Laughing Fate (38 page)

She felt a steady pressure at her back propelling her forward. She was too scared to resist, instead let Tony lead her blindly. She really didn’t want to be here. She saw James and Steve leaning against a wall talking to a group of guys. She quickly glanced away, but not before seeing their eyes narrow in distaste. Oh good, they got the memo.

She wondered what they had been saying about her? Since she had broken up with Potter the guys had stopped coming by the diner. Well that was just fine with Puck, it wasn’t like they were her friends or anything.

“Just smile and keep walking,” Tony whispered in her ear.

Puck turned to look up at him with wide eyes and nodded at him slowly. So he had seen them too. Puck bent her head and bit her lip. She was such a coward. What was she doing here? She didn’t want to see Potter or his friends. She didn’t belong here. Puck felt eyes on her, knowing without a look that it was Potter. She raised her eyes and squared her shoulders. She would not cower in front of Potter!

Tony guided her past Potter and his group of friends and into the pool room down the stairs. Perri handed Puck a can of beer and challenged her to a game of pool. Puck was still in a slight daze, but accepted both the beer and the challenge.

Before Tony had whisked her away she had seen Potter talking to that bimbo from the beach. She had been leaning on him and laughing at some dumb comment of his. Puck pushed back that disgusting image and swigged her beer. She lined up her shot and broke the balls on the table. She would not allow herself to miss Potter anymore. He was a womanizing bastard just like every other man.

****

Potter had come to the party at the convincing of his friends. They had been bewildered at first when he had told them that Puck had broken up with him. Then they had quickly gotten angry and told him that he was better of with out her. Potter wished that he could agree with them.

He saw Betty standing by herself, looking slightly nervous. She was wearing a low cut shirt that hugged her curves and jean skirt that showed off a lot of leg. An errant image popped into his brain of Puck wearing that outfit. Potter growled in frustration and drained his can of beer. He was tired of thinking of Puck, of wondering if she was okay, of being angry and hurt. Potter walked over to Betty and smiled a greeting.

“Hey, how you doing?”

“
Fine, you?”

“
Doing good. This is some party, huh?”

“
Yeah, they throw this party once a year, just about everyone comes to it. So how do you like our small little town so far?”

“
Everyone’s so friendly. I’ve only been here a few months and already I know just about everyone. It’s not like that in San Francisco. Plus, the waves are good. ”

“
You know, I saw you the other day surfing at the cove. My friends and I are usually out everyday, you can feel free to join us. Just watch out for Brad, he thinks he’s a lady’s man.”

Betty laughed and asked, “Does that mean he’s not?”

“It depends on if you like corny pick up lines and drooling.”

Potter winced at her laugh, it sounded just like her voice- fake. He scanned the room looking for any of his friends. He saw Baby surrounded by guys and basking in their praise. Good, he had hoped she would move on. He saw James and Steve standing against a wall a few feet away and was about to leave Betty and go join them, when he saw Puck walk in with Tony’s arm around her.

He felt the air suck out of his lungs. Puck looked great in clothes that were obviously not hers. The top was low cut and just as tight fitting as the one Betty wore. It fit her slim athletic body perfectly. Her jeans were darker and more sparkly than her normal blue jeans. They hugged her slim hips, showing just a hint of skin. Her hair was styled and hanging in soft curls around her lovely face. He hated that face. Potter followed her with his eyes, hating that she was here with Tony. He had to fight against the urge to rip Tony’s arm off of her. Puck wasn’t his anymore.

Potter turned to Betty and smiled charmingly. It was time for him to get over Puck. She obviously had already gotten over him. He felt his breathing come easier when Puck left the room and silently cursed that fact. He didn’t want these feelings. He didn’t want to know when she entered a room, he didn’t want to smell her scent or strain to hear her voice. Potter guided Betty over to where everyone was dancing. He had to get Puck out of his brain.

****

Puck was leaning over to take a shot when she heard Perri gasp. Puck glanced up and saw Perri staring at some one over her shoulder. Puck looked behind her to see what had surprised Perri. She heard her stick drop and clatter against the floor. Puck blushed and picked it back up.

“Hi Kyle, you surprised me. Guys, this is Kyle. Kyle this is my kid sister and our friend, Tony.”

“
Hi Puck,” Kyle said looking her over and then shook Perri’s and Tony’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you guys. I’ve actually heard a lot about you two.”

“
Hi,” Perri said a little uncertainly, looking to Puck for cues. Puck sighed and explained to Kyle, “She never knew about us dating, so she’s been a little curious ever since she found that old picture of us on our camping trip.”

“
Aww, the bubble day! That was a great day! We ditched school and spent the next three days camping on the lake.”

“
Bubble day? What does that mean?” Tony asked.

“
We decided to pretend that we didn’t have any responsibilities. For those days we lived in our own little bubble- just enjoying ourselves.” Puck shared a smile with Kyle over that memory. When she had last seen him, she had wished never to see him again, but right now she was glad to see him. She made a split second decision and walked up to Kyle. 

After she hugged him she whispered in his ear, “I need to talk to you outside.”

Kyle sent her a questioning look, but nodded his head. He waved goodbye and grabbed Puck’s hand out of habit. He winced a little when they both looked down at their entwined hands in an awkward silence. Kyle looked at Puck and smiled apologetically.

“
Sorry, I guess old habits are hard to break.”

“
Don’t worry about it,” Puck said as she squeezed his hand. She turned around to speak to Perri who was watching her carefully. “I’m just going to step outside for a bit. See you later.”

