BRIDGER (20 page)

“Not sure.
 
Emily told me I’d find out at the airport, but I didn’t see any school officials with you.”

Reese coughed uneasily.
 
“Well, that would be because you were supposed to live with me for the rest of the year.”

Liam looked from me to Reese, then back again.
 
“Are you serious?”

Blood drained from Reese’s face at the same time it did mine.
 
Looking at Mary, I caught her look away to hide her snicker.
 
“Liam, you and Reese are roommates.”

Liam pounded Reese on the back for good measure, making sure to pound just a little too hard to be friendly.
 
“Well, this ought to be good.
 
Nice to meet you, roomie.”

Reese returned the favor, opting to punch Liam in the shoulder.
 
I’m surprised it didn’t go out of socket. “Just don’t think you’ll be bringing Ashlyn over to my house and being alone with her...
roomie
.”

It was going to be a miracle if they made it through the weekend.

* * *

Mary, Liam, and I began hauling Liam’s belongings into Reese’s room while he lounged in the hammock in the corner of his room.
 
Reese decided being the cheerleader would be the best way to goad Liam.
 
“Liam, you get a third of the room over there.
 
Don’t touch my stuff and we’ll be just fine.”

Liam grunted as he moved his desk to his allotted side of the room.
 
Mary and I were putting his sheets on the makeshift bed Reese’s mom had placed in the room.
 
“I wouldn’t want to touch your stuff if I had a biohazard suit on.
 
This place is disgusting.”

Mary and I looked at each other and grinned.
 
Liam wasn’t lying.
 
Reese never took out the trash.
 
This arrangement could have been great as one of those reality TV shows.

“Well, we’re going to leave you two to get to know one another,” Mary said, nodding my way.
 
We both wanted to get away from the brawl waiting to happen.
 
The jury was still out on who I’d root for in that fight.

I hugged Liam tightly, then kissed him on the cheek.
 
He grinned.
 
“You ladies have fun.”

As we turned to leave, Reese called out.
 
“What, no sugar for me?
 
Liam won’t mind.”

Mary caught my eye before I turned to look at Reese.
 
She was struggling to keep her grin under control.
 
“You’re a diabetic.
 
You can’t handle that much sugar to begin with.”

“Harsh.
 
I’m gonna remember that.”

Mary and I laughed.
 
We left the guys to do whatever it is that they do during male bonding.
 
Or, in their case, marking their territory.
 
Mary twirled the keys to her parents’ car.
 
“That little hole in the wall coffee shop on Main sound good to you?
 
We need to catch up.”

“Sounds very good.”

When we arrived, we ordered our coffees and found a couple of chairs in the back. Mary was making it clear she wanted as many details as I was willing to give her.

Mary sipped her coffee and looked at me with a humorous expression.
 
“So, you didn’t send a picture of the cute boy.
 
You decided to just bring him back instead?”

I laughed.
 
“Something like that.
 
It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time.
 
That’s why I paid for your large latte.”

Looking around, I sighed.
 
“We just hit it off, that’s all.”

“Enough that he shows up to attend FHS?
 
Isn’t it hard to get a student visa?
 
Usually that takes time, right?
 
You guys just met two weeks ago.
 
Something’s up.”

Mary was way more observant that I wanted her to be at this point.
 
“Look, it’s kind of complicated.”

“You dumped Jamie over there and show up with a random guy.
 
I’m pretty sure I already knew it was complicated.”

“It’s complicated like I can’t explain it all.
 
It’s not really something I’m allowed to explain.
 
Just know that no illegalities are involved.”

Mary nursed her coffee, eyeing me suspiciously.
 
“You know I’m here if you ever need to talk, right?”

I looked down, nodding. I wished I could confide in her.
 
It would be wonderful to have a normal friend.
 
She could confirm I wasn’t crazy.
 
Not yet, anyway.
 
“Thanks, Mary.
 
That means a lot.”

“Even if there are illegalities, I promise not to turn you in.
 
At least at first.”

Laughing, I shook my head.
 
“You’re such a great friend.”

“Reese and I could stage an intervention instead of handing you to the cops.
 
If worse came to worse, we’d bail you out of jail.”

“I couldn’t ask for any more.”

We sat watching it snow outside.
 
We talked about Mary’s family, Liam, all kinds of things.
 
We danced around the unmentionable subject, and she never pushed any more. Would she still be my friend if she knew how tangled my life had become? It felt like she would.

After we finished our coffees, we headed back to check on the guys.
 
As Mary parked, a snowball hit our windshield.
 
