Fallen Crest Alternative Version (Fallen Crest High #2.1)(17)

Amelia looked from son to mother. “Nothing.” She folded her hands over her lap and sat back as well.

Malinda looked like the cat that swallowed the canary and got away with it. She glowed for a moment before she looked to me. “Sam, honey, tell me you’d like more than that salad? David tells me you go on long runs.”

“All the time.” Becky surged forward. Her eagerness couldn’t be contained. “She can run for hours at a time. I keep telling her to go out for cross country, but she doesn’t.”

Aware of all the attention, I muttered, “I don’t do it for sport. It’s my time away.”

“Well, of course. I know I wouldn’t even imagine trying to compete against Mason and Logan in sports. Those two are natural talents.” Cassandra leaned back and regarded me with a smug smile.

I tilted my head to the side and asked, “Don’t you run cross country?”

She blinked. “Yeah. Why?”

Malinda placed a hand on my arm and gushed out, “Oh, you must try out for the team—”

“It was in the fall. We’re done already.” Cassandra’s tone had chilled.

Malinda frowned a second and then smiled. Two dimples showed. “How about for track? Do you run for track, Cassandra?”

She seemed frozen in place. “I run the two mile.”

My arm was patted. “There you go, honey. Run the two mile. I’m sure it’s nothing for you. You could smoke anyone.”

“Mom.” Mark frowned. “You’re a track fan now? I’m not running track. I don’t care how much you love me. I don’t love you that much.”

She laughed, a bit strained. “Not for you, honey. For Sam. She’s the runner here. I think she should show something for it.”

I grinned at her words. “That’s what Garrett said. He asked what the point of running so much if I wasn’t training for a marathon.” I laughed at the memory. He’d been so brash.

She quieted and I felt David’s silence beside me.

I turned, helpless, “Not that I care what he said, but…”

David tried to give me a reassuring smile.

I floundered anyway. “I’m sorry, dad.”

He shook his head. “No. No, honey. Don’t ever apologize for thinking of a memory, certainly not when it comes to him.”

I opened my mouth. No sound came out. So I closed it and looked away. Then Adam jumped in. He asked Malinda questions about her college years with basketball. She seemed eager to respond, and an hour slipped by. As it drew to a close, I sighed in relief. Becky hadn’t done anything for me to worry about. I hadn’t done anything for me to worry about. The only two who were sloshed by the end of dinner were Cassandra and Amelia. No one seemed to care.

Everything ended in polite farewells.

I looked up once and wondered if I’d get a one-on-one time with David, but he gave us all a goodnight grin with his hand curved around Malinda’s waist and I knew it wasn’t so. He’d go to bed with her beside him that night, someone who wasn’t my mother.

And then when the door closed on us, I was jerked back to reality. It was cold. I shivered and Cassandra and Amelia seemed too jovial for my stomach to handle.

“Let’s go party!” Amelia laughed as she tipped her head backwards.

Mark frowned at her, but he made no move to hold her in place. That seemed to be Cassandra’s job as she smiled at Adam. “I heard there’s a public party tonight. Wanna go?”

“I…uh…” He looked to me.

Everyone looked to me.

Becky grasped my hand.

I shrugged. “I have no idea where it’s at.”

Cassandra frowned and snapped, “Call your boyfriend. He’ll know.”

I turned heated eyes on her, but she was oblivious. The wine rendered her brave or careless when she threw her arms wide and laughed. The sound ripped from the bottom of her throat, and it sounded inhumane.

Then I closed my mouth. No retort would make a dent so I reached out and shoved her backwards.

She gasped and reached for a hold on the person nearest.

“Cass!” Amelia gasped as she fell with her.

Both of them tumbled backwards into Malinda’s bushes. When they were caught and held for a moment, the branches broke. They landed on the ground with a loud thump.

It was silent for one second. Mark and Adam burst out in laughter.

Cassandra screamed. It was bloodcurdling, and when she couldn’t climb back to her feet, she let out another one.

“Cass, shut up. My ears.”

She was thumped herself.

“Ow! Bitch.” Amelia tried to roll away, but the branches stopped her. They continued to be contained where they had landed. “Mark, help me!”

He snorted and stepped back. “Make me.”

Then I glanced at Becky, who had retreated behind me. She had both of her hands pressed to her mouth. Her shoulders were shaking and she was taking deep breaths. When a chuckle slipped out, she shook her head and turned away.

And then I didn’t hold back my own amusement. It felt right to smile at that moment.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Adam pulled the car down a long gravel driveway. Trees surrounded us and he peered around. “You sure this is where Mason said?”

Mark poked his head between the seat divider. “The party’s at an abandoned barn. Are you expecting pools and chandeliers?”