Juliet Immortal

She shrugs. “It’s just so stupid and I was so mad. I swear, I thought about running away from home and becoming a woman of the night or something just to ruin Dad’s chances of getting elected.” She tips her drink back, emptying the cup, and sets it back on the table with a sigh. “But then … I met Ben, and he made it bearable, you know? He started coming to the group about a month ago. He drove in from Lompoc until his brother made him move.”
    The news surprises me. “But Ben doesn’t seem like he’s got a drug problem. Not that you do, but—”
    “No, he doesn’t. He just got arrested.”
    My eyebrows shoot up. Ben? Arrested?
    “He lost his temper and smashed some guy’s face in.”
    “What?”
    “And broke his nose,” she says casually, as if it’s no big deal. “And knocked out a couple of teeth.”
    “What!” I can’t imagine Ben hitting someone, especially hard enough to break a bone. He seems so … gentle.
    But what about that first moment in the car? What about the look on his face when Romeo called him his brother?
    It’s true. I don’t know him as well as I think. Maybe I’m wrong about him. Maybe it’s Ben’s violence that’s keeping him and Gemma apart, not anything to do with her at all.
    “I know that sounds bad, but he’d
never
done anything like that before. It was just a horrible random night. He’s a really decent guy, and I’ve never even seen him angry. At least, not angry like that …” She trails off, goes for a drink, and finds her cup empty. “Can I get more? Do you think your mom will notice?”
    “She probably won’t. And if she does …” I shrug.
    Gemma smiles as she heads to the fridge. “Aren’t you turning into a rebel? Maybe I can finally convince you to come raid the casks in the barn with me. It’s fun. And I figured out how to turn off the security cameras so we won’t get caught.”
    “Maybe,” I say, dying to get back to the real story. “So … are you sure you feel safe? You know, with Ben?”
    Gemma spins, wine bottle in hand. “Totally! And you should too. Please, don’t think anything bad about him. This iswhy I didn’t want to say anything about how we met until you saw how nice he is.”
    “No, I agree, he seems really—”
    “He really
is
,” she says, but something in her voice still doesn’t sit well. “I was going to introduce you guys after he settled in with his brother, but we had that dumb fight.” She lifts her right hand, as if to ward off any impending criticism. “But it wasn’t because of him. It’s me.”
    “Gemma, it can’t be
all
—”
    “No, it is. And I shouldn’t have kissed him this morning. I knew it would piss him off.” She sticks the wine back in the fridge and chucks her plastic cup into the sink, apparently rethinking her second glass of wine. “I don’t even know why I did it,” she says, voice softer. “Sometimes I think I’m crazy, you know? I just can’t stop myself from doing the opposite of what I know I
should
do.” She stares down at her feet, looking so young, so at odds with herself. Ben’s right; Gemma isn’t a bad person, she’s just confusing, just—
    A train wreck
.
    Romeo’s words float through my mind, making me angry. Gemma might be troubled, but she isn’t a wreck. There’s still hope for her. And for Ben.
    “You’re not crazy.”
    “No, I probably am.” She crosses her arms and leans against the kitchen counter. “I introduced Ben to my dad last week.”
    “That’s not crazy. Why shouldn’t you—”
    “Ariel, wake up from happily-ever-after land. My dad had a heart attack, even before he did the background check and found out Ben’s been arrested. It was awful. You know he’sconvinced Mexicans are taking over the ‘real’ America. Remember how he freaked out when they started having translators at parent-teacher night?”
    “But doesn’t your dad hire Mexican workers for the vineyards?”
    “Of course he does, because he wants cheap labor. But that doesn’t mean he can’t also hate Mexicans living in the United States. Bob is a selfish paradox wrapped in an evil burrito, Ree.” Gemma picks at one of the plumber magnets on the side of the fridge, peeling it off and then smashing it back on again. “I’ve shielded you from his loathsomeness, but I thought you knew that by now. Anyway, as soon as I got back from taking Ben home, Dad told me I couldn’t see him again. And the sick thing is … I
knew
he would. But I