Chapter Twelve

Luke

When I finally came in from work, the lights were all off. It’d been a strange night, with Ayla stopping by for a visit. Not that she didn’t show up at Crusty’s all the time, but normally when she came in and ordered something, I was working in the back, not at the register like I had been recently when Charlie decided to change my job title.

I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her it was a nice distraction. Just sitting there and talking. Listening to her sing had given me chills. There was just something about her. She was this positive force that just kind of was. You couldn’t help but smile when you were around her.

With a yawn, I flung open my bedroom door, then jumped when I flipped on the light to find my mom sitting on my bed waiting for me. “Jeez, what are you doing in here?”

She frowned. “We need to talk about a few things.”

Uh-oh. Did she find out about me drinking in the park? Had someone else besides Ayla seen us? Maybe the cops had been here? I’d seen them at school again, this time talking with Mitch Dillard. Had Ayla finally caved and showed someone the video?

I slid my hat off and tossed it on my dresser then took a seat at my desk, spinning my chair to face her. I sucked in a deep breath, waiting for her to berate me. “What’s up?”

“First of all, this Ayla girl. How long have you been with her?”

Oh, God. I hoped this didn’t turn into the talk. We’d had it once in fifth grade, and again in eighth grade and the summer after ninth grade. And each time it got no less awkward.

“A week or so,” I said. The chair squeaked as I leaned back in it, resting my arms across the back of my neck.

She nodded. “Look, you just need to be careful. I saw the way you were looking at her. Not to mention your little brother is probably half in love with her already. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to get too serious about someone your senior year. Look what happened with me and your dad.”

My lips tightened. So that’s what this was about? Her and Dad? “I’m not you or him. I don’t plan on sleeping with her. We’re hanging out, that’s it.”

“Hanging out can lead to other things.” She stood, pacing the floor, but as she passed me I caught the stench of alcohol on her breath.

Fuck. Not again. Every time she had a bad day, she’d drink. Weep. Start fights. I was tired of the never-ending cycle. At least when Ayla had stopped by the other day, she’d only had the beer.

“I didn’t think things would go any farther with me and your father. But I ended up pregnant my senior year. You see what that got us?” She waved her arms around at our house.

“Yesterday you seemed excited that I’d found someone, and now suddenly you’re not?”

“I also got a reality check, remembering why we’re in this situation. My having to work so much, my having to depend on your checks. It’s because I made a huge mistake in high school. Something I can’t go back and change.”

My fingers dug into my scalp. “So I’m a mistake? Dad didn’t want us and now you think you’d have been better off not having me, too?” I leaped up from my chair. “Get out of my room.” I pointed at the door. “I don’t need this shit. Not after everything I’ve been doing to help out.”

Mom’s face crumpled. “Th-that’s not what I meant. You’re not the mistake, I just…”

I flung my door open, refusing to look at her. Fuck. I needed to get out of here. Away from my family. Away from this damn town.

“Luke.” She reached for my arm, but I shook her off.

Once she’d finally left, I slammed the door shut and sank down on my bed. I still had homework to do, but no energy to do it. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts. Not that any of my friends were still up or that I wanted to confide in anyone about my shitty life.

Ayla’s name popped up first. I glared at it. If she hadn’t blackmailed me, I wouldn’t have even had the fight with my mom. Or maybe I would’ve. All I knew was that Ayla was making things so much more complicated for me. At home. At school. With my friends.

Yet earlier, I felt so different around her. Like myself. Not some fake version. My mom got the doting, good son version, who acted like it didn’t bother him to be the man of the house. My friends got the popular, partying, carefree guy. But none of those was the total truth.

Just text her.

I typed the word “hey” on the texting screen. Then deleted it. Then typed it again. Why the hell was I being such a chickenshit? Because it’s almost midnight and she’s probably in bed.

I groaned, rolled on my side. Then before I could stop myself, I hit send. For long minutes, I stared at the screen. With a sigh, I realized how stupid this was. I needed to do homework.

But then the screen lit up with her response.

Ayla: Hey back! What the hell are you still doing up?

I snorted, hearing her snide comment in my mind. Some of us had to work tonight, remember. That and I got into an argument with my mom.

Ayla: Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about it?

No, I typed.

Ayla: No you’re not okay, or no you don’t want to talk about it?

Not sure. And I wasn’t. What did I hope to get by texting her?

Ayla: So you just messaged me to say hey in the middle of the night? She put a frowny face next to it, as if she didn’t believe me.

No.

Ayla: Then you do want to talk?

I ran a hand through my hair. Was that what I wanted? To tell her all my problems? Yes.

Do you have Video Voice Pro? We could chat face-to-face on that. Unless you don’t want to. Then we can just text.

Without thinking about it, I sat up. What I really needed was to get out of here for a while. Not stare at my walls, which were covered in sports paraphernalia. Meet me at Statue Falls Park?

Ayla: Um…some of us have curfews, you know! What about you come over here? We can sit up in my tree house.

You have a tree house? I smiled, trying to picture Ayla standing in a fort.

