HIDDEN CREEK NOW: a hidden creek high novel Read online

  HIDDEN CREEK NOW

  a hidden creek high novel

  Jaxson Kidman

  Contents

  Welcome to

  HIDDEN CREEK NOW

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

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  Welcome to

  My eyes filled with tears.

  Being reckless and crazy wasn’t the same without Jett.

  Life wasn’t the same without Jett…

  * * *

  Written by Jaxson Kidman

  HIDDEN CREEK NOW

  THIS IS NOW

  We live in the same small beach town.

  We've avoided each other as much as we could.

  And even when we have to see each other...

  we pretend like our past doesn't matter.

  But it does.

  And I still love him.

  *

  I can't leave this town because of her.

  I can't stand living in this town because of her.

  There's no way I can ever move on from her...

  no matter how hard I try.

  I need her.

  She needs to know I still love her.

  Chapter 1

  THEN

  Jett

  (prologue)

  When I asked Julia what the most cliché thing in the world we could do was, she smiled up at me, bit her lip, and said look at the stars on the beach.

  I told her there were no stars on the beach, that they were in the sky.

  She shook her head and tried to walk away.

  I slipped my arms around her and pulled her close against me and told her we were going to the beach to look for stars.

  And why not?

  A night with Julia was a night I’d never forget. We could sit back to back and watch paint dry and it would still be a night I’d always remember. This girl had her hand around my heart like nobody else ever did. Like nobody else ever came close. The second I dropped her off at Aunt Bea’s house was the second I started planning our next time together.

  There were fights going on.

  But I wasn’t interested.

  The only fight I was dealing with was the one where I fought myself to see how long it would take me to kiss Julia when we got to the beach.

  Here’s the truth… two seconds.

  Her feet touched the sand, my lips touched hers.

  I had a blanket that I spread across the sand.

  And then just like that we were on our backs.

  To look at the stars.

  That thought made me laugh.

  There was a lot more I wanted to do with Julia on her back. That would come later.

  “Hey,” she said. “It’s quiet tonight.”

  “Yeah it is.” I turned my head. “Told you it would get that way.”

  She nodded and smiled. “It never stays that way for long, does it?”

  “No,” I said. “I figure something will happen soon enough. But for now, this is good. This is perfect, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t know how this is going to sound, Jett, but I want you to know how amazing it is what you do for Wes and his family.”

  “His family?” I asked. “Nah, it’s just for Wes.”

  “But you help his mother…”

  “I guess I do.”

  “I don’t mean to sound jealous but… why…” Julia sighed and struggled to find words.

  I propped myself up on my shoulder and reached for her cheek. “Are you asking me why I haven’t gotten together with Wes’s mother?”

  “Maybe,” Julia asked.

  “That’s a heavy question, sweetheart. Have you been thinking about that a lot?”

  “Thinking about it enough,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, you’re not that far apart in age.”

  “We kind of are,” I said with a grin. “You should brush up on your math skills.”

  “Shut up,” she said. “It’s not like she’s twenty years older than you, Jett, okay?”

  “Whoa,” I said. “Where is this coming from?”

  “Wes looks up to you so much.”

  “Yeah? So?”

  “You’re like a father to him.”

  “What does that have to do with Carolyn?”

  Julia shook her head. “I sound really stupid right now, don’t I?”

  “No, sweetheart. Anything you feel is important to me. Look at me, Julia.”

  She looked at me.

  After a few seconds, she opened her eyes wider.

  “Don’t look away,” I said. “So I can say everything I need to say right now.”

  “Jett…”

  “No. You brought it up. And I can see where you’re coming from. I mean it. But I need you to know something. There has never been an ounce of feelings there. It sounds weird when I say it but I look at Carolyn as a sister. It’s weird because I look at Wes as a little brother too. I’m not sure how the idea of family is supposed to work. After what I’ve seen West do to that family… but at the end of the day, they are family. They’re blood. You know? So if West shows up and wants to hang with Wes and he gets excited, I can’t do a thing about it. Same with Carolyn. I’ve questioned her about the hold West has on her but it’s not my business. All I can do is be there. When West shows up I know everyone is going to get hurt. Does it piss me off? Of course it does. And not just pissed off at West.”

  “You get pissed at Wes and Carolyn,” Julia whispered.

