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Nathan is using the small crews from the poor side of Silver Falls to reinforce his nationwide gang. How ethical.
What’s funny is Mom and Dad used to live on the North Shore when Aaron was a toddler. It was before Dad became Sheriff. They moved to Stoneview when Mom was pregnant with me. If Dad was just another police officer, Aaron and I would have grown up not far from where I’m currently standing. One bridge separates the North Shore from the South of Silver Falls, the richer part is where the trail to the falls is. Where there is a nice theater and the huge mall Emily and I go to so I can buy myself clothes I could never afford in Stoneview.
I can’t help another shake and I become too aware I’ve been staring at Emma with sorry eyes.
You could have been her.
I don’t know. I don’t think I would have the backbone to be some badass bitch from the North Shore. I probably would have been the kind that tries to be invisible so she doesn’t end up being involved with NSC or their rivals, the King family. I would also probably have been truly bullied for being the daughter of a cop.
At Stoneview Prep, the boys call girls like Emma NSP. They’re North Shore Pussy to the lacrosse privilegeddudes.No more, no less. They think they’re cool when they brag about catching one of those fishes after inviting them to their mansion parties.
Stoneview boys rarely go to North Shore houses to get their fill, they’re too scared to get robbed or stabbed. Except for Jake. I know he used to go because Luke, Rose, and Chris went with him, and Chris has told me about it before; Jake trying to avoid Camila by going to a place where she’d never go. Her red soles would get too dirty.
“Hop in the car, Emma. I’ll drop you.” He pauses as he turns to me. “Unless I’m driving you back? That ride is still on offer, beautiful.”
“I already said no.” I turn to leave, and his voice almost stops me.
“I’m available anytime you need a reminder of who you truly are.” I can hear the smile in his voice, but I keep going. “Just like me,” he insists louder as I walk away.
Asshole.
CHAPTER 4
Us – James Bay
Jake
Fuck.
I know this fight is over for me before his fist even lands on my jaw. I already expect the click and the blackout. He’s so fast but somehow, it’s all going in slow motion in my head. I don’t move on time and the pain lasts for a second before I fall unconscious on the floor.
When I come back, I’m already on the doctor’s bed in the locker room. Billie is standing right beside me as I squint to adjust to the light. I can hear her foot tapping incessantly on the linoleum floor, her shoes squeaking on it as she shifts position. She’s nervously playing with the chain around her neck, and I smile.
“Why are you all stressed out?” I ask in a raw voice.
“Fuck,” she startles. “You fucking scared us, you asshole.” She smiles at me as she squeezes my arm with a shaking hand.
“Shit, that was bad,” I growl as I try to sit up. My head feels heavy, it’s like it’s screwed onto the shitty bed.
“Don’t sit up,” she orders in a strong voice. “Doc said you got a bad concussion from the fall. And a fractured rib by the way.”
Oh.So that’s why it hurts to talk. And to breathe. And to be alive.
“I understood it was bad when you didn’t open your eyes right after passing out. You usually only go for a few seconds. You should have seen me jump in the ring. Had to knock out a bitch myself,” she chuckles.
Billie is a really fucking strong girl, despite being the size of a small child. That much I’ve learned since I’ve met her. Growing up in her little gang, surrounded by tough guys on the North Shore of Silver Falls, she understood from a young age that if she wasn’t strong, she was dead. Or worse.
The first day we both spent here, she was desperate to spar. I tried to go easy on her, but she was angry. Raging, actually. She needed to fight someone, and she needed someone to fight back.
I felt like shit after I gave her a black eye. She felt fine when she gave me a nosebleed. In the end, it did both of us a lot of good.
I wish I was as strong as Billie. The girl had to leave her family behind because Nate decided the North Shore Crew had to prove their loyalty to Bianco, and she never complains about it. She never even talks about them.
“Don’t sayusuallylike I get knocked out dead at every fight. I’ve won more than I lost.”
“But every time you lose, it’s that jaw click isn’t it?” She winks at me like she knows me by heart and my heart pinches.
She really doesn’t and even if she picked up on things since I’ve met her, I don’t want her to. My habits and my behaviors are for Jamie. I only want her to know me like that.