Ayla: Yes! And it’s awesome. Or at least it was when I was like ten.

Okay. I’ll be right over.

Ayla: Whatever you do, be very quiet. If my parents catch me sneaking out, I’m dead. As in my dad will probably grab a shovel and bury me in the rose garden. Or realistically, probably you. HA-HA-HA… Do you need directions?

Yeah.

Once I read through the directions, I typed: See you soon. On my way now.

Ayla: Okay. There’s a gate next to the garage, I’ll let you in there.

I didn’t even bother changing out of my work clothes. I just grabbed my keys, leaving my unfinished homework on my dresser, and headed for the door.

My mom caught me in the hall. “Where are you going? It’s late.”

“For a drive. I’ll be back later.” Without a second glance, I hurried out to my beat-up car before she could stop me or guilt me into staying.

I followed the directions Ayla gave me and soon pulled up in front of a huge Victorian home. It wasn’t a mansion, but I could probably fit a couple of my house inside it. Burlap bags covered some of the bushes out front—protecting them from frost and the colder weather to come.

Taking a deep breath, I parked along the curb then hopped out. I sneaked across her driveway until I came to the fence. I easily found the door. Ayla swung it open for me.

She stood there in a pair of flannel pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt. “Hey,” she said.

“Hi.” Shyness wrapped around me as I stared at her. Jeez, had she always been this pretty? Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea. I mean, what was I even doing here? I swallowed hard, trying not to follow the curve of her neck with my eyes.

“Come on. I brought a lantern, blankets, and some snacks up there for us. You’ll have to watch your head, though. It was made for eight-year-old me.” She tugged the edge of my shirt to get me moving, then swung the gate shut behind us.

I followed a stone path to a large oak tree. “Holy shit, is this thing for real?”

There, built into the tree, was a replica of a ship. The bow part stuck out the front, and it even had a small deck. There were windows carved into the underbelly.

“Um, yeah, my dad got a little carried away after I said I wanted to be a pirate when I grew up.”

“I think your tree house is probably nicer than my actual house,” I said, following her over to a rope ladder.

“You haven’t been inside yet.” She glanced back at me as she struggled to get up the ladder.

When she got to the top of it, she shoved open a small trapdoor and boosted herself inside. I followed her.

The interior was wide enough for us to lie down, but if we tried to stand we’d have to hunch over. A small set of bunk beds was at one end; the other had a table, a trunk, and several toys. At the center of it, I saw a pile of blankets, a lantern, and the food Ayla said she’d brought.

“I still come up here sometimes, but I definitely have to sit down or I don’t have enough headroom.” She laughed. “You should see the view from the deck.” She pointed to a small spiral staircase that led up.

You could tell this whole thing was built out of love for Ayla. Her dad had cared enough to make this for her, to put so much time into the small details. I didn’t even get a birthday card or a phone call from mine, let alone a tree house. But I didn’t need thoughts of my dad ruining tonight. So I pushed them away.

I stooped down and went up the stairs, shoving another trapdoor open. When we got to the upper deck, I stared out over the woods and trees. You could see the faint glow of city lights in the distance. But as I shifted my gaze upward, my breath caught in my throat. There were so many stars in the sky.

“Wow. I feel like I’m flying. Like I could reach up and touch the sky,” I said.

She smiled at me. “I know, it’s kind of surreal. I can’t tell you how many nights I used to stay up here, just staring at the sky. It’s like no matter what happened at school or with one of my friends, I could always just kind of be me here.”

I nodded. “Wish I had a place like this.”

She nudged me with her arm. “Well, if you’d like, I’ll share with you. In fact, I bet Landon would love it up here.”

My gaze met hers, and my insides warmed. Most of my friends didn’t even mention Landon, unless they were bringing up how shitty it was that I had to babysit him. Again. But was it such a great idea to be thinking of a future with her? I mean, I had to remember this was pretend. At the end of the election, she’d delete the video and I’d go back to being single and struggling with school and my home life.

“That would be awesome. Besides, I think I’d make a better captain than you,” I teased, trying not to think about how none of this was real but not wanting to be awkward.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get carried away or I’ll make you walk the plank.”

“You have a plank?”

“No. My dad was worried I might bring kids up here I didn’t like and he’d end up with a lawsuit. Apparently, I can be pretty bitchy when I’m mad.”

I raised an eyebrow. “No way.”

She flipped me off. “Funny. But just so you know, if I hadn’t recorded you acting like a moron, you would never have gotten to come aboard my awesome ship.”

My fingers gripped the railing. She was right. Maybe my being caught had been for a reason. Not that I was okay with this whole situation, but as long as she didn’t show anyone the video, I could deal with it. One thing was for sure—as much as I wanted to dislike Ayla Hawkins for everything, so far she was making it damn hard.

Unless this was part of her ploy—blackmail me, become friends with me, then destroy me. I couldn’t let my guard down. Even though I didn’t want my mom butting into everything, I knew how much my dad had destroyed her. And I didn’t want to chance something like that happening to me.

We were still picking up the pieces from that disaster. I didn’t need to be broken again.