“I'm not gay,” Spencer growls, glaring at Ross with his pretty jewel-like eyes. “I'm freaking bi.”
“Have you ever touched a penis other than your own?” Ross asks, and Spencer wrinkles his nose.
“No, but I would. I'd be damn good at it, too.” He smirks and Ross rolls his brown eyes.
“Mother Mary, help me. You are not bisexual. You're just a confused straight dude.”
Spencer looks down at me, and I glance back, meeting his eyes. He narrows them on me, and I grin sheepishly.
“He's probably right,” I tell him, reaching up to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “You should just leave me alone, and find a nice girl at the party.”
“I've had plenty of nice girls,” he says in a way that makes me bristle like a porcupine. “Not to mention naughty ones. I want to try …” He pauses and chokes on his words for a second. “Dating introverted nerd boys instead.”
“For the love of cupcakes,” Ross murmurs as Ranger picks one up and chucks it across the counter, hitting Spencer right in the face with strawberry-lemon frosting.
He grabs it as it falls and takes a huge bite, holding it out in Ranger's direction like a weapon.
“Bro, keep throwing cakes at me, and I won't sell you weed for the rest of the year.”
“You wouldn't dare,” Ranger growls back at him, and I'm happy to see I'm not the only one he looks at like he's going to kill. “Bring some pre-rolls to the party, and we'll get stoned by the lake again.”
“Last year you were so high, you couldn't even get it up for that pretty blond,” Spencer smirks, popping a hand on his hip as he takes another bite of his cupcake. “Talk about embarrassing. After you blocked them all on social media, the girls were sending me limp dick memes for months.”
Ranger ignores him, fussing over some fancy cream puff things as Church stands up and moves over to join the rest of us at the island. The twins are squabbling over the last M&M cookie; they've eaten all the rest.
“You should party with us,” Church tells me, his eyes so intense, I feel like I should run and never look back. “You know, just in case your knife-wielding admirer joins us.”
Ranger, Spencer, and Ross laugh, but the twins and Church are staring at me like they won't take no for an answer. Makes me want to say no, just to be ornery, but I also sort of, kind of don't want to die, so I'll just deal.
“Yeah, sure. As long as you don't dump spiders on me again,” I repeat, and Church smirks.
“No promises,” he says, but I needn't have been worried about him.
Much worse things were waiting for me at the Valentine's Day party.
Adamson provides the transportation to the party, this fleet of shiny limos that makes my jaw drop as I approach the waiting crowd in the safe bubble of the Student Council. As I move through the students, I wonder if any of them are the culprit. Then again, if the twins and Church are right, and my attacker has something to do with Jenica's long-ago murder, then it's most likely not a student, seeing as they'd have all been kids when she died.
“This is insane,” I whisper, and several of the guys turn to look at me. I'm dressed in jeans, and a huge, baggy black hoodie that does nothing for my pale complexion. I look like a ghost. With the giant glasses, the floppy hair, and the ugly sneakers, I'm sure I don't paint the prettiest picture.
“Jesus,” Spencer murmurs, and Ranger gives him a look like he's insane.
“Did you just get a boner, man? Over him?” Ranger points at me, and my cheeks flush red, but Spencer refuses to answer him, turning away and storming through the crowd. They part like the Red Sea, and the twins grab my arms on either side, dragging me after him.
The other students don't even complain as the Council takes the next available car.
“Wow, royal treatment,” I murmur as we settle in for the long drive. Five hours to the cabins, with only two planned breaks. There are snacks, and even pillows and blankets provided. We're getting an early afternoon start, putting us there around five in the evening. We'll be staying in the cabins and heading back to Adamson in the morning. “This is so old-fashioned. Reminds me of the original Parent Trap where the boys come over to the girls' camp to party, like some 1960s shit or something.”
“The Parent Trap?” Ranger scoffs, giving me a look and propping his giant black combat boot up on the shelf opposite us. “You watch that shit? No wonder you're so weird.”
