Chapter 23: The Hills

-- SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2006, SENIOR YEAR --

It was a short drive into the hills southeast of the campus. Even though I'd been to the house once before, navigating the multiple turns down small streets branching off from Claremont was a challenge. But once I made the final turn and came upon the dead-end street and the isolated mansion at the end, everything from two years ago came flooding back to me.

I remembered leaving Dawn's and Ryan's apartment in the morning with her telling me she needed time to think things over. I remembered getting high puffing marijuana from the very same hookah Carter had bought in the hippie store on Telegraph right before my eyes. And I remembered flirting with platinum-blonde, fake-titted Jillian.

Back when she was still alive.

Dead. It had happened – Amber confirmed it – and it could happen again. I couldn't even think of anyone else I'd known personally who had died, at least not recently. Maybe some distant grand-uncle, but certainly not a mid-20s girl I'd been intimate with in my past.

I was scared – scared about who might be the next to die. It could be Lexi, sucked into Carter's little game of being his next green-eyed brunette 'girlfriend'. It could be DJ, turning to drugs as a way of coping with her guilt. Or horror of horrors, it could be Brooke. I couldn't let that happen. But then again, I couldn't just barge into the party and order all of my girls to go home.

Well, I could, but I knew enough about 19-year-old girls to know how they'd react to that.

I had to find a way to make them understand without coming off like a bible-thumping maniac spouting forth about Judgment Day. They had to know what I knew about Carter. Brooke HAD to understand the truth before she did something stupid. But when I had started to tell DJ over the phone that I knew Carter and that he was into a scene that she shouldn't get involved in, DJ had dismissed my concerns as that of an overprotective big brother and rudely told me not to push my luck lest she rescind the invitation to come. She made me promise to "be cool", and she hung up.

So I was here. I'd be watching. And I sure as hell wouldn't lose track of my sister this time.

Feeling as if a shadow had passed over my heart, I popped open the Mustang's door and remote-locked the car behind me. The place was just like I'd remembered it: a large house that I knew to be even larger, like an iceberg with a lot of hidden mass beneath the surface. From my vantage point on the street level I could see down into the yard where an infinity pool built on a massive redwood platform looked like it dropped right off the cliff to the city below. Hotties were swimming in bikinis. A young couple was standing against the railing enjoying the view. But all of this was just on the surface. I knew what danger lurked below.

Quickly, I crossed the entryway and went inside the house. A large living area designed for entertainment was just off the foyer with sliding doors that led out to the pool and yard. I immediately saw my "froshlings" and sighed in relief to see that they were up here, and not downstairs anywhere near Carter's Showroom. Vivian and DJ were holding court, the usual centers of attention. And I looked up to find Brooke running across the room toward me. "Ben!" she yelled happily.

I raised my arms just in time to catch my little sister, not an easy thing to do since she only grabbed onto me with one arm. Her other hand clutched a Smirnoff Triple Black, and after pecking my cheek, she set her feet back down on the floor.

"Glad you could make it!" she enthused happily.

"I'm glad you let me be here."

"I'm sorry about that. Really, I am. I know you've been going through a lot yourself, and I haven't been there to support you like you needed."

"It's okay. I've had friends for support."

"I know, and I'm glad. Sure, DJ might be a little miffed that you shacked up with the Tri-Delts instead of going to pieces like her, but I'm glad you haven't been lonely."

"Really, I've been fine."

"Well there's fine and then there's fine, and I worry that you've been the former not the latter. It's just that everything with DJ has been so--"

"It's okay, I'm fine. But that's not important right now. Seriously though," I raised my eyebrows and stared at my little sister intently, "we need to talk."

Recognizing my tone, Brooke rolled her eyes and whined, "Don't kill the vibe, bro. I'm trying to apologize but don't get melodramatic on me. C'mon, we're here to celebrate DJ's birthday, not revisit old wounds."

"I'm not here to revisit old wounds."

"And you're not here to be a wet blanket, either. Otherwise you can turn around and march your ass back home, got it?"

