The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade (6 page)

“
Be my wingmaaaaaan!”
shouted Reece as he ran out of the building.

The girl dropped her magazine and
picked up the phone next to the register. “I’m callin’ the cops,”
she said, raising her eyebrows at Colton as if she were daring him
to try and stop her.

“
Aw, man,” said Colton. He
ran out of the store and followed after Reece.

Riding his bike around the city every
day gave Colton the endurance to catch up with him easily. Reece
was huffing loudly as he ran down the street, CD cases in
hand.

“
What is the matter with
you?!” shouted Colton.

“
She likes bad boys,
remember?” Reece smiled and held up the CDs. “Look what I
got!”

They split apart to pass a slow-moving
elderly man on the sidewalk.

“
Are you insane? You can’t
get arrested again!”

Reece had been arrested
twice since turning eighteen; once for being drunk and
disorderly
underage
(he drank half a bottle of whiskey and stumbled out onto the
street in the middle of the night to scream the wrong lyrics of his
favorite songs to the entire neighborhood) and once for grand theft
auto (the Porsche belonged to Reece’s father, who didn’t think it
was as funny as Reece assured him it was). The local police knew
Reece’s father well, as he represented a lot of the city cops in
civil defense cases. The boys in blue could only protect his
delinquent son for so long, however, and threatened to let Reece
sit it out in jail with a permanent mark on his record if he ever
pulled something stupid again.

Stupid like stealing a bunch of CDs in
a moronic attempt to impress a girl.

They ran past a street that would have
taken them directly to their apartment building. Colton slowed down
but Reece kept running.

“
Where are you
going?!”

Reece stopped and looked around the
street. He was breathing heavily and people were staring at him.
His eyes lit up and he smiled when he saw a police car turn a
corner two blocks down and drive toward them.

“
There!” he shouted,
pointing at the car. He turned around and ran back toward the
record store.

Colton looked down the
road which led to their apartment and wished he was asleep in his
bed, then watched in disbelief as Reece almost knocked over the old
man they had passed earlier on the sidewalk. The police car’s
lights flashed and a loud
squawk
echoed from their loudspeaker.

Colton sighed and ran after his
friend.

He caught up a couple blocks
down.

“
Hey!” he said. He reached
out and grabbed Reece’s shirt. “We need to get off the
road!”

Reece shook off his grip and kept
running. “We’re almost there!” he said. “She has to see them
chasing me or it was all for nothing.”

“
You’re going to end up
in
jail
,
Reece!”

“
Not today!” he
said.

He knocked on the big glass window on
the front of the record store as he ran past. He waved at the girl
inside and pointed to the police car. Colton was surprised and
infuriated when she genuinely smiled and tried to hide a
giggle.

“
I don’t believe it,” he
said.

“
That’s why I always get
the girl!” Reece called over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s ditch
these creeps!”

He rounded the next corner and ran
down an alley. Colton followed, looking back as the police cruiser
screeched to a halt on the sidewalk. Two police officers scrambled
out of the car.

“
This way,” said
Reece.

They turned left at the end of the
alley and kept running. Colton didn’t recognize the area and had no
idea how to get back to their apartment. Reece turned a sharp
corner and ran across the next street.

“
Are they gone?” he
shouted.

Colton looked back. “One of them
is.”

They ran into the narrow alley on the
other side of the road. At the end, the missing cop reappeared,
breathing hard.

“
Uh-oh,” said
Reece.

That’s what I said,
thought Colton. He and Reece both stopped in the
middle of the alley, fighting to catch their breath. The two cops
were running toward them, one from each side.

“
Now what, Einstein?” said
Colton. He knew there was no way to get out of the alley. Not both
of them, anyway. He thought about Reece’s police record and the
time he would spend in jail if he got arrested. He thought about
the time in eighth grade when Reece, who had barely known Colton,
jumped on the back of a bully to try and stop him from breaking
Colton’s ribs.

“
Now…” said Reece, “…I
dunno.”

“
I do. Follow me and don’t
stop.”

Colton quickly sized up the running
policemen and picked the smaller of the two. He ran down the alley
as fast as he could, gaining distance between himself and the
police officer behind him. Reece was doing his best to keep
up.

“
You’re crazy!” he said
with a smile.

The cop in front of them looked
surprised that they weren’t giving up.

“
Don’t move!” he yelled as
he reached for the taser holstered to his belt.

Colton was too fast. He turned around
at the last second and fell backwards into the officer. His
momentum was strong enough to knock the cop to the ground. Colton
fell with him and pushed his elbow into the cop’s stomach as they
hit the asphalt.

“
Keep going!” he shouted
to Reece.

Colton tried to scramble away but the
police officer wrapped one arm around his neck and kept him pinned
down.

Reece looked down as he ran past, then
turned the corner and disappeared. The second cop ran up and
side-stepped around his partner, but Colton stuck his leg out and
hooked his foot around the man’s ankle. The cop stumbled forward
and fell against an aluminum trashcan face-first, crushing in the
middle. He rolled away from the can, groaning and holding his
head.

The cop who had the iron grip around
Colton’s neck squeezed it even harder.

“
This is gonna be the
worst day of your life, pal,” he said.

Colton didn’t doubt it for a
second.

9

H
aven walked across the lawn, navigating around teenagers she
recognized from school. Everyone had a red cup in hand and seemed
to be having a great time.

She caught up with Kayla just inside
the door, who had thankfully decided to wait.

