on the seat. She backed away from the open door, expecting Kas to get up and go after Eli, but he just lay there. He was out cold.

“Come on.” Julie felt Eli’s hand slip in hers and pull her away from the pickup. She stood with her hands at her sides as he slipped his helmet on her. She couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Get on, Julie.” Eli stood the bike up and disengaged the kickstand. Julie looked back at the pickup and saw Kas’s head rising up from the seat. She hopped on behind Eli and wrapped her arms around his waist as he raced away from the pickup ... and Kas.

Julie buried her face in the warmth of Eli’s back, clinging to him as his shirt absorbed her tears. She felt like such a fool! She had been so horrible to Eli since she met him, and now, here he was saving her from Kas Penemue like some knight in shining armor. Thank God it was impossible to talk over the roar of the engine. She was sure Eli would be giving her an earful for her stupidity if he could.

Within a few minutes, Eli pulled through the gate that opened to the entrance of the lane leading up to her house. He stopped abruptly, slid off the bike and closed the gate. The lock clicked in place.

Julie watched him in wonder. “How did you know where I lived?” She knew she hadn’t given him directions to her house.

“It’s a small town, Julie.”

It wasn’t much of an explanation, but in a town of less than five thousand, it didn’t surprise her that he knew this particular house belonged to the famous Charles Edward Mason, Bank President, and Renatta, trophy wife number three and Julie’s wicked stepmother for the last two years. Eli hopped on the bike, and they raced up the long drive. He screeched to a halt outside her front door. Julie got off, removed the helmet and handed it back to Eli as he sat on the bike.

“Thanks, Eli, for the ride and everything, I mean.” She looked into his dark eyes, and her heart started to race as he dismounted and took a step towards her. He reached out and brushed his fingers along the side of her cheek.

“Your lip is bleeding.” His voice was soft, yet serious. He dropped his hand back down, but not before Julie noticed the blood coagulated on his knuckle.

“So is your hand.” She swallowed and breathed in slowly through her nose and out through her mouth, concentrating on slowing her heartbeat.

He glanced down at his hand. “That’s just Penemue’s blood. He’ll end up with a fat lip tomorrow, which is exactly what’ll happen to you if you don’t get some ice on that.”

Julie shook her head and grabbed his hand, bringing it up in front of his face. “No, it’s not his blood. It’s yours. You have a gash on your knuckle. You must have connected with some teeth.” She smiled. Her heart had slowed to a manageable beat. “You should probably get tested for rabies.”