The Shore (14 page)

She was hoping he'd try to convince her. She was ready to be convinced. But, instead, his face hardened. “You know what? Bite me.” He turned and stalked off.

Disappointment ran through her. Why didn't he stay and talk?
If he really wanted me, he would.

Avery tapped her on the shoulder. “What's wrong with Polly? I saw her run off.”

“She tried to mix with the wrong crowd,” Sabrina said.

Avery's face fell. “Why do they have to be so mean?”

Because they're all so afraid of being hurt,
Sabrina thought.

Up onstage, the band kicked into “Joy to the World (Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog).” Sabrina noticed that Martin, Owen's rowdy football-player friend, was headed her way with that stupid determined look drunk guys often get. It reminded her again of how much she wished Owen had hung around instead of getting all mad and storming off.

“Hi,” Martin said.

“Good-bye,” Sabrina replied, and turned away. As far as she was concerned, this was the perfect time to disappear.

• • •

The concert had finally ended, much to Avery's relief. She'd managed to see Curt for only a second afterward, but he'd seemed preoccupied and said he'd catch her later at the house. The whole evening felt like a bust to her. The band hadn't played well, and she wasn't sure she'd made much progress in trying to get Anthony to hire Stranger Than Fiction to play at the Surfin' Spot. Additionally, she felt sorry for Polly and hoped that she wasn't taking the insults too seriously.
Although I can't see how she wouldn't.

She had trudged home alone. Lucas and his new “friend” Tara walked behind her. The sounds of them talking and laughing hadn't helped her mood. She felt like it had been a long time since she and Curt had laughed like that, and she couldn't help imagining herself walking with Lucas instead of Tara. After a while, Lucas and Tara veered off on a different path. Avery was somewhat relieved, but also jealous.

You have to stop thinking about Lucas,
she told herself.
Curt's your boyfriend and just because he's going through a rough time doesn't mean you should think about another guy. After all, Curt was there for you in rough times.

At the house, Avery climbed the stairs to her bedroom and changed clothes. Then she sat on the bed for a minute and looked at a picture of Curt and the band that she had in a frame on her nightstand.
I wish they'd played better tonight,
she thought.
I'll just have to try to stay upbeat for Curt. It's gotta be a blow to him.

Maybe this would be a good night to take him out for a drink. She stood up and pulled opened her underwear drawer. Fishing underneath a stack of panties, her hands closed on an envelope. She pulled it out and opened it.

Something was wrong. The wad of bills inside was thinner than the day before. She quickly counted through it, trying to remember how much should be there, but she couldn't remember. She only knew the stack had been thicker. Taking out forty dollars, she carefully put the envelope back where she had gotten it.

Shoving the money in her shorts pocket, Avery headed downstairs. Everyone was hanging out in the living room, drinking beers or wine coolers. Curt had made it home and was in the kitchen, getting a beer.
I didn't expect him for at least another hour. I hope everything's okay.

She joined him in the kitchen. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and didn't look happy. He reached back into the fridge and offered her a beer.

“Listen, why don't we go out and have a drink?” she suggested hopefully.

“No, thanks,” Curt replied.

“You sure?” she asked, disappointed.

“Yeah. Not in the mood.”

Since there was no getting him out of his funk, she figured she might as well accept the beer and voice her other
concern: “Honey, did you borrow some of my money?” she asked quietly as she cracked the can.

Curt turned and scowled at her. “No, why?”

“Nothing, I just thought I was a little short, but you didn't take any?”

“I said I didn't.”

Avery immediately realized she'd made a mistake. Talking about the money only darkened his mood. “Forget about it. Maybe I was just too tired to count straight,” she said quickly. “Do you have any Advil? I've got a headache.”

“Because the band sucked?” he asked.

“No! I thought you were great,” she lied.

“Then you must have been listening to some other band, because we sucked,” he said.

She could tell that he was plummeting, and she knew from experience that there was no way to talk him out of it. Sometimes the best thing she could do was leave him alone and not antagonize him.

