by Mina Thorne
Whatever it was that we had, or were possibly building, it was out in the open.
And nobody freaked out about it.
Nobody seemed to care.
Chapter 26
The weekend passed without incident, Barrett was kept busy with football and I was kept busy catching up on a couple classes.
I wasn't having any problems with the work, but I was behind in a few aspects of the curriculum.
Elaine and Dad had some event on Saturday at the club and Elaine absolutely insisted that I go along with them.
"I have so much homework to do though," I complained and mentally begged them to let me stay home. There were no school parties that I knew of, the football team was out on some training thing, and I wanted the house to myself.
"Come on, you haven't even been there yet," Elaine insisted.
"Come with us, princess," Dad pleaded. "I want to show off my little girl."
"Nobody cares about me," I said.
"I don't want you talking like that," he replied, serious and intense like clouds had rolled across the sky in his perfect world. "You're a Montgomery, everybody should care about you, you're going to be richer and more powerful than any of them one of these days."
Elaine's head jerked towards his and she narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"She's going to inherit my companies, of course. She's my only heir."
Elaine looked like she was going to choke on her own tongue, but thought better of arguing with him. I realized that she'd assumed her sons would take over and it must be shocking to her to find out otherwise.
I almost felt bad for her.
Almost.
But she was such a conniving, evil woman that she probably had married Dad for that reason and it made me feel a little smug to have him drop that bomb on her like this.
"Okay, fine," I said at last. "I'll come with you. How should I dress?"
"Oh I'm sure any old hand off gown of mine will do. If they fit, of course. I know it's hard to squeeze into my tiny things," Elaine said viciously through a plastered on fake smile.
I almost laughed at how mean she was being. She was like a comic book villain with her targeted hatred of me, and now that she had another reason for it, it would only get worse.
"Thank you," I replied with my own fake smile affixed carefully to my lips. "I can't wait to see what you've got for me. I'm sure they're all beautiful and I'd be honored to wear one."
"Excellent. I'll have Kit bring you a selection to your room," Elaine said.
True to her word, about an hour later when I was curled up on my big chair, Kit knocked and came in when I told her to enter.
She was holding several draped over her arm and we went through each one until I picked a glittery gold strapless one that was unlike anything I'd ever worn before.
Kit helped me with my hair and makeup and I actually gasped in delight when I saw myself in the mirror.
I looked amazing, and as much as Elaine thought otherwise, I wouldn't look like the impoverished waif they'd rescued from California. I looked like a fashionable, beautiful young woman who would wear the Montgomery name with pride.
"There's my princess," Dad said when I joined them at the car in front of the mansion. "My god, you look like her. So beautiful. Simply stunning."
"Stop being so dramatic," Elaine snapped and let the driver help her inside.
We followed and I could barely keep from laughing to myself every time Elaine shot me a look that was meant to wither me, make me flinch or curl up into a ball. None of these things happened, and she no longer had any power over me, she couldn't upset me with her tantrum.
Now that I was being forced to attend this event, I was going to have a good time just to spite Elaine.
The club was every bit as pretentious as I'd imagined it would be. It was officially the Harrisburg Country Club and the entrance gates were elegant scrolled metal flanked on either side with a massive stone wall. It looked like an impenetrable fortress and the guard at the guard house nodded and opened the gate as we drove up.
The building itself was white, wide and made our mansion look like a dollhouse, the scale was so incredible.
I wondered why on earth they needed such a large place for a simple golf club, but once we got inside, I realized it was filled to the brim with all the wealthiest people of Harrisburg.
I wasn't much for mingling, so I just hung around with Elaine and Dad as much as I could.
About an hour in, I felt a tug on my elbow and turned to find Becca standing next to me. She was absolutely breathtaking in a light blue shimmering gown and tall heels so she was almost my height for once. Her golden curls were still perfect, and her blue eyes were bright and sparkling.
She was standing with two older people who were ridiculously attractive themselves.
"Stephanie Montgomery, I'd like you to meet my parents," she said and introduced us. My dad and her dad jumped into business talk and Elaine and her mom began to chat while Becca looked at me with huge, wide eyes.
"I need to apologize," she said and I flinched at her words. "I was a real jerk to you this week."
"For what exactly?” I asked.
"You know," she said. "In Biology.”
I rolled my eyes, I knew she wasn’t going to spill her guts on everything she’d done, but at least she tried.
“But I've learned my lesson. If I get in trouble at school again then I might lose my scholarship for college. If I lose my scholarship then I can't join the cheer team there. I'd be just another regular rich kid who would have to audition for the cheer squad. I would rather die,” she babbled on, trying to convince me of her newfound kindness.
"All right, so you have to be nice to me, you’re such a peach" I said sarcastically. "Good, I'll remember that."
