“I can’t wait to see the expression on her face...” Evelyn murmured.
I shrugged and removed my academy outfit, unashamed of my body, despite not knowing these girls very well. Their eyes flickered up at me curiously for a second, before their eyes fell back down to the floor. Then, I drew the white dress over my shoulders and zipped it swiftly, turning toward the mirror.
“Wow,” Teony breathed, impressed. “Really, it looks better on you than it does on me.”
“Whatever,” I said. Secretly, my heart surged with a moment of pride.
Was I actually glad to fit in with Crestwood Academy? Or did I just want to show them I could stack up against them—pour coffee into Kieran’s convertible, piss off Hailey in any way I could? It was still early days, and I didn’t have a plan yet. I was still half-hoping that everything would calm down.
“How late does the party usually go?” I asked, trying to brush off the constant talk of me.
“Till we want it to end,” Teony said. I watched a devilish grin play at the corners of her mouth.
“And your parents just let you do that?” I asked and smoothed out the dress as I continued to look at myself in the mirror.
Teony shrugged. “I told Mom I was having you girls over for a sleepover. After her last class of the day, she normally goes and relaxes in her bedroom. She’ll see us in the morning and have the cook make us pancakes or something.”
“And so she never knows that you went anywhere?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Nope. What about your Mom? Did you tell her how late you would be out?” Teony asked.
“Naw. She’s at the hospital until around seven in the morning tomorrow. I’ll text her to say I’m spending the night here, I guess.”
JUST AFTER NINE-THIRTY, Teony led the four of us out the back of the mansion, snaking past the sparkling blue pool and toward a little latch in the fence. Slowly, she unhinged it, careful to make sure it didn’t squeak. Of course, I wondered what all the sneaking was about if her Mom was just relaxing upstairs and okay with them going to this party. But I knew better than to ask.
The path between the houses was nothing you could know about if you weren’t a part of Crestwood. It cut past several high-caliber family homes, all of which Teony pointed out to me as we passed. “That’s the Franklin’s new mansion, which they had built after they won that huge lawsuit against that pop singer two years ago? You probably heard about it on the news.”
“Sure,” I said and just nodded.
“And across the street is the Pierce’s mansion. You know his parents are in real estate development, right? He’s related to some of the people who actually built up a lot of Crestwood. Of course, his dad is pretty fuckin’ weird. I went to his birthday party back in grade school. His dad has this enormous aquarium—I’m talking as big as that walk-in closet I have at home—filled up with reptiles. Caleb used to get off on feeding mice to the snakes and making all the girls at his parties squirm. One year, Hailey Blair fainted. That was priceless.”
“Well, your parties are a bit different than our Ridgewood parties. We just had like, a grocery store cake and someone always went home with a scabbed knee.”
Night crept over us. The sky became inky black as we approached the cliffs, the ones that wrapped south of the school and then cut into the crashing waves below. The last mansion ended, leaving us with a good half-mile of walking through dense woods before echoes of the party reached our ears.
There was no way that I ever could have expected what happened next.
Adrenaline kicked through me as the squeals came out from the inner heart of the party. I turned to Teony, wondering if I should ask what this sort of party normally consisted of. It wouldn’t be like those Ridgewood High parties in the woods and on the beach much further south of here; I knew that for sure. For those, we normally scraped together whatever beer we could find and got wasted together under the stars, talking shit about Crestwood people and almost feeling proud that we never had any money.
The party broke out along the edge of the cliffs and weaved down toward the sandy beach below. At the entrance hung an enormous tarp, which read ‘BLUFF EDGE: CLASS OF 2020.’ Three security guards that looked like they were in their thirties stood like stone statues everywhere, wearing all black, and their arms folded over their chests.
“Security? Really?” I whispered as I looked around.
“Just so unwanted people can’t come in and for safety,” Jaden said, shrugging her shoulders like it was completely normal.
“I guess that would be me then,” I said.
“Don’t be stupid. You have your ID card,” Teony stated. “You’re just as much one of us as anyone else here tonight. You’re fine.”
