Page 18 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“What, the wild animals not enough to keep you entertained?” Ashley laid the phone down on speaker as she rummaged around in the drawer to find the cork opener. This was a glass-of-wine kind of night.
“It’s not the animals that are entertaining.” Trish broke out into hysterical laughter.
“You dirty dog.” Ashley grabbed a glass off the top shelf and glared at her hand as it slightly shook. “You get it girl, you deserve it.”
“I do, don’t I?” They laughed again as Ashley got herself seated with the bottle in hand, glass left behind on the counter. She wasn’t letting a shaky hand ruin her night or her couch. “Alright, now enough about me, you were about to tell me what’s new.”
Ashley groaned and took a long swig from the bottle. “Well, if you must know, I ran into Kes Reynolds again, like literally ran into him and dropped my stuff all over the ground.”
“No shit! That’s, that’s….”
“Fucked up, yeah I know.” Ashley could picture the shocked look on her friend’s face.
“Is he still as good-looking? Is he still as big of an asshole? Oh, and more importantly, is he still filthy stinking rich?”
“Short answer—the hottest, better than high school, totally not fair. He’s like a fucking fine wine, only getting better. I’m not sure about the jerk part, but considering who I’m talking about, I’d say yes, just seemed toned down a little. As for rich—I don’t know, I think he’s homeless, actually, which is weird.”
“What? Kes is homeless? How does that even happen, his parents were like multi-multi-multi millionaires.”
“I don’t know, Trish, it’s only a guess. I’ve seen him twice now at Salvation Place and both times he was in the same outfit. All I know is I can’t go back to the way things were. I need to steer clear of him.” She took another gulp of the delightful red wine. “I’ve worked too hard to move past the hurt to tumble backward.”
“I need to sit down, I’m blown away. Kes homeless, it’s like a ‘karma is a bitch’ kind of thing, I’m seriously apologizing for any shit I’ve done now.” There was a distinct thump sound as she obviously found a seat. “Homeless or not, he better not treat you the way he did then.”
Ashley smirked. “Oh, are you planning on kicking his ass if he does?”
“Hell no, I’m still terrified of him and his eerily intense stare. I’d probably run the other way, like you should.”
“So, nothing much has changed, is what you’re saying?”
“No, but now I have friends that have friends and I will call the cops if I have to,” Trish practically growled into the phone, and it only made her laugh harder. “Seriously though, Ash, you’ve grown and he’s—well, who knows with him, but you won’t take his shit anymore.”
“I’d prefer not to have to deal with him at all.”
“L.I.A.R.” They erupted into a fit of giggles until tears ran down Ashley’s cheeks.
It felt good to laugh, to forget for a little while that her life was turned upside down, that her future was still a big question mark.
* * *
Two hours and three-quarters of a bottle of wine later, she hung up and determined it would be a bad idea to try and stand. Sleeping on the couch it was, and hopefully there wouldn’t be anymore annoying dreams about Mr. Kes Reynolds.
The library had become her only reprieve from the endless teasing. She was officially known as Kes’s Pet Project, and no matter what she did or where she went, the students would call her that, or worse.
She sighed as she stared at the algebra in the textbook. She’d figured that once she was no longer a freshman and came back as a sophomore, the bullying would stop, but it had only seemed to escalate. If it weren’t for the fact she’d earned her spot there with excellent grades and a crazy amount of hard work, she would’ve dropped out by now. Any other school had to be better than this, but it was the principle of the thing. Why should she be chased off?
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Kes’s voice rang out from behind her making her cringe, clenching her eyes shut. He was everywhere, and she couldn’t escape. Another part of her never wanted to. Just that one sentence and her heart had picked up the pace. It was the most fucked up combination of emotions.
“What do you want, Kes. I’m busy.” She didn’t bother to look up even as his tall shadow cast across her text, making it hard to read. Kes pulled out a chair and proceeded to sit down.
Unable to focus, she looked up at her tormentor and crossed her arms over her chest. “What is it, Kes? No puppies around for you to kick?”
Reaching out, he snatched her backpack, and she stood up in a rush to jump for the bag. Her chair slammed backward onto the floor, and the librarian gave her a stern glare.
“Sorry,” she called out as she fixed her chair. She sat back down and growled at the annoying boy across from her. “Give me back my backpack.”
“I just want to see if you have anything good in here.” Kes grinned as he shamelessly went through her bag.
“What the hell would I have that you’d want?”