“Please, you have to forgive me. My parents and your parents are like…friends…if you hate me then my Dad will never let me leave the house again.”
“What will you do if I pretend to like you?” I asked and raised my eyebrow.
“I’ll call off anybody who might try to prank you,” she said. “I promise.”
“I’ll tolerate you,” I replied. “But we’re not besties or anything.”
“That’s all I ask,” Becca replied and smiled so wide that I felt almost sorry for her. She was behaving like a little rejected puppy dog, and I could never say no to strays.
And after that, she hung around me like we were joined at the hip. It wasn’t all bad though, she drew me away from Dad and Elaine and introduced me to people as David Montgomery's daughter which made me feel completely welcome.
A little while after dinner when all the adults were talking business or club gossip, Becca leaned over and whispered to me, "I snuck some of the good stuff. Let's go get silly."
"I can't drink, not here," I replied. "I do stupid things when I drink."
"We all do, but let's just drink enough to feel a little tipsy for dancing later. They break out a karaoke machine and I'm always too chicken to give it a go. I need some liquid courage."
I didn’t trust her, but tipsy karaoke sounded kind of fun. Way better than sober karaoke, or even worse, watching my parents and their friends butcher my favorite songs without a little booze to take the edge off.
It’s not like she could force me to drink more than I wanted, so I decided to go with her.
"Okay, but just a little bit. Promise?"
"Totally, pinky swear. You can trust me, I learned my lesson," she smiled and I believed her. She was so contrite and if she did fuck up again, then her scholarship was gone. I could see how much that meant to her.
We linked arms and grabbed a couple big bottles of mix, not 7-11 orange juice this time but some fancy cold pressed organic fruit juices in beautiful glass bottles. The bartender didn't even blink when we asked for them, I had the feeling he would have given us full on alcohol if we'd asked for it too.
But Becca had her bottle of hard liquor and we took a stroll into the back of
the clubhouse to a gazebo between the Olympic sized swimming pool and the woods off to the side. We sat down in the middle, crossed our legs and sat facing each other with our knees touching. The lights from the clubhouse and the pool glowed just enough for us to see each other, but they gave everything a nice, blue glow.
"What is this?" I asked, holding up the bottle as I squinted and tried to read the label.
"I don't know, it's Russian. All I do know is that you can't taste it and it's potent. We just need a little splash to get us nice and buzzed."
"Where did you get it?"
"One of the waiters has a thing for me. He snuck it to me," she laughed. "All I have to do is give him a hand job later."
"Oh my god, are you going to?"
"Sure, why not? It's not sex or anything and it keeps him jumping at my every command," she giggled and raised her head like royalty. "I might not be able to pull a rabbit out of my vagina, but I do have magic fingers.”
She made a jerk off motion and I started giggling, she joined me and it was nice. It was good for us to release the tension between us.
When I finally caught my breath, she had already poured some of my juice out and replaced it with the Russian alcohol.
"To magic fingers and not getting caught," she said and we raised our bottles and took a drink.
She was right, all I tasted was mango peach and maybe a hint of raspberry, as the label on the bottle had promised.
"Delicious," I said and licked my lips. "Are you sure you added any?"
"Maybe not enough?" she said and poured some more into my bottle and hers. And then a little bit more into both.
I tried it again, but again tasted nothing.
I shrugged and drank while we chit chatted about nothing in particular. She asked me a lot of questions about my life in California and I was open to her about everything. I didn't see the point of holding back, she was being so friendly and I didn't want to rock the boat.
She was telling me a story about her last trip to Italy where her parents had given her free rein to purchase anything she wanted from the fashion houses in Milan when we were interrupted.
"What are you girls doing out here?"
We both jumped at the voice and I turned around and fell backwards, my arm shot out to brace myself so I didn't hit the floor of the gazebo.
"Oh, I'm so clumsy," I laughed and caught my bottle as it was about to roll away. "Um, we're just hanging out."
"Hey, Taylor," Becca purred and the man walked into the gazebo and crouched down on his haunches to look at us. "What's going on?"
"Not much. I was cleaning up the court and working out when I heard you girls laughing. What was so funny?" he asked.
He was older, he looked to be in his late thirties. He was hot though, tanned and athletic with a tight tennis shirt and shorts clinging to his muscled body. He had blond hair and light colored eyes with an easy smile and a charm that made him immediately likeable. He was wearing a name tag that said, "Taylor Dennis."
The name pinged something in my brain and I realized I knew him. Or at least I knew of him.
"Dennis the Menace!" I exclaimed with a grin. "Come sit with us, let's talk tennis, Dennis the Menace."
I patted the floor next to me and he dropped to his butt, crossed his legs and joined our little circle, almost touching our knees with his.
"Drink?" Becca asked and handed him her bottle. He took a sip and handed it back.
"What's your name?" he asked me, leaning forward so our knees were pressed together.
