Saved By You (8 page)

Was this girl innocent, too?

No way. She was too beautiful to be innocent. When you’ve got eyes that big, you’re not innocent—you’re a predator. The kind of predator that steals other girls’ men.

“I can talk wherever I want to,” I announced.

Haden fell in line with me and put his arm around me. I tried to fight against him, but my feet decided to let him walk me back to the table.

“You’re not the boss of me,” I said, struggling. “I’m an adult and I can make a scene if I want to.” He actually laughed when I said that. I shot him a dangerous look. “Don’t laugh at me,” I said. “You’re in serious trouble here.”

He all but lifted me onto the chair when we got back to the table. Huck was sitting wide-eyed, watching the scene unfold before him. It took a second before he saw the other girl tagging along behind us. In an instant, he hopped off the barstool and offered it to her. I couldn’t help but notice the flash of rage that washed over Sarah’s face—but it was gone as fast as it had appeared.

“Who is that?” I said, not caring that I was pointing directly at the girl.

“Maggie,” Haden said. “You’re being rude.”

“How dare you talk to me about
rude
,” I said.

Haden gave me a nervous look. His hand twitched, and his fingers drummed along the tabletop.

“Maggie, this is Zoe,” he said, finally.

My eyes locked onto hers, daring her to actually say something to me. She rolled her eyes and looked away, a cocky smile still on her face.

“Zoe is here with Kyle,” he continued. “She just got in from LA.”

A distant realization nagged at the back of my head as he said it. The name tickled with familiarity, but I didn’t know why. It was like some thought was trying to make its way through the thickness surrounding my brain.

“From LA?” I repeated, dumbly.

Haden nodded. “Kyle went and picked her up at the airport today.”

“Then where is he?” I said, shaking my head. “Shouldn’t he be hovering around here like the vulture he is.”

“My ears are burning, did someone say my name?” The voice boomed over us, and I cringed beside myself.

The lanky bean pole of a man leaned up to the table out of nowhere. He was like some sort of evil magician that only appeared at the worst possible times. He shot a warm smile at Zoe, that caught me off guard, and when he turned back to me, he gave me a look that surprised me even more.

The smile on his face faded. His face slackened, and he gave me a serious look. His lips pinched together and twitched from side to side like he was going to say something. But, the only thing that came out was a simple, “Hi.”

I stared at him in disbelief, certain that the alcohol was playing tricks on me. I looked back at Haden, who looked as confused as I felt. The moment passed, quickly.

“So, let me get this straight,” I said. “It’s not even a few hours after you told me you loved me, and you’re already getting close to your ex?” I looked between Kyle and Zoe. “Didn’t she cheat on you with the biggest douche bag in the world?”

Kyle’s mouth twitched to the side, and for the first time the smile on Zoe’s face disappeared.

Haden tried to lean in between me and the rest of them. He fixed me with a look.

“You should go home and sleep this off,” he said. “We can talk more tomorrow.”

“No,” I said, loudly. “You don’t want to talk because you know I’m right.”

“Maggie, I think you’re drunk,” he said.

Huck was behind me, and I hard him whisper something to Sarah. I couldn’t tell what it was, but afterward she leaned in to speak to me.

“Maybe he’s right, Maggie. We should be getting back home,” she said.

“I don’t want to go home,” I announced, looking at all of them like they were all crazy. “I want to know what gives Haden the right to just do whatever he wants.”

Haden’s eyes tightened as he winced. The anger on Zoe’s face cracked, and she let out another little laugh.

“You’re sticking around Green Falls for
this
little tart?” she said. She gave Haden a concerned look, shaking her head. “How the mighty have fallen.”

“You bitch,” I said.

I couldn’t take it anymore. Without thinking, I launched myself across the table, my hands stretched out toward her. I was inches from her when something stopped me. Arms wrapped around me, and pulled me back. I was lifted clear off the stool a full foot from the table. I struggled for a second before getting my feet underneath me.

“Let me go,” I said, my voice high and my body jerking wildly. But the arms were unwavering.

