Always Us (We Were Us Series Book 2) Read online

  “I know honey. Have you talked to your Mom?” This was his feeble attempt at a subject change, but really we were going from talking about my mom’s house to actually her. Not much of a difference. I sat in silence, refusing to talk about her or Riverview. She’d made it clear over the summer that she didn’t care about me anymore, she why should I care about her. She’s a life ruiner. She never cared for me as mothers should. She’d broken up at least two marriages and destroyed Michelle’s relationship with her dad.

  “Fine.” He sounded like a bratty teenager. Wasn’t that my job?

  BANG BANG BANG.

  “Michelle! Open the door right now, I need to get in there!!” I heard Stef yell from down the hall.

  “What was that?” Dad asked.

  “Stef. Michelle’s in the bathroom.”

  “Don’t you have two?”

  “Lauren’s probably in the other one.”

  I sighed. It was time to play mediator again. The bathroom scheduled that had been working out for all of us and ceased. I’d stuck to it on my end, and I think Lauren was trying.

  “Jenna! Your friend, has been in there for like half an hour already and I need to get to class.”

  “Then go!” I heard Michelle holler from behind the closed door.

  “I need to brush my teeth. It’s not like I need to spend hours brushing my hair or putting on makeup that’s not even going to make me any prettier.” Stef shot.

  “Nothing will make you prettier.” Michelle shot back.

  “Dad, I gotta go,” I said and clicked off the phone.

  Immediately a text came through. I didn’t even have to look at it to know who it was. Josh. He’d been relentless lately. Multiple texts a day. I’d resorted to keeping my phone on vibrate or turning it completely off especially during class.

  “Get out of the bathroom!” Stefanie was bordering on rage.

  “Calm down,” I intervened.

  I discarded the phone on the bed and ran into the hallway. Josh can wait. Forever.

  “No, Jenna. I can’t. I’m tired of this. It’s been two months and she has no respect for living with other people. She’s always in the bathroom and being loud and annoying.” Stefanie said, all in one breath.

  “Michelle, or Lauren,” I said a little louder. “Will one of you please hurry? I need to get in there too.” I added.

  Lauren emerged from the far bathroom, quickly apologized, “It’s all yours” she said and left out the front door. She worked at a hair salon as a receptionist, part-time, as well as starting school this semester.

  “That’s great and all, but my toothbrush is in that one.” She points at the bathroom Michelle is occupying.

  The door opened a crack and a purple toothbrush sailed past my face, narrowly missing my nose, but clocked Stef in the ear. Then toothpaste hit me in the chest.

  “Arrrgghhh” Stef screamed. “That is so not even the point!”

  I had to agree with her. Tossing Stefanie’s stuff out of the bathroom was rude and uncalled for. But being their mediator was not my job. They were grown women and should be able to work things out for themselves.

  “Jenna, I am about done with her.” Stef said and turned away from me and stalked down the hallway to brush her teeth in the other bathroom.

  I sighed for about the tenth time.

  “You can’t do that, Michelle,” I said to the door.

  The door opened and Michelle stepped out. Her long, red hair was perfectly blown out and swept up in a half updo. I could tell she had no makeup on because her freckles were visible.

  “I’m sorry, but I had to get ready for class. There’s a cute boy who sits next to me and I want to meet him,” she said with a shrug.

  “Well you better get out of here before Stef gets done.” I pushed her toward the front door, grabbed her bag for her, and practically shoved her out the door. “I hate listening to you guys argue over stupid things.”

  “I know, but she’s so easy.”

  “Michelle,” I said sternly.

  “Fine, I’m gone. Laters baby.” She blew me a kiss and I can’t help but smile.

  She’d decided to start walking to school. It was less than a mile and she said she was tired of waiting around for a ride. I’d told her that I didn’t mind driving her, but I think that the fact that she needed to rely on other people for transportation was bothering her.