“I'm weird, and you're the one that bakes naked in the academy kitchen?!” I cringe a bit when I realize I've just told his secret to the entire car. But Ranger doesn't seem to care as the twins snicker. Nobody looks surprised.
“It's my meditation time, okay? Clothes restrict my artistic integrity.” He smirks at me, tapping his boot against the far wall of the car, his black t-shirt dipping low enough that I can see a peek of his ink. Ranger reaches up and tugs at the plugs in his ear, watching me with narrowed sapphire eyes. “I don't barge into your private space and make fun of you while you wank your micropenis.”
“I do not have a micropenis,” I grind out, even though I just told Church that I did. Because, I mean, I have a clitoris. Still, it rubs me the wrong way and Ranger can see it. He's enjoying tormenting me. “Also, fuck you.”
I flip him off, but he just laughs, and I settle in for the long haul, five whole hours of being teased and poked at. Just ten minutes later, one of the twins—I don't see who—drops an ice cube down my back and makes me howl and flail as I struggle to get it out of my clothes.
Dickheads.
Eventually, I fall asleep, missing the first bathroom break. When I do wake up, I feel like I'm going to pee my pants, looking out the window and counting to a hundred over and over again to keep my cool. When we do stop, I jump out and take off for the bathroom.
“That's the women's bathroom, you dipshit,” Spencer says, grabbing my arm at the last minute and dragging me over to the men's side. My cheeks are on fire even before we walk in and I see the entire Student Council with their dicks in their hands, pissing in the urinals.
Oh no. Oh god no.
There are urinals at Adamson, too, but there are also plenty of private stalls. I just keep myself confined to the handicap bathroom that has its own door and lock, and everything works just fine.
Right now, I'm panicking.
My eyes catch a whole lot more penis than I ever wanted to see, and I yank my arm from Spencer's grip, racing to the only stall in the room and locking myself in.
“Wow, Carson, what's the rush?” Spencer calls out, but I don't care. I really don't want to see the guys peeing, and I really, really have to go myself. Hopefully they'll just think I'm, you know, squatting for other reasons.
I sigh with relief, finishing up, and heading out to find Ranger staring at me with a weird, wary sort of expression. I pause, and we both just stand there in silence, staring at each other. The twins look between us, and then glance over at Church who's frowning hard.
“Did you just …” Ranger starts, but his best friend's already grabbing his arm and steering him toward the door.
“Let's not hang out in a smelly, rest stop bathroom any longer than necessary.” He guides Ranger toward the door, but the dark-haired dickhead cranes his head around and stares at me until the door closes behind him. Spencer's long-gone, so it's just me and the twins now.
“That was a close one,” I say, exhaling in relief and putting my hand to my chest. The brothers exchange a look, and then turn back to me.
“He's onto you,” they say, pointing at me.
“He is not.” I stand back up and waltz over to the sink to wash my hands. The twins follow me, flanking me on either side.
“Yes, he is,” Tobias tells me, blinking his big, green eyes. “Be careful, Charlotte. Once he gets locked onto something, he's like a freaking alligator. He will chomp down and hold on for dear life.”
“I'm not afraid of him,” I say, and Micah sighs, leading us back to the limo.
For the rest of the drive, Ra
nger just stares at me, brow slightly crinkled, like he's puzzled about something.
“Chuck,” he finally says, testing out the word on his tongue. “Is that short for something, Carson?” I stare right back at him, the tension in the limo rising with each passing mile.
“It's short for Charlie,” I say, and he lifts one perfectly arched black brow at me.
“Uh-huh. I see.” More silence. “You're your dad's only son?”
“His only kid,” I agree with a smile, my glasses slipping down my face. I let them hang there, crouching in my hoodie and wishing Ranger would look anywhere else but at me. The twins and Church keep trying to distract him, but he's fixated.
Ross and Spencer are freaking oblivious.
By the time we get to the cabins—this picturesque place in the middle of the woods called Twilight Slumber Camp—I'm bolting out that damn door and away from Ranger and his unnerving stare.
