Riptide (3 page)

CHAPTER
5

~TRYSTAN~

Practice was weird. Trystan stood on the stage as the completed set was being erected around him. The stage crew raised the flats one by one, installed doors, and touched up some of the
paint. Now it looked like a real room, filled with furniture and picture frames
. As the stage crew did their thing, the guy in the lighting cage was muttering to himself. His voice carried to where Trystan stood a few feet away. The house lights were flashing on and off instead of dimming. The lighting cage was nearly fifty years old and due for an upgrade, but with the school budget the way it
was, they’d never get one. When
ever a budget vote came up, people showed up in drones to vote it down. It didn’t matter what was on the ballot. The roof could be caving in and
the town would
still vote against it.

Trystan kept thinking about Mari. A smile leaked across his face. He could
n’t help it. That kiss. And the way she
felt laying in his arms. For a small moment, his life felt perfect. Happiness was always something just out of reach for Trystan. Whenever it came along, it was swiftly yanked away. This time, Trystan would make sure he didn’t mess up.
Mari
mattered too much to him. Everything about her made him better, ma
de him think he had a chance. Trystan
wouldn’t be another
statistic
.

Waiting in front of the lighting cage,
Trystan stood with his hands in his pockets
wondering where
Brie
went. When Brie
finally surfaced from the basement, she ran straight into the girl’s
bath
room at the back of the stage. Trystan turned to watch
Brie
flee with her hand over her nose. His heart sank when Tucker followed a few moments later, pointing one of his chubby fingers at the stage door
.
Katie and Mari left without looking back.
Shit. What
’d
Brie do now?

Practice took too long. It was close to opening night. Brie acted
hysterical
. Tucker forced
Brie
on stage with her nose bandaged and an ice pack
taped to
her face, which
severely
screwed with her head. Brie couldn’t get a line out without stumbling or messing up. Tucker didn’t bother to try the second act. They skipped over that part like it didn’t
exist
, which was fine by Trystan.

After practice, Trystan
grabbed his books from his locker and looked around for Mari, but the school was deserted. He walked past the diner on the way home, hoping to find her
inside, but she wasn’t there. Sighing
,
Trystan pushed
his dark hair out of his eyes. The wind blew harshly, flipping his hair over his head and into his eyes
again
. Trystan tightened his jacket, wishing he had something warmer
to wear
.
The leather was nearly worn away in places, giving the frigid air a way to leak in.

It’d been a long day and it felt good to finally be out of the school. Trystan just wished he’d seen Mari before the end of the night. Curiosity was part of it, and Trystan wondered how Mari waked away without a scratch and Brie had a bloody nose.
Hurrying, Trystan pushed on toward his house, crossing the train tracks, and walking quickly to his front door.

When Trystan
walked into his house, he came face to face with his father. The old
man’s eyes were bloodshot. There was a piece of paper in his left hand. Dad
was left handed, just like Trystan.
God, they were too much alike
, Trystan thought as he walked through the threshold and closed the door behind him. He ignored his father’s eyes on his back as he went to the kitchen looking for something that would pass for dinner. Trystan was always hungry lately and there was never enough to eat. Placing his books on the table seemed to be what set his dad off.
Suddenly
he
was yelling like Trystan did something horrible.

Dad stood behind him, his voice was sharp enough to cut glass.
“You think you’re too good for us. That’s what’s wrong with you, you know. Always walking ar
ound like you own the place.” Dad
slurred his words slightly
,
telling Trystan that tonight was going to suck.

Standing with the fridge door open, Trystan froze. It took a moment to recognize that the scrap of paper in his father
’s fingers was a picture. When Trystan
did, his heart dropped into his shoes. Trystan grabbed whatever
food
was left, which wasn’t much. He took a few slices of bread and the peanut butter he’d gotten from Sam’s deli and made a sandwich as fast as he could.

His father droned on and no matter how hard Trystan tried, he couldn’t drown out the words. “You’re the reason she left. This,” he said
,
pointing to everything, “is your fault. Me
and my whole fucking life got
reduced to this because of you
, and you stand there
like you’re
so damn
proud.”

Trystan
couldn’t help it.
He
knew
that
he shouldn’t speak, but he did.
His jaw was tense, the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop.
“Maybe she left because of me, but you did this to yourself. Things didn’t have to go this way, Dad. You did this. Not me.”

