Ride and Die (Ridgemore #1)

23 Life, Death, and Option C

23

Life, Death, and Option C

F or my first day back since our disastrous outing to Raven’s Lagoon, my parents volunteered to drive me to school. When I was fast to turn them down, they even offered one of their cars. Now that they both worked from home, they could manage with one. But I passed, opting instead for Brady to pick me up. We all squeezed into Bonnie, something we’d be doing until we had a chance to repair Griffin’s car and finish mine. In other words, it was going to be awhile.

Thanks to the unwieldy cast that wrapped my leg from my foot up to mid-thigh, I got to ride shotgun, which left Layla, who was the shortest of us all, sitting between Griffin and Hunt in the back.

“You sure we can’t skip school?” Layla asked a second time, after we’d already shut down her suggestion. “This is like the only break we get from our parents anymore, and I don’t wanna waste it on school.”

“Trust me,” Hunt said, “I’ve got no desire to sit through boring lectures today with everything running through my mind. But you heard them. We need to pretend everything’s normal. Which means going to school.”

Brady, who usually had a lead foot in the car, was driving like we were out for a scenic Sunday drive. I suspected it was to draw out this same private time Layla mentioned.

“They assume we’re as good at lying and shit as they are,” Brady said.

I snorted a dark laugh. “Yeah, I noticed that. They just assume subterfuge is no biggie.” I shook my head. “I seriously can’t believe it took us this long to figure out what they were up to.”

Griffin laughed, and the sound lifted my spirits. I glanced at him over my seat.

“How the hell were we supposed to figure out what they were up to?” he asked. “Like, we were supposed to guess that we’re…” The lighthearted ribbing slid off his beautiful face, the brightness in his eyes fading for a moment. “…whatever the hell we are. I feel like I’m crazy half the time I consider everything they’ve told us.”

“I feel like I’m crazy all the time I think about it,” Layla said.

“But then,” Griffin went on, “I can’t deny it either. I went over that cliff. Clyde was flying, rolling, and then, that was it. Darkness. Until they shocked me back to life.”

His gaze unfocused, as if he were reliving the memories, until he shook his head, seeming to clear the images.

Hunt stretched his legs, bumping the back of my seat until he got comfortable. “Zoe says Hayden keeps talking about it. Apparently she can’t believe they were able to revive Griff. Says she never saw anything like it.”

I chuffed. “Yeah, I’ll bet she hasn’t.”

Brady chuckled.

“She wasn’t on call the day of your accident, Brade,” Hunt said, “but she still heard about it. Seems like EMTs are a bunch of gossips. Hayden gets the scoop and then she dishes to Zoe.”

“And what’s Zoe think about it?” I faced forward as we neared the school, anticipating the horde of reporters that had been a constant since Brady became the Miracle Kid.

“I’m not really sure. I like Zoe and all, I think she’s cool, but I get the feeling she tiptoes around me. Like she sometimes tells me what she thinks I want to hear instead of what she’s actually thinking.”

“That’s ’cause she wants your fine ass to bone her,” Layla said. “We already told you that.”

“Whatever the reason, it’s weird.”

“No ‘whatever the reason.’ That’s the reason, Hunt. You’re a fine motherfucker and Zoe wants to jump your bones while she’s got a chance.” Layla hmm ed. “And does she have a chance?”

“Seriously, Lay? I’m pretty sure we’ve got way bigger problems than whether or not I decide to sleep with Zoe Wills.”

“Oh, I don’t care whether you catch some Z’s with her or not, I’m just talking about you dipping your wick.”

“Which is obviously what I was referring to, only with a little subtlety.”

Brady barked a laugh. “Which my sister doesn’t have and couldn’t find even if you offered to pay her a cool mil for her efforts.”

“Bro, for a mil, I’d make subtlety my bitch.”

Another snort. “Of course you would.”

Layla leaned forward in her seat. “You don’t think I could? I could. I can. I’d nail that. I’d be getting down with subtlety like Hunt wants to get down with Zoe.”

Hunt groaned. “Promise me you won’t go getting involved. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well then, seems like you need my help deciding.”

“No, I def don’t. I mean it, Lay. Back off.”

From experience, I understood that Layla interpreted “back off” as an invitation to stick her nose even further into whatever business was in question.

“Fine, I’ll back off,” she said, sounding about as sincere as our parents.

“Layla…” Hunt warned.

I told him, “Zoe seems nice, and not like all the kids who just want to look, sound, and be like everyone else. Like she might actually have a few brain cells to rub together. She’s cute too. Why aren’t you sure you want to go there?”

“Because I could maybe really like her. Assuming I get to see the real her and she stops telling me what she thinks I want to hear.”

“That’s good though, bro,” Griffin said.

“Could be, yeah. But it’s not like I can tell her, ‘Hey, so it looks like we’re not quite all the way human. Or maybe we are, still haven’t gotten our asshole parents to give it all to us straight, but looks like if we die, we can pop right back up, assuming we convince someone to shock the hell out of us first. So yeah, might even be immortal, who knows?’”

“Okay, point taken,” Layla said, the chipper eagerness to get Hunt’s wick dipped gone. “Unless it’s gonna be a super casual fuck, we can’t involve anyone else right now.”

