Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (20 page)

The shop was quiet, so I hopped in on my crutches and sat
behind the counter. Matt walked in, waved a hello and went in the back. Chloe
sidled up to me, giving me a hug. I winced a bit.

"Morning lady. You look fifty colors of crap. Jack
still not talking to you?"she asked.
 

"No. Not one call or text message. I was so tempted
to go sleep in his bed last night. And then when I did fall asleep, I had
horrible dreams about him banging the entire line up of the Rockettes,"I
muttered. She patted my shoulder and smiled.

“Cheer up. Even though he feels like you betrayed him, I
am sure he will realize that he is being a major asshat and come to his
senses," she said with a reassuring smile and a hug. She flounced into the
back and I turned as the front door bell jingled. Time to get to work.

Jack did not come into work, and the day flew by. I had
talked Chloe into coming out with Abby and I that night. As we drove home, she
chatted about some married guy who asked her out and did not even bother to
hide his wedding band. I walked inside and went into my room to get dressed. I
grabbed a black sparkly mini skirt and a dark red halter top. Piling my hair up
onto my head, I smiled at my results in the mirror. I applied some mascara and
eyeliner, as well as some foundation in an attempt to cover up my fading
bruises. I did all this hoping it would take away from the fact that I was on
crutches and had stitches in my forehead. I may feel like shit, but at least I
looked halfway decent. Hunting around for my lipstick, I stood up as I felt
someone watching me. I turned as Jack walked into his room. Sighing, I turned
back to the mirror and slid some silver hoops into my ears. Well at least he
was here in the house.

"Nice mama! You look hot!" said my brother
coming in behind me. He looked pretty spiffy himself in faded black jeans and a
red, short sleeved, button down shirt. Spying his comic book Converse, I
smiled. He gave me a hug and sat down on my bed.

“You look pretty hot yourself bro,” I replied. He
grinned.

“Thank you, thank you.” He did a mock bow and laughed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. He stood
and checked out his spiky black hair in the mirror. He did not answer me.

"Hey, Snow White! Could you stop checking yourself
out in the mirror and answer my question?" I asked, snapping my fingers in
front of his face. He grinned.

"Oh, yeah. I am going to do some stuff with Jack tonight.
Not staying out too late, because I have a ton of stuff to do shop wise with
Jack tomorrow morning. What are
you
all dressed up for?”he asked.

"I am going out with Chloe and Abby if you must
know. I need to burn off some steam, get my head on straight. But wait,
shouldn't you be home, getting ready to meet up with Cyrus?"

"Yeah. I tried that doing that. All day long I paced
around the damn house. I got tired of that shit so I asked Jack to come with me
and grab a few beers," he replied with a shrug. I nodded. He studied my
face and then played with his watch.

"Jack still not talking to you?" he asked.

"Nope. He is avoiding me like the plague," I
said. He stood up, grabbing my chin with his hand and looking into my eyes.

"Want me to kick his ass?" he said softly. I
snorted and we both ended up laughing. I looked over my shoulder, but Jack’s
bedroom door was shut tight. I wanted to be in there with him so much.  I
pulled away from my brother and sat on my bed, my stomach in knots. He looked
down at me and gave me a small smile.

"Uh yeah... are you ready to go Axel?" asked
Jack from my bedroom doorway, looking very uncomfortable. The sound of his
voice made my heart skip a beat. I had literally fantasized about his voice,
hearing it, all day. I smiled at him, but he looked at me and then looked away.
Axel gave me another reassuring look and then bent down to kiss my cheek. I
looked up at Jack, but he just turned and walked into the living room. I
chucked my hairbrush at the wall. Great, I had made a huge mark in the wall and
Jack still was not talking to me.

"Hey now, what the hell?!?" asked Abby coming
into my room, a frown on her pretty face. She looked awesome, as always. She
was wearing a silver strapless mini dress and killer black four inch heels. Her
hair was in a long ponytail down her back. She looked at the mark in the wall
and then back at me, her eyebrow raised, a smile fighting on her lips.

"Jack," I replied.

"Tonight, you are not going to think about him. If
you do, I will kick your ass!" she said with a smile.

