Lost, p.12
Lost, page 12
“Homework?” Zack asked, raising an eyebrow. His son glanced up at him. “You know you’re suspended, right? You have all week to do that!”
“But if we do it now,” Lysander said, “we don’t have to spend the rest of the week worrying about it.”
He looked over the boys’ shoulders. Spread out in front of them were their individual notebooks and a textbook they were sharing, filled with some form of mathematics. Geometry? Trigonometry? Zack couldn’t tell the difference. Maybe they were the same thing. He looked down on it with distaste.
Jack looked as confused as he felt, but Lysander breezed through the problems as if he’d done them a million times before. Zack watched his son work in amazement.
“Dude.” Brendan grinned. “Your kid’s a nerd.”
“Best lookin’ nerd I’ve ever seen.” Chris closed the refrigerator, a new beer in hand. He winked at Lysander. “If you were a girl, I’d date you in a flash. So, ah…when’s your sister getting here?”
Before Zack had a chance to say anything, Lysander was grinning and saying, “Sorry, Uncle Chris. She’s a B-Savage fan girl.”
Brendan and Aaron both laughed, the former victorious. Chris looked disappointed; Zack was thankful to know it was for the fan girl comment rather than the fact that he wouldn’t have a chance at dating Dakota.
Chris shot him a half apologetic look, as if he could tell what the guitarist was thinking.
“We’re done for the day,” Zack told the two boys, “so whenever you’re ready, we’ll head off.”
Five minutes and several farewells later, they were back in the car and on their way to the Avery residence. Jack didn’t live too far from where Zack himself did. It was a good part of Mapleton Beach, with quaint little houses and a welcoming atmosphere. They found Jack’s place in the middle of it all, two storeys of red brick and a garden that looked like it could have used a little more tending. A car not dissimilar to Zack’s was parked in the driveway. A light-haired woman was just climbing out of it, handbag slung over one shoulder and a handful of files held tightly under the opposite arm. She looked up when they stopped outside of her house.
“My mom,” Jack said fondly. “She’s a real estate agent.”
He waved at her through the window.
“You won’t be in trouble for getting suspended, will you?” Lysander asked.
“Nah,” Jack assured him. “She knows what it’s like for me at school. …she’d probably thank you for it, actually.” He scooped up his school bag. “Thanks for the ride, Mr. Bennett.”
“Not a problem,” Zack replied. “It was nice meeting you, Jack.”
“And you. Call ya later, Columbus.”
Lysander waved. He and Zack watched Jack greet his mother with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before taking her files from her and following her into the house. Zack didn’t pull away until they were both safely inside.
“So you’re not mad?”
Zack glanced at his son. Now that they were alone, Lysander looked uneasy again. His hands gripped his knees tightly as he waited for an answer.
“I’m not mad,” Zack told him. “So you got into a fight — big deal. I used to do it all the time. I was suspended more times than I can even remember. And like you said, it was for a good reason.” He reached out to give the boy’s shoulder a squeeze. “If you’d called me, I would have come and held the kid down for you.”
He pulled into his own driveway and cut the car’s engine. In front of them, the lower half of their house was lit up — warm and welcoming.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay with it,” Lysander said as he grabbed his bag. “If I’d been suspended back home, no matter what the reason, Mom would have been furious.”
Mom would have been furious.
He climbed out of the car for the last time, leaving Zack momentarily alone so he could sit and wonder, for what must have been the hundredth time that week alone, whether or not he was doing this parenting thing right.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Is it okay if I go to a party tonight?”
Zack looked up from his phone, dark eyebrows raising into his hairline, and Lysander repressed the urge to groan. It had been stupid to ask. Of course he wasn’t going to be allowed a Saturday night out when he’d spent the latter half of the week being suspended from school. It was enough of a blessing that Zack hadn’t grounded him for it. Mom would have. Grounded him and made him work his butt off at the hospital with her to make up for the lack of school. Why would he push his luck and ask to go to a party? He was an idiot. He opened his mouth to tell his father to forget he’d even asked.
But then Zack shrugged and said, “Sure.”
Georgia must have been just as surprised, because she lowered her book into her lap and gave Zack a stern look that rivalled the one Lysander knew his mother would have given him for asking. But Zack had already gone back to staring at his phone, caught up in reading a series of messages. Probably from the band.
Lysander looked to Georgia. He’d made an effort to spend time with her the day before, knowing that his relationship with her was one that definitely needed some work. He wasn’t a fool. He knew once the band had finished recording their new album, a tour wouldn’t be far behind. And with Zack gone, it would just be him and Georgia in the house. He wasn’t dreading it, but he wasn’t looking forward to it, either. He and his step-mother still had a long way to go before then. She’d seemed happy enough to have him join her for a little lunch outing and an afternoon movie.
But now she was looking at him with indecision on her face. She wanted to tell him no, he realised. To override Zack. To act like his mother. Lysander braced himself for it.
“Just don’t be too late,” she said instead.
Lysander nodded.
