Six Months Later
Santa Barbara, California
[Zoey Taylor] I didn’t want to end things with you the way that I did, Bentley.
[Zoey Taylor] It’s just that you’re making a terrible decision. I can’t stand by and watch you do it.
[Zoey Taylor] And you know it’s terrible, because if it wasn’t, you’d be able to tell your mom instead of hiding it. You obviously aren’t proud of what you’re doing.
[Zoey Taylor] You have a bright future ahead of you. The world is in the palm of your hands, Bentley! You can be an athlete or a surgeon or whatever you put your mind to.
[Zoey Taylor] Why the hell would you want to waste your potential on riding a bicycle?
Bentley’s computer dinged with a new message from his ex every minute or so. He’d glance up and read what she’d written in between packing his clothes.
Maybe Zoey had a point.
Thanks to track and field and football, Bentley had been getting a free ride at UCLA. He completed his freshman year with a 3.7 GPA. If he kept things up, he’d be able to do whatever he wanted after graduation. Staying healthy would guarantee him a shot in the NFL, or maybe he’d pursue his dream of being a sports analyst. Zoey would be happy, his mom would be proud, and everything would work out just fine.
Or, I could leave school and go for what I really want, he thought.
[Zoey Taylor] Just promise me you’ll rethink this? There’s still time to go to the registrar’s office. You can get into whatever classes are left this semester and then pick up the pieces in the spring. We can go back to how things were between us… Just. Think about it. I know that we both still care about one another.
“Which is why you broke up with me,” Bentley said aloud. He reached over and closed the laptop, placing it in his backpack along with the charger.
Things between he and Zoey picked up quickly at the beginning. Bentley first saw her during a tour of the campus he’d gone on with his mother during his senior year. The tour wasn’t really all that interesting – Bentley knew from a kid that he was going to go to UCLA. What was interesting was the 5’5” girl with the bright brown eyes, wavy shoulder-length hair, and an Old Navy t-shirt she wore like a dress. Bentley didn’t know he had a type until he saw her.
They didn’t actually speak until the next time he saw her, though. Zoey smiled softly when Bentley squeezed between her and a stranger at freshman orientation, blushing bashfully when he held out his hand and introduced himself. She finally agreed to a date after the first week of classes, and they stayed together throughout freshman year.
Bentley liked everything about her. Zoey would do this thing where she played with her hair as she worked on her studies. He liked how she kept her thin lips covered in the same nude lip gloss, and he adored the thirteen freckles scattered across her cheeks. Bentley was corny enough to count them while they were hanging out in her dorm room one Sunday afternoon. He’d been through his share of girls throughout high school… but it was high school. None of that was serious. Once he met Zoey, he wanted to be serious.
It sucked that they weren’t together now. Bentley liked her. He’d have to get over it, though. Anyone who referred to BMX as merely “riding a bicycle” didn’t respect the sport he’d grown up falling for. But who knew? Maybe she’d come around.
The door to Bentley’s bedroom flew open as he threw the last of his things into a large gym bag. Bentley glanced up before rolling his eyes away.
“What do you want?” he asked.
His younger sister smirked as she stared at him. “Your bedroom if we’re being honest.”
“We had this conversation last year.” Bentley zipped up the bag before looking his sister in the eyes. Ariel was the spitting image of their mother, down to her stubby toes. “I don’t care if I’m leaving for college, or leaving because I have a wife and 17 children, you will never get my room. Now, can I help you with something reasonable?”
Ariel took a step inside the room and glanced around. “Maybe I can put my stereo system in that corner. Hm. What do you think about a bunk bed? In case Marie spends the night. It’d be cute, right?”
Bentley simply stared at her.
“You cleared out the closet, too? Great! It’s just that I have a lot of clothes to move in here –”
“What in the hell are you babbling about?”
“This year’s conversation about this room is going to go differently, big bro. I’ll tell you why.” She began to pull her messy curls into an even messier bun.
Bentley scratched tiredly at the stubble forming on his cheek as he waited. He didn’t have the patience for this today. “The guys will be here soon. We’ll have to do this later –”
“Marie and I were hanging out at her dad’s place last night. You know how her dad remarried and she has this cute stepbrother now, yes?”
“Ariel,” Bentley groaned, checking the time on his cell phone. He was going to be late at this pace. “Please. Get to the point so I can kick you out of here.”
She chuckled, slowly strolling over to sit on a free spot on his bed. Bentley glared at her.
“Well, it turns out this cute stepbrother of hers just so happens to be a fan of Freestyle BMX. So the three of us got to talking. I mentioned that my father’s Brian Williams, and that my uncle is Donald Kinsella. He just about lost his shit, Benny.”
Bentley was about to grab his things to move them downstairs, only his mind was working. He put two and two together quickly. Ariel didn’t even have to say the rest. Bentley knew he’d been figured out.
Fuck.
“So,” she continued, smiling devilishly. “He goes on to tell me about how much he loved watching Brian Williams’ son – my brother, beat some guy named Lox at an underground competition in Tucson a few months back. I told him there was no way that you competed in a BMX match in Tucson. For one, you only went to Tucson for a track and field competition at the beginning of the year, not to ride BMX in sketchy underground locations. Then there was the point that our mother would freak if she found out you were going behind her back and defying her wishes.”
“You want the room?” Bentley finally picked his bags up. “You get the room. But I don’t want to hear anything else about this –”
“The room and a $100 gift card to Sephora,” Ariel said with a bright smile. “Her stepbrother also mentioned that you made pretty good money in that competition with Lox. I know you can share the wealth.”
Bentley had to close his eyes and take a deep breath. This was not the little girl that he used to take to the ice cream shop after school and let paint his toenails. This girl had grown up to be a blackmailing, conniving demon.
“It’ll be our little secret,” she continued.