  “Of course I do. But I get it. There’s always that chance things could change for good. So I just hang tight. For them, sweetheart. And when Wes gets angry, I have to ride it out until he cries. And Carolyn is the same way. I never want you to worry about that though.”

  “It’s not worry,” Julia said. “Ohgod… I feel so stupid right now. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “But you did.”

  “Please don’t ever stop what you’re doing, Jett,” Julia said. “Okay? Wes is going to be okay in life because of you.”

  “I don’t know. If I’m the last hope for that kid, that’s pretty sad.”

  “No, it’s not. You can pretend to be all rough and tough and mean all you want, but you are amazing, Jett. That kid loves you. He knows you’ll always be there. Even when his father shows up and messes things up.”

  “Always,” I said.

  “I had this… I don’t know, Jett. It was a passing thought. Okay? What if you and Carolyn were together? Then Wes could have parents. And a real home. And you’d be even closer to Pop. It made sense to me and scared me.”

  “There is no getting close to Pop,” I said with a grin. “You just hope for a good day, which means he didn’t throw a wrench at your skull.” I stroked her cheek. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “I know. That’s why I feel so stupid.”

  “You should feel stupid, sweetheart. But not for that.”

  “Oh?”

  “You should feel stupid for wanting to come look at the stars.”

>   “Screw you, Jett,” she said.

  I laughed. “Sweetheart, it’s kind of cloudy tonight.”

  Julia looked up. “Oh.”

  I inched closer to her. “But that doesn’t mean you won’t see stars tonight…”

  * * *

  Scotty flicked his cigarette away and pushed his ass from the hood of my car.

  He turned and looked at me as I sat in the driver’s seat.

  He asked for this moment to himself so I gave it to him.

  My headlights shined down the dark part of the parking lot.

  It was almost like a horror movie scene where Scotty was the killer and I was dumbass teenager who didn’t know his thumb from his ass and could escape alive.

  Scotty passed through the driver’s side headlight and I turned the car off.

  I got out and Scotty and I stood face to face.

  Almost nose to nose.

  It was kind of weird.

  If someone saw us they’d wonder if we were going to fight or kiss.

  Scotty gave a quick nod and walked around the back of my car.

  I heard him open the passenger door and shut it a few seconds later.

  My eyes slowly turned and I saw the building at the opposite end of the parking lot.

  A one story building that had a few lights on.

  Mostly the main entrance way.

  The parking lot had lights but not this far back.

  Scotty insisted I park where I was so he could walk alone and think.

  Which wasn’t going to happen.

  He wasn’t making this walk alone.

  With his bag tossed over his shoulder, he bumped his shoulder into mine.

  “Let’s fucking do it,” he said.

  “I’m walking with you, man.”

  “I know. I’m not an idiot, Jett.”

  “I don’t get it…”

  “You don’t have to,” Scotty said. We started walking. “Do you remember the night I picked that fight with the biker?”

  “Pretty sure that was more than one night.”

  “Yeah,” Scotty said with a laugh. “But it was that one… I forget his name. Something like Bear or Fang or something.”

  “But his name turned out to be Cornelius,” I said.

  Scotty stopped walking.

  We looked at each other and burst into laughter.

  We grabbed for each other.

  “Oh, shit, brother,” Scotty said. “He was a big dude.”

  “And the bartender yelled his name by accident,” I said.

  “Fucking Cornelius,” Scotty said. “Then we got him to chase us outside and we stood at that car.”

  “He thought it was our car so he started trashing it,” I said.

  “Too focused on the car to chase us down.” Scotty gasped for a breath and shook his head.

  My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. “How the hell did we survive some of those nights, man?”

  “No clue,” Scotty said. “But we did. We always survived, Jett.”

  I turned my head and looked at the building. “And you’re going to survive this.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “This is nothing. I just to need to straighten the arrow, you know?”

  “I get it, man. I didn’t realize… I’m sorry I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s not your job to realize anything,” Scotty said.

  “I’m your best friend, Scotty. You’re checking your ass into rehab. It’s my fucking job to realize what’s going on.”

  “You know me, brother,” Scotty said. “I’m a happy drunk. I’m funny when I’m stoned. And anything more serious I hide to myself.”

  There was nothing else to say.

  I threw my right hand around Scotty’s body and pulled him in for a hug. I made a fist and pounded it against his back.

  He hugged me the same.

  “I love you, brother,” Scotty whispered.

