| |
––––––––
Under a cloudless sky, an invigorated Beau strutted across the parking lot at St. Benedict High ready to begin the week he was sure would change his life. Around him, students sat on car hoods, stood in small groups, or stretched out on the quad, whispering amongst themselves.
They’ve heard about my scout.
He waited for an onslaught of well-wishers to come up and praise his good fortune, but no one seemed to notice him.
Perplexed by the snub, he listened in as two girls, their heads together walked past him toward the school entrance.
“They said she was beaten up,” a girl in glasses muttered.
“I heard she was high on a new drug mixed up in someone’s bathtub,” her friend replied.
Guys from his biology class sat on the hood of a green Toyota Corolla, deep in conversation. He stopped right next to them, pretending to adjust his book bag to pick up what they had to say.
“She was a Covington High girl,” one skinny guy in a baseball cap said.
“Why was a Covington High babe at the river?” a member of his group asked.
Kelly. Everyone should have been gossiping about his coming success on the football field. Instead, they were obsessed with her.
But she’s your success, too.
A surge of pride washed away his jealousy. Without him, no one would have anything to talk about.
He enjoyed the snippets he picked up here and there. Kelly had never told anyone about their interlude, and that boosted his confidence.
Leslie and Dawn’s car entered the lot, and his optimism surged. With his girl back, his future set, and his secret safe, he felt sure the day ahead would be a good one.
Before the engine had shut down, Beau opened Dawn’s door. The girl looking back at him was not the exuberant one he’d dated for the past several months. Her tense features reminded him of the snarling cougar she wore on the front of her cheerleading uniform.
“Hey, Beau.”
Her flat tone sent a jolt through him. “What’s wrong?” He took her hand. “Didn’t you miss me? I missed you.”
Dawn kissed his cheek, but her passion was gone. “Yeah, I missed you. We just got in late last night.”
He didn’t believe her. She was different.
Beau gazed at Leslie, who stood on the other side of the car, taking in the line of her profile, eager to smell her sweet skin.
“How did you like your weekend at the lake, Leslie?”
Her smirk reeked of her insolence. God, how he wanted to break her right there.
“Why? Disappointed I didn’t die in a boating accident?”
Dawn shut her door. “Enough, both of you.” Dawn took his hand and pulled him away. “Why do you do that? Why do you tease Leslie?”
Beau removed her bag from her shoulder, displeased with her line of questioning. It was what he expected from Leslie, not Dawn.
“You used to love it when I teased her.”
Dawn brushed the hair from her face. “It was cute in the beginning, but then you did it all the time.”
He pointed to the Accord, aggravated with the change in her. “I don’t understand. You hate your sister.”
“I never hated her. I just never talked to her. But this weekend, we had a really good time. I don’t want to go back to fighting with her again.”
Shit! He needed that wedge between them to keep a handle on Dawn and intimidate Leslie. This sisterly love crap wasn’t part of the plan.
“Do you want me to kiss her ass? Is that what you’re saying?”
She shook her head, scrunching her brow. “I want you to be nice to her, and to Derek. Can you do that for me?”
He never said a word. He didn’t argue when he got angry—he got even.
When Beau glanced back at the car, Leslie stared at him with a menacing scowl.
“If that’s what you want, baby, I’ll be as nice as pie to your sister.”
“Great.” Dawn’s bubbly demeanor returned as she walked ahead, a bounce in her step. “I told her you would be reasonable. She was the one who thought you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“Your sister just doesn’t know the real me.” Beau chuckled as he thought of getting his hands around Leslie’s neck. “I’ll have to show her who I really am.”
* * *
In the halls, the bang of lockers and excited din of conversation accompanied Beau on his way to the school cafeteria. He scoured the faces of the students whizzing by, paper bags, lunch bags, or thermoses in their hands. None of them were Dawn.
They had agreed to meet up to have lunch together, and she had always been on time in the past. Annoyed, he rammed his hands into the pockets of his khakis and waited.
With nothing to keep his mind occupied, it drifted back to Andrea. He’d relived their night over and over again, especially the part where he had brought her to the brink of death. Images of strangling her excited him more than roughing her up. Maybe it was time for a new thrill.
“What’s up, Beau?”
Sara Bissell stood in front of him, in a long-sleeved, fitted black dress, tight around her boobs, and a silver chain of handcuffs around her neck. The jewelry brought a grin to his lips. He’d love to pull the chain tight around her throat and see what she looked like when the life left her eyes.
That would be a rush.
He rested his shoulder against the red brick next to him and checked out her long legs. “I missed you Saturday night.”
“Yeah, I can guess just how much you missed me. Fifty dollars’ worth, perhaps?”
