Reckless (Wrecked) (3 page)

“Yeah, sure.  Just hold on a second, okay?”

“Not a problem.”

Candi walked out the front door, stopping on the top step.  All of her new friends were standing out on the front lawn.  There were four couples, everyone dressed to the nines and posing for pictures being taken not just by her mom and Kevin’s mom, but the other parents who’d followed the limo over.  It was like a bunch of paparazzi had descended, reminding Candi uncomfortably of the days after her rescue, all those cameras pushed in her face when all she wanted to do was see Kevin - the one guy who wanted nothing to do with her.  There was even a big black SUV across the street with dark tinted windows, causing her to remember how they’d lie in wait and jump out to take pictures with little warning.

Kevin saw her for a moment, looking confused.  He jogged up the stairs, frowning the whole way.  “What’s wrong?”  He pulled the tophat he’d been wearing off his head.

“It’s the FBI on the phone for my mom.”

Kevin turned.  “Yo!  Mrs. B!  Phone call for ya!”

“Tell whoever it is I’ll call them back!  Take a message!” Mrs. Buckley shouted, staring through the lens at her son and Sarah who were posing with their arms around each other, smiling hugely.

“Mom, you have to take it now,” Candi said, trying not to sound as freaked out as she was.

Candace looked up from her camera, her head tilting to the side as she took in the image of Candi standing on the stairs with the phone held out.  She lowered her arms and walked over at a rapid pace.

“What’s wrong, sweetie, who is it?” she asked as she came up the stairs.

“It’s the FBI,” Candi whispered, making sure no one else would hear.

Candace took the phone gingerly.  “Hello?”  She disappeared into the house, leaving Candi and Kevin alone on the porch again.

“What’s that all about?” asked Kevin, his tophat dangling at his side.

“I don’t know.  Just that it’s not about my dad.  I almost died when I thought they were calling to tell us that …”  She couldn’t finish.

Kevin took her in an embrace.  “Shhhh, it’s fine.  Come on, let’s get some pictures done.  If I let you cry, Sarah will kill me.”

Candi choked and laughed at the same time.  “You’re right.  She’s already smacked me twice.”

“You’ve gotten off easy. Come on,” he said, bringing her down the stairs, setting the tall hat back on his head.

Candi looked up at it.  “Nice touch.  The hat, I mean.”

“You like it?”  He grinned.  “I thought it was pretty cool.  At least I know I’ll be original.”

Candi said nothing in response, joining the others and posing in several different spots with various groupings, until Jonathan announced it was time to go.

“We have exactly three minutes to get into the limo and on the way!” he said, coming over to stand near Candi.  “Where’s Mom?  She’s missing everything.”

“She had to take a call.”

“From Dad?”

Candi nodded absently, knowing her brother would insist on knowing every fact about the call otherwise.  There’d be plenty of time to get the details after prom was over.  Her mom would text if it was something that they needed to come home for.  She pushed her brother over towards Sarah.  “Help your baby momma get in the car.  That dress is pretty tight.”

“I know,” said Jonathan.  “It’s not very practical, but I appreciate the way it causes my heart to palpitate when I look at her.”

Candi giggled.  “God, you’re such a dork.”

Jonathan looked over his shoulder, confused.  “Why?  It’s not like I calculated my heart rate or anything.”

“Yeah, right.”

Jonathan had his guilty look on now.  “Okay, I might have done that when I first saw her, but I haven’t since.  And I won’t anymore tonight.  I’m just going to go with the flow, like Sarah suggested.”

“Excellent advice,” Candi responded, looking one more time at her house, relieved to see her mom standing on the porch and waving goodbye.  The phone was still in her hand, but at least she was smiling now.

“Bye, Mom!” yelled Candi from the window, waving furiously.  The sounds of all the kids in the limo made it impossible to hear anything.  The vehicle pulled away from the curb, headed towards the steakhouse where Kevin said he was going to put their all-you-can-eat salad bar out of business.

Candi sat back in her seat, snuggling up to her handsome hunk of a boyfriend - Kevin Peterson … the boy she’d dreamed of going to the prom with for years.  She watched the animated expressions on her friends’ faces as they ribbed Jonathan about the itinerary he’d put together for their evening, smiling with contentment. 
Life is good
.

