Outsider: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #1)

by Trinity Towers

  “It’ll be okay,” Olivia said, coming up behind me.

  “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot,” I assured Olivia and anyone else who was within hearing distance.

  “Miss, can we have a word with you?” An officer asked approaching me, though it was more of a statement than a question.

  I nodded.

  Chapter 22

  If you want to know what torture is then try being home all night, waiting to hear from your boyfriend, who was taken away in handcuffs.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Olivia gave me a hug. “His family has money and connections. Chances are he’s already home.”

  “He’s not. He lives across the street, remember?” I looked down at my phone, willing it to ring or for a text message to appear—neither one happened. Me, Damien, Olivia, Gabriel, Preston, and Selena were all hanging out at my place for the night, waiting for the news. My mother was gone for a weekend trip to Vegas with a couple of girls from the diner she’d worked at down the street, leaving my house an empty place for us all to hang out without any parental units asking questions.

  “Then he’s still in jail. These things take time and he’s a couple hours away. You need to get some sleep.”

  “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Tears formed in my eyes and began to slowly roll down my cheeks.

  “Stop this instant.” Damien crouched down in front of me. “This is all that bitch Trina’s fault. She went too far.”

  “Just to change the subject a minute,” Preston stepped up to us and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at me.

  “Yes?” I looked up at him through tear-soaked lashes.

  “Did you seriously win the lottery? Like, how much?”

  I laughed. “Really?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? Call me curious.”

  I sighed. It wasn’t like it was a secret anymore. “My mother and I won almost a billion dollars.”

  Preston’s mouth dropped open. “You’re fucking with me.”

  Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I groaned my disgust at seeing the smear of black across the back of my hand. “Nope. You can look it up if you like. Florida Powerball.”

  “How did you pick the numbers?”

  I sniffed and sat back on the sofa. “They came to me in a dream.”

  Selena’s eyes widened behind her glasses. “No way! Are you like psychic or something?”

  Damien turned his head to give Selena a scowl. “Girl, if she was psychic then we wouldn’t be in this situation right now, would we?”

  “Dude.” Preston raised a brow at Damien in warning. With Jaxson out of commission it appeared that Preston was the next in line to give the orders. “She’s just asking a question. Lay off.”

  With a huff, Damien muttered, “Whatever,” under his breath, and turned back to me.

  “Just to confirm in case it’s your next question... Yes, I’m trailer trash from a little park in Florida, but no Kevin was never my boyfriend and we’d never had sex. I imagine Trina paid him to say that, knowing it would set Jaxson off.”

  “Jaxson sure messed that dude up. Haven’t seen him tear into guy like that in a long time,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “He needs to do that more often when it counts.”

  “Gabriel. That’s enough.” I didn’t miss that Preston attempted to subtly nod toward me.

  I straightened, “What aren’t you two telling me? What was Trina talking about? What’s Jaxson’s big secret?”

  It was Preston’s turn to laugh. “You should know better by now than to listen to her. She was flapping her gums. Everything Jaxson has felt is necessary for you to know, I’m sure you already know by now.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Don’t matter darling. If Jaxson had some sort of secret to tell you he’ll tell you himself.”

  I chewed at my lower lip, my eyes narrowing at Preston. He was covering. No doubt about that. But what in the hell was he keeping a secret?

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  I awoke to my phone buzzing at my head. I’d passed out from exhaustion on the leather sofa in the main living room. The rest of my friends were here…somewhere. I wasn’t concerned about their locations within the house though, all my attention was focused my phone’s illuminated screen.

  Miss me yet?

  I smiled for the first time since Jaxson was taken away in cuffs as I typed a message back to him. What do you think!?! R U Ok?

  After sending the response I wanted for what felt like an eternity before I got something back from him.

  I’m fine. Just got released. My driver is bringing me back home now.

  I hesitated in replying. There was so much I wanted to ask him.

  RU being charged with anything?

  There was a long break before the response.

  I’m pretty tired. Can we talk about it when I get there?

  Disappointed, I wanted to press the issue, but didn’t. I’d waited all night; another couple hours wouldn’t kill me. Yes, of course.

  Are you alone? Can you be? ??

  I laughed, giving my head a shake. No, I’m not alone. I can get rid of everyone if you want.

  Yes. I don’t want to deal with the horde right now.

  I felt that all-too-familiar warmth swelling within me. Despite everything he wanted me and only me. I had no idea what was going to go down at school come Monday morning, but either way he was going to be by my side.

  Consider them gone.

  It was at that very moment that it dawned on me. For the first time in my seventeen years, I was head over heels in love.

  “Don’t hurt me,” I whispered to myself in the empty room. Everything may have been imploding around me, but as long as I had him by my side, I knew it would all work out.

  And now it was time to find everyone and get their asses out of here. Slipping off the sofa I started my house search. When I lived in the trailer it was pretty easy to find everyone. Here, not so much. It was kind of like a needle in a haystack type of deal.