Before Trystan could blink his father was across the room and screaming in his face. “You think I didn’t try! You
think I fucking chose this?” Dad
bellowed and spit went flying, sticking to Trystan’s cheek. His father laughed with such rage th
at Trystan stepped away. When Dad
spoke again, his voice was low and menacing, “That’s right, boy. Blame me. You did
nothing
.”
The old man’s rank breath lingered in Trystan’s nostrils, but
his dad finally stepped away.

Trystan went to pass by his father, but was
clothes
lined. His father raised his arm at the last second, trapping Trystan, before grabbing
Trystan’s
hair with his other hand, and yanking
his son back
to his chest. The picture of
Trystan’s
mother was clutched under his father’s thumb. Thrusting it in
Trystan’s face, Dad
made him look. When Trystan tried to wiggle free or look away, his father only tightened his grip and forced him harder. “Look! Look at her! Look at those eyes, and how they seem so steadfast, like they’d never leave. You destroyed everything!” He shoved Trystan toward the hall that lead back to
Trystan’s
room. “Get out of my face. I can’t stand to look at you!”

Trystan’s chest felt like it was ripped open with a rusty nail. Every muscle in his body was tense, ready to fight,
trying so hard to hold back. Trystan’s jaw
locked tight to keep from speaking, but the one thing he wanted to avoid the most was that picture and he’d
already
seen it. Stumbling back to his room, Trystan pushed through the door. His mind screamed, protesting that he should fight back, but something held his rage in check. Taking purposeful breaths
, Trystan
walked down the short hall, trying to steel himself, trying to make his heart go numb before it shattered into a million pieces.

When Trystan swung his door open, he meant to lock it and throw himself on his bed, but there was no lock, no bed. The walls were barren. The nightstand was gone. His closet door was open and the only thing inside were shadow
s. Trystan
stood there, his hands shaking slightly, as he realized that his father threw out all of his stuff. Trystan felt his dad behind him but he didn’t turn around.
Rage flooded Trystan’s body
,
making him want to act out, but he refused.

A hand shoved hard betwe
en Trystan’s shoulder blades. Trystan
didn’t expect it and fell into the room. “Maybe this will teach you that you’re
no better than the rest of us.” Before Trystan could turn around his father yanked the door
shut. It was
n’t
until then that Trystan
realized that the
door
knob was turned around. The sound of metal sliding against metal alerted him to the lock closing.

“No!” Trystan screamed and threw himself at the door, but it was too late. His fists beat the door, but it was solid, the kind of door that was used at the entry of a house. Trysta
n knew, because he put it there when he
traded it out for the thin
particle
board
version
that had originally been there
,
in order to keep his father out.

“You never learned your place, Trystan. I swear to God, I’m going to teach it to you.” The hallway fell silent.

Trystan felt the panic slide up his throat. The room was dark. The lights were gone and the fixture that hu
ng from the ceiling had no bulb
. Racing to the window, Trystan pushed it open, but the bars kept him from getting out. The cold air rushed in over his face. Trystan turned around and leaned his back against the wall, clutching his face in his hands. He slid down until his back was under the window, hoping that his father would see reason in the light of day, but there was no way to know.
Dad had
done stuff like this before, when Trystan was little and couldn’t fight back. He’d lock
Trystan
away for hours, someti
mes days. When it seemed like Trystan would
die of
thirst
, the man finally showed his face
and let him out
. Trystan tried to be good after that, but it didn’t seem to ma
tter what he did or didn’t do—he
was never good enough.

Tucker’s words rang through Trystan’s ears like a gong, ebbing and pulsing.
Someone told you wrong. You’re worth something.
 

Lowering his head to his knees, Trystan fixated on
the words, but they couldn’t penetrate his heart. Tucker
’
s words couldn’t strip away years of being told he was the reason for his father’s grief
. Trystan’s chest felt hollow and
he let the
numbness
overtake him.

CHAPTER
6

~MARI~

“Have you lost your mind?” Daddy screamed. He’d been pacing in my room since he got that phone call from Brie’s father.

There was nothing I could say that would calm him down, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. “What was I supposed to do? She threatened me!” Tears streaked my face. I couldn’t help it. I cried when I was angry.

Daddy turned on me, roaring, “
What were you supposed to do?
Get the teacher! Not punch the girl in the face. Her father is threatening to press charges. Do you know what that means? Do you have any idea? We could lose everything because of you!”

Sucking a ragged breath, I scr
eamed, “
There was no teacher, there was no help! Maybe I shouldn’t have hit her, but why can’t you even act like you care about me? You didn’t even ask me what she did! You just assumed that everything was my fault!” I trembled with my hands balled into fists at my sides.

