Twist of Fate (2 page)

"Have you seen Tommy? He went to get me a drink, but he hasn't been back in fifteen minutes." She asked, craning her neck from one side of the room to the other.
 

"I'll get you a drink. Be right back." I stopped mid-step and turned, looking at Ellie, "Did you want one too?" She held up her cup, shaking her head. "Just thought I'd ask," I mumbled.

Once upstairs, I spotted Tommy talking it up with this girl he liked. I shook my head as I walked past him to get Paige her beer. He nodded, smiling, holding up his cup. A pledge filled two beers from the keg, then handed them to me, before I walked back over to him. "You just relax, and enjoy yourself, bro. I got P's beer."
 

We'd been calling her P instead of Paige since I met her years ago. It just sort of happened one day while we were riding waves on our boogie boards.
 
She got caught up in some seaweed that had a ton of jellyfish and got stung pretty badly. She was screaming at us to help her, but we were too busy laughing as little spots began to cover her body. We told her to pee on herself that that would take the sting away. She believed us, and did as we told her to do without even asking us if we were lying. Seriously, we would have told her to put white vinegar on it, or just lie back in the water for a few minutes then the sting would go away. But, Tommy and I were immature assholes back then, so we let her pee on herself. She hated it when we called her that, but it sort of stuck.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, man. I forgot."
 

"Thanks, Benny." He slapped me on the back, letting me know to move on, he was working it tonight. Personally, I didn't know why he worked so hard to get this chick. She wasn't that special. She was cute and all, and he could have any girl here, but for some reason, he liked this challenge. I was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that she had a boyfriend that he hated, and she had repeatedly turned him down.
 

When I got back downstairs, Paige, and her roommate were in the corner talking with two of my fraternity brothers.
 
Well, that was fucking quick. I couldn't have been gone for more than five minutes. My first thought as I focused on Paige standing there wrapped up in a conversation with Matt, was how I still couldn't believe she was here.
 

In Arizona.
 

Less then ten feet from me, wearing this ridiculously cute dress that only made her look more appealing. I felt like my whole world was flipping upside down, and back over again.
 

The last mental image I had of Paige was when she was fourteen. She was standing on the beach with a little red, white, and blue bikini with the word BillaBong stitched on the backside. I still had that picture in my old wallet. It was beat to hell, but every once in a while, I pulled it out, just to remember what I thought had been sheer perfection that day.
 

"Hey, here's your beer," I said, handing one to her. She placed the cup over top of her last drink, smiling.
 

"Thanks, Ben."

Matt studied me for a few seconds, and I could almost read his mind. "How do you guys know each other?" Matt asked as he wrapped an arm over Paige's shoulder. Matt was a Senior, bit of an ass, and not someone I wanted Paige hanging out with. I'd seen his game for the last two years, it was pretty much like mine. Bag 'em, then leave them.

Paige jumped in before I could answer. "Ben and I go way back, but we haven't seen each other in like, four years."

I stared her down, a little hurt that she was wrong. "Five. It's been five years."
 

She looked amusingly at me. "Oh, sorry. Five years."
 
She looked back to Matt, John, and Ellie. "Anyway, we used to vacation together in San Diego. I mean not together, but you know. A group of families would rent houses on Mission Beach, and we hung out."

Great! Now my first crush, my first kiss, had just downgraded me to a "we-used-to-hang- out status." I had been so nervous working up the balls to kiss her. It had taken me two summers to do it, and when I finally did, I was positive, she enjoyed it. I mean she hadn't stopped me, or slapped me in the face, so I took that as a good sign. "Yeah, Paige, we just hung out." Even after it slipped off my tongue with a little more sarcasm then I wanted, I instantly regretted it, because now she was watching me with those big green eyes, looking confused. They were all staring at me like I was some buffoon, waiting for me to say something else.

I shrugged, trying to diffuse the situation. "She's Tommy's little cousin." I could almost see the hamster wheel rolling as both brothers stood there looking amused.
 
They knew I couldn't touch her according to the agreement, the one they were smart enough not to sign.

She laughed. "Seriously? I'm only one year younger then you guys."

I eyed her a little longer than I probably should have. "Yeah, I know. I remember." We used to torment her on vacation for being one year younger, telling her she was too young to come with us to Belmont Park, or to Sara's to get a churro. Eventually, we let her tag along.
 
I saw her for two weeks, every year, for four years. Then it was over. Her parents got divorced, and they stopped coming. End of our story.

After a few minutes of hearing Matt sweet talk Paige, I started feeling like some kind of third wheel. I knew I needed to get out of there, or at least find someone to take back to my room to forget about her. I scoured the place looking for Annie. I knew she'd come with her legs already up in the air if I asked her to.
 

As soon as I spotted her, I smiled. "I gotta bounce." I pumped fists with both of my brother's, then looked at Paige. "See you around, P."

As I walked away, I couldn't help but wonder if she was staring, so I turned around like I forgot something, but she was knee deep in conversation with the three of them. I grabbed Annie's hand, and yelled over the music, "You want to get out of here. I think I could use that company after all."
 

She smiled, bit down on her bottom lip for a second, before looking to her friends. "I'm outtie."
 

God, I hated that expression.

As we started weaving through the crowd, my hand in hers, I noticed Paige watching me out of the corner of my eye. Jack, one of my roommates, yelled out, "Dude, make it quick. Some other people want to use the room too." I stopped, staring at him for a brief second, ready to say some smart ass comment back, when I noticed Paige standing there, mouth open, and from the expression on her face, she looked like she was pretty much disgusted with me.
Fanfuckingtabulous!

