“GIRL, WHAT HAS BEEN GOING on with you lately? You have missed two etiquette classes and have been late to school three times the last three weeks.” Olivia Drake, robot girl, was following me down the hallway at school and grilling the hell out of me.
“I’ve been busy. It’s not a big deal.” I stopped at my locker and opened it.
Her lips pursed. “Ms. Donnelly didn’t think it wasn’t a big deal. You should have seen her face when you weren’t at dance last night.”
I almost smiled at how happy I was not to see her face last night. Instead, I’d snuck out to hang with Raven and Adam. It was a much better time than robot girl stepping on my toes.
“She was pissed and she is going to lose it if you don’t show up today. Just wanted to give you a heads-up,” she said, pushing off the locker next to mine and joining a group of girls walking down the hallway.
I let out a long breath, thankful she was gone.
“What did perfect princess want?”
I jumped at Mel’s voice, surprised to see her behind my open locker door. I slammed it and turned to her. “Jesus, you scared the crap out of me.”
I put my math book in my bookbag and slung it over my shoulder as we walked down the hall.
“So?”
“So what?”
“What did she want?”
“Oh, to warn me that Ms. Donnelly is pissed at me.”
She laughed. “She totally is.”
I smirked. “Oh, well.” And I truly felt that way. I would be fine at the ball. I didn’t need classes on how to be a Southern lady. I was already a Southern lady, damn it.
We walked out of the school and started the walk to etiquette. I wouldn’t miss it today. I didn’t need Ms. Donnelly tattling on me to crazy Georgina.
“So, spill it. Where the hell have you been lately? You never miss class and you’ve never been late for school.”
I grinned. I couldn’t help it. I was so excited about Adam. I wanted to tell someone. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. And Mel was the closest thing I had to a best friend. I’d confided things to her in the past like Georgina’s crazy and Sebastian being a creep. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to spill all the beans about Adam.
“Is it a boy?”
And I was done. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Yes,” I squeaked out on a giggle like the schoolgirl I was.
“Oh my God!” she screeched and we took a moment to jump up and down in the road while holding hands.
When we finally calmed, she said, “Lordy, girl. Now you really do have to spill and you only have about fifteen minutes to do it before class starts, so tell me everything. I want all the deets!”
“Well, I have a date coming up. This weekend.” I was totally bragging, but oh well. I was dying to spill my guts about anything and everything Adam Nova.
“Who is he? Where is he taking you?”
“I don’t know! He says it’s a surprise and you don’t know him. I met him on the mainland.”
Her smile fell. “What were you doing over there?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I go over there.”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “How long have you been seeing him? How do you know he’s safe?”
She didn’t look happy for me. No, she didn’t look pleased at all.
“We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks.” I was being purposefully vague. I didn’t need her to lecture me or to feel disappointed that I hadn’t told her the moment I met Adam.
We were almost to Ms. Donnelly’s front door so when she paused on the steps, I stopped, too.
“You’ve only known this boy weeks and now you’re going on a date with him? On the mainland? And it’s a surprise?” She shook her head back and forth. “That doesn’t sound safe to me, Liv.”
Grabbing her hand, I pulled her the last distance to class, while saying, “It’s fine, I trust Adam. He’s a really nice, smart guy. You would like him, Mel.”
Her lips pushed out and her eyebrows furrowed. “Adam? What’s his last name in case you disappear and we have to look for you in the bottom of the ocean?”
I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, Mel. I didn’t realize you could be this dramatic.” To calm her the heck down I told her enough to get her off my back. “His name is Adam Nova and he goes to Madison Tech. He’s a nerdy guy with a love for astronomy. I highly doubt he is going to throw me in the ocean.”
I left out the smoking and tattoos and his general bad boy attitude. It was hard, too, because those tattoos were delicious and I wanted to shout from the rooftops how much I loved them.
“When is this surprise date?” She still looked skeptical as hell.
“Not until this weekend.” And it was only Tuesday. It felt like forever.
“I don’t know why you can’t just date Braden. He’s been mooning over you nonstop lately. And he’s from the island and he’s safe.”
I didn’t tell her that I felt safer with Raven and Adam than I did with the people here.
“Braden’s not for me, Mel.”
We walked up the steps to Ms. Donnelly’s. Three other girls were standing on the porch, effectively cutting our conversation short. Which I was beyond relieved about. I was done discussing Adam. I wasn’t going to stop seeing him. And I wasn’t going to date Braden. The subject was closed.
“What are y’all doing out here?” Mel tried peering around them to Ms. Donnelly’s front door.
“Guess class is canceled tonight. There’s a sign on the door saying there was an emergency,” Oliva robot child answered.
I pushed through the throng of girls. Sure enough there was a note on the door that said class would be tomorrow instead. Hell yes. My heart soared. I could go see Adam instead. He got out of class around five. I could head over that way and meet him at his place.
I pulled out my phone and shot off a text to him that I was on my way. Mel eyed me warily as I put my phone in my backpack.
“Off to see lover boy?”
“Yep.” I popped the p on the word, effectively shutting her up.