  I found Preston and Selena snuggled up in the spare room on the third floor. As much as I hated to disturb the lovebirds it had to be done. Before I fell asleep on the sofa, I’d given them all strict instructions, the master bedrooms on the fourth and fifth floors were off limits, no-fly zones. Luckily, they seemed to have listened. There was one shocker for the morning: that being when I found Gabriel and Olivia naked and under the blankets cuddled together.

  “How’s he doing?” Preston asked, after insisting he needed a cup of coffee before he left. So here we were, all hanging out in the kitchen at the breakfast bar, having morning coffee at an extremely slow pace.

  “Fine, I guess.” I looked down at the time on my phone. He was due to be here in a half hour, the chit-chat needed to end ASAP. “So, you guys have to go. Jaxson’s orders. I’m sure he’ll fill you all in.”

  Damien grinned and took another drink from his coffee. “I know what’s going on, you want a crack at your knight in shining armor and we’ll just get in the way.”

  I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Seriously guys. I appreciate that you all stayed with me, but I promised that we’d be alone.”

  No one moved and the chatter continued amongst themselves. Fuck my life. I just wasn’t the crowd-commanding type, I guess. Jaxson and Trina made it look so easy. Even if the previous night hadn’t killed my social life and I somehow found a way to get the upper hand with Trina, I couldn’t say with certainty that I could take over as queen bee. Or if I’d even want to…

  “Hey what’s wrong?” Olivia asked. “Look, we’re just messing with you. We are going.”

  “No. I—I just have some things to figure out. Jaxson and I have a lot to deal with.”

  Olivia stood and walked around the breakfast bar to give me a hug. “Tomorrow will be fine. I promise.”

  “Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair and shrugged. “It’s hard to say. Last night was such a shit show I imagine that everyone will know about last night come tomorrow mo
rning.”

  “Regardless, maybe it won’t go down the way you’re fearing.”

  Gabriel joined Olivia. “Yeah. I think it’s kinda cool that you won. I mean, damn. A billion dollars, that’s insane. Don’t judge people yet, you never know. Not everyone at school was born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Give people a chance. We might live in the Upper East Side, but we’re not all assholes. Maybe it’s time for a regime change.”

  I laughed. “Regime change, huh? Not so sure about that. But either way, you all need to get out.”

  To my relief, everyone seemed to move a little more quickly after that. By the time the door was closed behind them, I had ten minutes to spare before Jaxson was set to arrive. I used that time to attempt to refresh myself, sprucing up my makeup and changing my clothing.

  The doorbell rang when I was giving myself one final look. As good as I’d ever look, I supposed. I managed to make it to the door on the final ring, pulling it open to reveal Jaxson. He looked tired and there was a black and blue mark on his jaw, but even tired with several blood stains on his shirt and bruises he still looked damned good.

  He chuckled. “You should have seen the other guy.”

  I groaned. “I did. And so did everyone else, including YouTube. Come on in.” I stepped back and motioned for him to enter.

  “Well, thank you. How are you doing? Is everyone gone?”

  “I’m doing okay. It took some effort, but I finally got rid of them. They’re concerned.”

  He gave me a long look and then stepped to me, pulling me against him and stroking my hair. It felt so nice, just what I needed. Tears threatened to spring to my eyes, but I forced them back.

  “Nothing to be concerned about,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m still a minor and my father will take care of it. Maybe some community service or some shit like that. Chances are we’ll just pay that dipshit off and it’ll go away, no doubt money is what he wanted.” He pulled back from me to look me in the eye, but didn’t release me completely. “It’s fine, babes.”

  I sniffed and wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand. “It’s been an overwhelming rollercoaster ride from the moment I moved here.”

  “It’s over now. It’s all out in the open. But there is one thing I want to know. Was that asshole lying?”

  I frowned. So much had gone on I wasn’t even sure what he wanted to hear. “About what?”

  “Is he your boyfriend? Have you slept with him?”

  “God no!” Instinctively I pulled out of his embrace. I lowered my head and cringed. “I mean, there was one night when we all got drunk that things happened. But I swear we never had sex. I’m a virgin. And he’s never been my boyfriend.”

  His jaw clenched. “We all have pasts. I can’t change the past, but I’ve never lied to you. And I might add you have some secrets that you still haven’t told me about.”

  Jaxson’s lips came crashing down onto mine and I immediately forgot what we were even talking about as he walked me backward toward the elevators. Before I knew it, we were on our way up to the fifth floor and stepping out, our lips and hands exploring each other as if we were starving and the only nourishment, we had was each other.

  “I need a shower babes,” he muttered between kisses.

  “There’s one attached to my bedroom.”

  He grinned. “Very convenient.”

  I squealed as he scooped me up into his arms and carried me through my bedroom and into the massive bathroom that had a two-person corner Jacuzzi tub. “Do you need towels or anything?”

  “What I need is you with me in that tub. And then you with me in the bed. We’ve got the house to ourselves all day.”

  “And night,” I whispered, my heart beating so quickly in my chest that I could hear it thudding in my ears.

  “Good.” He stepped back from me and began to undo his shirt.

