Masked Truth: Harrington Hills Academy: Book One

by Mae Reese

  He doesn’t say anything for several minutes as I sit and fume in my seat, fiddling with my phone that has finally powered back on. I scroll through the messages I missed; a couple from Maisie making sure I made it home ok, one from Silas, a picture of a cat in a bar from Granny, and one from a number I don’t have saved as a contact.

  (306) 555-7249- I hope you made it in safely, thanks for letting me take you home. -B

  I inwardly smile, even though I'm unsure how he got my phone number.

  “Who drove you home?” He asks again, his tone a little more exasperated.

  “Sure as shit wasn’t you” I reply with disgust as I start looking through Instagram on my phone, using it to avoid any full on conversation that would turn into an argument.

  He drops the subject and continues the drive to school, swinging through a drive-through to grab himself some breakfast and not bothering to ask if I wanted anything. Typical.

  My fingers are absently scrolling through pictures on my feed when I stop, scrolling back up one and noticing the familiar dirty blonde head sitting around a bonfire with his arm draped around a sophomore. I snap a screenshot, saving it before I speak.

  “You left me at the diner and went to a freaking party to hang all over another girl?!” I ask keeping my tone neutral, turning my gaze to him.

  His face falls, his mouth opening and closing quickly trying to get something out. “You're un-fucking-believable you know that?” I stare at him, floored.

  “Baby, I just needed to blow off some steam. I had a shitty practice and when I left some of the guys called and said they were having a bonfire…” he trailed off when I put my hand up to stop him.

  “Just save it Wes, I really shouldn’t be shocked” I say, turning to stare out the window. “You could do a hell of a lot better”

  Barron’s words from the night before replay in my head as we turn into the parking lot at school. I am still fuming silently as Wes cuts the engine and turns to speak to me but I open the door and hop out before he has a chance, slamming the door behind me.

  I can hear him calling my name as I make my way through the parked cars, my phone clutched in my hand.

  I shoot Maisie a text telling her to meet me in the empty classroom that they use for storage on the second floor at the end of the junior hallway.

  Pushing the doors open, I take the stairs two at a time oblivious to anything going on around me. A hand shoots out, stopping me in my tracks right before I reach the landing of the stairway.

  I look up into hunter green eyes, an inky black piece of hair falling across them that has fallen from where he messily styled it.

  “Hey, you ok?” He asks, his brows draw together.

  I open my mouth to answer but I hear the door open below, hitting the wall behind it with a bang. “Skylar, hold up” I turn around to see Wes’ face morph into one of anger when he sees me standing next to Barron, his hand still wrapped around my upper arm.

  “Get your hands off my girl Tucker” he growls, taking the steps quickly to reach us. Barron ignores his command, looking down at me with concern in his eyes.

  “You good?” He asks quietly and I nod in reply, only then does he begrudgingly release my arm.

  “What did I tell you about looking at my girl” Weston says, turning his emotional chaos on Barron and away from me.

  I use the distraction to slink away, turning and heading up the stairs. I don’t wait around for Weston’s dick measuring contest to play out.

  “Dammit Sky, Wait” he yells after me, but I turn the corner and quickly duck into the storage classroom, locking the door behind me even though I know he didn’t see which room I went into.

  Maisie is already there, sitting on a stack of chairs picking polish off her nails. “We really need a manicure appointment” she says without looking up.

  I groan and stomp across the room.

  “What’s wrong?” She asks, finally looking up and seeing my face which I’m sure is a mix of anger and annoyance.

  “What’s wrong is that idiot I am dating left me at the diner last night to go to a bonfire and hang all over Stephy Mickelson” I reply, hopping up on top of one of the old teacher desks pushed against the wall.

  “You mean the girl who got caught shoving the frozen hot dog…” she starts but I stop her “Yep, that very one” I say with disgust.

