Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (177 page)

She sighed as she bent to clean up the mess.  She made sure all of the broken glass was accounted for, and then she wrapped up the trash in another trash bag and set it aside to take out to the dumpster behind the school.  She scrubbed the mirror clean and sat down on her bed with a sigh, suddenly feeling very tired.  She looked at the ring that Jude had given her and knew she never should have accepted it.  But that wasn’t going to stop her from shoving it in Tory’s face she thought.  It didn’t mean that she was going to spread the rumor that Jude had told her about Tory sleeping around on Tony, but she was beginning to wonder if Tory wasn’t a little bit loopy.

She hoped that she didn’t hear rumors around school as soon as all the girls got back about her pregnancy.  Then again she thought who would listen to Tory?  She felt like a bitch for thinking such a thing, but when she thought about the mess she had come back to, she felt less guilty.  What would have happened if Mellenda had returned before her?  Then the shit really would have hit the fan.

There wouldn’t have been any way that Mellenda wouldn’t have reported it, even if nothing of hers had been touched besides her lipstick.  Molli hoped that she didn’t notice the lipstick was gone.  She certainly wasn’t going to replace it with how expensive it was, though she thought that the shade that Tory had used to write on the mirror with was really ugly.

She took the trash out to the dumpster and went back to her room, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.  She thought about calling Seneca, but decided against his.  She thought about calling Ricky, but she didn’t want to seem desperate since he hadn’t called her again.

She was daydreaming that the present Ricky was excited about buying her was an engagement ring when she fell asleep.  She spent the rest of the weekend studying and still didn’t hear anything from Ricky.  Mellenda came back late Sunday evening.  Molli thought that she could smell Ricky on her roommate when she stripped and got ready to go to the shower.  She was sure that they’d had sex and felt very betrayed when Mellenda headed out to the shower, humming to herself.

She decided to text Seneca then, but didn’t tell her about the pregnancy or her feelings about Ricky.  She did mention the promise ring Jude had given her though.

Chapter 9

She didn’t sleep well that night and almost wasn’t in the mood to show her ring off the next morning, but she saw Tory before her first period class and figured it was as good time as any to show off the ring that Jude had bought her.  She was walking with Iris and a group of her friends who didn’t normally pay much attention to her.  She pointed at Tory and whispered to Iris “There’s Tory.  She looks a little pale today.  Do you think she spent the whole vacation getting drunk and stoned with her drug dealer boyfriend?”

Iris laughed.  “Probably.”  The group moved down to Iris’s locker, which was a few down from Tory’s.  “So how’s your man Molli?”

“He is so in love with me.  He was so excited when he gave me the ring.  It’s like a pre engagement ring.  He even paid extra to have our initials carved inside.  Isn’t it so pretty?”  She let the other girls admire the ring on her finger, then pulled it off and showed them the initials inside.

A short skinny brunette who was on the very outskirts of Iris’s usual crowd named Amanda said “You’ve really got that boy whipped Molli.  Are you really going to marry him?”

Molli laughed.  “I don’t know.  But it doesn’t hurt to pretend right?”

Iris giggled.  “I love it when you have them wrapped around your finger and they’ll do anything for you.”

“It’s not that hard to keep a guy happy if you know what I mean.”  Molli giggled, feeling like an idiot for hanging around Iris and her friends.  No wonder Tory didn’t care if she was friends with any of these girls she thought.  As she passed Tory’s locker, she said “But then I guess some people wouldn’t know anything about that, right Tory?”

The other girls laughed.  Molli found herself missing Seneca even more than she did on most school days.  She saw Tory roll her eyes as she shoved her books into her backpack and couldn’t blame the other girl.  Even if she was a little crazy and pretty dumb to still be hung up on Jude, Molli had thought the whole conversation was pretty stupid herself.  She parted with Iris and her group and was glad when they went back to ignoring her.

Molli was sitting in English class when her phone vibrated in her lap.  She looked up to make sure that her teacher wasn’t paying attention and looked at the screen.  She had a text message from Seneca and she clicked over to it.

‘Hey girl.  Didn’t you tell me that Jude gave you a promise ring?’

‘Yeah.  Why?’

‘I have a feeling he screwed Tory the other night.’

‘WTF Sen?’