She walked into the living room. Everyone seemed to be there except for Polly and Lucas. “Anyone have any Advil?”

“I do,” April said, getting up. “I'll get it for you.”

“Thanks,” Avery said, sitting down on the couch. She noticed Owen and Sabrina were sitting off to the side, near Polly's room, one on either side of Polly's door. They seemed to be getting along surprisingly well.

She was also surprised when Curt followed her out of
the kitchen. “Hey, Owen, Sabrina, what did you think of the band?” he asked.

“It was fine, you guys looked good,” Sabrina said, avoiding his eyes.

“Your covers rocked!” Owen said with feigned, drunken enthusiasm.

“Thanks, but our original material bites,” Curt said, sinking into a chair and taking a slug of brew. “We've got to do something before the Battle of the Bands.”

Avery's ears perked up excitedly. Curt hadn't said anything about a battle of the bands before, but it was good news. Any chance the band had to be heard was good.

“You're going to be in that?” Owen asked, not doing a very good job of hiding his astonishment.

“We just found out tonight,” Curt said.

“Before or after you played?” Avery heard Sabrina mutter under her breath.

“That's awesome, honey,” Avery said quickly, hoping Curt hadn't heard Sabrina. “And don't worry about tonight. I know I enjoyed the concert.”

“You sure you had time to pay attention?” Curt asked. “Looked to me like you were pretty busy doing other things.”

Avery's head was beginning to really pound. “You mean Anthony? I was trying to get him to hire STF for the Surfin' Spot. He mentioned that this other band, Naked Mole Rats, is playing tomorrow night. Maybe we should go see them.”

“Oh, Anthony mentioned that, huh?” Curt said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Well, if Anthony says so, then we should all just jump to it.”

The words stung. Avery had only been trying to help. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, too tired to play games with him.

“It means it seems like you'll do anything Anthony says. I don't like how you're acting about this guy.”

Avery glanced uncomfortably at Owen and Sabrina. She hated public confrontations, but her head hurt too much to move. “You can't be jealous of my boss. That's pathetic.”

“You wanna know what's pathetic?” Curt asked aggressively. “A girl who has a guy who loves her and all she can think about is messing around with some smug jerk who she works for.”

“Curt, you're just angry about tonight,” Avery said. “There was nothing going on. You should know me better than that. He's not even my type.”

“That's right, he's not, and you should remember that.”

“I can't believe we're fighting over this,” Avery groaned.

“So stop,” Owen interjected.

Curt and Avery scowled at him.

“All of you, pipe down. Polly's got some guy in her room,” Sabrina hissed.

“Yeah, we're trying to listen,” Owen added, pointing.

Suddenly Avery realized why Owen and Sabrina had
positioned themselves near Polly's door. They were both trying to get as close to the door as possible to listen.

“Polly's got a guy in there?” Avery asked, pressing her hands to her temples.

“Yeah,” Owen said, slurring his words. “Came home with him a little while ago. His hands were all over her. Go, Polly, go!”

“We want to see if she's got the guts to go all the way,” Sabrina added.

“Oh, yeah,” Owen said, raising his hand to give her a high five, but Sabrina pointedly refused.

“You guys are gross,” Avery said, completely repulsed. “What kind of people are you that you're making a sport out of eavesdropping?”

“A sport, I like that,” Owen said. “I'll get the
score
cards.”

“It's her business—you should keep your noses out of it,” April said, coming down the stairs and handing Avery two Advils. She quickly washed them down with her beer. Meanwhile, Curt got up and walked unsteadily toward the kitchen.

“Come on, don't act all high and mighty,” Sabrina said.

“Yeah, admit it, your curiosity is killing you,” Owen chimed in.

Curt returned from the kitchen with another beer. For the first time all evening, his mood appeared to lift. To Avery's chagrin, he joined Owen and Sabrina close to Polly's room. Sometimes she really had to wonder about him.

