Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Before the girls could pile back into the car, the sound of an engine behind them on the road had them all swiveling around. It was followed by another, until at least four, maybe five more vehicles were parked nearby. Clearly oblivious to the four girls huddled around the late model Ford, a stream of laughing teens poured from each car, and Beth recognized many of the voices.

“Did they follow us?” Lexy asked, quietly.

“No, dumbass,” Andi admonished, shaking her head. “We are on their turf now. This is where they come to party.”

“You knew that, and you let me drive out here anyway?” Brittany asked. “Does your uncle, the sheriff know that?”

Andi shrugged, and ignoring her question, replied, “You can thank me later.”

“Huh?” But before Andi could answer Brittany’s inquiry, she realized Kyle was among the partiers, and Brittany’s face lit up.

“Is that Michael?” Lexy asked, her eyes practically bulging behind her glasses.

“Sure is,” Andi replied. “Sorry, Beth, but….”

Beth could make Sammy’s silhouette out even in the darkness, and while there was separation between him and Carly at least, Beth could hear the girl’s laughter mingled with the cacophony spewing out of Mindy’s mouth. “We should go.”

“Hey, Shane! Is that your little sister?” a voice called into the night as the beam from a flashlight came flinging her way.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Beth muttered, trying to remove herself from the light. If Shane told their mom she wasn’t at Lexy’s house….

“I don’t know,” Shane replied loudly, his voice sounding nonchalant. “I don’t keep up with the livestock.” That garnered a shriek of laughter from the girls and loud chuckles from most of the guys, followed by several moos and oinks.

“That’s not cool, Shane.”

Beth was shocked to hear anyone from that group stand up for her. She leaned forward, off of the car, wondering who in the world had dared call her brother out.

It wasn’t Shane who responded, though. He was too busy laughing at his own joke and admiring his ability to make his groupies snicker. Beth recognized Tom’s loud voice. “Shut up, Michael. What’s the matter? You in love with Beth? You gonna go make lil baby piggies with her?”

There was another round of laughter, and Beth didn’t know if she should step forward and defend Michael for standing up for her, or just disappear into the night. Ten minutes ago, she would’ve thought the evening couldn’t get any worse. Now, she just wanted to fade away.

“Oh, that’s your sister?”

A flashlight was back in her face, and Beth raised a hand to shield her eyes. The beam dropped, and behind it she could see the slight outline of a girl she didn’t recognize at first. But then it all came back to her. She hadn’t seen the girl from the shadows since that night two weeks ago at the game, but she must’ve been hanging out with Shane’s posse all along.

“I met her once. She seemed nice enough. I don’t know how she does that scorekeeping shit.”

“That’s why Shane doesn’t like her,” a male voice Beth didn’t recognize offered. “Beth got all the brains.”

“Shut up, DJ!” Tom sprang to Shane’s defense again. The guy who’d given the explanation was clearly just joking since he was known as a cut-up screw off who never accomplished anything in or outside of school, and unlike Michael who had been friendly with Beth on more than one occasion, DJ had no reason to try to defend her.

“All right, I’ll let you guys decide whether or not my stupid sister is worth any more of your time or not, but Tiffany and I are going to wander off into the bushes for a little while. If any of you need anything, you can go screw yourselves.”

Beth didn’t even see Tiffany until Shane turned, and then she realized his girlfriend was glued to his side, her arm encircling his waist. Thoughts of what they might be headed off to do made her stomach roll, and once again, Beth was imploring, “Let’s just go.”

The sounds of cans opening filled the night, and then a radio began to blare Snoop Dogg. Beth was about ready to take off on foot if her friends didn’t get their asses in the car.

“You should go tell Michael thank you,” Lexy said, nudging her with her shoulder.

“Are you insane?” Beth asked, swiveling to look at her. “There’s no way in hell I’m going over there.”

“He just stood up to your brother for you. That’s commendable,” Andi agreed, her arms still crossed.

“It’s amazing that none of them had a single word to say about any of the rest of us, isn’t it?” Brittany mused.

Beth turned and looked at her. “If you’d like to be called livestock and mooed at, I’ll trade you lives any time.”

“I wasn’t saying that…” Brittany insisted, realizing what she’d said.

A response hung from Beth’s lips as she realized they were not alone. The flashlight was gone, but Halley was lingering in the shadows nearby, her arms crossed, watching them. With a deep breath, Beth said, “Thanks for… that.”

“Oh, no, don’t thank me.” When Halley spoke, the sound of music filled Beth’s mind, almost like each sentence was a song, despite the fact that her words now were anything but friendly. “I didn’t come to your defense because I want to be your friend.”

Beth hadn’t assumed that was the case; she thought the newcomer was just being nice, that maybe the group of savages hadn’t corrupted her yet. “No, I know. I was just saying… you didn’t have to do that.”

“I did have to.” Halley was only a foot or so away from her now, and Beth could see the golden flecks in her eyes catching the light from the stars and moon and sending it back through the night, cutting the darkness in tiny pinpoints of glitter. “I can’t stand to see someone pick on a wounded animal. Where’s the challenge in that?”

The scoffs of her friends were echoed in Beth’s mind as her eyebrows shot up. “A wounded animal?” she repeated, unable to believe her own ears.

“Sure. It’s too bad, too, because it doesn’t have to be that way. You really are a pretty girl, Beth. The potential is there. You just need to get out of your head. And learn to do your makeup. Honestly, girl, the faster you learn it really is what’s on the outside that counts, the better off you’ll be. But… I’m pretty sure you don’t have it in you.” Halley turned on her heel and headed back toward the group of friends who by now were singing along with the CD, many of them well on their way to getting plastered.

Part of Beth wanted to reach out, grab Halley’s slender shoulder, spin her around and give her a good piece of her mind. How dare she say such a thing! Her whole life, Beth had been focused on her grades, of ensuring she had a way to get out of that hellish town. But Halley had the audacity to tell her she should focus on her looks? If she was capable? Like that would even make a difference with Shane as her older brother!

“Let’s go,” Andi said, pushing Beth out of the way so she could open the back door. “I don’t like that girl. There’s just something about her….”

“Maybe the fact that she’s a bitch?” Brittany asked quietly, pulling her keys out of the pocket of her jean shorts.

“I think she’s nice,” Lexy argued, hopping into the front seat.

Andi was shaking her head as she grabbed Beth’s wrist and pulled her into the back seat beside her. “Come on.”

Beth continued to stare at the spot where Halley’s petite frame had disappeared until Brittany backed the car out and turned it around. As they drove passed, Beth stared out the window, looking for Halley, but instead, she saw Michael. He waved slowly with his free hand, his other wrapped around a can she assumed wasn’t Coca-Cola. She waved back. She would need to say something about him putting himself out there, but not now.

“Oh, shit…” Andi muttered, and Beth turned to see what she was looking at. Off in the bushes, maybe twenty feet away from the vehicles, Beth caught sight of where Halley had disappeared to, and she wasn’t alone. Even though Brittany stepped on the gas, they could only go so fast, and Halley pulled her mouth off of Sammy’s long enough to flash Beth the kind of smile one might see in a horror movie.