Grievance: Volume 1 Page 12

  He couldn’t tell Emmitt what he thought was going on with Hannah and Sean. Emmitt was already worked up enough. “I’m just worried that the more time goes by, the harder it’ll be to get to her.”

  “But why wouldn’t Kristen just tell us that she talked to Hannah and she’s all right?”

  “Maybe Hannah asked her not to, or Kristen could know there is something wrong, and she’s trying to keep us out of it.”

  “I hear you. And I completely understand your frustration, but you know you can’t take that out on Kristen. Whatever her reasons for keeping it from us, it’s not to hurt Hannah and you know that. Sean is the reason she won’t talk to us. He’s the one you’re really mad at.”

  Emmitt had a point. Connor just needed proof, he needed to see Hannah’s face, and then there was no stopping him. Landmines be damned, he would beat Sean to within an inch of his life and be glad he did it. Just thinking about it made his fists clench.

  “I’ll go apologize to Kristen after we finish plotting this thing out, just in case she shares it with Hannah.”

  “Good point. Just let me make a couple of quick calls,” Emmitt said taking his phone to the bathroom.

  Connor hated that he let himself come undone like that. Kristen wasn’t his enemy. She actually had a good point. There was no telling what Hannah’s reaction would be to them forcing her to talk to them, but he had tried everything short of punching Sean in the face for even raising his voice at her.

  He decided to give Noelle a call. She would help them. Her phone went straight to voicemail. “Hey, it’s me. I was just calling to check on you and see if you missed me yet. I know I’m certainly missing you. I’ll give you a call later.”

  “Damn,” Emmitt said exiting the bathroom.

  “What?”

  “The guy who’s been keeping an eye on Sean for me is in effin L.A. We’re going to need some more help.”

  “Noelle can help, but I don’t want her anywhere near Sean.”

  “Tristin might be down, if you can act right around her.”

  “If she’s willing to do something to actually help someone, I’ve got no problems with her.”

  “Good, but that means Brian will be out.”

  “If we’re being honest I’d put more money on Tristin if it came to a fight,” Connor said.

  Emmitt laughed, but Connor was very serious.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tristin

  Tristin felt like an idiot.

  “Excuse me,” she asked approaching the flower shop cashier. “If you were trying to make up with an ex, which would you pick, blue or pink?” she asked holding up two bouquets.

  “We have a basket with baseballs and nuts that he might like better,” the cashier replied.

  The assumption that she was shopping for a boy was so common that she learned to have fun with it.

  “I’m not sure balls and nuts are really her thing,” Tristin said with a grin.

  She could count down the seconds to when people’s faces grew long and they tried to stutter out some kind of recovery. But this clerk was almost blushing. She was kind of cute for a plain Jane type. Tristin went for the Brooklyn Deckard and Blake Lively type of girls, too hot to actually live in her town. Fortunately, she didn’t have to look for long. Chelsea was practically waiting on her doorstep when she finally came out to her parents.

  That was back when Tristin still gave a damn about what they thought. Their reaction was nice enough with the drawn out speech about how they loved her no matter who she was, but they were way too stuck on the lesbian stereotypes to actually see she that she was still the same person. Her mother even attended a G.L.A.A.D fundraiser, which Tristin still laughed about sometimes.

  She looked around the shop some more and found a beautiful box of red roses that made her smile. She paid for them and was headed out the door when she saw a truck drive by that looked just like Sean’s. She removed her sunglasses and had to squint, it was his license plate all right. Hannah was pretty damn light, but the girl’s arm hanging out the passenger window was too white to be hers.

  Tristin dug out her phone as she rushed to her car, but she didn’t have any reception. Would it kill them to install a cell tower in a city as wealthy as Sedona? She shook her phone a few times and got a single bar long enough to send a text, she could tell Emmitt more tomorrow, right now she needed to focus on what she was going to say to Chelsea.

