Page 2 of The Boys Next Door
Every time she heard the hiss of the word “slut,” she wanted to sink through the ground. This had to be a bad dream. She’d wake up soon.
That bad dream had lasted nine damn months. Diana gulped the rest of her iced coffee now, scooped out an ice cube, and ran it along her flushed arms and chest. It reminded her of the ice fights she’d had with Ian, while Brendan shook his head at them.
So innocent. She’d wanted Brendan by her side so badly that year. No one would have bothered her with him there; she was sure of it. God, even Ian would have been better than nothing. She’d take spiders in her bed over name-calling, any day. And nothing was all she had.
For the rest of the year, she’d blocked out the whistles, catcalls, and whispers about her name on the boys’ bathroom wall. Eventually, she made a few friends — shy kids, like her. She learned to wear big sweatshirts and focus on schoolwork. If she couldn’t win anywhere else, she could win in the classroom.
Going home in June was pure relief. But her body kept blooming, and the painful shyness didn’t leave.
Meanwhile, Brendan and Ian both stood about six inches taller than when she’d left. They were growing up too, but everything seemed to be going right for them. The crowds hanging out at their house, the laughter that always surrounded the twins, felt like a different world to Diana.
That first summer back, when Brendan spotted her reading in the backyard and tried to wave her over, she mumbled an excuse and rushed inside. When she biked past Ian shooting hoops, and he pulled his t-shirt off to toss it at her right in front of his friends, she swerved like the sweaty fabric was on fire and pedaled away without looking at him.
“What’sherproblem?” she heard him mutter.
I’ll never tell you, Ian,Diana thought.You wouldn’t understand.
The twins were boys. Boys were scary now. Tall, good-looking, and confident; always off playing basketball and having dates with girls and going out with their friends. Or so she heard over the next two years when their parents got together for dinner and she was the lone kid at the table, politely answering questions about her grades and achievements.
But the night before she started high school, the phone rang.
“Brendan!” Her mother’s face lit up. Nearby, Diana froze, looking from her mother to the phone. “Howareyou? I’ve heard so much about your successes from your parents. Congratulations on being elected junior class president…and of course all your sports accomplishments. You must have heard about Diana, she’s had quite the full summer. She got a scholarship to—“
“Mom,”Diana muttered. Mrs. Cooper waved her off.
“We’ve missed seeing you, but I’m sure you’re just so busy. Not to mention getting your license. Such a shame about Ian, we heard the sad news.”
Right. Last week, Mrs. O’Brian had come over for a long talk with her mom, which involved a full bottle of wine and the news that Ian’s license had been suspended.
“Yes, I’m sure he missed seeing the mailbox…and those parked cars…and all the stoplights. It’s good of you to say he’s doing his best. Yes… Yes, of course I’ll put Diana on.”
Diana thought it must be a joke when her mother handed her the receiver. But no — Brendan wanted to know if she’d like a ride to school in the morning. She could barely squeak out a reply, and her armpits were sweating.
God, she hated her shyness. It didn’t matter that Brendan had been like a brother to her once. That was before he got muscular and popular and…hot. Ian, too. Her peeks out her bedroom window, when the twins splashed and tussled in their pool, didn’t leave any doubt.
The next day, her heart was in her mouth as she walked into the bright September morning.She’d changed dresses three times, smoothed down her dark bangs, and made sure her top button was buttoned. Her mother stood behind her in the doorway, calling out last-minute advice and waving cheerily to the twins.
It probably didn’t mean anything, Diana thought. Brendan didn’t really want to drive her to school. Ten to one, his mom had put him and Ian up to it. No way two popular juniors would choose to be associated with a lowly freshman.
As she approached the Jeep idling at the curb, the sight of both twins inside, bronzed from the summer sun, made her throat close up.
All the windows were down. Brendan sat in the driver’s seat, drumming on the steering wheel and showing his dimples. Next to him, Ian slouched in the passenger’s seat, his long legs stretched out.
“Hey, Di.” As she opened the back door, Brendan smiled at her like they’d hung out yesterday, instead of going three years without talking. “You look cute. That’s a nice dress. Same color as your eyes.”
“Thanks,” she stuttered, clutching her book bag. Brendan’s smile was sincere. It wouldn’t be like him to tease her. But he didn’t have to toss out compliments just to be polite. She wished he wouldn’t.
Flushed and already sweating, she dared a very quick glance at Ian. His hair hadn’t seen a comb in awhile. He looked like he’d been partying for a week. He raised his eyebrows. Before he could laugh at her, she turned away and climbed into the backseat.
“Ian, let Diana take shotgun.” Brendan spun the radio dial. “Or get in back with her. Don’t make her sit there all alone.”
Ian muttered something Diana couldn’t catch, but it sounded like a string of f-bombs.
“It’s okay,” she said hastily. Her bulging book bag took up the rest of the backseat anyway. There wouldn’t have been room for Ian’s lanky limbs, even if she could handle him sitting by her without losing all ability to breathe.
But there was another reason she was better off in the backseat: she couldn’t stop staring at the twins. God, if they saw her eyes on their biceps, and their broad shoulders under their t-shirts, and oh damn, the curve of their lips…
Brendan shrugged and pulled away from the curb, letting the radio settle on a station. Diana eyed the smooth skin on the back of both their necks, right in front of her. Ian’s seatbelt dangled by the window, unused.