As she said it, though, the lie rang out between all of us, sounding hollow. I wanted to call her out on it, tell her that for dinner the previous evening Mom and I had canned soup and watched Jeopardy, while she had probably had some sort of gourmet bullshit prepped by her French chef (she’d told me about him in passing). But whatever.
The security guards stopped us and sniffed us down. Teony and the others passed through unscathed, while the burly security guard on the left drew his arm in front of me. On instinct, I reached for my ID, batting enormous eyes at him.
“I don’t recognize you,” he coughed.
“I’m new,” I told him. I flashed the ID card toward him. The card beamed with colors of red and gold. “I’m Kennedy.”
The guard grunted and tipped his head toward the path. I hustled forward, falling back in line with Teony and the other girls. My heart fluttered in my throat and we walked along a path that was covered in pine needles. In the distance was a huge fire, burning an impossibly bright orange and yellow. Looking at it was like trying to stare too long at the sun.
“Fuck,” I murmured, watching as Hailey scampered toward the fire alongside her other girlfriends, all scantily clad. Beats bumped from speakers that hung from trees on all sides of the clearing, and a DJ spun records between two massive birches. He bobbed his head and occasionally glanced up, seemingly entranced with the girls dancing by the fire.
“Oh, my God. That’s Caleb,” I murmured, recognizing the DJ.
“Yeah and he’s damn good,” Teony added. “As much as I hate to admit it, the three elites—that is, Caleb, Dante, and Kieran, all kind of rule these parties. Last time, some other kid tried to take over the DJ table and Caleb almost killed him.”
“Let me guess. He had to drop out?” I asked, feeling amused.
Teony’s eyes burned toward mine. “Almost but not quite,” she said.
“I was joking,” I flashed her a grin.
“I know. I wish I was, though.” Teony returned and I skimmed the crowd.
The entire senior class was there, or seemed to be there—bodies seemed to swarm beneath the trees, along the rocks, and down in the sand. Some were even making out on the beach for all to watch. Everyone had taken it upon themselves to look impeccably cool and chic. Curls wound wildly down girls’ slim backs; crop tops boasted stunning, flat bellies and the boys wore button-down shirts, loosely buttoned so that the tops of their chests revealed pulsing pecs. Down below, I heard several people splashing in the waves. And above us, as though it had been hired with all that incredible amount of cash, the moon hung low, heavy and thick and even orange, reflecting back to the fire.
“Hey, girls!” Hailey cried, whipping toward us. Her eyes glittered with drunkenness. I blinked at her with confusion and then annoyance. After all, my only interaction with this entitled bitch was the hanging of dead mice in my locker as a welcome (or had she someone else do it, regardless). “Welcome to Bluffs Edge!”
“Wow. What a greeting,” I heard myself say, my voice layered with sarcasm.
Hailey stuck out her lower lip. “Oh, Kennedy. Are you really going to get yourself all upset about what happened earlier this week?” She snaked her slender arm over my shoulder, guiding me toward the far end of the clearing. “Bec
ause I really think we should get past that for the good of the rest of the school year. Don’t you?”
I frowned, casting a glance back toward Teony. She shrugged, looking equally as worried. But before I knew it, Hailey had drawn me against the drink table, where five beautiful looking women stood pouring super-expensive glasses of champagne, wine, and beer. I wondered which one of the blue bloods was hosting the party?
“I imagine you’re a far classier girl than I first gave you credit for,” Hailey began. “Which is why I think you would probably like a bit of bubbly. What do you think?”
I took a slight step to the left, forcing Hailey’s arm to fall. “Champagne sounds perfect.”
The truth was, I had never had champagne. It wasn’t something any of the kids in Ridgewood had ever fought for, choosing instead to guzzle cheap beer. The bartender passed me a slender glass, which sparkled with the light of the fire. Hailey accepted yet another and clinked her glass with mine.
“To new beginnings. Welcome to Crestwood, Kennedy?” she chirped and I watched as devilish grin pull at her lips.
“Sure,” I returned.
