Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (13 page)

            “What the fuck was that?” I cry out. Throwing his
phone in his pocket, Benny shrugs and sighs deeply out of frustration. “What
did she say?”

            “She
’
s hanging out with Chase
Morgan,” he tells me. Um… duh?

            “No fucking shit. I know that. What else?” I plead,
following him as he paces the room up and down.

            “
I don’
t know. Nothing,” he
lies. I jump ahead of him to make him stop avoiding me.

            “Look, I know you and Alex don
’
t
like me with her, but you have to admit I
’
m a better
option than Chase. At least I fucking care about her,” I confess firmly. Their
feelings aside, Buzz is worrying me.

            “So you
’
re admitting there
’
s something?” Benny finally realizes.

            “I fucking admitted it on the boat, you asshole. Don
’
t make me say it again,” I snicker.

            “Alex is gonna hurt you,” he announces as if I don
’
t already know.

            “And I
’
m going to kill Chase, so
maybe they
’
ll let me and Alex share a jail cell,” I joke.

13 Bianca Ferrari

After telling Skyler to fuck off via text message, Tiffany and I
begin mixing drinks in the kitchen. My iHome is blasting my favorite country
songs from Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and George Strait as Chase and his
friend Parker sit at the breakfast bar in my kitchen watching us. They
’
re casually sipping on their mixed drinks and silently judging
me, and I suddenly feel like a child despite my taste in older country music.
It
’
s the first time Tiffany and I are really drinking; it
’
s never been available to us before besides that one time
Skyler and I drank my mom
’
s wine. Never again. It was so
gross. I purposely make my drink with just a little alcohol because I
’
m not sure how my body will handle it, and I don
’
t
exactly trust Chase to take care of me. I really just wanted his alcohol, not
him.

            “Where are your brothers?” Parker asks us, his long
skater boy hair drooping in front of his eyes. I
’
m not
sure how him and Chase know each other because they look like polar opposites.
Parker has piercings in his nose and on his ears, long black straightened hair,
and extremely dark, mysterious eyes while Chase is piercing-free wearing a
backwards baseball hat that barely hides his dirty blonde hair and bright
excited blue eyes. I
’
ve never met Parker before, so I
’
m a bit nervous that he
’
s in my house
while no one else is home. For all I know Chase picked him up at the train
station.

            “
Out,
” I vaguely say, glancing
at Tiffany to make sure we
’
re on the same page.

            “They
’
re up in Wisconsin at
their cabin,” Chase explains, completely blowing my plan of not letting Parker
know we are home alone all weekend.

            “Why didn
’
t you go?” Parker asks
us.

            Tiffany glares at me like she
’
s
upset she isn
’
t going to be spending the weekend with Sam.
In reality she didn
’
t have to stay with me, but she
’
s a good friend for doing so. “The boys were bringing girls,” I
state flatly, trying to ignore Tiffany
’
s frustrated sigh.

            “Skyler Swanson was bringing a girl,” Tiffany
clarifies.

            “Rex brought one, too!”
I argue.

            “Like you cared he brought Leah!” she cries. “You act
like you haven
’
t had a crush on Skyler for your entire
life; it
’
s unbelievable.”

            “You and Skyler Swanson? Really? Wow,” Chase
processes that in his head.

            “No. There is no me and Skyler Swanson. He made that
pretty clear when he brought another girl up north with him,” I snap, starting
to chug my drink.

            “Okay. Slow down. No need to get hammered,” Chase
notices, reaching his hand out to make me drop my cup. I tear my hand away from
him, finish what
’
s left of the drink, storm across the
house into the main level powder room, and lock myself inside.

            “Bianca!” I hear a guy and a girl
’
s
voice both yell at me, but neither of them are Skyler
’
s so
I don
’
t care. I can
’
t believe he
’
s bringing someone to our cabin. Who she is doesn
’
t
even matter. How could he do this to me?
Even when our friends and
siblings hounded us about hooking up, he didn
’
t care. He
just kissed me in secret. It
’
s such a rush to do that with
him, and then he rips my heart out a few weeks later. I didn
’
t
even notice that I
’
ve started crying until I feel a puddle
beneath my bare feet.