Looking up, Reese was hanging out his second story window with another one ready.
 
Mary sighed.
 
“He is such a mess for you, Ashlyn.”

“We’re just friends.”

“To you.
 
Now you’ve brought Liam home.
 
This is going to be interesting, you know that, right?”

I nodded and opened the car door.
 
I ducked behind it as the second snowball slammed into the window.
 
“Ah come on, Ash!
 
That was my last one!”

I smiled up at him sweetly.
 
“Good.
 
Now go play with Liam.”

He rolled his eyes and pulled the window shut.
 
Mary laughed.
 
“Wanna help me bring some stuff over to your place instead of dealing with the guys?”

“Sure.”

Even though things were becoming complicated, I was thankful to have friends that made it a little easier to feel normal.
 
Normality was hard to come by these days.
 
Having two perfectly human friends was going to be nice.

SIXTEEN

Classes resumed the day after we returned, so after getting a school map and class list for Liam from the main office, we began touring the school.

Liam was attempting to make a path from class to class on his map.
 
“Do we have any classes together?
 
And why is my locker in the complete opposite direction of almost all of my classes? That seems a bit counterproductive to the time limit between classes.”

I laughed.
 
“That’s because teachers are sadistic and want to make you late for every class. The other idea is to give you scoliosis early in life from carrying all your books in your backpack at once.”

Liam grinned. “Seems a bit extreme, but there might be a valid conspiracy theory in there somewhere.”

As we walked down the hall, it was obvious that Liam was generating a buzz.
 
He was the new guy coming in halfway through the school year.
 
It didn’t hurt that he was painstakingly good looking, either.
 
Mom had cut his hair, much to my dismay.
 
Instead of detracting from his looks, it really made him better looking. As if that was even possible.
 
He had grown out his sideburns, which made him look older in my opinion.
 
It didn’t help the situation. There were a couple clusters of girls at their lockers who were craning their necks to get a better look at him.

He grabbed me by the waist, reeling me in closer to him.
 
I could smell the cologne he had put on this morning.
 
It was intoxicating.
 
“So do I have any classes with you, or not? The reason I came over here was to protect you, after all.”

We stopped in front of his first class: Honors Biology.
 
Only the seniors who wanted college credit and the underclassmen trying to bump their GPA above a 4.0 took it.
 
Liam was the exception.
 
He was just good at science.
 
“PE, Honors History, and lunch.
 
But you do get to spend too much time with Krista.”

“Who’s Krista?”

Speak of the devil, the angel-faced demon glided her way in between us. She pressed herself up against him and backed him into the doorway frame, the whole time being as seductive as possible. “Who are you, handsome?
 
I don’t think we’ve met.
 
I’m Krista.
 
Senior class vice-president.”
 
She kissed him on the cheek to finish the introduction.
 
I could have smacked her right there if her groupies hadn’t been following close behind.

He stuttered out a response, which was annoying.
 
No guy seemed to remember their own names when Krista was around.
 
“Uh, Liam.
 
Liam Walsh.”

“The pleasure is all mine.
 
It could be yours, though, too, if you’d like it that way.”
 
She looked him up and down, surveying the real estate that was already mine. She ran her finger down the middle of his chest for good measure.

Liam was as red as a fire truck.
 
Sliding out from the doorway, he hooked his arm in mine again and smiled, trying to be polite in the decline. “Thanks for the offer, but you can keep it to yourself.”

Krista looked as though she thought I was a particularly smelly pile of dog crap.
 
Returning the smile was easy, since I had what she wanted. She licked her lips in disdain.
 
“Liam, shouldn’t you date someone your age…and in your league?”

“I think I’m doing quite well, thanks.
 
You’re probably a bit out of my league anyway, and I don’t date older women.”

Huffing, she hiked her purse onto her shoulder once more and sashayed her way into class.
 
Looking behind her, she smiled once more at Liam.
 
“Either way, the offer stands.
 
I’ll save you a seat.”

Liam looked at me, shocked and what looked like a bit scared.
 
“Are all American girls like her?”

I laughed.
 
“No, just the ones that have dyed their hair a few times too many.
 
I’ll see you at lunch.”

We hugged and he headed into the lion’s den of senior girls while I headed to ceramics.
 
Today would be too long.
 
I’d probably be beating girls off of him for the rest of the school year.

* * *

Thankfully, the day wasn’t painstakingly slow.
 
By the time we met in the gym for PE at the end of the day, I was fairly certain that he had reached celebrity status from the way people were talking about him.
 
The freshman girls in the locker room were shameless.