"Got it boss!" I replied, hoping that I was
capable of doing that. How could I not think about the man I love? Ugh, but
that only made me think of the fact that I had been a jackass and not told him
that I loved him. I followed her out of my bedroom and into the kitchen where
Chloe was standing at the counter. She was wearing a cute black mini skirt and
a shiny black tank with pink stars all over it. And her heels were sky high and
bright pink. In front of her on the counter, she had three shots poured and
waiting. We all did a shot together and grabbed our purses. I smiled and
followed the ladies out of the house to Abby’s car. Chloe climbed in the front
seat, fiddled with the radio dials and began bouncing along to the music. I
gave her a smile and climbed clumsily into the backseat.

The sun hit my face and I winced as my head pounded.
Struggling to sit up, I slowed my ascent as the room began to spin. My mouth
felt like cotton and it was unbearably hot. Cracking open my eyes, I took in a
deep breath. I was lying on something incredibly hard. Turning my head slowly,
I saw Abby lying next to me, and Chloe a bit farther away. Chloe moaned and I
noticed she was in her underwear and a tie dyed t shirt that looked like it
would fit a four year old.  I would have laughed if I did not feel like
throwing up. Abby was in her sparkly pink thong and a tank top that was bright
orange and had the words Kum N Go on it. And one side of her hair was cut. She
was lying on her side, snoring softly and drooling on the floor.  Sitting
up slowly and propping myself on my elbows, I swallowed the bile rising in my
throat and noticed that I was wearing boxer shorts with smiley faces on them
 and a sparkly pink bikini top that oddly enough matched Abby’s thong.
What the hell?! Oh and we were on my brother's front porch. The front door
swung open and Axel sauntered out, apparently on his way to work. He had a cup
of coffee in one hand and his messenger bag was slung over his shoulder. He
stopped cold when he saw the three of us. His jaw dropped and a grin slowly
spread across his face like he was that cat in Alice in Wonderland.

"Holy fuck!" he said and then started to laugh.
Abby moaned and opened her eyes. His eyes shot to Abby and he wailed with
laughter.

"Tell the marching band to stop playing in my
fucking headland whatever fucking which is cackling, shoot the fucker!"
she moaned, rolling over, displaying the insane haircut. Axel cracked up even
louder and I think tears were coursing down his cheeks.

"Oh my god. If you could see yourselves!" he
said. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of us.

"You are lucky I feel like shit, otherwise I would
kick your ass," I said through gritted teeth. He chuckled.

"What the hell happened last night?" he asked.
He came and sat on the rocking chair closest to me and was careful not to crush
Chloe with it. She was staring up at the porch ceiling and not really moving.
Axel put his chin in his hand and smiled gleefully, like a kid watching a
parade. Only our type of parade was a bunch of half naked morons.

"I remember going out to Mulligan's, having tons of
shots and even more drinks. We hit up the strip club where Chloe works, and
then we decided to go to the beach. Oh and a few more bars," I replied
slowly, wincing every now and then.

"Wait. Chloe works at a strip club?"He asked
mid text.

"As a bartender," she moaned and attempted to
kick him but only succeeded in nudging him with her big toe. Then she let out a
massive belch and smiled to herself.

"How did you all end up here?"

"Well a trucker gave us a ride home. We were going
to hitchhike, but I threw up in the bushes and I forgot where I put my
car," muttered Abby and then
she
let out a huge belch. Axel winced.

"You guys look like shit. And where the hell are
your clothes? I saw you when I left with Jack, and I know you all did not go
out looking like that!"

"Speaking of Jack, where is the bastard?" asked
Abby. She was now vertical, leaning against the railing of the porch. I looked
down at my cast; someone had drawn flowers all over it. And a stick figure of
two people having sex. Awesome.

"He is on his way here, he had to go pick up some
coffee and breakfast. I suggest you all clear out, if you can. Otherwise he is
going to pee himself when he sees you three. Or at least go take a shower and
sleep it off upstairs," he said. Abby literally crawled into the house and
made it as far as the couch, where she passed out once again. Chloe stayed on
the porch and Axel gave her a pillow and fleece throw. He helped me up into the
house and sat me in a chair in the living room.

