Chapter Twelve

Huxley POV:

My binder sat opened in Mrs. Rita’s English class, with Adler’s paper tucked inside one side and mine on the other. I don’t know what encouraged me to do it, really. Maybe it was the note from the underclassmen, telling me I had talent.

I did, but I didn’t want my only talent to be in football. A jock was nice when you were in high school, and everyone cared about it, but not when high school ended and you sprained your ankle in college football, taking you out of the competition.

Sure, I had web design and codes to back me up, but her encouragement went further than that. I wanted to try a little harder in something that I didn’t like, which was definitely this, expressing myself.

We finished A Time to Kill, and took a pop quiz on it, before reading time for our next novel. She kept us busy, but I felt preoccupied on what to turn in for the contest.

Heather sat beside me, giving me the side eye, but keeping to herself since I turned her down for the homecoming dance.

“Put your books away,” she said, stepping up to the podium. “Those of you that are in the contest, or being forced,” she laughed, “turn in your papers and class is dismissed.”

Moment of truth.

I tucked my lip into my mouth and snatched the stapled papers, slamming my binder closed. Mrs. Rita met my eyes when I handed it to her. “I hope this is heartfelt, Huxley.”

I left her without saying anything. She’d read and think what she wanted about it. My phone buzzed in my jeans pocket. Mom’s name crossed the screen, reminding me of a dentist appointment the next week.

Underneath her texts were the ones I ignored from Adler the day before. I knew she needed my help, but after seeing her with Liam in the cafeteria, I couldn’t. I was an asshole, a big hairy one, but I couldn’t make myself help her knowing she was dating my friend. Even after, she kicked my door the night before.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, ran my fingers through my dark locks, and went on with my day.

Football ended on a high note of Coach actually smiling which was rare, and we hit the locker room early.

My stomach growled since I’d spent lunch in the library, taking chips and a fruit cup, from a girl that felt bad for me.

“Hey Liam!” Jones hollered, drawing my attention even though I didn’t look at them.

“Yeah?”

“Heard you’re giving it a go with Adler Ray. That’s surprising.”

Liam cleared his throat, while pulling clothes from his locker. “Yeah, I am. I like her.”

The silence told me everyone stared at me, so I didn’t look their way. I kept digging for my keys. I’d take a shower at home to avoid any talk about Liam and Adler.

“What do you think about that, Huxley?” Michael asked, breaking the dreaded silence with unhelpful words.

Heat crawled up my neck. The glares at the back of my head felt like daggers. They had to know I’d been skipping lunch and not hanging out with Liam.

I slammed my locker door closed.

When I turned to look at them, Liam’s eyes lowered to his hands that held his clothes. Michael leaned against the bench with a smile and mostly everyone else could sense the tension.

“I don’t think about it.”

I walked off before Michael could reply, leaving my emotions in the locker room for the entire football team to talk about.

I drove around town for a while before I made it home. With the windows rolled down, and the music blaring, it’d been the best part of my day. I even grabbed a burger from Twisted Root way up town to avoid eating with the family again.

Liam’s truck was parked in front of the house when I stopped in our driveway. Mr. Steven’s truck sat underneath the garage, so I didn’t think approaching them was a good idea. I didn’t want him to break up any more fights at my expense.

I couldn’t help my overeager imagination at visualizing what they were doing. Had he already touched her there? Had Adler let him? Would she say yes to the homecoming dance next month? Knowing Liam, he’d already kissed her, lucky bastard.

I held bags full of material to make Adler a mum for homecoming in my room, and the asshole in me, wanted to make it regardless that Liam would take her. Screw him.

Rolling my neck, I got out of my truck, kicking up a patch of grass on my way inside. I don’t know why I did it, but I looked, and he was kissing her.

His big body looked Goliath sized compared to her tiny one.

His fingers sunk into her dark hair the way I dreamed of doing. She put her palm against his shoulder, and pushed him back, dropping her head with a smile.

She liked it.

Anger built inside of me, while I clutched the door handle.

Mr. Steven opened the door quickly, sending me toward him until I let go of the knob. “Sorry,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t realize you were home.”

He glanced over my shoulder at Adler in Liam’s truck. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, wanting him to stop talking.

“Any Hulk urges today?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “No.” Which was a lie, there were, Bruce Banner was just winning.

“Okay,” he said, letting me pass.

I jolted up the stairs, hearing Mom holler out behind me, “You missed supper again.”

“I picked up a burger,” I said as I shut my door.

I tossed my bag onto my bed and kicked off my shoes. I needed to take a shower and get myself cooled off soon. I gathered my clothes and walked down the hallway to our shared shower.

