Pretty Hate (New Adult Novel) (17 page)

India looked at me and winced.

“That old kid’s show?” she said.

“There was a show? Um, no. He worked for the electric company. He came to our house to turn our power off.”

“Oh, God...I mean, how do you know?”

“I was there. It was a Saturday. Rebel Love was out with one of her boyfriends and Mazie Goodnight was at the library tutoring. I had the chicken pox. I was thirteen.”

“She didn’t do it in front of you, did she?”

“No. He stood in the doorway of our house as he yelled at her. I crept up and hid behind the kitchen door. This man said the most terrible things to her, called her a lowlife, a scumbag and she took it. I used to have respect for her and in that moment, it was gone. So, she did what she’s always done. She brokered a deal.”

“She needed electricity,” India said.

“The point is, I didn’t lose respect for her because she blew him, I lost respect for her because she put herself in the position of giving a blow job to this nasty, disgusting guy in the first place. She could have totally circumvented that whole situation by not giving up before she got into that situation. Understand?”

“Yes,” she said and sighed. “I’m sorry, Beth.”

“Lucia would never put herself in that situation,” I said.

“It’s the same thing, Beth. Baron Richter
is
the guy from the electric company. Lucia rolls over just the same. Understand?”

“Yeah, I suppose. You sure you’re okay?” I said and stared at her.

She looked at down at the patio and smiled.

“Yeah, I think so. Sun’s coming up.”

India and I crawled back into her room and got into bed.

“Should we turn the song off?” I said as sunk into her bed.

“Nah, let it play. It makes me feel better.”

“Yes,” I said and yawned, “me too. Hey, why were you embarrassed to tell me that Devon broke up with you?”

“Because of the way he did it. It’s fucking humiliating.”

I turned over onto my side and faced her.

“Tell me,” I said.

India looked at her ceiling and took a deep breath. She turned her head and stared at me and closed her eyes.

“He broke up with me via a Bitstrip, Beth.”

“A...”

“Yes, a Bitstrip. So horrid,” she said.

“I don’t know what a Bitstrip is, India.”

“Oh, geeze, Beth, they’re all over Facebook. Those stupid cartoons, you know? People feed in their pictures and their friends’ pictures and they come out as caricatures and then you choose a certain setting, something relevant, and you type in these stupid captions. A Bitstrip.”

“So, we could be a Bitstrip?” I said.

“Totally. I would feed in my profile picture and yours and we’d be in bed or, I don’t know, walking on the moon with chocolate chip cookies suspended in the air around us and I would type:
India and Beth are discussing the mechanics of Bitstrips
and then I’d post it.

“Are the pictures, the caricatures, those horrid drawings with the huge balloon heads on top of the skinny necks and bodies that fade out of perspective?”

“No, they’re not that bad. Some of them come out pretty realistic,” she said and yawned.

“Anyway, so...Devon?” I said.

“Yep. He used a picture that I took of him and one that he took of me when I was at his house in Denver. They were really nice photos and he made them into a Bitstrip.”

“And the setting?” I said.

“Horseback riding in the desert at sunset,” she said and closed her eyes. “And, Beth?”

“Yeah?” I said.

“He and I have never even been horseback riding
or
to the desert.”

“Wow. Was there a caption?”

“Yes,” she said and sighed. “At the bottom of the really sweet cartoon of us riding horses in the desert, he wrote:
I’m not feeling it
.”

“Whoa,” I said and shook my head. “And he posted it for everyone to see?”

“No, he did spare me that humiliation. He sent it to my private messages.”

“So, Devon private messaged you a Bitstrip breaking up with you?”

“Cold, huh?”

I wanted to tell India how lucky she was that her relationship was reduced to a Bitstrip and not a porn video on smutzoo.com called
My Ex-Girlfriend’s Barely Legal Princess Pussy
, but I kept my promise to Ivory-Lou.

“Very,” I said and shook my head. “A Bitstrip.”

“Yep, a Bitstrip,” she said and closed her eyes.

That afternoon as India and I slept, he flew into her room like a tornado and jumped on the bed.

“India! Wake up, it’s almost one o’clock, you lazy bitch!”

I had a pillow over my head and India’s down duvet wrapped around me like a mummy.

“Go away!” India said. “Didn’t sleep!”

“My ass,” he said. “You’re hung over!”

He ripped the pillow away from my head and I looked up at him.

“Oh, hello,” he said in a heavy Irish accent, “I didn’t see you there.”

He crawled over India’s body toward me and brushed his long, wavy, dark blond hair away from his face.

“I’m Declan White. And who might you be?”

I closed my eyes and wished India’s window was still open so I could jump out.

“Are we shy?” he said and wedged his body between India and I.

I lifted my hand and waved and pushed my face into the mattress. He put his hand on my back and I turned my head and stared at him as he brought his face closer to mine. He had a full, trimmed beard and beautiful green eyes and he was so goddamn handsome I could have stared at him forever.

“What’s the matter, honey,” he said and smiled, “cat got your tongue?”

“Declan! We’re sleeping!” India said and punched him in the arm.

“I shan’t go anywhere until your friend sits up and introduces herself properly,” he said as he put his hands behind his head and leaned against the headboard.

“It’s Beth, for fuck’s sake! Her name is Beth,” India said. “Now, go!”

Declan brushed my hair off my shoulder and a shiver ran up my body as he placed his hand on the back of my neck.

“Say hello to me, Beth,” he said. “Pretty please?”

I looked up at him and smiled as I untangled myself from the duvet and got up on my knees.

“Hello,” I said and held out my hand, “I’m Beth.”

He looked at me from the top of my bedhead and down my dress as he smiled.

