The wrong side of the tracks—that was how my life was described. I lived on the wrong side of the tracks, even had many friends who also lived on the wrong side of the tracks. I wasn’t a rich kid like the other kids at my school. No, far from it. They had money, cars, and I was lucky to have a roof over my head and food on the table. That’s the joy of being raised by a drunk. The kids I went to school with had no idea of any of that.
So when I heard the giggles of school girls coming from my back yard, I knew it had to be the rich ones. The girls from my side knew better than to come here. My feet dragged with each step, the long grass that covered our acres of backyard had seen better days, but the giggles became louder and louder. They wanted to be caught, I realized, as I stepped closer to them.
Going to school with the rich was not my first option. Then I realized the potential, the opportunity that some of the people from my neighborhood didn’t have, and I could have exactly that. My mother didn’t even know what school I went to. Fuck! She probably didn’t even think I went to school.
The problem with this particular neighborhood was no one ever left. No one had the money to. It was a cycle, and it kept going around in circles. I didn’t want to be stuck in that never-ending roundabout. No. I wanted to get fucking off. Even if that meant befriending some rich kids, playing sports ten times harder than all of them combined, to keep my coach impressed enough so I could keep the scholarship funding that paid for my education.
Just so I didn’t fall back—with my hands covered in someone else’s blood.
No. I didn’t want that life.
“Just jump,” a girl’s voice whispered, but it felt like she had screamed it out. Flicking the light on from my flashlight, I noticed four girls. They all shrieked once the light hit them and immediately started running. Just as I was about to turn and walk back to the house, the pond water moved, someone took a large breath, and I stood mesmerized. She looked lost at first, as I watched her eyes skim the area. Then she smiled and laid back, so she was floating gently on the surface of the water.
She was naked, completely naked.
The moon lit her chest, silvery beams shining down on her breasts, her red hair fanned out and appeared bright in the water that surrounded the lilies. Stepping closer, I knew who she was—her brother was on my football team. I had seen her around, always with her head stuck in a book. Sitting down, I watched her. Not because I was a pervert but because she didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t alone right now. Or that her friends had just run off and she was trespassing.
“It’s illegal to trespass,” I finally spoke, realizing she could lay there all night for all I cared. By then, my stare had turned into creep mode, and I wasn’t a creep. She dropped her naked body under the surface and covered herself in the murky water, so only her head poked out. She laughed as her hand came up and splashed at the water.
“They took off, didn’t they?” was all she said.
I nodded, not knowing if she could see me or not. She must have, though.
“Do you want to join me?” Her hands skimmed the surface of the water causing it to ripple and twinkle under the moonlight.
“Do you know who I am?”
She nodded with a smile that made my heart beat.
“Is it the bad boy thing you want a taste of?”
She laughed. “I’ve seen you, Orion Hurley. You might appear to be scary, but I’ve seen you.”
Standing, I pulled my shirt off, let it drop so it would be lost in the grass. That was closely followed by my shoes and pants. She watched me the whole time until all that was left was my boxers.
“It’s only fair, don’t you agree?” She pointed to my boxers. Looking down, I guessed she was right, so I dropped them and walked into the murky water with her.
“I could drown you. Aren’t you afraid of that?”
Her name was Lotus. Lily pads and the lotus flowers that were still in bloom surrounded us. What a fitting night.
“But Orion, I could drown you, too.”
Her words hit something in me. She was different, so stunningly beautiful, that I think I fell in love with her right then and there. She ducked her head under then came back up for air. Turning, I stepped out of the water to walk away. I was meant to meet Cole an hour ago. Instead, I floated there mesmerized by a red-headed girl drifting slowly in the murky water of my pond.
“Where are you going?”
Not stopping, I kept swimming as I answered her, “A party.”
“Take me.”
Reaching the grass, pulling up my pants, I turned to look at her. “Do you have clothes?”
Lotus laughed, then started walking out of the water the same way I just did. She wasn’t shy about being naked, though at school I’d always pegged her for the shy type.
Isn’t it funny how people change once they were out of their social environment?
She pulled on a dress, one that was so tight it looked like a second skin. Mind you, it didn’t help that her body was wet.
“This isn’t your type of party.”
Lotus pulled her hair back, squeezed out the excess water, and tied a hair tie around it as she smirked. “I know, but you’ll look after me, right?”
Nodding my head was my only answer.
The street was packed full of cars and people—loud and hostile— with some people throwing punches at others as I drove past. Her arm tightened around me as she watched it unfold. As she watched, I wondered if she was afraid now and perhaps regretting her decision.
Lotus was sitting on the back of my motorcycle in that short dress with her body pushed up against mine.
Does she regret it now, making that choice to come with me?