I walked down the porch steps and headed for the bridge.
“Be safe, Liv.” I heard called out from behind me.
I gave Mel the thumbs-up. I was surprised by her. She was always so spontaneous and definitely the bad girl of us two. I thought for sure she’d be supportive of me dating Adam. Her reaction was shocking and just didn’t seem like her at all.
The sun was starting to set as I crossed the bridge. I sat in the middle of the bridge and watched the sunset a little before heading to the mainland. By the time I made it to Adam’s, it was a little later than I thought it would be. I still hadn’t heard back from him, so I tried opening the outside door, but it was a no go. It was locked from the inside. There was an old box on the outside of the building where you could dial up apartments. I hit the button for Adam’s apartment but nothing happened. My guess was it was as busted as the rest of the building.
So, I sat on the front steps for over an hour, with no word from Adam. I kept myself entertained by doing my school work. I was deeply immersed in one of the classics for my literature class when someone sat down next to me, startling me to death.
“Well, look who it is.” Boone’s gray teeth smiled at me and I felt my breath catch. “I remember you. You’re the girl from the field.” His breath smelled like some kind of booze and I moved back out of his space and into the railing that ran up the side of the big porch. I’d already had one run-in with this awful man. Fear sliced through me that he had me alone this time.
He grinned wickedly. “What are you doing out here? Come looking for me?”
I stood up and tried to move down the steps, but he cornered me, pushing me back farther into the dark porch and under the small overhang.
My back was against the front door when I tried to answer with conviction. “I’m waiting on a friend.” I was trying to sound like I wasn’t terrified out of my mind, but I was pretty sure the waver in my voice gave me away because he gave me a sickeningly sweet grin that made my skin crawl.
“I bet you came over here to slum it with one of the mainland boys, huh? I bet those rich assholes from the island don’t give you what you need.” He pushed in until his face was an inch from mine and my body was plastered to the door behind me.
I pressed the side of my face against the door hard, but it didn’t matter. He ran his nose up the side of mine. Adam had done the same the other night, but this was different. I was scared and weak and I had no control. I felt a single tear slip down my cheek.
“I bet you’d like me to fuck you right here against the door, wouldn’t you, you dirty little slut? I know how you girls from the island like it.”
My voice was frozen in my throat. I tried to scream out, to cry, but nothing would come out.
He tried to push his leg between mine, but I lifted my knee as hard as I could and nailed him in the balls. He grunted but still kept me pinned to the door and as hard as I pushed and scratched and hit, I was helpless. He was too big. Too strong, and I was too small, too weak.
“You’re gonna pay for that, bitch.”
Another tear slipped free as I remembered the night Adam had been so angry at me for going to Raven’s late at night looking for him. It made sense now. It became all too clear in that moment. He was right. I was dumb.
Finally, my voice broke free and a wail filled the air as Boone’s hand traveled up to my breasts, gripping one hard before savagely tearing the fabric at the top of my tank top. One side of my shirt hung open, revealing my bra beneath and I screamed out again. I pinched my eyes shut and with all my power I kicked out and yelled and punched and punched, tears pouring from my face, screams surging from my mouth.
All of a sudden, I was kicking and punching air. Confused, my eyes flew open and Boone was gone from the porch. All I could see was a blur of two bodies down on the sidewalk as I slid down the door onto my bottom. As the adrenaline left my body, my body shook. I’d never been so scared in my life.
The bodies on the sidewalk stopped and suddenly my brain registered what I was seeing. Adam was on top of Boone. His face was a red mask of rage. He had his forearm to Boone’s throat. Boone’s face was red and his eyes were bulging from his head, but he didn’t seem to be fighting anymore.
“I will fucking kill you!” Adam screamed down at Boone, spittle flying from his lips.
I crawled to the edge of the steps, not trusting my wobbly legs. I had to help him. He was going to do something he would regret. And I couldn’t let him do that. Not because of me.
Boone gurgled out sounds beneath Adam, but Adam was way past gone.
“I’m going to end you. You put your hands on her. You fucking put your hands on her!” he screamed into Boone’s face.
“Please,” I cried, trying to get his attention, but it came out a whisper, barely a breath. “Please,” I tried again. I scooted down the steps as fast as I could and crawled over to Adam.
I placed a hand on his arm. “Please,” I said again.
His head turned to me, but his forearm never let up against Boone’s neck. His animalistic eyes landed on mine and at first I wasn’t even sure he saw me. It was like he was in another place, another time.
I lifted my shaking hand to his cheek. “Hey, it’s okay.”
I watched as recognition slipped over his face, but it was quickly replaced with sadness. His face crumpled right before my eyes and even though I was in one of the most emotionally straining moments I’d ever experienced my heart went out to him.
His eyes filled with tears that would never spill over. His face was pure torture and devastation. “He touched you,” he whispered and I rubbed my thumb along his high cheekbone.
Fresh tears spilled over and onto my cheeks.
“He put his hands on you,” he growled. His eyes slipped over my shoulder and the ripped shirt there and his eyes went wild, his body locked tight with violence.
