Unfiltered & Undressed (The Unfiltered Series) (14 page)

She came inside hesitantly, and I realized how young she looked this close up. It was almost hard to fathom I’d ever thought they were
a thing
at all. But even stranger, she looked so much like him I wondered how I’d missed it before. She had the same emerald-colored eyes as his and the same blonde streaked hair that looked like it had come from hours at an expensive salon to give it that perfectly sun-bleached effect. Hers was pulled back into a messy bun, but still managed to look completely adorable.

“I was hoping I could get your help with something.” She chewed her bottom lip, which was full, her cheeks bright pink like she’d just come in from spending the day at the beach.

I got up from the hard plastic seat I’d been in. “What is it?”

She came inside all the way and fidgeted with one of the woven bracelets she wore around her wrists. “You teach the computer classes, right?”

I nodded. She seemed a little old for my classes, but there wasn’t an age limit on them. Besides, I was the last one to judge; I’d just come back from my swim lesson.

“I was hoping maybe you could help me make a resume.” Her clear eyes did that thing her brother’s did and seemed to look directly through me. “I need to get a job.”

I thought of what Lucas had said, about Will having to sell his surfboard because he’d needed the money. I guess he needed his sister to pitch in too.

“Sure,” I said, feeling like an even bigger jerk for the fact that I’d sort of hated her before. “When do you need it?”

She perked up. “The sooner the better,” she explained. “Do you have time now?”

“Now?”

“Well, yeah. I was kinda hoping to start job-hunting tomorrow, and we don’t have a printer at home. Or a decent computer. We will, eventually. But for now…” she trailed off, giving me a hopeful look that I recognized all too well. It was the kind of look Emerson used when she was asking me to do something she knew I didn’t want to do. “I could really use your help.”

I mean, what kind of person would I have been if I’d said no? And besides, what else did I have on my busy social calendar? Wasn’t it kind of karma that I was reminded what a jerk I was, and what a terrible thing I’d done in my old life, right before Tess came in here begging for my help?

I pulled out a chair in front of one of the laptops. “All right. If we’re gonna do this, we’d better get started.” I dragged another of the cheap chairs next to mine and patted it.

Tess squealed, reminding me she was younger than I’d first thought, as she rounded the table and plopped down to sit beside me. I probably should’ve told her that at her age she wouldn’t need a resume; that mostly she’d be filling out tear-off applications and leaving a lot of blank spots where previous employment history was supposed to go. But now that she was here, I wanted to find out more about her…and maybe, if I was being totally honest, about Will too.

I started to open a file on the computer, but then decided against it and passed the laptop to her. If I was going to do this, I might as well teach her something in the process. “Go ahead,” I told her. “Let’s start with your name.”

She was a fast learner, following my instructions hesitantly at first, but growing more confident by the minute, and by the time we were finished, she had a pretty decent grasp of how to build a resume.

Learning about Tess wasn’t tough; she was a talker. She was only sixteen, born on March 26th—which made her an Aries, she told me—and she’d spent her entire life in West Beach. She’d be starting her junior year at West Beach High, where she got decent enough grades, and she loved, more than almost anything in the world, to surf—something she shared with her brother it seemed.

That last part she volunteered. I didn’t have to ask.

She also told me that her mom died of pancreatic cancer, and she didn’t have long enough to say goodbye. She didn’t cry when she explained all this, but I almost did.

She mentioned her brother more than once, and more than once I started to tell her I knew him, but it always felt wrong. I couldn’t figure out a way to explain who he was to me. I couldn’t call him my friend, because he wasn’t really. But he was more than just an acquaintance. Ultimately, I kept my mouth shut.

“Will’s gonna take care of me.” She was just saving her file and then we’d print copies she could take with her tomorrow when she got started. She planned to go around to local coffee stands and surf shops, any place with hours flexible enough that she could still find time to surf and go to school, in that order. “He passed the lifeguard tests and has a big interview. If he gets the job, everything’ll be okay.”

I wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that Will had taken the lifeguard test, even though I knew my reaction was selfish. It was strange to think Will might end up with the career
I
had always dreamed of having, especially since I didn’t think it was
his
dream job.

