How long have I been in here? Nick has probably already told everyone about my abrupt exit in the parking lot.
Reapplying my makeup, I didn�t pay attention to who opened the bathroom door until it was too late.
�I thought you�d be hiding in here. Too ashamed to show your face in public now that you�ve become a Backstreet whore?�
I continued messing with he base, trying to cover all the shadows on my face while ignoring her words.
Which only made Brittney try harder.
�Mike told us what happened this morning. You really should learn how to hide things better.�
Watching over my shoulder, she paused to consider something.
�Nothing to say? No witty rebuttals?�
I swallowed hard.
�Anything I say, no matter what it is, you�ll use against me.�
She grinned a Cheshire smile and patted my shoulder.
�True, but just wait until I tell dad. We�ll have so much fun!�
*
No wonder Aaron wanted to come. Matt is here. Even though I still believe he�s innately evil, Aaron seems to get along well enough with Mike�s seventeen-year old brother.
Listening to them over-exaggerate about some adventure they probably never had together, I watched Brittney walk back to the table, a satisfied smirk on her face.
Oh no.
�Did you find her?�
Matt knows Kara?
�Yeah, she�s putting her face back on. She�ll be out here any minute.�
Wait a second. She already had her face covered in makeup. What happened to take all of it off?
�She�s putting more makeup on?�
Brittney smirked at my brother, giving me the creeps.
�Well, some people need a lot of makeup before they can go out into public.�
Angie pretended to be enthralled by her conversation with Janette, so she didn�t seem completely heartless for not defending her missing cousin. Matt, Mike, and Aaron all snickered at the underhanded crack on Kara.
If your dad would stop beating her, she wouldn�t need any of that crap!
My attention was pulled away from the giggling pack of hyenas when I saw Kara make her way slowly between the tables. As she got closer, I saw how bloodshot her eyes were as they traveled around the table. Her hesitant movements stopped completely when her eyes landed on Matt and Aaron.
She�s been crying again.
*
No.
No no no no no no.
I felt my heartbeat quicken when I saw Brittney glued to Nick�s side, remembering the short conversation we�d had that morning. With thoughts of �no, he�s mine you whore� in my head, I kept looking around the table.
No!
Matt stood up and pulled out the empty chair between him and Mike, grinning evilly.
�It�s good of you to finally join us, Miss Macintosh.�
think I�m going to throw up.
*
Her face grew deathly pale before her eyes went blank and she slipped into the chair he offered.
How did I get seated so far away from her?
One look at Mike and I knew he�d had something to do with it and had plotted something that I wasn�t going to like.
Kara�s hands were shaking enough that I could see them from the other side of the table, and she wouldn�t look up from where she was burning holes in the tablecloth with her eyes.
�So Nick� we missed you this afternoon.�
No, don�t even start talking to me. I don�t even want you to look at me. I want to know what�s going on between Matt and Kara.
And something is going on.
Matt kept leaning over to whisper things into her ear, his arm lying across the back of her chair and his hand on her shoulder. A smarmy smile filled his face as he brushed his knuckles against her cheek, and Kara immediately pulled away, her face turning red.
What the fuck is going on?
�I had some business that came up suddenly.�
Mike turned to see his younger brother terrorizing Kara and smirked at me as if to tell me �I told you so.�
She�s not a slut! You�re just trying to set her up!
Kara grabbed Matt�s wrist and pushed her arm back towards him, shrugging his other arm off of her shoulders, only for it to find its way back five seconds later.
What the hell is going on?
*
�Matt, leave me alone.�
He leered at me and licked his lips, making my stomach turn.
�Oh come on, Kara. No one is paying any attention to us.�
I felt his hand on my leg, running up my thigh until I pushed it away, making sure to bend his fingers backwards a little further than they were meant to go.
�Damn it, Kara!�
His squeal of pain brought the attention to me and him but it didn�t faze me.
�Don�t touch me. I promise I�ll break them next time.�
�Kara!�
Damn it. I�ve been here for five minutes and I�ve already gotten into trouble.
�Cept this time I�m not apologizing. This pig-headed chauvinistic punkass deserves whatever the hell I give him.
*
Kara set her jaw and stared at Angie, daring her to say something. Her eyes flashed with some deep-seeded anger.
What the hell just happened?
Kara, look at me. Please look at me. Know that all you have to do is say the words and we�ll go back home.
Aaron watched the table in confusion before leaning over to Matt and talking to him quietly.
�Nicky, why haven�t you been joining in on all the planning and stuff?�
I groaned, feeling my stomach turn when Brittney put her hand on my arm.
�I�ve had things to do. Now having to do with the wedding.�
Wrapping her arm around my bicep, she leaned up against me while trying to get my attention away from Kara and the anger that radiated off of her in manic waves. Matt and Aaron spoke quietly, glaring at Kara every so often.
Noooo, don�t even try and get him on your side.
�Well, I was hoping we could spend some more time together. Maybe alone?�
Can she really be serious?!
I stared at her for a second while she tried to charm me with her cleavage.
�Get off me.�
She blinked a few times in shock.
You�re blonde, but it�s probably from a bottle so don�t even pretend like you didn�t understand what I just said.
�What?�
I couldn�t help rolling my eyes.
�Get off of me and leave me alone. Your breasts really don�t do anything for me.�
Jerking my arm from her grip, I leaned back in my chair and went back to watching where Kara was sitting, angry and acting oblivious to Mike, who was speaking to her sternly.
I thought I told you to leave her alone, asshole.
Her eyes locked with mine briefly and her features softened before she looked away.
If you look at me like that one more time, we�re leaving. Aaron can stay, but if you look at me like you�re trapped and terrified again� don�t care. We�re gone.
*
�I don�t know what the hell you think you�re doing, but if you tie Nick up into any more of your stupid freak show games, I will kill you.�
I closed my eyes and swallowed the bile that burned the back of my throat.
�I will beat you. I will rape you. I will kill you.�
Before I had the opportunity to push the words out of my head, Mike having moved onto his innocent nice guy act with Angie, Matt turned back to me.
No, I told you to leave me the hell alone.
�One of these days, you�ll stop fighting me. You�re just making things harder on yourself.�
His hand landed on my upper leg, his fingers stroking over my inner thigh through my camo pants.
Okay, that�s enough from the dumbass brothers.
Jumping out of my chair, I turned to Angie, embarrassed rage coloring my face.
�I�m sorry, Angie. I can�t do this.�
Without looking at anyone else, I turned around and left the restaurant, believing it a better option than slugging boys twice my size.