The Wrong Path_Smashwords (3 page)

Trevor looked back at Zach, who grinned at the girls. “Of course,” Zach agreed. “Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by beautiful women as they eat?”

The girls all laughed, calling him “flirt,” and “tease,” as they giggled. Zach was almost as big of a ladies’ man as Parker, often hopping from girl to girl without ever seriously dating any of them. Annabelle was grateful Trevor had never picked up the same behavior.

As soon as the boys left to go get their food, the girls leaned forward and spoke in quiet whispers. “How delicious does Trevor look?” Claudia asked dreamily.

Annabelle tried not to flinch. If it was a contest for Trevor’s heart, history showed Claudia would win every time. She tried not to think about seeing Claudia wrapped up in Trevor’s arms or wearing his letterman’s jacket, but her imagination was already running wild. The image almost brought her to tears.

“Hey,” Claire snapped suddenly, startling all of them into silence. “Trevor is Annabelle’s, Claudia. Don’t even think about moving in on your best friend’s guy.”

Annabelle stared at her in gratitude and awe. Claire was fiercely protective, and she was always willing to put someone in their place when she thought they were going to do something that would hurt one of her friends. She really was a great friend. Once again, Annabelle found herself incredibly grateful to the blond girl.

Claudia shook out her long hair. “I was just saying he looks extreme,” Claudia declared shortly, almost protesting. She gave Annabelle a reassuring smile. “I would never do anything to hurt you, like go after your guy.” She leaned forward, her eyes dancing mischievously. “In fact, I was going to ask if you wanted to borrow a dress for the party tonight. It’ll look gorgeous on you. Trevor is sure to notice.”

Annabelle shook her head immediately, feeling guilty. If Claudia really did like Trevor, what right did she have to stand in Claudia’s way? It wasn’t like she was dating Trevor. Trevor had never even asked her out. “No, no. I don’t mind if you go for Trevor. Really. I’m happy if he picks one of us.”

They were interrupted from discussing it further as the boys reappeared, adorably pulling chairs up to the end of the table between Claire and Claudia and sitting backwards in them as they pulled out hamburgers and fries.

Their food smelled amazing. Annabelle longed for a cheeseburger.

“So, the party tonight,” Claire started, smiling impishly. All traces of anger had completely vanished from her face, replaced with that irresistible twist of her lips all the boys fell for. “You guys are coming, right?”

“Of course,” Zach answered, grinning flirtatiously at her. “As long as you girls are.”

The girls burst into giggles. Even if it was cliché, it was still really cute, and Annabelle felt lucky to get to be around people who had so much confidence in themselves.

“You know Caleb is supposed to have, like, five kegs,” Erin stuck in from the other end of the table, looking desperate to be part of the conversation. “He said he bought them off his brother since they had too many at their last party.”

“Sweet, keg stands,” Zach declared, flashing another charming smile. “You ladies need any help, I’m there.”

Again the flirtatious laughter rang throughout the table. Annabelle dared to sneak a look up at Trevor, who was grinning at Zach and shaking his head slightly, looking amused. Feeling tongue-tied and shy at Trevor’s close proximity, Annabelle looked away and stirred her milkshake, trying to keep herself from blushing.

“Annabelle?” Startled, she looked back up at Trevor, who had turned his kind smile on her. “Do you need a ride tonight? I can drive you.” He smiled around the table. “Unless you girls are already going together, that is.”

For the first time since she had turned sixteen, Annabelle was overjoyed her parents had refused to buy her a car.

And then she remembered. The girls had all planned to get ready at Claudia’s house and go together. As much as she was dying to say yes, Claire would be furious if she ditched them.

But Claire surprised her. “Oh, Trevor, you’re so sweet. Would you bring Annabelle? That would be so awesome. You guys live so far away from everyone else that going out to grab her was going to add a ton of time to us actually getting to the lake.”

Annabelle could have kissed her. She knew the other kids at school didn’t love Claire for their own reasons, but Claire was a true friend. “Thanks, Trevor,” she said, hoping she sounded confident and flirtatious, and not as embarrassed as she felt.