  “Yeah, man, I love you right back,” I said. I broke the hug. “Go figure your shit out. You better keep in touch. And don’t sleep with anyone that works there.”

  “Why do you think I’m here?” he asked with a grin. “I play the sad card and they take care of me… next thing you know I’m in the storage closet facing a new addiction problem.”

  “You’re a piece of shit sometimes,” I said.

  “I appreciate that, Jett.”

  Scotty started to walk and I stayed still.

  I counted ten steps before I called out his name.

  He stopped and turned.

  “My car,” I said.

  “What about?”

  “How many fucking times have I told you not to sit on the hood of the car? You’re going to scratch it. You prick.”

  Scotty slowly lifted his middle finger.

  And then he walked away.

  I waited until he entered the building before walking back to my car.

  The inside of the car still smelled like Scotty… which was fucking weird.

  * * *

  Julia hugged herself as she ran across the yard toward me.

  “Jett?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

  I took a few breaths and then told her what had happened.

  Here I thought Scotty was looking to stir up a little trouble. Go for a drink (of all fucking things) and then pick a fight. Or I’d be his wing man while he tried to pick someone up for a night of fun. Or just hang around and tell old stories and have something to smoke for a little bit.

  But yet in my heart I knew something was up when he opened the door and threw a bag into the backseat.

  I didn’t say a word.

  He didn’t say a word.

  And in a way that was true friendship.

  I trusted where he needed me to drive him.

  When I finished the story, Julia’s jaw was dropped.

  “So…”

  “He’s getting some help,” I said. “Not sure when we’ll see him again. I didn’t ask.”

  “Oh, Jett… are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine. Why?”

  “Jett…”

  I stood tall and strong. “What?”

  “Say something that’s real,” Julia said. “You came here for a reason. You’re upset. You’re scared. You’re worried. Just be real for a second.”

  I stared down at Julia.

  She inched toward me and hugged me.

  I felt my heart starting to pick up speed.

  “Come on, Jett,” she said. “Say something.”

  I broke away from Julia and looked down at her.

  She didn’t know everything about Scotty the way I did. How hard his life had been. How messed up he always was. That he would get himself cleaned up, messed up, clean again, only to celebrate by getting messed up again. This was a never ending cycle.

  Julia touched my cheeks, looking for tears that I knew how to keep to myself.

  “Jett…”

  I let out a breath and a growl.

  Of course one fucking tear had to slide out of my right eye.

  And I told her the only truth that mattered.

  “I don’t want to lose my best friend for good.”

  Chapter 2

  THEN

  Julia

  (prologue)

  “I’m going to be late,” I said to Jett as I laughed.

  He pulled me closer to his sweaty body. “Am I worth it?”

  “Oh, stop that,” I said. “That’s not fair.”

  “It’s not fair?”

  “No way.”

  “Answer me then, sweetheart,” he said.

  “Of course you’re worth it.”

  “Good. And you’re not going to be late. We’re here.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Here…”

  Jett took a few more steps and paused.

  We had been chasing each other around for half the night and now we were on some cliff that overlooked the ocean.

  “Watch this,” Jett said. “Come on.”

  We were not s
upposed to be where we were. It was a dangerous spot near the beach. And there were signs that said to stay away. Signs that warned of falling and getting killed. Signs that threatened getting arrested.

  But there we were.

  “How did…”

  Jett smiled. “I know a secret path up here. Confused?”

  “Very,” I said. “If we came the real way, I would have seen the signs.”

  “You and your signs.”

  “No, Jett. The real signs. The warnings…”

  “That’s all bullshit,” Jett said. “Just because some kids came up here drunk and someone got hurt… once…”

  “We’re not supposed to be up here,” I said.

  “Are you scared?”

  I squinted my eyes. “No.”

  “Good. Now come here.”

  Jett pulled me onto the last big rock that somehow hung over the edge.

  The fall down to the ocean wasn’t too bad. But… the jagged rocks the waves punched… not to mention not having a shore close by…

  “Stand here,” Jett said.

  He moved to stand behind me.

  His hands touching my waist.

  He kept inching me forward to the edge of the rock.

  I took deep breaths, my heart racing.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen.”

  This was beyond crazy.

  It was dangerous, stupid, reckless…

  I looked back at Jett.

  And as scared as I was, I smiled at him.

  “Just look forward,” he whispered. “Look down. Take a deep breath. It’s like you’re floating above the water.”