Toxic: Logan's Story (Torn #4)(7)

Drake. Even his name pissed me off at this point. I forced myself not to think about him before I started shouting obscenities while Jade was around. It wasn’t her fault that her friend was a girlfriend-stealing *.

“So…tell me about yourself, Logan,” Jade finally said.

I looked up at her and grinned. “Really? You want to get to know each other?”

She shrugged. “Sure. Why not? You could use a friend. I can be that friend, but I’d like to know more about you.”

“More? What do you already know?”

She gave me a weak smile. “Well, let’s see. I know you like Jack Daniel’s. I also know you’re from Charleston since Chloe told me you went to high school together. You work at a garage…and you have the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. That’s about it.”

“It’s like you can see into my soul,” I joked, ignoring the comment about my eyes.

I wasn’t stupid. Jade hung out with Adam, Eric, and Drake. There was no way that I could compete with those guys. Rockers were more her speed, not some country kid like me. I looked up to see her watching me closely. She really was pretty. I’d never noticed before because I was with Chloe.

Comparing the two was laughable. Two girls couldn’t be more different. Where Chloe was all light with her pale skin, blonde hair, and light blue eyes, Jade was all dark. I’d seen a few different colors in her hair, but right now, it was black with pink streaks. Her eyes were a warm chocolate, and her skin was tan. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t see any visible tattoos on her body, unlike the other members of her band. She had a small stud in her nose, but she didn’t have any other piercings, not even in her ears.

“You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?” she finally asked.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell me.” She smiled.

“Fine. Let’s see. I moved around with my mom for most of my childhood. By the time I was fourteen, we’d lived in sixteen different states. She finally settled down in Charleston, but I don’t know why. I didn’t ask. I was just glad to be in one place for more than a few months. I don’t know much about my dad besides the fact that she kept moving to avoid him. I think she was scared of him.”

I stopped talking, surprised that I’d told her that much about me. No one knew about my dad, except for Amber and Chloe. I didn’t even know the *’s name. For some reason, I’d never asked my mom. I didn’t want to know anything about the * who had terrified my mother so much that we had to run from state to state for over a decade.

She frowned. “I know a lot about * father figures.”

I stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, I asked, “Care to elaborate on that?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I just meant that I could relate. My stepdad was the perfect example of an arrogant prick. I hate him. He put me through hell before I finally left home.”

“Did you grow up in Morgantown?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m from Tennessee. I ran away from home when I was seventeen. I planned to go to New York City, but I met Eric on my way there. He offered me a place to stay, and we ended up forming the band with Adam and then Drake. The guys are more of a family to me than my mom and step-prick ever were. I do miss my little sister though.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You have a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s four years younger than I am. I probably wouldn’t recognize her if I saw her. She wasn’t quite fourteen when I left.”

“Are you the same age as us?” I asked, referring to Chloe, Drake, and me.

“Nah, I’m three and a half years older than you guys. I’m twenty-one. Eric and Adam are my age. Drake is the baby of the group. My sister is only a year younger than you guys though.”

We were both silent, lost in our thoughts. It was strange to know more about Jade. I’d always thought she was nice, but I never really paid much attention to her. She was just one of Chloe’s friends, nothing more. Now, I could see that there was a lot about Jade that I didn’t know.

“Anyway, tell me more about you. What is your major?”

I grinned. “Accounting with a minor in graphic design. I’m good with numbers and computers. I’m not sure if I want to be an accountant or a web designer.”

She shuddered. “I’d rather stick my tongue on a hot oven than deal with numbers all day. If the band ever makes it big, I’ll be sure to call you to handle our finances. I sure as hell don’t want to do it.”

I laughed. “It’s not that bad if you think about it. Number equations always have an answer, regardless of the variable. There’s always a way to solve it.”

She shook her head. “I’ll stick to the drums.”

“You’ve never been to college?”

She hesitated. “I didn’t even graduate high school, Logan. If it wasn’t for Eric, I’d be on the streets.”

That surprised me. Jade seemed like an intelligent person.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that she didn’t even have a high school diploma. “Why did you quit?”

“I ran away from home. It would have been easy for step-prick to track me down if I enrolled in another high school or even a GED program.”