What a Boy Needs (2 page)

Aspen nudges him.
"
I
did my homework.
"

"
Guess Jay and I are the only cool ones
,
then.
"

We hit fists.
"
Not really a newsflash
,
B.
"
We both laugh while the girls roll their eyes like they always do. Craig
'
s on his phone playing whatever his game of the week is. He
'
s always on his phone when he
'
s around us. It might or might not be because Sebastian and I don
'
t really pay any attention to him.
Probably not a very cool thing to do
,
but I seriously can
'
t stand to look at the guy and Bastian
'
s just tight like that.
He
'
s my boy and it
'
s in our code to always have
each other’s
backs. I
'
m sure he
'
s cool to Craig when I
'
m not around
,
but just like I never would have been tight with Mattie
,
the guy Aspen got with for a little bit last year
,
Bastian wouldn
'
t hang me out to dry either.

Plus
,
I
'
m pretty sure Craig dislikes us as much as we dislike him.

Something catches my eye and l
look
over to see Craig pull out a pack of gum and push a piece of spearmint into his mouth.

"
Want one
,
Priscilla?
"
He
holds the pack out to her.

Hearing him call her Priscilla makes me want to go nuts.

Douche.

The way Sebastian smirks and turns his head to look at me
,
I realize I must have said that out loud. Oops. Not.

"
Jaden!
"
Priscilla
'
s voice is tight. It
'
s different when she
'
s mad at me now. Before it was just
us
and it was never real anger and now it
'
s
...
hell
,
I don
'
t know. It
'
s just different.

She turns to Craig and takes the piece of gum he offered her. I can
'
t believe she actually puts it in her mouth
,
just to spite me.

Yep. That
'
s my clue to get out of here.

I push to my feet.
"
See ya after school
,
Bastian.
"
I turn to Craig.
"
Ever since she got sick off Peppermint Schnapps last year
,
Spearmint makes her feel like she
'
s going to puke.
"

I shove my hands into my pockets. Without another word
,
I
'
m out.

***

"
What was up at lunch today?
"
Sebastian asks as I lean the seat back in his SUV. After everything went down last summer
,
his mom made him keep the job at the pizza place. He
'
d been saving for a car
,
but a couple months ago his mom and her new husband Roger bought this for him. They want him to save his money for New York this summer. He
'
s going to school for music and the girls are going to NYU. For years we
'
ve planned for all of us to go out there after high school.

My gut clenches thinking about it
,
but I push it aside and focus on the fact that it
'
s cool
Bastian
gets to cart my ass around now instead of the other way around.

What did he ask me? Oh
,
yeah.
Lunch.
"
Umm
,
I ate it? That
'
s typically what happens at lunch. In fact
,
I hear it
'
s the whole concept
.
"
I smirk as I play with the ring in my bottom lip. I have one in my
eyebrow too
,
a fact that my asshole of a
...
dad hates. I hate even using the name
"
Dad
"
for him because it
'
s not what he acts like.

It
'
s part of the reason I like the piercings.

"
You know what I
'
m talking about
,
Captain Avoid-an-Answer.
The whole calling Pris
'
s boyfriend a douche and then bailing.
"

I look at him.
"
He
is
a douche.
"

"
He is
,
but you gotta pick the time and place to call him on it. All you
'
re doing is pissing off Pris.
"

I want to bang my head into the glass. It shouldn
'
t be this way. Sebastian isn
'
t supposed to be the level-headed one who actually sounds like he knows what he
'
s talking about. But I know he
'
s right. It
'
s like I can
'
t stop myself though.

Why the hell did everything have to go down like it did last summer?

Bastian realizing he loved Aspen.

Finding out Priscilla wanted to try and hook-up with me.

And that it didn
'
t change a thing.

"
I know."

Sebastian takes a right
,
heading toward my driveway.
"
Dude
...
You like her. You won
'
t admit it
,
but I know you do. Seriously
,
why don
'
t you just—
"

"
Not going there.
"
I feel his eyes on me and it makes me feel like a pussy.
"
Sorry
,
not all of us want a ball and chain at eighteen. There are way too many girls out there to—
"

"
When
'
s the last time you hooked-up?
"

"
Huh?
"
His question surprises me. He
'
s not usually one to talk about
hook-ups
.

"
You heard me
,
Goldilocks. When
'
s the last time you kissed a girl? Hooked-up at a party? Went out?
"

I drop my head against the headrest and close my eyes. Damn him for falling in love with Aspen and suddenly wanting to talk about important stuff. The fact is
,
I
'
m not really feelin
'
it anymore. I mean
,
it was cool when it was the two of us—when I didn
'
t know who it hurt
,
but it doesn
'
t feel the same anymore.

I
'
m not gonna lie; I did meet a girl at a party right after Priscilla got with Craig
,
but it didn
'
t feel like it used to. Ever since that party on her birthday last summer
,
nothing has felt the same. I pretend it does. Do a pretty good job of it
,
most of the time.

"
Maybe I just don
'
t tell you about it since you
'
re all happily married and stuff.
"

Sebastian laughs.
"
I’m being real
,
Jay. What
'
s up?
"

Luckily we pull into my driveway right as he asks me that.
"
Nothing
'
s up. Maybe I
'
ll have to rectify my lack of hook-ups tonight.
"
I get out of the car
,
slamming the door behind me.

Each step I take toward my house makes my gut churn more. I hate this place and can
'
t wait to be out of here. Again
,
that makes me think of New York—how we
'
re supposed to take this huge road trip out there in a couple weeks. It used to be all we talked about
,
but I think everyone knows it
'
s going to be different now. I
'
ve always been a little more on the outside with my friends. I mean
,
not really
,
but Sebastian has this kickass mom. Aspen
'
s parents are a little nutty
,
but they
'
re cool. Priscilla
'
s parents aren
'
t around as much as the others
,
but they give her everything she wants. Stuff she probably doesn
'
t want
,
too.

Me? Let
'
s just say when the group went camping—it was always with Aspen
'
s parents. When we got something cool
,
it was because Priscilla
'
s parents got it for her. When we need a place to stay or even something as small as a cooked meal
,
we went to Sebastian
'
s mom.

My parents have never been in the equation.

Now Bastian and Aspen are together. Priscilla has the douche.

And then there
'
s me.

I push the front door open and close it quietly behind me. Mom
'
s in the kitchen washing dishes. I
'
m not sure where my dad is.

"
Hi. How was your day?
"
she asks.

"
All right.
"
I don
'
t bother telling her I
'
m going out tonight
,
because I know it doesn
'
t matter. I
'
m sure things are easier on her when I
'
m not around anyway.

"
You left your clothes in the dryer this morning. Make sure you don
'
t forget them anymore
,
okay? Your dad had to take them out for you.
"

Oh no.
Wouldn
'
t want him to have to lift a finger when it comes to me.
"
I
'
m sure that was a real hardship for him. You know
,
moving clothes for his son
,
and all.
"

"
Jaden.
"
She doesn
'
t get a chance to finish speaking because the front door slams.

Great.
He
'
s home. I hoped I wouldn
'
t have to see him today.

He st
ruts
over to her and grabs her by the hips. I think he steps hard on purpose
,
like it makes him sound strong or something.

"
How
'
s my woman today?
"
he asks before kissing her.

"
Wonderful. Did you have a good day at work?
"
She's
actually smiling at him.