I sighed. Keep an eye on Brooke and DJ. Make damn SURE they stay upstairs. Get everybody home safe tonight and THEN you'll have a chance to talk to them. Alright?

I nodded and allowed Brooke to tug me by the hand over to the group of couches she and her friends had commandeered.

"Whaddup, bra?" Meli Kanemura stood up to greet me with a hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Ben! It's been forever!" Tammy Toth hopped over and greeted me with a quick kiss on the lips.

"Back off, bitch!" DJ giggled, leaning forward in her seat to slap her friend on the ass.

"What? He's a free agent now, isn't he?" Tammy stuck her tongue back at DJ.

"Not to you girls," I answered with a shrug. "You'll always be my froshlings and my sister's friends. And if that didn't make you off-limits enough, now I'm DJ's ex-boyfriend. I'm pretty sure that makes ME off-limits to all of YOU."

"Pssht," Tammy scoffed. "If dating DJ's ex-boyfriends was against the rules, Josh wouldn't be over there sucking face with Beth."

Sure enough, DJ's ex-boyfriend was over on another couch making out with Beth Abelman, one of the other froshlings who happened to be Tammy's best friend and roommate. Joel Cha was shaking his head at them and making some joking remark. I shrugged and replied, "Whatever. I'm just here to hang out and have a good time."

"Damn straight!" Meli crowed, thrusting a Corona into my hands. "Okole maluna!" She clinked bottles with me and started chugging.

With a shrug, I replied, "Kia ora!" and then took a swig of my own before turning my full and undivided attention to DJ. In spite of everything that was going on in my life, with Elyse back at my house under the care of Sasha and the Tri-Delts, and with my concerns about my little sister and her froshling friends falling under the sway of crystal meth, I was only too aware that this was only the second time I'd seen her since our break-up before the semester even started. And the one time we'd met up in-between had not exactly been a pleasant conversation.

I didn't want this meeting to be just as antagonistic. Sure, it was important that the girls know what they were getting into, but at the same time I could feel that the future of my friendship with DJ was hanging by a thread as it was. One more argument and it could be severed forever, no matter how noble my intentions. So I swallowed my concerns and tried to reassure myself that she and Brooke would be alright. For one thing, I gathered that Lexi was still in the initial dating phase of her relationship with Carter, too early to start getting sucked down the meth vortex. For another, well ... DJ was blonde. True, Brooke was a brunette, but then I was hoping her lack of a physical resemblance to those I'd seen as Carter's "type" would keep her out of the target box. Lexi, Elyse, Rebecca, and Cameron were all tall, slender, and pale-skinned with green eyes. Brooke was comparatively shorter and comparatively curvier, with brown eyes and a more tanned complexion.

Keep an eye on them. Keep them safe. Don't give DJ any reason to kick you out, and believe that you'll get a chance to warn them off later.

I had to believe. So pushing aside my concerns, I instead focused on the gorgeous young woman in front of me as I sat down in a chair across from her. "Hey Deej ... Long time no see. You look ... wow ... you look great!"

She did. Holding her own Smirnoff Triple Black in front of her face, DJ sipped it and leaned back on the sofa. Her sunny blonde hair was pulled straight over the top of her head before being tied into a complicated knot in back and then fell in waves behind her shoulders. Her makeup highlighted her sky blue eyes and sharp cheekbones. Dangling earrings showed off her long neck and nearly bare shoulders. And a spaghetti-strap red cocktail dress fit her slender body perfectly to show off her considerable assets and super-long legs that she crossed at the knee and were finished with 4-inch wedged heels. Whereas three weeks ago she appeared fragile and gaunt, she now looked lithe and lean. She apparently was getting some sleep, because the bags beneath her eyes were gone, as was the hollowness in her gaze. She'd put a little meat back on her bones, and while still skinny enough to make me want to shove a cheeseburger down her throat, at least she seemed healthy again.

DJ smirked. "Horrible break-up diet. You should try it. Clearly you haven't been going without."

I blinked and raised my eyebrows, not sure what to do with that.

