Scartissue by T.L Hodel

Chapter 2

Shelby

Too high an opinion of oneself.

That was the definition of conceit in the dictionary.

In other words, Logan Hudson.

It fit him so well, that there should be a picture of him under the word. Not too small. He wouldn’t like that. His face would have to take up at least half the page. That way, when someone opened the book, there he was. Looking up at them with that stupid charming smile.

The sad fact was, the boy was beyond cute. Sexy, gorgeous, breathtaking, those were a few words that came to mind. Basically, Logan Hudson was fucking hot. Bastard knew it too. Strutting around with his perfectly tousled blond hair, and showing off his lean, well-cut body. As if he couldn’t get any more perfect, he had those eyes. The same deep green as the leaves of a mahogany tree. Even when he was being a dick, they sparkled. And he was a dick a lot.

His abs were permanently ingrained in the back of my mind. Grisly tattoos curving over firm ridges. Like an enticing gothic picture show. I’d put my hands on him, felt the power in those hard muscles. What would it be like without fabric separating us? Nothing but his firm body warming up my skin. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Tempting as it was to go there—and trust me it was tempting—Logan Hudson was so off limits it wasn’t even funny.

The guy had a rather extensive track record. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only girls he hadn’t slept with were sitting at this table. Riley, my best friend who lived with the guy, warned me to stay away from him. Well, she warned me to stay away from every guy—Rye wasn’t what I’d call a people person—but that was beside the point. Logan was a one-way ticket to a broken heart, and I wasn’t about to join his flavor of the month club.

My face scrunched at Marnie’s ponytail. It looked like she’d quickly tied her auburn hair up before walking out the door. It went well with the baggy t-shirt and black tights she was wearing. I called it her librarian look. This was her preferred fashion choice when she was working on a story. Which I assumed was on Florida state education regulations, based on the book her nose was buried in.

Her twin, Trina, sat beside her, wearing a blouse that matched her aqua eyes and a black skirt. Unlike Marnie, her hair was curled and she had make-up on. Not that she needed it. Neither of them did. Trina just liked looking her best. Something else she liked was boys.

I looked over at the guy sitting at our table. Trigger, or something stupid like that. There wasn’t any point in getting to know him. He was her third lunch date this week.

“How’s Rye?” Trina asked, popping a cherry tomato in her mouth. “She coming to the Causgrove on Friday?”

She was only asking because she hoped Rye would bring her stepbrother. Trina hadn’t shut up about Logan since Rye moved in with him. I don’t know why she was so interested. It wasn’t like he was the monogamous type. Then again, neither was she.

Was anybody?

My hands fisted at the memory of seeing my dad’s bare ass and hearing my coach’s moans. “Yeah, Rye’s coming.”

Why would my dad choose some random girl when he could really drive the nail in my heart? I thought I could trust Coach. Boy, was I wrong. He begged me not to tell my mom, and I didn’t. Last night I stared at my bedroom door for an hour, thinking I should tell her, but I kept chickening out. I didn’t want to be the one to break her heart more. My pain, I could handle.

Besides, my dad wasn’t there anymore. Mom threw him out last month when she got tired of the missing money. He had gambling problems, and I guess she finally had enough. There was still this voice clawing at the back of my head, pushing me to tell her. Make sure she had all the facts before they got back together. But the little girl in me held out hope for a happy family. At this point, I didn’t know which one would win.

A cherry tomato bopped off my forehead, bounced off the table, and dropped on the floor.

My gaze rolled over to Trina.

“Seriously?”

“I asked you a question,” she said, cocking a brow back. “When’s your date with Noah?”

Trina didn’t like being ignored. That didn’t warrant having food thrown at me?

“Saturday,” I grumbled, “And I’m not doing a double date again.”

That was a disaster. Not only did my date spend more time gawking at Trina than he did talking to me, but we got front row seats to the world's worst foreplay.

“Please tell me you’re going to do more with Noah than you did with the last two?” Trina openly sighed and waved her hand between her sister and me. “I’m tired of hanging out with the virgin squad.”

