Boys Like You by Jaye Pratt

Marlene from child services is coming for a routine check to make sure everything is going well, and to see how my progress is coming along. I don’t have much to tell her. I still don’t remember anything, and I still have nightmares almost every night and anxiety attacks. I have started getting flashes, nothing vivid, but it's someone pushing me. And someone is screaming out for help but I can’t see anything. I know I should tell someone but I’m afraid that the more I know, the closer I am to forgetting my new life like Lena suggested.

Rory has been trying to be the picture-perfect son so he could get help from his mum to enroll me if we needed to, but he had a meeting with his principal; and by meeting, I mean he just turned up on his doorstep and blackmailed him, so he has everything we need. They can enroll me under the exchange student program temporarily so I can attend, but I won’t be credited if I remember who I am and go back to my old school. I will also need to sit some tests to see if I am even smart enough to be placed into senior classes.

When we see Marlene pull into the driveway in her gold Nissan Tida, all the guys get restless. Beth reminds them it’s just a regular visit and they won’t take me anywhere. Not today. There have been no leads as to who I am or where I came from on the police front.

Beth answers the door when Marlene knocks. She looks around the lounge room that has been taken over by boys.

“Well hello, boys, it’s nice to see you all again,” she says, walking into the room. “JD, you look different.”

“Better, I hope.” I try to make a joke of the situation.

“Of course. I wasn’t expecting such an audience today,” she says to Beth.

“The boys are taking JD out today; lunch at Maximus’s house.”

“It’s good that you’re getting out and about,” Marlene adds, taking a seat next to Beth. We go through everything from my memory to sleeping. She takes notes the whole way through, then asks me to show her my room. I think she just wanted to ask me questions about the guys. She seems happy with my answer, agreeing that it’s good to get out and live. I use that comment to my advantage.

“So, I was thinking… I want to go to school.” She turns and looks at me.

“School? I don’t even know how that would be possible with no name, ID or birthdate.”

“I already did my research.” I look up at her, my eyes pleading. She can’t deny me of this, not when they’re my life support right now. I don’t have anyone or anything else.

“I’m sure you all did.” She smiles, writing something down in a small notebook.

“Rory’s got connections, and his principal will take me under their exchange student program as long as we get the sign off from you and a letter stating I’m in the system and my circumstances.”

“Hmm, well I can’t see why not, as long as you go to therapy twice a week and see your doctor regularly, and if any of them tell me it is too much for you then we pull the plug.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised it was that easy.

“Yes, really. We’re not here to make your life harder, JD. We want what is best, and education is very important, plus it gives you something to do.”

We chat a little more before heading back to the living room. Marlene asks to talk to Beth in private, so they go into the kitchen to have a coffee.

“Did you ask her yet?” Rocky asks as if I have been keeping him in suspense.

“Yep,” I say, giving nothing away.

“Tell us already,” Mercer demands.

“She said yes.” The guys whoop and high five. “As long as I keep going to therapy and my doctor’s appointments.”

Levi picks me up and spins me around. I’m momentarily stunned as are the others. I think our talk eased his mind. I don’t want to take his position in the guys’ lives but I can’t be sorry that they are opening up around me. It means a lot to me that they all feel comfortable around me.

***

I decide to ride with Levi, so I can maintain building trust with him. We’re heading over to Maximus’s house; Savannah told her parents about me and they insisted that he bring me for lunch.

We pull up into the driveway of a one storey brick house with a small garden of flowers right by the front door. Rocky leads the way and just walks in; a sign of true friendship. Maximus walks beside me, and we walk in together. Savannah greets us before we even hit the lounge room carpet.

“You should see all the food Mum has made, she has gone crazy. It’s like she thinks the royals are coming for lunch.”

We follow Savannah through the house and out into an inbuilt patio area with potted plants around the walls. A trestle table sits in the centre, with a white tablecloth covered in food. Sandwiches, cold meats, salads, crusty breads, pasta salads and that is just at first glance. A second table sits beside it on the patio, all ready for us to sit.

“Mum,” Savannah says, and a woman maybe in her late forties turns our way. She is stunningly beautiful. She reminds me of Julia Roberts. “This is JD… JD, this is our mum, Danielle.”

