The Fragile Fall (2 page)

I was
sick
of being the outsider.

As I sat in my room, I heard music and laughter from the neighbor’s house. I tried turning my music up, but I still heard it. As I heard them laughing and talking, I ached to be a part of it. I wanted to have friends to laugh with and listen to music with. I wanted a
life
. I paused my game and crept to the window, pressing my back flat against the wall and moving the curtain slightly so I could peek out.

Three girls were sitting in lounge chairs around a pool. I moved so I could see them better, resting my hands flat against the window sill. They looked around my age, maybe a little older. The girl in the middle was reading a magazine as she chatted with the other two, her blonde hair poking over the top of the magazine. She had long, toned legs and her stomach was flat under her red and white polka dotted bikini. Her skin was golden and glistened slightly in the sun.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.

The girl on the left popped up on her elbow and looked at the girl on the right. They exchanged some kind of look and mischievous smiles curled their lips. The girl with the magazine was oblivious as the two girls stood up. One grabbed Magazine Girl under her arms and the other grabbed her feet, then they carried her over to the pool and tossed her in, magazine and all. When she resurfaced, she threw her magazine out of the pool and spit water everywhere as she laughed. She climbed out of the pool and chased the other two girls. She kept trying to push her friends in the pool, but failed. Eventually, the two girls jumped in the pool. Magazine Girl’s face lit up with laughter and I wished I didn’t have music on so that I could hear her. After several moments, she stopped laughing and wrung her hair out, brushing the water off her skin.

Watching the three girls laugh, I found myself chuckling as though I was down there with them. The smile on my lips felt foreign. I couldn’t remember the last time I had smiled, let alone laughed. My lips twitched to keep the smile lingering there.

Magazine Girl ran her fingers through her hair and brought it over one of her shoulders. She turned slightly and looked up into my window, catching me as I leaned forward with my face practically pressed against the window. As she met my eyes, my smile slipped from my lips. She put a hand over her eyes to shield the sun as she smiled. My mind screamed at me to pull my eyes away and take cover, but I couldn’t.

She looked over her shoulder and said something to one of her friends, then turned back and looked at me. Our gazes collided and I felt like the air was forced from my lungs. I pulled in a desperate breath and reality slammed into me. Finally able to move, I dove onto my bed and buried my face in my pillow. I probably looked like a major pervert and they were getting ready to call the cops to file a complaint about the peeping Tom.

The doorbell rang and my heart stopped cold. She was probably at the door, ready to yell at me for staring at her and her friends. I pushed myself out of my bed and crept down the stairs with my heart pounding and the sweat pouring down my face. Resting my head against the door, I attempted to gather the courage to open it and face the music.

“I know you’re home!” she called through the door.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the doorknob and opened it. There stood Magazine Girl in her red and white bikini, hair still wet and dripping. I watched as a droplet fell and made its way between her breasts. Her skin looked even softer up close and perfectly tanned. My eyes traveled back up and met her piercing green ones.

She smirked and lifted an eyebrow. “You must be Will. Liv told me her nephew was living with her, but I’ve never seen you, so I figured you were a ghost or something. But here you are in the flesh.” Her smile grew.

“Yeah, here I am.”

“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have a few friends over. Go throw some swim trunks on and come join us.” Her eyes traveled slowly down my body, taking in my black T-shirt and sweatpants. I had more clothes on than she did, yet somehow she had me feeling more exposed.

“I, uh … I’ll have to go see if I have any…”

“If not, you can borrow a pair from my brother.” Her eyes swept down my body again. “You look like you’re about his size.” She stepped into the house as another water drop made its way down her chest and I fought hard to not watch its descent. “Is Liv home?”

“No, she’s at work.”

“Is she on day shifts this week?”

“Yeah.”

“That explains why she hasn’t been over. She usually comes over and hangs out with us. I haven’t seen her much since you moved in, but I guess it’s tough to go from living alone to having a teenager.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely an adjustment.”
For both of us.

She nodded. “Oh, my name is Ryanne.” She extended her hand and I grabbed it tentatively. Her skin was soft and slightly cool from the water. “Has Liv mentioned me?”

“She has.” Liv had told me a good deal about Jax and Ryanne. She had wanted me to meet them, but I refused. I didn’t trust people and I
definitely
didn’t trust people my own age.

Ryanne quirked a brow but didn’t press the issue. “Are you going to check or do you want to stand here all day?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll be right back.” I ran up the stairs and rifled through the drawers to find my swim trunks. Once I found them, I quickly put them on, not wanting to leave Ryanne waiting any longer.

“Ready to go?” Ryanne asked. I nodded and she laced her arm through mine before leading me outside toward her house.

Ryanne

I’
D
NEVER
FORGET
THE
MORNING
Liv came over to tell us about the car accident. Her eyes were puffy and red, like she had been up crying all night.

“My sister and brother-in-law were killed late last night in a car accident,” she said, her eyes puffy and glistening with tears. I squeezed her hand. “It was a drunk driving accident.”

“I’m so sorry, Liv.” My heart broke for her. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

She rubbed her eyes. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen much of my sister over the years. She was older than me and we weren’t too close. I tried to see her a couple times a year, but we were so different that I didn’t make much of an effort. I’m a terrible sister.”

She cried softly into her hands for a few minutes. I was close to tears as I watched her breakdown, but I told myself to be strong. She needed someone to support her.

She looked up, her face gripped in grief. “They had a son. He’s coming to live with me. There’s no other family. I have to leave and go up there and help him pack up his entire life.”

