Who We Were (10 page)

“I honestly don’t want to go to a party. My sister is coming into town this weekend.” He looked sad. “But I might be able to go for a little bit.”

I really didn’t want to go, but it was my last chance to see them all before it was all over. My time was so brief with Nolan. I was suddenly sad about summer school ending.

Sixteen

During the day Saturday, I spent time with Cara at the mall. She was shopping for new shoes, and I was looking for a new outfit for the goodbye party. That’s what I was referring to it as now. Goodbye Alcott. Goodbye friends. Goodbye life of mine.

My life would be going back to normal soon, except Lily wasn’t suffering with me. I wondered what it would be like for her at the end of the summer. Would she still be with Oliver? Then the thought crossed my mind of what the beginning of senior year would be like for us? We’d have to face each other on the first day.

I had been spilling all of my summer drama on Cara since we got into the car. I had her updated on all things Alcott related and mostly updated on Lily and Oliver. When I told her about Lily lying practically naked on his kitchen table, she sneered.

“Do girls these days have
any
respect for themselves, I swear. People eat family dinners on that table,” she said. My sister believed that a girl should wait to lose her virginity. She wasn’t on the wait-until-marriage bandwagon, more so on the wait-until-you-feel-like-it’s-going-to-mean-something-more-than-sex trend. She had lost hers to Matt, her boyfriend through high school. They loved each other, and she wanted it to be special. She wanted her first time story to mean something more than,
we had sex.
She wanted hers to be,
we had sex, and it was beautiful because we loved each other.
She was fully aware that high school love didn’t always last forever, but she said that it would always mean something to her.

***

“So did you ever find out what happened with Oliver and Gwynnie?” Cara asked me as she tried on a cute pair of pumps.

“No. That’s the most frustrating thing too,” I admitted. “I hoped I could have some sort of evidence of his douchbagary. But I don’t.” I frowned.

Cara nodded. “I know. I hate when you know something, and you can’t prove it. Maybe I can help out.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey, it’s Cara,” she said into the phone. “Do you know a kid named Oliver Kasen? Oh yeah? No way? Well, do you know his ex Gwynnie? No shit! Thanks, I’ll call you right back.”

She hung up and her face brightened. She knew something! If I had known it would have been that easy to find dirt on Oliver, I would have asked her a long time ago.

“Who did you just call?” I asked inquisitively.

“A friend who went to Alcott, she graduated with Oliver’s cousin, Harper Kasen. Anyway, she said that Oliver is a major jerk, and not just like in the
uses girls
sense. According to her, he’s a jerk all the time. He’s majorly rich. His dad apparently is the president of several supermarket chains across the whole U.S. So he’s loaded,” she said as she put the shoes back in the box. “He apparently can do no wrong because he gets away with everything.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” I admitted. I could see how cocky Oliver was at school. “What else?”

“Well, it just so happens that when she went to school with Harper, it was the same time Oliver dated Gwynnie, and she knew her.”

I waited for the dirt, but Cara stood there in the middle of the store staring at me.

“And?”

“And, she works here at
Hollister
.”

“She works here? Do you think she’s working today?” I asked excitedly.

Cara nodded and walked out of the store. I bolted after her.

“I wonder why she would work at the mall when the chance of seeing Oliver would be so great,” I wondered aloud.

Cara laughed at me and pulled me along with her. “Sadie, people like Oliver don’t shop here at our mall. The mall to them is like slummin’ it.”

We stopped at the Lemon Hut and got two lemonades while finalizing our plan. We would just be upfront and ask Gwyinnie what happened, straight and to the point. What would the worst outcome be; she’d yell and ask us to leave. I could live with that.

We walked up the escalator and into the
Hollister
. It smelled so damn good in there that it made me want to shop and smell all the clothes, but Cara pulled me with her and up to the counter.

“Does Gwynnie work today?” she asked the sales girl.

“Yeah, she’s in the fitting rooms.” The girl went back to work, paying us no mind.

The fitting room was empty except for a beautiful blonde girl standing there waiting for customers. She brightened up and smiled when she saw us walk up.

“Hi,” she beamed.

“Hi,” I responded. She seemed so nice. “I was wondering if I could ask you about Oliver Kasen?” I just went for it. No beating around this bush.

Her smiled faltered, and she backed away from me like she was scared.

“I’m not here to hurt you or anything,” I told her. “My best friend is dating him, or ex-best friend really, and I know there is something off about him.”

Gwynnie bit her lip and nodded.

“She’s not acting herself,” Cara added.

“Yeah, he’ll do that to you,” Gwynnie said. “I get a break in a sec; meet me outside.”

“Thank you so much,” I said as we backed away. We walked out of the store and waited for her to take her break. Finally she came out and scanned the crowd of people.

“This way,” she said dodging people and walking through two double doors leading outside. We were in the smokers’ lounge. She pulled out a pack and held it out to us first. Cara nodded and took one. She’d always been a social smoker; I on the other hand declined because, yuck.

Gwynnie lit her cigarette and Cara’s and sat back into a chair. I sat across from her and waited for her to talk. Finally she looked at me and sighed.

“You’re a pretty girl,” she said between puffs. “I hope you don’t get involved with him.”

“Oh trust me, I won’t, Gwynnie,” I assured her.

“Just call me Gwyn,” she suggested. I liked it better anyway.

“When I met Oliver, it was nothing but pure bliss. He was sweet like sugar, and he made me feel beautiful, paying me compliments here and there. All day, every day it was nothing but sweetness. It was just the two of us and no one else, ya know?”

I nodded because I had felt like that with Nolan at his cottage. I held those feelings closely because we were just friends, so it wasn’t the same.

