Killer Teens

Trash Duty

Kate's POV

“I hope you wanted me to cut in like that.”

Brooke is referring to her cutting in on Cole’s blunt request to hear about my family. I lost my father a little over a year ago, and I’m okay now, but it’s still near-impossible for me to talk about it. Sure, occasionally I bring it up with Brooke, but never with anyone else. And sure as hell not with Cole.

“I did,” I tell her quietly as I stare out the car window.

“I’m really sorry about that, Kate,” Jason tells me.

“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t ,but, I don’t know… I drove you there.” He sounds more relaxed now; he’s reverting back to his old self. I know the only reason he’s saying anything is to impress Brooke. I also know that she isn’t going to be impressed. Brooke’s the player, not the playee. Not anymore.

When we reach the neighborhood, Jason asks if Brooke’s parents are home. Even though they’ve been going out for almost a year by now, Brooke isn’t sleeping with Jason. Still, I sink a little in my seat when she says no; they’re physical enough that I don’t want to be anywhere near them tonight.

“Want to spend the night, Kate?” Brooke asks, turning back to look at me.

“No, thanks,” I say, even though I don’t want to go home. “I’m tired.”

“You sure?” Her bright eyes are worried.

I don’t ever really want to go home, but Brooke and Jason’s night has already been ruined by me, and I’m not about to make it worse. They deserve privacy. And I deserve to not have to hear them… not have s*x. “It’s fine.”

Brooke flashes me a genuine (though slightly nervous) smile as we pull up to my driveway. I thank Jason for the ride, cringing slightly as he flashes his pearly whites at me, and stumble out of the car. I watch his Lexus back up, drive one house down from mine, and disappear into Brooke’s garage.

I glance around the foyer when I get home. No one’s there. I head into the living room and groan inwardly when I see my mom and Bruce, my stepdad, asleep on the couch in front of the TV.

It’s so weird, the word “stepfather.” After almost two years of living with him, I still hardly know him. He’s as far from a father as a person could be. I remember the day they married vividly. Brooke was thrilled with the romance of it until I told her that my mother only married Bruce so she wouldn’t lose the house, and that there was no music and no flowers at the ceremony.

Really, it’s no wonder I’m not a romantic, with the mother I have. Not to mention the flighty, boy-crazy best friend. 

I head up to my room, change, and brush my teeth. I start on some homework, but put it away after only a few minutes. Finally I decide to just try and sleep, which is easier said than done for me. I’ve tried every strategy—sleeping pills, eye mask, earplugs, nightlights—even Brooke’s trick of sleeping with The Kinks playing in her headphones. But nothing works, at least not for hours. 

It’s not new. It started right around the time I lost my dad.

I’m not really all that close to sleep when I hear a knock on my bedroom door. I say nothing, hoping they’ll go away if they think I’m asleep. 

“Katie?” Bruce calls through the door, voice thick and deep as usual. I never liked his voice.  “You’re not really asleep, are you?”

This surprises me. Since when has Bruce shown any interest in me, let alone called me Katie?

He opens the door and flicks on the light on without waiting for my response. Seeing that I’m up, he comes and sits down on my bed.

“Your mother and I have been worried about how often you go out,” he begins a little carefully.

“She has not.” My mother doesn’t worry about things like that. She’s too worried about herself.

“I admit I brought it up, but she agreed. It’s more than you just going out—it’s who you’re going out with.”

I sit up, eyebrows narrowing. “You mean Brooke?”

“Her… and her boyfriend.”

“Jason?” I ask, feeling my heartbeat speed up a little. “How do you even know about him? I’ve never brought him over here.”

Bruce swallows before speaking. “Brooke’s mother asked a favor of me—to keep an eye on her daughter.”

“You’ve been spying on us?”

“Don’t overreact, Kate. It’s not what you’re making it. I just think you should spend some time with your other friends.”

I really can’t believe this. “Like who?” I shout. “I don’t have any other friends! You’d know that if you paid any attention to me until this sudden—”

“Of course, you have friends. Don’t be ridiculous, and lower your voice, Kate.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m your daughter!” I bellow, jumping off the bed and to my feet. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not my father! You haven’t given a flying f**k about me for the past—”

“Kate!” he gasps, appalled by my language. Well, good.

“I’m going to Brooke’s,” I tell him icily. “We’re done here.” And I brush past him, down the stairs, and out of the house without looking back.