  An hour later, after successfully avoiding Stef after the altercation, I sat in History class listening to the professor drone on about some war. I knew I should pay attention and that wars are important to our country blah blah blah, but my mind kept wandering to what happened this morning. Not just the thing between Michelle and Stef, but also my dad.

  I’d made a clean break, but things keep happening that forced my mind back to Riverview. My dad, Josh, and of course Michelle and Lauren-my daily reminders. But they weren’t so bad. Neither of them ever mentioned anything from back home. My phone pinged again to let me know I had a new message. Josh again, but I let it be.

  A hand waved in front of my face and I shook Josh from my thoughts. I looked past the hand and see that it was Andrew.

  “Professor Field asked you a question,” he whispered hastily.

  “Shoot,” I whisper back, but it’s not as quiet as Andrew’s.

  “Um,” I mumble.

  “Ms. Mitchell, perhaps you care to enlighten us as to what you’ve been thinking about for the past forty-five minutes. Certainly World War II can’t have been that riveting.”

  Rumbles of laughter spread around the room as Professor Field awaited my response. I mean, I was just thinking about Josh, but I don’t want to admit that with Andrew sitting next to me.

  “I was thinking about Halloween,” I finally said.

  “Ah, yes. You must be thinking about what revealing costume you’re going to wear to impress all the boys? A slutty nurse, maybe? Is that what you kids call it? Maybe a World War II nurse with sexy blood dripping from your hands.” More people laughed. “Let’s get back to learning, folks.”

  I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and sunk into my seat, avoiding everyone’s amused stares and Andrew. He knew I wasn’t really thinking about Halloween.

  Of course, I wasn’t thinking about Halloween. The conversation with my dad had shaken me along with the tension in the apartment. The whole deal was making me anxious.

  Andrew’s hand waves in front of my face again.

  “Jen, wake up!” Andrew said in a loud whisper. “Professor Field is staring at you.”

  The bell rang signaling the end of class and I hightailed it out of there. I heard the professor calling after me, but I ignored him. Andrew chased me, he caught my arm and spun me around.

  “Hey, you’ve been flaky lately. What’s up?” His deep brown eyes searched my face.

  “Um, it’s nothing. Just girl stuff at the apartment,” I lied

  “Still?” I watched him ruffle his unruly hair, then slide his hand to the back of his neck, then back down to the book he was carrying.

  “Yeah,” I looked down at his hand, then over to the door to the coffee shop we liked to visit for lunch sometimes. “Stefanie and Michelle aren’t getting along. Michelle is like, pranking her or something. Lauren is never there, and I’m stuck in the middle. Oh yeah, and my dad wants me to go back to Riverview.”

  “What? Why?” The hand that was just in his hair was now on my shoulder. I could smell his hair gel. It was like lavender mixed with peppermint. It was heavenly and I suddenly couldn’t remember answer to his question.

  “Jenna?”

  I couldn’t find my words. I was tired of talking about Riverview. I was tired of thinking about it. I was in Brookhaven now. And I was with Andrew, I think.

  “Jenna.” Andrew said a little louder.

  I snapped out of it with a shake of my head and smiled at him. Andrew had been over to the apartment almost daily since I got back to Brookhaven. He helped me set up my room and helped move in t
he furniture. We’d even studied there together since we were taking classes together again. Last year, he claimed to be a pre-med student, but he’s in a bunch of my psych classes and I don’t know why. It’s just part of the mystery that is Andrew. A mystery that I planned on solving this year.

  “He wants to sell the house and wants me to clean it for him. Like I didn’t already do that all last summer.”

  We’d beaten the lunch rush and the tiny café/coffeehouse place on campus, so we grabbed our food and sat at our normal, two chaired table by the window. I glanced out at the thick, grey clouds. Rain was coming.

  “Is it not clean enough? I don’t think you should go back.” He sat across from me.

  “God, I just want to put that all behind me. I’m done with my mom, that place and all the people in it!” I stood up and took my full plate to the trash and dumped it.