  I was frozen in place as my eyes roamed his body, drinking in the sight of him as every inch of his beautifully muscular and toned body was slowly revealed for me to feast my eyes on. He had a body that wouldn’t look out of place gracing the covers of some fitness magazine. Though there were bruises. Were they all from last night?

  He stepped up to me and began to unzip the back of my dress while bending and nuzzling the side of my neck. I immediately forgot about the bruises. “If you’re not ready then that’s fine. We can wait.”

  My entire body ached for him and there was an intense throbbing between my legs that I knew could only be satisfied with what he had to offer me. “I don’t want to wait. We’ve waited long enough.”

  “Good. My feelings exactly.” With my dress unzipped he stepped back again and released it. It fell to the floor and puddled at my feet, leaving me quivering with need, praying he liked what he saw by the sight of me practically naked before him. “You’re beautiful, Keira.”

  I was soaring. “I love you, Jaxon,” I blurted the words before I realized they were coming from my mouth.

  He grinned, that sexy lopsided grin of his as he pulled me back into his arms. “I love you to, newbs.”

  Damn…

  Chapter 23

  There were so many emotions running though me when I awoke the next day. Jaxson and I spent all day Sunday in bed, indulging in every inch of each other’s bodies, taking periodic breaks just long enough to refuel. I never imagined that sex could feel so good. Or maybe it was so good because I had waited, and it was with someone I was head over heels in love with.

  Rolling to my side, I snuggled up to Jaxson’s naked body. I wanted to close my eyes again and go back to sleep. I was dreading school, but we had to face the music and had to show a united front. Trina thought she’d won, but the war was hardly over.

  “Jaxson.” I have his shoulder a nudge. “Time to get up.”

  He groaned and reached out to me to pull me up onto him, but I squirmed out of his reach. “Come lay down with me, babes.”

  “No.” I sat up and pulled the blanket from him. I refused to allow my eyes to wander from his face—no way. “Get up. We’ve got school and bitches to deal with.”

  “The bitches can go fuck themselves, now get over here.” He opened his eyes and looked up at me. “We’re going to skip school.”

  “We’ve missed enough school! Come on. One of us has to be the voice of reason.”

  “Fine.” He leaved a loud sigh and sat up. “I have no clothes here.”

  “Have your butler drop some off.”

  He grinned. “You mean household assistant.”

  Laughing, I swatted him with a pillow. “Household assistant my ass. Whatever you want to call him, have him bring over some jeans and a shirt.”

  He still wasn’t getting out of bed.

  “Come on. I can shower with or without you. Your choice.” That got him out of bed in a jiffy. “We don’t have time for sex this morning.”

  “I can be quick,” he assured me, giving me a swat on the butt.

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  “Feel my hands.” I placed my hands over Jaxson’s as we sat in the back seat of his car on our way to school. Preston, Damien, and the rest of our closest friends were already at school and had texted us saying the place was buzzing with rumors and talk. Ryan’s party and the events there was the only thing people could talk about.

  “What’s wrong with your hands?”

  “Can’t you feel them trembling? And they’re all clammy. I swear to God this is worse than the first day of school.”

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Everyone is talking so I beg to differ.”

  He pulled me against him and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You strut into that school as if you own it and you will.”

  And there it is… The school came into view as we turned onto the road. The car slowed and came to a stop at the curb. A moment later the driver was opening the door for us.

  “It’s show time baby!” As usual Jaxson got out first and then offered his hand to me as I st
epped out to stand next to him. As promised, our closest friends were already waiting for us at the gates. Just like the first day of school, every student in there that set eyes on us as we walked past the gates stopped and stared.

  To my surprise there were no sneers or back-handed comments about me being trailer trash with a fake life, or the lottery win. Of course, considering most of the student body probably saw the video of what Jaxson could do to someone that pissed him off, I doubt anyone dared.

  With his arm slung over my shoulders, Jaxson walked me through the courtyard, daring anyone to say anything to us. Preston and the others followed behind. I did my best to keep up a brave front and with Jaxson to take care of me I felt untouchable.

  Seeing us coming, a couple of students that I didn’t know the names of but had seen around campus opened the doors for us. Shit! I’d never had that happen before. I looked up at Jaxson, my brow creasing. This wasn’t what I’d expected.

  “I told you. Strong front, babes.”

  We made it to our lockers and got ourselves set up for the morning, while the rest of the group broke off, agreeing to meet at the theater.

  “Hey Jaxon,” an unfamiliar voice called to him. Both of us looked over our shoulders to see a couple of guys that I was unfamiliar with approaching.

  “Yeah.” Jaxson turned to face them fully, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at them. “What do you want?”

  The one who hadn’t spoken took a step back. “We heard that you got arrested for putting some dude in the hospital. Is that true?”

  He nodded to the guy speaking, his expression unreadable. “Do you believe everything you hear from the rumor mill?”

  People began to gather around us, pretending to be busy with their phones or books, but you could tell they were attempting to hear what was going on.

  “Anything else you want to ask?” Jaxson motioned to me. “Anything you want to say about my girl?”