Saving Everest Page 26

  He flinched from my words.

  “I’ll be free after this,” he said calmly, but his eyes were wild.

  “No—” I quickly took a step forward, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

  “Why are you doing all this? We aren’t friends.”

  I stared deep into his eyes even though it pained me. “We were. And honestly, what does that matter? I still care about you. I’ll always care about you.”

  I walked close to where he stood on the bridge and held my hand out.

  There was a moment before he grabbed my hand. But somehow, he lost his footing and dragged me over the railing. The only thing keeping us from flying into the river was my shoes digging into the concrete.

  “I got you. I got you.” I breathed roughly out of my nose.

  The look of wild fear in his eyes was proof enough that he didn’t want to die. He scrambled in my hold. My lower back strained trying to gather all my strength to pull him over, but his constant moving and weight was pulling me apart.

  “Stay still,” I ordered, and pulled with all my might so he could get his hands on the railing so that he could pull himself up.

  I thought everything would work that way, but I failed to remember his drunken state. His reflexes weren’t up to speed, and he missed the railing completely. I tried to grab his hand but I missed it by half an inch. There was nothing I could do. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life.

  His face of sheer fear, battered and bruised, had me glued to my spot. I wanted to help. I wanted to do something but I was frozen. All I could do was watch as his body dove into the winter river.

  The impact melted me away from my mind. I was so scared. Slamming down on the railing, I let out a string of curse words. I took a deep breath before I kicked off my shoes and jumped sixty feet after him.

  Falling, I screamed louder than I ever had before. My legs kicked and scrambled, desperately looking to find stable ground. As I fell, I thought about Beverly. I thought about my family. I thought about my friends. The rushing air made it difficult for me to catch my breath. My bones crackled from the harsh temperatures of the water. Thankfully, this part of the river hadn’t frozen over, but the water was still ice cold. I opened my eyes and saw only darkness despite the sun still barely out. I swam to the surface and took a huge breath. My adrenaline kicking into overdrive, I looked around me for signs of movement, but the river was as still as could be.

  “Nash!” I yelled, frantically looking at all angles. I went back under the water, afraid that I’d never find him.

  I came back up and yelled his name again. “Nash!”

  My calls became desperate.

  Taking another breath, I let the water cover me once more. I wasn’t even searching that long before one of the last of the sun’s rays shone directly on his limp body. Using every bit of strength I had, I swam after him. By some miracle, as soon as we reached the surface, I heard him sputter. It was music to my ears to hear him cough because that meant he was breathing.

  Swimming to shore was harder that it sounded. The distance looked so far away, and although I knew I was tired, my mind ignored all that. Nash’s cough was all the energy I needed to get us to shore. My arms burned and felt like mush, but I had to push through because if I didn’t, we would both be gone and we had too much to lose. When we reached the bank, I used my last bit of energy to push Nash ahead of me before I plopped on the mud, trying to catch my breath.

  It never felt so good to lay face first in dirt, and to feel my fingers grasp blades of grass.

  I thought I might have been hallucinating for a moment because I heard laughter instead of coughing, but when I saw Nash, he was actually laughing.

  I groaned into the mud. “You idiot.”

  This only made him laugh harder.

  I reached out and weakly hit his shoulder before he hissed in pain. Instantly I sat up. “You okay? You all right?”

  He held his shoulder with a frown but his mouth was amused. “It could’ve been worse.”

  I stared at him blankly, entirely confused before shaking my head. “Fucking idiot.”

  After we caught our breath, I trekked back up to the bridge, following a short trail to bring my car down to the bank. Nash was injured so I didn’t want him moving more than he had to, but he was alive.

  We were alive.

  He wanted me to drop him off at his house but I wasn’t trying to hear it.

  “No,” I stated simply. “You need medical attention and supervision.”

  “I can’t. No one can know about this, Everest. My dad would kill me if he found out what happened this evening.”

  “Screw him. You may be seriously hurt,” I said, getting upset.

  “If I go to the hospital, this would be blown up tenfold. I already have to worry about the team outing me to the whole school. I don’t want to have to deal with my dad finding out I tried to kill myself tonight.”

  I understood that he wasn’t ready for all that was coming his way. Pushing him to go to the hospital would open up questions. Questions that I knew he wasn’t ready for.

  “I’m still not leaving you.”

  “You really helped me tonight. I’m not going to do anything, okay? Almost dying made me realize I don’t want that. I just want this day to be over.”

  He wrapped himself tight in the spare blanket I left in the car for Beverly so she didn’t get cold. The heat was on full blast.

  “Promise me.” He never broke a promise. I never broke a promise. That was one mutual thing that stuck deeply with us. Our fathers always broke their promises, and we’d vowed to never be like them.

  “I promise,” he said with such sincerity I had no choice but to believe him.

  I couldn’t let this question go unanswered. “Who did that to your face?”

  He looked as if he was going to fight his secret, but gave up. “Jacob.”

  I didn’t want it to be true, but I knew it was.

  “Cara’s party?”

  He stared at me before nodding.

  When I pulled in front of his house, he sat in my passenger seat for a long moment, making no move to leave.

