Betrayed (21 page)

“Can’t you see how he’s changed you?” Dana said. “He’s manipulating you. He’s turning you against me.”

My lips pinched tightly together as we stared hard at each other.

“Did you ever sleep with him?” I asked. I didn’t care who heard me, and I didn’t care that Ethan was standing right there. I needed to hear the answer from Dana, once and for all.

She hesitated. The hard look in her eye turned to confusion as her eyes continued to dart between Ethan and I.

“Of course I did,” she said, but she had already given me the true answer.

“I can’t believe you,” I said. “You’ve been lying to my face this whole time.”

She bit her lip, and somehow managed to scowl even harder.

“How could you do it to me?” I asked. “Why couldn’t you just tell me the truth?”

Dana stepped right up into my face. The look in her eye was one of stone and fire. She spoke in a hushed, angry tone.

“I can’t believe you’d let him get to you like this,” she said. “Or, perhaps I just didn’t realize what a backstabbing little slut you really are.”

My hand jerked instantly. I didn’t even realize what was happening.

The slap crackled loudly, and echoed throughout the dark, desert night. The sounds of the party died away, and the only two people left in the world were Dana and I.

She stood there, looking more shocked than hurt. My palm stung, but I didn’t flinch or back down from her cold stare. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but some detached part of me noticed that she didn’t. There was nothing but hatred in her eyes.

“You have until tomorrow morning to get your stuff out of my place,” she said, her voice low and icy. “I never want to see you again.”

She shouldered me hard when she walked past. I didn’t give my ground, though, and I didn’t turn to watch her go. Trevor looked between Ethan and I with an apologetic look of horror. He shrugged his shoulders and made to follow her, but Ethan caught him by the arm and pulled him in close.

“Why didn’t you say it was her?” Ethan asked in a hushed tone.

“I didn’t know how you’d take it,” Trevor said. “I just figured it would be best to leave it alone until it needed to be brought up.”

“Didn’t you get any of my messages? I told you we’d be here tonight. This could have been avoided.”

Trevor shrugged his shoulders, but made no apology. “I fucked up.”

Ethan blew out a strong sigh. “Go get her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything crazy. We’ll see you back at the house later.” Trevor nodded and pushed past us in pursuit of Dana.

I turned to face Ethan, still feeling a shocked numbness settling in on my chest. I didn’t mean to strike out at Dana; it wasn’t intentional. It was just that she had pressed all the wrong buttons and I had acted without thinking.

“What have I done?” I asked.

He wrapped a strong arm around me and pulled me in close. I felt the eyes of everyone looking down on me. I was the little girl that needed to be saved by the big man. I wanted to disappear.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” he said.

He squeezed me tight and kissed me on the forehead. It calmed me a bit, but I knew it was going to be a while before I felt at ease again.

“Is everything alright?” a voice asked.

We both spun around to see Jerry Sandberg watching us. He was illuminated by the light of the dining room behind him, and he looked bigger and scarier than ever.

“Everything’s fine,” Ethan said, loudly. “Just a misunderstanding is all.”

“I surely hope so, Mr. Dewey,” he said sternly. “For your sake.”

I felt Ethan’s muscles tense against me, and felt the thud of his heart pounding furiously.

“I can assure you it was nothing,” Ethan said again. Jerry gave a tight nod and disappeared back into the dining hall.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

He shook his head and ran his fingers through my hair, but the look on his face told me there was something more.

“It’s nothing. He’s just being himself.” Ethan smiled down at me and kissed me on the forehead, again. “Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded, and clung to him while he guided me out of the country club.

“What am I going to do?” I asked, not for the first time. Ethan drove his Porsche slowly through the windy turns of the Tucson Foothills.

“It’s all going to work out,” he said, his voice calm.

“Stop trying to comfort me, I don’t need comforting,” I said, too sharply. “I can’t believe the nerve of her. Where does she get off calling me a slut?”

Ethan sucked in a long breath before he responded. “I think she was just taken by surprise. People do crazy things when they’re caught off guard.”