Her toothbrush, floss, and girly perfume sat on top of the counter, her scent still lingered in the air.

I turned on my shower, and hopped inside, letting the sweat drip off me with ease. Chatter from downstairs was hardly obtainable through the stream of water, but I could tell she’d made it inside.

I finished, dressed in my basketball shorts, and walked toward my room. Adler’s door stood cracked, her usual TLC blasted from inside, only she wasn’t watching it but checking her phone.

Was she talking to him? They just left each other.

The biggest mistake of my life was making that website for her. She’d never had the balls to go after Liam if Jacee hadn’t asked her to.

It was all my fault.

Her small chuckle hit my heart like a hammer.

I pushed opened her door before I thought twice about it. Adler sat cross-legged on her bed, her phone perched against her ankles, pretty blue gaze lifted up toward me in annoyance.

“It’s rude to burst into someone’s room.”

“Should have shut it.”

Adler swallowed hard, sat her phone to the side and squared off with me. Her small frame was swallowed in boyfriend jeans and an over large Captain Marvel t-shirt.

Her brown hair looked tangled from Liam’s hand. My fingers twitched because I wanted to do it myself. I’d dreamt of running my fingers through her hair.

“So, the King of Montlake decides it’s time to talk,” she said sarcastically. “So, I guess it’s time to talk, right? All my attempts at getting your attention have been thrown out the window, but when you’re ready, boy everybody better drop what they’re doing!”

Her voice began to grow toward the end of the sentence, the tip of her nose turned red, and her fingers tightened into a fist.

“Yeah, get used to it,” I spit, unable to keep the venom from my voice. Liam kissing her replayed over in my head like that stupid Mean Girl’s movie she forced me to watch in ninth grade.

“I need your help with this stupid website. Take it down! I wrote your paper. I don’t understand why you hate me so freaking much? What did I ever do to you, Huxley?”

Tears started down her cheeks.

I hated myself for being a dick.

I hated myself for feeling this way, but I’d never been in love before, and I hated showing my emotions.

“Jacee and Señor Seth are talking at lunch. I think they are trying to trace it. Take it down so I can breathe again, please?”

I couldn't speak. My mouth opened but I couldn’t say anything.

“Why are you staring at me?” she whispered, shaking her head. “Please just tell me—”

I stepped forward through all my doubts, lacing my arm around her waist, I pulled her tiny body to mine, and interlaced my fingers into her hair like I’d dreamed about, and kissed her.

The rhythm of my heart thumped against my ribcage, drowning out the desperate attempt my mind screamed at telling me to stop.

A small squeak slipped from her mouth, but she didn’t push me away. Her hand tightened against my t-shirt, tugging as if she wanted more.

Her soft lips melted against mine; her moan fed my soul when I didn’t realize it was starving.

I tightened my fingers into her hair and tugged, angling her mouth to open, which it did. She kissed me back, her tongue tasted like candy, and her smell like sweet lavender.

My body moved voluntarily, my hands lingered against her waist, picking her up against my hips. Adler slid her palm against my neck while I laid her against her plush mattress.

I pulled away, searching her face for any sign of regret when her ice blue eyes opened, so did her mouth. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

Oh my God was right.

“You—you kissed me,” she whispered.

I did. “Yeah,” I said.

Adler pushed against my chest, and I realized it was over. Our moment. Shaking her head, she cupped her face with opened palms and started to hyperventilate. “No, no, no. This isn’t right. You don’t want me with Liam because you want,” she whispered, gesturing between the two of us—“this?”

I wiped my forehead with my palm, trying to gather rational words after tasting her. “It’s insane, but I can’t help it.”

It didn’t sound like me answering. We’d slipped into Wonderland somehow over the last month.

“No,” she began to cry. “This isn’t right.”

“You felt it,” I whispered. “I know you felt that.”

Her eyes told me yes, but she didn’t agree.

I stepped forward, cupping her cheek in my palm, loving the way she felt against my callused hands. “Adler. I think this has been a long time coming. Growing up with you, I didn’t see the woman you are now, but you’re kind. Gentle. I love you.”

I said it and the million-pound weight on my shoulders lifted.

“This isn’t fair,” she said. “You waited until someone else liked me to do this. How dare you,” she whispered, stepping back from my touch. “You’ve had five years to share this—”

“I didn’t know! I swear. I felt jealous at your crush on Liam, and I’ve been trying to understand it, but I don’t—”

“Get out of my room.”

