Charlie wasn’t entirely wrong, though. Jase and I had inherited our unusual-colored eyes from my mother’s great-grandmother, and it was a trait that appeared in random offspring. Mostly the color became a dark blue, like my mom’s, but Jase and I had more purple in our irises than blue.
I turned to face my cousin. “I’m just nervous,” I confessed. Even though I was never into the school team spirit and stuff, Brayden had been captain of the football team two years in a row. He would probably still be captain this year, and I just…I didn’t need drama. “Everyone’s going to judge me the second I step foot on that campus.”
Charlie sent me a sympathetic look. She got off my bed and drew me in for a hug. When she pulled back, she smiled. “It’s going to be fine, Mackenzie,” she lied. “I’ll be there to help you and Phyllis Montague is the only mean girl we have. Everyone else is pretty cool.”
Phyllis Montague was Eastwood’s reigning queen, and I’d met her a few times over the years, but we’d never had problems. But I’ve never breached her territory before, so who knows. I never understood why mean girls were mean. Phyllis was beautiful and rumored to be smart. She’d been class president two years in a row and had no reason to feel threatened by anyone. Least of all, me.
I let out a deep breath. “We’ll see,” I replied, my lack of confidence obvious.
Charlie showed all her teeth. “We will.”
Chapter 2
Samson~
“Best thing about today? I can finally drive myself to school,” Duke announced as he strolled into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I turned around and shoved a plate of sliced fruit his way.
Duke was a junior this year and had turned seventeen over the summer. I was already eighteen but still in high school because my birthday had fallen past the registration deadline during kindergarten registration, and kindergarten registration was no joke. There was also the fact that my parents had wasted no time after I was born.
Duke was also growing like a fucking weed. I was still taller than his six-foot-one by an inch, or so, but it was hard to tell that he was younger than I was sometimes. We looked the same with our dark brown hair and hazel eyes we inherited from Dad, but we couldn’t be more different if we tried. Where Duke loved baseball and had a tonfuck of friends, my passion was football and I only had two friends: Ford Abrams and Raiden Cruz.
I snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly why you love that car so much.”
Duke grinned as he tossed a piece of cut up melon in his mouth. “I can’t help it if girls dig fast cars.” He hadn’t been in a rush to get his license when he had turned sixteen, but he was appreciating having it now.
“They dig your father’s wallet,” I corrected. “And don’t forget it.”
Our father was Samson Maddox, and he was the fearless leader of Samson Industries. And our mother, Clara, was his perfect accessory. And while I loved my parents, they could do a little better in the rearing of their two children. They weren’t horrible or neglectful. They were just…uninterested, I guess would be the best way to describe them. Even if your children didn’t get into trouble, they still needed to know that they shouldn’t. Our parents just assumed that because we’d never been suspended or arrested that all was going well.
If they only knew.
Duke rolled his eyes. “I wrap it okay,” he groaned. “I swear.”
When Duke had been a freshman, he had come to me with stars in his eyes, professing his undying love for Lilly Montague. Lily had been in the eighth grade still, but they had met at a party and, apparently, Lilly had said all the right things to make Duke think she was The One. He’d been ready to lose his virginity to her and slip a ring on her finger.
However, later, I had learned from a girl who was doing all she could to ride my dick, that Lilly was just playing with Duke at the behest of her older sister, Phyllis. Phyllis Montague had been hoping that, by Duke dating Lilly, we’d automatically pair up.
I had seen fucking red.
It had been the only time I had ever purposely hurt my brother. I had sought Lilly out at her school, and with Duke hiding around the corner, I had hit on her and she had instantly turned on her sister. Duke had heard it all and it had been a hard lesson learned. Ever since then, Duke’s trusted me with the subject of women and Lilly’s duplicity had been enough to make sure he always wrapped his dick up to avoid any kind of trapping of a Maddox.