PAIGE

Chapter 2

Sometimes I hated being a girl. I couldn't tell you how many times I thought it would be so much easier to be a guy, and not give a shit about anything except who it was that I would take home after some stupid frat party. Guys always seemed so tough, rugged, unbreakable, unemotional, and totally invincible to me. I wanted to be all of those things, but the damn girl in me always got in the way.

Ever since I could remember, my parents raised me with the whole, 'be a strong woman attitude. Be independent. Don't let your life revolve around one guy, and never drop your friends for one, because in the end they'll still be there, when he might be long gone. But never once did they tell me how to handle a totally-fucked-up-beyond-belief guy who thought I was his personal property to do what he wanted with. I mean, we dated for a year, and he always behaved like a perfect boyfriend.
 
We met at a mixer at his frat house, and we instantly hit it off, and started a monogamous relationship within a few weeks.
 
We spent so much time together happily, yet always giving me space when I had asked for it. Whether it was to study, or hang with my girlfriends, hit a bar without him to go dancing. It never seemed to piss him off at all, in fact, he would encourage it once in a while.
 

Then one night at a party it was like some weird trigger that someone pulled to set him off. I had been talking to this guy in the corner, and maybe it didn't look too good, but I swear I never once flirted with him. He was just a friend from my English Lit class.
 
He became uptight after that, possessive and not in the good way, about every little thing I did. He'd meet me at the end of my classes, walk me to my dorm, or even make me spend nights with him when I told him I needed to get back.
 
He started to blame me for the way I looked at a party, or how I dressed for classes, telling me that I was asking for it when I shouldn't be, since I was his. For four weeks I stayed put, trying to figure out what to do, and how to handle breaking up without hurting his feelings, or piss him off even more. His feelings? Why the hell did I ever care about those?

I wish I was strong enough to pick up on the bright red warning signs that he was sending my way earlier, then maybe I wouldn't have been in the situation that made me change my view of men. I had never been so scared in my entire life with someone who I had completely trusted. He never once gave me a reason not to.
 
Until that night. A night I'd never forget for as long as I lived.

When I was thirteen my mother insisted I watch a special that was airing after school. You know the ones that your parents make you sit down and watch to learn a valuable lesson. I hated watching them at the time, and thought they were totally ridiculous, but it made her feel like she was doing something other than lecturing me about safety. That maybe, just maybe, something would sink in. This time, my mother's insecurities paid off, and that one stupid after school special, may have just saved my life.
 

That night, I tried so hard to be at least one of those manly things. To be tough, strong, or independent, but when someone was threatening your life, those things kind of take a backseat. The only thing I could think of was that after school special. It kept replaying in my head as he shoved me around this time. I would have agreed to anything to get him off of me. To dress more appropriately, to not talk to any guys-ever, anything he asked of me I would have agreed to. Playing nice while someone had their fingers tightly squeezing your throat until you felt like you were about to pass out was one of the hardest thing I ever had to do. But, it worked. I tried to keep in mind that this was the guy I'd been intimate with hundred of times since we met, why now?
 

What changed?

The feel of his hands touching my body reminded me of those jellyfish stings that I endured over countless summers at the beach.
 
With each touch, I desperately held back from cringing, or crying. I wanted him off of me this time. He never asked, even if he did, I didn't think I could have said no. He wouldn't have listened to one single word. So, as his lips were roughly touching mine, I didn't struggle, I let him believe that I wanted him too, but the entire time I was hatching my plan, and before he knew what hit him, I'd be gone. And, hopefully he would never make good on his words that he'd always find me if I ever left him.

That was the reason I was three thousand miles from New Jersey.
 
I just hoped it was far enough to never see the likes of Carson Andrews ever again.
 

***

 
The desert sun was painfully dry, and hot. I didn't think I'd stopped drinking from the water bottle I'd kept attached to my hip since I got here. I constantly felt dehydrated. It killed me to say yes to my mother when she suggested that moving out here was the best way. Technically, I was pretty positive she had other motives. She had missed her family for the last fifteen years and had been itching to find her way back home. My tragedy gave her just the push she needed, and my dad didn't even put up a fight-anything to keep that bastard's hand off of me. I could still picture his face when he opened his front door, and my mother and I were standing there with a suitcase beside us. After he listened, asked for his name, ( I refused to give it) then hugged me for eternity, he understood our decision to move. He wasn't too happy that his kids would be in the sunny state of Arizona, but didn't deny me the fact that I wanted as much distance as possible. Besides, there was no way I was moving to Washington D.C. to hang out with him and his new bride. He promised he'd keep me safe, do a little digging into Carson, but I wouldn't let him. I never told him his name for fear that he'd hunt him down, kill him, and then end up in jail with the criminals he'd help put there.

Of course, when I went to my mom, and told her everything she wanted me to go to the police, but I couldn't. I was too scared of his threats. The one thing I always had was faith in people to be good, he took that away from me that night. Maybe it was because I lived such a sheltered life growing up, but I truly believed that if you treated people with kindness, they'd have no choice, but to treat you the same way.
 

Boy, was I wrong.

I arrived just in time for the fall semester to begin, unfortunately all my credits didn't make it with me. I was officially a freshman all over again. Yipee!
 
I was standing in the corner with Ellie, my new roommate at a frat party. So far I found her to be the complete opposite of me. It wasn't just her dark blunt hair, or her fair skin, ore even the way she dressed. It was the little bombs she'd drop about sleeping around, or how many guys she had hoped to meet this year. While I was perfectly fine riding out this year solo. My wonderful, but absolute pain-in-the-ass-cousin, Tommy, hadn't been the best of hosts. And, to make matters worse, the first boy that ever kissed me, was watching me so intently from the other side of the room that it was starting to make me nervous as hell.
 

Ben Hart!