"I am going to go call Lamar and let him know where
Abby is," he called over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen. Every
so often I would hear him laughing. He came back a few minutes later, with a
glass of water and some aspirin. I took it and swallowed.

"Are you going to be alright? Granted you look like
Beach Party Barbie went slumming in the trailer park," he said, laughing
once again.

"You are not funny," I said with a frown,
putting a hand to my forehead. I was in agony.

"You're right; I am not the funny one. You are. Oh
my God. This is just like college. When you and Abby would get trashed once in
a blue moon and I had to sneak you in before Aunt Almeida found out! And wow,
Abby is going to lose her shit big time when she sees her hair!" He was
practically hopping up and down.

"Okay. Go find something to do!"

"Ok. If you need anything, I will be in the
kitchen." I think I nodded, I am not sure.

"Hey dude? There is a person passed out on your
porch!" said Jack, coming in and shutting the door behind him. My eyelids
were too heavy to open and I heard him gasp as he saw Abby and I. Then I heard
Axel laugh.

"My sister and her bff's decided to go on a bender
last night. I woke up this morning and was going to go grab the paper before
you came here, and there they all were, on my front porch. Passed the fuck
out," he remarked with an evil laugh. I heard Jack chuckle.

"Are you really going to leave Chloe on the front
porch?" he asked.

"Well, she is covered, she has a pillow and I think
she would kick my ass if I tried to move her," Axel replied.

"Well let’s get started on this business stuff for
the shop. You have a lot of shit to catch up on," said Jack and I heard
them walk into the dining room.

I felt someone staring at me. Opening my eyes slowly, I
jumped and then winced. Abby was staring at me. Like right up in my face
staring. And her breath was hellishly bad. I winced.

"What the hell Abs?" I groaned. Her hair cut
made her look criminally insane.

"We need to go to the store," she whispered,
inches from my face. I could smell the alcohol and cigarette smoke on her. It
made my stomach lurch.

"NO."

"Yes Bleu. We need to. Now." She poked my
shoulder with her finger.

"Uh why? Can it wait?" I asked. She grabbed my
hand and hoisted me up. The room spun and I felt like I was going to throw up.
If I did, I was going to make sure it was on her.

"Shh. Your brother and Jack are in the dining room.
I don't want them to hear us!"

"Abby, unless you need to buy meth, I don't think
they are going to care. Seriously!" She looked at me.

"Don't you remember our conversation last
night?"

"You are going to have to be a bit more specific
than that!"

"You and I were talking about Jack. And the
conversation about the whole I love you baby thing. You said that you thought
you might be pregnant and I said I thought I was too. You thought we should
find out," she said slowly.

"What the hell Abby? I do not remember that at
all!"

"Where are your clothes Bleu?" she asked,
ignoring me and searching for our stuff.

"Okay fine. I don't remember everything."

"When was the last time you got your
period?"she asked.

"Oh I am not sure. Maybe eight weeks ago? Maybe
more. But with all the stress, it can be late," I said. Then I remembered.
We had made it to the beach; someone had made a bonfire on the beach. Lots of
wine had been involved and some Patron. She had been staring at me, studying me
after I had gotten quite after talking about wanting to have kids with Jack.

What?” I asked.

“When was the last time you got your
period?” she asked.

“Uh why?” I asked. I placed the
glass on the table next to my full wine glass and looked at her.

“I think you’re pregnant,” she
replied. Shaking my head, I laughed.

“No way. Nuh uh,” I responded. She
looked at me thoughtfully.

“About two months or so. Right
before I had sex with Jack,” I replied after a few minutes. She nodded.

She shook her head. She grabbed
my brother's truck keys and dragged me out the front door. We stepped over
Chloe and I hobbled to my brother's truck. When she struggled to slide the
key in the ignition, we decided to walk to the store three blocks over. As
painful as that was going to be, it was better than driving.

"Okay,
we are adults. Why are we buying extra things to disguise that we are buying
pregnancy tests?" she asked. I shrugged.  Our cart contained body
wash, a box of Kleenex, bug spray and self tanner.

