Reckless: A Bad Boy Sport Romance (37 page)

Allison kicked out her legs and leaped off my bed abruptly. She brought her fist to her mouth and attempted to bite her nails. In her daze, she seemed to forget the glittery plastic claws she glued onto her fingers. She withdrew her hand at once and started shoveling her tarot cards back into her pouch. Throwing it back into her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and started towards the door.

“Sorry, Miles – I have to go.”

“What? Is this seriously because of that stupid card? You're joking –”

“No. Sorry. I'll see you at school tomorrow.”

Before I could argue with Allison any further, she left my room in a rush, slamming the door behind her.

Shaking my head, I reached for another brownie. It was weird seeing Allison so freaked out about some dumb cards, but I was sure whatever it was, she'd get over it in no time. It wasn't like Allison to dwell on things. Best to just leave shit alone.

Chapter Six: Daisy

The rainbow string lights and the dancing bulbs on the fair attractions made the
Winfield Boardwalk
glow. Whimsical, old-timey carnival music filled the streets, teeming with bustling crowds and fascinating street performers. Gleeful screams and whooshing wind from thrilling rides heightened the lively atmosphere around me.

As my eyes roamed free, they settled on the gorgeous merry-go-round coming up on my left. The double-decker carousel roof was built and intricately painted like the top of a conch shell. In place of horses, seahorses and different kinds of colorful fish and shell-studded chariots were fastened in place with striped poles. The scenery panels were painted with portraits of underwater scenery, complete with bubbles and sea fairies.

There was something magical about being a five-year-old. Imagine that – mounting one of those horses for roughly three minutes of pure bliss. For almost three minutes, you just hung onto one of those poles, pretending to be this magnificent horseman – or in this case, an underwater warrior – with not a care in the world. I couldn't even remember the last time I truly let myself enjoy something wholeheartedly.

The last time I had a “spa day” with Mom, I spent the entire duration of our mud mask and seaweed body wraps wondering if our bi-monthly “Girls' Day” was hurting our budget. Mom then reminded me that I was her plus-one, and that I wasn't even paying to get in there. So naturally, I spent the rest of the time stressing about when Mom and Dad were finally going to start looking for a house of their own, so they could start paying mortgage. Which, of course, spiraled to me wondering when the heck they were ever going to pay off their future mortgage in full. Hopefully, with my scholarship on the way, they'd be able to start worrying about themselves. With Ethan unable to keep a job for more than two months at a time, it wasn't making things any easier for them. As much as I loved Ethan, he needed to get his shit together and grow up.

“Remind me why we're waiting again?”

Honey's surly voice ripped me back to reality. She cast a withering look my way, brushing the leg of a hanging plush giraffe with the back of her hand. I pulled my eyes away from the mesmerizing merry-go-round.

“I know. It's silly,” I admitted, scratching the back of my head. “Miles texted me five minutes ago – he says he's already here. I just didn't want to seem like an Eager Beaver who showed up half an hour early. Let's just hang back for a few minutes, if you don't mind?”

“I guess. Why are you trying so hard to impress this guy, anyway?” Honey pressed me, raising one of her angled purple brows. “You're not wearing your glasses, you've got your hair done, and you've actually got more than just your lip gloss on. I mean, you look great, but what gives? Don't tell me you actually like the dude.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Well, no – Honey was right. I'd been on a couple of dates before, but I never bothered to show up in anything more than what I was already wearing that morning. All in all, I'd spent about two whole hours just trying to put my whole look together. I leafed through a couple of
Seventeen
magazines until I found a doable top-knot and a step-by-step eyebrow shaping and eyeliner routine. It looked like my closet had thrown up on the floor as I searched for the perfect outfit. Ultimately, I settled on a short white summer dress with thin, crisscrossing straps, and a pair of ballet flats.

When I met up with Honey earlier tonight, I felt relieved when I saw her. Honey had dressed up for tonight, too. She left her orange beanie at home to show off her new multi-layered “scene” hair, with the top half dyed bright purple. Her make-up still lay in its usual thickness, which covered the bumpy acne on her cheeks and forehead, but all the skulls on her face and ears had been replaced with purple gemstones. She looked really cute in her
Hello Kitty
tank top, leather shorts, and fishnet stockings. But as I stood there judging her, the relief quickly transformed to a mix of guilt and regret.

“Whatever. I'm just tired of walking around here, getting feasted on by all these mosquitoes. It's all gross and sticky out here. I hate being around people.”

“Can you stop being so negative for one second? You should have just said no when I asked if you wanted to come with tonight.”

“Whatever.”

“You're gonna be cool, right? I mean, I'd really appreciate it if you could tone it down a little and not say anything wei – um –”

“Weird?” Honey challenged me, her plum-purple lips pouting. “That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?”

I shrunk back, slapping myself internally at the slip of my tongue.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's the nerves; it's like I've come down with bitch-itis. Thank you for coming with me tonight. I don't think I could do this without your support.”

Honey uncrossed her arms slowly. The scathing look on her face changed like the flick of a switch. She smiled at me sweetly, motioning to the funnel cake vendor.

“Come on. Let's get a mega-size funnel cake to share before we go looking for them. My treat.”

“Mmm. Not gonna say no to that.”

Honey put our order in and paid the vendor before excusing herself to go to the bathroom. I waited by the side of the booth as the vendor tossed the chunks of dough into the deep fryer. As the frying dough crackled pleasantly behind me, I watched as Honey sidled through the crowd towards the row of blue portable toilets.