“
What are they drinking?”
asked Haven as they walked farther into the house.

“
Shh! Don’t be a dork! Did
you think they’d be serving fruit punch?” Kayla looked up and spun
around to take in the view. “Wow, this place is great!”

Haven saw a massive chandelier hanging
down from the ceiling thirty feet above. A spiral staircase
ascended around it and led to the second floor.

“
That probably cost more
than my whole house,” she said.

The place was packed. Haven saw a few
people she knew from her classes, but there were just as many that
she had never seen before. Most of them moved to the constant,
steady thumping of loud music. Small spotlights swiveled and
flashed from their mounts atop bookcases and cabinets to paint the
crowd in a rainbow of bright colors.

“
Come on, let’s get a
drink.” Kayla grabbed Haven’s hand and pulled her through the mass
of people.

“
But we don’t
drink!”

“
Keep your voice down!
Just soda or something.”

Kayla waved to friends she knew from
school as she moved toward the kitchen. There was an opening at the
drink table and Haven waited while Kayla filled two red cups with
soda. She turned back and handed one of them over.

“
There!” she said. “No one
will know the difference.”

“
I’ll know!” boomed a loud
voice behind them.

Haven turned around. Jason stood on
the other side of the table, smiling at her. He had a cup in his
hand and his cheeks were flushed red.

“
You made it!” he said. “I
thought you were gonna stand me up!”

Haven leaned closer to shout over the
music. “I just had to wait until my parents—”

Kayla reached out and quickly pulled
her back. “We had to ditch another party!” she said loudly,
squeezing Haven’s arm.

“
Oh, right,” said Haven,
finally getting the hint. “This one is way better!”

“
Yeah it is!” said Jason.
He walked around the table and stood between them, turning his back
to Haven. The smell of alcohol filled the air around him as he took
the cup out of Kayla’s hand and leaned toward her. “Let’s get you
something a little more apopriate—perpropriate—a little more
tasty!”

The group of teenagers around the
table shouted their approval as Jason tipped a bottle of clear
brown liquid over Kayla’s cup and filled it to the brim. He passed
it back to her and took a long chug from his own cup. Kayla smelled
her drink and wrinkled her nose.

“
Drink it!” he said
happily. “Drink it, drink it, drink it!” He started a chant and
everyone standing by the table joined in.

Kayla shrugged and started to lift the
cup to her lips.

“
Kayla!” said
Haven.

“
Oh, come on,” said Kayla,
leaning forward and speaking just loud enough to be heard. “I
thought we were going to have fun?”

Haven crossed her arms. “You remember
the car crash two months ago?”

Kayla sighed and her shoulders
drooped. “Yeah,” she said.

“
Haley Jones and the other
kids? All five of them died because they were drunk.”

“
Yeah, I know. You’re
right.” She sighed again. “Alright, fine.” Kayla put down the cup
and looked at Jason. “No thanks,” she said over the music. “We’re
good without it.”

Jason shrugged. “Okay.” He put one arm
around her shoulder and steered her away from the table.

“
Hey!” said
Haven.

Jason turned back, looking surprised.
“Haven! How rude of me. Please, make a drink and mingle. There’s a
ton of guys here, so don’t be shy.” He took a sip from his
cup.

“
He’s drunk,” said Kayla.
She pushed his arm off her shoulder and stood next to
Haven.

“
So what?” said Jason.
“It’s my party.”

The people around them fell silent but
music continued to thump loudly from the den. Colored lights
swooped over the still crowd.

“
I thought you asked me to
come here,” said Haven. “
Me.
”

“
Psssh, what?” said Jason.
“You drew my name on the wall so I knew you and your friend would
show up if I asked you.” He burped and pointed at Kayla. “But she’s
really
hot
.”

Haven opened her mouth to say
something but the words caught in her throat. Everyone was staring
at her. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she reached out and slapped
Jason’s face.

“
Whoa!” he said. He
blinked and shook his head, then he laughed. “She’s
feisty!”

Everyone standing near the table
laughed and suddenly the party was back on.

Haven knew she would cry if she stayed
in that room a moment longer, but her feet felt like they were
frozen to the ground.

Jason shrugged and finished the rest
of his drink while Kayla put her arm around Haven’s shoulders and
turned her toward the front door. She looked back and made a face
at all the people staring at Haven. “Yeah, real great party!” she
shouted sarcastically, giving the crowd a crooked thumbs-up as she
and Haven walked out of the house.

“
Thank you,” said Haven
softly as Kayla opened the passenger door to the car and guided her
into the seat. She sat unmoving, staring straight ahead.

Kayla walked around the car and got
into the driver’s seat. The engine squealed to life and she pulled
out onto the street. “Forget him,” she said. “You can do way
better.”

“
Yeah, right!” said Haven.
She sniffed and looked out the window. “Why did he have to do it
like that? He should have just asked
you
during lunch, and I could have
tagged along like the pathetic loser I am.”

“
Don’t say that. He’s the
loser, Haven. Not you.”

“
Yeah, but I’m still
single.”

“
Not for long,” said
Kayla. “Do you know how many sympathy dates you’re gonna get after
what happened back there?”

Haven smiled and punched her in the
leg.

“
I’m serious! The boys
will be lining up around the block to try and make you feel better.
You’re beautiful, even if you don’t think you are. Maybe just put
on a little lipstick every once in a while, you know? I’m
kidding
.”