So the fact that I fucking ruined everything, isn't lost on me.
At first I had no idea who Aubrey was and the way she acts is so far off from the typical spoiled rich girl, that I pushed aside any notion of social class difference.
And I thought that we’d have our fling and then move on.
Especially if I got to fuck her, I thought that then I’d lose interest, like it’d always been with any other girl I’d ever met, at school, on vacation or in a club.
Working as a lifeguard surely put me at an advantage with any pretty girl on the island and Aubrey wasn't the first hookup of the summer.
But from the moment I saw her, I never even looked at another girl.
I knew that she was from LA but when I saw where she was staying at Hilton Head and when I heard the few things she told me about her life between a hot kiss and a romantic walk on the beach, I tried to convince myself that all she wanted was a little summer adventure.
Probably she was bored with rich boys like her sister's friends and wanted to try a different flavour, so to speak.
This is why I didn't accept her friend requests straight away: I thought that she was just being nice and that anyway, even if she weren't, her parents would've never allowed her to date a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.
Having a mom who for a living cleans the houses of the same rich people Aubrey comes from, didn't exactly make me ideal boyfriend material for her.
I’ve been driving fast, lost in my thoughts and I press the button on the remote to open the gate to the mansion I now call home without noticing the old, rusty Honda Civic parked right outside.
My mother's car follows me inside the property and up the driveway, stopping right behind me.
Melania Whitbeck, my mom, exits the car and I look at her not seeing anymore the loving mom I thought she was until about a month ago.
I see one of the many people who betrayed me and put me in this fucking stupid situation to begin with.
“What are you doing here? I thought that Nick made it more than clear that you aren't welcome on his property. If you want me to live here, you need to call me when you wanna see me and meet me somewhere else.”
She moves her long, silky black hair away from her shoulders, and her dark green eyes harden when she talks next.
“I totally would if you were picking up the phone or texting me back. But we both know that you’ve been ignoring me for two whole weeks now.”
The whiny undertone of her voice, reveals the resentment that she’s been trying to hide the last few times we spoke.
“I do want you to live here, Devs. But that doesn't mean that you aren't my son anymore, I—”
“What? What the fuck did you expect, huh?”
Her long, manicured hands, with pink nails filed in sharp pointy ends grab my forearm and she scolds me, making me feel like a naughty six year-old boy again.
“Devon Adam Whitbeck, language! You might be mad at me but I’m still your mother and I won't tolerate being spoken to this way!”
I shake her hand off and snap:
“It's Devon Adam Archer now, thanks to you! This is what you wanted, right?”
She changes tactic: it's fucking crazy how I’d never noticed this cold, calculating side of her until she dropped the bombshell that completely changed my life about a month ago.
“What do you want? If Nick or Caroline see you here, they're getting a fucking restraining order. They made it clear that you aren't welcome here.”
“I need money, I can't make rent. I got fired from my job last week and ...”
I sigh and make no mystery of my frustration, rolling my eyes at her and opening my wallet.
I take out a few hundred-dollar bills and shove them in her hand.
“This is all I have on me. Why did you get fired this time?”
She averts her gaze, not looking at me and picking at the edge of her white tank top.
She's wearing it paired with grey leggings and the whole outfit is so tight than I can't even call what I see a camel toe, the clothes look almost as if they were painted on her.
She's wearing no bra, so her nipples are standing to attention and her huge hoop earrings and the three necklaces, the longest of which is attached to a bejewelled cross that nestles between her tits, would be more appropriate for a trashy sixteen year old, not a thirty-eight year old woman.
Funny how I’d never noticed how white trash my mom was.
For a second, I feel a pang of guilt thinking this harshly about her but then I clench my fists and take a step towards her.
“Mom, you seriously need to leave.”
“Oh, come on, I miss you, baby. Can’t I come in and spend some time with my son?”
“You. Need. To. Leave. Nick made it more than clear that you aren't welcome here. So, now that thanks to you I lost my spot on the starting team at my old school, I can't afford to get kicked out of BHPA if I wanna get into a decent college.”
She changes her tune when she sees that I won't budge.
“You ungrateful little bastard! If it weren't for me suing your birth father, you’d still work part time as an apprentice mechanic every day after school! The least you can do is help me, since your wage isn't coming in anymore and that backpay child support doesn't look like a sure thing anymore!”
“Ungrateful? What should I be grateful for? Let's see, screwing your married boss when you were twenty and getting knocked up? Lying to me about who my father was my whole life?”
I grew up thinking that my dad was a sailor on leave Mom met in a bar and that when she found out that she was pregnant after a careless night of passion, the guy was gone and she didn't even have his last name.
This is the story I’d been told for years when the truth is that Mom had an affair with her rich, married boss.
She was fired when his wife discovered the affair and paid off by my now stepmother to disappear forever.
My mom has lived for the past eighteen years off that money and then off her rich lovers.