“He drove me crazy, but I didn’t care, I was in love. So in love that when he told me I didn’t need to hang out with my friends anymore, I listened. I stopped having fun with them. I left them hanging all the time and just spent time with Oliver. We would sit at his house and do nothing while my friends had fun. But I was so blinded then.

“Then he had me break away from my parents. It wasn’t like he said to stop talking to them. It was subtle hints here and there about how they didn’t support our relationship. I actually listened to his bullshit, and I pulled away from everyone until one day I had no one except Oliver. That was exactly what he wanted.”

She brought the cigarette to her pink lips and puffed out a cloud of smoke.

I was in shock as I watched this beautiful girl explain how a guy single handedly ruined her life.

“Let me guess, your friend ditched you and said nasty things to you?” she inquired.

“Yeah, something like that,” I admitted.

“She’s not herself right now. She has him whispering in her ear. He’s probably telling her all sorts of things that aren’t true. He wants you out of the picture because you’re a threat to his whole operation,” she informed me.

Cara leaned forward and asked, “Why does he do this?”

“Because he’s sick in the head. I honestly believe he needs help. His dad was never around, so Oliver spun out of control with no one to reprimand him.”

A spoiled brat who went crazy because the power and freedom went to his head.

Gwyn leaned closer and put her cigarette out, then took my hands in hers. She looked at me seriously.

“Your friend is in danger,” she whispered, giving me chills all over my body. “Oliver broke my cheek bone the first time he hit me. Then he knocked my tooth out the second time.” She lifted her gums and showed me the fake tooth that took its place.

I felt like I could throw up. I wanted to run away and not hear what she had to say, but I knew I had to hear her whole story.

“When I went to my friends, they didn’t listen because they didn’t care. I was such a bitch to them, so they didn’t believe me. A while later I tried my parents. My dad was the only one to believe me, but when I took Oli back, he told me he couldn’t help me if I stayed with him. So Oli and I ran away for two weeks.”

“Where?”

“To a hotel on the outskirts of town. I didn’t go to school. I just stayed in the room waiting for Oliver to come back. When he did, he’d treat me however he wanted and leave again.” She sat back into the chair and lit another cigarette.

“Finally, he beat me so badly that I blacked out, and when I awoke, I left. I drove home, and my dad called the police when he saw my face. But Oliver has everyone on his payroll essentially. His lawyer had several eye witness accounts that he was with them at a party. They said that I had showed up piss drunk and fell on my face on my own. All of my so-called friends lied for Oliver, for money.”

“But didn’t the cops do anything?” Cara asked.

“They arrested him at first and his dad bailed him out only a few hours later. In court he had all of his
witnesses
testify that I fell. So it was dismissed and thrown out,” she spat. “He won and I lost. I lost every one of my friends and all of the respect I had. I stayed home and switched schools.”

Yep. I was gonna puke.

“Lily …” I breathed, trying to hold back the bile rising to my throat. “Thank you, Gwyn, but I gotta go.”

I pulled Gwyn into a quick hug and took Cara by the hand pulling her out through the mall. Once outside in my own car, I let out the sobs that threatened to pour down my face while I sat there listening to the horrific story of Gwynnie and Oliver’s relationship.

Cara didn’t say a word. She sat in the seat and placed her hand on my shoulders until I stopped and got control of myself.

***

I knew I would see Lily at the party, so as Cara did my hair, I thought about what I’d say to her. I would have liked to tell her that I knew what really happened between Oliver and Gwyn. I wanted her to say that she believed me and that she was sorry for choosing him and for hurting me. But, I knew better. Like, Gwyn said, no one could tell her what choices to make. She turned away from everyone for him, and when she needed help, no one was around. I decided right then that when Lily came to me, I would be there for her. I wouldn’t turn away. I would help her out, but I had to wait for her to see for herself. As much as I hated to do that, I had to. I couldn’t make Lily see my point. I couldn’t make her do what she didn’t want to do. Oliver was a charmer, and he had her wrapped around his pinkie.

I could only hope he learned his lesson with Gwyn and stopped hitting girls. I just knew he didn’t, but I had to hope. I also had to pray that Lily would come to me if he ever placed a hand on her.

“Stop scowling, I can’t do your make up when you do that,” Cara warned. I hadn’t even realized she moved onto my makeup, I was so deep in thought.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me. I’m just as scared for Lily as you are. She’s been your friend so long, I feel like she’s my little sister. That’s why I’m going to the party with you,” she said as she placed mascara on my lashes. I didn’t say a word because I wanted her to go with me. She would be my support for when I saw Oliver and wanted to rip his face off.

She inspected my face and smiled.

“Looking good, Sadie. Now, time for your new dress,” she told me as she practically skipped out of my room. She was back with a bag in her hands. “For you. For tonight, because I know how important it is to you.”

I excitedly opened the bag and inside was a short, white lace party dress. I pulled it out and slipped the soft fabric over my head. It was shear lace on the top with a sweetheart neckline that showed off my tan. It was pretty much the most beautiful dress I had ever had. It wasn’t what I had planned to wear tonight, but it was definitely more suited. This party was going to be pretty amazing; I wanted to look the part. And to think I didn’t even want to go!

“Thank you so much, Cara,” I said as I hugged her. I pulled away and said, “Oh crap. I need shoes for this dress.” My pumps were black and wouldn’t match.

“No problem. Look in the bag,” she told me. Inside was a pair of velvet mint green heels that I had missed. They looked awesome with the dress. I took one last look in the mirror. My hair was braided on the side and fell free over my shoulder, and Cara placed a small flower in the back. My make-up was simple, yet flawless.

“I’m ready!” I told Cara.

“Yes, you are.”