  Let’s be real here for a second. I am not disgusted that Wes may or may not be cheating on me. Quite the opposite, I almost hope he is so I have a reason to drop his ass without hearing shit from Linda.

  “Hmmm” she says, biting her bottom lip and looking sideways at the floor.

  “What are you hiding” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. She’s such a shit secret keeper, at least from me that is.

  “I’m not hiding anything, it’s just….” She sighs “there were some rumors going around this summer while you were gone. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t have any proof and you know how the rumors are at this damn school” she rambles on.

  I cock my eyebrow and twist my hand, silently telling her to go on.

  “Someone said that they saw Wes hooking up with some girl from Westerberry at a party over the summer at the lake…” she trails off again.

  “And you kept this to yourself because…?” I ask, not really annoyed with her but wanting an answer just the same.

  “Because like I said, the rumor mill here is shit and seventy percent of the stories you hear are fake. I didn’t want to ruin your summer by telling you what I had heard” she answers “and I figure since you and I are about on the same ‘love’ wavelength you probably wouldn’t give two shits.”

  I chuckle because she’s mostly right. My relationship with Weston is nowhere near the ‘love’ stage, hell it’s barely in the ‘like’ stage, it’s more like the ‘why the fuck am I with this moron’ stage. My only true reason for still being with Weston is that if I ended my relationship with him, my parents would make my life hell and with only one year left until I graduate and leave this place I want to make my home life as easy as possible.

  But if I find proof that he’s off sticking his dick in other girls, then even I won’t have the patience to fake it anymore… pissed off parents or not.

  My phone buzzes in my hand and I groan, knowing its Weston only I look down and see it’s not;

  (306) 555-7249- You obviously weren’t ok in the hall earlier, if you need a knight you know how to reach me.

  I smirk at my phone but startle when Maisie yanks it out of my hand.

  “A knight huh?” She asks, grinning at me before tapping away at the keyboard.

  “Mais what are you doing?” I ask, reaching to grab the phone only to be thwarted as she turns away from me.

  “Just helping my bestie out” she says before hitting send and handing the phone back to me. I look down at the screen to see what she sent and gasp “You asshole” I laugh.

  Skylar- No I wasn’t ok. Apparently my other knight has been sticking his lance in all the beer wenches in town. I may just have to try out another knight to see if his moral compass is any better ;)

  She followed it up by sending a Gif of a princess giving a knight on horseback a kiss. My face flames as I laugh at the shit she just pulled.

  “I can’t believe you did that” I shriek, falling back on the desk. She takes the phone again and tape the screen a few more times before handing it back to me. It vibrates immediately as she does and I check to see what Barron has replied.

  Locker-bang: Well, my moral compass seems to be fully functioning so this knight would be glad to save the princess any day…

  Locker-bang: and don’t worry, I’m pretty selective about which wenches I put my lance into ;)

  “You’re welcome” she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the desk “now let’s get our asses to class before were late.”

  “Damn you, now I have to go and face him in class!” I say, opening the door and shoving my phone in the pocket of my bag.

>   “I know this is going to be so fun to watch” she laughs and I push her to the side which only makes her laugh harder.

  Chapter 8

  Skylar

  Slipping into first period a second before the bell rings earns Maisie and I both a glare from Mr. Franklin.

  Smiling apologetically I hurry to my seat in the back, trying my best to avoid Barron’s smirking face.

  I swear I am going to hang Maisie from the bleachers by her nipples…

  “Glad to see you can grace us commoners with your presence princess” Barron says quietly, leaning so close to my back I can feel his breath tickling my cheek.

  I hide my smirk. “All of this royal awesomeness shouldn’t be hidden away from the public. That would be a travesty.”

  “Total travesty” I can hear his own smirk in his words.

  Maisie raises her eyebrow at me before furiously writing in the journal. I can see her eyebrows dancing across her face and know that she’s about to put Christian Grey to shame with all the dirtiness she’s spewing.