But I was learning that dreams changed.

I frowned, as I considered what Tess had said. “Everything, like what?”

Tess lowered her head and shrugged. “You know…” She looked down, toying with her bracelets again. “It’s just been hard on him, that’s all.” I got the definite feeling she was holding back, which was a first, considering she’d been such an open book up until then. But I didn’t want to push her, so I let it drop.

“Well,” I said, grinning at her. “You ready to print some of these up so you can get that McJob of yours?”

The mischievous smile I’d grown accustomed to seeing was back. “I’d be happy at some crapass foodcart serving stale donuts and lukewarm coffee. As long as they pay me on time, what do I care, right?”

I laughed as I got up to print her resumes, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said, about how everything would be okay if only Will got that job.

LAUREN

I was sitting in the computer lab the next day when Tess came bursting into the small classroom like a hurricane, bouncing up and down as her bright eyes sparkled and her blonde-streaked hair whipping wildly behind her. “Lauren! I did it!
We
did it!”

She didn’t even have to explain, her enthusiasm said it all. “A job? You got a job already?” I shot up from my chair.

She was nodding when she reached me, and I threw my arms around her. “Yay!” I squeezed her hard and then drew back. “So? Which crapass foodcart will I be getting my stale donuts from?”

Her eyes went wide and she bit her bottom lip excitedly. “No foodcart—it’s the pro shop! Big Chuck hired me, and I’ll be selling Sex Wax and boards and wetsuits. It’s right up my alley! Plus, he totally gets that I need surf-time.”

I had no idea who Big Chuck was, and a pro shop
so
wasn’t the kind of place I imagined a pretty girl like Tess working, but I giggled, because how could I not? “I assume Sex Wax is a surf thing…”

Tess rolled her eyes at me. “You totally aren’t from around here, are you?”

“Nope.”

She lifted her eyebrows, like she’d just come up with the most brilliant plan ever. “You should let me teach you to surf. You know, to repay you for your help!”

I tried to imagine myself on a surfboard in the raging waves of the Pacific Ocean. Me, who could barely manage to stay afloat in the motionless water of the kiddie pool where I was learning to swim. “I think I’ll take a hard pass. Let’s chalk that up to
it’s the thought that counts
and call it even.”

Tess flashed me her winning smile. “Okay, fine. Maybe not surfing, but I’ll figure out a way to repay you.”

‡

It was still light out when I was leaving the rec center that evening, even though the parking lot was mostly deserted. It wasn’t hard to hear the argument spilling out from the narrow alleyway between the large community center building and the warehouse next door. Whatever the disagreement was about, it was heated.

Involuntarily, my skin prickled and I glanced around, making sure it had nothing to do with me, and when I was sure I was in the clear, I dropped my chin and made a beeline toward my car.

Even before the night at The Coffee Cave, my knee-jerk reaction had always been to mind my own business. If I’d had earbuds, I would have plugged those in my ears in an effort to avoid getting involved.

Except today there was something about this particular argument that made me slow down, something familiar about the raised voices. Or one of them, anyway.

Dammit
, I silently cursed, realizing there was no way I was getting away that easily this time. It was Tess down that alley, and whoever the older guy was down there with her, it wasn’t Will.

Taking a deep breath, and reaching into my purse for the can of pepper spray I kept there, I eased closer to make sure Tess wasn’t in any trouble. I hated shit like this. I wasn’t a badass, but I certainly wasn’t about to let some asshole—dangerous or not—push a teenage girl around.

When I heard Tess, her voice quivering, telling the guy, “I promise it won’t be long. I got a job, I’ll get you some money as soon as I can,” my fingers tightened around the pepper spray. As much as I wanted to peek around the corner, I stayed where I was, my back pressed against the wall so I could hear what was happening.