“Sure,” he agreed, smiling a cheery, friendly smile.

Annabelle felt weak as she furiously sucked on her straw, filling her mouth with melted strawberry-flavored vanilla ice cream. She prayed she wouldn’t blush, relieved that her brown hair had fallen around her, creating a veil between her and the world. Trevor had offered to give her a ride. Trevor Scarlett had actually offered to give her a ride to the party. In front of everyone. It was practically a date!

“Can you guys excuse me?”

She lifted her head at the bristled sound in Trevor’s voice even as he stood from the table. She, and the others around the table, followed his movements to the entrance of the food court, where to Annabelle’s astonishment, Trevor was approaching his younger brother and a girl… But it almost didn’t look like Will at all. Will had always been just on the edge of acceptable dressing—wearing t-shirts with logos and large designs, sometimes under button-downs that were always a little bit edgier than the ones the other boys at school wore. And yet now he stood in baggy black pants absolutely covered in chains and zippers, a black t-shirt with another longer black shirt under it, at least five chains around his neck, and a studded bracelet around his wrist.

Trevor’s back was tense as he joined them. Will’s long brown hair hung around his chiseled cheekbones, his expression snide as he stared down his approaching brother. The girl at Will’s side had dyed black hair hanging down the middle of her back, held back by a strange headband that appeared to be made out of some sort of zipper. She had dark red, almost black lipstick on, and her eyes were completely surrounded by black eye shadow. She looked like a really skanky, Goth China doll. She had on a skintight black shirt under a shredded burgundy tank top that looked both horrific and somehow eye-catching at the same time.

Annabelle vaguely recognized the girl from school, but she was pretty sure she had never seen her dressed like that before. Usually she took to more punk rock clothing… Nothing so gothic and extreme. Will and the girl—Ebony, Annabelle recalled suddenly—hung out with the same group of friends. When they actually attended school, they could be found on the back steps of the building, and they were not creepy Goth kids. They were generally more into the punk scene. So what on earth was going on? Why were she and Will dressed like that?

And then it hit her… Will and the girl… They were the ones Annabelle had been staring at earlier on the bench on the way to the food court.

But… what had happened to Will?

Trevor was clearly talking. Annabelle watched as Will suddenly pulled his wallet out from his back pocket—attached to his pants by a spiked chain—and handed some money to the girl, saying something to her with a sweet smile. The girl eyed Trevor for a moment, as if she were contemplating stabbing him. Eventually she took the bills, planted a kiss on Will’s cheek, and strode away to stand in line for food.

“What a
freak
,” Claire declared, drawing the table’s focus back to her. “Ebony and her little bitches that follow her around seriously need therapy.”

“I heard she went to juvie for stabbing her step-father,” Erin offered, her voice low.

As the conversation around the table turned to discuss the gossip of the punk crowd, Annabelle couldn’t resist looking over at the brothers, standing at the entrance to the food court. Will was smirking, a taunting expression marring his boyishly good looks. Though Annabelle couldn’t see Trevor’s face, she could see how stiff his body was, as if he were trying hard to control his anger. Whatever Will had said to him had clearly displeased him.

Will was growing exasperated. Even from the distance she was at, Annabelle could see it in the way he fidgeted and tensed and looked around. She watched as he looked at the line Ebony stood in, then, as his gaze drew back across the crowded room, his eyes settled on Annabelle’s. His sneer suddenly morphed into a devastatingly charming, mischievous smile that made her heart skip, catching her off-guard. She couldn’t bring herself to look away from the dark eyes that held hers, surprised at their depth. The curl of his lips was evident as he finally said something to his older brother. Almost instantly, Trevor swung around to look at her.

Annabelle flushed as both boys stared at her, straightening in alarm as she looked between the two of them. She was embarrassed at being caught staring, but Will was still smiling, and Trevor just had a look of agitation on his face.