My heart twisted some more. “Oh, Liv…that’s terrible.”

“And this boy has nothing. Absolutely nothing. He has no friends to rely on. I don’t know what to do for him. I don’t know how to be a mother.”

“You’re awesome. You won’t have a problem. You’ve been like a mother to us,” Jax said.

Liv smiled sadly at him. “Thanks, Jax. Will needs more than a mother, though. He needs so much and I don’t know how to provide that for him.”

“We’re here to help you if you need it.”

She wiped her eyes. “I have to get going. Will’s been alone since last night. I need to go pack a bag and make arrangements to get up there. Can you keep an eye on the house?”

“Sure, no problem.” I wished there was something I could do to help them both.

After she had left, I’d felt sad, so I stayed close to Jax, realizing it could easily be us in that situation. If something happened to Jax, I would be alone. He was the only family I really had. Our mom had left when I was four and Jax was two. We never heard from her after that, so I pretended that she never existed; it made the hurt from being abandoned less severe. My dad was technically still in the picture, but he was always working, and when he came home, he worked some more. He was an engineer and constantly traveling, leaving me in charge.

When Mom left, I started taking care of Jax almost immediately. I would do whatever Dad would let me do—playing with him, telling him stories, getting him snacks. I had to potty train him, dress him, read to him, put him to bed, bathe him. Even though I was only two years older, I became his parent and my dad had let it happen. Any time Jax accomplished anything, I was so proud of him. I felt like his mother, his sister, and his friend all rolled into one person. It was a fine line to walk.

Other than Jax, the only people I had were my few friends. I could rely on them if something happened to Jax, but her nephew sounded like he was completely alone, no friends and no family. I couldn’t imagine losing everyone I knew in one night and then having to uproot my entire life.

When Liv got up to Ohio, she sent us texts letting us know how things were going. She asked Jax a ton of questions about what kinds of things to get her nephew to help him feel at home, then she had everything shipped to our house so we could hold onto it until she got home. Her grief was palpable, even separated by so many miles.

Liv brought Will back to Virginia twelve days after his parents had been killed. I only knew they were back because Liv’s SUV was parked in the driveway again. After months of not seeing him, I had almost convinced myself that Will didn’t exist, so when I saw him in the window, I jumped at the opportunity to go over and introduce myself.

When I saw Will, I was struck by his blue eyes, so blue that they reminded me of the Caribbean Sea. They were the bluest eyes I had ever seen, and filled with so much sadness that my heart broke. His dark brown hair was cut short but still long enough to fall over his forehead. He looked so innocent. Part of me was tempted to see if I could corrupt him, even just a little bit.

When Courtney told me to invite him over, I pulled my eyes away from Will and the spell was momentarily broken until our eyes met again. Something about him drew me in.

So I went over to his house and dragged him outside. He looked younger than seventeen, but he was so damned hot. His face was slim with a strong, stubbled jaw—he looked like he had skipped a day or two of shaving. His skin was clear except for a scar running along his eyebrow. He was only slightly shorter than Jax and he was just muscular enough to be sexy.

“I hear you’re going to be a senior this year,” I said, trying to get him to relax. He walked stiffly next to me and crossed his arms over his chest, like that could protect him somehow.

“Yeah. What grade are you in?”

“I’m going to be sophomore in college. I go to George Mason University.” He stiffened even more and held himself so tightly that I was amazed he could even walk.

“Oh, I thought you were in high school.”

“Nope. But I’ll take it as a compliment that I look young for my age.” I winked at him and the corners of his lips twitched with a smile. I showed him the way to my backyard and up on the deck where my friends were still lounging on chairs. They sat up when we approached.

“Will, this is Courtney and Melanie,” I said, motioning toward them. “Girls, this is Will, my new neighbor.”

Melanie got up and shook his hand, but Courtney stood and pulled him in for a hug, squeezing his cheeks. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing I have ever seen?” While still holding him, she turned her hazel eyes on me. “Can we keep him?”

“We can keep him,” I said. He looked at me, shocked. “That is, if it’s okay with Will.”

He shrugged, his face between Courtney’s hands. “Yeah, sure.”

Courtney squealed and pulled him into another hug. “Why didn’t they have boys this cute when we were in high school?”

“Why, so you could slut it up more than you already did?” Melanie said, lounging in her chair again. She fanned her long blonde hair over the back of the chair. She liked to lie in the sun so her hair could lighten. For some reason, she was convinced the sun did a better job than a bottle of blonde hair dye.

“Shut up, Melanie,” Courtney replied with a grin. She smoothed her short brown hair as she backed away.

“Will, tell us about you. Why haven’t we seen you around here before?” Melanie asked.

“I moved in with my aunt about five months ago.” His body sagged as sadness filled his eyes, like the weight of the grief was too much for him to shoulder. “My parents were killed in a car accident. I don’t have any other living relatives so Aunt Liv kind of stuck with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Courtney said, sympathy filling her eyes.

Melanie came over and crushed him in a hug, causing Will’s eyes to bug out of his head. She ran her hand up and down his back. “I’m so sorry, Will. We’re here for you.” She had one of the biggest and most genuine hearts ever.

Will backed up and mumbled a quiet thank you under his breath, his eyes still large. I laughed softly. He looked so out of his element that I feared he’d run home and hide in his bedroom again. “Leave Will alone, Melanie. He’s gone through enough without you rubbing yourself all over him.”

“I just feel bad. Losing someone close to you is difficult, I can’t imagine losing your entire family,” Melanie said. She ran her hand down his arm and tears glistened in her eyes.