‘Well, my parents were gone the other night and Grant was over here.  We were outside before noon and Jude pulled up in his truck with Tory.  We were outside all night, screwing and getting stoned.  His truck never left until the next morning and neither did she.’

‘Damn.  I thought she was with Tony.’

‘I think they broke up.  He is so hot.  Wish I could get myself a piece of his fine ass.’

‘You’re only sixteen Sen.  He’s like 21.  And I thought you were so in love with Grant.  He turned you from a virgin to a nymphomaniac overnight.’

‘I am not a nympho.’

‘You’re crazy to do it outside in your front yard when it’s practically winter.’

‘We weren’t in the front yard.  We were in the backyard in my little brother’s tent.  The back of my trailer faces the front of Jude’s remember?’

‘Oh yeah.  I guess I am going to spread that rumor about Tory then.’

‘What rumor?  Who’d you hear it from?’

‘Jude.  He told me that Tory was screwing around on Tony but Tony didn’t know so it should be spread all over town.  He failed to tell me that it was him she was screwing.’

‘Men.  You can’t live with ‘em and you just can’t shoot ‘em.  It’s not like he wanted it spread around town when he was screwing you while he was still going out with Tory.’

‘Yeah.’

‘So are you gonna break up with him?’

‘I don’t know Sen.  Ricky still won’t break up with Mellenda and I can’t get Eduardo off of my back either.’

‘Eduardo is so nasty.  Drop those tapes off to the cops that you’ve got of you two boning before you were sixteen.  He can’t bug you when he’s sitting in jail.  Tell Ricky that you won’t have sex with him again until he breaks up with Mellenda.  That’ll get him to break up with her no doubt.’

‘I can’t believe I told you about those videos.  They’re at my parents’ house.  No way could I keep shit like that around here.  I don’t think that Ricky would care if I quit having sex with him.  He says he likes being around me.’

‘So tell him you won’t hang out with him until he breaks it off with her.’

‘I can’t Sen.  I like being around him.  He makes me feel good about myself.  Like no one else ever really has before.’

‘Hey girl, that’s not nice.  You know I love you Molli.’

‘I know Sen.  I love you too.  I can’t give Ricky up.  It would hurt way too much.  He’s going to break up with Mellenda soon.  I know it.’

‘Sure.  That’s what they all say.  Hey, did you take that test?’

‘Yeah.’ 

Molli had almost forgotten about the pregnancy test and the mess she’d come back to in her room.  Though she knew that Tory had to have been the one that did it, she hadn’t really wanted to spread the rumors that Tory was sleeping around until now.  Now she was going to spread them. 
And she was going to make sure that every time she saw Tory she was going to be flashing the generic ring that Jude had bought her too.

‘So?  Spill it girl.  Are you prego?’

‘Yes.’

‘Damn.  So did you tell any of the maybe baby daddies yet?’

‘I told Ricky and Eduardo.  I hope Ricky’s the father.  He’s the only one I’ve ever slept with without protection, even once.’

‘You told him and he still won’t break it off with Mellenda?’

‘I told him the night before Thanksgiving and I also told him that she aborted their baby without telling him.  He hadn’t called her when he dropped me off at my empty house. But she showed up at his house and I’m pretty sure she was with him right before she came back last night.’

‘Damn.  I told ya ya coulda stayed in town and had dinner with me and my family.  My mom loves you.  She thinks you’re a good influence on me.’

‘I know Sen and I appreciate it.  I wanted to spend some time with Ricky.  I’ve never really felt this way about a guy before.’

‘Molli is in love.  It’s gonna be so cute seeing you get married to Ricky.  Can I be one of your brides’ maids?’

‘I thought he wasn’t going to leave Mellenda because they never do, huh?’

‘He will.  He’ll see you get even prettier when you’re pregnant and he’ll dump Mellenda’s snotty ass like she was yesterday’s news.  I gotta go girl.  My math teacher is glaring daggers at me.  I can’t afford to get my phone taken away again.  Keep me posted on everything.’

‘You know I will.  Tell Grant I said hi.’

‘I will.  TTYL.’

‘Bye Sen.’