But her smirk vanished almost immediately. With a grimace, she sat up straight and set her drink down on the coffee table. And bending forward with her elbows on her knees, she sighed and said, "I'm sorry, that was mean. I don't mean to imply that this break-up has been any easier on you than it has for me. Well ... okay, I sorta did ... but that's still something I shouldn't have said to your face."

"It's okay. We broke up. You're entitled to have an opinion on how I've handled things since then. And to be honest, it gives me hope for our future that you're comfortable enough with me to ... well ... state your judgments right to my face."

"That's just it: I don't want to judge you anymore, and I owe you an apology for how vicious I was the last time we really talked. It's a fucked-up situation all around. I want to be with you but I know that if I was I wouldn't be able to handle it, so I have to move on. Only I can't move on if I keep dwelling on you but I can't stop myself from loving you and so I try and do my best to avoid you and not think about you but the harder I try to stay away the more I find myself thinking about you and..." she trailed off and put her forehead in her hand, sighing in frustration.

"Hey, it's okay," I soothed.

Just then, Brooke sat down beside her best friend and rubbed her back encouragingly.

"Deej ... It's your birthday," I said gently. "We're here to celebrate, not revisit old wounds." I directed that last part at Brooke, who smiled and nodded.

"I know, I know. But I have to say this before I can really move on, okay?" DJ stated plainly. "I miss you and I miss what we had together and as much as I believe breaking up was the right thing to do, I desperately wish we could just go back in time to like ... Thanksgiving or something ... and just be boyfriend/girlfriend again the way things were before everything snowballed out of control."

"A do over?"

DJ sighed wistfully. "Yeah..."

"Deej..." Brooke warned.

"Right, right," DJ said, sitting up straight again, which allowed me to breathe a little easier. Her tits had been put on display when her elbows were on her knees, and it had been quite distracting.

"We can't go back in time anyways," I said with a shrug.

"Right. The situation is what it is, and we both have to make the best of it. I know we can't go back in time, but the part of me that wishes we could then figures we could just start over right now. Start dating each other again and see where our futures lead us."

I popped my eyebrows. "Really?"

"But we can't," she replied seriously, sending my heart thudding back down into my stomach.

Now it was my turn to nod. "Right, right."

Fighting back her emotions, DJ pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "On paper, we're perfect. I know I'm your type, you know you're mine. The sex was astronomical, and of course there's everything special between our families. And yet somehow, we were never quite in sync. Could never quite get on the same page. Even when we were trying to be open and communicative and not hide anything from each other, we still wound up with slightly different understandings of what the other wanted. It was hard. It was always hard, there was always something, and it never easy for us, like the universe didn't want us to be together."

For some reason, both of us looked at Brooke just then, and my little sister popped her eyebrows a little nervously.

"I wasn't trying to convince her of that, uh, universe-thing," Brooke stammered nervously. "Not after that time I moved out, I swear."

I smirked and shook my head. "It's okay, kiddo."

"I was on your side, you should know that," my sister added. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you after the break-up. You seemed to be handling yourself okay and DJ needed me and--"

"I said it's okay," I interrupted with a smile. "She's your DJ. I understand."

"She really WAS on your side," DJ added. "Always reminding me that you were doing your best and that you really did love me for me and not just as a clone of Dawn. It was my own insecurities that made me say those hateful things I said, and for that I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath, and replied quietly, "Me, too."

For a moment, all three of us were silent: lost in our own thoughts and unsure where to go from here.

On that note, I opened my hands and asked, "So now what?"

"Now? We both move on," DJ replied with a shrug.

"Right, right." I nodded, and then furrowed my eyebrows as something occurred to me. "Wait, is that why you invited me here to talk to you? Are you going to introduce me to your new boyfriend?"

"What? No!" DJ barked a short laugh and looked around. "Ben, no. Nobody could ever replace you. I've thought about it, of course. I've been through other break-ups and never had a problem latching onto a new guy. But not this time. Not after what happened to us. I'm not ready, although ... well ... maybe it'll happen eventually. It's kind of why I'm mad at you: I've been moping around for the last few months going without any dick since the last time you pounded me, and meantime you've been up to your ears in Tri-Delt pussy."

I blushed and looked away. "They're just friends."

