The Incomparable Edie Wells

It feels like every single person withing earshot whirls around and stares at Levi and me in shock. I'm a little surprised they can hear over the music, but only for a second, before the words set in. My entire body freezes.

Levi just asked me out. Holy crap.

I can feel my jaw drop slightly as I stare at Levi's expecting, if slightly amused, expression. That leads me to think that I'm not actually dreaming, and that he's waiting for an answer.

Oh, yeah.

“S-sure,” I stammer, unable to push back the smile that spreads across my face.

Levi just grins, and I can feel his arms fit a little more securely around my waist. “Cool. There's this club that's opened up pretty close to here. They're having this grand-opening party, and I got an invite since my mom's good friends with the manager. Apparently there's another one in Pittsburgh, or something.” He shrugs.

I smile and nod. “Sounds fun. I'm in.”

We talk for a little while longer, about details and other necessary information. I'm aware of two eyes burning a hole in the back of my head, and with a sickening feeling I realize it's Parker, sitting in the corner of the room. I say good-bye to Levi after the song ends and make my way through the crowd of people, elbowing and shoving through make-out partners.

It's only when I get to Parker that I realize he's not alone.

“Um, hi,” I awkwardly greet the girl that's sitting on his lap, giggling and whispering in his ear.

She turns to me, eyes narrowed, and I faintly realize that it's Jessie Francis, one of the lower-status cheerleaders. She's a sophomore, so that's not exactly what I'd call surprising. Her stick-straight brown hair is messed up from where someone ran their fingers through it, and her skirt's ridden up to where I can – gag – get a glimpse of a neon green thong. I wrinkle my nose.

Parker, annoyed, also narrows his eyes at me. “What do you want, Edie?”

I feel sick to my stomach as I take in Parker's equally messed up hair, his wrinkled shirt, and the telltale gloss on his lips that I know he didn't put on himself. This is so not like my best friend. Five minutes ago he was by himself, trying to get my attention!

“I- I'm sorry, I just -”

Jessie scoffs, and her hand, which was resting on Parker's belt, subtly dives under it. He stiffens, and turns to her with a smirk on his face that can only be described as wicked. My stomach lurches. When he realizes that I'm still struggling to come up with something to say, he gets impatient.

“If you haven't noticed, Eds, I'm a little busy, okay? Go find Maggie if you need someone to talk to,” he snaps. He closes his eyes and bites his lip seductively as Jessie continues to explore his pants.

I feel ready to throw up. Or cry. I'm not really sure which. Possibly both.

“I – I – sorry,” I manage, before darting away as fast as my legs will carry me. Which, for the record, isn't very fast, but regardless I got the hell out of there.

Parker. Parker Ramsay, the boy with the science lab for a bedroom and every line of every line of the Star Wars movies committed to heart, and who recites them while watching. The boy that was afraid of cats until he was thirteen because he thought they would eat him. Parker, the boy who's hooking up with slutty sophomores.

Something just doesn't seem right about it.

I sigh loudly as I walk outside and notice that the night surprisingly colder than normal. I curse under my breath and tell myself that Riley was right, no matter how much I don't want to admit it. Why is it that every time something good happens, a thousand bad things have to happen right after?

I carefully lay down on the cool grass as I stare at the sky. The stars don't have these problem, do they? I mean, it isn't like one star gets all bitchy if her best friend gets a little too far into another's gravitational pull. The boy star can't help himself, right? So what if another male star is starting to move a little closer? What's gonna happen, an eclipse? The only thing the stars have to look forward to is a supernova in a million or so years...

Oh, God. Now I'm hypothesizing about stars. Parker's right; I am a nerd.

I jump as footsteps loom closer to where I'm laying on the grass.

“What happened?” Maggie asks, sitting down on the somewhat dead grass next to me, her face concerned.

I see Max walking away, a little annoyed, and I realize that Maggie just ditched her boyfriend to comfort me. It's not really the first time she's done it, now that I think about it, but it makes me feel slightly better that at least Maggie's here. She knows way more about this kind of stuff than I do. At least I have one best friend. Not that Parker's not, I guess, but... I don't know.