Melinda Farah’s party was in full swing by the time he and Jack showed up. Her house, Lysander was amazed to see, was even bigger than Zack’s, with wide, open windows and a perfectly manicured front garden. She was nowhere to be found when they entered her house. They were greeted instead by the smell of alcohol and a booming song that Lysander wasn’t familiar with, one that had people dancing wherever they could find the space for it. He took his time to look around.
The party was bigger than any he’d been to back home. There was an abundance of alcohol flowing and a plethora of drunkards to go with it, but the party was tame in its own way. People were looking out for each other, older kids keeping an eye on younger siblings and people taking cups away from friends who had clearly had enough. Lysander’s mother had always gotten the wrong idea about these sorts of events. Zack, it seemed, knew better. He’d at least let Lysander go without the interrogation his mother usually gave him.
“You came!”
He turned. There was Eliza Beth, approaching them from the kitchen with her arms raised high. Lysander looked her over. She was dressed in much the same way that any other girl at the party was — a flowing cocktail dress in deep purple, with simply-done make-up that brought out her hazel eyes and made her lips look fuller. The only thing different about her outfit was her shoes. In place of high heels, she wore her tattered black sneakers.
Just like Dakota.
Lysander shook his head of the thought immediately. He was there to have fun for a night, not worry about his sister. Staying home wouldn’t bring her back any faster.
“Of course we came,” Jack replied, and Lysander realised that he’d been silent a few seconds too long. He smiled to make up for it. “We’ve been stuck at home all week, haven’t we? We couldn’t pass up a chance to have some fun.”
“Well then.” Eliza Beth grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Right this way, boys.”
They followed her to the back of the house, which opened up onto a polished wooden patio equipped with deck chairs on one side and a hot-tub tucked into the corner of the other. In front of them stretched a yard that had probably required a team of professional landscapers to put together, practically a forest in itself, and a brilliantly lit up pool that was under the supervision of three older kids.
“Wow.”
Lysander had thought he was the only one not accustomed to such grand houses being commonplace, but a glance at Jack told him that his friend felt the same. Wow didn’t even cover it. Houses like this just didn’t exist in Columbus. Lysander hadn’t even believed that he would find them in Mapleton Beach. It looked more suited to Hollywood than anything else.
“Cool, huh?” Eliza Beth asked as she looked between Lysander and Jack. There was no stealing the smile from her face. “I’ve been here dozens of times and I still can’t get over how amazing the place is.”
She led them onward, showing them down a paved path that took them to the very back of the property. They stepped into what could have been a park if Lysander hadn’t known any better, with three wooden benches situated around a blazing fire pit. There was already a group gathered here. He recognised most of them from school — there was Melinda and her boyfriend Robert James, and there was Eliza Beth’s two other friends, Jodie Peterson and Yvonne Abelin. Yvonne was wrapped up in the arms of a senior boy that Lysander didn’t know the name of, and there was one last girl that Lysander didn’t recognise. She stared into the fire looking bored.
“Drink?”
He took the bottle Eliza Beth offered him, thanking her with a smile. He’d never been a drinker, never been the sort of person who needed alcohol to get through an evening, but a little liquid courage seemed like a good idea tonight. Zack surely wouldn’t have minded. How could he when the man had probably been drinking since he was thirteen?
The alcohol relaxed him further, until he all but forgot these were people he barely knew. It was like hanging out with Kieran and Dakota, with Mason and Amanda making out in front of them and Phillip talking the ear off whoever would listen. They were joined by more people every now and then, some who stayed and others who didn’t, and at one point their little area became so crowded that Eliza Beth ended up sitting on Lysander’s lap. The move took him by surprise, and he rested a hand at her waist gingerly. Was that too forward? She didn’t make any move to protest, so that was a good start.
“Walk with me a while?” she asked eventually, turning ever so slightly so she could face him. “It’s getting a little full around here.”
He nodded his agreement and she jumped to her feet at once. Lysander set his practically empty bottle down and stood to follow her. Jack looked happy enough conversing with Brigid, the bored girl who’d turned out to be Melinda’s cousin, so he didn’t bother interrupting. Jack had his number if he needed to reach him.
They headed back up toward the house and again, Lysander couldn’t help but admire the place. Almost the entire rear was made of glass, reminding him of a house he had once seen in some vampire movie, and a strobe light had been set up just inside of it so the light could both play out through the back rooms and illuminate the yard simultaneously. The music grew louder the closer they got — louder than he had expected. How long before the neighbours called the police to complain?
His thoughts were drawn away from the law when a familiar sounding guitar riff sounded through the speakers. He knew immediately where he had heard it — blasting out of Dakota’s room every day of the week — but it wasn’t until he heard the vocals start up that he felt stupid for not having recognised the band. Even to him, Pat’s voice was unmistakable.
“Oh!” Eliza Beth brightened up at once, the smile on her face growing wider. “I love this band! Dance with me?”
Lysander had to hold back a grin. It wasn’t hard when he registered what the question following her brilliant statement had been.