“Hi, it’s lovely to meet you.” She holds out her hand. I take it, keeping the panic down. “Oh, and this is my husband, Rob.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Rob has a kind face, greying hair and isn’t overly tall.

“I can’t believe my Maximus has a girlfriend,” she gushes.

“She isn’t his girlfriend, Mum,” Savannah corrects.

“I meant a girl who is a friend.” I watch as all the guys get a plate each from Rob.

“Sure you did,” Savannah adds with sarcasm. Her mum just brushes her comment off. Maximus hasn’t left my side.

“Help yourselves to some food then go play some pool when you’re all finished eating. Savannah’s friends will be here soon and can join you.” Levi groans from across the room.

We all fill our plates, the guys more so than me. I take a seat at the table next to Maximus, and Savannah sits to my right beating Mercer to the seat. She pokes her tongue at him as he grumbles and takes a seat on the opposite side of the table, across from me.

Three girls walk out the back sliding door and into the patio. Savannah squeals, getting up and going to hug them. She tells them to get food and join the table.

It’s amusing to see all the guys switch chairs, almost tipping them over, just so they are next to each other. The girls all take the empty seats beside Savannah.

“JD, I want you to meet my friends, Mandy, Becca and Naomi.”

“Hi,” I say, not knowing which is which; not that it matters with the way they’re all staring at me.

“So, you’re Maximus’s girlfriend?” the one with strawberry blonde hair asks. She has way too much makeup on, as do the others, and I know it’s because they knew the guys would be here.

“Actually, I’m friends with all five guys.” Her eyes narrow at me, unhappy with my answer.

“Lucky bitch,” the tiny Asian girl whispers under her breath.

“What school do you go to?” the brunette asks. I look over at the guys, to save me from the twenty questions.

“I’ve never seen her before, she must go to the public school,” the strawberry blonde chimes in again.

“Naomi,” Levi snaps. “Will you stop being so rude? JD will be going to school with us at Edgewater, no she is not dating any of us, no you can’t make friends with her just to be closer to us. Her past is none of your business, being friends with us is also not your business.” The guys try not to laugh at Levi’s outburst.

“Excuse me for trying to get to know the new girl,” she snaps at him.

“You were not,” he fires back, the two of them in a standoff.

“How about we go play pool, guys?” I offer, trying to defuse the situation. They all stand and I follow suit. “It was nice meeting you all.”

Mandy and Becca smile and tell me it was nice meeting me too. Naomi just looks my way.

Maximus leads us to the pool room; it’s massive. They converted the double garage. There’s a pool table, an air hockey table, and some couches. I take a seat and watch as Mercer and Rory decide to play the first game of pool. Levi’s phone rings and he leaves the room to answer it.

“What’s the deal with Levi and Naomi?” I ask Rocky.

“She is infatuated with him. No idea why,” he jokes. “She even asked him out before the holidays.”

“Oh no. He wasn’t nice about turning her down, was he?” I cringe at the thought of her working up the courage to ask and Levi setting her straight.

“At first, he laughed,” Mercer says, taking his shot.

“Then when he realised she was serious, he laughed again,” Rory adds.

“There was a comment about not touching her with a ten-foot pole even if she was the last girl on earth and repopulating depended on them.”

“Yet she still looks at him with stars in her eyes.” Maximus nods.

“I don’t even think he knows how mean he is when he opens his mouth, but she did follow him around like a bad smell for a year, so you can’t blame him. Every basketball game she would show up, when I had a shift, she would be there in case he was there. It was borderline stalker behaviour. I’m way more attractive than he is, and I don’t have a stalker.”

“Shut up, dickwad, all the girls love my awesome personality,” Levi says, coming back into the room.

“Definitely your personality and nothing to do with the fact you hooked up with Chelsea May and she told everyone you had a huge dick,” Rocky throws back at him. I laugh, now picturing him in his basketball shorts. I shake the image from my head.

“You totally just pictured Levi naked,” Rocky says, turning to me. I feel my cheeks start to heat with embarrassment.

“Well it is only fair since you’ve all seen me naked, and I’m sure when I had my nightmares, I gave Levi a full view of my tits.” All four guys snap their heads towards Levi. He shrugs.