As for Phyllis, I avoided her when I could. I never believed in physical violence against the fairer sex, but if there was ever a female I wanted to punch in the face, it was her. She used my brother for her own agenda, and I wasn’t a forgiving one when it came to my family.
“Well, at least, now you don’t have to chauffer me around for baseball practice,” Duke said, changing the subject. I didn’t mind driving Duke around, but it would free up my time if I didn’t have to.
I grabbed a grape and tossed it in my mouth. After swallowing, I said, “I told Raiden and Ford to make sure there’s a spot carved out for you.” Ford didn’t have a car, so he always rode with Raiden to school. They lived in the same neighborhood, so it was easy for Raiden to pick him up. And we always parked in the same spot because students went stupid over sports royalty at Eastwood High. Creating an empty space between my car and Raiden’s to make room for Duke would be no problem.
I was Eastwood High’s reigning championship quarterback, while Raiden was my go-to wide receiver, and Ford was my offensive right tackle. Ford protected the fuck out of me and my arm. I hadn’t known them when I started Eastwood, but we had bonded as freshmen when we had tried out for football and the seniors had tried to haze us.
It hadn’t gone very well.
Ford was a right tackle for a reason; the dude was a huge. Raiden and I were similarly built, and could hold our own, to which we had. And then, once we had showcased our athletic abilities on the field, everyone had backed off and we’ve been given a wide berth ever since.
Where I had dark brown hair and hazel eyes, Raiden had dark brown hair with blue eyes, and Ford had dark blonde hair with light blue eyes. The only thing we had in common were the scowls we constantly wore on our faces. None of us suffered fake groupies with grace. The happiest person in our group was Duke, but that’s how I liked it. I wanted my brother to feel safe enough to be happy.
Me?
I already knew people were shit. It became glaringly obvious the first time I threw a touchdown pass to win our freshman division championship.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the spoils like every other horny teenage boy, but I wasn’t blinded by the lights or the glory. If I needed to get laid, I picked a girl and got the deed done. If I needed someone to talk to, I had my brother and friends for that.
“Okay,” he said, chewing around another piece of fruit. “Do you know if Mom and Dad will be here this week?” Dad traveled a lot and he always took our mother with him. That’s probably the sweetest thing I could say about their marriage.
Our father was a multi-millionaire, with Samson Industries having its fingers in damn near every fucking thing, and he kept himself up. Women have wanted a piece of the man for as long as I could remember. But, as far as I knew, he never strayed from my mother. She didn’t work, so she could follow him wherever he went, and he made sure she did. The few times she’d been forced to stay behind because she was sick, or whatever, Samson fucking Maddox had cancelled whatever business he had to in order to stay home with his wife. It was almost as if they were so absorbed in one another, Duke and I were afterthoughts. Every kid wishes their parents were happily married, but our parents took it a bit far in my opinion. But, to be fair, I’ve never been in love like them before. I didn’t know the force of its power, even if I knew it was powerful.
“I think so,” I told him. “Their anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks, and Dad needs to clean up the office before taking her to St. Lucia for their trip.”
We ate our breakfast in silence for a while until Duke
said, “I heard a rumor at Tessa Grier’s back-to-school party last weekend.”
Last weekend? And he was just now mentioning it?
“I’ve been debating tell you,” he mumbled.
“Why?”
Duke huffed and stood up from his seat and picked up his backpack from the floor where he had tossed it when he had walked into the kitchen. “Because you get mean and ugly when people do or say stupid shit,” he pointed out, hoisting the bag strap over his left shoulder.
“I do not,” I denied.
He arched a brow. “Really?” he deadpanned.
I ignored him. “What did you hear?”
“So, there I was,” he began, “with my hand up Kim’s-”
I threw my hand up. “Stop,” I ordered. “I don’t need details, Duke. Just tell me what you heard.”
