Aftershocks (20 page)

I knew I had been lucky. Wyatt had survived. He was stil with me, but it didn’t change the fact that for months I had been privy to the darkest secrets and thoughts running through my best friend’s mind. It didn’t change that I’d almost lost him. I’d carry the invisible scars of that night around for the rest of my life, and only when I got to see Wyatt’s smile would they fade just a little.

When I felt like I could breathe again, I puled away and looked up at Connor, fuly aware of the tearstains that streaked my face. He reached out and wiped them away with his thumbs.

“I can’t begin to imagine what that night was like for you,” he said.

I just closed my eyes and shook my head. “That night was just the beginning. The darkness that Wyatt felt didn’t just go away when he woke up the next day. He spent a week in the psych ward at the hospital and the next six months in therapy. It took a long time for him to heal, and each time he’d have a breakdown, I was fearful he’d try to take his life again.”

“That’s why he lived with you guys,” Connor said, finaly connecting the dots. “His parents realy kicked him out?”

I gritted my teeth as I thought of how much I hated Wyatt’s parents. “His father hasn’t spoken to him since that night. He was sort of able to patch things up with his mother, but I don’t know if she’s fuly accepted him. I think she just pretends that she never learned the truth. My parents were amazing though. They never thought twice about whether he would live with us, and as soon as he was released from the hospital, he moved in.”

My parents had been wonderful. As soon as I’d told them about Wyatt’s parents, they started to turn the guest room into his room in preparation for when he’d come home. We bought new bedding, and put framed pictures of his favorite teams on the wal – The Red Sox and The Patriots. My mom even hung a Michigan flag over his bed, and I filed the dresser with pictures of us that we’d taken over the years, wanting to be sure he felt at home in his new room.

My mother even braved his parents, going over to their house to colect Wyatt’s clothes and some personal belongings I knew he would want. His asshole of a father had let her loose in his room, teling her she could take whatever she wanted. He had no intentions of letting Wyatt step foot in his house again.

“How’s Wyatt doing now?” Connor asked.

I smiled. “He’s actualy great. He’s loving colege and is happy and even has a boyfriend. It’s pretty amazing what can happen in a year. I honestly never thought he’d get to the point where he was okay with being gay. He fought it for so long – for years before even he admitted it to me – but I think he’s finaly in a good place.”

Connor stared at me in disbelief, shaking his head. “Do you know how amazing you are, Abby?”

I blushed at his comment, casting my eyes down. His hand reached out to guide my chin back up so I was looking at him. He smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’d do anything for someone I love,” I said simply.

Connor reached out and traced his finger down the side of my face. “Wyatt’s lucky to have you as a friend, and so am I.”

I wanted to tel him I felt the same way about him, but I couldn’t get the words out. Sitting so close to him, sharing my secrets and connecting with him on a level I’d never connected with anyone before, I knew in that moment that as much as I valued Connor’s friendship and considered myself equaly lucky, I wanted so much more from him.

Chapter 15

“I told Connor,” I said the next morning as I lay in bed stewing about what I’d shared and wondering how Wyatt would feel about it.

“You told Connor what?” a sleepy Wyatt asked, yawning loudly. “That you love him, because it’s what you need to tel him, since he doesn’t seem to be getting the hint.”

“I don’t love him,” I said, and then I burst into tears.

Wyatt sighed. “You told him about me, didn’t you?” he said, proving how wel he knew me. “About how I played horror movie victim for a night.”

I started crying even harder. I hated when he made jokes. It wasn’t funny. “Don’t joke about it, Wyatt,” I chastised him. “It’s seriously not funny.”

He sighed. “Oh Abby, don’t you think I know that. I have three inch scars on my wrists that prove how much I know it’s not a joke, but if I don’t joke about it, I’l remember that I actualy tried to kil myself and then I’l just be depressed, so please let me make jokes.”

“I love you, Wy,” I said, trying to stop crying.

“Love you too, little sis. Now tel me al about why Connor hasn’t falen madly in love with you, because I’m starting to think he’s a little slow.”

I laughed through my tears at his assessment of Connor, especialy since I was starting to agree with him. “God I miss you. When are you coming home?”

“Thanksgiving.”

I groaned. “That’s five weeks from now. Can’t you come back to visit me?”