“Exactly,” Hunt said. “Finally.”

“So go get your casual hookups, but nothing else,” Layla elaborated, as if we hadn’t gotten the picture yet. “Not until we figure this out.”

When none of us responded, she pressed, “You guys hear me?”

“Of course we hear you,” I said on another chuff. “Can’t help but.”

“Then why didn’t you promise we’re only going to get some in a casual manner?”

“’Cause I don’t need to promise that. You know me, I don’t do casual. I don’t like sharing myself with someone I couldn’t give a fuck about.”

“It’s definitely worth waiting for the right fit,” Griffin said, and I had to force myself to keep my gaze glued up ahead, to the looming sign that announced Ridgemore High School. I had no doubt Griffin and I would fit together just right.

“You two can wait all you want for your hearts to sing the glory of lovemaking,” Layla said. “I plan on making the most of my time till the right dude shows up. What about you, Hunt? Are you gonna join Joss and Griff in being born-again virgins?”

I shook my head. “You’re a fucking nut, you know that? No one said anything about us being celibate.”

“Then who ya gonna bang?”

Silence.

“That’s what I thought.”

Brady slowed to a crawl before taking the turn into school, but there wasn’t a single reporter there. Not one redheaded bulldog. Nada .

“Wow, that’s different,” I commented with a whistle.

“And nice,” Brady said.

“No doubt. Wonder if our parents got restraining orders on all of them.”

“Wouldn’t put it past them,” Hunt said. “They’re all sus as fuck.”

“Hunt,” Layla insisted. “You joining the casual team or the love-only team?”

“I’m not joining any team—”

“You gotta.”

“Why?”

“’Cause I said so.”

“Bossy princess,” Brady commented.

“Hey, I am what I am,” Layla said. “At least you got the princess part right. I deserve to get whatever nice treatment I want. Shit, I could even go for one of them reverse harems, ya know? Have a different flavor for every night of the month.”

“All you need is the one right flavor,” Griffin said, and I thought I could feel his gaze heating the side of my face. I desperately wanted to turn to check but didn’t dare.

“Everyone knows ice cream’s better when you can choose the flavor you want to suit your mood. Same with dick.”

“After that colorful description, I’m gonna stick with the hold-out team,” Hunt said.

“Suit yourself. I don’t mind having enough fun for the lot of you. What about you, Brade?”

“You know me.”

“Yup. The Rafferty twins’ll be making up for the hold-out team. Too bad you can’t tell any of the girls you’re a fucking paranormal beast. You’d have them lining up to take turns with you.”

“I already have them lining up,” Brady said.

“That’s true, homie. It’s nice that we’re all hot. Makes life so much easier.”

“See? Bratty princess,” he said, glancing at the others in the rearview mirror before slowing as he drove through the large student parking lot.

“Not bratty, just determined,” she said. “I know what I want and I go get it. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Maybe not,” Griffin said. “But if I didn’t know you, I might be tempted to take offense at all the stupid shit you say.”

“Hey!”

“No, Lay,” I said over a laugh that sounded too much like a giggle for my liking. “He’s right. That was some stupid shit you just laid out for us. Here we are, with literal life and death matters on our hands, and you’re dissecting our pen dipping and inkpots like it’s your business.”

“You got me there. But tell me you don’t feel lighter after a while of not talking about all the life and death and not —aka option C—bullshit?”

No one responded. But she was right—laughing felt good.

“Exactly,” she said. “You guys need me.”

“No doubt about that,” I affirmed right away. “I need every one of you assholes.”

“We’re a crew,” Griffin added. “We stick together and we’ll get through this, whatever the hell this turns out to be.”

Brady parked in one of our usual spots off to the side of the lot and I pushed open my door, turning to reach for my crutches. When I straightened, Griffin was there, taking my bag from me and handing it to Hunt, who also waited to help. Griffin readied my crutches then guided me out. Ordinarily, I’d probably shrug them off, protesting that I could do it on my own. But since Griffin had told me he loved me, I didn’t want to turn down any opportunity to be near him, even if I still didn’t know he meant it in anything more than a platonic way.

“What’s going on over there?” Layla asked.

A crowd was gathered closer to the school building.

“Don’t know,” Brady said, “but I see Rich’s ugly-ass Hummer. Can’t help but. Could he’ve chosen a louder color? Fuck. You can probably see the beast from outer space.”

Rich Connely’s Hummer was not, in fact, ugly. It was an expensive machine that was undoubtedly all shiny chrome and beautiful accents inside. But Brady was right. It was obnoxiously bright—though not quite as obnoxious as its owner.

With me injured, it took us longer to arrive at the group. Though I was now comfortable with my crutches, it was still slower going than I would have liked. But not even Layla or Brady pulled ahead of me, and they were the least observant of our crew.

“Holy shit,” Griffin breathed. “No wonder everyone’s standing around drooling. That’s an Aston Martin Valkyrie.”

“Damn.” Brady whistled. “Who’s got one of those? And don’t tell me Rich or I’ll puke in my mouth and maybe have to punch him again, and I don’t wanna miss out on your first day back. I’d rather wait at least another week before my next suspension.”