Discomfort sets over me when I reach Brooke’s front door. Her cell phone is dead, and I don’t want to wake up her sister Alex by calling the house. I glance through the window into the living room. There they are, horizontal but mostly clothed, on the couch. I sigh and sit on her front porch, waiting for her to get fed up with him as I let my own feelings wash over me.

Today was such a nightmare. 

Frankly, I can’t remember the last time a day was good.

My cell phone rings then, snapping me out of my trance. It’s her.

“Hey, just checking in. You okay? I know today sucked.” She seems out of breath.

“Uh, yeah,” I lie. “How are you and Jason?”

“We’re okay. He’s just being kind of an ass.”I can tell he’s in the room with her. “You still don’t want to come over?”

I bite my lip. “Actually…”

“See you in five,” she says instantly, and hangs up. I wait five minutes before coming in. 

They’re arguing.

“…think I would f**k you with my big sister sleeping upstairs—”

“Like you would f**k me if she wasn’t!”

“You’re right, I wouldn’t!”

It only takes a few seconds for the guilt and remorse to overtake his expression.“Brooke,” he says quietly. “Baby, I’m sorry.”

Brooke glares at him before leading me up to her room to change.

“What happened?” she asks me.

“Bruce,” I reply shortly. “You know, Brooke, Jason’s probably under a lot of pressure from his friends about the whole s*x thing. Not to mention his hormones. And it’s got to be a blow to his ego, not being able to…”

Brooke snorts. “How is him not getting any a blow to his ego?”

“See it from his point of view. When you were with Milo—” she flinches at the name“—you were all over him. With Jason, you hardly seem interested. I’m not saying sleep with him. I’m just saying understand.”

She sighs. “I guess. Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m so against it. Mom put me on the pill a year ago, and the thought of s*x doesn’t scare me like it does some girls. It wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“But?”

“But… I just don’t want to do it… with him.”

And yet, twenty minutes later, she falls asleep in his arms.

- - - - -

I sleep easier with Brooke there, but I’m still up before either of them, and I find myself staring. They really are a breathtaking sight, the two most beautiful people I’ve ever seen—Jason in his cliché jock hotness and Brooke in her less cliché but even more powerful charm. They fit. And yet, knowing what I know about them, it just makes the whole thing worse. They aren’t real. 

How could two people who seem so right for each other be so wrong for each other? How could they, with the peace written all over their beautiful faces, not be happy?

How does it leave any hope for the rest of us?

Brooke stirs first, wrinkling her nose before opening her eyes and looking over at me. “Hey,” she yawns. “Get any sleep?”

“A little,” I reply, twisting a strand of my dirty blonde hair around my finger. “Got any plans for today?”

Brooke nods. “Going to the barn. Want to come? You can yell at Fiona.”

I’m not surprised that Brooke is going to the barn; she’s basically the world’s best equestrian, and everyone knows it. Her parents refuse to buy her a horse, or even pay for more than a few lessons a month, but Brooke works as an exerciser. Her biggest client is Fiona Price, the girl who arranged the Cole setup.

“Yeah, I’d like to have a word with her.” I’ve met Fiona a few times, and I’m honestly surprised she set me up with Cole. Was it a prank? Surely anyone could pick up on Cole’s weird vibes.

Brooke and I get out of bed and head upstairs to change, letting Jason keep sleeping. We both dress quickly, not bothering to dress up for the barn. When we return downstairs, Brooke glances at Jason’s still-sleeping body and sighs.

“Hey, Lex?” she shouts up the stairs.

Her sister Alex grunts something in response.

“Can you make sure Jase is out of here by the time Mom and Dad come home?”

A silence, and then, “f**k you.” Then, after another pause, “Yeah, I can.”

This is normal behavior, by the way, for Brooke and Alex.

“Thanks,” Brooke shouts back, and leads me outside. Even though Jason chauffeurs us almost everywhere, Brooke is allowed to use Alex’s Jeep Wrangler whenever Alex isn’t using it—like now.

It’s a twenty minute drive, not too bad, and accompanied by a ska playlist that I don’t mind. I can tell Brooke wants to ask me about Bruce, but I can also tell she knows I don’t want to talk about it.

Once we get there, she pulls out the keys without opening her door and turns to face me. “Look… don’t be too hard on Fiona. Okay? Not that you would. I’m just saying. She probably didn’t know.”

I laugh. “Okay, Brooke.”