He rolled his eyes. “I overheard a couple of girls talking, but I didn’t really pay attention to who they were because I was…uh, otherwise occupied. But when I heard your name, my ears perked up. Their loyalty to you runs deep.” Jesus, this kid. “Anyway, I heard them talking about Phyllis Montague, and I guess she’s thinking three years is long enough for you to forget what she tried to do. It sounds like she might have you in her sights again and isn’t taking no for an answer this time.”
“What makes you say that?” I really wasn’t interested because there was no way I’d ever fuck, much less date, Phyllis, but a man could never have enough information on his enemy.
“One of the girls had mentioned that it was a shame you weren’t at the party because she was really hoping to blow you-”
“Duke.”
He laughed. “What? It’s true. I’m just repeating what I heard, B.B.” B.B. stood for big brother because, when Duke was little, those two words had been a struggle for him. “She mentioned wanting to blow you and the second girl had warned her that she had better watch it because Phyllis was claiming you this year.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “She’s a nonfactor. And I’m not going to get mean or mad. She doesn’t matter, Duke.”
Duke grinned. “I can’t wait for the day a girl comes around and knocks you on your ass.”
Little did he know.
Chapter 3
Mackenzie~
My head was so far inside my locker, if someone came along and shut the door, it’d sever my head.
This day sucked.
Contrary to Charlie’s pep talk this morning, things weren’t okay. It wasn’t that people were being mean, or anything, but everyone was whispering, and I knew they were whispering about me. It didn’t help that I had Phyllis Montague in my second period, and I had gotten some serious territorial vibes off the girl when I had passed her to go sit in the only empty chair in the back of the room.
“Okay, so maybe I lied,” my cousin’s voice hit me from behind.
I pulled my head out of my locker and looked at her. “You think?”
She winced, but then tried to fake it with a lopsided smile. “Brayden’s not very well liked around here.”
I had never bothered following football just because my boyfriend had been on the team. All I had known about Brayden and football was that he had been a defensive end and a captain of some sort. Brayden wasn’t overly big, but he was quick and tenacious. And, supposedly, good at the position he played.
However, even if I had been completely sports ignorant, everyone knew the sports rivalry between Ridgeview and Eastwood was serious in every category. The baseball teams couldn’t play without at least one fight breaking out between the two teams. I heard the swim teams were even worse. Could you imagine trying to win a swim meet but fearing you’ll be drowned if you did? But even I knew football was the be-all-end-all of the rivalry. Brayden hadn’t made any friends in Eastwood, and me having been his girlfriend for over a year wasn’t doing me any favors right now.
I grabbed my AP English book from my locker and was grateful Charlie had this class with me. “It’s not like I was a cheerleader or something,” I mumbled discouragingly. “I just went to his games and watched him play. Hell, if I’m being honest, I didn’t even watch him play. I played on my phone half the time.”
“Mack, even if you weren’t who you were, you’re still the new girl,” Charlie replied sympathetically. “You would still garner attention. Besides, a lot of these people don’t know that you’ve broken up with Brayden.”
That was another lie I had to pull off. I had told Charlie, Shondra, and Ella that Brayden and I hadn’t wanted to do long-distance for our senior year, so that’s why we had broken up. Ella and Charlie had bought it, but Shondra was more astute. She had pointed out that it was only a twenty-minute drive between towns, and that was hardly long-distance. I had finally convinced her when I had pointed out that senior year was all about sowing wild oats and having fun. What kind of fun would me and Brayden have just missing each other? She had bought it. Or so, I had hoped.
But Charlie was right. Since I had deactivated my social media accounts, there hadn’t been this big social media announcement that we had broken up. Well, at least, not from me. But I suspected Brayden hadn’t posted anything either. I wasn’t sure if he’s moved on or not, but I wasn’t about to open myself up to finding out. I wanted nothing to do with Brayden Mahoney and I wasn’t going to go fishing to find out what his relationship status was. It should be single even if it was subtle.
We headed towards class and the stares and whispers hadn’t subsided just because Charlie was walking with me. “Maybe I could have the administration lady broadcast it over the speakers when she does the morning announcements tomorrow,” I said wryly.