            “B, let me in,” Tiffany demands, jiggling the
doorknob. To be fair, I decide to open it for her and then lock it again behind
her. She sits on top of the counter judging me as I try to wipe my tears away. “Have
you talked to Skyler after he told you?” I nod as I try to control my breathing
so Chase won
’
t hear me. “What did you talk about?”

            “I told him Chase was here,” I confess, looking away
from her motherly eyes.

            “So when should we be expecting him at the front
door?” Tiffany chuckles although it
’
s a totally probable
result to me telling him that.

            “He doesn
’
t care. I
’m sure he’
s not coming,”
I argue.
“Of course
he told Benny though; that
’
s who was on the phone a little
while ago.”

            “And you think Skyler told Benny that Chase was here
because he doesn
’
t care? You
’
re
kidding, right?” she tries convincing me.

            “Why are you pushing this? None of you want me and
Skyler together. You all got your wish. Congratulations,” I reply
sarcastically, throwing my arms into the air dramatically.

            Hopping off the counter, Tiffany stands right up in
my face. I
’
ve never seen her greenish brown eyes so
fierce. “I
’
ve wanted you to be with Skyler since you first
had a crush on him. Don
’
t you dare categorize me with the
boys,” she hammers into me.

            Damn it. She
’
s
right. “Okay, I
’
m sorry,” I tell her, bringing her in for
a tight hug. I
’
m being the shitty friend in this
situation, not her. I
’
m unintentionally taking my Skyler
anger out on Tiffany, and I need to stop before she just leaves me alone with
Chase and Parker.

            “It
’
s fine. Now what are you
going to do about Chase?” she wonders in a quieter tone. I can
’
t
tell if she wants me to kick him out or hook up with him. She
’
s
very difficult to read.

            “He did bring us alcohol,” I remind her, trying to
gauge her feelings.

            “Fine. They can stay. But they aren
’
t sleeping here,
” she decides, throwing her pointer finger in my
face in an accusatory way.

            “
Ew, gross,
” I agree.

            In the middle of the night when Tiffany and I are
sleeping in my queen sized bed, my phone vibrates loudly on my nightstand. I
look at the time and it reads 3:30 a.m. and then I notice it
’
s
Skyler who
’
s calling me. My first thought is that he
’
s calling me from a jail cell but then realize the caller ID
wouldn
’
t say his name and he wouldn
’
t
have been able to remember my cell phone number by heart. Sneaking into the
hallway, I answer the phone quietly so I don
’
t wake up
Tiffany.

            “
Hello?
” I whisper.

            “Fuck! Buzz what the hell are you doing?” he slurs
his words. He asks the question as if he has been up all night worried about
me, not like he
’
s mad or accusing me of anything. But I
can
’
t fall for it this fast.

            “
Sleeping,
” I deadpan. “What are
you doing?”
Besides drinking, obviously
.

            “Why didn
’
t you just come here?”
Skyler whines. I can picture him pulling on his sexy hair as he paces around,
probably outside since he wouldn
’
t want to wake anyone up
this late.

            “Sky…” I try but nothing follows. He knows why I didn
’
t come to the cabin this weekend. I
’
m not
the one who needs to explain myself.

            “I want you here,” he blurts out. My heart is
pounding so fast that I
’m sure I’
m going to collapse and
fall down the stairs. He wants me the same way-

            “Come back to bed, baby,” I hear a girl say into the
phone. It
’
s an unfamiliar high-pitched raspy voice, and
that
’
s all the confirmation I need to hang up on him. I
turn my ringer off and flip my phone over so I can
’
t see
any light coming from it and go back to bed.

            What. A. Fucking. Asshole.