He laughed. “No sweetie, I can’t, but you are more than welcome to come here. Don’t you want to check out the campus?”

“I’ve checked out the campus. Don’t you remember – you were there.”

“Yeah, you, me and your parents. It was a blast. How about I show you some real campus life, huh?”

That was seriously tempting, but I knew Adam and Anna wouldn’t go for it. Wel, maybe they would if Wyatt asked them. He was much more convincing than Aaron that he wouldn’t put their little girl in a compromising position. I think it was the gay thing that threw them which was ridiculous. If they knew al debauchery I’d gotten into with Wyatt as my partner in crime, they might change their minds, but for now he was the golden boy.

“I’l tel you what. You convince the parents to let me go, and I’m there,” I said, already getting excited.

“Done,” he said. “I’l cal Adam today. Pack your bags Abbs – you’re coming to Michigan.”

***

Later that day, I was at work and we were putting the final touches on the other side of the store, ten minutes before opening. Larry and Luke had been hard at work for the past few days getting everything ready for the big unveiling. Things felt a little chaotic, but it was exciting at the same time. I was also a little impatient about knowing if my potential trip to Michigan was a go, so I might have been giddier than usual.

The new shop looked great, and the two new associates, Laurie and Gabe, had put on their snowboard name badges and were busy putting up a banner inside. Everything was running smooth. Luke was positioned behind the surf counter, banking the register, and Larry had gone outside to talk to the ten or so people waiting in line.

It was the first time that South Shore had ever opened to a line, but Larry had done some incredible things with marketing, so the whole town was abuzz with news of the grand opening. We even had a brand new sign out front naming the store The South Shore Surf and Ski Shop. Say that ten times fast.

“Okay people. We’re ready,” Larry said when he came back inside, his blond dreadlocks bouncing as he walked. “The new and improved South Shore is open for business.”

He opened the doors in a flourish, and the line outside trickled in. Everyone headed over to the ski and snowboard shop. Luke asked me to man the register on the surf side, so he could help the customers. I positioned myself behind the counter where there was absolutely zero action and watched the madness on the other side of the store.

“Quit trying to steal my boyfriend,” I heard then and my head whipped around even though I knew who the voice was. I was getting realy tired of that accusation.

Alexis was standing on the other side of the counter, glaring at me, arms crossed in front of her.

“Can I help you?” I asked, because I knew it would piss her off.

“Come on, Abby,” she hissed. “You’re so obvious. Everyone saw you leave with Connor last night, and I know he wasn’t home until late. What were you doing with him?”

“Nothing,” I said, not sure how to respond. I found myself unable to come up with any snappy comebacks in the moment. “We just celebrated his birthday.”

“Oh yeah,” she said, taking a step forward. “Did you give him your virginity as a gift?”

Venom was spitting out of her mouth, and I had to suck in a breath I was so taken aback by what she’d said.

“Fuck off, Alexis,” I hissed. I didn’t need Larry or Luke hearing this conversation. Thankfuly they were busy across the store. “I didn’t do anything with Connor. Maybe if you hadn’t been passed out, he wouldn’t have needed to celebrate his birthday with me.”

Her eyes got as wide as saucers and she took a deep breath. “My, wel isn’t that just the pot caling the kettle black,” she said, and I knew instantly that she was referring to Colin. I’d been grounded one night when we were first dating, and she’d entertained him at a party.

Although she told me time and again that nothing had happened, I always suspected she was lying.

“I knew you slept with him,” I said, my blood starting to boil.

“Yup,” she said, haughtily, throwing me a nasty little smile. “Now we’re even, I guess.”

I swalowed hard, curbing the urge I had to punch her. “No, Lex, we’re not even, because I did not hook up with Connor,” I said through gritted teeth.

I could tel she didn’t believe me, but in that moment I didn’t care. I hoped she would break up with Connor. She definitely didn’t deserve him, and I couldn’t stand that my friend was dating a backstabbing, vindictive whore. She started to open her mouth to say something but stopped when the door to the shop opened.

Surf’s Up!

Unfortunately, Larry hadn’t thought of a creative way for the door chime include to our new selection, so he’d just kept it the same.

When I heard the chime, I remembered where I was.