Honey was my best friend, but she could be a lot to take sometimes. We met in the fifth grade. I saw her coloring a page of
The Magic School Bus
, and I was immediately intrigued. We became fast friends – with our parents at work all the time, it wouldn't be a stretch to say we spent more time together than we did with our own families. Honey's parents were loaded – they were multimillionaires who owned a chain of swanky clothing plazas and department stores in China. They were barely ever home when she was younger, and instead, left Honey in the care of a stern caretaker named Ms. Li.

As I got older, people started asking me if I noticed anything strange about Honey. Ever since we were kids, I knew that Honey had a lying problem. They started out as little stretches of truths, but gradually evolved to full-blown lies. She would even lie about the most trivial things, like what she had for dinner the night before.

I didn't know what was prompting any of her habitual lying, but I wasn't aware of the gravity of her problem until our last year of middle school. Over the summer, Honey had apparently met a college guy from another state, who knocked her up. For almost half a year, I watched her belly steadily grow. But when she started refusing my company for any doctor's appointments or baby shopping, I started getting suspicious. She clung onto this one sonogram that she showed everyone at school, but for some reason, the name had been blurred out. Two weeks later, I walked in on her stuffing her belly with balled up clothes. That was the day shit got real.

Honey disappeared for three weeks, with her parents stowing her away at some kind of Christian camp. When she came back to school, it was like she'd picked up from where we'd left off before the “pregnancy” and “statutory rape.” I will never forget the way she casually strolled up to my locker, asking me if I'd caught the newest episode of
Dawson's Creek.

I went along with the charade until it faded to the back of my mind. Girls bullied me by proxy for choosing to stick by her until we started going to
Stonewall
, where nobody knew us and we could start fresh. Honey still lied like her life depended on it, but I found myself justifying it, as they were dramatically more harmless. Honestly, my own logic was so convoluted I had trouble understanding it myself.

I was unable to detach myself from Honey for a number of reasons. We had gone through puberty together, and we were just always there for each other. But my loyalty for Honey was solidified when I'd fallen into the pool at Chloe's birthday party when I was 12. Because I'd fallen when Chloe was opening her presents, no one had seen me. No one but Honey. She dove right into the pool as I thrashed and the chlorine-heavy water surged into my lungs, pulling me up to safety before I could sink to the cold murky tiles. From then on, I promised myself there was nothing she could do to make me turn my back on her – I literally owed my life to her.

“Here ya go.”

“Thanks, sir.”

I took the funnel cake and snuck in a couple of bites before heading off in search of Honey.

“There – I see them.”

Honey pointed at the booth with the clown-themed shooting gallery. Miles was slightly hunched over with a BB-rifle in his hand. He looked so good tonight in his sleek white pants, white designer sandals, and fitted black polo. Four of his friends were with him – I recognized Big Rob and Allison, as well as Shawna, a cheerleader, and Terrence, a football player. Allison and Terrence both took up the spots next to Miles, while Big Rob had his arm draped over Shawna, watching from the side.

Honey and I approached the group, stopping next to Big Rob and Shawna. Big Rob nodded, acknowledging us with a quick salute. Shawna, on the other hand, seemed visibly confused with our presence. But as Big Rob whispered something into her ear, the confusion on her face morphed to a feigned syrupy smile. Together, we observed quietly as Miles, Terrence, and Allison fired at the moving laughing-clown targets.

“Boo-yah!” Miles whooped at the empty, smoking row of fallen clowns.

“Not too shabby.” I took a step forward.

“Oh, hey, Daisy. You're here. Just in time.” Miles turned back to the carny, requesting the purple plush gorilla as his prize. He thrust the gorilla in my hands. “That's for you. Sorry I didn't get you any flowers – didn't know if you were into that. But I don't know what girl in her right mind would turn down a gorilla.”

“I didn't think I'd ever say this in a million years, but I like the way you think.” I hugged the gorilla to my chest, and turned towards Honey. “You guys know Honey, right?”

The seven of us exchanged a round of awkward introductions. I cringed hard on the inside as Honey waved halfheartedly at Miles and his friends, looking like a skunk had just farted in her mouth. Fortunately, Miles and his friends either didn't notice her attitude, or just plain didn't mind.

“So what does everyone feel like doing first?” Miles asked, looking around at us.

“We could try that new
Octopus Loop
ride that just opened up last week,” Terrence suggested. “David says the ride's supposed to be pretty dope –”

“I've already been on that ride, like, a dozen times,” said Honey crankily, her mouth full of funnel cake. “It's not worth the hype – trust me.”

“Wow, Honey, you're a beast. That ride looks crazy – I'd be having second thoughts just trying to get on it the first time,” said Allison cheerfully. There was a slight note of panic in her voice. “Well, if one of us doesn't feel like it, we could try something a little tamer for starters. Probably not a good idea to go on the
Octopus Loop
when we've all just eaten, anyway.”

“What about the Ferris wheel?” Shawna giggled, reaching around to slap Big Rob's butt. “Big Rob and I could use a little alone time.”

With everyone else in agreement, we headed towards the Ferris wheel. Honey sulked next to me as I walked alongside Miles. My grip tightened on my gorilla as I craned my neck to get a better look at the attraction. Swirling lights spun out from the center of the 18-story Ferris wheel. As I noticed the tiny gondolas that looked like they only housed two at a time, my fingers curled inward.

When we got to the front of the line, Allison turned to us.

“Hey, Honey, why don't you join me and Terrence?”

Before Honey could object, Allison took her by the wrist. She pushed Honey into the gondola with Terrence, winking at us over her shoulder before boarding. Miles stretched out his hand as a separate gondola arrived.

“After you.”

“Thanks.”

I scooted into the gondola and set my gorilla next to me. Miles took the bench opposite mine. As our swaying gondola started climbing upwards, I gripped onto the edge of my seat. I looked to my left, watching as the lively booths and throngs of heads in the crowds drifted further away from us.