Three Years Ago

There was never any telling what might set a person off.

Alex wasn't normally the sort to go around knocking heads together but a lot of things had happened tonight, one on top of the other, and when that bowl broke, it looked like some people's skulls were going to meet the same fate as the expensive piece of crystal unless I stepped in and diverted her attention.

"Hey Alex?"

"What?" she snapped, whipping her head. Her expression softened when our eyes met.

"Truth or dare?"

"Seriously?"

"You haven't had your turn."

"Fine," she said, throwing her head back, and waved off the boys she was giving a good talking-to. "Dare. Grant's gone, but let's see who else is available. . ."

"Oh, I kind of have something else in mind." A slow smile spread across my face. " Let's go outside."

Minutes later, Alex was once again somewhere halfway between tears and murderous rage and this time it was because of me.

"This is so unfair, Adrian St. Clair!"

Unfortunately for her, the little rhyme she created from using my full name made it unintentionally hilarious and I was less than intimidated, and further emboldened by the fact that I was, at present, standing about twenty feet away from her—well beyond hair-pulling distance.

"You're not really making me go through with this, are you?" she asked, sounding damn-near hysterical.

To answer her question, I gave a kid I had delegated to the side of the poolhouse the signal to hit the switch. The kid responded by giving a thumbs-up and there was low whirring noise. The automatic pool cover rolled up, starting at the deepest end, where Alex stood, towards me. The chlorine smell that had been faint and barely noticeable only seconds ago intensified and permeated the air. Lights hit the bright blue water, casting a bluish tint on everything.

"You heard me say there was a drought, right?" Beth was beside me all of a sudden, clucking her tongue in disapproval. "Why is no one taking that seriously?"

"Pool's already filled. Be more wasteful not to use it, if you ask me."

I didn't mean to snap, but Ethan, Tristan, and Matt were with her. There was something slightly distressing about this odd combination of people that came out of nowhere, and the fact that both she and the boys were minus one constant companion.

"What's up, Adrian?" Ethan greeted.

"Revenge," I said, my voice menacingly low at first. "An eye for an eye." I could hear it getting louder and more high-pitched with each word. "Do it, Alex! Do a cannonball!"

"Can't I change into a swimsuit first?" she asked, just as shrilly. I crossed my arms across my chest, knowing she was either stalling or planning her escape. "No one's used the pool for weeks! It hasn't been heated!"

"Good! You need cooling down."

"At least several times a day," Beth called out, not missing a beat, and we both exploded into laughter at the exact moment.

"I will not be spoken to that way in my own house!" Alex yelled. She huffed once again and stamped her foot.

Beth struggled to contain her giggles. "Eye for an eye, huh? Funny, you didn't strike me as the Old Testament type."

"You'd be surprised how vindictive she can be," Tristan chimed in, and then laughed. "So glad I picked truth."

"No one was talking to you, Tristan," I said, glaring in his direction.

"'Cause here's a tip: You never want to give Adrian the upper hand," he went on, as if I hadn't spoken. He then grinned and tapped the side of his head with an index finger, so pleased with himself, it made me want to kick him in the shin.

I didn't, though; it would only prove his point.

"I still don't get it." There was a bemused expression on Ethan's face. "Revenge for what?"

"The worst seven minutes of my life," I replied.

"Ouch!" Ethan clutched at his heart and shot me a fake wounded look. "Matty-Boy's standing right here." With that, he shoved Matt in my direction.

Matt whirled around and gave Ethan a much harder shove in return. "I told you not to call me that, Assface!"

"Dude, not so rough." Tristan held him back, laughing. "Maybe that's why Adrian wasn't into it."

I felt sorry for Matt; his face was so red. Like, there was nothing that could have happened in that closet that would have impressed Ethan but if even Tristan was making fun of him?

Well, that was a whole new level of sad.

"Knock it off, you two," I told Ethan and Tristan. "Matt and I are totally on the same page in this. He hated every second in that closet as much as I did."

The two cracked up, then went off—to find other people to bug, I assumed—leaving Matt behind with Beth and me.

"I hate those idiots," Matt said through gritted teeth. I got the feeling that I was being lumped in with them from the way he glared—and he'd be totally justified in doing so. I was of no help to him whtsoever.

