Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance

by Melissa Adams

  Reece

  I SLEEP MOST OF THE afternoon and I don't even bother letting coach know that I won't be at practice today.

  I wake up because my phone is buzzing with an incoming text. It’s been doing it for a while now.

  I check and there’s one from coach but the other ten are all from Lissa.

  I groan and hide my head under my pillow.

  This is why I’ve never even wanted to take things further than a casual hookup, she's so fucking clingy!

  At first she seems really nice but give her a shred of attention and next thing you know she’ll been sending you links to engagement rings and telling you what colours you should wear to complement your skin tone.

  I ignore the texts and I’m relieved and disappointed at the same time that there's none from Abi.

  I know that regardless of what I believe about those Facebook posts, what I said at lunch was wrong.

  Pryce and Chaz are right and even though I still don't know if I can date Abi or if I even wanna be her friend, I also know that I’ve got to apologise.

  And I definitely know the reason why I got so mad.

  I’m in love with her.

  I’ve been in love with her since that night at Lissa's party, when I kissed her during that earthquake.

  This is why I reacted the way I did.

  I know it's fucked up. I’m fucked up.

  I hear another shrill noise and this time it's not my phone but there's someone at the door.

  I groan and get up slowly and unsteadily, I told the housekeeper to go home when I got here from school, so there's no one else to open the fucking door.

  The doorbell rings again, whoever it is obviously really needs to see me.

  Chaz and Pryce have keys, so I don't think they’d ring.

  Could it be Abi? Or even worse, Lissa?

  But it isn't one of the girls, so imagine my surprise when I find myself staring at Max.

  I almost double take for a second, thinking that I’m still asleep or still drunk or both.

  But my former best friend is standing in front of me on my doorstep, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders rigid with tension.

  We stare at each other for a long moment: he used to have a key to my house too but he hasn't set foot in here in the last five months, since the night that changed everything.

  “You must have the wrong address, somehow.”

  It's not a question. I look into his brown eyes trying to intimidate him but he just nods and asks me if he can come in.

  “Why?”

  “Why do you think? I need to talk to you.”

  I take one step forward and shut the door behind me, preventing Max from seeing inside the house.

  “I don't think so. If my dad knew that I let you set foot inside our house, after what happened last spring, he’d fucking disown me. Not that it would matter much but I’d rather avoid the fucking arguments. So, we can talk out here. What the fuck do you want?”

  He takes a deep breath and lowers himself onto the first step to my front porch.

  “You need to apologise to Abi. She's devastated, she’s been crying inconsolably all afternoon. Pryce and Chaz skipped practice to stay with her and I covered for you all with coach. You’ve had a family emergency. And you're welcome.”

  I so wanna punch him in the face and wipe that smug little smile off of him!

  Max always was the level headed one out of all of us, the one who kept his cool when shit got serious and thought of how to get out of a sticky situation.

  He always was the one we turned to in the time of need.

  I miss him having my back, knowing that after teasing me mercilessly, he’d have the solution to my problems.

  “Why are you getting involved in this? Is this how you think you're gonna get in her pants?”

  My gaze is hard, I want him to know that I see through his act. This is the first time we’ve talked again after that night last May and the last conversation we had before today, certainly wasn't calm nor friendly.

  Max doesn't bite onto my bait for a fight, he sighs.

  “No. I don't think she likes me that way, dude. God knows I tried but I saw the way she looks at you, Chaz and Pryce. And what you did earlier in the cafeteria? That was cold even for you. You owe Abi an apology.”

  His judgemental glare totally rubs me the wrong way but I know he's right and that pisses me off even more, so I snap at him.

  “Sure! I’ll apologise to her when she stops using me and the guys to get likes on Facebook and followers on Instagram by spreading lies about us. How does that sound to you? Or does she get to lie and use us? Since our reputation isn't salvageable?”

  Max sighs and for the first time he looks tired and sad but there's also a different emotion in his eyes.

  Guilt?

  Regret?

  For just a second, I wanna wrap my arm around his neck in a headlock and give him a noogie like I’ve done countless times since we were kids but we aren't friends anymore. In this weird, new reality we sit awkwardly on a step and tell each other hard truths.

  And it's a hard truth that my former friend delivers when he lifts his gaze to look straight into my eyes.

  “She didn't do it. She didn't spread those rumours nor post the poll or any of that other shit. That's not even her Facebook profile.”

  I interrupt him with a scoffing sound and I sound bitter even to myself when I ask him how the hell Abi convinced him of her innocence.

  “I can imagine what she did to Chaz and Pryce to get them on her side but you? Or have you both been lying and have you planned this together from the very beginning?”

  Max’s gaze hardens and his tone is stern, I’ve seen him this way very rarely.

  “You aren't listening, Reece. You're too busy with your fucking conspiracy theories to see things realistically. Listen to what I’m saying, dude! Abi has nothing to do with any of that shit, ok? Trust me on this.”

  I scoff and hold his gaze.

  “That’s rich coming from you!”