Apparently screwing the rich men she works for as a housemaid is a habit of hers.
This is also why she keeps getting fired or quitting her jobs: it isn't bad luck.
It's the fact that these men are always married and not every wife is as nice as Caroline, who paid her off.
Most times she’s been unceremoniously kicked out of the house and nowadays it's standard to have to sign all sorts of non-disclosure agreements, so unless she wanted to resort to blackmail, she has no recourse when she gets caught in bed with the boss.
After she was fired the last time, while I was in South Carolina for the summer, she needed money so she decided to play the ace she'd been keeping up her sleeve for all these years: me.
She sued my father, who hadn't even known that I existed, until he got served papers that summoned him to court.
My mother demanded eighteen years of backpay child support.
DNA tests confirmed that Nicholas Archer, a very famous, filthy rich real estate tycoon is my bio-dad.
The scandal has been kept under wraps somehow but instead of getting the money, she thought she was entitled to, Mom got threatened to be counter sued for an array of things: from the emotional distress she caused my dad by denying him access to his son to all sorts of felony charges if she tried to blackmail the Archers for money.
However my dad was happy to know about me: he has two older daughters and he’d always wanted a son.
I know that Caroline isn't happy that I moved in with them but Nick made it clear that if she wants to be forgiven for paying Mom off all those years ago without telling him what was going on, she’ll make me feel welcome.
Nick enrolled me into BHPA and bought me a car, gave me a platinum credit card and told me that he’d pay for any college I get accepted into.
Including my dream school: Harvard.
He set up a trust fund for me and this is where my mom got ‘screwed over’: I can't access my trust fund until I turn
twenty-one and since I’m already eighteen, he got the judge to award all the child support he owed to me and not my mom.
That money has been added to my trust fund so I can't touch it.
Nick made it clear that he wants a relationship with me and that he’ll support me until I finish my studies.
The only condition is that my mom isn't welcome in his house, ever.
He told me clearly that it would've been different if she'd told him about me when I was little.
He's basically getting revenge for being denied seeing me grow up.
Caroline, his wife, is livid but apparently they have an open marriage, so she’s actually the one in the dog house for not telling Dad about my mom's pregnancy.
These rich people are fucking weird, that's for sure.
I know that cutting my mom off seems heartless but I’m fucking mad at her for lying to me my whole life, for denying me the chance to grow up with a father and for scheming and lying to try and exploit my father for money.
And also because she's the reason why I’ve been staying away from Aubrey.
I can't let anyone at school know what a fucking mess my life is, that I’ve been a dirty secret my whole life.
That I grew up poor and where I come from.
I wouldn't be ashamed of Mom, had she been a hard working, honest woman.
But the lying, cheating, gold digging woman I discovered that she is?
I’m really ashamed of her and I know that not only people at school would laugh and gossip about me if they knew, but can you imagine what would Aubrey's family say?
My only chance to survive BHPA is to keep my real story a secret and the only weak link in the vague stuff I’ve been saying about my family is Aubrey.
If she told people how we met, people like Knox and Margaux would see that I’m a fraud and that I don't belong.
5.
Team Spirit
Aubrey
IT'S FRIDAY MORNING and everyone at school is super excited about the first game of the season tonight.
Which also means my first cheer performance, like ... ever!
Last night we had a meeting after our cheer practice to decide what each of us would do as a rally girl for our football player.
I got everyone's praise when I told the team that I got to school early every day this week and gave Teague his favourite caffeinated drink, a spiced chai latte, when he got out of morning practice.
“That's really awesome, Aubrey! But since tomorrow's game night, will you step it up a little to tell Teague that he’s special and you're rooting for him?”
Margaux is really intense where the rally girl role is concerned.
I think about it: how can I ramp it up?
And then I have a great idea:
“I’m gonna go early tomorrow morning and bring him breakfast with his latte to have after practice. I know he loves biscuits with bacon and cheese, it was in the info pack you gave me.”
Yeah, Margaux takes it so seriously, that she compiled an info pack for each player with a list of likes and dislikes, that we can use to cheer our player.
“That's totally awesome but is it special enough? I think stuff like that is for normal days. Days like tomorrow require a definite step up.”
I’m confused.
“Ok, sorry I’m new to this stuff. At Aylesbury I wasn't cheering and before that, my school in Hong Kong didn't even have a cheer team.”
Margaux nods and smiles brightly.
“Rachel, Macy and I are giving our players a blowjob.”
I choke on my water: did I hear her right?
“A—”
She beams.
“Hey, if you wanna do that too, I’ll speak to Knox. I’ll tell him you're only doing it for team spirit. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
I don't know if Knox would be all right or not: sure, he said that we’re only getting to know each other and the kiss with Landon didn't piss him off but I’d say that a blowjob is a different matter.
Plus, regardless of the fact that I’m going out with Knox again on Saturday, I’ve never given a blowjob to anyone, not even Devon.