I nodded and took a few deep breaths, trying to center myself. I couldn’t help but feel that I was mostly to blame for everything that had happened. Maybe Dana was right - I was just a slut who couldn’t control herself. What kind of person sacrifices their best friend for a guy? But he wasn’t just
some
guy. He was Ethan - he was the man I
loved
. I had never felt like this for anyone else, and who was Dana to belittle that feeling?

“I can’t believe she would say those things to me,” I said. “And what was she doing with Trevor? I didn’t even know the two of them knew each other.”

Ethan winced. “They met a couple weeks ago when I was trying to talk Dana into getting you to talk to me.”

“And you didn’t know anything about them dating?”

He glanced over at me. “Apparently you didn’t, either.”

He had a point there. Dana had played me for a fool. I should have known something was up when she refused to let me meet the mystery man who took her to the airport. I knew she liked her privacy, but there had been something off about the way she handled that entire situation. Now I knew better than to take her at her word. I wasn’t sure I’d ever trust her again. I wasn’t sure I’d ever
talk
to her again.

We drove on in silence for a bit. New Year’s Eve was ruined, and it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. All I wanted to do was crawl into the nearest bed and fall asleep until the drama was over. For the first time ever, I couldn’t wait to get back to the normalcy of the school semester. The routine of going to class, studying, doing homework, and taking exams was simple and straight forward. I always knew what direction I was supposed to be headed, and I always knew what the next step was. The school world was black and white - and I was quickly learning that real life issues weren’t so easily defined.

“Where are we going?” I asked. The neighborhood looked familiar, but my brain struggled to make the connection.

“Dana said she wanted your stuff out by the morning. I figured we’d just get it done now.”

I sighed and felt a few tears surface. I didn’t know how I was going to fix my relationship with my best friend. What was worse, though, was that I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to.

“It’s going to be a long night,” I said.

* * * * *

“What the hell was up with you back there?” Trevor asked. The two roared down Skyline Boulevard, heading no where in particular. They hadn’t said a word to each other since they left the party.

“You ambushed me,” Dana said, tightly.

“Ambushed you? I had no idea they were going to be there.”

“Oh, please, don’t treat me like I’m an idiot. You said your brother hooked you up with the invitation - it’s obvious you knew he was going to be there, too.”

“Would it have killed you to act like an adult?” he said.

Dana turned and faced him. He could feel the intensity of her eyes as they tried to burn a hole straight through him.

“What did you expect to happen?” she asked.

“Isn’t Kayla your best friend? I would think you two could act like civilized adults, instead of bratty little middle-schoolers.”

Dana sneered and looked out the window; she was silent for a moment. “Once upon a time we were best friends. That was before I knew what a slut she was.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe she backstabbed me like that.”

They drove on in silence for a bit. He knew he was treading dangerous waters, and he knew that the explosive qualities he found exciting about Dana, were on the verge of combusting in front of him. But still, he had to speak his mind. He had to make sure he cleared the air of everything while he had the chance.

“I don’t think she backstabbed you,” he said. “It’s obvious they’re in love with each other.” He felt her eyes glare into him again. She sucked in a breath to say something, but he didn’t give her the opportunity. “And besides, it’s not like you haven’t moved on yourself. I’m sure I’m not the first guy you’ve been with since you dated Ethan.”

Dana breathed heavily. He could feel the heat coming from her.

“How dare you talk to me about love,” she said. “You couldn’t possibly know the first thing about it.”

There was a slight pause. Painful images flooded Trevor’s mind. He could almost feel the bulge of the ring in his pocket, still.

“I know more than you think,” he said.

There was another silence. A calm came over them, and Dana turned back to the window.

“It figures,” she said. “All you bottom-feeders like to stick together.”

“What did you call me?” Trevor asked, a hint of danger in his voice.

Dana turned her mocking smile toward him. “You’re scum; a low-life. Great men - real men - lift themselves up by your shoulders and all the while you think you’ve made something of yourself.” She paused and turned away once again. “You’re a fool - you and your brother, both. I wonder what I ever saw in him.”