"I honestly don't know, but
it makes me feel better," I said. She giggled and then burped. I looked at
her out of the corner of my eye and she rolled hers.

"Okay have it your
way," she said. We walked to the checkout counter and I put everything on
the moving belt. Five minutes later we were on our way back to my brother's
house.

"Shit," I said. Axel
was standing on the front porch. So was Jack.

"Quick, shove the bag into
my purse!" I hissed. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“We have other shit in the bag
and the bag is grey. Stop freaking out!” she hissed back at me. I grabbed one
of the pregnancy tests and quickly shoved it in my purse. We slowly walked up
the front porch steps. Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked. Axel started his
deranged bouncing again.

"Well look Jack, its Lucy
and Ethel, if Ethel got her haircut by Edward Scissor hands that is.” Axel said
loudly with a laugh.

“Could you two please tell me
why you decided to steal my clothes and leave the house?" he asked, his
arms crossed. Jack shook his head.

"We needed to get
coffee," I said.

"But you two don't have any
coffee," he pointed out.

"Oops. We must have left it
at the coffee shop," said Abby. She giggled and nervously twirled an
escaped strand of hair around her finger. We pushed past them and made it
halfway into the house until Jack grabbed my arm. I looked into his eyes and he
gave me a small smile.

"Bleu, what's going
on?" he asked softly. I attempted to dislodge his hand from my arm and it
knocked my purse off my shoulder. It was like the slow motion scenes you see in
the movies. Abby and I both watched in horror as my purse kind of turned on its
side and landed on the floor, the contents spilling out. The pregnancy test
coming to rest on the toe of Jack's boot. He bent down to pick it up and held
it in his hand, giving me a questioning look. I snatched it from him. I grabbed
Abby's arm and we raced into the house and made a beeline for the bathroom. I
shut the door and I breathed a sigh of relief. Abby looked at me like I was
deranged, but proceeded to yank down the shorts we had stolen from. She
shrieked when the door swung open and Jack stalked in. I had forgotten the door
lock was broken. She shot him a dirty look.

"Bleu?" he asked
again. I looked at Abby for help and she shook her head. She had no idea what
to do either.

"You don't talk to me, and
now you want to be a part of this?" I asked. He looked down.

"I am going to pull my
shorts up if that’s alright," blurted Abby. I nodded.

 Sitting down on the
toilet, I felt a bit dizzy. Shaking my head, it passed after a bit. It was
probably the combination of the wine and stress.  My stomach lurched and I
swung around, and gave up my lunch in the toilet. Jack bent over and grabbed my
hair, holding it away from my face with one hand and rubbing small circles on
my back with the other. Then I felt a cold washcloth on the back of my neck.

“If I was not concerned right
now, I would be on my ass laughing,” he said with a smirk. Groaning, I rested
my head against the toilet seat.  He came over and knelt beside me trying
not to laugh. I leaned up a bit and rested against the wall next to the toilet,
tying my hair up into a messy bun. Abby was perched on the side of the tub,
somehow sitting Indian style with that ridiculous ski cap on her head.

“Are you seriously okay?” he
asked, sitting down next to me. I looked at him, felt the dizziness again and
retched into the toilet. Jack held out his hand and hoisted me up slowly.

“Yeah I think you are
pregnant." Abby said from over by the shower.

“How? I was on that stupid shot.
And did you forget the massive amount of alcohol we consumed last night? ”I
asked her. She frowned.

“When was the last time you had
it?”asked Jack.

"The shot?" I asked.

"No Abby. I was talking
about scarlet fever. Yes we meant the shot," snorted Abby. I stuck my
tongue out at her and she smiled innocently.

“Four months ago,” I said
quietly. Abby shook her head. She stood up. Jack looked at both of us and shook
his head.

"Can everyone stop looking
at me and shaking their head? It’s getting annoying," I muttered. Jack
came closer to me. He grabbed my head in his hands and kissed my forehead.
Bringing up my hands to wrap around his shoulders, I fell against his chest and
sighed. It felt like home.