Coming to a stop out the front of Cole’s place and parking the bike, I turned to help her off. She slid down and looked around. Then she stopped and stared at me. The moment her head was free from the confines of her helmet, her hair bounced and she pulled the ponytail hair tie out and then pulled it around to one side, so it was no longer in her face.
I felt the stares.
Someone like Lotus shouldn’t be here.
You could tell just by looking at Lotus that she was better than we were. Not just the money, she was just plain and simple better.
Her heart was good, our hearts were bad.
“People are staring.” Lotus’ voice, sweet like honey, comes through to me.
“You shouldn’t be wearing that.” Looking her up and down, a blush took over her cheeks. Then I noticed the strawberry-shaped earrings she was wearing.
“You like it! You can’t seem to stop staring at it. Plus, I didn’t plan to come to a party, otherwise I would have dressed…” she looked down at her clothes, “… sexier.” She laughed then shook her head. “Can I hold your hand?”
Those few words stopped me from going forward. I’d taken only one step, then she’d asked that of me.
Who asked that?
When I turned to face her, she looked pleased she’d shocked me. “I just don’t want to get lost, is all.”
It was not all, she felt shy now. Like she didn’t expect to ask me that. Lifting my hand from my jeans, I extended it to her. Her warm fingers clasped mine, then her eyes looked away, breaking our stare. She smelled like those earrings she had on—strawberries.
I didn’t have to pull her, she came easily, walking right next to me as we entered Cole’s house. I found him straight away, smoking weed with a chick on his lap who had no shirt on. He pulled at her nipple as he spoke to Russell next to him, then looked my way. Cole hollered my name loudly until he realized who was next to me, holding my hand. He laughed obnoxiously while looking at our hands then back to me.
“Seriously? You brought back a preppie? To our neck of the woods?” He slapped the girl’s nipples with his hand making her stand, and walked over to us. Lotus didn’t say a word, she didn’t even cower, which surprised me. Cole was a large man, round and covered in ink. We almost matched in height, the only differences were the ink and weight. Cole was not a good man, but then again, neither was I. This was why we were friends. When other people saw him, they wanted to run and hide—they should. Me, well, I knew the real him. You see, he was real, not all deadly as the others would have you believe.
“She’s pretty. Are you sharing?” His eyes become hard as he looked her over. Turning so I could see her reaction, she didn’t move. Her lips were a straight line, and her stance was strong.
Who knew she had a set of balls on her. I sure as shit didn’t.
“No, she’s with me.”
That statement made Cole laugh. “Preppie wanted a taste of the bad side, did she?” His eyebrows raised and he pointed over our shoulder. “Back room is open, have fun.” His hand tapped me on the shoulder as he walked back to the half-naked girl.
“Back room?” she asks.
“You don’t want to go in there.”
“Is anyone else in there?”
Why is she asking? Is this a trick question?
“No.” Because no one else was allowed in there. It was Cole’s and my area only.
“Can we go in there then?” Lotus’ voice was almost a whisper. Staring at her to see if she was serious, I thought she was because she didn’t appear at all scared. She looked like she needed some quiet time. Lotus walked with me again as we headed out the back, opening the door. The room was exactly as I’d left it last time I was in here—dark, dirty, unkempt. There was a mattress on the floor covered with sheets, and a small nightstand where we kept condoms and shit. I shut the door with a click, effectively sealing the music out of the room. She walked to the window that overlooked the backyard, which was full of old crap like empty bottles, knee-length weeds and old cars. Cole was not one to clean, he was as fucking lazy as a sloth.
“If I asked you to do something, would you do it?”
“Depends.”
“On what?” she asks, her hands now leaning flat on the filthy windowsill.
“If it will get me shot.”
She shook her head.
“I want you to kiss me.”
If the door weren’t behind me, I would have fallen to the floor. Days on end I’d dreamed about those lips, even tried to fuck girls with similar features pretending it was the ever-so-quiet Lotus, and now she was standing right in front of me asking the impossible.
“Why?”
Why the fuck was I even questioning it?
Shaking my head, I walked closer to her. Lotus stood straight, her hands falling to her sides. I went to touch her, to lean in, but she turned around, and both of her hands captured my face. Her palms were warm on either side and then her lips came up to meet mine. Slow, but rewarding, the moment they touched. She even tasted like strawberries, her lips so full I would never kiss another girl the way I would Lotus Vein. This I knew as I took over, my hands going to her hips, slamming them into me to feel her body flush against mine. Lotus gave a small gasp, and she opened her mouth with both of her hands still on my face while giving soft strokes from her thumbs on my cheek. The way my tongue found hers and danced like static electricity, I knew if we pulled apart, we were both going to be burned.
My first taste of Lotus Vein.
It wouldn’t be my last.
I was the murky water that surrounded the beautiful flower.
My only hope was that she didn’t drown in my depths.
Because a girl like Lotus Vein, who shone above the rest, was meant to sit high on a fucking pedestal where she belonged.