“Welcome to South Shore,” I said, looking up to see Connor walking in.

He smiled widely when he saw me, so I smiled back in spite of Alexis, but my smile faded as soon as I saw him walk up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

“We made up,” she said, sweetly to me, so Connor would never have known we’d been fighting.

I watched him kiss her on the cheek. He grinned at me. “We did. Lex came over and made me breakfast. Isn’t that sweet?”

He kissed her again. I thought I might be sick.

“So sweet,” I eeked out in an attempt to save face.

“We’re headed to the movies, but we thought we’d stop in and see the new store. It looks great.”

I smiled. It was the only thing I could do other than cry in that moment, as I stood there like an idiot, smiling at two people I realy didn’t want to see in that moment.

“Ooh, cute hats,” Alexis said, as she walked away, but before she was out of earshot, she turned back to us. “We’re going on a ski trip in December. I definitely want to get some new clothes.”

I knew she said it for my benefit, and wanted to get a rise out of me, and ordinarily I would have ignored her, but I wasn’t feeling al that in control of my emotions that morning, so I shot her a smirk/smile that told her exactly what I thought of her little announcement. She ate it up, turning around and flouncing over to Gabe, tossing her hair back as she gestured to the ski jackets. He, being a typical guy, took active notice of her flirting and gave it right back.

I turned to Connor to gauge his reaction to his girlfriend openly flirting with another guy. He was actualy smiling at her. Unbelievable.

“You do know that she’s flirting with him,” I said pointedly.

Connor’s head turned back so he was looking at me. “Yeah,” he said, shrugging. “It doesn’t bother me.”

I just raised my eyebrows at him – both of them since I couldn’t raise just one – skepticaly questioning his nonchalance. It wasn’t normal.

Chapter 16

The folowing weekend, Connor tried to convince me to go with him to another party, but I opted out. If it had been just the two of us, I probably would have gone, but Alexis was going to be there and after she’d confronted me at South Shore, I definitely didn’t want to see her. I was at home reading when my cel phone rang at nine-thirty that Friday night. My parents were in South Carolina for Parents Weekend, so I wondered if it was them checking in. When I saw that it was Nicky, I got worried.

I’d picked up her shift at work that night so she could go out with a guy she’d met who went to a nearby high school. He’d come in to buy a snowboard, and she’d helped him. Then he’d asked her out. I’d been there on Sunday afternoon when it had happened, so I got to see the whole thing unravel like in a movie. He was cute and sweet and seemed different than the guys she usualy went after, so when she was caling me so early in the evening, I was suddenly afraid her date hadn’t gone wel.

“What happened?” I asked by way of greeting.

“Nothing,” she whispered, and I could hear her grinning. “Brian’s realy great. I just wanted to cal and tel you that while he went to get me a drink.”

I heard weird noises in the background like water running and splashing. “That’s awesome, Nic. Where are you?”

She giggled. “I’m at a party in Cohasset. There’s a hot tub and a heated pool, so everyone’s getting in. I’m glad I wore my new matching bra and panties.”

Yeah, the fact that it was in the forties outside apparently didn’t concern anyone.

“Nicky! Do not take you clothes off.” I chastised her, knowing she was going to ruin her chance with this guy. She’d be too available, and he’d lose interest. That was always her problem.

“Oh, don’t be such a goody-goody,” she said, knowing it would get under my skin. “I’m not going to do anything with him – wel, I’l probably kiss him, but that’s it. He’s realy cute, and – holy shit!”

“What?!” I asked, suddenly sitting up straighter in bed.

“Alexis and Faith are here,” she hissed. “They’re with some guys I’ve never seen before.”

“Holy shit,” I said, my mind flashing to Connor. I wondered if he knew his girlfriend was at a party with some random guys. “What are they doing?” I was dying for a video phone.

“They’re just walking around,” she whispered. “Shit, gotta go. Brian’s coming back. I’l cal you tomorrow.”

“Nicky!” I shouted, but she was already gone.

I settled back against my headboard and realized how hard my pulse was thumping with adrenaline. I was dying to know what Alexis was doing at a party with random guys who weren’t her boyfriend. When my phone rang again, I thought I was Nicky caling back with more dirt, but it wasn’t. It was Connor, which was surprising since he was supposed to be out.