by Hamel, B. B.
Morgan and Nora give me smug looks. “Good job today in there,” Nora says. “How did you get into this school again?”
“I bet she sucked his dick to get drafted,” Morgan offers. “I mean, look at her. Trash if I’ve ever seen it.”
Both girls laugh. I step toward them but Iris is faster.
“You two bitches better leave her alone!”
All three of us look at little Iris. I think she’s just as surprised as we are, though, because she takes a step back and looks terrified.
“What did you just say?” Nora asks her.
“I mean, I just, you’re being so rude to Kayla, and—”
“Know your place, you fucking fat slut.” Nora steps up to her and shoves her hard.
I gasp as Iris stumbles back and falls down on her ass, her bag falling to the ground and spilling open. The two girls laugh at her and Iris turns bright red.
“You fucking bitch,” I say, stepping up to Nora with every intention of hitting her.
She turns to me, a smug smile on her face, chin out. “Hit me,” she says. “Come on.”
I curl my hand up into a fist. I’m seeing red, rage overtaking me. I barely notice the phones out all around us, filming everything that’s happening.
I don’t get a chance to swing. Suddenly another person is there, bigger than everyone else. “What’s going on?” the man growls.
It takes me a second to realize that it’s Reed.
Nora and Morgan instantly change their tune. “Oh, Reed,” Nora says. “Oh my god, hey. I’m so happy you’re here. We were just doing this thing, this joke, for—”
“I saw what you were just doing,” he growls at her. I blink, surprised at his anger. I think he’s even more pissed off than I am. He walks over to Iris and helps her to her feet before gathering all her dropped stuff. She’s too stunned to say anything.
When he’s done, he stands and hands her the bag. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she says. “Just, tripped.”
He nods and turns to me. Nora steps up to him.
“Reed, we should, like, totally hang out. I’ve been wanting—”
He ignores her. “Come with me,” he says to me.
I hesitate then nod. He takes my hand and looks at Iris. “You too.”
We walk across the quad, Iris hurrying to keep up. He leads us away from the crowd, around the corner behind another building, and stops.
“Fucking bitches,” he growls. “I guess they know I’m sponsoring you now.”
I blink. “Uh, yeah.”
“Damn,” he says. “I hoped it might take longer.”
“It’s Gradus,” Iris says. “You know how fast this stuff happens.”
He glances at her with a slight frown but doesn’t respond. He looks back at me and lets out a slow breath. “Look, just be careful with those two, okay? I know their families and they can be… difficult.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“I shouldn’t have done that back there. I don’t know if I can step in again.”
I give him a strange look. “Why would that matter?”
He glances at Iris then sighs again. “It doesn’t matter. Look, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay, sure.” I’m still rattled from what happened back there and my heart’s beating hard, so I have to take a few deep breaths to get under control. Those girls are so awful and I don’t totally understand why they despise me so much. I’ve never met someone that had so much hate for me like they do.
“There’s a party tonight.” Reed clears his throat. “For sponsors and their, uh, sponsored girls.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “You want to go?”
“Not particularly, but I think I have to. I was hoping you’d come with me.”
Iris looks a little surprised. “Doesn’t she have to?”
He glances at her. “No. She has a choice.”
“Oh.” She shrinks back a little.
“It’s fine,” I say, giving them a look. “I’ll go with you.”
“Good. Meet me at your apartment tonight at six.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“Not your dorm room. Your other room.” He grins at me. “You know. The nice one.”
I roll my eyes. “I know.”
“Good.” He hesitates. I know he’s thinking about something else, and I’m pretty sure it’s that kiss. He looks at Iris. “You okay?”
She nods. “Thanks. I’m fine.”
“Good. Those girls are…” He trails off and shakes his head. “Anyway. I’ll see you tonight, Kayla.”
He turns and leaves without another word. We stand there and watch him go.
“God, he’s hot,” Iris says.
I can’t help but laugh. It’s so ridiculous, but she’s right. Reed is absolutely gorgeous.
“I gotta get to class,” I say. “See you later?”
“Sure,” she says, and grins at me. “Lucky girl.”
I groan. “I don’t feel lucky. And hey… thanks for that, back there. You didn’t have to do it.”
She winces. “I wish I hadn’t.”
I laugh and hug her. She seems surprised and almost pulls away.
“Really. Thanks.”
I pull back and she blinks at me. “Yeah. Of course.”
I give her a big smile and walk off, heading to class as fast as I can. I might be late, but I can make it if I hurry.
I’m not sure about this party tonight. I’m not sure about anything right now.
What I am sure about is Iris is a good friend and Reed means well.
But they know something I don’t, and tonight I’m going to find out what it is.
6
Reed
I’m sipping whiskey when the girls arrive promptly at six.
I didn’t expect Kayla to bring her friend. Although I didn’t expressly tell her not to, I thought it was pretty clear that I was only inviting her.
Still, the party didn’t expressly forbid our guests from bringing a friend, so I decide not to let it faze me.
