by Mina Thorne
I began to walk and the bell rang but thankfully I knew where I was. I made it to my class on time and then to the next and the next. The map helped immensely and being completely distraction free from Maddy and Brie and even Josh seemed to help. It was amazing how much free time I had between classes when I wasn't hunting down my besties to gossip about everything that had just happened in the hour before.
And it helped that I didn't know anybody so when I overheard girls shit talking about other girls, I was completely in the dark.
Maybe Barrett had been right, I should just keep my head down and make it through the next few months until it was all over and I could head off to college.
Maybe being off the radar was the way to go.
It might be easier, but it was lonelier.
When I sat by myself in the cafeteria I would have given anything to have my girls next to me at the table.
The food was better than back home though, I’d give this school that advantage. And Dad's money covered anything I wanted from the five star menu, but it all tasted like sawdust without the joy of friends to share it with.
And being three hours ahead of Maddy back on the west coast meant that I was having lunch when she was in her first class, so I couldn't even spend time there.
I was on the verge of tears when the table shook and three guys slid in across from me.
I recognized Whitt from earlier, but he was joined by two gorgeous jock friends in their football jackets and matching wolfish grins.
And suddenly things started to look up for me.
It might not be such a disaster after all.
Chapter 9
"Fresh meat, these are my boys Roman and Charles, but we call them Rome and Chase," Whitt said, looking across the table at me. "Boys, I'd like you to meet our fresh meat. Also known as Steph."
"Stephanie, actually," I said.
"Steph it is," Rome replied.
"Hey Steph," Chase added. "I'm the running back, hence the name. These idiots are always chasing me."
"And you're always chasing pussy," Whitt laughed and shoved his friend's shoulder. Chase shrugged and looked entirely unapologetic.
"You're in my Math class," Rome told me. "I noticed you first thing but you can tell Mr. Sinclair is kind of a dick so I didn’t say hi. I can't get any more detention or Coach Cross will bench my ass this semester."
“Mr. Sinclair does seem pretty tough."
"Are you good at it?"
"What?" I asked.
"Math."
"I guess I am," I said, not ready to tell these three jocks that I usually maintained about a ninety five percent average or higher in my advanced math courses.
"Good, maybe I could get some help," Rome said with a crooked grin. I'd walked right into his trap, he'd just basically set me up to get me alone. Not that I'd totally mind, he was ridiculously good looking with long, lean limbs and an easy way about him. Sort of like a country boy right smack dab in the middle of elite wealthy kids. His kind blue eyes and blond hair gave him a more all-American look that made him seem more approachable than somebody like Barrett.
Not that Chase wasn't gorgeous by any stretch of the imagination. He had darker blond hair, almost brown, with green eyes that sparked with playful energy. He was also tall and muscled like his friends, but he seemed more solid. He was huge, his upper arms alone seemed as thick as my thighs and he was the tallest of the group.
God, between these three and Barrett, I wondered if I'd fallen into some kind of genetic lab where they were trying to push out one hot guy after another.
"We'll see. I'm not that patient so I’d be a terrible tutor,” I replied and smiled.
"She does smile! It's a miracle!" Whitt exclaimed with mock glee. But he looked at me and said, "But seriously, you should smile more. You're very beautiful when you smile."
"There you are!" a girl's voice split my ear open with its shrill jolt. "I've been looking everywhere!"
"Here I am," Whitt said with an annoyed smile. "I've been here all along."
"You didn't reply to a single text about our Socials homework,” the girl said and slipped onto the bench next to me, sliding against me with a thud. "Hi! I'm Becca!"
She held her perfectly manicured hand out to shake mine. Mine felt rough and huge as it engulfed hers, like a paw more than a hand. She was delicate, shorter than me with a lithe body and bright blonde hair that was set in absolutely perfect, pale blonde curls.
He eyes were blue and she had clear white skin that didn't look like it had ever had a single spot of acne on it.
"I'm Stephanie," I replied.
"Steph," Whitt said with a grin and Becca stiffened immediately at the tone, like it was and inside joke.
"Steph. I like it," she said.
I gave up protesting at that point. I guess I was Steph now and forever at this school.
"Thanks."
"So how did you end up at Westview? I haven't heard of any houses being sold. At least none that are nice enough to have made it to my radar."
"Becca's dad is the biggest realtor in Harrisburg, so she's gossip central when it comes to people buying and selling," Chase said as Becca shot him a look that should have withered the toughest guy, but he just gave her an exaggerated wink and blew her a kiss.
"I'm not a gossip, I can't help it if I just know things," she complained.
"Steph is a Montgomery," Whitt said and looked at me with a smile of encouragement.
"As in Montgomery Holdings?" Becca asked with narrowed eyes.
"That's the one," I replied, even though I still didn't really know what exactly it was that my Dad did for money. I recognized the name from the checks he'd sent occasionally to me in California.
"She's a real life California girl," Whitt said.
"You seem to know an awful lot about her," Becca snapped at him, then turned and smiled at me. "So you're Barrett's sister. That makes us practically related."