“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing,” he said as he ran his fingers down one of the silk ribbons on the dress. “It’s very nice to meet you. It’s nice to see India associating with such beautiful company.”

“Thank you,” I said and giggled.

“Jesus!” India said and sat up. “Now you’ve met her. Can you go so we can get some sleep?”

“So, you’re going to sleep the entire day away?” he said and looked from India to me.

“What time is it?” India said.

“I’ve told you it’s, well, now it’s nearly 1:30,” he said as he looked at his gold watch.

“Shit, Beth, I’m sorry,” India said and rolled out of bed. “I didn’t think it was so late.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” I said and stared at Declan. “I don’t mind hanging out here.”

“See,” Declan said and smiled, “a day on Montauk sounds lovely to Beth.”

“But it’s her last day,” India said and grabbed a towel out of her closet. “She leaves tomorrow.”

“I’ll be back, India,” I said as I stared at Declan’s tight shirt.

“See, India,” Declan said, “Beth will be back. Where are you from?”

“Uh, West Virginia,” I said and ran my fingers through my tangled hair. “Charleston-area.”

“Yes, I’ve been to West Virginia. Played some shows there.”

“I know. My friend Stephanie saw you guys last year,” I said.

“And you didn’t go? Shame,” he said and rested his hand on top of mine.

“I-I was, um...” I said as I looked down at his hand.

“Beth, do you want to shower first or should I?” India said.

“Run along, India, Beth and I will get to know each other,” Declan said and stared at me as he patted India’s pillow.

India looked at me and smiled and walked out of the room.

“So,” Declan said, “what do you do, Beth?”

“Do?”

“Yes, do,” he said. “You know, work, hobbies, that kind of thing.”

“Well, um, I don’t craft. I have to say that my friend Stephanie would be freaking out right now if she knew I was sitting here with you.”

“In bed,” he said and smiled. “Why are you not freaking out?”

“What?”

“Are you not a fan?”

“Oh, I do like your band. I like all kinds of music.”

“Me too,” he said as he stretched and leaned back on India’s pillow. “I’ve been traveling so much this last year.”

“Must be tiring,” I said as I stared at his stomach.

“Yes,” he said and closed his eyes, “we’re doing a video next week in the city and then have some more shows. Tiring.”

“It’s pretty cool that you all get along so well,” I said.

He opened one eye and looked at me.

“The band?” he said.

“No, Lucia and everyone. Well, it seems everyone still gets along with everyone here.”

He smiled and opened his eyes and turned on his side.

“It is funny, isn’t it? It’s the bohemian way, Beth. I thought it odd myself, but I’ve come to embrace it. Hazard or curse, I’m not sure. Do you have a boyfriend...husband?”

“Husband?” I said and chuckled. “No, no husband.”

“Boyfriend?” he said.

A phone rang in the room and I looked around.

“That’s mine,” he said and pointed at Lucia’s dresser. “I’ll get it later. So, boyfriend?”

“Um, yeah, I do have a boyfriend,” I said and looked at the ceiling. “Nicolas, he’s in Bali.”

“He’s Balinese?”

“No, he’s just there. Diving and whatnot.”

His phone rang again and he rolled his eyes.

“And how long have you been with Nicolas, the diver and whatnot, in Bali?”

“A while...I don’t know,” I said.

“Interesting,” he said as he stared at me, “your eyes keep looking up, beautiful eyes, by the way, anyway, they keep looking up when you talk about him. Not a good sign. You should come to one of my shows.”

“Yeah? I’d like that.”

“Good,” he said and closed his eyes, “give me your contact info. I’m going to nap a bit.”

“Oh, okay,” I said and slid off the bed.

I turned and looked at him as he slept. I wanted to crawl into bed with him and spoon. After I took a picture of us in bed together. He opened his eyes and caught me staring.

“Are you thinking naughty thoughts, Beth?” he said and smiled.

“Oh, no,” I said as my face burned.

“Yes, you were,” he said and chuckled as he closed his eyes. “It’s okay, we all do it. Nice dress, by the way...suits you. Nice tits, lace bra, nice touch.”

I looked down at my dress and it was wide open and exposed my cheap Walmart bra.

“Um, well, goodnight?” I said.

“Yes, goodnight,” he said and curled up on his side. “Just a little nap.”

I tiptoed to my purse and grabbed my phone. I had two missed texts from Stephanie and sent her one to let her know who I was looking at. I checked Facebook and saw I had no messages from Nicolas. One of his friends, “Pigs In Zen,” posted a picture of him standing in front of yet another rock formation and he looked so good, my stomach rolled. Nicolas posted an article about some Balinese bird that was near extinction.

“Who gives a shit?” I said as I turned my phone over and stared at Declan.

India came into the room and handed me a clean towel.

“He’s sleeping?” she said and rolled her eyes. “I’m really sorry I slept so late, Beth. I feel bad.”

“Don’t, seriously,” I said as I walked to her vanity and looked in the mirror. “I don’t mind. Jesus.”

I had about three inches of black eyeliner and mascara dried down my face and leftover red lipstick staining my mouth. It looked like I teased my hair and I had flower petals from the hand-picked, unpreserved, perennial Montauk wildflowers set upon slow-whittled birch branches with raw hemp twine wreath from the night before.

“I look like a crazy person,” I said as I picked a piece of slow-whittled birch out of my hair.

“You look fantastic. Take a shower. I’m so fucking hung over,” India said.

“Nicolas didn’t contact me,” I said and looked at my phone.

“Nicolas is a prick, Beth. It’s really cruel and you are crying over him more than you are laughing about him. It’s not fair.”

“No, it isn’t,” I said as I stared at my reflection. “I’m going to shower and then we can make some homemade, unrefined, organic fig preserves.”