The twins catch up to me, and our whole group gets let into the building first to check on the food. Everything's been delivered and set up beautifully, the decorations in the room like something out of a fairy tale. There are big clusters of roses in these giant wooden stands, tied up with huge bows made of wide, sparkling ribbons. Overhead, there are these huge rough wood beams draped in living garlands that drip fat blossoms from the ceiling.
“Oh,” I murmur, pausing and looking up at the giant chandelier, lit with real candles and lending a soft glow to the room. They're helped along by the towering fireplace on the wall beside the food and beverage tables. It's so tall, I could stand inside it if the flames weren't roaring. “It's beautiful in here.”
“Is it?” Ranger asks, and I jump. The twins glance at each other and then move around on either side of me, dragging me away from the Student Council's asshole Vice President.
“Told you he was onto you,” Tobias whispers, as they steer me aside, letting the crowd trickle in from the front door. Ranger seems determined to follow after us. That is, until the back door opens and girls begin to filter in.
And not just girls, but like a whole herd of supermodels.
My jaw drops, and my eyes get wide.
Holy. Shit.
My dad's standing near the back door, chatting with an older woman that I guess might be the headmistress of Everly Academy. He doesn't notice me over here, standing in the shadows, dressed in a huge baggy hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. Who would? I feel suddenly inadequate, and kind of nervous. My eyes flick between the two twins, standing tall over me, almost like guardians. I like that. But I'm also not under any illusion that they—or any other member of the Adamson Student Council—will be spending much time with me when there are all these gorgeous girls batting their eyelashes at them.
“Hi there.” A voice draws my attention around, and I come face to face with this curvy redhead, her brown eyes fixated on me. “I'm Aster. I don't remember seeing you here last year …?” she trails off, and smiles wickedly at me, reaching out to play with the flop of curly hair on my forehead.
“I just started at Adamson this year. I'm a junior, third year, whatever you want to call it.” I smile, and her cheeks flush with the color. Both the twins grin and exchange a look over the top of my head.
“Chuck is single,” they both say, turning to look at Aster. “Just broke up with his girlfriend.”
“Oh, really?” Aster chirps, brightening up substantially. Uh-oh. Oh no. No, no, no.
“I'm not really looking—” I start, but she's reaching out and grabbing my hand anyway, yanking me onto the dance floor with her. She giggles a lot as she drags us into the crowd that's just formed between the fireplace and the seating area. The music thumps loudly from the speakers, and Aster starts to gyrate all over me.
“I love nerdy boys,” she tells me, grinning as she puts her arms on my shoulders and curls her fingers together behind my neck. I decide to just roll with it—what's the harm?—and besides, maybe it'll throw Ranger off my case.
After a couple dances, Church beckons me from the back door with a crooked finger, and I follow him down a path, past a boathouse, and onto a dock that stretches into the still blackness of a small lake. The twins are already out there, along with Ranger and Spencer both.
There are a few girls, too.
My mouth purses into a thin line as we head down to where they're sitting and join them on some blankets that've been laid out. There's a bottle of alcohol making its way around, as well as a joint.
I sit down between the twins, and notice that all three girls sitting opposite me are staring.
“Do you go to Everly?” one of them asks, cocking her head to the side. “I've never seen you before.”
Now Ranger's really looking at me, and I feel all choked up. To distract him, I lean forward, crawling between his outstretched legs and grabbing the whiskey bottle from his hand. He stares at me, blinking hard, and then watches as I sit back and swig some of the alcohol. It burns going down, and I almost choke.
“He goes to school with us,” Spencer says, taking a long drag on the joint, the tip glowing a pretty bright orange color. “Sure, he's effeminate and ugly, but you don't have to take it that far.”
The girls exchange looks, and then this tall blond tosses back her honeyed hair and levels a cool glare on him.
“So saying your male friend looks like a girl is an insult? How about you go all the way to hell, Spencer Hargrove.” She sniffs and turns back to me, offering up a smile. “I'm Selena, by the way.” She holds out her hand, but I know she's not offering to shake—she wants the whiskey. I pass it over and she grins before taking a huge swig. The girl with the electric blue hair on her right is leaning into Ranger, pressing her breasts against his arm.