Charlie laughed. “You’ll be old news by the end of the week,” she predicted, and I wanted to believe her. Walking to class, I wouldn’t realize until much later how very wrong she would be.
“Maybe I should have a shirt made proclaiming my single status,” I joked.
“I’d say it couldn’t hurt, but I’d be lying,” she replied, smiling.
“Why do you say that?”
Charlie rolled her pretty brown eyes. “I swear, it’s like you don’t even own a mirror,” she teased. “You’re beautiful, Mackenzie. The second the guys in this school hear that you’re single, they’re going to be all over you.”
“That’s the last thing I need,” I grumbled, and it was true. Brayden had been my first serious boyfriend, having asked me out the summer before we had started our junior year of high school. Before him, I had gone on dates and hung out with a few guys, but nothing that ever went beyond some chaste kisses. When Brayden had asked me out, I hadn’t expected much after our first date, but it had been easy getting caught up in his energy. He’d been popular, athletic, charming, fun, and dating him had felt exciting and carefree.
Until it hadn’t been anymore.
The only thing we hadn’t gotten around to was having sex. When everyone else around us had been sleeping their way through the entire junior and senior classes, Brayden had never gone farther than sticking his hands down my panties. I had never even given him a blowjob, but I had jacked him off plenty of times. He had never taken things farther than that, though. Whenever I would bring it up, he’d get upset and lash out that his wife wasn’t going to be fucked like some trashy whore. He had a fixation on bedding a virgin on his wedding night. It hadn’t been until later that I realized why it had been so easy for him to hold back. He’d been cheating on me the entire time we had been together.
That had been the catalyst for the night he had hit me in my face. Ella had been driving me home, and when we had passed Sarah Miller’s house, I had looked over and saw Brayden walking out of her front door, then turning around and giving her a kiss that could not be misconstrued. Thankfully, Ella had been singing like a loon to the latest song by The Weeknd, so she hadn’t been paying attention. When she had dropped me off, I had called Brayden and he had immediately come over. I had told him I was leaving him, and when he realized I was serious, the n
ightmare had begun. Actually, the nightmare had begun six months before that, but that night had been beyond what he’d already been doing.
“It doesn’t matter if you need it or not,” Charlie replied as we reached our English class. “I’m not sure you can stop it.”
She pulled open the door, and we walked in together. Charlie and I sat next together in the back of the class and it was the first time today that I felt relaxed.
Charlie was around five-three, the same height at me, and had dark brown hair and big, pretty brown eyes. She had a heart-shaped face and played soccer, so she had an athletic built and it worked for her. Charlie could rock sweats and a dress both in spectacular fashion. She was also friendly and knew a lot of people, so I really appreciated how she was babysitting me today.
We took our seats, and as the teacher was getting set up, I leaned over to tell her so. “Hey, Charlie, thanks for…helping me today.”
She waved me off. “Seriously, Mackenzie, you’re my cousin. At lunch, I’ll introduce you to a few of the people I hang out with and you’ll have other people to talk to besides me in no time.”
I didn’t counter her claim, but the truth was, I wasn’t even sure if that’s what I wanted. I just really wanted to get through my senior year with as little drama as possible, and I wasn’t sure if that would happen if I started expanding my social circle.
Third period had gone off without a hitch. And when Charlie and I had parted ways at my locker, she promised to meet me there right after fourth period for lunch.
I continued to ignore the stares and whispers, but I did my best to hold my head up high and act like I belonged here. I wouldn’t embarrass Charlie and I didn’t want anyone to think they could start treating me as if I had a bullseye on my back.
Sure, the last six months with Brayden had made me gun shy but, before that, I had been a strong, confident girl. I had seen my mom do what needed to be done to provide for us, so I knew what true strength and resilience looked like. My mom had raised me to value those traits, and I wanted to find my way back to possessing those worthy qualities.
The Eastwood Series Page 2