• • •

April couldn't believe how nasty Owen and Sabrina were, trying to listen in on Polly. “You guys are completely disgusting,” she said.

Owen took a gulp of beer and brought a quavering finger to his lips. “Hush, little girl, this is important.”

“Owen, you're drunk,” April said.

“Am not,” he protested, despite the empty bottles in front of him on the coffee table.

“And you're not an attractive drunk.”

“Really? That's not what I hear—just ask Sabrina,” he said. Sabrina rolled her eyes and shook her head as if she wanted nothing to do with him.

Suddenly they heard a shout, and Polly let out a short, sharp shriek. Everyone got very quiet and still. Inside the room, the unpleasant noises continued. Outside the room, everyone began to look agitated.

“You little tease!” the guy inside Polly's room grunted.

“Ow! Stop!” they heard Polly cry.

“We can't let him hurt her,” April said desperately to the others.

For a second, no one else moved. Then they heard a slap, and Polly cried out again.

“Curt! You have to stop him,” Avery begged.

“Naw,” he said, and took a long pull on his beer. “Cool it. Maybe it's not what you think.”

But April knew that was bull. Curt had turned pale. He was scared. “It is too what we think,” she said.

Sabrina turned to Owen. “How about you, hero? Man enough to take care of it?”

“Damn right.” Owen staggered to his feet and stood for a moment, wobbling back and forth. “No one does that to a woman under my roof,” he said, slurring his words. He took two steps, tripped on the leg of the coffee table, and crashed to the floor with a loud thud. It almost would have been funny had Polly not been crying in her room.

Sabrina bent over Owen and felt his face. “He's out cold.”

“Ow! You're hurting me!” Polly cried from inside her room again.

Shaking with anger, April took three quick steps toward Polly's room and tried the doorknob. It was locked. Panic began to rise in her, and she pounded on the door. “Stop it!” she shouted.

The sounds coming from inside the room suddenly stopped. A second later the door swung open and a guy about three inches taller than April stared at her. His shirt was open, and he looked startled that so many people were in the living room. “What the—” he began to say.

Thunk!
April grabbed him by the hair and slammed his skull into the doorjamb with a sharp crack. Then she yanked his head down so that it was eye level with hers. “Get out,” she growled.

Blood started trickling down the side of the guy's face
from a cut on his scalp. April let go and stood back, and he fled through the living room and out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Polly came out of her room, her eyes red with tears and her clothes disheveled. April hugged her. “Are you okay?”

“I . . . I think so,” Polly replied.

“Should we call the police?” Avery asked. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“Oh no, nothing like that,” Polly quickly answered.

“Come on.” April led her over to the couch and sat down. It seemed like more people were staring at her than at Polly.

“Wow, you're like Wonder Woman or something,” Sabrina said, looking impressed.

“Men like that are pigs,” April said, her shoulders still trembling as she tried to calm her breathing.

Avery stared at Owen, where he lay on the living room floor. He'd started snoring. But at least he'd made an effort to stop what was happening in Polly's room. Why hadn't Curt done something? Avery sat next to Polly and held her hand. She felt awful for the girl. Polly had wanted to meet a guy so badly and when she finally had, this had happened.
It's so unfair!
“Not all guys are like that,” she said.

“Yeah,” Sabrina chimed in, actually looking sympathetic. “Most of them don't hit.”

“I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble,” Polly said at last.

“Not at all,” Avery tried to soothe her.

“It wasn't you who caused the trouble,” April said.

“It was a good thing April knew how to deal with that guy,” Sabrina said, shuddering slightly.

Yes, April knew what to do,
Avery thought, trying not to glance at Curt. “I'm so glad you were here, April,” she said.

Before the other girl could respond, they heard the front doorknob turn. Avery stiffened, wondering if the creep had come back.

The door opened, and Lucas came in with Tara, the girl from the concert. Avery felt herself tense.

As soon as he entered the living room, Lucas stopped. Avery watched him take Tara's hand and squeeze it as if to warn her that something was wrong. “What's going on? What happened?”