She bites her lip. “I was mostly just saying that for my sake. I’m really worried that I’m going to, you know, rip her hair out. Which would be okay, except that I love Spellbound.”

Spellbound is the lesser of Fiona’s two famous horses, but he isn’t lesser in Brooke’s eyes. He is very ‘green’ and ‘unproven,’ but she wouldn’t have him any other way. 

When we finally head inside, Fiona is there, tacking up her other horse, Valentino.

“Fiona,” Brooke says to her. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“It’s about Cole, isn’t it?” Fiona asks. “God, Brooke—and especially you, Kate—I’m so sorry. I really should’ve gotten to know him better before I suggested this. He was just so into her.”

“Wait,” Brooke says. “Hold on. First of all, how do you know it went badly?”

“Jason called me a few minutes before you got here. Said your cell was dead and he wanted to talk to you. When I said you weren’t here, he filled me in.”

Brooke shrugs. “Okay. Well, then, tell me about Cole more. You said he seemed really into her?”

Fiona nods. “Too into her, I guess, but at the time I thought it was sweet. But then Jason told me about it, and I realized how stupid of me that was.”

I cross my arms. “Can you explain more… thoroughly?”

“All I can say is that I met Cole with my sister at this parade function thing. When I mentioned that a girl named Brooke exercised my horses, Cole asked if Brooke had a friend named Kate. I told him she did, and he got all excited, saying how great Kate was and how he really wanted to spend more time with her. I thought it was romantic. And he was pretty cute, right?”

“Cute, sure,” Brooke says. “Just… different, too.”She frowns. “Thanks for trying, I guess. Now, can I get Spellbound and ride with you?”

“Always,” Fiona says, and they leave me alone to wonder how Cole knew so much about me.

- - - - -

“Wendy, Rohan… Brooke, Jason… Kate, Milo.”

A few hours after the excursion at the barn, I join Brooke and Jason on their trip to their school for some volunteer work. But I’m not mentally prepared for this.

“Hold on,” I say immediately. “I’m supposed to work with Brooke!”

“Brooke will be working with Jason,” the teacher tells me calmly. “While we appreciate your willingness to volunteer at a school that isn’t your own, Kate, we still ask that you respect the partnership you are assigned.”

What are the odds, really? The teacher is the football coach; it makes sense that he would let Jason be Brooke’s partner, as a favor to his player. But why am I stuck with Milo, of all people? I positively detest the guy who ruined my best friend’s life.

“Trash duty,” I hear Milo say. I try to ignore Brooke’s paralyzed expression as I turn to face him.

“Okay,” I mutter, and follow him to the litter utensils. I start stabbing and bagging the litter in silence. Brooke and Jason are polishing a statue nearby. I find myself watching them instead of cleaning.

“It’s really not that interesting,” Milo says, surprising me.

“What’s not?”

“Watching them. They’re just like any other popular couple—pretty and horny.”

I haven’t talked to Milo in over a year, but this isn’t how I remember him—a judgmental asshole. “You’re serious?”

His dark eyes, partially covered by his shaggy brown-black hair, show no hints of humor. “Just look at them. It’s so obvious that it’s all physical with them.”

He has a point; they’re paying a lot more attention to each other’s lips than the statue. It doesn’t help that Jason’s hand is resting comfortably in Brooke’s back pocket. But that doesn’t give Milo the right to say it. And, anyway, it isn’t all physical.

“You’re being judgmental,”I tell him. “You always were that way.”Just not to this extent.

His eyes are still on them. “You don’t agree?”

“No, I don’t. I think you want their relationship to be all physical, because you don’t want Brooke to recreate what you two had when you can’t. But it’s not. Jason has never been more in love. And Brooke, she’s… stable.”

“Stable?” Milo repeats. “They fight constantly!”

“Yeah, but only over one thing.”

A shadow casts over his face. It’s almost… spooky. “One thing,” he repeats. “I knew she was a whore.”

I gasp in anger, but I don’t have time to reply before I see Brooke storming over to us, Jason at her heels. She ignores Milo completely.

“Cole West just called,” she says. “Kate, he seemed kind of…” She glances at Jason, who has a very protective arm around her and is glaring at Milo.

“…suicidal,” Jason finishes for Brooke.

“And I don’t over exaggerate,” Brooke says. “Okay. I do, but I’m not right now.”

“So what do I do?” I ask.

Brooke bites her lip. “Look, Katie, you don’t have to—”

“Call him,” Jason told me. “Call him tonight.”