He kicked at a scrap of paper on the ground, tired of her games. “What are you talking about?”
She sneered at him. “Mitch Clarkson is telling everyone you bet him fifty bucks to get me to come to the river. Is that what I am to you? A bet?”
Her raised voice attracted a few curious glances from the students heading into the cafeteria. The last thing he needed was for Sara’s tantrum to get back to Dawn.
He grabbed her shoulders. “Yes, I bet Mitch I could get you to the river, but you never showed up.” He shoved her into the brick. “And I’m glad you didn’t come.” He lifted her necklace with his finger and let it fall against her skin. “You don’t know anything about bondage. I know it’s all an act, Sara, because I’ve tasted the real thing. Would you like me to tell everyone in school what a fake you are?”
She wriggled under his hands. “You’re an asshole.”
He eased up against her, setting his mouth within inches of hers, aching to hurt her. “Yes, I am. But if anyone asks, I’m good ole Beau. The guy everyone likes, and if you jeopardize the image I’ve worked so hard to create, I’ll show you what real bondage is. I’ll tie you to a bed and beat you within an inch of your life.”
Sara’s cheeks heated. “Keep talking, big boy.”
Beau let her go. A torrent of disgust rode through him, obliterating whatever had attracted him to her.
“You’re a sick bitch.”
She licked her lips. “Takes one to know one. And I can see what you’ve been hiding behind that little Mr. Perfect image. You like the rough game, and if you asked me, you’ve played it before with someone. Could it be that poor girl from Covington High they found on the road?”
He analyzed her face, searching for any hint of what she knew. He suspected it was nothing, but her accusation flustered him.
“Keep reaching. You know damn well, I never touched her.” Beau backed away, pointing his finger. “Don’t start shit with me you can’t finish. Because I will make you regret it if you ever cross me.”
Sara’s head turned. “We have company.”
Dawn stood a few feet away, gripping her lunch bag. She frowned at him and then marched through the cafeteria archway, almost running him over.
Sara snickered, sounding like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
His apprehension skyrocketed. He couldn’t risk losing Dawn. He was the one who had to let go first. His reputation would suffer big time if she dumped him.
“This isn’t over,” Beau muttered to Sara and took off after Dawn.
“Where have you been?” he caught up to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Dawn wiggled out from under him. “Well, you weren’t going to find me hiding behind Sara.”
“Her? That was just a little reconnaissance for Mitch. He’s got the hots for her.” Beau gripped her elbow, urging her to stop. “Hey, talk to me, baby.”
With a loud snort, Dawn turned to him. “Beau Devereaux, you expect me to buy that? You make it hard for me to trust you. Everyone says I’m a fool for staying with you.”
The comment stirred his desire to throttle a certain someone. “By everyone, do you mean your wonderful sister?”
“Actually, my sister is pretty damn wonderful.” Dawn pried his hand off her elbow. “She hasn’t lied to me, cheated on me, or made me feel stupid, like some people.”
Beau wiped his hand over his mouth, seething. “After school, let’s talk. I think we have some things to iron out about our relationship.”
“Talk? You hate having conversations about our relationship.” She put her hand on her hip, giving him a defiant scowl. “Whenever I want to talk about something, you tell me, ‘Don’t worry about us, we’re fine.’”
She even tried to imitate his deep voice, which irritated him even more.
“Well, now I’m ready to talk. I realize we need to.”
“I can’t.” Her sassy attitude evaporated. “I’ve got cheerleading practice, and I told my mother I’d be home for dinner. Shouldn’t you be concentrating on the scout for Friday night instead of worrying about me, or any other girl for that matter?”
The reminder of the scout quickened his pulse. He couldn’t wait to put high school and girls like Dawn behind him.
“I’m not worried about playing football in front of a scout. I’m worried about us. You’re everything to me, baby.”
She didn’t seem to melt, or smile, or even flutter her eyelashes like before.
“I have to go.” Dawn stepped away. “I’m going to eat lunch with my sister.”
He did so not want to hear that.
“You tell Leslie to stop saying bad things about me in front of you.” He tried to temper his coarse tone with a pleasant smile. “She doesn’t know me like you do.”
“Would you leave Leslie out of this? You’re always going on and on about her. You’re dating me, remember?” Dawn pointed, in an uncharacteristically assertive way. “And she isn’t putting anything in my head. You’re the one making me second guess our relationship, not her.”
Dawn stomped away, leaving Beau at the entrance to the cafeteria, dumbfounded. He tried to figure out what had happened to the girl he had under his thumb. His grip on Dawn wasn’t what it used to be, and it was all Leslie’s fault.
Why were all his problems boiling down to one rebel with the same face as Dawn?