“I need a new bike, Ariel. A new bike, and new equipment. I’ve been saving that money and more to get my career started.”
His sister’s eyes went wide. She shook her head and face-palmed hard.
“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered.
“You must have a death wish,” Ariel began. “It’s super cool that you had fun in Tucson, and wherever else you’ve been doing this, but you’ve got to stop. Mom will freak when she finds out.”
Bentley looked away. She made a good point.
“What happens if you get hurt like Dad?”
“Just pray that I don’t,” Bentley said. He placed his bags down and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “You’ve become quite the asshole, I’ve got to commend you.”
Ariel nodded as her brother’s cell phone started to ring. “One might say I learned from the best.”
“Right.” Bentley threw one of the hundred-dollar bills from his wallet in her direction. After answering his phone to let his friends know he’d be down shortly, he looked back at his sister. “I’m not proud of the way I’m going about this. We both saw how much getting hurt while riding broke not only Dad, but Mom as well. And I’m aware that she resented him for it, and that she doesn’t want me to turn into him.”
Ariel nodded, like his statement was the most obvious thing in the world.
“But like Marie’s messy stepbrother may have noticed, I’m good at it. All I think about is riding. I think about it while I’m playing football, I think about it while I’m eating – hell, Zoey was breaking up with me and all I could think about was when I could get back on the ramps.”
Ariel pouted a bit. “Can I just mention that I’m not at all heartbroken by you two ending things? No offense.”
He ignored her. “Point is; I love BMX. If I’m not doing what I love, then I’m not living. So I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us and let me figure out how to tell Mom that I’m pursuing the thing she blames for almost ruining her marriage and our family. Cool?”
Ariel looked down at the hundred-dollar bill on the bed. “Ben Franklin has never looked this attractive. I can get the vampire eye shadow palette I want, and even a few things to spruce up my new bedroom.” She looked up at him and took a deep breath. “But, I can’t do that to you, you big idiot. Here. Go get your stupid bike.”
Bentley looked at her like she was crazy. “You’re giving me back makeup money? Who are you and what did you do with my sister?”
Ariel stood up, forcing the money against his chest. “I’m still taking your room, though. And I’ll keep this between us, but if Mom finds out, you know I’ll have to tell her what I know. I can’t keep anything away from that woman.”
Bentley slid the money back into his wallet. “Good. I wouldn’t want you to end up like me one day. Now, the guys are here to pick me up. I’ll be around, okay? If I find out a boy was in here, I’m breaking his legs and your arms. We clear?”
Ariel rolled her eyes. “Get out of my room.”
??
Five minutes later, Bentley was in the back seat of his buddy’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. He had one duffel bag on his left side and the other on his right. Today was supposed to be the day he moved in to his dorms like all the other UCLA students, but that wasn’t the case for Bentley. Instead, he was going to buy a bike, practice for a competition at the end of the week, and find a place to crash.
It looked a little dark for an afternoon in Los Angeles. The sun was normally high in the sky and there was rarely a cloud in sight. Bentley wondered if the sudden prediction of rain was forewarning of what was to come in his life.
“Where exactly are we driving you?” Noah asked.
Noah Fisher was one of Bentley’s best friends. He was about to enter his freshman year at UCLA, and he’d been ecstatic about it. That was until Bentley let it be known that he was dropping out.
Jonah Fisher, his older brother, was a sophomore at UCLA and Bentley’s other best friend. The three of them had grown up together in Santa Barbara and were lucky enough to get into the same freaking school.
Only now, Bentley was fucking it up for all of them.
“I was thinking I’d crash in one of your dorms until I can sneak into my uncle’s place,” Bentley said, digging in his pocket for a piece of gum. “And did I tell you that Zoey messaged me again today? She’s still pissed about all of this, but she wants me back. She’s just afraid to admit it.”
Noah hummed. “Maybe because she’s in love with an idiot who’s about to throw away his life?”
“I think it’s cool you’re going after what you want,” Jonah said. He turned the radio station to a sports broadcast and sat back. “Your dad would be all for it.”
“Or he’d tell him to stay in school,” Noah answered.
“Technically we don’t know what his dad would think about all this,” Jonah countered back.
“Not doing it for my dad. I’m doing it for me.”
Noah shook his head, slowing down for traffic as they finally entered Los Angeles.
“I’m not asking anyone to support my decision, I’m just asking someone to let me crash for a couple nights.”
Jonah held his hand in the air. “I haven’t seen Bella all summer. She gets back on campus tonight and… you know. We’ve planned this I-haven’t-seen-you-since-you-flew-back-to-Boston sex the day after she flew back to Boston. Maybe you can stay with Noah.”
“Maybe,” Noah said. He looked back at Bentley and shrugged. “But unlike Jonah, I have a freshman dorm. I’m sharing, and I haven’t exactly met my roommate yet. I don’t know if the guy would be okay with me letting someone stay over already.”
Bentley considered hitting up one of his old teammates, but didn’t care to explain why he was dropping out to yet another person. His family didn’t even know. “I guess I’ll text Zoey, then.”
Jonah responded after a yawn. “Have fun with that. You’ll get an earful all night.”
Bentley nodded. That much was true. “Maybe I’ll be able to get through to her. It’s only until Tuesday. By then I’ll be able to sneak into my aunt and uncle’s place and stay in the basement. I can live down there until I earn some cash. It’s a mess. They never go down there.”
“Squatting in your aunt and uncle’s basement sounds like a genius idea,” Noah said; his brother laughing in the passenger seat beside him. “You’re better off finding a hostel.”
“With what money?” Bentley shook his head. “I’m using what I have to get everything I need for riding. Speaking of, I’ll need a ride later on.”
Jonah finished his laugh with a smile. “You’re a fucking mess, Benny.”