  “I-I’m sorry.” He clearly struggled to say so, his arrogant demeanor nowhere to be found. “Thank you. For everything.”

  He then left the car in a rush, and I didn’t stay to watch as he entered his house. I had a party to make it to.

  The sky was no longer orange, but now blue. The streets seemed quiet, too quiet. I pulled into Cara’s driveway, anger lacing through my veins. Red cups littered the lawn. People could be seen from every opening. The music wasn’t loud but loud enough. The front door was open, and as expected, people filled every corner of her home.

  “Oh my gosh, is that Everest?”

  “Is it raining outside?”

  “Yo, Everest is in the building.”

  “I knew they were still messing around.”

  I pushed past the people with only one person in mind. It didn’t take long for me to find him; I knew where all of the athletes hung—the office. My old team was in there, smoking Cara’s dad cigars and taking swigs from his liquor stash. They were all laughing among themselves.

  Jacob sat on one of the leather chairs, a vacant, empty look on his face.

  “Hey, Everest.” Some of my old teammates greeted me, but I ignored them all. Jacob was who I’d come here to see. He didn’t dare meet my eye.

  “My man, you just missed it. Nash was wilding out. Got too many drinks in his system and he got fruity,” Gabe snorted. “Tried to feel up on Jacob.”

  “Oh yeah? That’s crazy,” I said staring right at Gabe. My clothes could’ve been dried by how much my blood was boiling. I looked a mess, but everyone was too intoxicated to notice.

  “I actually came here to talk to Jacob real quick, if you guys don’t mind.”
>
  Jacob looked at me in that instance, and his jaw ticked. I thought respect for me had long since diminished, but the guys piled out with no question.

  I started to roll up my sleeves. “Stand up.”

  He snorted. “For what? To fight? I’m not going to fight you.”

  “Either you stand up and defend yourself or stay there. Either way, we’re fighting.” I didn’t even sound like myself. I was just so angry. So fucking angry that he was the reason that Nash was pushed to that point. That if I hadn’t been there, he would’ve drowned while people partied.

  “Is this about Nash?” He stood up confused. “I—”

  “He almost drowned tonight because you humiliated him. The only person he’s ever loved after his mom. You piece of shit. How dare you?” My breathing began to pick up.

  “Drowned?” He looked even more confused, but he had guilty written all over his face.

  “He tried to jump off of High Point Bridge tonight because you weren’t man enough to be true to yourself.”

  The image of Nash’s hand slipping and me not being able to catch him flashed in my mind, and tears pricked my eyes.

  Jacob took a step near me, his eyes sad. “Is he okay?”

  “What do you think? He almost died tonight.” The tears began to fall.

  He covered his face and leaned against a bookshelf. When he moved his hand, tears rimmed his eyelids.

  “What are you getting upset for? He’s disgusting right?” I shot back.

  “That’s not fair. Don’t, Everest. Just don’t. You don’t understand—he was going to blow our cover. He almost did a few weeks ago, standing up for this gay kid and getting into a fight with Richardson. Then tonight, trying to kiss me in front of our team? He’s becoming reckless, I got scared.”

  “You think because you beat on him and called him names in front of your friends, it’s going to make you a man? You’re tough for beating on someone who would never think of hurting you? Nash has more balls than you will ever have.”

  The door to the study opened to a very drunk and happy Cara. “You showed up.”

  I sighed at the sight of her. This was just too much. Too much in one day. Her friends stood behind her in shock, whispering to each other like I wouldn’t notice.

  “Are you gonna sing happy birthday to me?” she slurred.

  Birthday. Beverly. Fuck.

  I got out of there in a rush. How could I forget about my baby? Today was her birthday. She was going to hate me. Literally hate me, and there was nothing I could say or do to fix it. I slid past Jacob and Cara and her gang. My mission with Jacob was accomplished; my words hurt him more than any punch would, but I’d failed the love of my life.

  I thought maybe if I sped, I’d make it there in time for at least cutting the cake. I was only four hours late—it couldn’t be too late. It shouldn’t be. I couldn’t get there fast enough. My good luck of the night was nowhere to be found. I got a ticket for speeding, the slowest of cars seemed to want to lead the way, traffic lights lasted eternities, and a turtle even got in the cross hairs of my driving. I literally had to get out of my car to take it across the street.

  “I’ll be there,” I kept repeating. As if that mantra would help the universe help me.

  When I pulled into the parking lot of 21 Daisies, I knew I was too late. The lights of the building were turned off. From the windows I saw Nami and Tiffany wiping off tables. Lincoln, surprisingly, was sweeping the floor, and Mikey and Beverly were headed out the door to take out the trash. She looked so distant as she walked, Mikey bumping into her side playfully, but all she could give was a distracted smile.

  Dreading the disappointment, I parked and hopped out of my car, then walked slowly toward her because I’d already caught her eyes. One look at her and I knew I’d messed up.

  “I’m so sorr—”

  She dropped the trash bag at the sight of me and crossed her arms. Tears instantly began to flood her big brown eyes. “When were you going to tell me you were leaving?”

  38

  Beverly

  Eight hours earlier.