There's this strange feeling of discomfort inside of me that I can't place, like I'm trying to hang on to all these ropes, but they keep slipping out of my hands. It's because you don't want any of the Student Council boys hooking up tonight, huh? As soon as I identify the emotion, I get weird about it.
That's what it is though, isn't it? I mean, truly, I'm paranoid about the guys finding girls to … do whatever with tonight. And I don't even like any of them. What is freaking wrong with me?
“I'm Chuck,” I tell her finally, after she passes the whiskey back to me. I drink a bit more and then hand it over to Tobias.
“It's puff-puff-pass, you shit stain,” Spencer tells Ranger when he hogs the joint for too long. They glare at each other, but eventually the weed makes it way over to me, and I take a huge drag, coughing dramatically and wondering if I've gone fucking insane.
If my dad finds us out here, I'm screwed. Like mortally screwed. Like he may very well dig me a grave and bury me in it.
“You're a cutie, Chuck,” the girl in the middle says, leaning back, her long, dark hair dipping into the lake water. She doesn't seem to care or notice, poking at my foot with one of hers. “I like feminine boys.”
Ranger makes a strange sound under his breath, but I pretend not to notice.
“This is our third year carrying on the tradition,” Church says, smiling prettily. He even crinkles up his eyes, but I see right through him. I bet he could go ninja and snap someone's neck before anyone would even notice. “Sitting out here on the lake, smoking a little pot …”
“And every year, we invite one new person to join us,” Ranger says, smirking as he looks over at me. “Our new favorite person, Chuck Carson.”
“Maybe we should skip that tradition this time?” Tobias inserts, shrugging his shoulders loosely, but Ranger is razor focused on me right now.
“Oh come on, Chuck's a tough guy. He can handle it.”
“Handle what?” I ask, but then Ranger and Spencer are both grinning and diving for me.
“Hey, fuck you guys,” Micah growls, but Church grabs him and holds him back.
Before I know it, I'm getting pushed off the dock and into the icy water.
The scream that tries to break out of me is swallowed up as I bob under for a brief second, hit the
bottom with my feet and kick up to the surface, gasping and cursing.
“You fuckers!” I scream, paddling over to the shore and climbing out in my soggy clothes. Spencer, Ranger, and both the blue-haired and black-haired girl are all howling with wild laughter while Tobias sneers at them, and Micah watches me with a tight expression. Church is impossible to read, as usual, but Selena looks like she feels sorry for me.
“You guys are jerks,” she snaps, standing up and grabbing one of the blankets from the dock. She throws it over my shoulders as my teeth chatter like crazy. “Come on. We'll find you some dry clothes.”
“We've got some in the bag!” Spencer calls out, pointing to the duffel bag he was leaning on that I hadn't noticed before. “Get back here, Chuck. We've all gone through the dunk. It's no big deal.”
But Selena is herding me away, and leading me up a small incline to the brightly glowing windows of a cabin. She lets me in, and I flush when I see a few girls in bras and panties, doing their makeup and shimmying into dresses.
“I shouldn't be in here,” I say, but then Selena gives me a look.
“I know who you are. Took one look at you and I knew you weren't a boy.” She reaches out to cup the side of my face, brown eyes sparkling. “You're way too pretty. And besides, my mother's on the board for Adamson. My brother goes there, and she told me they’re trying to integrate the campus. She said Headmaster Carson's daughter, Charlotte, was going to be the first.”
“Except for Jenica,” I say, and Selena's face pales. She turns away abruptly and moves over to a suitcase, digging around inside and coming up with a stack of clothes. She passes them over to me and forces a smile. Based on her reaction, I guess she's not going to talk to me about Jenica either.
“Do you want to rinse off? I can show you to the showers.”
“No, thank you,” I tell her, peeling apart the clothes. There's a pair of panties with the tags still on them, a beautiful dress, and a bra that looks to be about my size. Apparently, Selena and I have the same sized-boobs. “I can't wear any of this though.” I try to hand the clothing back, and she gives me a look.
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