Puck walked with Kyle into the main room, forging their way through the crowds. The music had gotten louder since she had first arrived, and couples were dancing to the music in a wild sort of dance. Puck flinched when she saw Potter dancing with the bimbo. She was glued to his body, rubbing her fake boobs against him and entwining her legs with his. Puck met Potter’s inscrutable gaze and felt the air escape from her lungs. How could he dance with another girl like that? Didn’t he miss her at all? She forced her gaze away from Potter’s and tried to force air into her lungs.

She hadn’t realized that she had stopped walking until Kyle tugged on her arm. She shot a surprised look at Kyle and winced at the concern on his face. He must think she was a basket case. She glanced at Potter again and saw that his eyes were now on Kyle. He recognized Kyle from the picture, Puck knew, because his eyes had hardened with some emotion that Puck didn’t recognize. It wasn’t jealousy, or anger…it was just dark, some dark emotion that was probably a combination of the two.

Puck forced herself to walk out of the house, feeling Potter’s eyes follow them all the way to the door.  A rush of air hit them as they stepped outside, and Puck breathed it in greedily.  It was ridiculous that Potter could effect her breathing like that. She paused a second to catch her breath and then led them away from the house.

“Who the hell was that guy? He looked like he was about to tackle me.”

“
That was Potter,” Puck said softly. She felt Kyle looking at her strangely and met his gaze. “He was kind of dating me, but it ended a little badly.”

“
Badly like how?”

“
Badly like he asked me to marry him and I said no. He’s obviously over it though; did you see that bimbo he was dancing with? She was practically glued to him. It was obscene.”

“
Doesn’t sound like you’re over it, is that why we’re outside right now?”

Puck looked at Kyle for a second, noticing his black hair spiked up like normal and the concern in his eyes. People had to stop looking at her like that! It was getting on her nerves. Puck bit her lip and walked a few steps past Kyle, kicking the dirt with her shoe. “Do you ever think about that day?”

He didn’t need to ask which day. “Every damn day, she was my sister, Puck.”

Puck nodded and stared up into the darkening sky. “I tried very hard to forget. You know, shove the feelings back until they didn’t hurt so much. Do…do you still hate me?” She asked hesitantly. She rushed in to add, “I wouldn’t blame you if you did. Half the time I hate myself for that day. I know it was all my fault, I know that if it wasn’t for me she would still be alive.”

“I don’t hate you Puck. I meant what I said at the mall. I want us to be friends again.” Kyle ran his hands through his hair, a sure sign that he was distressed. He always kept his hair impeccably done.

“
I was wrong when I said those things to you at the hospital. We never should have parted like that. We should have gone to group counseling and dealt with our anger and pain. I…I know I let you down. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you to go home and act like everything was okay. I should have been there for you.”

“
It’s okay that you weren’t. I mean it.  I needed space from you; every time I looked at you I would have remembered Molly. I don’t think I could have stood that.”

“
So why are we outside now, Puck?”

“
I don’t know. I just need a friend. Everyone is hovering over me, watching me. My friends don’t understand why this time of year is so hard on me, you know? I just wanted to be with someone that knew Molly, that remembers the sound of her laugh and that loved her.,” Puck said, tears choking her voice. She looked at Kyle and smiled a little.

“
I just want to have a bubble day. I don’t want to think about everything else that has been going on. I just want to spend some time with an old friend and remember the good old days.”

Kyle pulled Puck in for a hug and held her for a long moment. “Then let’s have a bubble day.”  He let go of Puck and pulled on her arm. “Let’s race to the barn! I bet I can still beat you!”

Puck laughed and wiped a tear off her face. “I never remember you beating me!” She pushed Kyle playfully and started running towards the barn. She heard Kyle’s whining about cheating, but kept on running. The feel of the wind running through her hair and her muscles pumping was like heaven to Puck. She reached the barn out of breath, but smiling, a moment before Kyle slammed into the barn. He bent over breathing heavily and moaned about getting old.

“
Dude, you’re not old. You just smoked your lungs to death when you were a kid.”

Kyle grinned at Puck and shrugged. “Could be that’s true. I quit smoking though, so give me five or ten years and when they’re healthy again I’ll beat you!”

“You’re on!” Puck said, high fiving him. She leaned against the barn smiling out at the ranch. “I saw some of your old friends in there. Are you still friends with them?”

“
Some of them. Remember that girl I said I was dating? Well she dumped me. So now half of my friends hate my guts and the other half is on my side, small towns sure can be twisted, huh?”

“
Yeah, I know what you mean. How come she dumped you? Did you try to slip her a roofie?”

“
Hey! No fair! You already beat the crap out of me for that!”

“
Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Puck asked wistfully. She smiled at his expression and ruffled his hair. “We were good friends.”

“
But?”

“
Let’s not end the bubble day yet? Remember the rules? No sad stuff.”

Kyle nodded his head tugged on his ear. “Well I’m getting bored, and if I’m bored I KNOW you’re bored. What say you we do now?”

“Ummm…we could tip some cows?” Puck asked hopefully.

“
Dude, there’s no cows here. They have sheep and pigs.”

“
That’s lame,” Puck said, disappointment lacing her voice. She REALLY wanted to go cow tipping.  She saw a tree growing by the ranch house and laughed. “A CLIMBING TREE!” She declared brightly, tugging Kyle after her.

“
It’s perfect! Look at it! It’s gigantic!”

“
You know, most people find the most fun INSIDE a party,” he remarked sardonically.

“
We aren’t most people,” Puck announced blithely. She waited for Kyle to lace his fingers to give her a leg up and then stepped onto his hands. She grabbed the branch that was over head and pulled herself on top. She stood up, holding lightly to another branch and grinned down at Kyle.

“
Now how the hell am I supposed to get up?”