When the food came, I heard one of the girls exclaim, "I didn't know Nate was in town."
"Oh yeah!" Another shrieked in laughter. "You didn't know? He's been here for a week."
"Whatever, Natalie."
A third offered up, "I heard they're going down the beach to Roussou tonight."
The girls grew quiet for a moment.
"What are they going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"They always do something. When Nate and Mason team up, they always do something. Last year they stole some police cars and then they went on a bender."
"I heard that too. Mason's dad paid off the cops. They vandalized some of the bars. He must've paid the owners off too."
Then the first girl spoke up with authority in her voice, "Well, they're doing something tonight. They disappeared from the beach an hour ago."
"How do you know?"
"Duh. Summer texted me. She's still there."
"Hey." Adam's hand jolted me back to our booth. He gave me a gentle grin. "You okay?"
"Actually…" I looked down at my plate of pasta. "I'm not hungry."
His smile stretched a bit. "You're not bailing, are you?"
I gave him a weak one in return. "I think I am. I'm sorry. I…I have to do something."
When I got to the house, Mason's Escalade was just starting to leave. I raced towards it and waved my arms in the air. He braked and rolled down his window. "Yeah?"
Nate grinned at me from the passenger seat, but I felt he was laughing at me.
I was breathless from my hurry and panted, "You're going to Roussou? I know where the coach lives."
Mason frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I want to go with you?"
Logan howled from the back seat and a fourth guy started to laugh with him.
"No."
"Yes." I grabbed his window when he started to let the vehicle roll forward. "Let me come."
Nate elbowed him. "Let her come."
"What?" Logan popped his head forward. "No way. No way in hell, Mase."
Mason jerked a thumb towards the back. "Get in." He popped open the back trunk area and I crawled in. My heart was pounding. I knew my face was red, but as soon as I heaved the door shut the Escalade shot forward.
It was an hour drive down the beach. Logan grumbled and sent me a glare every now and then. The fourth friend ignored him and after awhile, started to give me a few grins. He offered me a soda too. Mason and Nate talked with each other and Logan would lean forward to join in.
Something told me that Logan was trying to persuade them to drop me on the side of the road. When they didn't, I relaxed a little. I figured we were too far for them to do that and then we were in the town of Roussou. It was small, but it was rich. A lot of wealthy men owned stock in internet companies, which helped their football program be competitive against Fallen Crest High and it was the reason why an extra sense of rivalry sparked between the two schools. I remembered hearing a rumor that the Roussou team had heavily recruited Mason and Logan for their team.
They'd given them a resounding middle finger.
"Where's the coach's place?" Logan glared at me.
I jerked forward to recite the directions. It wasn't long before we were outside the three-story house I knew where David played poker on Saturday nights. And then I saw his car. My hands curled into small balls and everything inside of me went cold.
My chest started to heave up and down at a rapid pace. But I only saw my father's car, not my father's car. David's car.
"What the hell?" Logan cursed and shot me a look. "There're people here."
"Does it matter?" I asked idly as I spied some fireworks in the back with me. Then I heard a door open and loud voices came across the yard. I snagged a couple of them and a lighter before I started to get out of the car.
"Are you crazy? He's going to tell."
He wasn't. I got out, but left the door open. David had started down the sidewalk to where his car was parked, but he stopped when he saw me.
"Samantha?"
I lit the fireworks and strolled to his car.
"Samantha! Don't!"
I keyed in his code, opened his door, and threw them in.
"Oh my god!" He rushed past me, but I locked the door. It'd take him a moment before he could get it open.
The fireworks started to sizzle and they exploded in the next second.
David threw himself away from the car, shaking and cursing.
My face was blank. I didn't feel a thing. My hands didn't shake. My back was straight. My shoulders were square and then I turned back for the Escalade.
"Samantha, what did you just do?" David reached for my elbow.
I whipped away and seethed, "Get away from me."
"Get in!" Mason cursed and pounded the side of his door.
I whirled and threw myself in the back as he started to pull away from the curb. I heaved the door shut. It was silent in the car for a moment and then Logan and his friend threw their heads back and howled in laughter. I curled into a ball and stayed there. I didn't care about the smirk on Nate's face or how Mason seemed to look through me in the rear view mirror. He could try, he'd only see emptiness. The guys stopped a few times, left, and returned to do the same thing. I didn't know what they were doing. I didn't care. I'd done what I wanted.