  It was barely a kiss. His soft pink lips lightly brushed against mine. As if he wanted me to cave from the intensity. He knew I wasn’t going to kiss him in front of people, so it was up to him to make that move, and he knew exactly just how to abuse it.

  “Everyone’s always staring,” I sighed as I came down from cloud nine, ignoring his burning gaze from my peripheral. Everest without fail studied my face every time he kissed me. It drove me crazy and he knew that too.

  “Let’s give them a show,” he suggested with a smug smirk while his lips lightly touched mine as he spoke. Embarrassment clung to me like a perfume and I quickly took a step back. I couldn’t even look him in the eye as I headed straight toward the entrance.

  “Have fun at school!” he called from behind me, a dangerous grin no doubt etched on his face.

  When I went inside Shady Hills Academy, it seemed like everyone knew it was my birthday. They most likely did, thanks to Nami. I was getting wishes in every class, after every bell, at every bathroom break. It made me nervous about my party later on. If I could barely handle the attention at school, how could I endure the attention in a intimate environment? I was way to awkward to be this well known.

  Mikey offered me a birthday blunt that I politely declined. Nami and Tiffany showered me in gift cards. As the day progressed, my outlook on the attention changed. I was having a pretty good day. After a bit, that aspect was actually kind of nice. My existence was noted. People would notice if I was gone, and I found that quite warming.

  “Another gift?” I exclaimed, unable to hide my grin. Setting my apple slices down, I tried to contain my joy as I stared at the plain brown, slightly dented box.

  “Sorry if it’s smashed. I tried to seat belt it because it kept falling,” Nami sighed, taking a seat next to me.

  “He didn’t!” I screamed internally. Excitement and giddiness filling my heart. When I unwrapped the box, it was a bouquet of sunflowers. How could he have known that? I’d specifically made a note to keep my pet name for him to myself. I was far too shy to call him that aloud.

  “Aw, he got you flowers.” Tiffany grinned.

  “I’m telling you, Beverly, that kid Everest probably doodles your name in arrow hearts.” Mikey sat back in the old library chair, his hands laced behind his head.

  “Oh stop it.” I was still not completely over the fact that someone had romantic feelings for me, let alone Everest.

  “Seriously, though, you should have seen him at 21 Daisies today, being a little diva about the decorations being perfect.”

  “That’s so precious,” Tiffany gushed, while I was right along with her. This party couldn’t come soon enough.

  Shortly after school, the girls treated me to a movie date. It was a romantic comedy that did nothing to help to cure my Everest thoughts. It only made me just miss him even more. I wondered if he was thinking of me too. I would’ve rather have gone to the boys’ show, but there were errands we needed to take care of before the party.

  “Chips?”

  “Definitely chips,” I responded while we stacked the bags of our choice on top of all the other snacks we needed for the party. Although there were already finger food options available, you could never have too many snacks.

  “Now we just need the cake.” Nami and Tiffany had been so helpful throughout this party process. I was blessed to have such great friends at this time in my life when I needed someone the most. Last year for my birthday, I’d watched reruns of The Nanny and finished a whole tub of Nutella.

  Almost immediately after Nami set the cake neatly in the cart, she looked back at me with a hopeful look on her face.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  My upgraded cake this year was gold and blue with elegant swirls. I smiled instantly f
rom the sight of it. It really felt like my birthday just then. I was used to this day not really meaning much, but seeing all the people involved already made it more memorable than my last ten birthdays.

  “I think I truly couldn’t have better friends.”

  Tiffany wrapped her arm around me swiftly. “Well, duh, that’s a given.”

  “I love facts.” Nami smiled. “Now, c’mon, we have to somehow, by some miracle, get cuter than we already are for this party.”

  “Oh wait, we forgot candles,” Tiffany pointed out when we made it to the checkout aisle.

  “I’ll get them,” I exclaimed in a rush before they could object. Those girls hadn’t let me help with anything. I knew they wanted me to be some kind of queen today since it was my birthday, but it only made me feel useless. I was used to helping, not fading into the shadows.

  My rush was ultimately reckless when I turned into the baking aisle, because I bumped directly into someone who was leaving just as I was entering. The baking supplies in his arms fell to the ground. I immediately bent down to pick up what had fallen. “I’m so sorry.”

  The man was kind about it, though, offering me a string of “It’s all rights”s and “It’s okay”s. I handed him the last of his dropped items and started mentally cringing at myself.

  “Slow down,” I told myself as I searched for the candles.

  “You still talk to yourself? I guess people never really do change.”

  “Manny?”

  When I slowly turned around, I was met with two faces I’d seen more times than I could count. Macy and Manny looked the same, but different; their faces weren’t new but the feelings were.

  “Beverly, oh wow, is that you?” Macy said, almost shyly. For an instant, it hurt that we felt like strangers bumping into each other, and it hurt because Macy was never shy. Especially around me.

  “How are you guys?” I tried to keep it cool.

  “Great. Everything is great. I got a raise at that new job, and Manny is still a mini-Einstein.” She ruffled his hair and he frowned as if on cue. She paused. “What about you?”