Dancing was not something that he did. But she was already dragging him inside to the designated dance floor before he had a chance to protest, and before he knew it they were in the centre of it all.
He let her dance, his eyes travelling down to her hips as she moved them in time to the music. Nobody seemed to mind that he was just standing there, so he made no effort to even pretend that he was dancing. He simply stood and watched, transfixed by the way she moved.
And she knew. Standing there in front of him, how could she not?
“I guess you’re not much of a dancer, huh?”
“That would be putting it lightly.”
She swayed to the beat, her long, dark hair brushing over her shoulders as she moved. The party lights played across her hair, her face, in her eyes, flashing purple, blue, red, making her look ethereal as she danced for him, moving ever closer until one song faded into another and she took his hands again.
They moved away from the dance floor, leaving the party behind as she led him up to the second floor of the house. From up here they could look out over the backyard and see almost everything. Lysander’s eyes lingered for a moment on the back corner of the property, sparing barely half a thought for his friend before following Eliza Beth further down the hall.
She walked with a purpose, determination in her step. He followed her without question and didn’t know whether or not to be surprised when she led him straight into what he guessed to be her friend’s bedroom. Eliza Beth shut the door gently behind him, blocking out most of the noise that had been filtering through the house. All they could hear now was muffled music.
“Much better.”
She sighed as she sat on the bed, indicating that Lysander should do the same. He did so, though kept a safe distance from her, not wanting to give her the wrong idea about the sort of guy he was. She looked amused.
“Just needed some peace and quiet for a while,” she explained, gesturing around the room as if the two things would suddenly show themselves. “Parties are great and all, but sometimes the noise can be a bit much.”
“And here I thought you liked to party hard.”
“Who says you can’t party quietly?”
“Y’know,” he said, “I’ve been meaning to tell you this, but there’s never really been a right time for it.” He gave her what he hoped was a dazzling smile. “You have really beautiful eyes.”
“I like you too, Lysander.”
He’d been expecting her to blush, maybe mumble something about how her eyes weren’t that great, but he hadn’t expected that. Girls were usually not so bold. In his experience, they usually expected the guy to do all the work — they expected to be chased, they expected love and like to be confessed to them first and not the other way around.
But Eliza Beth was different.
“Am I that obvious?” he asked, unable to hide his grin. She liked him, too! “Maybe I should have tried to be more subtle.”
“You’re not obvious,” she said, wearing a grin of her own. “Actually, I was just taking a chance there and hoping that I wasn’t about to make a complete fool of myself.”
So she was bold and beautiful. He moved that little bit closer to her. Without a moment of hesitation she’d moved the rest of the way, leaving hardly any distance between their bodies. If he moved the right way, Lysander’s shoulder would brush against hers.
“You don’t have a girlfriend waiting for you back home, do you?” Eliza Beth asked. “Because that would not be cool.”
Lysander chuckled. “No. No girlfriend back home. But…” He snaked an arm around her shoulders, his stomach full of butterflies. “I was kind of hoping I’d leave the party with one.”
“Mm, well, you’d best get to work on that, Mr. Maverick.”
She smirked, daring him to make the next move. He stepped up to the challenge.
Kissing Eliza Beth wasn’t like kissing any of the other girls he had back in Columbus. Kissing them had been fun, but it had always been meaningless. Here in Melinda’s bedroom, things felt different. There was meaning to the way their lips moved together, the way their tongues caressed. Kissing her was an accomplishment. He felt a sense of victory. Kissing other girls had always been a satisfying end to a chase, but kissing Eliza Beth was a promise that there would be more to come.
He couldn’t wait to see what it was.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Do you really think it was a good idea to let him go to that party?”
Zack glanced right, to his wife sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. Her golden hair looked stunning, curled to perfection and catching the rays of the setting sun, but the frown on her face marred the rest of her image. Her lips were pursed, her forehead creased. His decision clearly bothered her.
And it bothered him that it bothered her. He’d definitely done something wrong here, hadn’t he? How could that expression mean anything different?
“You don’t agree.” It wasn’t a question. He frowned back at her. “Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?”
Georgia looked at him. He kept his eyes on the road, but he could feel hers on him as he turned onto the highway. Was she judging him? She had to be.
“He got suspended,” she said. “For fighting, Zack. If you ask me he should be grounded, not out partying with friends. What kind of message does that send?”
“It sends the message that we understand. He was sticking up for a friend, not causing trouble for the hell of it.” Zack glanced at her again. Her frown had deepened. “The kid’s been through a lot. If you ask me, a night out partying with friends sounds like exactly what he needs. And we needed a night out, too.”
He reached across the centre console of his BMW and took Georgia’s hand atop her knee, squeezing it softly before bringing it to his lips so he could brush a gentle kiss across her fingers. Her nails, freshly done in a glittering red gel, sparkled with the remnants of the setting sun as they headed down the Pacific Coast Highway, their destination almost in sight. Hooker red a nasty fan had named the colour after a photograph had circulated online of the pair of them at the Grammys. Georgia’s lips and nails had both been painted in the shade then.