  “Yeah, I know. But nevertheless, I’m telling you the truth. Look, you can't tell anyone what I’m about to tell you or it’ll be war at school. Lissa, Marlene and Kylie have had their eyes on you and the guys since last year. They’ve been planning to get with you all summer. Then Abi came along and they thought that by making her look like a slut, you guys would lose interest and they’d have a chance.”

  “Are you fucking shitting me right now?”

  He shakes his head, dead serious.

  “No, dude. Marlene and Kylie have been spreading the rumours and Lissa had the idea of the Facebook posts. She created a fake profile and she's been posting all that shit to piss you off enough to dump Abi.”

  I’m so fucking livid that I don't even know where to start.

  “And you’ve known this the whole time? And you let Abi be treated like the school slut?”

  “No. I haven't known the whole time. At first I thought that Abi was behind the rumours and the posts too. Then after she wouldn't dance with me at the bonfire, I was pissed off and a little drunk and I ended up hooking up with Lissa and she told me everything.”

  What the actual fuck!

  “So you knew what she was up to, and you let her continue with it? Because if memory serves, you found out before that fucking poll!”

  He nods and at least he's got the decency to look uncomfortable.

  But never as uncomfortable as his next confession makes me feel.

  “Look, I know it was a shitty thing to do, ok? I liked Abi immediately when I saw her at Lissa’s party. But you guys got your fucking paws on her straight away. At first I saw it like a challenge: I wanted her because if she chose me, that’d hurt you guys. Then, when I found out what the girls were doing, I told myself that if Abi stopped seeing you guys it’d be for the best. That I was letting Lissa doing that shit with Abi’s safety at heart.”

  I’m sick to my stomach and it isn't only the booze.

  “So
she was a pawn in your fucking revenge scheme against us? Make her choose you ...”

  “Take Abi from you like you took Emily from me, yes. But the reason I’m telling you this, is that I realised that I like her too much to use her.”

  I can't fucking believe this guy! And I can't fucking believe that I considered him a brother for most of my life.

  “And did you come clean with her about all this?”

  The look in his eyes tells me that he didn't.

  “Look, Reece, my motives are irrelevant. I won't lie to you, if she decided that she wanted me, I’d fucking take her away from you faster than you can say rally girl. But I’m done playing stupid games and I’m done looking at her as a way to hurt you. I’ve come to talk to you because the look in her eyes in that cafeteria earlier today broke my heart. I thought you should know that she isn't a liar and whatever else you’ve been doing to her to punish her, you need to cut that shit or I’ll cut it for you. How could you not believe her?”

  The nerve on this dude!

  I look at him with what I hope is a neutral look, one that doesn't show the fucking perfect storm of emotions that's furiously battering my heart right now.

  “The same way you didn't believe me, Chaz and Pryce when we swore that we didn't touch Emily. How does that sound, asshole? With one difference: I haven't known Abi since we were six, like you did the three of us.”

  I stand up and he does too, his eyes trained on a random spot on the floor.

  “You're perfectly right. And I knew that you wouldn't believe her, this is why I’m here.”

  I shouldn't be grateful for what he did, it doesn't make up for what he put me and the others through.

  But I am because at least now I know for sure that my first instinct about Abi was right.

  “Have you heard from her? Is she all right?”

  I’m talking about Emily and he knows.

  He lifts his gaze to look at me.

  “No. I haven't spoken directly to her since the day after Prom. Her parents sent her away to her grandmother in SC. She spent the whole summer there. I heard she transferred to Aylesbury Prep. At first I tried to call her and text her but she never picked up or replied.”

  He sounds sad and for a second, I don't even blame him too much for the way he acted towards us.

  If I thought that someone touched Abi against her will ...

  “I’m so sorry, dude. I honestly don't know what happened that night but I know that the guys and I just fell asleep watching a movie and when we woke up all hell broke loose. I know that you don't believe us but I’m still fucking sorry. For you, for Emily but more than anything else for our friendship. I know you hate me and I fucking hate you too but ... I miss you, bro.”

  I regret saying those words straight away but he surprises me by nodding, his eyes are downcast as if he were trying to hide his emotions.

  “I don't even know what I believe anymore, dude. And I know it's not enough. I know that I believed what was easier at the time because there was jealousy among us and ... it doesn't matter. We'll never know what really happened, will we? And my behaviour towards you guys and the ghosts of that night are too much for any friendship to survive. I know you're a fucking dickhead but I should've believed you. Now it doesn't matter, it's too late. But I miss you too.”

  I grab his forearm and squeeze and he does the same with me.

  He turns and starts walking towards his car but before climbing in, he turns around.

  “Just go and fix things with your girl. I hope she gives you some real shit for how you acted. I like her Reece and if she liked me, I’d act on it in a heartbeat. But not to get back at you, because she's a dream. I’ve never met anyone like her before. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to like me that way or much at all, really.”

  He drives away and I wait until his car is out of sight before climbing into one of my cars and driving to Chaz's.

  He and Pryce were fucking right, I’ve got some major grovelling to do.

  15.