Molli dropped her phone back into her lap, wondering who the first person she told about Tory cheating on Tony should be.  She didn’t care if they had broken up.  Maybe if Tony knew Tory was screwing around he’d never think of getting back together with her.  If Molli couldn’t be with the person she really wanted to be with, why should Tory, she thought?  She’d really thought that Tory was into Tony and over Jude with the way they looked when they were together.  She’d seen them at the grocery store and downtown a couple times.  They looked so content and comfortable together, like a married couple that was still in love.  Molli sighed and waited impatiently for the bell to ring, signaling the end of class.

It was all around school by the end of day that Tory was cheating on Tony.  Molli was pretty proud of herself, though she still felt a little bitchy deep down.

Ricky called her on Wednesday.  They made plans to get together over the weekend, but then he called her back Thursday and told her that he’d made plans with Mellenda months before to take her to a concert and couldn’t get out of it.  Molli was so disappointed and let down with everyone, herself included, that she decided she was going to show up on Tony’s doorstep on Friday night and seduce him.

Chapter 10

Immediately after classes let out on Friday, she hurried back to her room and changed and then set out for the bus stop and the bus that would take her into downtown Brentwood.

Molli’s heart was beating triple time by the time she reached Tony’s house.  It hadn’t helped that the bus has dropped her off way past his house.  She was beginning to wonder if she should have walked from Crestview in the first place as she stood on his porch.  She raised her hand to knock, noticing that his car was sitting haphazardly in the driveway, looking like it had been in some kind of accident.  When there was no response for several minutes, she raised her hand to knock again.  She knocked louder this time and could hear a male voice call out “Yeah, just a minute.”

She stepped back slightly, smoothing out her skirt.  She was wearing her uniform skirt and a sheer white blouse that was practically see through with a purple bra.  A lot of people would probably think it was tacky, but she didn’t care.  She was going to seduce Tory’s ex-boyfriend if it took her all night she thought.

Tony opened the door, looking like he had crawled out of bed.  His hair was sticking up in front and he was shirtless and barefoot.  His chest was so toned that she thought she was going to start drooling.  He stood there and stared at her for a minute.

“Um, how can I help you?”

“Can I come in?  It’s kinda cold out here.”

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry.”

Tony stepped back and let her into the house.  His house looked like a disaster area and there was a funny smell in the air, like burnt copper.  She glanced at the TV and noticed there was a porno paused on the screen and hid a smile.  Maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as she’d thought it was going to be to seduce Tony.

Tony noticed her looking at the TV and reached for the remote.  She put her hand on his arm.  “You don’t have to turn it off.  I kinda like porn sometimes.”

“How old are you?”

“Almost eighteen.  Does it matter?  I’m sure you’ve watched porn with Tory before and she’s not eighteen.  I’m Molli, in case you didn’t know.”  She flipped her hair back over shoulder.

He turned the TV off anyway.  “So Molli, what can I do for you?”

She let out a breathy laugh and stepped closer to him.  “It’s not what you can do for me.  It’s what I want you to do to me.”

Tony looked puzzled.  “Huh?”  Then awareness dawned in his eyes.  “No way.  I’m not getting mixed up with another high school girl.”

She pouted.  “C’mon Tony.  I know that you must be lonely without Tory.  Nobody has to know about what we do tonight.  And we have all night since it’s Friday.  I happen to know that the weekend guards at Crestview are lazy and don’t care if girls sneak out and back in.  I also got a pass to spend the weekend with my friend in town just in case.  So I’m yours all weekend if you want me.” 

She started to unbutton her shirt.

“Don’t do that.  Aren’t you Jude’s girlfriend?  Did those two think it would be cute if we played girlfriend swap?  I really don’t find it to be cute at all.  I told Tory that I’d been faithful to her and I meant it.  Go away and leave me alone.  And go put a real shirt on.  Most guys wouldn’t be telling you to go away when you’re wearing that school girl skirt and might as well not be wearing a shirt.  Nice bra by the way.”

Molli hid a sigh.  “Thanks.  Hey, can I buy some weed from you?”

“No.  Get out of my face before my hormones take over.  Even if I do love Tory, my penis tends to have a mind of its own sometimes.”

“Did you tell Tory that you love her?”

“Yes, and then Jude shows up on my doorstep and tells me that he slept with her.  Why don’t you go ask him about it?  I’m sure he’s willing to tell you the whole story.  He was sure as hell willing to tell me the whole story down to the last detail.  Or did you find out from the rumor mill like everyone else?”  Tony reached for a cigarette from a pack on the coffee table.  “You want one?  Might as well contribute to the delinquency of another minor.”