"I know. It's kind of why even when I get mad at you, I don't feel too mad at you. The part of me that cares about you wants to see you move on and be happy. The jealous bitch inside is rather pleased you haven't had a true girlfriend since me."

"I haven't."

"But you should. -I- should too. And I really do hope that someday, we'll meet up with our new significant others in tow, and we'll both be nothing but happy for the other."

I sighed. "I guess. I mean ... that does sound nice. But for right now at least, it's kind of a hard concept to stomach."

DJ nodded. "I know. Me too. But I'm gonna try."

"Me too," I replied before holding up my beer bottle in salute. "Friends?"

DJ smiled and clinked my bottle with her own. "Friends."

"Happy birthday, DJ."

"Thanks, Ben."

After my initial conversation with DJ, I settled in with the froshlings and nursed my beer. Brooke and DJ made my job of keeping an eye on them much easier by staying put at this group of couches. This main living room had more or less been dedicated to DJ's birthday party, with banners and balloons decorating the area and pretty much everyone in sight being part of her extended circle of friends. Brooke and Faye had even put together a few birthday-related games, things like "DJ Trivia" and "Pass the Hat". There was also some blindfold game where the blindfolded person had to identify someone else using nothing but spoons held in their hands. Needless to say, the spoons always managed to get stuck around boobs and crotches, much to the amusement of everyone else who could still see.

In some ways, it was just like any high school birthday party I'd attended with my clique back in the day. But in other ways, it very much was not. For one thing, we didn't smoke marijuana from a hookah during those high school parties. And for another, we actually weren't the only ones in the house.

While the main living room had been commandeered for DJ's party, Carter's house was still a central hangout point for his group of friends, even though it wasn't a Friday or Saturday night. Although no one outside of DJ's clique of froshlings intruded on our activities, they were still around in the background going about their own evening socialization.

Two hotties who had been swimming outside in the infinity pool came in and walked around the back of the living room before going down a hallway, ostensibly to clean up. A couple of guys and three girls headed outside to smoke cigarettes while overlooking the view, and with a start, I realized that one of them was Rebecca, one of the girls I'd fucked blind in Carter's Showroom two years ago.

The other girl I'd fucked two years ago, of course, was Jillian. And Jillian, of course, was now dead.

Any buzz I'd started to get off the alcohol and weed evaporated with that realization. And I suddenly sat up, scanning the room for one green-eyed brunette in particular.

"Hey ... where's Lexi?" I asked Brooke quietly when I couldn't spot her.

Brooke furrowed her brow and looked around. "Uh ... I don't know, actually. She was here a minute ago. She played the hat game with us, remember?"

I nodded. "But she's not here now."

Brooke shrugged. "So? She probably went to the bathroom. Girl has been drinking non-stop since we got here."

"Maybe..."

Brooke read my expression. "What's wrong?"

I shrugged. "I shouldn't say. You told me not to kill the vibe."

She frowned. "Huh?"

"Nevermind." I waved her off, taking a deep breath and reassuring myself that as long as DJ and Brooke were here, I would be alright. Sure, I knew it was possible that Lexi was even now subject to whatever it was that Carter did to girls who looked like her, but for now I had to concentrate my efforts on getting Brooke and DJ out of here in one piece. To that end, I had always wanted to warn Brooke about the dangers of this place, and I had just figured out how to do it.

Right on cue, my ever-inquisitive little sister wasn't accepting "nevermind" as an answer. Frowning, she huffed, "No seriously, what's wrong?"

"It's DJ's party. We'll talk later." I gave her a serious look and warned, "Just ... stay in this room, okay? For me?"

"Okay, now you're being really mysterious."

I shrugged and replied a rather insincere, "I'm sorry."

Brooke sighed and looked away, debating whether or not to press the issue with me or just let it go. By now she knew I was manipulating her, but I also knew her curiosity would ultimately get the best of her.

"Okay, fine, you win. Let's talk." Brooke got up, waggled her empty tumbler, and announced. "I'm getting a refill. Anybody else want one?"

"Me," Meli replied, holding up her own empty martini glass. "Another Cosmo?"