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the big frame of Huck behind him, his eyes were locked on everyone at the table, as though holding me in place required no effort at all.

“You don’t speak to her like that,” Haden said, turning to Zoe. Her eyes were wide as she watched Huck restraining me. “She’s twice the woman you’ll ever be.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Kyle said, leaning in close to her. Zoe gave him a look of outrage, but didn’t resist when he tried to lead her away.

Sarah stepped in front of me, blocking out whatever else they were saying.

“We need to go,” she said. “This is out of hand.”

Finally, I stopped struggling against Huck’s iron grip. Slowly, he relaxed his arms and I was free to stand on my own. I shrugged a shoulder, trying my best to compose myself.

“You’re right,” I said. “I don’t have time to be dealing with these losers.”

Zoe looked like she was about to say something else, but Kyle pulled her away before she could.

When they were gone, Haden turned back to me and gave me a worried look. Then, he looked between Huck and Sarah. They both stared at him.

“I can give her a ride home…,” he said, his voice hesitant.

My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of being alone with Haden again. I didn’t know how, but the anger inside me melted away faster than it had surfaced. I was about to agree with him, when Sarah cut me off.

“You’ve done quite enough, Haden,” she said, sharply. My mouth opened to say something, but she shot a death-stare at me. “We’ve got it covered,” she said, as much to me as to him.

He winced and bit his lip, but he didn’t put up a fight. He nodded once and watched as Sarah and Huck led me away. My head swirled in circles as I tried to look back at him. His eyes locked onto mine until we rounded the corner and he was out of sight.

It had been a long day—a
very
long day.

I woke up the next morning with my head ringing like I’d just been hit with a hammer. I pulled the covers over my head, but tiny pinpoints of light still crept through the nooks and crannies. Each little pinpoint made me twitch and groan in agony. The world was still swirling round and round, and I wondered if it would ever stop.

“Rise and shine,” Sarah said from somewhere in the room. Her voice was soft, but sounded more shrill than usual.

I groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?” I asked from beneath the covers.

“Come on,” she said. I heard the clink of a glass somewhere nearby. I risked a peek, and saw a glass of water and two tiny pills on the night stand. “Take these,” she said. “And make sure you drink all of the water.”

I stared at them for a long minute, before letting out another groan.

“What did you do to me?” I groaned.

Every muscle in my body ached, and I didn’t want to move, let alone venture out from beneath the covers. I pinched my eyes shut, hoping it the pounding in my head would go with it—but it didn’t. Finally, I stretched out a hand and groped around for the pills and the glass of water. I washed the pills down with three huge gulps of water.

Sarah was sitting on her bed staring at me. She looked worried, but her cheeks were pulled back in amusement.

“I remember my first hangover,” she said.

I pinched one eye open at her. “Did it feel like someone was driving a wedge into your skull?” I said.

“Two wedges,” she laughed.

I laughed along with her, and before I knew it, my head was pounding furiously. I buried my face in my hands, hoping the pounding would subside.

“You’ll feel better soon,” Sarah said. “Make sure you drink all of the water.”

I tried to nod, but she probably couldn’t tell.

Sarah sat there quietly. I could feel her eyes on me—watching me. I didn’t dare ask what she was thinking. I didn’t want to know. Visions of the night’s events flashed in my mind. They were mottled and confused. I tried to grasp them, to remember exactly everything that had happened, but was impossible. The memories were slipped through my fingers every time I tried to grab hold. My head continued pounding, all the while, and I wondered if I would ever be normal again.

There were two things of which I was certain. First, I’d made a fool of myself last night, and second, I didn’t care.

That second part should have scared me more than it did, but, all things considered, it just didn’t seem that important. I had just found out my mom was going to die—I was allowed to make a fool of myself if I wanted.

A vision of Haden popped into my mind. It was the expression on his face as he watched me leave the bar—or rather, be escorted out of the bar. There were so many things I wished that look meant. I wished it meant that I could forget everything he did to me. I wished it meant he was there for me. Mostly, I wished it meant we could be together. Why were men so damned infuriating, and so damned irresistible at the same time?