  “So I hear there’s a party Friday night…” this time it’s Sebastian speaking up, causing a momentary pause of Maisie’s dissertation and dissection of whatever she thinks is going on between Barron and I.

  I nod my head. “Yeah, it’s over at this sophomore girls house. Ironically, a certain sophomore I am itching to have a little chat with…” I trail off.

  The irony isn’t lost on me that the very first party of the school year is being thrown at Stephy Mickelson’s house.

  I’m not sure whether to punch her in her face for the sake of perception or buy her a fucking pair of Louboutins as a huge thank you.

  Still undecided. Decisions, decisions.

  A tap on my shoulder interrupts my inner musings. “Is that not driving you crazy?” Barron asks.

  I furrow my brows, unsure of what he means. Was I thinking out loud?

  “Your phone, I can hear it vibrating from here and whoever is texting you is on a rampage… or being a stage five clinger” the corner of his mouth tips up in amusement.

  Reaching down into my bag I pull out my phone and it vibrates with another incoming text. Inwardly I groan as I see I have 34 missed texts from Weston.

  Wes: Babe where did u go?

  Wes: Come on babe, I want 2 talk about this.

  Wes: We also need 2 talk about y Tucker was touching you.

  Wes: Dammit Sky this shit isn’t funny.

  Wes: I love u. U kno nothing happened with Stephy.

  They go on and on, some pleading and some angry, all of them typical Weston Montgomery.

  I can feel Barron unapologetically reading over my shoulder.

  “Damn, apparently he’s so sorry” he mocks, placing his hand on his heart and making puppy dog eyes.

  I roll my eyes at him before shoving the phone back in my bag and leaving the messages unanswered. I’m sure he will be angry by lunch and already have figured out a way to turn this around on me. It’s his specialty.

  ∞∞∞

  A tray slides beside me at the lunch table a second before the chair is taken by a very pissed off Weston Montgomery. “Why was Tucker touching you in the hallway?” He leans back on his chair, his eyes hard and unreadable.

  I don’t respond. I tip my head slightly before turning back around and attempting to finish my conversation with Maisie.

  A strong hand grips my upper arm, turning me back around. “I asked you a question” he seethes.

  “And I don’t feel you deserve an answer. You obviously didn’t care when you had your hands all over Stephy last night” I reply. Cold. Detached. My role.

  His releases my arm, his eyes changing from malice to playful. “Baby, you know you’re my everything. There’s no need for jealousy.” He wraps his finger in one of my blonde curls, tugging it softly.

  Delusional mother fucker…

  A loud noise erupts from the corner of the cafeteria. Everyone turns just in time to see Sebastian and Tanner, another new Townesville kid, following a visibly pissed off Barron out of the cafeteria.

  Maisie turns back to me, her eyebrows raised. I furrow mine in response.

  “So everyone down for this party Friday night?” Samuel asks from the end of the table. He reaches around Ella, a JV cheerleader who is sitting on his lap, and grabs his water from the table in front of her.

  “We will be there” Weston answers for us. Because, you know, I am incapable of making my own decisions.

  Brock grunts an agreement, his arm thrown over the back of Maisie’s chair.

  Maisie adjusts herself towards him “I can’t, I have ballet until late. We have to rehearse for the upcoming production” she says, tucking a lock of her red hair behind her ear.

  Damn her for leaving me to fend for myself.

  Brock fake pouts and she pushes his face away with her hand before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I can come by after I am finished…”

  She won’t. She’s only saying it to appease him but we both know she will be a no show. Besides, by the time she gets out of rehearsal Brock will be so drunk he won’t even notice she doesn’t come.

  Lucky bitch.

  The boys start talking football which leaves Maisie and I to ourselves to discuss the newest rumor about Cherise Kirk and Mr. Matthew’s apparent summer fling. “To be fair, if I was going to drill any teacher it would totally be Matthews” she says.

  I scrunch my nose. “He’s like forty-five…” I trail off.