Hailey swung me around to look at the party. “You really do look marvelous in this dress,” she sighed. “The minute you walked in, I saw Kieran, Caleb, and Dante, all staring at you. I mean, I know you’re just the new girl. Of course, you’re fresh meat.” She cut her mouth toward my ear, almost in a provocative, sexual way. I inhaled the full weight of her perfume. “But you must know about me and Kieran’s history. He’s off-limits, okay?”
I brought my head back, frowning at her. She continued to give me that glossy, weird smile.
“I don’t want anything to do with any of them,” I assured her and I meant it. The way the three of them had mocked me in Kieran’s convertible, which put a permanent wall between us. I would always be a piece of Ridgewood trash to them. I couldn’t escape the label. It was like they had burned it into my skin.
Hailey’s smile grew even wider. “That’s so good to hear. I’m always so glad to be on the same page. Besides, I know how bright you are as such a stellar artist.” She brought her hand over my hair and shuffled at it, as though I were five years old. “You’re going to stay in your lane the rest of senior year, aren’t you? Just painting your stupid fucking pictures and writing your little pathetic newspaper articles and...”
I saw Teony on the other side of the fire and sprung toward her, flashing Hailey an evil glare. “As much as I adore this conversation, I think I might check out the beach. Give my love to Kieran.”
Hailey glowered at me. I knew she thought she had me trapped, that she had prepared a little speech to put me in line or to try and embarrass me again. But I didn’t give two shits what she or the rest of the blue bloods thought. I thought back to that painting of her on the horse—so privileged and beautiful— prepared to take on the world. I would never have anything like that. I could only fight her privilege with fire.
Teony and I sprung down the cliffs, taking a little rope ladder to the beach below. We kicked off our shoes and laughed wildly, rushing into the water. The chill took over my feet and ankles, making me yelp. We were only a little ways from where Eric and I had played hooky on that now-fateful day. A day that now felt so long ago.
“What was Hailey jabbering on about?” Teony asked. She brushed her hand over the water and splashed me.
“Just her own personal brand of bullshit,” I said, shrugging. “I can’t let her get to me.”
“You have to be careful,” Teony warned as we continued to walk. “She’s done much worse...Just stay away from them. All of them.”
“Blah, blah. I know. Everyone’s always telling me to be careful. How boring!” I cried, splashing her back.
Back at the fire, Teony and Jaden and I grabbed a few glasses of champagne and began to dance to the beats, Caleb burned out on the DJ table. My head felt fuzzy from the alcohol. I began to whirl, my stomach taut and my legs pumping beneath me. My hair flipped from side to side and I was caught in the energy of the party, half-drunk and out of my mind with adrenaline.
As I danced, I spotted two dark eyes watching me from between the trees. Pausing, I peered back at them, realizing that it was Kieran. Remembering what Hailey had said about him, I downed the rest of my drink and began to dance even more sensually, drawing my breasts higher, making my hips shake. He knew what I was doing. He smirked at me, but I beckoned back. When I walked closer to him, I said, “Come on, Kieran. Come out here and play.”
What was I doing? I knew Hailey could see me. I felt like I was tempting the beast, daring her to come out from her dark place of light insults and mice pranks.
Why did I want to make it so hard on myself?
Maybe it was just the Ridgewood in me. I didn’t want to let anyone in Crestwood think I was weak.
Kieran was drunk, too. I could see it in his eyes as he came toward me. One of his large hands wrapped around the base of my back, pulling me close to him. Our hips matched in tempo, tilting back and forth. I knew he wanted to grind his cock against my stomach. His lips looked hungry, glittering with want.
Why did I want him too? After all the hell he had put me through? My heartbeat wildly in my throat, making it difficult to breathe.
“You’re a real bitch, you know,” he muttered to me. The insult felt sexual, powerful. “Pouring my coffee on my leather seats like that.”
