Chapter 11

Peith, Feith, and the Heavy Words…

THEN

(Beth)

"Hey, Pete!" I cried out as I climbed from the back seat of the car.

Pete stood there with a worried look on his face.

He slowly shook his head as he stared at me.

When Leith climbed out of the car, he went right for me. He took my hand and sort of stepped in front of me.

"This is my fault," he said. "This is all on me."

"I bet," Pete said. "But I also know you're full of shit. Keith, right?"

"Leith," Leith said.

"That's right," Pete said. "Keith… but with an L."

"Pete, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Messing up your night," he said. "You realize where you are?"

"Of course," I said.

"Officer, I parked here," Leith said.

"And you can move your ass right now," Pete said. "He comes out here with a gun and shoots you…"

"Nobody's going to get shot," I said. "Stop. That scaring stuff doesn't work on me. You know that by now."

"Maybe I should call your father to come get you," Pete said.

"Go ahead," I said.

I could call Pete's bluff all night and walk away without breaking a sweat.

Pete clicked off his flashlight. He looked at Leith. "You got anything in the car that I need to know about?"

"No," Leith said. "Jeez… no."

"No booze?"

"No," Leith said.

"No pills or any shit?"

"No," I said. "Pete."

"Bethany," he growled. "I'm talking to Keith."

"Leith," Leith said again.

"That's right," Pete said.

Now he was just being a prick to Leith.

"We were honestly reading," I said.

Pete laughed. "You want me to believe that?"

"She's telling the truth," Leith said. "I have some stuff written in a notebook. We were reading it. Beth even sang a little."

I punched Leith in the arm. "Fuckhead."

"What?" he whispered to me.

"Singing," Pete said. "You know, your father mentioned you have a great singing voice. Your mother did too."

My heart sank a little.

I shook my head.

I didn't want to hear that.

Why would I want to hear that?

"We'll leave," Leith said.

"Obviously," Pete said.

"I mean, there's no reason to do anything else," Leith said. "I know we're trespassing…"

"Hey, don't give him any ideas," I said and punched Leith again.

"Bethany, hit him again and I'll arrest you for assault," Pete said.

I punched Leith's arm on more time.

Pete stepped toward me and Leith jumped forward.

His hand touched Pete's shoulder.

Time froze.

"Did you just touch me?" Pete asked with Leith's hand on his shoulder. "You know the charge for that?"

"Don't do anything to her," Leith said. "Arrest me."

"He's not arresting anyone," I said.

"She's right," Pete said.

Leith backed off. "I'll take her home."

"No, you won't," Leith said.

"What?" I asked.

"You're coming with me," Pete said. "And you, Keith, Leith, Peith, Feith, whatever the hell you are… you go home."

"No," Leith said.

"It's fine," I said. "Don't argue."

Leith looked at me.

I saw the look in his eyes. He was disappointed.

For more than one reason.

The night was over. We still had hours to kill together. Not to mention what would have happened in the back seat of the car too.

I jumped to my toes and kissed his cheek.

"Bethany," Pete growled again.

I put my lips to his ear. "Trust me, Leith, I love you too."

I moved away from him and went with Pete.

"You," Pete said to Leith. "Get in the car and leave now."

I watched as Leith floated around the front of his car. He grabbed his notebook off the hood.

"Reading, huh?" Pete asked me.

That's when I blushed.

I smiled too.

I didn't care.

Leith got into his car and drove away.

"Come on," Pete said to me.

"Do I have to ride in the back?" I asked him.

"No," he said laughing.

"Too bad," I said. "I like feeling like a perp."

Pete groaned. He rubbed his forehead. "Your poor father."

"Yup," I said. "Poor him." I slapped Pete on the back. "Let's get out of here."

Pete just shook his head.

I walked to his cop car and climbed into the passenger seat.

I licked my bottom lip and looked in the mirror, wishing I could see Leith again.

I just told him I loved him.

Which was crazy.

I did love him.

But I didn't want him to know that.

I just wanted to fool around, waste time and cause trouble.

I felt butterflies in my stomach.

This was getting a little real.

"So that's not the first time I've seen you with him," Pete said.

It had been a record setting five minutes of silence in the car.

"Can we pull someone over?" I asked. "Just to mess with them?"

"No, Bethany. That would be wrong."

"You never have any fun, Pete," I said.

"You have enough fun for the both of us. So what is it about Leith you like?"

"Oh, so you do know his name."

Pete grinned. "Just doing my job."

"You should have left us alone."

Pete laughed. "Can't do that. You know that."

"Did my father tell you to go looking for me?"

"Honestly. No. There was a noise complaint. Yelling. Laughing. I got the call."

"Damn," I said.

"Surprised you two stayed in touch after he moved away."

"Leith is… I'm not going to talk about this with you."

"That's fine. You can tell your father then."

"No."

"Why not? We caught you that one time. Remember?"

I sighed. "Leith and I get along, okay? I can be myself around him. And he can be himself around me. I don't worry about him. If that makes sense."

"No. Teenage love doesn't make sense to me. I'm too old. Did you really sing in front of him?"

"Yes."

"That's good, Bethany. You do have a pretty voice."

"I don't care."

"I know you don't," Pete said.

We drove in silence the rest of the way home.

Pete pulled into the driveway.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Tell your father I gave you a ride home. That's the truth, right?"

"Is that all the truth?"

"You know, things can get crazy at your age. Feelings and all that…"

"Are you giving me the talk ?"

"No," Pete said. "That boy jumped to defend you. He's lucky I didn't break his wrist for touching me."

I nodded.

"He likes you," Pete said. "He probably loves you. I can't believe I'm saying that. And I can't believe I'm saying this… but you look at him differently than you look at everyone else."

"Is that why you let him go?"

"Maybe," Pete said. "Stay out of trouble."

"He keeps me out of trouble."

"I can see that."

"Then you should have let us stay together."

"Sorry, Bethany. No way I can do that."

"Figures," I muttered. "Nobody gets it."

"I heard what you said to him," Pete said as I opened the door.

I turned my head. "Oh…"

"Those are heavy words."

"It's just teenage love. That's all."

"Have a good night, Bethany."

Getting dropped off by a cop was normal for me.

I went inside, shut the door and leaned against it.

Pete drove off.

My father was asleep in the living room, snoring away.

I looked up.

It was like a weight on my chest.

That Leith and I loved each other.

I probably knew it all along.

But saying it…

It made me wonder what the future would bring.