“I really messed things up last night, didn’t I?” I said, my head still buried in my hands.

Silence hung in the air for a long second before Sarah responded.

“It could have been worse,” she said.

I opened an eye and fixed it on her. “How?” I said.

She rolled a shoulder and gave me a comforting grin. “If Huck hadn’t been there to stop you, it could have been a
lot
worse.”

I groaned and slumped back onto the bed. A flood of memories came back to me when she said it. Visions of Zoe, and the hatred I’d felt toward her. Had I really tried to start a fight with her? The memories were like watching someone else—they couldn’t possibly be of me, right?

“I’m such an idiot,” I said.

“Don’t say that,” Sarah said. She shook her head. “It was the alcohol. It makes you do funny things.”

Her words weren’t very comforting. Wasn’t that the reason I had wanted to drink in the first place? I wanted to become someone else, if only for a little while.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she continued. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. No one expects you to be perfect.”

“But, I have to be perfect,” I said. “Mom’s not going to be around to clean up after my messes anymore.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Sarah said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Sarah’s face was twisted in empathy, but she did her best to keep her positive attitude. I wish I could have been as unceasingly optimistic as her.

“It’s the truth,” I muttered. “There’s no use denying it.”

Sarah shook her head, raising a hand to her wipe at a tear on her cheek as it appeared.

“You’re
never
going to be alone,” Sarah said. “You’ve got all of us.”

Another tear started to fall, they were coming faster now.

Without thinking, I rolled out of bed and rushed to her side. We held each other, and neither of us bothered to wipe our tears away. My head pounded angrily, but that took a backseat to everything else. We were quiet for a long time before we pulled away and looked at each other.

Sarah’s face was beat red—probably just like mine. I was happy that she was there with me. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through this without her.

“We should get some breakfast,” she said, finally wiping away the last of her tears. “It’ll make you feel better.”

I gave her a tight smile, and nodded my agreement.

Uncle Larry wasn’t around to make us breakfast that morning. In fact, we didn’t see anyone else in the house. Sarah and I poured bowls of cereal and sat together quietly. After taking a few bites, the pounding in my head was already subsiding.

Memories from the night before came back to me intermittently. I remembered the way Kyle had looked at me, and couldn’t help but be bothered by his sudden change in attitude. He had done something similar earlier in the day when I was talking to Scottie. What was making him act so differently? Had Haden said something to him?

Haden.

I almost let out another groan.

I’d acted like such an idiot in front of him last night. Thinking back on it, I could only imagine what it must have looked like to him. There I was, drunk and emotional, accusing him of sleeping around with another girl already. They
had
been awfully close to each other, hadn’t they? Or was that my mind playing tricks on me?

I remembered the way he looked, standing at the bar. It might have been the alcohol, but I had wanted him so badly in that moment. All of my senses had gone fuzzy, and if everything else hadn’t happened, I knew he would have had an easy time getting me back to his place.

But, I’d ruined all that. I felt like the world’s biggest idiot because I’d, once again, gone and made a fool of myself in front of him. I don’t know how he kept tolerating me. Every time he got close, I was there to push him away. How could he keep trying after everything I’d put him through?

“What’s on your mind?” Sarah asked, after a while.

I sighed and gave her a pitiful look.

“There’s something I have to do this morning,” I said. Her brow knitted together, confused. “I need to go see Haden.”

She shook her head. “Why would you do that? I thought you were trying to stay away from him?”

“I need to apologize,” I said. “I acted like an idiot last night.”

“You don’t owe him anything,” she said, quickly.

I nodded. “I know,” I said. “But still, it was rude of me. More than rude, it was downright mean.”

She studied me for a long time, and then agreed.

“Do you want me to come along for moral support?” she asked.

“Thanks, but I think I can handle it,” I said. “This is something I’ve got to do alone.”

“Well, call me if you need anything,” she said.