“No thanks.  My friend that lives in the same trailer park told me.  She was doing it with her boyfriend in a tent in the backyard.  They saw Jude pull up with Tory in his truck and not leave until the next morning.”

“It takes balls or a huge sex drive to do it outside when it’s practically winter, even in a tent.  Then again they’re probably both teenagers right?  That explains it.”

Molli laughed.  “Teenagers can get pretty horny can’t they?”

He looked her up and down.  “Yeah.  Why don’t you go back to school or to your friend’s house?  I’d offer you a ride but my car’s pretty much out of commission.  I don’t know what I hit after Jude’s punk ass showed up here bragging about how Tory begged him to take her to bed.  He was lucky it wasn’t him I hit.”

“I really doubt that Tory begged him to go to bed with her.  I think it was the other way around.  I thought she was over him.  She’s in love with you.  I know she is.  I can see it in the way she looks at you.  And I’ve only seen you guys together a couple times in town.” 

She wondered if Tory was truly over Jude with the destruction she’d left in her room over vacation but she wasn’t going to mention that to Tony.

Molli suddenly thought that it was pretty funny that she had showed up here to seduce Tony and was now having this conversation with him and almost giggled.

Tony sighed.  “She told me that she loved me.  I think that was the most will power I ever had to use in my life when I hung up on her after she said that.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  I know I’m a drug dealer, but she’s always made me want to be a better man.  I guess I’m never gonna be good enough for her.  Just life I guess.”

“You’re a good guy Tony.  Tory knows that.  I think that Jude did what he did because he knew that she had moved on and he wanted to prove something.  He just proved that he’s an
asshole.  He saw that she was happy with you and he wanted to ruin it.  That’s sort of the reason I came here.  I was so pissed off when I heard that the only thing I could think of doing was screwing you to get back at both of them.”

“I’m a drug dealer who samples too much of what he sells, especially lately.  What does a girl like Tory want with me?  I’m no good for her.  It’s better this way.  Now get outta here before I take you up on your offer.”

“Really?”  Tony really was a hot guy she thought.  And she’d love to shove it in Jude’s face that she’d slept with him.  She’d like to brag to Seneca too.

Tony smiled.  “Nah.  I don’t think Tory would ever forgive me if I slept with you.  Even if I know she’s better off without me, it’s still really hard to let her go.”

“That stuff that happened between Tory and Jude when she found us together, it wasn’t my fault.  I think he did that on purpose too.  He was too chicken to break up with her.  I know she hates me, but I always thought she was one of the coolest girls in school.  She’s not afraid to be herself.”

“Sometimes she is.  Hell, I’m glad that she found you two together.  I don’t think she ever would have ended up in my arms if she hadn’t.”

“See, so it was meant to be.”

“What the hell are you still doing with Jude?”

“Well, there’s this other guy that I really want to be with but he’s my roommate’s boyfriend and he hasn’t broken up with her yet.  What is it with men being afraid to break up with a woman?  Are they afraid that all of our lives are so tightly wrapped around a man that we’ll crumble without them?”

Tony chuckled.  “A lot of times it’s more like the other way around.  A man needs a good woman to remind him that he’s better than all his faults.  Men and women need each other.  When you find the right one you can’t let them get away.”

“You are such a romantic.  No wonder Tory loves you.  To Jude romance is not asking me to blow him for two weeks.”

“Damn.  Teenagers these days.  So why don’t you lose the loser and convince the guy that you really want to be with that you’re the one for him?”

“I’m trying, believe me.  He’s so sweet.  He said that he wanted to ask me out before he asked her out but he was too afraid I’d say no.”

“You are a beautiful girl.  You’ve got to make him realize that you’re not gonna wait around for him forever.  You’re worth more than that.”

“Thank you.  Do you mind if I sit down?  The bus system is so stupid here that I practically had to walk further to get here from the bus stop than I would have if I’d have just walked from Crestview.”

“I don’t know Molli.  Tory would probably kill me if she knew I let you in my house.”

“See, you are so in love with her.  You two are going to get back together, get married and make beautiful babies.”

