CHAPTER 4:
The next day I didn't wake up until noon. In truth, the only reason I woke up at all was a bunch of the guys came in and decided that we should face our hangovers.
"Leave me alone," I grumbled into my pillow.
I felt a bunch of bodies dog pile on top of me and I struggled for breath. My stomach curdled and I squirmed around trying to fend them off. After what felt like forever, they let me up and I walked over to the vanity. All I was wearing was a pair of short shorts and a wifebeater, so I felt just a tad exposed. Quickly, I pulled on my old Gladiators hoodie. Looking into the mirror, I laughed at the makeup that had smudged under my eyes. I fixed my eyes and threw my hair up into a messy bun.
"Anyone wanna go lay out and swim?" I asked, since my body was desperately missing the sun.
Julie groaned and told me the last thing she wanted to do was expose her pounding head to the sun. Some agreed with her, but the non-drinkers and the brave drinkers from last night agreed it was a good idea. Connie and I pulled our bathing suits out of drawers and ran into the bathroom to brush our teeth and change. My bathing suit was just a simple bikini, nothing special or too revealing. The bruises on my stomach were visible on my tanned stomach and I couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious.
'Just tell them it was from hockey,' I bluntly told myself.
Fifteen minutes later, Connie and I walked out to the pool and received catcalls from the boys. I shook my head at them before laying my towel out and allowing myself to soak up in the sun. This reminded me of Chino: go out and get drunk then lounge in the sun all day. My thoughts slipped away and I fell into a light sleep. Who knows how long I slept, but when I woke up my back was a deeper tan and I flipped over to do my stomach. Some of my teammates looked worriedly at my stomach but dismissed it as a hockey injury. It's not that uncommon to have bruises from the sport; Averman had a nice one on his leg.
"Aren't you ever gunna come in the water?" Goldberg yelled over to me.
"In a while, I'm tanning!" I yelled in return.
"You look tan enough to me," Goldberg shot back before belly flopping back into the water.
I am naturally tan, but I like the deep tan that I usually have thanks to the California weather and I was going to make sure I kept it until the harsh winters at Eden Hall. Placing my sunglasses on my face to keep the sun out of my eyes, I didn't see Dean come over to me; I sure did feel him though when he allowed his hair to drip onto me.
"Thanks," I said as I wiped my stomach off and sprayed more tanning oil on my body.
"You looked hot," Dean remarked as he plopped down next to me, "You have fun last night?"
I nodded and for a while we just talked. Dean would occasionally reach out and brush my arm or touch my hair, but I pretended like I didn't notice. He asked if my ribs felt okay and lightly brushed his hands over them and then reached for my hand.
"Ready to go in?" I asked as I stood up from my towel before he could reach my hand.
Dean looked at me very confused before shaking himself out of it and picking me up and throwing me into the water; I didn't mind a little flirting, but I was not going to fall for Dean Portman's charm.
"Thanks a ton!" I yelled as I splashed him playfully.
Soon all of the Ducks came splashing back in as well. Swimming in the pool was fun but I sure did miss the ocean.
"Do you surf?" Charlie asked interestedly.
"Yeah, everyone that lives on the coast pretty much does," I explained.
"You gotta show us sometime," Guy said.
I told them I would some day and the rest of our day was spent just lounging around. At about four, we all headed to the cafeteria for an early dinner. Julie joined us and looked better then she had this morning.
"Hangover gone now?" Russ teased the girl.
For dinner, I decided on a cheese burger and a salad; I liked to mix healthy food with greasy food. My stomach felt queasy when I saw how much some of our male ducks ate, particularly Goldberg, Fulton, and Portman.
"Jesus, you guys sure can put it away," I said.
"We're men what do you expect?" Fulton stated with his mouth full of fried chicken.
My laughter rang out at his behavior and I saw Dean shoot me a wink. All I did was smile in return and look away, but Julie nudged me from next to her and raised her eyebrows at me. Connie caught on and the two of them stood up abruptly. I gave them an incredulous look and felt myself being pulled up from the table and away from the pack.
"What is going on between you and Dean?" Connie asked as soon as we were out of earshot in the hallway.
I told the girls I had no idea what they were talking about, but Julie brought up the wink and how we were holding hands on the way home last night.
"I was drunk!" I retaliated.
"You should have seen them at the pool today, too," Connie joined in, "they were all over each other."
No one was letting me get a word in edgewise and might have helped if I had known Dean was going through the same thing in the cafeteria.
"Portman's got it bad!" Averman started, "Portman and Zane, Zane and Portman, Bash Brother and…"
"SHUT UP!" The Ducks yelled at Averman, who merely grinned sheepishly.