Trevor was dumfounded. He didn’t know how to react. He knew Dana could be brazen and outspoken, but he never thought she’d sink so low as to be openly insulting, too. Maybe Ethan was right all along, maybe he should have kept his distance from her.

“Tell me something,” he said. “Were you ever interested in me, or have I always been a little play thing for you to amuse yourself with?”

Dana glanced over at him - the sneer in her eye was still present. “Oh please,” she said, indignantly. “Like I could ever be
interested
in you.”

Heat boiled into Trevor’s face. All this time, he had known that something wasn’t quite right between them. He had sensed it when she refused to let him come to her place; when she insisted that they sneak around where no one would find them. He had convinced himself that there could be something more. He rationalized her actions by telling himself that it was because of her history with Ethan. He convinced himself that she was just being cautious - that, eventually, they would be able to have their relationship made public.

You’re someone’s fool, again
, he told himself.
Are you going to run and hide like you did last time?

Without thinking, Trevor pulled over onto the side of the road. He slammed on the brakes, a bit too hard, and sent Dana lurching forward against the seat belt.

“What the Hell are you doing?” she screamed, trying to recover from the sudden trauma.

He looked at her hard, making no effort to hide the anger building inside of him. “All this time, you were just sleeping with me for the fun of it? Or was it your way of getting back at Ethan and Kayla?”

Dana jerked back on the seat belt, trying to unlock it and give herself some breathing room. “It wasn’t revenge sex,” she said between tugs of the belt. Finally, it unlatched and slid free. “I had an itch that needed scratching. You didn’t really think we were going anywhere, did you?”

Trevor couldn’t take it anymore. He realized finally, and completely, that Dana was a venom. He couldn’t allow himself to be with her - not for one single second longer.

“Get out,” he said.

Her eyebrows crinkled together - the smug smile replaced with a look of confusion. Her head tilted. “Excuse me?” she asked, coldly.

“Get,
the fuck,
out of my car,” he said. A calm rage washed through him; he didn’t raise his voice.

“Take me home,” she said. Her tone issued a challenge, but he wasn’t going to back down.

Trevor didn’t give a second’s thought before he leapt from the car, and walked around the front. Dana’s eyes tracked him, a look of disbelief registering. He popped her door open and, with one hand, hauled her out of the car. He was so quick about it, that she nearly tumbled to the ground. Trevor clicked the lock on the door and slammed it shut. He marched around to the driver’s side as Dana composed herself.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “You can’t just leave me here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Watch me,” he said.

He wasn’t going to give her another second of his time.

He climbed into the car and threw it into gear. The screeching sound his tires made, was the sweetest sound he’d heard all night.

It didn’t take long to pack all of my things. A new, eerie silence loomed over her apartment. I didn’t want to be there any longer than necessary. Ethan was helpful, and started carrying my stuff out to his car. Luckily there wasn’t much, or we would have had to make multiple trips. His Porsche was an amazing car, but it wasn’t built with storage space in mind.

“Just about done,” I said. I grabbed the picture frame from the nightstand and looked at it. He glanced over my shoulder.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s the gift my parents gave me,” I said.

“An old family photo?” he asked. “It’s nice. Bit of an odd gift for Christmas, isn’t it?”

I smiled. “You don’t understand. It’s more than just a picture. This was our last vacation before my dad lost his job. It was the calm before the storm,” I said. I tilted the frame this way and that. “It was the happiest time of my life.”

Ethan put his hand on my back and I looked up at him. “Keep your head up,” he said. “There’s plenty of happiness in store for you.”

My smile grew even larger. “Thanks,” I said. “It’s nice having someone who believes in me.”

“I don’t just believe in you,” he said. “I hope I can help make all of your dreams come true.”

A shiver rand down my back, despite the warmth I felt. Ethan was a good guy. In spite of all our trouble, I felt like I’d won the lottery in the relationship department.