His hand grew tighter against my back. My boobs pressed harder against his chest, my nipples tight and hard, like berries. I wasn’t wearing a bra and he knew that now. I glanced toward Caleb at the DJ table and his hooded eyes almost imprisoned me. I couldn’t tell if it pleased him, seeing me grind against Kieran or not, but the dance felt almost like a performance. Here I was—their Ridgewood scum—and I was dancing with one of the most powerful boys in school.
Was there anything I couldn’t do?
As the music slowed and dripped into another song, Kieran took a slight step back. He studied me, his dark blue eyes almost electric. “Who the hell are you, Kennedy Harper?”
Suddenly, I heard my name somewhere behind me, from the other side of the fire. I whipped around, nearly stumbling over my own feet. As I turned, I felt two slender hands press against my chest, shoving me toward the line of trees. I let out a yelp, falling back, but as I fell, there was another scream.
“NOW!”
When I reached the space between two birches, something poured over me from above. It was chilly, sticky and smelled like poison or chemicals. It fell over my hair and cascaded down my shoulders, completely drenching my dress. My eyes and lips closed immediately.
Shit! What the fuck had just happened?
The music stopped. A few cat-calls rang out, along with a few giggles. But after a moment, everyone was silent again and all I could hear were the clicks of their phones.
Just a few, ‘Holy shits’ echoed between the trees as the fire continued to crackle.
Finally, I forced myself to open my eyes. I looked up to find a massive red bucket hung from a wire between the two trees. It continued to drip this putrid-green colored paint, the substance I was now completely covered with. My arms, legs, belly, hair, face, and breasts were completely covered. I was like a fucking birthday cake, coated in extra layers of icing. It continued to drip from my hair.
“Look at her, our little artist. Such a stupid bitch.” someone yelled out by the fire.
I heard more words from my left. Blinking toward them and then I found Hailey beaming at me, her lightly tanned arms crossed over her chest, her hip popped out at an angle.
I realized then what she had done. All of the kindness had been fake again. She had arranged the paint from the very beginning—and probably, a lot of other people at Crestwood had been in on it.
My arms hung at my sides as Hailey doubled over in laughter, forcing several people who were afraid of her to join in. I burned with a rage I couldn’t fully understand.
Suddenly, I sprung toward her. I flashed a beauti
ful white smile and lifted up my fingers, reaching for her chest. There on her glowing tanned skin, I started to draw out a rose, complete with a stem. She blinked down at me in shock as my finger traced the last of the stem between her tits. Then, she let out a raucous shriek.
“What the fuck, Kennedy?” she yelled out, still looking down at her chest. Her eyes met mine and shot her a wink and smiled. Don’t let them get to you, Kennedy, I kept saying like a mantra in my head.
I whirled around with fire in my eyes. I knew I looked like a freak covered green paint, but I suddenly felt this power. As long as I didn’t let the paint dry, I could ink these Crestwood idiots and put them on my level.
Someone behind me laughed and then another joined. I marched toward someone I didn’t recognize, bringing a bit more paint from my torso, and drew a face that looked almost like Hailey’s on his back.
“She’s good,” someone shouted out.
“Don’t you know why she got into Crestwood?” someone else said, their voice hushed. “She’s a fucking prodigy.”
Suddenly, everyone wanted a painting. They thrust themselves forward, tearing open their shirts to reveal bouncing tits and huge muscles and six-pack abs. As the paint began to dry on my own body, I tore my dress off, laughing at the hilarious outline of my dress, created by the drying paint. Within five minutes, almost everyone at the bonfire was naked, only wearing bras and their underwear, most slathered in the paint that was only meant for me.
One of Hailey’s friends scampered out, calling, “Hold on a second!” She reappeared a second later with several more buckets of paint in several different colors. Her cheeks were bright pink as she shrugged, flipping them open. “We weren’t sure which color to go with. We thought putrid green was best for Kennedy.”
I was too drunk and high on power to care. I dunked my hand into a vat of bright pink paint and splashed it across myself, drawing it over my flat stomach. Teony and some other girls leaped forward, tugging open more paint buckets and tossing paint on one another.
Wicked Blue Bloods: A Highschool Bully Romance - Crestwood Academy Book 1 Page 8