* * *
Outside, under the canopy of blue sky, Dawn gripped her brown paper bag to her chest. She crossed the quad to the picnic benches set up beneath a few old oaks, offering shade from the strong sun.
The encounter with Beau left her heart a jumbled mess. Jealousy, betrayal, sadness, and a throbbing ache was all she felt for the guy. He used to make her toes tingle, her heart swell in her chest, and her feet as light as air. What had happened to them?
Ahead on a bench, Derek and Leslie cuddled together smiling and laughing. Love just oozed from them. She admired the way Derek caressed her sister’s cheek, touched her hand, gazed into her eyes. It was genuine—real honest to goodness love and nothing like she had with Beau. She almost felt like an intruder, but she really needed the company and her sister’s ear.
“Can I join you guys?”
Derek’s eyebrows went up. “Sure.” He pushed over on the bench for Dawn to sit down. “Happy to have you.”
Dawn angrily tossed her bag on the table. “Glad someone wants me around.”
Leslie’s eyebrow went up. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Dawn suddenly didn’t want to bring down their lunch. Her sister and Derek seemed so happy together. “Do you guys ever argue?”
Her sister opened her bottle of water. “Sometimes. No relationship is perfect.”
“But when you make up, is the argument over, or does it keep coming back?” Dawn retrieved her sandwich from her bag.
Derek rested his arms on the table, frowning. “I don’t understand.”
Dawn searched for how to explain what arguments with Beau were like: a continuous rehashing of the same problems, always his problems with her, but never her problems with him.
“It’s like you’re playing a recording over and over. You try to offer solutions, but the recording doesn’t register your solutions or even your opinions. It just replays the same words, and you can never change them, no matter how hard you try.”
“Then walk away.” Leslie unwrapped her hearty turkey sandwich. “If the other person in a relationship isn’t listening to you, then they don’t care about your feelings.”
Derek took Leslie’s hand. “I like listening to Leslie’s advice and taking it.”
Dawn noted the way her sister and Derek touched each other, spoke to each other in soft voices, and appeared so connected. Why had she never experienced such intimacy with Beau?
Leslie chuckled. “Sometimes you take my advice.”
He let her go and picked up a bag of potato chips. “Well, sometimes you don’t give the best advice.”
Her sister inspected her sandwich. “Neither do you.”
Derek threw a chip at Leslie. She snapped it up and stuffed into her mouth.
Derek laughed and kissed her cheek.
If she had told Beau he gave bad advice, he would have blown a gasket. Then again, he expected her to take his advice and never question it.
What to wear, what to say, how much to drink, and how he didn’t like the makeup she wore. He even commented when she gained a few pounds. It had made her so terrified of putting on weight, she became regimented in her diet.
Her lettuce and tomato sandwich on low-calorie wheat bread was what Beau wanted her to eat, not what she wanted. She put her sandwich down, her appetite waning.
“Guess what?” Leslie tapped the table to get her attention. “Derek is going to the game with me. We’re going to cheer you on.”
She’d missed having her sister in her life. Ever since Beau had entered it, she had felt empty. The close bond with Leslie had frayed, but it was coming back, and she was glad. They could start over.
“So, who’s this girl?” Leslie asked Derek.
Dawn perked up, always interested in gossip. “What girl?”
“Kelly, from Covington High.” Derek leaned into the table. “When I gave my mom a ride to Mo’s Saturday night for her shift, she told me Sheriff Davis reported a girl had been picked up by his men. She’d been beaten up and was coming from a party on the river.”
Dawn shivered. The river. What the hell?
“That can’t be true.” She picked up her sandwich, her appetite renewed. “I’m at the river all the time. I’ve never seen anything bad happen to anyone.”
Derek popped the can on his soda. “Taylor Haskins confirmed a lot of crazy stuff goes on at the river. She swore she was never going back.”
“Taylor said that?” Dawn couldn’t understand it. Taylor was her friend—or had been. Since she’d quit the squad, Dawn hadn’t seen much of her.
“She never mentioned anything about it to me.” Dawn sat back, holding her sandwich, too stunned to eat. Had she been so blind to miss bad things going on at the river? “Why have I never heard any of this before?”
Leslie reached for her hand. “Maybe Beau didn’t want you to know.”
The shade closed in around her. Dawn stood. “I gotta go.”
She grabbed her lunch bag and hurried from the table.
It was as if a deluge of ice water surrounded her face and limbs. Every movement labored, every breath an effort, she didn’t know where to turn or what to do. She scurried for the warmth of the sun wanting relief from the cold. She swore all eyes were on her as she made it across the quad.
I’m gonna kill him!