  It was a narrow two lane road up to their mountainside home. Sean must’ve been taking the girl up to his parent’s vacation home.

  This is about Chelsea, she thought. One more turn and she would be pulling into their long driveway.

  Tristin wasn’t ready to face her, but she spotted Chelsea sitting in their glass-walled casita. Seeing her in person gave Tristin a nervous stomach, but she sucked it up and grabbed the flowers.

  Chelsea didn’t come out to greet her like she normally did. The scowl on her face was harsher than Tristin expected, but she never looked more beautiful in her short halter dress with her bikini straps exposed. The closer Tristin got to the entrance the stronger the urge to kiss her grew.

  “Hey,” Tristin said with a soft knock on the door frame, like they hadn’t just stared each other down on her way in. Chelsea replied by taking a seat on the couch.

  Tristin quickly crossed the room, handing her the box of roses as she sat beside her, but Chelsea didn’t even acknowledge them.

  They sat there, silent, Tristin trying to figure out how to begin and Chelsea looking as though she was biting her tongue. She stared at Chelsea’s lips, wondering if they would taste the same.

  Her brain doubled as a goalie, blocking all the Brian comparisons trying to slip through. Chelsea may not have been able to crush her with her body weight, but she had her own pluses and her lips were one. What Tristin got from one of Chelsea’s kisses, Brian just couldn’t compare and she hated to think she would never feel that again.

  Tristin leapt forward, pulling Chelsea’s face to hers. “I’m sorry,” she said before crushing their lips together. To her surprise Chelsea actually kissed her back, and soon they were wrapped in each other’s arms like nothing had ever happened. Tristin didn’t want to analyze it, she didn’t want to think of any second where she wasn’t allowed to feel the softest most perfect lips, but the contrast of Brian’s tender, but forceful, kisses ripped through her.

  There were two powerful forces inside of her. One was her love for Chelsea and the other was a yearning for just one more second in Brian’s arms. They fed on each other, pulling her through a hurricane of images and sensations. She found herself gripping Chelsea tighter, handling her rougher as she tried to mimic the things that Brian did when they were together, until the thoughts of him disappeared like a switch turning off.

  Chelsea pushed her off and lowered her dress. “You can’t just kiss me and expect everything to be all right,” she said out of breath.

  In Tristin’s mind it was. All her fears had been dispelled. She still loved Chelsea, and more importantly, she still wanted her.

  “Do you even love me?” Chelsea asked.

  “Chelsea, I love you more than anything,” Tristin said scooting closer. “He didn’t mean anything.” Okay that wasn’t entirely true, but it wasn’t like she had any kind of chance with Brian and even if she did, he was a phase she was going through. Chelsea was her life.

  “How can you be sure? He clearly has something I can’t give you.”

  “Chels, I love you. I don’t give a shit about him. I told you the whole thing was about messing with Kristen, it just went further than I...”

  Tristin also didn’t expect Chelsea to smack her with a pillow, but she should’ve. Chelsea was the type of girl who’d throw a punch before she’d ever shed a tear.

  “I am so sick of your twin crap. You cheat on me, with a guy, and blame it on the dumb feud with your sister. What’s next? How much more are you willing to risk getting back at her?”

 
; “Nothing. I’m done with it all, I promise.” It was the biggest lie Tristin had ever told. The only way to end the feud with Kristen was to put a continent between them. No one knew what it was like to unwillingly share your existence with a person you couldn’t stand. Tristin just wanted to be her own person, not half of a set.

  “Liar,” Chelsea said with a slight grin.

  Tristin took it as a good sign when it wasn’t followed by another whack in the head, She handed her the flowers again. “Okay, I promise to at least not to put you in the middle again.”

  Chelsea sniffed the roses and gave Tristin serious glare. “You do, and I swear, I’ll break your nose.”

  It was a clear and valid threat. In the years they’d been dating Chelsea had been kicked out of three schools for fighting.

  “I won’t,” Tristin replied as she moved in to kiss Chelsea, who leaned back at first but eventually let their lips meet.