If there was ever a wrong thing to say, that was it. Daddy blew up. His eyes widened, before he started screaming in a blind rage.
The verbal assault went on, but I couldn’t process what he was saying, not when he looked so livid.
I backed away from him, but he kept coming at me like he’d
hit
me. My heart po
unded in my chest like I was running
away from an axe murderer.

Things were
n’t supposed to be like this. Daddy
was supposed to defend me. H
e was supposed to protect me, but
instead
,
he looked like he was going to kill me. After what seemed like forever, my Mom came in. It seemed to calm
Daddy
down enough to realize that his hands were shaking, lifting to
ward
me like he
was going to do something. Dropping his hands, Daddy shook his head fiercely and
walked aw
ay from me. He shoved past my mother
and left the room
,
leaving a wake of anguish behind
.

All the fright that had built up in my body exited my mouth in loud sob that sounded more like a scream. My mother stood there, staring at me with disgust. “You brought this on yourself, Mari. Clean up and go to bed.” She turned away and left without another word.

After they left, I heard them arguing in the kitchen. The conversation was about
lawyers and settlements. They seem to think
that Brie’s father had his sights set on their money. I wanted to scream and jump up and down in front of them. Since when does money matter more than people? I didn’t realize I was so disposable. My entire life, I thought they’d stand up for me, but they didn’t. The only thing they cared about was protecting their money and their
precious
careers
.

I plucked my phone from my backpack, knowing
it was insane to try and use it,
but I wanted to talk to Trystan. I needed him. He’d understand, but I didn’t have any way to contact him. I sat on my bed
sniffling
as I stared at the phone. I didn’t want to talk to Katie. She’d tell me to suck it up, that this was part of having the perfect family—so what if they flipped out once every sixteen years? She didn’t understand. Her family fought all the t
ime, but this wasn’t a fight. This
was something else. It showed me where
my
place was in this fam
ily, and I didn’t like it
.

The next morning my eyes were puffy. When I sat at the table my mother said nothing, handing me my breakf
ast like everything was normal.
“Your father and I are on for the next four days. I made your dinners for each night. Come straight home after practice and eat. I’ll check on you when I get home.” She poured a glass of orange
juice
, smiling like a saint.

I nodded, not wanting to talk about it. It was fine by me if they worked seven days a week. I did my best to eat my breakfast, but I wasn’t hungry. I just wanted to get out of there and go to school. When I cleared my half-eaten plate, my mother said, “You don’t have to be so dramatic, Mari. I know you’re upset, but you still have to eat.”

I just looked at her. I couldn’t think of what to say to make her fathom how betrayed I felt. She dropped me off at school without another word. As soon as she pulled away, I felt better. Four days on my own would help.
They’d come home from work in time to drop me off at school. We’d barely see each other.

After going to my locker, I looked around for Trystan. He usually haunted this hallway before first period, but I didn’
t see him. I went to class, listening to the teacher droning on. I didn’t get a chance to look for Trystan again until our free period. When I walked into the auditorium I heard Tucker speaking softly and rapidly to Trystan, “
…
is not okay. You can’t skip class like this and then expect to walk
at graduation
in June. If there’s something you need to tell me, some reason for your tardiness, tell me. You don’t have to fight the whole damn world by yourself.”

“I’m fine,” Trystan
used
a tone that said he was fi
nished talking about it. When Trystan
turned around, I saw
an angry
red gash marring his cheek.

The smile I had on my face faltered and slipped away. Tucker looked at me and then back at Trystan. When I was closer, Tucker s
aid, “Talk some sense into him,” as he jabbed his thumb at Trystan.

“What
are you talking about?” I asked, not understanding.

Tucker sighed,
“Ask him how he got that cut on his face and make sure he had a
tetanus
shot. He won’t talk to me.”

Trystan’s shoulders tensed as he looked after Tucker, who was walking away, “That’s
because there’s nothing to tell.
” Tucker walked through the door and left
us
standing in the aisle alone. The empty seats surrounded
us on all sides, the stage lights dim and glowing golden
. When Trystan looked back at
me
, his expression softened, but the slant of his mouth said he still thought he needed to defend himself, and I didn’t want that.

Before he could speak, I said, “
I only want to ask you one thing.”

“Really?” the corners of his mouth tightened again. “And what’s that?”

“Will you hold me?” Tears welled up in my eyes and streaked down my cheeks. Trystan instantly became the man I knew, and fo
r
got about
his worries
. Stepping forward, I walked into his arms, and he held me tight.