***

The slow song was exactly what the doctor ordered.  Kevin was holding his girl in his arms,  wearing a kick-ass tux with a seriously cool tophat - the only guy in the place with one - , and his sister wasn’t giving him crap about anything.  It was some kind of miracle the way his life had turned out.  He squeezed Candi just a little tighter, overwhelmed by the protective feelings he had for her.  

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Jason Hicks staring at them again from across the dance floor.  The guy was in charge of the music and had been helping the DJ all night.  Kevin had already brushed him off a few times when he started walking over, looking like he was going to ask Candi to dance.  The guy was persistent, and if he didn’t cut that shit out, he was going to earn himself a shiner.

Candi squeezed him back.  “Stop staring holes into Jason’s head.”

“What are you talking about?  I’m not even looking at that guy.”

“Don’t lie, I can see you.”  She was staring up at him, giving him her stern look.

“The dude needs to lay off.  You’re my girl and not available.  He’s having a hard time realizing that I’m serious.”

“He’s just a friend, Kevin.  You don’t need to go all neanderthal over it.  He’s been very nice to me, unlike some other people around here.”  Candi’s gaze landed on Kevin’s ex-girlfriend, and he knew what was coming next.

He spun her around to avoid hearing it again.  “We’re not going to go there, remember?  We agreed.”

“Yes,” said Candi lifting her chin defiantly, “and you agreed to lay off Jason if I agreed to lay off that girl, so just stop.  Or I’m going to have a throw-down with her in the bathroom later.”

Kevin tipped his head back and laughed.  “She’ll be in serious trouble if that happens.  And then so will you, when you mess up your fancy hair.  Sarah will kill all three of us.”

Candi pressed her lips together and nodded.  “You’re right.  I’ll have to spare Gretchen the butt-kicking she seriously needs, then.”  She smiled, letting him know she was joking.

Kevin knew Candi would never fight another girl, even though she
was
capable of beating every girl’s butt at this school.  “Yes.  Spare her from certain doom, oh Queen of Peanut Island.”

Candi play-hit him in the chest.  “Shush.  I’m falling in love …,” she said breathlessly, before finishing with, “ …  in love with this song, that is.”  She giggled.

He dipped his head and nestled his face into the side of her neck, accidentally knocking his hat off.  “You’re mean,” he said, kissing the delicate skin below her ear and lightly sucking on it.

She pulled back, bumping into someone behind her.  “No hickies!” she warned, pointing at his face.

“What?” he said, laughing.  “I’m innocent.”  Then he frowned when he saw who Candi had bumped into.  “Dude, give me back my hat.”

Candi turned around to look at the hat thief.

“What’s the big deal, man?  I’m just trying it on,” said Barry, Sarah’s ex-boyfriend, the one who’d cheated on her with Kevin’s ex-girlfriend Gretchen.  The dude was asking to be pounded.  Begging, actually.

“You’ve got three seconds to get my hat off your slimy head and give it back.”

“Or else what?” asked Barry, puffing out his chest a little.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Screw you, Kevin,” he spat out.  “I’m not afraid of you.”

Kevin lunged for Barry’s shoulder, but he slipped out of Kevin’s grip, taking off through the crowd.

Kevin was leaving to go after him and deliver the punishment Barry so obviously wanted, but the soft, warm fingers sliding into his hand stopped him in his tracks.  He looked down to see his little sand fairy Candi in a shiny green dress looking up at him, shaking her head slowly.

“What?” he asked.  “No pounding the asshole into the dirt?”

“No.  No pounding anyone into the dirt or anyplace else.  Tonight’s
our
night, and I don’t want to spend it in the emergency room.”

Kevin snorted.  “The only one who’s going to end up hospitalized is him.”

“I know.  And he used to be your friend, so you’d probably end up following the ambulance so you could apologize.  He’s totally not worth it, Kev.”

Kevin cast his eyes down, not sure he agreed with her or not.

“He rescued you from making a big mistake with the wrong girl; and he did the same for your sister, right?  So you really should shake his hand, not kick his butt.”

Kevin smiled.  “You are positively devious, you know that?”

She sidled up to him, smiling and revealing a very small dimple in her chin.  “Are you complaining?”

“Most definitely not.”

“And Kevin … I have another reason why you should be grateful to Barry for taking your hat.”

