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The text came out of nowhere.
Hey, it’s me. Village Motel, 10pm. I need to see you. It’s about Jess.
It was as if the world had come to a screeching halt. What the actual fuck? Why on earth would that asshole think I’d even want to see him?
A part of him wanted to blow it off. Ignore the entitled fuck. Aside from a shared, fucked up history, there was not one thing that Justin Foley had in common with the likes of Bryce Walker anymore. Not one thing.
Then he looked at the last part of the message:
It’s about Jess.
Justin turned to Clay, who was still going on about his sort-of-date with Ani, made his excuses, and left. Goddammit, Bryce, he thought as he made his way halfway across town. Figures you’d know exactly what to say to make me show the fuck up.
There wasn’t much to say about the Village Motel. It wasn’t the rodent- and vermin-infested dump that Justin had imagined. Then again, it wasn’t the Colonnades Hotel, either, which was about as five-star as one got in Evergreen, California. The single-level structure looked to be in good repair. The rooms were small, but Justin got the impression that they were clean.
I’m in the back by the pool.
Figures there’d be a pool. Bryce without a pool was like eighty-degree weather in Alaska – completely unheard of. Sure enough, once Justin made his way around the back of the motel he saw the face of his former friend, sitting nonchalantly at a cheap metal patio table, knocking back a beer as though nothing had happened between them. “Mom won’t let me drink at home anymore,” the older boy said, casually setting an opened drink in front of Justin. “Sit down, grab a beer.”
Are you fucking kidding me? So, what…I’m supposed to just forget everything and have a few for old time’s sake? Justin said as much, ready to turn on his heel and leave.
Then Bryce’s tone changed. “My dad left. Did you know that?”
Actually, no, I didn’t. What, was he finally too embarrassed by your shit to stick around?
“My mom can’t stand to be around me.”
She never really did in the first place, Bryce. How do you think I managed to stay in your pool house so much? Justin mentally shook his head. This is nothing new.
“Chloe dumped me.”
Girl’s got some brains after all. Jess tried to tell her. Hell, we all tried to tell her. Glad she finally wised up.
“Hillcrest’s a fucking nightmare.”
Like you made Liberty for all those girls? For Hannah, for Jess, for Clay? Jesus fuck, Bryce, cry me a fucking river. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Want me to give you my fucking list?” ‘Cause I could, you know. I never knew my dad. You’re one up on me there. My mom never really gave a shit about me; she was too busy getting high to even know where I was half the time. We’re not even going to get into her so-called “boyfriends”…fucking junkies who beat the shit out of me, starved me, stole from me and even threw me out of my own house! You think you’re alone now? Try being alone on the street. No money, no ‘friends,’ no food – you want to know what I had to do to survive?!
The thought of those nights with those men made Justin’s stomach turn a little. Fuck you, Bryce. I wish I had your problems.
“You have a family.”
“Hey, I’ve never had a fucking family.” My real dad probably doesn’t even know my name. And Amber? Are you fucking kidding me? She’s probably too wasted to care. I told her to get the fuck out of town and away from that asshole boyfriend of hers, and she did…and just left me behind. I never mattered to my mother, Bryce. Not for one single second.
Justin thought briefly on Bryce’s point. At least, I didn’t have a family until now. And God knows they wouldn’t want me if they knew the truth – that I’m still the fucked-up junkie addict they found eight months ago. Clay would have a shit. Mr. Jensen? Mrs. Jensen? Visions of the fight in his foster family’s kitchen during Hannah’s trial haunted him. Would they even still want me? I mean, all I seem to do is fuck everything up that I touch…
Except Clay. God knows that kid can handle the fucking-himself-up department all on his own most days.
The younger boy shivered at the thought of Matt and Lainie Jensen deciding that they’d made a mistake; that adoption just wasn’t in the cards after all. He thought of Clay, the geeky kid with a shit-ton of perseverance and a hell of a savior complex. Justin shook his head as he thought of his brother, whether by love or by adoption, who thought it his personal mission to save his loved ones from harm – even if it meant harming himself in the process.
I have a family now, Bryce. It may not be much to you, but it’s everything to me.
Bryce continued. Was his voice…breaking? “I was your family. For a while.” Justin watched as his former friend’s Adam’s apple stuck a little before he continued. “I’d do anything to get that back.”
Are you nuts? Justin couldn’t believe his ears. “So, what? Is that what this is? You call me here, give me a couple of beers and suddenly I’m your ‘brother’ again?”
It was then he saw it – a single flash bouncing off of Bryce’s cheek. Jesus…is he crying?
“I fucked up. With you, with Jess…with everybody…”
“Fucked up” is not the words I’d use to describe what you did, Bryce. Do you understand that you killed a girl? You used her like you use everyone else, except now she’s gone and there’s consequences to it. You used Jess like she was a thing you could take from me, and now she’s making you own up to what you did to her. You almost killed Clay, when all he wanted was for you to admit what you’d done. Never counted on him being the thing that blew your shit wide open, did you?
Justin considered Bryce a moment. The once-beloved athlete was now a broken shell of his former self. Gone was the arrogant swagger to his demeanor. Gone was the haughty pride in his voice. The younger boy felt a small glimmer of satisfaction flutter in his stomach. Sucks when the world comes back around, doesn’t it, Bryce? Did you really think you’d be able to get away with your shit forever? Justin shrugged a little in the night air. Probably. “Yeah, you did. And I just…kept letting you do it. And now we’re both gonna have to learn to live with that.”
The look on Bryce’s face was enough. For Justin, it was like scoring a small victory for himself. He’d had to learn to deal with his fuck-ups and his mistakes; had even paid for them in some part. It was luck—and Clay’s determination—that had brought him to the Jensen’s home and given him a family. It was a full-blown miracle that Jessica had decided to take him back, both as a friend and as something more, even if she couldn’t ever fully forgive him. Hell, he hadn’t even begun to forgive himself for what happened to her. Her acceptance gave him hope that he might be able to someday.
Justin turned and started heading back home; back to where his real family and his real brother were waiting for him. For once, Bryce, you’re gonna have to accept the consequences for the shit you’ve done. Court of public opinion sucks, doesn’t it?