The knife in my heart sank deeper, splitting it into two pieces. She bounded forward when I didn’t move and shoved my chest.

“Get out!” she screamed. “I hate you. Why did you wait until now? I’ve been here all along?”

I didn’t know the answer.

Adler began to go through her drawers, pulling out clothes and tossing them into her backpack. She didn’t say anything when she shoved past me and descended the stairs.

When I heard her car start, I realized she didn’t want me like I wanted her, and she was gone.

I walked like a zombie into my room and pull up the website. There was no reason to keep the website up to torment her, but by the time I got there, the website was frozen, and I’d been kicked out.

Someone hacked the website—and someone knew I was behind it.

***

I spent most of the night trying to figure out how to unlock my website and the other half worried about Adler. Mom told me she’d spent the night with Ledela, which was not ideal for Adler since she needed her eight hours, and Ledela was a night owl.

That proved she’d do anything to get away from me after what I did. I’d thought she liked it at first, her fists tightened into the fabric of my shirt, her moan.

I could have imagined it, but it was too good to have been my imagination. No way in hell did my imagination do her justice. When I couldn’t sleep, I started making Adler’s mum. I hated myself for doing it, I felt pitiful and weak trying to make her happy when she crushed me, but I wanted to see the smile on her face Homecoming day.

I hid it in my closet away from Mom and anyone that wandered into my room.

When Thursday morning came, I was nervous as hell going to school. I knew it’d be all over soon by the time first period started, but when third period came and not one word of the website, I figured they’d frozen it but not traced it yet.

Which bought us a little time for the inevitable.

Between third period and fourth, I felt a tap on my shoulder at my locker. Mrs. Rita stood behind me, a smile half hidden beneath her coffee cup, and cat-eared glasses. “Huxley, I want to tell you that I’m amazed at this.”

She pointed her red painted finger toward my paper in her hand.

Don’t get me wrong, I was thankful she liked it, but didn’t need the school knowing about it.

“I entered it into the English contest for the district yesterday. I think you have a chance at placing in the contest.”

“Mrs. Rita, I knew it was a contest, but I didn’t realize it was going to be put out there like that, it’s personal.”

“Well, no one knows who you’re talking about in it.”

They would now. At least, Adler would know since I attacked her the day before. “God,” I groaned.

“Don’t worry about that, Huxley. Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.” She walked off, her heels clicking down the hallway.

I didn’t know what that meant.

I slammed my locker, startling the girl next to me, and stormed down the hallway. I didn’t want the entire school, or district, hearing my personal issues. I had enough on my plate with this stupid website.

I stopped at the water fountain line, trying to remember everything I’d put in that stupid story.

“Did you hear about the website?” the sophomore girl in front of me asked her boyfriend waiting beside her.

He kept his eyes on his phone but asked, “What?”

She stood up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Someone hacked the website and is sending out emails to everyone that participated, asking them if they know who the people behind it are.”

He slipped his phone into his jeans pocket. “Did they find ‘em?”

“Nah, not yet. No one seems to know.”

They walked down the hallway and I followed them with my gaze. “Can you hurry up?” someone asked from behind me.

I stepped closer to the water fountain and took a drink. My firewall must be enough to block our computers, but not enough to keep people out of the website. Good thing everything was anonymous.

At lunch, I couldn’t find anyone willing to give up their lunch, so I forced myself into the lunchroom. The football team waved me over, which was fine since Liam sat with Adler down the table.

The stack of burritos on my plate would distract me enough to avoid seeing them together.

Michael scooted down to take Liam’s normal spot in front of me. He wore that stupid crap-eating grin, while watching me for a reaction. “Do you need something?” I asked.

Michael sat back and shrugged. “Just wondering why you’re sitting over here and not with your bestie?”

“Don’t start stuff you can’t finish.”

He grinned. “What’s got you and Liam fighting? You taking the big brother role a little serious lately, huh?”

I clutched my burrito and took a bite to avoid having this conversation with him.

“You feeling a little different about Adler nowadays?”

“Shut up,” I spit.

Liam and Adler glanced down the table at my shouting. Adler held a cherry tomato in her hand with concerned eyes. I hadn’t seen her since I laid one on her the night before.

She dropped her gaze away from mine and fiddled with the lid of one of Mom’s storage bowls.

Ledela avoided eye contact, which told me Adler had told her what happened. Obviously, she hadn’t told Liam, but I didn’t care if she did.

“Don’t get your panties twisted, brother. I’m just a little shocked that you’re taking this so personally. Adler is a big girl; she can date who she wants. I wouldn’t let it break up five years of friendship, but who asked me?”