  I hadn’t even told Andrew about Josh. Not really. I think he knew something happened. But I hadn’t volunteered any information and Andrew hadn’t asked.

  “I’m sorry,” Andrew said behind me.

  “It’s fine,” I said.

  We left the coffee house just as the lunch crowd rushed in. I regretted not eating, but decide to raid a vending machine later. I opened the metal double doors that lead out to the quad. The clouds had grown darker, threatening rain, more so than before. If we didn’t hurry, we’d get caught in a downpour.

  Josh popped in my head.

  Again.

  The last time I was stuck in the rain, Josh and I had been arguing. Why does everything I do come back to Josh or Riverview?

  “Jenna, hello?” Andrew’s hands were waving in front of my face for the third time today, interrupting almost the same thoughts.

  “Yeah, sorry. What’s up?” I shook the thoughts out of my head.

  “Are you coming to my Halloween party?” he asked again and skipped in front of me and turned, walking backwards. I laugh at him, and push him lightly. It doesn’t even phase him.

  Andrew was intimidatingly tall, with broad shoulders and thick arms I relish in every time we hug. I watched his chest muscles flex as he swung his arms to keep up his backwards pace. He was buff, but not too buff. Still soft enough to snuggle with, but I felt safe in his arms.

  “Yeah, I’ll come,” I said with a smile. He smiled too and it reached his warm, deep, brown eyes.

  “What are you going to dress up as?” He winked at me.

  “I thought I’d just come naked,” I shrugged. Andrew stumbled and fell backwards on his butt. I stopped walking and just stood there laughing at him as he rolled around on the ground trying to get up.

  “Don’t lie about this stuff.” He stood quickly and leaned in close to my face. The warmness in his eyes from just seconds ago has now been replaced with raw desire.

  “I,” I sputtered out.

  “Jenna, I don’t know what happened this summer, but I knew what we were all last year. We denied it. We denied our feelings for each other and I regret that and I’m sorry. But you are done with him, and I’m here, and I want you.”

  His words floored me. He wanted me. I wanted him. Of course I did. His eyes bore into me, waiting for an answer.

  “I was thinking of being a spider?” I finally said although it came out more as a question than a statement.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” he smiled and I just stared at his upturned mouth.

  Andrew loomed over me before leaning in. I knew for a fact he was about to kiss me. He didn’t though, because at that precise second, Stefanie’s voice rang out.

  “Jenna!” Her voice rose half of an octave on the last syllable of my name.

  I sighed heavily. If I do anymore sighing, I’ll run out of breath and die. Of course I’m being dramatic, but all I’ve done lately is sigh about things.

  Andrew moved aside and crossed his arms over his chest next to me.

  “Jenna, look what your friend did.” She shoved her phone in my face.

  I took the phone from her hand and positioned it at a more appropriate distance from my face. It was a picture of our bathroom, the mirror specifically. Someone had written in red lipstick A PRETTY FACE DOESN’T MEAN A PRETTY HEART. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, but Andrew, who had been peeking over my shoulder did nothing to stifle his laughter.

  “It’s not funny! That was expensive lipstick! I can’t afford to buy anymore!” Stefanie was fuming. “You owe me Jenna. This is unacceptable.” She snatched her phone back and stalked away.

  “Trouble in paradise?” Andrew asked.

  “Yeah.” I waved him off.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked

  “Not really. I mean, I knew Michelle and Stef weren’t getting along, it was evident from day one. Stef had assumed she and I would be the only people living in that apartment, and then I brought Michelle and Lauren so we are packed in there pretty tight. Stef’s just jealous.”

  We kept walking across the quad, going nowhere in particular.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “It’s fine. I just don’t know what to do about it. Stef wants me to do something, but I just don’t know.”

  A raindrop fell on my shoulder. I looked up, the grey clouds mimicked the angry swirling around that this situation was causing in my gut.

  “Let’s hurry or we’re going to get wet.”