  Five Little Words

  Abi

  I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS worse, seeing Reece kiss Lissa or the way he talked to me or how he told the whole school that I’m a virgin.

  I even hate that fucking word!

  It's always used as a weapon, always to hurt someone.

  ‘Oh you're a virgin ...’ so you're a loser.

  ‘Oh you aren't a virgin ...’ so you're a slut.

  And it doesn't get much better for guys, even though they just experience being called losers if they're virgins, they don't get slut shamed like girls do.

  Hot tears keep streaming down my face, I can't stop crying so I don't even try.

  I run to the nearest bathroom and lock myself into the first stall.

  Reece doesn't believe me, this is the whole problem.

  And after what Pryce told me, I understand why.

  I understand the anger that constantly burns in his dark blue eyes.

  He’s always been lied to and betrayed so now he expects it at every turn.

  I understand him because I’ve been shoved aside and treated like an unwanted burden my whole life.

  I’ve never belonged anywhere and I’ve never mattered to anyone.

  I know that being lied to about where he came from, must've made him feel the same way I did every time I was let down.

  Every time my father cancelled a visit or a trip home because something came up.

  When the people who are supposed to love you, constantly let you down you come to expect it as a given.

  I know that my brother has had the same issues but he was lucky that Sam’s family took him in.

  Me?

  The nuns didn't allow us any modern technology but we could write letters.

  I wrote a letter to my mom every week and she's always written back.

  We were allowed a weekly phone call with a parent and Dad would call once a month to get a report on my studies but the other three Saturday mornings?

  Mom only missed a call if she'd had her privileges revoked at whatever rehab she was at.

  I love my mom, she still tried to be my mom even if she's never been strong enough to overcome her addiction, not even for me.

  This is what Reece needs to understand, that even in a shitty situation, you can't control other people's actions but you can control your reaction to them.

  He lashed out at me because he thinks that I betrayed him for a second time.

  Now my choice is if I wanna play this hurtful game and retaliate or if I wanna forgive and move on when he eventually realises that I didn't lie and I didn't use him.

  I’ll wait for him, I’ve got no choice because since he pulled me up from the floor when I crashed into him, even before he kissed me during that earthquake, I’ve been in love with him.

  I’ve tried to deny it, even with myself, but it's how it is.

  With Pryce it happened just as quickly.

  And then there's Chaz, my sweet Chaz.

  His arms are my safe harbour, his kisses are sexy and sweet at the same time.

  Reece is like a fierce warrior.

  Pryce is gorgeous and has a quiet strength that draws me in.

  Chaz has a bad boy façade but deep down he’s the sweetest and most loving, the one I trust the most with my heart.

  I’m in love with them and Reece right now hates me.

  That thought starts my tears again and I almost miss the soft knock on the thin door of the stall I’m in.

  “All the other bathrooms are free. Go away!”

  “It’s me. Gabbie.”

  I open the door and I don't miss my friend’s worried look.

  “Oh, Abi ...”

  She wraps her arms around me and when I calm down she tells me that Reece stormed out of the cafeteria straight after I did.

  “Chaz is driving him home. Girl, I could smell the alcohol on Reece’s breath from where I was sitting.”

  I rub my eyes with trembling hands. I’ve cried so much that they
feel sore and swollen.

  “He thinks that I posted that poll. He’s convinced that I only care about him because he's popular. Gabbie, I’m sick of this shit! At my old school the other girls were horrible to me. I wanted things to be different here. I was hoping to make real friends.”

  Gabbie shakes her long brown hair and sighs.

  “Real friends? At this school? Look, honey, I’ve been attending here since kindergarten and you're the only person I’d call a friend. The girls here are mostly out to be popular and land a great boyfriend. Someone from a rich family. There are a lot of arranged marriages in Beverly Hills high society and the match making starts here in high school.”

  I must look surprised because she explains.

  “Look, I know it's the twenty first century and everything but in certain social circles, especially where old money is concerned, girls get raised thinking that they'll only be worth the marriage they’ll make. They measure their own success with the size of their house, the size of the engagement ring they get, how many feet their yacht is.

  Families push them to aggressively pursue the most eligible bachelors because alliances are forged and strengthened with marriage. It's always been this way. My mom and dad were paired to go to the local chapter of Cotillion together. Someone thought they'd be a great match, since my mom's family built their fortune with steel - The raw material - and my daddy's family are shipowners. My oldest sister’s new husband's family are railway tycoons ...”

  “But ...”

  I tell her I don't get what that has to do with me.

  “Abi, your daddy is richer than anybody here at school. So most girls, especially in the cheerleading team, see you as a dangerous rival. I think one or more of them are behind those posts and the rumours. I know the A-Team has that dangerous reputation and that made their prospects temporarily go down but your guys are probably right behind you in the ranks of the richest students at BHPA. Reece's family comes from old money. Military supplies, I think. Like tanks and stuff like that. And his father is a congressman and is rumoured to be announcing his candidacy for governor any day now. Pryce's dad is a super famous NFL quarterback and owns some of the biggest brands in sportswear. But the richest out of the three is Chaz.”