“I vote we all get naked and be even,” Rocky says. He’s on a roll today.

“I vote that’s a terrible idea. Especially if Levi has a monster cock, we don’t want you all feeling inadequate.” They all look at me, mouths agape.

“Mine is perfectly fine, thank you,” Mercer says, sinking another ball. Rory curses at him.

“I’ll take your word for it.” I laugh. Teasing them is fun. “Now, if we’re finished talking about your junk, who wants to verse me in air hockey?” Rocky jumps up first.

Luckily, after that there was no more talk of penises. We played air hockey and pool for a few hours, while Savannah kept her friends entertained elsewhere.

Rocky and Mercer leave early in the afternoon for weight training with Rick, and Rory heads off to organise the tests to see if I can go to their school.

“Are you okay? You seem tense,” I ask Levi.

His shoulders drop. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Nightmares?” I watch as he nods his head. I wish I could take some of his pain away like he does for me.

“It’s because of me, isn’t it?” He looks at me with his green eyes flecked with yellow.

“Not exactly.” Changing the subject, he says, “How about we watch a movie?” I look from Levi to Maximus, who nods. I follow the guys out into the kitchen. Maximus pops a bag of popcorn into the microwave.

Danielle walks in and smiles at us. “Just the three of you now?”

“The others needed to go. Is it cool if JD and I watch a movie with Maximus?”

“Of course, Rob and I are going out anyway. We won’t be back for a few hours, just be nice to the girls.” She grabs her bag from the bench.

“I’m always very welcoming,” Levi says with a smile.

“If you say so. It was so nice to meet you, JD, come around anytime.”

“I will, thank you for having me.” She kisses Maximus on the cheek and leaves the kitchen.

Once the popcorn is ready, we make our way to the lounge room. I trail behind the guys. When they both stop abruptly, I run into Levi’s back, forcing him to step into the room.

“What’s the hold up?” I ask, peeking around him. I see Savannah and her friends sitting on one of the couches, braiding each other’s hair.

“Oh yay, JD, I can do your hair next,” Savannah says in her sweet voice. Naomi rolls her eyes but doesn’t say a word.

“That would be nice. Do you mind if we watch a movie at the same time?” She shakes her head no. Maximus hands me the popcorn so he and Levi can go to the collection of DVDs and pick a movie. I take a seat on the free couch.

“So, where did you say you lived?” Naomi asks. Levi whips his head around, but I answer before he gets a chance to.

“I didn’t, but Morgan Bay, a nice house by the beach.” I doubt she knows anything about the guys’ backgrounds; they don’t seem like the sharing type outside of their group.

“What made you choose Edgewater?” the one I think is called Becca asks.

“The guys actually. We met down on the beach, and since I’m new I asked about the schools in the area. What can I say? They convinced me.” I pause, leaning in and speaking behind my hand. “And the eye candy doesn’t hurt, right?” Savannah snorts, and Naomi death stares me.

“Wait until you see some of the other guys, we have some good-looking seniors,” Mandy says. Naomi yanks a bit hard on her hair. “Ouch.”

“Stop yapping, the movie is about to start,” Levi barks, taking a seat to my right. Maximus stands awkwardly in the centre of the room until I tap the seat to my left.

“What’re we watching?” I ask Levi.

“Bio Dome. You can’t go past some old school Paulie Shore.”

The girls’ chatter dies down as they all take interest in the movie. About halfway through, my ribs start to ache. I try to subtly adjust myself, but I’m obviously not too good at it, because Levi removes the small pillow from behind his back and places it on his lap, gesturing for me to lie down. Maximus seems to be staring.

“Do you mind if I put my legs on you?” He shakes his head no and goes back to watching the movie.

I move myself so my head is in Levi’s lap, rolled on my side while my legs rest across Maximus.

I feel eyes watching me. And no wonder; Naomi is throwing daggers my way with the icy glare in her eyes. I roll mine in response and go back to watching.

I find myself relaxing more when Levi plays with my hair and Maximus wraps a hand around my leg. I feel like I belong for the first time in my life and that feeling unsettles me, because that only means one thing. My old life is waiting for me and what I have been through is only the icing on the damn cake.