“Evening, ladies,” I say with a smile, ushering them inside.
The little blonde girl, I think her name is Iris, looks around like she’s never seen an apartment before.
“Holy crap,” she says softly before turning on Kayla. “You gave this up?”
Kayla smiles sheepishly. “I didn’t know it was this nice.”
“Her mistake,” I say, laughing. “Now, drinks?”
Kayla shrugs and Iris shakes her head, too busy gawping. “I can’t believe you’re living in those filthy dorms when you can be living here.”
I pour Kayla a small glass of wine and hand it to her.
“Dorms have their perks,” Kayla says.
“Yeah, like those horrible bitches that keep bullying you.” Iris gives her a look. “You know, we could live here and totally stay away from them.”
I raise an eyebrow. “She has a point,” I say to Kayla.
The girl shakes her head stubbornly. “And let them win? No thanks.”
Iris sighs and wanders to the rest of the apartment.
“I’m glad you came,” I say to Kayla in our brief moment alone.
She smiles up at me. “I didn’t feel like I had a choice. I mean, you hold my future in your hands, right?”
That makes me flinch. “You’re not my slave.”
“True.” She shrugs, a little smile on her lips. “But I can’t really fight back, either.”
I sigh. “You can—”
“Oh my god, this bathroom is SO NICE,” Iris calls out from the back room. “Are you kidding me, Kayla? We’re moving in here right now.”
“Excuse me,” Kayla says softly, a big grin on her face. “I’d better go talk her down before she seriously starts packing.”
I let the girls chat and laugh while I sip my whiskey, brooding over what Kayla said.
I hate the idea that she feels beholden to me, but of course that’s the whole point of this system. Some rich older guy
s get their pick of all the pretty young well-connect coed girls, get to lavish those girls with gifts, get to make those girls feel like they owe their sponsor something, and eventually get to marry and get them pregnant. It’s a whole system built on empowering these men.
Sometimes it works. I know decent guys in this world that met their girl at Gradus. I also know some fucked-up men that burned through half the student population, taking advantage of girls left and right, until eventually getting banned from campus entirely. It does happen, almost every single year one of the sponsors goes too far. It gets swept under the rug and cleaned up, but everyone knows.
That’s just how Gradus works. If you’re rich and connected, you can do whatever the fuck you want.
I hate the system. I think it’s barbaric and backwards, and I’m only doing this because I feel like I have to. I just hate that I’m dragging Kayla into it, and I hope that I can at least help give her the education she clearly deserves.
When the girls finish, they come back out into the main room. I let my eyes roam Kayla’s body. She’s wearing a cocktail dress, just on the edge of being too short, showing off her sexy legs. I’d bet anything Iris took her out and bought her that dress, but who knows.
I can’t stop looking at her. The girls chat amiably and they’re clearly already becoming good friends after such a short time, which makes me happy. But I can’t even look at Iris with Kayla around.
I clear my throat. “Okay,” I say. “We’d better go.”
“Lead the way,” Kayla says gamely.
I throw my whiskey back and note that Kayla didn’t drink any of her wine. We head out and the girls follow, chatting with each other. I take them down a few floors to the main level and toward the back of the building.
We can hear the music immediately. It’s clearly live jazz, smooth and simple, almost background noise. The girls look at me, a little confused.
“This is it?” Kayla asks.
“It’s just a mixer,” I say. “What did you expect?”
She shrugs and glances at Iris. The two girls laugh like I missed something, which is fine. I sigh and push open the doors.
We step into a relatively large banquet hall. On the far stage, a jazz band is playing some standard I vaguely recognize, the saxophone player ripping a velvet smooth solo. People are standing around or sitting at tables, talking to each other and laughing. There are more people than I expected, though I can’t help but notice that there are only ten men total here, including me. I recognize them all and I get a few glances and nods as we move into the room. They’re all my fellow sponsors, my fucking peers.
There are at least twice as many girls standing around in groups, chatting with each other, laughing together. There’s a buffet table that’s surprisingly nice and Iris and Kayla instantly head over to it, laughing to each other. I sigh as I watch them go but don’t comment. I go to the bar and make myself another whiskey.
“How are you getting along?”
I turn as I finish pouring. A man twice my age stands nearby, glass of wine in his hand. He looks like a professor with a tweed jacket, dark blue slacks, and thick black glasses. But I know his looks are very deceiving. He’s Wesley Bryant, owner of a string of coal mines all through the Appalachian Mountain range. He’s ruthless and has a killer mind for business, despite his mild-mannered looks.
“Just fine,” I say to him. “Which one is yours?”
He smiles slightly and nods his head at a nearby table. Three girls sit there chatting with each other, each one younger and prettier than the next.
“Middle girl, the redhead,” he says. “But I haven’t made up my mind.”
I flinch a little. I know this is common, or at least I’ve heard of it before. Some men use their position and their power to play girls off each other in an attempt to get… well, I can only imagine.
“I see you’re ruthlessly pragmatic as always.”