I rolled my eyes. Unlike my friend, I wasn’t going to lose my virginity in the backseat of a car, or at some party. Noah might not be as nice to look at as Logan—I don’t think anyone was—but he was sweet and kind. He brought me a rose this morning. Pink, my favorite color. He paid attention to little details like that, and he wasn’t bad looking.

Noah was one of the hottest guys in school. He had the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing going on. Not to mention he was on the football team and had a fairly high GPA. He was the kind of guy a girl took home to mom. The perfect boyfriend material. Logan was the kind of guy that would do your mom.

So stop thinking about his kiss.

I couldn’t help it. The memory was so vivid. I felt his soft lips on mine. All firm and demanding. His heady taste lingered along with the cool, clean scent of his body wash. Logan wasn’t here. We didn’t go to the same school, or run in the same social circles. Yet there he was. A whisper of a voice in the back of my mind.

Trina’s date tilted his head at me. “Noah Torres?”

“Yeah.” I eyed the confusion on his face. “Why?”

“No reason,” he said and kissed Trina on the cheek. “I gotta go to practice. See you after school.”

That was weird. Ah well, for all I knew the guy collected cat skulls or something.

Trina dropped her chin in her palm and released a dreamy sigh. “I think he’s the one.”

Marnie and I shared a knowing glance. She said that about every guy she went out with. Might even believe it. Problem was, Trina got bored quickly. Maybe someone like Logan was the solution? I was sure he’d be interested. Logan was a whore, and I had yet to see a guy turn Trina down. Maybe they were meant for each other? Two players coming together. What better match could there be?

Why did that piss me off?

“You should just pick a guy and stick with him!” I snarled, a little shocked by my attitude.

Trina cocked a brow. “I think that soggy pizza is going to your head.”

“It was this, or fish sticks,” I muttered.

And the fish in fish sticks was a relative term. Because whatever was in those, it sure as hell wasn’t fish. The last thing Ashen Springs High should have issues with was seafood. It wasn’t like we lived in a coastal town or anything.

“What do you think Rye’s eating right now?”

“I don’t know,” I said, wondering if Rye sat with Logan at lunch. She was dating his best friend. Maybe she was with him right now? “She was talking about some weird salad the other day.”

I swept my tongue over the bite on the inside of my lip. The coppery tinge of my blood still lingered. That crap hurt. Was it wrong that I kind of liked it?

Stop thinking about him!

“Whatever.” Trina waved her hand. “It’s probably better than this crap.”

“You’re not even eating cafeteria food!” Marnie piped in. “Mom packed you a lunch.”

Trina scoffed at her twin, “I still go to this school, you know. What happens here affects me.”

“The only thing that affects you is who’s on the top of the pyramid.”

“Hey, that happens to be a very important position. You’d know that if you did something other than write stupid articles.”

“At least I’m keeping people informed.”

“About what? The misuse of school funds? No one cares, Marnie.”

I sighed and shook my head. The twins probably came out of the womb arguing. They loved each other, though. Trina destroyed anyone that messed with her sister, and Marnie wrote an article about a guy that tried to take advantage of Trina last year when she passed out at a party. He did not have a good year. Boys were mean, but girls were cruel.

“Oh my God, I forgot to tell you!” Trina exclaimed, slapping her hand on the table. “Evan’s back. He’s not looking so good. There’s a big scar down the side of his face.”

“Good,” I muttered.

Everybody knew that Micha put him in the hospital. What they didn’t know was why. Riley told me what those jerks did to her and as far as I was concerned, Evan got exactly what he deserved. Lance should’ve gotten worse, but his family moved to Washington. People were saying it was because the Knights ran him out of town. Maybe they did, and maybe they didn’t. Either way, he was gone, and I, for one, wasn’t about to cry over it.

“I wonder what he did. Did Rye say anything?”

“No,” I lied.

Riley didn’t air her shit. I respected that. That part of my best friend never bothered me. It was the secret she was keeping that picked at the back of my brain. I don’t care what anyone said. She was not in a car accident. People didn’t get bruises on their neck like that from car accidents.

