Chapter Nine
I was having one of those moments when I wished that I actually had a girlfriend to talk to. Someone who I could analyze things with until the wee hours of the night and still not come up with a solution. But the only girlfriend I ever had, had been Madison and not only was she gone, I wasn't sure if she was ever truly my friend.
I didn't bother to call Ethan to try and figure out what was going on with him. He made it abundantly clear that the kiss was a mistake and, although I wasn't sure I would go that far about it, I didn't think it was the best thing that ever happened. I wasn't in the market for a boyfriend anyway, especially someone with so much baggage. I didn't need the drama.
I walked through the streets, window shopping, with ear buds in my ear connected to my iPod. The music was blasting, cutting off all over sounds around me. People were talking to each other, waving their hands around animatedly. Weaving around the crowds, I kept my head down and my hands in the pockets of my shorts.
The sun was beating down on me, making me sweat, and uncomfortably suctioning my prosthetic to the stump of my thigh. I had my bathing suit on underneath my clothes and as I walked I crossed my fingers that I would find some kind of community pool. Or a path to a beach or something I didn't see anything any other times I walked. But I was holding out hope that today I would find some relief to the never ending heat.
With the earbuds in my ears I didn't hear anyone walking up behind me, so when I was tapped on the shoulder, I jumped, and then turned, ready to defend myself if I needed to. Expecting some creepy stranger, I was instead greeted with Bailey, a sheepish smile on his lips, and a bag in his hands. Turning off the music, I slipped my iPod into my pocket, pulling the earbuds out of my ears and hanging them off my neck.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“I think we need to talk,” Bailey said. I paused, my finger on my cheek and my eyes looking upward.
“Uh, I don't think so,” I said as I went back to glaring at him. “It's not like we were ever friends or anything.”
“Amber, don't be like that.”
“I will be like however I want to be like.” I shot back at him. “So go shove it and leave me alone.” I turned on my heel and started walking away.
“Amber! Amber!” Bailey called out. “Amber come back here!” I ignored Bailey and continued down the block until I reached the corner, then turned right. There was a fork in the road. The right side led out of town and towards Ethan’s house while the left side circled back until I was in front of the diner. Both paths would get me away from Bailey.
There was no point in trying to find Ethan. Since the kiss, I hadn’t heard a single word from him. He told me he thought it was a mistake and maybe it was. Then again, he could have been scared. But there was no way to sort things out if he wasn’t talking to me. There was an elephant between us now. I knew that showing up at his house would just make things worse so I turned left and, after twenty minutes of walking, I was back in front of Rebecca's diner. My shirt was soaked with sweat and I was panting.
I stumbled into the diner and went straight back into the kitchen. When I got there, I pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and downed it. The water chilled me from the inside out as I sat down on a bench and tried to catch my breath. As I was resting, the kitchen door opened and Jacob was standing there.
He looked surprised at first to see me, and then his lips turned up into a creepy grin. I tried to get up; planning on going back into the apartment and locking the door behind me, but Jacob grabbed my wrist before I had a chance to flee.
“The sweaty look is sexy on you,” Jacob said. I tried to wrestle out from under him but this time Jacob was prepared. He pushed my hands behind me, locking them with his fingers, and nuzzled my neck. “You can't fight me this time,” he said, his breath hot against my neck. “And don't bother screaming because you'll scare all the customers away. You don't want to ruin business for your sister, do you?” I wanted to vomit and I dry heaved a couple of times.
“Just leave me alone,” I said. “You hate me and I hate you.”
“That's where you're wrong,” Jacob said. “I don't hate you. In fact, the moment I saw you, I loved the spark behind your words. I knew you were exactly what I needed. Rebecca might be the good sister, but I happen to like the bad girls.”
“So what is this?