Will said something else to Trevor, who quickly pivoted to look at him again, Annabelle finally forgotten. Then Will deliberately stepped away from his older brother, a polar opposite in just about every way, and joined Ebony in the line. Trevor turned back, looking tired, and flashed a weak smile at Annabelle before he rejoined them at the table.

“Is everything okay?” Claudia asked, a syrupy tone of concern in her voice. Annabelle watched as her long, slender fingers, topped with perfectly manicured French nails, landed on Trevor’s arm. Beside her, she could feel Claire tense, and silently, Annabelle pleaded with Claire to just let it go.

“Yeah,” Trevor told her, smiling and looking chagrined. “That brother of mine… He’s doing whatever he can to kill our mother, I swear it.”

Annabelle said nothing, but his words reminded her of the ones she had also said to Will the night before when she had caught him climbing into his window. Briefly, she toyed with the idea of telling Trevor about her fleeting meeting with Will, but decided against it. If she did tell him, she would tell him when they were alone—not in front of a crowd. She didn’t want to announce his personal business to everyone.

Claire nodded sympathetically. “Your mother always talked about him at tea,” she said sadly. “This has to be really hard for her.”

Trevor nodded, his hands clasped together so tightly his knuckles were white. Annabelle wished for the right words to smooth the situation over, but she didn’t know what to say. “My mom’s weak enough. Who knows what will push her over the edge.”

“Someone needs to teach that boy a lesson,” Claudia agreed, looking over at Will and Ebony distastefully. “Your mother is dealing with far too much to have to put up with his childish antics.”

Annabelle frowned, wishing the conversation would just end. Even though she knew the others were right, it was still hard listening to it, and it just seemed to be feeding Trevor’s anger. She didn’t want Trevor to be angry. She wanted him to be happy. She didn’t want Mrs. Scarlett to be ill anymore, either, but there was nothing she could do to whip Will into shape just for his mother’s sake.

Blessedly, there was a ringing around the table, interrupting the conversation. With an embarrassed smile, Claire pulled the ringing cell phone out of her purse. “Excuse me,” she said to the table, then answered the phone. “Hello?” She was silent for a moment. “Mary!” she greeted enthusiastically. “We’re in the food court.” She was quiet another moment. “Okay, see you soon. Kisses!” She hung up the phone, and turned to the others, smiling affectionately. “Mary’s hair is done. I can’t
wait
to see it.” She stood from the table, the other girls quickly following suit.

“We’ll see you guys tonight,” Claudia purred to Trevor and Zach. Zach smiled wolfishly and made some comment that made the other girls laugh, but Annabelle was too distracted by Trevor to hear it. He was staring at his food as if he were no longer hungry, looking exhausted and worn out. Her heart went out to him, and even as Claire practically dragged her away, she couldn’t resist looking out across the rest of the large room for the younger Scarlett brother.

She spotted him at one of the corner tables with Ebony, laughing with a wide, mischievous grin on his face. His dark eyes twinkled in merriment as he spoke rapidly, the girl’s peals of laughter ringing through Annabelle’s mind even as they left the food court.

Chapter Three

“I’m home!” Annabelle called as she entered the house.

“Living room!” was her mother’s response.

She made her way to the living room, stepping into the lush cream and blue room. Her mother was lounging on the couch, a book on her lap, her head raised expectantly. She smiled when she saw Annabelle.

“Your hair looks lovely,” her mother assured her. She caught sight of the clothes on the hangers Annabelle held and frowned slightly. “Is that what you’re wearing tonight?”

Claire had all-but forced Annabelle to take one of Claudia’s short pleated skirts and white button-downs, instructing her to pair it with her platform Mary Janes. Annabelle instinctively held the clothes to herself. “Yeah.”

Her mother, in her white cotton polo and khakis, looked unhappy. “Is that what’s considered to be ‘in’ now?”

Annabelle glanced down at the clothes, then at her mother. “In a way.”

Her mother sighed. “Tell me again what lake this is at?”

“Cedar.”

“Alcohol?”