  At that moment she was just happy to be holding the only girl she’d ever loved while fantasizing about the only boy she’d ever wanted.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hannah/Connor

  Hannah had searched for Sean at his house, the mall, and she even waited at his favorite burger joint hoping he might stop there. She thought he’d be waiting for her when she got home or at least reply to one of her thirty messages.

  Her face was red from riding around in the heat, and she was in no mood for company. But she didn’t want Kristen to think she was avoiding her. Hopefully Sean would call before he came back.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Kristen asked when Hannah finally came out of the bathroom.

  “Talk about what?”

  “The fight. It’s all over your face and I figured I’d ask. Not that I have the best history with boyfriends.

  “It’s wasn’t a fight really. I just haven’t heard from him, and it makes me nervous.”

  Hannah paced the floor gnawing on what little nails she had left. Her heart stopped every time a car drove by and she had checked the window more than a dozen times before she noticed Kristen studying her.

  She finally sat down beside her, setting her phone on the coffee table. “How did your redecorating go?” Hannah asked.

  “Fine if you don’t count jerky Connor. I think he’s on his period or something.”

  “You didn’t tell him about us talking, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t say anything, but they’re both pretty worked up about you. If you’d just talk to them, I know that they’d calm down. You should go over there with me; you don’t even have to come in. They just want to see you and know that you’re all right.”

  Hannah couldn’t face either of them. They would see it the moment they laid eyes on her. And she didn’t want any more trouble. Dodging Connor wasn’t going to work forever, but she needed more time. If she could get some rest and let her bruises heal, she could pull off talking to him, but then there was the issue of Sean.

  Hannah checked her phone again and rushed back to the window. Where was he?

  A knot the size of a baseball formed in her stomach. The way he sped off, she was beginning to worry something bad may have happened to him. She was really tempted to call his brother, but was afraid of what Sean would do if he found out. He and his brother were close, but there’d been a lot of tension between him and his entire family since he was kicked off the baseball team.

  She didn’t want to cause anymore drama at home for him, but she couldn’t just sit around when he might be hurt somewhere.

  “I’ll call Connor later. I just can’t see them right now,” Hannah said pacing the floor again. “I don’t mean to put you in the middle, it’s just…”

  “You’re not. Those boys don’t scare me. You talk to them when you’re ready. I won’t say anything.”

  Hannah was so grateful for Kristen that she wanted to cry, but she didn’t. “Thank you—” she started, but her phone ringing made her jump. It was an unknown number.

  “Hello,” she said as she anxiously answered.

  “Hey, it’s me. My phone won’t answer up here, but I got your messages,” Sean said and Hannah sighed.

  She was so relieved to hear his voice. “I was out looking for you…”

  “I kept driving when I left your place and I ended up in Sedona. Hannah, I am so sorry. I need you to believe that I didn’t mean to do those things to you and I promise I won’t ever hurt you again. I wanted to tell you that when I got there. I was just so upset with myself that I didn’t want to scare you.”

  Hannah could have said something to reassure him, but saying anything would have taken away from how wrong his actions were. She mouthed to Kristen that she would be a minute and headed down the hall to her room. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

  “I love you so much. I know I haven’t shown it, but I will. I’m staying here tonight, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Hannah was glad to hear him acknowledge that he was wrong, and even more excited to have some time alone. Her jaw unclenched and she finally let herself relax. No checking her phone, or the window, for when he might show up. She could actually enjoy a conversation with Kristen, maybe even go to a movie. “I love you too,” she said.

  She heard a thump on his end of the phone followed by a long pauses. “Sean?” Hannah couldn’t make out the noise in the background. It sounded like he might have dropped the phone.

  “Hannah,” he said loudly, and the noise stopped. “I uh—I gotta go, but I’ll call you tomorrow,” Sean said sounding startled.

  “Are you all right?” she asked but he had already hung up.