Tony sighed.  “I don’t know.  I hope so.  But I have to get out of dealing first.”

“Just do it.  I’m sure Tory will be calling you before you know it.”

“I wish.  Yeah, go ahead and sit down.  Does your friend have a car?  Can she come and get you?”

“She doesn’t but her boyfriend does.  I’ll text her.”

“Don’t kids ever pick up the phone and call each other anymore?”

Molli laughed.  “Texting is so much easier.  You act like you’re old.”

Tony sat down on the couch, moving a pile of magazines so that Molli could sit down too.  “I feel old.  Especially without Tory around.  She kinda takes care of me.”

“I could see that.  If a girl is getting picked on at school she’s usually the first one to stick up for them.”

“But she never sticks up for herself.”

“She does.  You just have to push her pretty damned far.  Which I’ve done a couple times.  When I first started at Crestview, she was one of the first girls that I wanted to make friends with because she seemed so much more real than the rest of the girls there.  But she was so tight with Rebecca while she was there.  They went everywhere together.  People used to talk shit about them being lesbians because it’s obvious that they love each other.  It’s just in a best friends ‘til the end kind of way and not in an I wanna go down on you sort of way.  There are plenty of girls that are like that at Crestview too, though.  There’s these two girls that want to be social workers, they love each other in an I wanna go down on you sort of way.  I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear about stupid Crestview gossip and I’ve been too busy blabbing to you to text Seneca.  I know you probably can’t wait to get me out of your hair.”

Tony shrugged.  “I kinda miss having company.  With all the drugs I’ve been doing the past few days, even my cousin Carl’s been steering clear of this place.  Course I think Uncle Keith probably had something to do with that.”

“Your uncle’s a cop isn’t he?”

“Yeah.  A deputy.  And yes he knows that I deal, and no he doesn’t like it.  I have to have some way to take care of my mom.  I don’t know how else I’d pay the outrageous bills for the damned mental hospital that they’re probably never gonna let her out of.”

“A drug dealer with a heart of gold.  Tory’s not too good for you.  You two are perfect for each other.  Get over yourself and call her.  I’m sure she’s been crying herself to sleep because she misses you so much.”

“I doubt that.  I can’t call her.  I said some pretty messed up shit to her.  I was so fucked up when Jude told me that they’d slept together.  She was still in love with him for so long.  I thought I was never gonna convince her that I was the one she should be with.  Then, when I finally thought I had, Jude steps in and fucks everything up.  I’m sorry Molli, but your boyfriend’s a real asshole.”

Molli sighed.  “I know.  I still think you should call Tory.  I’d talk to her for you, but she really doesn’t want to hear from me.  She’d probably kill me if she knew I had come over here, even if I told her we didn’t do it.”

“Yeah.  Hey, do your friend and her boyfriend smoke?”

“Weed?  Yeah.  I probably shouldn’t be smoking myself but I’d like to take the edge off.  Sometimes I think I’m gonna go crazy if Ricky doesn’t break up with Mellenda.”

“Your friends are at least sixteen aren’t they?”

Molli laughed.  “Yeah, why?  You don’t get anyone stoned that isn’t?”

“I don’t sell weed to anyone under sixteen and I don’t sell hard drugs to anyone who’s not at least my age.  And I hardly get anyone stoned for free.  But you made me feel better Molli.  Even if you did come over here to seduce me and try to get both of our asses kicked by Tory.”

“You really are a good guy.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I’m gonna go roll up a couple joints while you text your friend.”

“Okay.  You’d better put a shirt on while you’re at it.  Sen’s likely to drool all over you if you don’t, even if she is with her boyfriend.”

Tony chuckled as he walked to the bedroom.  “Thanks for the tip.”

Molli pulled her phone out of her purse and sent a text message to Seneca.  ‘Hey Sen, can I still stay at your house this weekend?’

‘Of course you can.  As long as you can put up with my man since my parents are out of town again.’

‘What’s going on now?  Is your little brother okay?’

‘Mostly.  They want to run some more tests.  Mom and Dad promised him that they’d take him to this amusement park over the weekend.  They made me promise that I wouldn’t have Grant over.  That old hag from across the street told them that he was here the whole time they were gone
last time.  I guess it’s a good thing we did it in the tent every time and not really outside like he wanted to.’