“Look, Tessie,” A gravelly voice said back to her, much quieter than it had been just seconds ago, and something about the way he said it—the familiarity or his greasy tone—made me cringe. “You know I don’t wanna be like this. I love you and your brother.” He paused to take a breath, his lips smacking together, like the mere act of speaking was an effort. I wondered what kind of trouble Will had gotten them in to, and why this guy thought Tess would have whatever money he was after. “But you can’t get me the kinda dough I need, and I don’t have time to wait for you to fill your piggy bank.”

Tess was quiet, and I started to think he might be doing something more than just talking. I took a breath and clutched the small canister of pepper spray, ready to pounce, when I heard her again. “We both know my mom didn’t want this, Uncle Cam.”
Uncle?
I let my head fall back, but only because Tess didn’t sound at all distressed. In fact, she sounded pissed. “She would have
wanted
me to live with Will, and she would’ve hated that you’re blackmailing us like this.”

“Your mom was too weak, and too sick, to know what she wanted.”

There was a smacking sound. If, for a single second, I’d thought it was he who’d hit her, I would have come out guns—or rather, pepper spray—blazing. But I knew she’d just slapped him across the face.

A slow smile found my lips, even as I prepared to jump to Tess’s rescue.

It wasn’t necessary though, because the next thing I heard was her Uncle Cam screaming after her, presumably because she’d run away, disappearing down the other end of the alley. “You ungrateful brat! If it hadn’t been for me, Social Services woulda picked you up months ago. In fact, maybe it’s time I placed that call! Maybe they’d be interested in the fact that your no-good brother’s trying to keep you from your own guardian! If you and your brother can’t seem to come up with the cash I need, I think I should call your social worker and let the state find a proper home for you!”

I wasn’t sure if Tess had heard that last part or not, but I sure had, and I felt sick. So that’s what this was all about—Will working as many jobs as he could, selling his surfboard and who knew what else, Tess needing a resume. Their uncle was blackmailing them, threatening to call Social Services and have her taken away from Will if they didn’t pay him off. What a dick.

I didn’t know why the state would even listen to him, but it didn’t matter. The very fact he was willing to make the threat turned my stomach, and I understood why Tess had run off so suddenly. Who would want to be around anyone like him?

I thought about bolting for my car then, but for reasons I couldn’t explain, I stayed right where I was.

When he came around the corner, he practically ran me down, despite the fact he was far less intimidating than he’d sounded. He was older than I’d thought, although no less greasy, and tired in a way that said he’d lived a hard,
hard
life. The word junkie popped into my head, and I doubted I was that far off.

“’Scuse me,” he grumbled, barely looking up, and not seeming to care that I’d probably heard at least part of his conversation with his niece.

He brushed past me, and my nose filled with the scent of his sour breath and fresh tobacco. Wincing, I opened my mouth to say something, even though I wasn’t sure exactly what I planned to say. There was a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my heart was hammering way too hard.

“Hey! I need to talk to you,” I managed, which probably wasn’t the smoothest thing I could’ve said, but it got him to stop at least.

“Yeah? What d’you want?”

The impatient way he narrowed his eyes at me was irritating. Like he had better and more important places to be, which we both knew couldn’t possibly be true. “I need you to answer a couple of questions for me.”

“What’s in it for me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Depends,” I told him, realizing I had the upper hand with a guy like him—someone who was so desperate for money he’d stoop low enough to blackmail his own family. “On how honest your answers are.”

He licked the front of his gross, decayed teeth, and the heaviness in my stomach threatened to turn to nausea. He nodded his head to the side, which I took to be a
go-ahead
shrug.

“Okay, first, why would Social Services care if you called them on Will and Tess?” I raised my brows as I crossed my arms over my chest to let him know I wanted the full answer. “And what I mean is, what leverage do you have over them?”

His eyes tightened to narrow slits at the mention of Will and Tess, but he recovered quickly, giving me another shrug-nod, as if it made no difference to him whether he answered truthfully or not. He was obviously practiced at not giving anything away. “I’m the girl’s guardian. It’s all legal and whatnot. My sister, Tess’s mother, signed papers before she died that said I was in charge of Tess after she died.” He gave me a smug look at the end of his explanation.

The look I returned was pointed. “And the money? The cash you’re trying to extort from them? What’s that all about?”