Chase tried to convince me that Mason was drunk when he crashed the car, and that’s why he was sent to rehab. It was a lie. That much I knew. Riley would never get in a car with someone who’d been drinking. She’d kick Mason’s ass for just thinking about it. I wasn’t angry—we all had our secrets—I was worried. Someone hurt her, and she wouldn’t tell me who.

At first I thought maybe it was Micha. He never treated Riley well when we were kids. I changed my mind when I had to pry him away from her bedside long enough to take a shower. He might be an asshole, but I’d never question whether he loved her.

“Are you sure Rye didn’t say anything?”

“Nope.” If Riley wanted Trina to know, she’d tell her.

“Let it go, Trina,” Marnie grumbled. “It’s none of your business.”

“What’s up with you, lately?” Trina said, eyeing her twin. “You should be all over this, Miss Reporter.”

Marnie shifted in her seat. “Some things are better left alone.”

Even I cocked my brow at that. Nothing stopped Marnie from getting her story. Not being arrested, or making political enemies. Our principal had it out for her since she outed him for having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Marnie was like a hurricane. This secret society crap was all she talked about for years. Considering some of those rumors involved Micha Kessler and the other Knights, she should be knee deep into this Evan thing. Maybe she finally gave up? Can’t prove something that doesn’t exist, right?

“You have PMS or something?” Trina said, “Cause you’re not due for another two weeks.”

Marnie’s gaze shifted over to her. “It’s seriously disturbing that you know that.”

“What? Shell’s due in a week.”

“Sorry.” I shook my head. “Got my shot last week. I’m Aunt Flo free for eleven more weeks.”

“God, I wish mom would let us take birth control.”

Trina’s contraceptives came in pill form from the school nurse. Something her parents didn’t know about. Their dad was a pastor at The Church of Holy Trinity. He expected them to be good girls. If only he knew.

“I don’t want birth control. It opens up doors I prefer to stay closed.”

Was Marnie was having issues with Collin again? He thought because he was the editor of the school paper he deserved ‘special treatment’, and Marnie was on the top of his list.

“You know,” I reached out and placed my hand on Marnie’s. “You can talk to us? We won’t judge you.”

Trina might have the football team pay Collin another visit, and I might make sure his car won’t start, but we’d never judge her.

“I’m fine, Shelby,” Marnie said, giving me a small smile. “I promise.”

“Okay, but if you need me to talk to Collin again, I will.”

“Ugh,” Trina shivered, “That guy’s a creep.”

“Collin’s the least of my worries,” Marnie muttered.

Figuring she was just worried about her next story, I turned my attention to Trina, and we quickly got lost in gossip. Discussing who was wearing what, and the upcoming Christmas dance. I still had to go dress shopping. Wasn’t sure if I’d go with Noah or not. That depended on how our date went.

The dance was about the only thing I was excited for this holiday season. Kind of hard to get in the Christmas spirit when my family was in shambles. I loved my baby sister. Mags asked Santa to bring snow because she thought it would cheer me up. While it was a sweet gesture, this was Florida. It didn’t snow here. At least, not where we lived.

I stopped talking when I noticed how eerily quiet it was. Weird, considering sometimes we had to yell over the cafeteria chatter just to hear each other. Also, people were staring at us.

Did I miss something?

“Are you Shelby Grace?”

I shrieked at the new voice. Standing beside me was a man dressed in a white uniform.

Where the hell did he come from?

“Um, yeah?” I said, eyeing the ‘Mauve’s Bakery’ written on the black box in his hand.

I knew the place. Our family went to the high end bakery on main street every New Years. I absolutely loved their cheesecake, but it was too expensive for more than a yearly treat.

He placed the box on the table, said, “Enjoy,” and walked away.

I stared down at the mauve flower emblem. This had to be a joke, right? Mauve’s didn’t deliver. At least that’s what they told dad last year when Mags was too sick to go.

“Who’s it from?” Trina chirped excitedly.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe it’s from Noah?”

I smiled. It probably was. This was the kind of sweet thing he did.

“I’m dying over here. Open it already.”

“Alright, alright,” I said, carefully untying the ribbon and letting the sides fall away.

My face instantly dropped. It wasn’t from Noah.

Sitting on the table in front of me was a big, sugary slice of cherry pie.

Son of a bitch.