If possible, he pushed tighter to Boone’s throat. “He hurt you!” he shouted.
“No,” I cried. “I’m fine. I promise, I’m fine.” I tried to soothe him.
But he turned his violent eyes to Boone and I had a feeling this was far from over. I stood up on shaky legs, prepared to do anything to stop Adam from what I knew was inevitably going to happen, but I didn’t get a chance to do anything at all.
Sheriff Rothchild seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Go get in the car, Livingston,” he ordered from beside me and then he was on Adam, pulling him from Boone, one arm around Adam’s neck, the other around his waist.
I did not get in the car because fuck that. I stood there and made sure Adam was safe.
Boone scrambled back on the pavement, desperately trying to catch his breath. He coughed and wheezed and I might have felt terrible for him except that I knew in my heart of hearts he was evil and he had definitely planned to do more than just rip my shirt and scare me.
“Let me go!” Adam shouted at the sheriff, but Rothchild completely ignored him.
“Get in the goddamn car, Livingston!” he shouted at me instead of dealing with Adam.
I looked around for the sheriff’s car and saw it about a block back, but I couldn’t stand to leave Adam when he was in such a state.
“I can’t,” I whispered brokenly. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”
Meanwhile Adam was losing his damn mind. “Get the fuck off me!” he shouted at the sheriff. “Get your hands off me, you bastard!”
Boone got off the ground finally and made a run for it. The sheriff didn’t seem to care too much about him getting away. He seemed more focused on Adam and my stomach turned at the thought of running into Boone again. Why didn’t he go after Boone?
Sheriff Rothchild tossed Adam to the ground, holding him down. “Get in the car, Liv. I mean it. Right this minute. I’ll take care of him.”
I felt like I didn’t have a choice, so I walked the block to the car, but not before I yelled back, “He wasn’t hurting me! It was Boone! Boone was hurting me! He was protecting me!”
I watched Adam and the sheriff every step of the way. He didn’t seem to be hurting Adam, but it didn’t look like they were having a friendly conversation either. Adam was underneath him, and the sheriff was right in his face. Anger radiated from both of them as I got into the passenger side of the police cruiser.
I sat in the car for another two minutes, my hands shaking as I watched their interaction. I’d never forgive myself if Adam got into trouble for protecting me. It wasn’t until the sheriff had pushed off Adam leaving him on the ground and walking back to the car that I wondered how Sheriff Rothchild had come upon us. As far as I knew, no one had called the cops or seen what had happened. And he hadn’t arrived with sirens wailing. I was sure I would have seen and heard them. How had he found me?
Only one person knew I was seeing Adam. And I’d only told her mere hours ago. Anger ignited deep inside me. Was there no one I could trust? Was there no one on my side but my tattooed boy from the mainland? Was there no one who loved me left in the world? Betrayal blazed through me like the hottest fire. I vowed I wouldn’t make such a crucial mistake again in being trustful and boastful.
Sheriff Rothchild opened the car door and slid into the driver’s seat. He sat down with a heavy sigh and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes like he’d had a stressful night. Yeah, me, too, man. Me, too.
I pulled the top of my tank top up where it covered my bra and held it there while he cranked the car. He was quiet for about two minutes during the drive before he finally spoke. His words were careful, slow, almost calculated.
“I care about you, Livingston.”
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think he gave a shit about me, but I was Southern, so manners taught us if you didn’t have anything nice to say, you didn’t say anything at all. Besides, he’d kept Adam from killing Boone tonight, so I thought I owed him some grace.
“Georgina cares about you, too.”
I huffed at that and he gave me a reprimanding look before turning back to look at the road.
“You don’t belong on the mainland. It’s not safe in North Madison. You got no business over there.”
My back shot straight as I rolled my eyes. He was right in a lot of ways. It wasn’t safe over there but nothing would keep me from Adam.
“I don’t want you over there again. Your daddy wouldn’t like it either. Do you hear me?”
Now that got my hackles up. How dare he use my daddy as a ploy to keep me from Adam? I wanted to tell him he didn’t know shit about my daddy, but I just looked out the front window and pretended I didn’t hear his question. I was seething.
And Mel. I’d only told her today, but it sure didn’t take long for Mel to sell me out. I felt sick and devastated and so fucking sad in that moment. I had no one and now they were going to take Adam from me, too. I would be alone again. I couldn’t bear it. More tears spilled over and onto my face. He was going to tell Georgina. She’d never let me out of the house again. I was a minor. I had no control.
“Do you understand me, Livingston?” It wasn’t a question this time. It was an order. I felt like falling to a million pieces. The sweetness of the last several weeks shattered around me and I hiccupped back a sob.
As we crossed the bridge and entered the island, I felt like my heart was back on the mainland with Adam. I wondered if he was okay. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to hold him. I just wanted him.
When we got home that night I’d expected the sheriff to come inside and tell Georgina about the whole ordeal. But he didn’t. He just dropped me at the front door, ripped tank top and all. I crumpled on the front porch right against the door and had a good cry. Not for me. Not for my ripped shirt. Not for my waning innocence. No, I cried for Adam Nova.