  It was weird, but she was honestly too relieved and worn out to worry about it. She intended to relax and enjoy the rest of her Saturday, but she got light-headed as she headed back to the living room.

  “Did you two work everything out?” Kristen asked.

  Hannah leaned against the wall trying to ignore the heat smoldering under her sweater. She must have been riding in the sun too long.

  “Yeah we’re good. He’s out of…” A rush of heat attacked her.

  “Are you all right?”

  Gripping the wall, Hannah slumped to the floor.

  Kristen rushed to her side feeling her head. “Hannah, you’re burning up.”

  She didn’t object when Kristen pulled her into the bathroom or when she dumped her in a cold shower. “I’m going to get you some ice water,” Kristen said before disappearing.

  The water felt good on Hannah’s face but her back was still burning. She pulled up the back of her hoodie, letting the water hit her bare skin. The outer layers were chilling but inside she was still on fire.

  Kristen returned with a vase filled with a water and ice and straw. “It was the biggest glass I could find. Drink,” she said holding the straw to Hannah’s mouth. She nearly choked herself on the first couple of swigs, but soon she was chugging it down, holding the vase with both hands.

  Kristen used a bowl to dump cold water on her head until Hannah was done drinking. “Better?” she asked.

  Hannah nodded her head, both dazed and confused. “Thank you,” she said out of breath.

  The dizziness had mostly passed, but she felt exhausted. She laid down in the tub, her soaked sweater weighing her down.

  “You should probably take those off,” Kristen said pulling at the sleeve of her sweater.

  “No,” Hannah whispered. “It feels good.” However, her jeans did not. She tried to wiggle out of them, but only got to her knees before she started to doze off.

  “Hannah,” Kristen called, sounding far away. “Hannah, you can’t sleep in the tub. Let me help you to your room.”

  Hannah felt Kristen pulling at her arms, but she was too tired to wake up.

  ***

  Connor and Emmitt had been planning out the abduction most of the evening, drawing maps of the school and trying to come up with something to distract Sean.

  “What if we prank call him?” Connor a
sked.

  “There’s no guarantee it will work. What if he doesn’t answer? We need more help.”

  The thump at the window startled them both. Connor pulled back the curtains to see Kristen. The front of her clothes were all wet and she was wheezing. He opened the window and pulled her in.

  “What happened to you?” Emmitt asked as she collapsed on the floor.

  Connor rushed to the bathroom and came back with towels. He attempted to pat her dry, but she was shaking so bad he pulled her into his lap.

  “What happened? Was it Brian?” Connor asked. He thought maybe he was still following her and set her off again, but she shook her head.

  “Kristen, what’s wrong? Was someone out there?” Emmitt asked, but all she did was shake her head again.

  Connor met Emmitt’s worried eyes as Emmitt instinctively opened his arms for him to hand Kristen over. Whatever had spooked her he was going to have to find for himself. He shifted Kristen into Emmitt’s arms and was about to climb out the window when she whispered, “I’ll do it.”

  “Do what?” Emmitt asked.

  Kristen wiped her tears and looked Connor in the eyes. “I’ll help you get Hannah away from Sean.”

  ***

  Hannah rolled over and felt a pillow against her face. Her eyes opened wide, and she sat up in her bed dry and wearing a gown. She looked around the dark room, and there was no sign of Kristen. Her head was still a little foggy from the heat exhaustion, but she managed to climb out of bed and stumble into her bathroom. She flipped on the light and gasped as she stared at her visible bruises in the mirror.

  EPISODE 4

  All great changes are preceded by chaos.

  Deepak Chopra

  Chapter One

  Emmitt/Kristen

  Emmitt had so much to tell Hannah that he didn’t think an afternoon would be enough time. There was no telling how she’d take the news of Sean’s pill popping. Hurting her was the last thing he ever wanted to do, but she had to know who Sean really was before someone else got hurt. Emmitt pulled together a quick video chat before school to go over the plan one last time.