"Sure thing. Ben, come help me," Brooke ordered.

Obediently, I grabbed Meli's glass and crossed the room with my sister to the fully-stocked bar taking up one side of the living room. Setting the glass down, I started gathering the ingredients for a Cosmopolitan while Brooke poured a double-shot of scotch into her tumbler.

Almost immediately, Brooke took a long swig and panted as the alcohol seared its way down her throat. "Okay talk. And don't pretend like I don't know you just conned me into letting you talk to me like this."

I grinned. "Fine, I won't pretend."

"What is it? What's so important that you pulled me away from the party?"

I sighed and glanced around, making sure nobody else was within earshot. And in a serious voice, I leaned forward and said, "This isn't my first time in this house."

Brooke's eyebrows went up. "You've been here before?"

"Two years ago. Almost exactly two years ago, actually. Right before Dawn and I got together."

Brooke frowned. "And?"

I took a deep breath. "And you ought to know that I've met Carter before. A few times, actually. And I really don't think you or DJ or especially Lexi know just what he's capable of."

"What's that?"

But I didn't answer right away. My eyes were fixed on the entrance to the living room from the rest of the house. "Speak of the devil," I muttered while taking a deep breath.

Carter himself had arrived.

"Holy shit ... Prince Charming himself. Dude, long time!" With that, Carter Sheridan stepped forward and gave me a 'dude hug', complete with a thump on the back. "What brings you back into my humble abode?"

"Humble abode?" I replied with a smirk. "If this is 'humble', I'd like to see a house you were trying to show off. Like that artwork over there. Real subtle."

Carter glanced where I was gesturing and smirked to see that I was pointing out a modern painting that more or less depicted an eight-person orgy in progress. He chuckled and nodded. "You know how I roll. And more to the point, I know how you roll. Or at least, how you did two years ago. And then you stopped answering my texts and dropped off the face of the Earth."

I shrugged. "Got hooked up in a very serious relationship."

"Really? Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella? Or Cinderella's little sister?"

I shook my head and replied, "Cinderella. And I can't believe you remember that stuff."

"What can I say? You were memorable."

I shrugged, and Lexi Gilmore seized on the pause in the conversation to ask, "Excuse me, but do you two already know each other?"

"Long story," I offered.

"Prince Charming here was a prior guest of mine, sugar," Carter replied while wrapping an arm around Lexi's waist possessively. His eyes momentarily hardened as he eyed me somewhat suspiciously. "But you were one and done. Didn't think I'd ever see you again."

I shrugged. "I had a good time, but I think I told you at the time that it wasn't really my scene."

Carter heard the tone in my voice and knew I was referencing the meth. His eyes still wary, he asked, "So then what brings you back?"

I gestured to DJ and then to Brooke. "Birthday girl over there is Cinderella's little sister, and that makes her a little sister to me in addition to being my ex-girlfriend. And Brooke is my ACTUAL little sister."

"No shit ... Small world!" Carter barked in surprise before chuckling and giving both girls an extra once-over. "You serious?"

I nodded and gave him a firm look. "They're important to me, you know? When I found out who was hosting this party, I wanted to tag along just to make sure they didn't get into trouble, if you know what I mean."

Carter held his hands up. "Hey, I dig. No worries, man. I'll treat 'em both special, like the princesses they are. Anything for an old friend."

My eyebrows went up as I thought of the way Carter had treated Elyse as 'special'. But wanting to keep playing along and not give him any reason to get defensive, I chuckled and laughed while replying, "Oh, hell no. I don't want you treating them 'special'. Hands off my little sisters, fucker. You got it?"

Carter laughed and nodded while holding both hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, Charming. No problem. You have my word."

Oddly enough, Carter giving me 'his word' was actually reassuring. While Elyse had said Carter was a manipulative, misogynistic asshole who used women for his pleasure, she had also said he at least followed his own rules. True, he went out of his way to put her in bad situations where her only choice was really no choice at all, but he indeed had never forced her to do anything. Even when she'd decided to run away, he didn't try to stop her. And I hoped that meant he would keep his word and keep his hands off of DJ and Brooke.