"How so?" I asked, half expecting her to tell me she was my cousin or something, it wasn't like I really knew who any of my real family was out here.
"Barrett's my boyfriend," she smiled, exposing her perfect white teeth.
"I don't think boyfriend is exactly what I would call it," Rome said with a derisive snort. "Maybe fuck buddy."
"No need to be crude just because I dumped your ass," Becca hissed across the table at him.
I didn't exactly understand the dynamics of everybody's relationships, but I could tell there was a lot of emotion simmering just below the surface here. And I wanted to stay the hell out of it.
"Besides, Steph is on the scene with direct nightly access to Barrett...who knows how long he'll want you hanging around?" Whitt said with a nasty smile.
"Don't be disgusting, he's my brother," I replied with a grimace, but the image of Barrett's under-table exposure from that night at dinner was stuck in my head.
Had it really only been just a few days ago? I felt weary all of a sudden, I'd been in Harrisburg for less than a week and yet it felt like I had been here forever.
"Just because they live together doesn't mean they're fucking," Becca snapped and pushed herself away from me a little so she could rake her eyes up and down me like she was sizing up her competition. "Besides, Barrett's not into girls like Steph."
"Oh yeah, Barrett hates hot girls. Absolutely hates them," Chase laughed out loud. The other guys joined in, laughing until Becca clenched her jaw and her gaze grew razor sharp with icy determination.
"Well fuck you all," Becca said and stood up. "Have fun, Steph. These guys are all assholes and not worth your time. Watch your fucking back."
"I'll be okay. I've seen worse," I smiled up at her. "Thanks, though."
Becca looked like she wanted to leave but not before she said, "Oh by the way, Steph?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope you're not thinking of trying for cheerleading. I'm the head cheerleader and your body type is all wrong for what we're looking for."
The guys across
the table all winced and pantomimed me getting shot with an arrow or something while collectively saying, "Whooaaaaaah, burn!"
I fixed my gaze on hers and with an unwavering voice I said, "That's fine. I'm more of a math club kind of girl. Or physics. Something more intellectually stimulating."
Becca stared back, her eyes narrowing slowly until she exhaled a huff of air, turned and stomped off.
"That was pretty fucking epic," Whitt laughed and slapped the table. "God damn, I don't think I've ever seen anybody take down the queen bee so effectively."
"And quickly. She is going to hate you, seriously watch your back," Rome said and stood up. "It's been fun, boys, but I gotta run."
"Getting your lunch hour grope session with Tiffany?" Whitt asked.
"She won't talk to me after I left her ass at that rager this weekend. I guess she thought I was her personal Über," he said and looked at me, gave me a wink and was gone.
After that Chase left me alone with Whitt who tried to chat me up a little until a shadow darkened the table and I sensed somebody behind me.
"Hello sis," Barrett said and slid in next to me. "This douche bag showing you around the school?"
"I've been taking care of her. But god damned, B, I wish you'd told me how fucking hot your sister was. I might have spent a little more time at your place," Whitt laughed.
"Maybe that's why we kept her away from here. Our family knew you'd latch onto her like a hungry dog on a bone," Barrett said and his eyes flitted towards me. "Besides, she's way out of your league."
"Is that a compliment?" I gasped and put my hand to my chest as if I was genuinely shocked. "I didn't think I'd ever hear something like that from you, brother dear."
His hand dropped beneath the table and shocked me for real by dropping it onto my thigh. He squeezed gently and slid it up just slightly as he rested it there, as if he owned me.
He held it there for a moment or two, then pulled it back as it burned. His perfect features hardened into a look of resolve and he stood up again.
"I've gotta go, I have shit to do."
"Wait up, I'll come with you," Whitt said and jumped up, loping the few feet to catch up to Barrett.
“Me too,” Chase said, heading after them.
And I was left at the table, alone again and as confused as ever.
Chapter 10
I made it through the rest of the day without any major issues.
Becca was in my last class of the day, a chemistry lab, and sat at a table nearby with a couple other beautiful girls in cheerleader sweaters.
They whispered and looked at me throughout the entire class, but I chose to ignore them. There was clearly nothing I could do to convince them to like me, so fuck them.
I waited after class to hear from Barrett, but he didn't text me where and when to meet him.
As the halls emptied out, younger students going with nannies and drivers while older students drove away in their own luxury cars, I began to wonder if he'd forgotten about me.
I stood near my locker and realized two important things. First, I didn't have his number...and second, I didn't know where his locker was.
I caught a glimpse of Whitt near the end of the hall and called out to him.
"Hey!"
He turned and his face lit up, so at least there was one person at Westview Academy who didn't apparently despise my mere presence.
"Hey Steph, what's up?" he asked and walked towards me. He moved like he was royalty in his domain, like he belonged exactly in this place and knew it.
"Have you seen Barrett?"
"B man?"
"That's the one."
"I think he's with Becca. Follow me and we'll hunt them down together."
"Sounds good, but if you start leading me down some path towards the woods to murder me, then I'm outta here," I replied and laughed.