He cocks his head slightly. “It’s my future, Mr. Wright. I’m surprised you’re not playing the field as well.”
“That’s not really my style.”
He purses his lips. “No, so I hear. You’re against this whole situation, correct?”
I face him fully and sip my drink. “More or less.”
“Well, that’s okay. So long as you don’t bother me, I couldn’t care less what you think.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Bother you?”
“Only one of my girls is taken.” He chuckles softly. “You could take either of the other two if you chose.”
I feel a little queasy. “No, thank you.”
“Good.”
I turn to walk away from him. I hate dealing with these men. They see these girls as something to be used and it makes me sick.
“Oh, Reed?”
The way he says my name makes me turn back to him.
“Be careful,” he says without smiling. “As you say, I’m pragmatic, but the other men…” He trails off. “They might not be so understanding of your position regarding this whole arrangement.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“See that you do.”
I leave him then and hurry over to the girls. They’re blissfully filling plates and laughing together.
“Ladies,” I say. “Enjoying yourselves so far?”
“The food is amazing,” Iris gushes. We head over to an empty table and sit. “Way better than the dining hall.”
“That’s what I told Kayla.”
She sighs. “Will you two give it a rest?”
Iris grins and digs in. Kayla picks at her food, looking around the room with a confused little frown. I study that frown and I wish I could read her mind.
“Why are there only ten sponsors?” she asks suddenly.
Iris glances at me. I sigh and shrug a little. “I don’t know,” I admit. “There are ten every year. If the girl stays in school, the other sponsors still hang around. So I guess there are potentially forty sponsors around campus at any given moment.”
Kayla raises an eyebrow. “If they’re still in school?” she asks.
“Sure. Some drop out.”
“Why would they do that? I mean, it’s a free education.”
“Well,” I say slowly, but Iris cuts me off.
“Oh, you know how rich girls can be. They decide they’d rather quit and go into fashion than get an education.” She laughs nervously and suddenly stands. “I think I’ll go mingle.”
We both blink up at her. “Uh, sure,” Kayla says. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, no, you’re fine with Reed. I’ll, uh, be back.”
She hurries off and we both watch her go. She disappears back toward the bathrooms before Kayla looks at me.
“What was with that?”
“No clue. She’s your friend.” I feel a little bad about that slight lie. I suspect Iris doesn’t want to tell Kayla the real reason sponsors choose their girls and why the girls might drop out of school.
Kayla leans toward me and I can’t help but glance down at her chest, at her gorgeous breasts pressed together. I feel a thrill run down my spine that I have to will myself to ignore.
“So, I told you all about me the other night. Why don’t we talk about you for a change?”
I laugh a little. “Are you sure? My life’s boring.”
“I doubt that.”
“Well, you’re in for a big surprise.”
“What are your parents like?”
I tell her about my mother mostly, only mentioning my father in passing. I talk about the maids and nannies and cooks that raised me. I tell her about my older brothers, about what it’s like to live in their shadow, in the shadow of the entire family name. She listens and seems interested even though I know it’s just a rich boy bitching about his good luck.
“Must be hard,” she says. “You clearly don’t get along with your father.”
“No,” I say.
“What about your brothers?”
I hesitate. “The oldest,
things are strained. But I’m close with Chase and Kai.”
“Lucky. I wish I had siblings.”
“Sometimes I don’t. You can have Silas.”
She laughs. “No thanks.”
“Good choice.”
We talk some more and soon I lose track of time all together. Just like last time, conversation is easy and simple. She leans toward me as I talk and I swear, we’re getting closer and closer as time wears on.
“By the way,” I say, “where did Iris go?”
She blinks like she’s just remembering her friend for the first time. “Oh my god. I don’t know.”
We look around the room when I spot here. “Over there,” I say, nodding toward a table in the far corner.
Kayla follows my gaze and lets out a laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“Apparently not.”
We watch as Iris leans closer to a man and lets out a giggle. They’re sitting alone at a table and I can’t help but notice a few girls throwing them nasty looks. I don’t know the guy, though I recognize him as a sponsor. He’s balding, a little overweight, with soft features and kind brown eyes. He’s dressed like he’s going to high school prom.
“Do you know the guy she’s talking to?”
“No,” I admit. “I know most of the sponsors, but not him.”
“Huh.” She frowns a little.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “Iris can handle herself.”
She glances at me. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
I give her a wry smile. “Trust me. Iris comes from a long line of badasses.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. The Griffin family has more women than men and everyone says they run that clan. Her grandmother is the family matriarch and even I’m a little afraid of her.”
“Huh,” Kayla says, smiling. “I never would’ve guessed.”
“Iris is just finding herself still,” I say softly. “But I suspect she’s a lot stronger than you realize.”
Kayla watches her friend and again I wish I could read her mind. We sit there for a moment before I reach out and take her hand.
She looks at me, surprised.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say softly.
“What?”
“Come on.” I stand up, not totally sure what I’m doing, but I have to take my shot. I finally have Kayla alone and Iris looks like she’ll be busy for a while yet.