"Forget them, Matt," I told him, waving dismissively in Ethan and Tristan't direction. Turning to Beth, I leaned forward to whisper, "See? I'm not the only one Alex put on the spot tonight."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Beth asked, eyeing me curiously.

"I'm not sure I can."

On the other side of the pool, Alex continued to hedge while a couple of kids surrounding her had begun to chant, Jump! Jump!

"I don't feel that way. " Matt blurted out. "I don't feel like Alex put me on the spot."

My eyebrows scrunched together as I turned his words over in my head, and then winced as realization struck.
"I guess, in your case, that was me," I said slowly.

"This is getting way too real for me. . ." Beth interrupted in a breezy tone that didn't suit the current atmosphere. "So I'm gonna go" She had her phone out, pointed at Alex, and was already walking away. "Plus, I want to shoot this at a better angle."

"She's gonna kill you," I warned. For someone who took such pride in her appearance, Alex was notoriously camera-shy.

"She'll kill you first," she replied, not looking back.

Fair enough, I thought, shrugging.

"Sorry, Matt." I said, hoping that it covered not only the interruption but also everything else without going into too much detail. I wasn't very good at apologizing.

"What? No . . ." Matt stopped to take a deep breath. "I'm glad it was you," he said, quietly. "I didn't want my first kiss to be some girl I barely know."

So much for Matt not making things weird.

The only response Matt got was a funny, open-mouthed stare that would've gone longer, if not for a loud splash, followed by several piercing shrieks and cheering, that disrupted my thoughts.

"Alex!" I ran toward where the noise was coming from, leaving Matt where he stood.

"Suck it, Adrian," Alex said as soon as she saw me. She was waist-deep in water, shivering. Beth was there too, standing near the edge, watching everything through the phone in her hand. "You thought I'd back out on a dare? I wouldn't give you the satisfction."

A breathless, awestruck laugh escaped me. "Guess now you'll think twice before suggesting that game."

"Are you kidding? This was a great idea!"

She tilted her head toward a group of kids at a different part of the pool where a couple of kids had already jumped in, fually-clothed or otherwise, and still some others were daring each other to do all kinds of pool-related stunts.

"I bet no one's even thought of leaving since you brought me out here." She grinned, giddily bobbing up and down in the water. "I don't know why we didn't make this whole thing a pool party."

"Drought," Beth sing-songed, still looking into her phone.  "Restricted use of private pools. . ."

Alex propped herself up on the pool's edge by her elbows and motioned for me to come closer. I complied and sat on the ground, Indian-style, as close as I could while still remaining dry.

"I know it's dumb, but I just didn't feel like being alone tonight, you know?"

Talking to Matt made me realize that I did to him the exact same thing Alex had done to me. And if that was the case, then I had no business feeling so wronged and vengeful. Hearing what Alex just said made me feel even worse.

She was giving me way too much credit with her convoluted reasoning. Unlike her, I didn't have her best interests at heart when I pushed her out of her comfort zone. The best I'd hoped for was to make her cry a little because her clothes and makeup got ruined.

Cruel? Maybe, but like I said, there was no telling what might set a person off.

For some, it could be broken crystal and for others, it could be the sight of two sickeningly attractive people getting to know each other better, minding their own business. Lost in their own world.

"It's nothing," I said, deliberately avoiding her gaze. Beth's as well—she knew too much. "I'm just sorry I missed it."

"Don't worry. I got the whole thing on my phone," Beth said. A flash went off, telling me she'd taken another picture of Alex before handing the device to me.

"Delete that!" Alex screeched, splashing water at Beth and me as I viewed the camera roll. "You know unflattering pictures of me aren't allowed to exist."

I smiled and held the phone up so she could see herself. Beth did a great job capturing the moment when Alex first hit the water. She was soaked to the skin, with her clothes, hair, and makeup all ruined. However, she didn't look anywhere near tears and instead had a shocked expression in her enormous brown eyes and a cheesy open-mouthed grin.

Even though it probably meant I'd be kissing weirdoes in cramped spaces for the rest of my life, I'd never been happier to have one of my plans backfire. Alex looked like she was having the time of her life.

"Actually, you never looked more beautiful."