Now that we had dirt on our parents—truckloads of it—none of us concerned ourselves with thoughts of future reprimands. They’d done so much to break our trust, and so little to remedy that break, that a potential suspension seemed slight in comparison. What freedoms our parents hadn’t given us before, we were now taking whether they liked it or not.

When we reached the circle of gawking students, our view of the Aston Martin still partially impeded, the crowd parted to reveal a man I’d never seen before walking toward us. His gaze was pinned on us. We were his target.

“Weird,” Layla muttered under her breath before he reached us.

The man was tall, with impeccable posture and dark hair threaded through with silver. He wore a pressed linen shirt and slacks that didn’t dare have a crease, despite the morning already growing hot. His shoes were unreasonably shiny, and though I had no idea what you’d label the style in the charcoal leather, I guessed they cost more than my car, possibly more than Bonnie and Clyde combined. The man, whoever he was, reeked of opulence.

“Why’s he looking at us like that?” Hunt asked under his breath, but none of us could answer before the stranger reached hearing range. Also, I had no idea.

“Richard,” he called behind him. Even his voice sounded expensive.

“Rich,” Brady mumbled accusingly while our classmate appeared from behind a wall of our peers.

Rich jogged to catch up to the man who probably had a yacht and jet on standby. I’d never met anyone with a yacht or a private jet, but I’d bet good money this is what that lifestyle looked like.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” the man asked before Rich reached him.

“We aren’t friends,” Brady said.

The man didn’t visibly react beyond a winning smile. “I know my nephew can be annoying. But he grows on you if you give him a chance.”

Rich, now standing beside his uncle, grimaced as if undecided how to feel about that statement. After the uncle turned to stare at him, he eventually said, “Hey, guys, this is my uncle I was telling you about before.”

The man extended his hand to Brady first. “I’m Magnum Chase. My sister is this boy’s mother. She chose to take her husband’s name.” From the way his eyes took on a sudden, predatory glint, I got the impression he thought his sister was an idiot for dropping the surname that associated her with him.

Brady hesitated for a moment, but then shook the man’s hand. Magnum greeted us each in the same way, even me, and I had to shake around a cumbersome crutch.

“I’ve been very much looking forward to meeting you,” Magnum said. “It’s not every day that I get to meet not one, but two, miracle kids.”

Brady and Griffin tensed. The rest of us did too.

“Yeah, well,” Griffin said, “we prefer not to be referred to that way.”

“Of course you do. The nickname is a crude simplification of something wondrous.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Brady said. “Nice to meet you and all, but we’ve gotta be getting to class.”

“Of course, of course.” Magnum smiled broadly, revealing straight white teeth behind equally perfect lips, exfoliated and moisturized. “Get to class. We’ll have the chance to speak more later.”

Brady grunted noncommittally while I studied the man, wondering what the hell his game was.

“You’ll be hearing from me soon.” Then, with a curt nod, Magnum Chase turned and sauntered back to what had to be his Aston Martin.

I waited until we were out of earshot before asking, “Did that sound like a fucking threat to any of you?”

“Definitely,” Hunt said. “Man’s a snake behind all that luxury.”

“I’d expect you’ve gotta be to have that much money,” Griffin commented.

“So the question of the hour is: What the hell does he want with us?” Layla asked.

We exchanged a loaded look before resuming our walk into the school. There was one thing not even money could buy, and there was a very good chance the five of us had it.

“Let’s stay as far away from the guy as possible,” Griffin said.

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.” I leaned my shoulder on the locker beside mine and reached for my combination lock.

“You don’t think…” I started, drawing my friends’ attention back to me when they’d already been walking toward their lockers. Griffin hadn’t left my side, holding one of my crutches for me while I got my locker open. “You think he’s the one who’s figured us out? The one who messed with Clyde?”

“Yes, I totally do,” Brady answered right away.

“I don’t,” Hunt said. “Only because I think he’s too smart for that. A dude doesn’t get to be where he obviously is without some major brains on him.”

Griffin’s mouth tightened. “I don’t trust him.”

“None of us do,” Layla said. “Let’s watch each other’s backs. At all times.”

Griffin frowned, his eyes troubled. “And check under Bonnie’s hood before we go anywhere.”

“Fuck,” I exclaimed, loudly enough to draw the attention of others. I lowered my voice. “What the hell? This shit’s messed up.”

“Maybe we should tell our parents,” Hunt suggested.

“Maybe,” Layla said, though clearly none of us were in a hurry to loop them in when all they’d done was leave us out.

“For now,” I said, “British Lit. We can figure out the rest later.” Only I already had a feeling my thoughts wouldn’t stick to today’s lesson, no matter how interesting Ms. Tott tried to make it.

Already I was haunted by Chase Magnum’s easy confidence, the kind that suggested he always got what he wanted. Without understanding all the specifics, I suspected our already complicated life had just gotten more so.

My friends and I made our way to class in silence, each of us no doubt wrapped up in our own burdened thoughts. It wasn’t even 8:30 a.m. yet. I sighed and focused on landing my crutches.