            Skyler texts me the next morning to apologize and I
have three missed calls from him, but I never respond. When everyone goes up
north for Rex
’
s sixteenth birthday in late July, I don
’
t go. When Skyler comes over to hang out with Rex, I purposely
lock myself in my room or invite myself to stay at a friend
’
s
house for the night. Hanging out with Chase also becomes a regular thing.

            One time as I
’
m running through
the house and heading for the front door, Skyler stops me to talk but I pinch
his arm so he has to release his hold on me. I take this as the perfect
opportunity to give him back his fluffy sweatshirt he gave me to wear that one
stormy weekend at the cabin.

             “B, please,” he pleads, yanking on my arm as I
forcefully pull away.

             “I
’
ll be right back,” I shove
him off of me and go back upstairs to my room. His sweatshirt is in the very
back of my closet underneath a huge pile of dirty clothes that are from the
beginning of summer. I dig it out, and run downstairs where Skyler is
impatiently waiting for me. “Here,” I jab him in his chest as I hand over his
sweatshirt.

             “What the fuck is this?” Skyler calmly asks me.
He
’
s so clueless! Ugh!

             “Your sweatshirt,” I snap, glaring at him and folding
my arms across my chest.

             “I can see that, sweetheart,” he adds.

             “Don
’
t ‘sweetheart
’
me,” I demand, rolling my eyes. I could puke all over him
right now. All I imagine is him giving this sweatshirt to another girl who is
probably a hoebag.

             “
Buzz-
” his voice breaks
apologetically, completely defeated.

             “
I don’
t want to talk to you
unless it
’
s regarding baseball or softball. Get away from
me,” I command. I push past him after giving him one last death glare and
pledge to not talk to him unless it
’
s about our sports.

            I
’
m so serious about cutting him
out of my personal life after him getting drunk, calling me, and letting me
hear his delightful guest of honor that he brought up north for my favorite
holiday invite him to go back to bed with her. Barf.

            For my fifteenth birthday in September I go to the
movie theater with Tiffany and Baylee to see a preview of
Moneyball
. Not
only have I been waiting for this movie to come out, but we piss off the boys
by going without them. The weekend after my birthday my parents have the
Swansons and Lockets over for a fall barbecue. My parents are clearly clueless
as to why I
’
ve been avoiding family functions. I walk
downstairs after smelling the grill from my bedroom and deadpan when I see the
entire crew on the deck. You have to be kidding me. I knew I should
’
ve looked over my balcony first.

             “Here
’
s the birthday girl!” Susie
announces. I
’
m not quick enough to remain unseen
apparently. I purposely refrain from looking in the direction of the boys in
fear of making eye contact with Skyler who I haven
’
t
spoken to in weeks. It
’
s the longest we
’
ve
gone without talking or hanging out since I was born.

             “I didn
’
t realize we were
having a party. I have to go change,” I think aloud, turning around to retrace
my steps upstairs.

             “Hey, are you okay?” Tiffany asks as she runs behind
me.

             “Yeah. I just literally didn
’
t
know we had people over. I look like a slob. My mom will be mad if I stay in
this all night,” I explain, continuing into my bedroom to pick out a nicer shirt.
Right now I
’
m in boy athletic shorts and a Red Devils
spirit wear shirt.

             “Since when do you care what your mom thinks?” she
snickers, crossing her arms to show that she sees right through me.

             “Since I wanted an excuse to leave,” I admit.
Rummaging through my closet, I realize I don
’
t have any
nice shirts. Basically I have a row of t-shirts and a row of sweatshirts
hanging up and that
’
s it. I have hit the stage where I
need to care about my appearance if I want to fit in at school or dinner
parties but don
’
t have anything to show for it.

             “What are you gonna do?” she wonders, plopping onto
my bed like we
’
re going to have a long heart-to-heart.

            “Call Chase to come over,” I nonchalantly tell her as
I put on jean shorts and a fresh tank top with a jacket over it. I choose to
ignore the motherly glare she
’
s shooting at me. It
’
s definitely her signature move since I started talking to
Chase, so I
’
m used to it.