I don't know what to feel anymore.

“Levi asked me out,” I mutter, staring up at the sky. The words sound almost alien to my mouth, like I'm speaking a different language. Like I shouldn't be saying them.

Maggie just stares at me. “Um, Edie, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure that's a good thing!” She slaps my arm playfully, her eyes lighting up with excitement, “My God, Edie! Can you believe this? You're gonna be popular in no time, you know that? This is perfect.”

I barely hear her. I'm still staring up at the sky, a blank look on my face.

I hear her sigh. “Okay, I'm missing something. You're not freaking out. Why aren't you excited?!”

My eyes start to well up with tears before I can help myself, or even figure out why I'm crying in the first place. I shouldn't be crying. I should be excited! Levi Smith, the guy I've been in love with four years, just asked me out! He likes me, at least a little! So why am I sitting here, crying to my best friend, instead of getting to know him? Instead of celebrating?

“I-”

“Edie!” I hear Parker call from inside, cutting off my voice.

I squeeze my eyes shut and throw my arm over them, hoping Maggie won't see the pained look on my face.

I underestimate her. Of course she does. “Parker, what the hell did you do?”

He throws his hands up. “Why does everyone always assume I did something?”

The last thing I want is an argument between the two of them. I mean, they're best friends, too, and I really don't have any business creating all this drama between them. I bite my lip and sit up, carefully avoiding eye contact with either of them. They've started bickering in a language I don't really understand but must be French, and since I was the only one dumb enough to take Spanish, I just stare at them dumbly for a few seconds.

“Pourquoi voudriez-vous faire cela? Vous l'aimez Edie! Stupid!” Maggie hisses. The only thing I catch are the last two words, being me and stupid. I'm not sure who she's talking about, but I get the feeling I probably don't want to know.

Parker scoffs. “Alors? Elle aime Levi. Comment suis-je censé comparer à lui?”

“You guys!” I yell, cradling my forehead in my hands. I am so not in the mood to deal with this.

Maggie just stares at me, mouth agape, for a few seconds. “Edie, just listen to me for a second--”

“You can't tell her, Maggie!”

“Why not, Parker? Jesus Christ, someone has to!”

“Well, it won't be you, okay?”

“Parker, don't be dumb--”

“Oh, so now I'm dumb because I like--”

I can't let this go on any longer. “Okay, you guys --”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, SMITH?!” I stop short as I hear a very familiar voice roar from the inside but coming increasingly closer as I hear footsteps approaching. This time, Rhett and Levi burst out of the screen door. The look on Rhett's face is a face only a stepsister's seen before – pure, unadulterated hatred.

I can feel my heart rate start to speed up for the second time tonight, but for a completely different reason. Rhett is unpredictable when he gets this angry. I have the scar on my stomach to prove it.

Levi whirls around at Rhett, wide-eyed and panicked. “I-I asked Edie out! Jeez, you sound like it's a crime or something-”

“IT MAY AS WELL BE!” Rhett cuts him off furiously. “SHE'S MY FUCKING SISTER!”

Maggie, Parker, and I are too surprised and stunned to do anything but gape at the scene in front of us. I'm not sure if Rhett and Levi have noticed us yet, since we must be a good thirty feet away, but I'd put money on the fact that they probably hadn't.

Levi balls his fists up at his sides. “OH, LIKE THAT STOPPED YOU! I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM ANNA!”

“AND I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM EDIE! But you couldn't even do that, could you? Because you're too fucking stupid to keep in in your pants!”

And that's where my body finally reacts. I can see where this is going, and being that Rhett has got to be eight inches taller and fifty pounds heavier than Levi, I get scared. Rhett's been known to have pretty violent outbursts, and someone always gets hurt...

And Levi's in a perfect position to do that right now.

“So what if I fucking like her?! At least she's not related to some arrogant jackass like y--”

And that's when Rhett pulls his fist back. I'm already sprinting in that direction, not really knowing why, but out of reflex. There's got to be something I can do, right? Talk them out of it, talk Rhett down, get Levi away –

“ – Like you!”

The next thing I know, Rhett's fist is flying into my side.