“Never! Not murder…maybe something else in the woods though,” he replied and wiggled his eyebrows.
I giggled and we started to walk.
It hadn't been a really tough day, but I could already sense that these kids had known each other for years and I was definitely the outsider. My school back home had been bigger and more chaotic. There had been a bigger mix of people from all different kinds of backgrounds, not just the monolith of the super elite and wealthy at Westview.
I still felt like I had to tread carefully, as much as I wanted to let my defiant self take over. I wanted people to like me and I wanted to make my senior year the most memorable that I could.
So with that in mind, I really didn't want to be seen alone with Whitt anywhere even slightly private. I knew how fast rumors spread at my old school, I could only imagine how quickly I'd be labeled a slut if somebody like Becca had the chance.
"Don't worry about me," Whitt said and casually slung his arm around my shoulder as we continued walking towards the front of the school. "It's my reputation I should worry about. People will talk if they think you're taking advantage of my good nature to have your way with me."
"You wish," I said and tried to duck out from under his arm, but he held it there.
He pushed the front door open and stepped out, still touching me like we were old friends, and gestured down the front steps.
"I believe that's the man you're looking for!”
Barrett was leaning against his car with his arms crossed in front of him and a dark glower on his face.
"Where the fuck have you been?" he barked at me as I finally slipped away from Whitt and walked down towards him.
"I've been waiting for your text."
"Becca was supposed to tell you to meet me here."
"Well she didn't."
"She said she did," he replied with suspicion as I got closer. He was visibly angry, his fists clenched into balls and his jawline clenched tightly with a muscle bulging on each side. "She knew you were in her Chem lab."
"I swear, she didn't tell me anything!” I wondered if she had deliberately not given me the news so I would anger Barrett.
And it seemed to have worked.
"You weren't just off sucking Whitt's dick or something?" he demanded.
And that's when I got mad. After me waiting like an idiot by my locker and then being so careful not to look like I was going anywhere with Whitt, to hear him accuse me of it made my own anger clench in my gut.
"Even if I was, it's none of your fucking business," I snapped and stood right in front of him, staring up into his stupidly gorgeous eyes. "Are you going to get the fuck out of the way so I can get in?"
He hesitated, the muscle in his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth, and finally he stepped aside.
"Fine. We need to get home anyways. I have—"
"Shit to do, I get it," I sighed and finished his sentence for him.
Whitt was standing a couple feet behind me listening to all this and laughing his ass off at our exchange.
"Your sister's a fierce little fox," he said and I heard Barrett mutter at him to fuck off after he slammed my door shut.
I didn't know what was up with the two of them, but there was history there that felt heavy. They were friends, but something had happened to change the nature of their friendship. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what had gone down, but it definitely felt like it was big enough to act like a social black hole, dragging all of us into it if we weren't careful.
I missed my own friends just then so hard that it ached. I even missed Josh and his stupid face, and the fact that he'd gotten over me so quickly after I'd gone.
Hell, I even missed Ty and the problems I'd had with him. They seemed small compared to this new ocean of confusion and mistrust that I found myself swimming in.
And as if on cue, I got a text from Maddy so when Barrett climbed in, I was texting her back, my fingers working furiously across the screen and my head bent down so I could conveniently ignore him.
This seemed to suit Barrett just fine. He scowled at me, put the car into gear and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
The car screeched out of the parking lot, but I was already used to his driving so I was strapped in and ready for it.
Elaine was waiting for us at dinner that night, but my father was nowhere to be seen.
"He's out of town on business, he'll be gone a couple days but don't think that means you are off the hook, young lady," she told me. "We still have dinner together as a family."
"Yeah, some fucking family," Barrett said under his breath.
"You watch your mouth," Elaine replied with a hiss. "We don't speak like that at my table."
"Sorry," Barrett said quietly.
It was interesting to watch the dynamic between the two of them. Barrett was definitely taken down a few pegs around his mother and I got some sort of dark pleasure watching him squirm.
"Now tell me all about your first day," Elaine said, turning to me.
I outlined my classes and went over a bit of the homework I had. And then I excitedly told her that my math and physics courses were both advanced college level because of the incredible marks I'd gotten back home.
She glared at Barrett. "See? If she can do it with her poor upbringing, you should be able to do it with all that we've given you."
"I wasn't poor," I said, but realized it was no use. We weren't exactly living in a tent under a bridge or anything, but to Elaine we might as well have been. She was so disconnected from our reality that she barely considered us human beings, when she even considered us at all.
"Okay, dear, not poor...just...challenged, " she said with a smile that made me feel as if I'd shrunk down a few sizes in front of her.
In the very short time I'd known Elaine, I had picked up the fact that she had a gift at making people feel unworthy.
And looking at how Barrett shrunk down in the seat across from her, I understood that she used her same skill on her own son.
"You know who's doing really well?" she asked and leaned towards Barrett, locking her gaze on him. "Roland. He's at the top of his class at college and still manages to be the captain on the basketball team.
"Good for him," Barrett said woodenly and glanced at me, then looked down at his phone.