  Andrew grabbed my hand and we sprinted the rest of the way to the science building just in time. As soon as the glass door slammed shut behind us, the clouds ripped open, releasing the rain they had held onto.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It was too quiet when I walked into the apartment after class. Someone was home, I knew that much, but the tension that radiated from the back rooms was thick.

  “Hello?” I called. Nothing. “Hello?” I called again. I set my bag down on the couch, I walked through the living room. I glanced into the kitchen and noticed the refrigerator door was open and food was laid out all over the counter and our small dining room table.

  A door slammed in the back startling me. Stef rushed at me, took me by the shoulders, and shook me. “Michelle took a bite out of all the food. All of it.” Her eyes were wild and shifted between mine and all the food.

  I just stood there staring at her. All I could think was did she eat the eggs raw? Which would have been the completely wrong thing to say at this moment. Stefanie e was beyond livid.

  “Do you not see this?” She screamed in my face and held up a block of cheese with teeth marks in it.

  “Just cut off that part,” I said. I was half joking, but kind of serious at the same time.

  “Are you serious? I can’t afford to buy new food. She took a bite out of all the food!” She shook the cheese in my face.

  “I get that.”

  “She can’t get away with this stuff, Jenna! Why would she do this?”

  “I don’t know.” And I didn’t know. I mean, it wasn’t really unlike Michelle, she pulled pranks all the time, and I usually helped her. She was probably just blowing off some steam. Stef could be really intense sometimes.

  “You have to say something to her. She doesn’t listen to me.”

  “Okay,” I said and took the cheese from her flailing hand. “And I’ll buy some new food. Okay?”

  “Well, that’s not the point, but thanks.”

  “Is Michelle home?” I asked.

  “No, she’d be dead if she was.”

  I sighed. This was becoming comical now.

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  I helped Stefanie put all the food away then shut my bedroom door and fell face first onto my bed. I thought about the food. Michelle is bored. That’s the only explanation for her behavior. She loved to prank people and I think Stefanie was the wrong target. I remembered in high school, she’d filled the back of her dad’s truck with cow poop from the fields then put the poop under the door handles of all the cars in the freshman parking lot. Another time, she saran wrapped all the toilets in the teacher’s lounge and
bathrooms. No one found out who it was though, but the junior class got in trouble, we almost lost our Prom.

  I mulled over what I’d tell Michelle. I’d probably just tell her to quit and hoped she’d listen. Maybe she could get a job, but then that would mean she’d need rides to and from work, and she’d already stopped getting rides to school, so probably not. I guess we’d just have to wait it out until next semester when she started more classes.

  Maybe I could get her to do all my homework for me. I laughed and rolled over onto my back.

  Andrew’s words from earlier came forward. I’m here and I want you. Josh had never said that he wanted me. We spent the whole summer together, we kissed, and we had sex in a moment of weakness when I needed him. When I wanted him, he wanted Michelle or something else.

  I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of the bed. I wandered over to the tiny closet Michelle and I shared. Everything was so crammed in there that I wasn’t even sure what was mine and what was hers anymore. I dug around and found a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of tight black athletic pants.

  I had plans last year to go to the campus gym every day. I wanted to stay in shape for softball season, but I failed miserably. I didn’t go a single day and I was terribly out of shape for softball last spring. I thought maybe I should start going again, but I laughed at myself. Who I was I kidding? I had enough of my plate as it was.

  I raided Michelle’s drawers for black tights. The girl had a strange obsession with tights. She wore them with everything, shorts, skirts, ripped jeans. I found two pairs and tossed them on the bed along with the shirt and pants. I’d start building my costume this week and hoped to have it done by the end of the week.

  A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

  “I’m here,” I said.

  “Hey,” Lauren said as she opened the door.

  “Hey, Lauren. What’s up?”

  “Did you know someone took a bite out of all the food?” She flipped her long blond hair and plopped down on the bed next to me.

  “Yeah. Michelle. She’s poking a bear there.”

  “Oh.” She twirled her hair around her index finger.