"Hey Ben, does that mean you don't mind it if Carter gets his hands on me?" Tammy chirped playfully.

"No, but -I- would!" Lexi growled with a big grin on her face, both hands on her hips as she stared Tammy down.

Tammy just giggled and posed coyly with a finger in her mouth, giving Carter rather obvious bedroom eyes.

Carter clapped his hands and started rubbing them as he stepped forward. "Okay enough chit-chat. I thought this was supposed to be a party!"

With Carter joining the party, there really wasn't an opportunity for me and Brooke to continue our conversation. I still didn't want to leave the room for fear of losing track of DJ, and as long as she, Brooke, and Lexi were all in the room with Carter in full view of all the froshlings, I figured that nothing really bad would happen tonight. And apart from Tammy drinking a little too much and puking behind the couch, nothing did.

Still, Brooke could sense my tense mood, and she was rather subdued for the rest of the evening. DJ too. Sure, she stayed involved and did her best to socialize and enjoy her own birthday party, but I think she recognized that something was off, and she toned down her drinking and smoking for the remainder of the night.

Carter, meanwhile, continued acting like I was his best friend in the whole world. He'd sit next to me, lean over, and mutter under his breath about how hot this girl was or to check out the tits on that one. He asked how me many of them I'd banged, and while I declined to comment for a while, he somehow managed to get me to confess about nailing three of them. He of course didn't know which three, although he already knew "Cinderella's little sister" was my ex-girlfriend. And he spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to guess the other two.

Sometime after midnight, the party broke up and everyone started going home. Carter got me to say I'd drop by for another one of his parties in the future, one where I wouldn't have to babysit the little girls and he could stock me up with fresh pussy downstairs. I didn't consider it a promise per se, more being polite and saying we'd meet up again "sometime". It wasn't like I'd ever been dependable in coming to other parties over the last few years.

As the froshlings filed out and fished out their keys, my big brother instincts kicked in and I went a little Nazi on them about making sure the most obviously inebriated weren't driving themselves, or especially anyone else, home. There weren't enough designated drivers to cover the whole crowd, but I made sure the most sober of them had the most seatbelts in use.

I myself had stopped partaking once Carter showed up, and I insisted on personally escorting DJ and Faye back to their apartment. I also managed to talk Joel into letting me drive Brooke home, since she lived with DJ and Faye anyway. But instead of driving straight back to the girls' apartment, I detoured to go to my house instead.

"Ben? What's going on?" DJ asked quietly once she realized I had made a 'wrong' turn.

"There's somebody I want you to meet," I replied soberly just as I turned onto my street. Moments later, I pulled into the driveway behind Andie's Lexus ES. And then I led all three girls into the house.

Everyone inside was awake and waiting for us. They of course knew where I'd gone tonight and I think all of them were a little anxious for my return. I'd texted before we left Carter's house, so they'd anticipated our arrival. And Sasha, Andie, Jamie, and Peyton were all seated in the living room when we came in the door.

And so was Elyse.

Brooke squeaked immediately, recognizing the old Cheer Captain from her freshman year of High School.

DJ was the first to actually speak up, once again asking, "Ben? What's going on?"

I sighed and gestured to the gaunt, hollow-eyed brunette staring back at us with red-rimmed eyes. I said, "Elyse, tell them the name of your ex-boyfriend."

Taking a deep breath, Elyse sighed and answered, "Carter Sheridan."

-- MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2006, SENIOR YEAR --

I awoke with my usual morning hard-on. My eyes were still closed, but I felt a woman's presence against my chest and the weight of a firm breast in my palm. And for a moment, I only knew peace.

The morning air was cold against my right cheek, the pillow reassuringly warm against my left. I snuggled deeper into the covers and their cocooning heat while pressing my chest against her back, covered only by a thin layer of cotton. As my senses came alive, the fingers of my left hand reflexively squeezed the breast I was currently palming as my left arm snaked beneath her pillow to hold her from the opposite side. My right hand firmed up over her hip, gently holding her in place while I reflexively ground my erection into her panty-covered ass.