"Averman's right though, man," Russ spoke up, "You really are digging on Zane."
"She's hot, I'm just tryin' to get some," Portman said in his most manly voice.
"Yeah, that's not what you said last night," Fulton declared.
This resulted in a wrestling match between the two Bash Brothers. Sure, it was a joke, but their commotion had caught the eyes of the three girls.
"Well looks like it's time for another Bash Brawl," Connie said excitedly as she ran back over to her seat to catch a glimpse.
Julie and I grinned and walked back over to catch the action as well. Things were going pretty good at dinner until Connie's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Umm yeah she's right here," Connie said, handing me the phone and I looked at her stupidly before grabbing it out of her hand.
"Yeah?"
"It's Tyler," My brother's voice said over the receiver, "I've been calling you all day, you never answer your goddamn room phone and the school lines are closed for the summer. Dad hurt Mom really bad last night, worse then he ever did me or you. She's in the hospital.
"Jesus Christ," I said appalled, as my father had never gone that far, "is she going to be alright?"
Tyler told me she was going to be okay, but he had just wanted me to know what was going on.
"I should come home. Without me there, Ma doesn't have me to keep dad off of her."
"Shut it, kid," Tyler said, "You got a good thing going on there, and she would be even more depressed if you gave it up because of her. You're staying there. Besides, I'm gunna go pay the old man a visit tomorrow and set him straight."
We spoke for a few more moments before we hung up. My heart was in my throat and I felt sick; my mother never could stick up for herself. Anger surged through my body and swear words cascaded out of my mouth as I thought of my mother lying in a hospital bed. I picked my tray up and threw it as hard as I could across the cafeteria. My teammates were staring at me looking dumbfounded.
"Is everything okay?" Charlie gently questioned, taking the captain role.
"Sure, it's great," I remarked sarcastically, "You heard what happened. My father kicked the shit out of my mom. Everything is perfect."
Right now, I really missed my friends back home; they would understand this better and know how to deal with it. Instead, everyone simply looked at me as if my head was going to spin around. Sighing heavily, I took off for my dorm room badly in need of a cigarette. I grabbed my pack and headed out of the building and stopped when I realized I'd forgotten a lighter.
"Shit!" I screamed at my stupidity.
Not wanting to go back inside and run into the Ducks again, I took off for the nearest gas station and stepped inside looking for a quick light from somebody. A teenage boy asked if I needed one and I graciously accepted it and sat on the curb to smoke. The kid sat next to me and introduced himself as Griffin.
"Zane," I said simply.
"That's cool," he remarked on my name, "You okay, you seem a little stressed."
I just told him I was having a rough day and he put an arm across my shoulders in an attempt to "calm" me. Being raised where I had been, though, I knew never to let some random guy get this close to you, so I pushed him away and told him I was going to get going.
"Oh come on, it's just a little fun," Griffin explained.
"Just fucking great,' I thought about the situation that was now enfolding in front of me.
"Listen here, pal, get the hell out of my face," I said toughly; this punk didn't scare me.
"Seriously, back off of her," I heard the oh-so-familiar voice of Dean Portman behind me once again.
Griffin saw Dean's size and took off.
"Thanks," I muttered, "You're really gunna have to stop sneaking up on me. How come you came after me?"
Dean laughed lightly at my joke before telling me he came after me to make sure I was alright. I told him I was fine. Really, I wasn't, but I can handle things fine by myself or with the help of my friends back home. They weren't here, though, and I needed someone. My cigarette was dwindling down and I threw it into the street.
"My father usually doesn't go after her," I said absently, "And I don't know why I just told you that."
"Maybe because you know none of your friends are here to talk about it with?" Dean stated hitting the nail on the head, "You think we all haven't gone through that? Maybe not to your extent but I know where you're coming from."
I kicked at the curb anxiously with my sneaker; this news had me all riled up. My body was shaking in rage and I really wished Griffin had stuck around so I could have taken a few punches at him.
"Is your mom okay?" Dean asked gently.
"I guess, but she doesn't deal with it as good as…" I trailed off not wanting to say too much.
Dean finished it for me by saying 'as you and your brother' and I shrugged, not willing to deny or agree with the statement. On our way back, Dean once again grabbed for my hand and linked it with his. Only this time, I didn't pull back.
'Maybe developing real friendships around here is what I really need.' I thought.
Only friends? Zane, you're a pretty good liar, even when you're lying to yourself.
A little bit of a bigger step between Zane and Portman. Right now, Zane needs someone, and Portman seems to be the guy who always has her back. However, she is NOT willing to give away her heart right now. Can Dean change her mind?
END OF CHAPTER!
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