Kevin wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close.  “Oh, yeah?  What’s that?”  He lowered his head, intent on kissing her silly.

“I really hated that thing.  It was soooo dorky.”

Kevin frowned.  “What?  You hated my cool tophat?”

She laughed.  “It wasn’t cool.  And yes, I hated it.  You’re much handsomer without it, trust me.”  She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, making him quickly forget the insult to his awesome man-attire.  The song continued, but he heard none of it as he lost himself in the warmth that she brought with every touch, every kiss.

She was right.  He did owe Barry for what he’d done.  There was probably no way he’d ever be able to repay him for taking that airhead Gretchen off his hands and for freeing his sister to fall in love with the coolest guy he’d ever known.

***

Jonathan was dancing like he and Sarah had practiced, swaying to the rhythm of the song, desperately trying to hide his secret.

“You’re counting in your head again,” said Sarah, a small smile playing on her lips.

“No, I’m not,” he said innocently. 
One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four…

“Jonathan, stop counting.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay then, recite the periodic table to me
with
atomic weights.”

He opened his mouth as he thought of the first element,
Hydrogen 1.008 … oh crap!  I lost count!
  He accidentally stepped on Sarah’s toe.

She smacked him on the chest.  “Ouch, Jonathan!  Watch those giant clown shoes of yours!”  Her words were angry but her tone wasn’t.

He stopped moving altogether, resting his hands lightly on her waist.  “I’m sorry.  I … uhhh … lost my rhythm.”

“You lost your
count
, babe.  I told you.  Just relax.  Feel the rhythm … sway.  Don’t walk.  Don’t step.  We can just stay in one place.”  Her hands were playing in the back of his hair, sending chills down his spine.  She was the most beautiful woman in the room … on the planet, actually; he hadn’t been lying to her earlier.  And the feel of her gorgeous body up against his and her fingers on his neck were making him crazy.

He pulled away from her for a second, looking down at her now confused expression.  “You’d better stop what you’re doing or we’re going to have a little problem.”   He gave her a look, trying to express his meaning.

She got that dangerous expression on her face that told him he was in trouble.  “Oh, yeah?” She pulled him back up against her, moving her hips just the tiniest bit.  “What kind of problem?”

Jonathan rolled his eyes as he felt the warmth come over him.  “Too late.  You are totally tricky, Sarah, you know that.  Now you have to stay right where you are until I can control myself again.”

She rested her head on his chest.  “Never learn to control yourself around me, Jon.  Never.”

Jonathan lowered his chin gently to her head.  “Never?  You always want me to be a mess, unable to stop myself from getting excited just looking at you and smelling you and stuff?”

“Never.  Ever, ever, ever.  Never.  Don’t do it.  Or I’ll hunt you down and kill you like the dog you are.”

“Oh.  Boy.  Okay, then.  Consider me committed to being an uncontrolled male in your presence.”

The sound of distant screams coming from the doorway broke into their conversation.  At first Jonathan thought it was part of the song, but it didn’t really match the overall beat or melody.  Then the music stopped altogether and someone took the microphone.

“Everyone, please remain calm.  No one is permitted to leave the building until further notice.  Someone please turn on the lights.”  The vice principal who’d made the announcement was having a heated discussion with the DJ.  After he was finished, he raced off the stage and ran around the outside of the room, back to the doors that lead to the lobby and parking lot of the hotel where the prom was being held.  The lights went on as the sound of the door closing behind him echoed in the room.

“What the heck is that all about?” asked Jonathan, trying to figure out what was going on but finding no clues in the area nearby.  Everyone was standing around or moving into small groups, speculating about what could have ended their prom so abruptly.

“What can you see?” asked Sarah, jumping up and down to try and see over the heads around her.

“Nothing.  Just some teachers at the doors not letting anyone out.”

Sarah reached into her hand bag that was hanging from her wrist and sent off a text.  A few seconds later, she grabbed Jonathan’s arm and dragged him through the crowd.  They ended up off on the side of the ballroom, near the refreshment table where Candi and Kevin were waiting.

Kevin held his hand up for a shake and Jonathan complied absently, still trying to make sense of the situation, his eyes darting around the room.  It had to be something serious for the vice principal to have gone to these lengths, stopping the music and turning on the lights.  And the teachers looked like bouncers at the doors, only not letting people out instead of in.