  “More experience” she wiggles her eyebrows. I throw a French fry at her but Brock catches it, tossing it in his mouth.

  “Are you all talking about Matthews and Cherise?” He asks.

  “Yeah, apparently one of the drama members caught them backstage over the summer during one of their set design things” I reply “They were making use of a coffin prop.”

  “Never would have thought Cherise had it in her” Maisie muses.

  “Seriously? Ask Weston about how wild Cherise is, he’s the one…” both Wes’ and my head snap in his direction causing Brocks eyes to widen.

  “He’s the one what?” I ask, my eyes cutting to Wes.

  He doesn’t even have the gall to look ashamed “It was before we started dating” Wes says, the lie obvious in his tone, he seems to forget Cherise didn’t even transfer to HHA until last year.

  “Ok” I say.

  “Ok?”

  “Yeah, I mean… you wouldn’t ever lie to me. Right babe?” I ask, adding extra syrup to my tone and smiling at him.

  “Never” he smiles, leaning in to kiss me.

  I can feel Maisie’s eyes shooting daggers at me wondering why I let him get away with that. The silent question all but screaming from her pores.

  The bell rings causing us to all pack up our stuff, grabbing trays to trash as we head out. I head to my locker and grab my Chemistry book and tossing my morning books in. I’m about to close my locker when a body falls onto the locker next to me.

  “Sebastian” I say, closing my locker and turning the lock.

  He doesn’t speak for a moment, squinting his eyes at me as if he’s deciding on something and he can’t quite make up his mind. “You need to head over to the library. In the back, the section where they keep those old encyclopedias.” He says before walking off.

  What the fuck?

  The only reason Sebastian would be telling me to go somewhere is if it involves Barron. Tossing my books in my bag I turn and head towards the library instead of my Chem class.

  The library at Harrington Hills Academy is a massive two story building that sits at the back of campus. It rivals some of the university libraries I have seen on our college tours.

  Walking through the front door I smile at Ms. Margola before heading towards the stairway off the side. I take the stairs and walk the long open aisle between the rows of bookshelves, taking a right and heading back to the secluded section that houses old encyclopedias, atlases, and yearbooks.

  I come to a halt when I see Barro
n sitting in one of the old leather chairs. His long legs are stretched before him and his head is resting on the seat back, his face towards the ceiling. I can see his eyes are closed. He almost looks asleep.

  Chapter 9

  Barron

  “Hey” her voice sounds quiet and tentative when she speaks, startling me a little. She’s the last person I would have expected to be standing in front of me right now.

  I take her in. Her long tan legs disappearing under her plaid uniform skirt, blonde hair in curls and hanging over her shoulder. She’s chewing her lip again.

  Fuck that’s so hot.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice coming out a bit strained.

  “Sebastian said I needed to come” she replies, shocking me slightly.

  Huffing, I drag both of my hands down my face before settling my elbows on my knees “He shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, I came in here to cool off” and figure out what the fuck is wrong with me I reply, my leg bouncing up and down from the anger still coursing through me.

  She nods “I noticed you were a little pissed at lunch, want to talk about it?”

  A little pissed? It took Sebastian and Tanner to drag me out of the cafeteria after I saw that fucktard grabbing her arm.

  She tosses her book bag on the floor, curling her legs underneath her as she takes a seat on the chair opposite me.

  I carefully choose my words, watching my tone as to not frighten her as the anger still courses through my veins “Did he hurt you?”

  Her face shows confusion. “Weston?” She asks.

  “Yes, that douchebag. Did he hurt you?” I ask again, grinding my teeth together to keep my cool. “When he grabbed your arm at lunch, did he hurt you?”

  She shakes her head no, and I can feel a bit of the tension leave my body.

  “Is that why you got so angry?” She asks me, her fingers toying with the hem of her skirt.

  I don’t answer for a minute, debating on telling her the truth or holding it in.