I really like Teague and after that dream I’ve had about him, I always feel butterflies in my stomach every time he looks at me.
But giving him a blowjob?
Definitely not just to say: ‘hey you're awesome, I hope you play a fantastic game tonight’.
Something like that would be for someone really special, someone who matters in a different way than just as a football player.
I could've done that with Devon, back at the beach ...
I’m lost in my thoughts and I barely notice that the meeting is over and everyone is leaving.
As I start to collect my things, Margaux’s the only one left and she's observing me quietly.
When she doesn't say anything, I do my usual: I start babbling to fill an uncomfortable silence.
“Look, Margaux, I don't think a blowjob is what I wanna give Teague—”
She smiles.
“It's totally fine, sweetie. You give him his breakfast tomorrow and if he wants more, I’m sure he'll let you know. Just if you decide to blow him, let Knox know. I know he likes you.”
Does she even hear herself?
Is she just telling me to inform her brother, who I'm hanging out with, if I decide to go down on another guy?
“Uhm, sure. I like Knox too.”
Margaux hugs me with a little squeal.
“Aww, you're fucking adorable! If you and Knox became an item, we’d be practically sisters!”
I guess Margaux is sweet in her ‘plastic’ kind of way.
She gives off a mean girl vibe but she isn't so bad after all.
“I just wanted to ask you something, Aubrey. Since we're almost sisters and all ...”
“Sure.”
“But I want you to be honest with me ok?”
I nod.
“What's going on between you and Devon? Do you like him?”
I open my mouth to say something but she speaks first.
“Please, don't even try to deny it. I’m not stupid. I saw how he looks at you even if he thinks he's being subtle about it. I saw how he came after you at the party when you walked away from Knox and Landon having a go at each other. And the other day when you were in the locker room together? I like Devon but if you two are fucking and it's not just fucking, I don't wanna look like a total fool.”
I sigh.
This is hard. I know I don't owe Margaux anything, we are little more than acquaintances and I promised Devon not to tell anyone how we met, however I can't really lie my way out of this one.
So I choose not to reveal the whole story but I tell her that I met Devon on vacation.
“We had a ‘thing’ but we had no idea that we were transferring to the same school. There's nothing else between us.”
And I believe it when I say it because despite the way Devon behaved in the last couple of days, I don't like his hot and cold attitude.
I can't take not knowing if next time I see him, he's gonna be sweet or indifferent.
Plus, I believe that all Devon wanted in the summer, was to get laid.
I gave him what he wanted and now he's moved on.
“So did you two bone?”
I look away from her pale blue eyes and say that we did.
“Only once. Look, we're not dating or anything.”
She smiles.
“Thank you, Aubrey. You're a real friend.”
“Sure thing.”
THE MORNING AFTER, I’m waiting outside the locker room for Teague: I’ve got his chai latte for him and a few warm cheese and bacon biscuits.
His hair’s just a bit damp from the shower and when he sees me in my cheerleader uniform, he smiles.
It's not his usual little knowing smirk, it's a full on smile that reaches his eyes.
Teague is a very attractive guy: at least six foot three, lean but extremely well built.
He has broa
d shoulders and I know how defined his chest and abs are from the first day of school, when we got splashed by a car running through a puddle and he took his shirt off in the bathroom.
“So? Aubrey?”
Teague must've been talking to me and I was too distracted to listen because I was thinking about his naked torso.
I know I’m blushing when he tilts his head with an amused smile, as if he knew what I was thinking about.
But it's impossible, right? He couldn't possibly read my mind.
“Sorry, Teague. I was a little distracted. What did you say?”
“I said that you're an amazing rally girl, thank you for the chai lattes and for breakfast. Obviously, I’d like it very much if we ate this together? We have about half an hour before home room.”
I nod and smile: I got up early to get ready and get his breakfast in time to get here for a quarter past seven and I didn't have time to eat anything.
“Of course.”
When I agree to have breakfast together, he smiles wider and says that there's something else that he’d like and would absolutely help him play at his best tonight.
“What is it? Is it something special for lunch?”
He shakes his head, his blonde hair catching the light from the fluorescent neons overhead.
Before he can say anything, Landon and Knox walk past us trailed closely by Macy and Rachel.
I think straight away about their intention to give their players a blowjob as an encouragement for tonight's game and my stomach churns with a painful pang.
Neither of them owes me anything and I know that my feelings are all over the place, because I like them both.
Like I like Teague and Devon.
And I blame my confused feelings on Devon: if he hadn't been a total asshole, we’d be dating and I wouldn't even think about looking at another guy.
Or would I?
I can't help but think about Abi and Ayla and how they're both dating more than one man and how happy they all are.
But their situation is not the norm and their guys are close friends, almost brothers, while the guys I like barely acknowledge each other outside of school and the football team.
I divert my gaze from Landon and Knox and ask Teague what’s this special encouragement he was talking about.
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 69