“Right,” I said, dropping my burrito. “Who did ask you?”

Michael, not one to take a hint, leaned back and cracked his knuckles. “Unless you’re jealous?”

I really didn’t want to get into another fight so soon after Buzz and Liam, but Michael pushed me to my limits. I went to stand up, but I thought better of it, slinging my plate toward Michael.

He stayed seated, his wide eyes shifted behind me. I figured Principal Burkhart or a teacher on duty stood there, but when I turned, my blood ran cold.

Señor Seth and Jacee were behind me, smiles on both of their faces, although Seth hid behind her a bit, scared of my current don’t screw with me mood.

“Well, if it isn’t the big man on campus himself,” Jacee said.

The entire cafeteria stared at us by this time since my impromptu burrito sling at Michael. I knew what was coming because it was written in bold letters all over her face.

Flipping her ponytail, she handed me a paper that I didn’t even look at. “I’ll go ahead and say it since you want to reveal this, huh?”

Jacee’s brows pulled down, and she opened her mouth, but I stopped her, moving her out of the way.

“Since everyone is already listening, what Jacee wanted to get the glory for is finding out who is behind Miss Play Your Man. And it’s me. I made the website, I designed it, and set it up for my dear stepsister over here.”

Adler dropped her cherry tomato and grew a shade darker.

Señor Seth gasped loudly. “You did the coding for that website?” he hissed. “I’ve been trying to break it for weeks.”

“Shut it.”

He hunkered back but smiled to himself as if his entire life had been fulfilled. Maybe he’ll get some sleep tonight.

Liam turned around to stare at me, his eyes confused, along with the entire rest of the cafeteria. “I dared Adler to give you girl’s advice and play the guys at school. No one knows this about Adler, because she’s too shy to talk to random kids, but she can’t back down from a dare. So it’s us, the mystery is solved, and whoever has the website frozen can eat it. Is that what you wanted to show them, Jacee?”

“No,” she whispered, pointing toward the paper. “I asked Seth to help me find that.”

I stilled; my body grew numb as I glanced down at the paper in my hand. My paper I’d written for Mrs. Rita sat there with one word at the top: Adler.

Crappity crap.

I swallowed a painful lump, my bottom lip trembled from tossing Adler underneath the buss.

Liam stood up, snatched the paper, and started reading them. When he glanced up, fury sat in his eyes. “This is for Adler?”

How did she come across this? Why was she worried about it?

My brain raced through the dots, trying to connect them, when I realized Heather was Jacee’s best friend.

She found out who I was crushing on for Heather.

Heather sat with a sea of students who all stared, confusion on her pretty face. I remembered Heather trying to look at my paper in class. She was that desperate to find out that she had Jacee dig for her?

Adler’s chair skidded across the floor, and she held her arm around her stomach. “Since I’m too shy to speak, and you haven’t explained everything to everyone, my stepbrother kissed me last night, said he was in love with me.”

A pen drop would have been louder than the silence of the cafeteria.

“How is that for not being shy, huh, Huxley?”

Adler left her food, grabbed her bag, and raced out of the cafeteria. Ledela tossed me a go to hell look before she went after her.

“You kissed my girlfriend?” Liam asked.

I had nothing to lose.

I lifted my arms in a come and get it way. “What are you gonna do about it?”

Liam tossed my paper to the floor, gripped my t-shirt, and went for a jab, but I slid out of his reach, knocking Señor Seth to the ground, while Jacee ran toward the teacher’s table.

Liam stumbled forward, his balance iffy, when I shoved him down the rest of the way. Before I could get on top of him, he kicked me in the stomach, sending me back several steps before I fell to my ass.

I couldn’t see straight. Red danced along my vision as my best friend and I beat the hell out of one another.

All the times we ate pizza and played Call of Duty replayed in my head, but I couldn’t overcome it. Adler was worth more than those five years, and I couldn’t—I refused—to let Liam have her.

She was supposed to be with me.

One of the male teachers caught Liam’s shoulder and slung him back, keeping us separated with one arm on each of our chests.

Frustrated tears burned my eyes.

Liam heaved heavy breaths, his eyes weighty, with a pissed off look scrunched on his face.

Principal Burkhart raced into the lunchroom. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, signaling for the teacher to bring us in.

He gripped the back of each of our shirts and lugged us toward our sentencing.

I couldn’t even see straight, my head screamed to go find Adler, but my body pulsated with frustration. Outside, I noticed Ledela and Adler sitting by the big oak tree, Adler held her face in her palms and Ledela tried to comfort her.

This is all my fault.