"Stephanie," I replied. I felt a little sick to my stomach being around him. He had been a tennis star for several years in a row, taking Wimbledon a few times and known as the bad boy of tennis. He was notoriously passionate about the game, he was likely to smash his rackets when calls were made against him, and was often caught partying and sleeping with models and actresses off the court.
"Stephanie, what a beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he said and reached out to touch my cheek with the back of his finger.
"Hey, aren't I beautiful?" Becca asked and he laughed.
"You know you are," he said. "You have known it for years now, which is why you have most men wrapped around your little finger. Stephanie doesn't know it yet, she hasn't realized how stunning she is. That makes her particularly delicious."
"You've tasted me before, aren't I delicious?" Becca asked and put her hand on his knee, demanding he look at her.
And he did, but her words echoed in my ears. What did she mean that he'd tasted her? I was beginning to think there was more alcohol in the drink she'd given me than I'd thought, because I was beyond tipsy. I was woozy. I didn’t feel good, as if my grasp on reality was beginning to slip away.
"You know you are," Taylor said and leaned forward to kiss Becca.
I watched as if in a daze, uncertain what was happening, uncertain if I liked it, but unable to look away or leave the gazebo.
This wasn’t reality any longer, this was some bizarre pocket of life in Harrisburg and I didn’t know if I would ever get used to it.
Or ever feel like I fit in.
Chapter 27
I felt like I was floating above myself, watching as Taylor finished kissing Becca and turned to kiss me.
I barely even felt his lips on mine, his tongue in my mouth, his breath on my cheek as he pulled back and touched my face.
"You're so beautiful, Stephanie."
I blinked and knew it was wrong, it felt wrong, but I was too drunk to do anything about it.
Drinking and good judgement did not mix with me.
“What did you put in my drink?” I asked Becca and my voice sounded thick, like it was underwater.
She laughed and I thought I could see it in colorful soundwaves moving away from her mouth. “You stupid skank,” she said and leaned close enough that I could see green flecks in her blue eyes and individual freckles on the bridge of her nose. “Like I was ever going to let you get your claws into Barrett. Like I was ever going to let you stay at Westview.”
I thought I had only sipped my drink, I hadn't had that much. She must have drugged me, she must have added something. She was evil, her voice sounded demonic, like something from another world.
Taylor reached for me and pulled me closer to him. I pushed at him and Taylor laughed, his voice echoing in my head like reverberations off the walls of a canyon.
"Wait," I said and my voice sounds thick. Like I was speaking in slow motion. "Stop. I don’t want this."
"Just relax, I’ll take care of you, Stephanie," Taylor said an nodded at Becca. She smiled and got to her feet.
"I'll be right back, Stephanie. Taylor is going to prove to everyone what a stupid slutty skank you really are," she said with a bright tone that seemed too sharp for my ears. I needed her to stop talking, it hurt my head. “Have fun, Tay Tay, try not to get lost in her gaping California pussy canyon.”
“I’m sure I’ll find my way around,” Taylor chuckled and pulled me against him.
"Don’t go," I begged and stared at her, my voice once again so thick that it almost wouldn't leave my mouth and slip off my lips but she walked away.
And then Taylor's tongue was inside my mouth and his hands were on my body and I didn't want it.
I didn't want any of it.
"Stop," I said, but this time my voice didn't make it out of my mouth. I couldn't tell him to stop because I couldn't force anything out of my body.
His hand tugged at the edge of my gown. I'd pulled it up over my knees to sit down, and now Taylor was pushing it higher. His hands were everywhere, under my gown, on my breasts, on the back of my head pulling me down to his lap.
I struggled and pushed against him, I didn't want to kiss his dick like he begged and I didn't want to be there anymore.
"Let me go," I moaned and he leaned back, dragging me with him. "I want to go."
He rolled over on top of me, his dick still out, and he started to kiss me again. "Come on, baby," he rasped in my ear. "
I know you want it, you're so wet."
His tongue snaked along my neck, making me sick. I felt drugged, like the time I'd had a wisdom tooth taken out. I couldn't focus long enough to push him hard.
"Princess?" Dad's voice broke through the cocoon of thick cotton that felt like it was wrapped around my head. "What are you doing here?"
"Daddy," I cried out. I wanted to say help me, or that I felt drugged, that I wasn't drunk but I couldn't. The words again wouldn't leave my mouth.
"I'm sorry you had to see this, Mr. Montgomery," Becca said, her tone edged and nasty and her words sharp and clear.
Why wasn't she slurring her words like I was?
"Oh shit, you bitch, Becca! Taylor barked and fumbled to shove himself back in his pants. "I'm sorry, Mr. Montgomery. I thought she was one of the waitresses. I didn't know she was your daughter."
"Taylor? What are you doing?" Elaine's strangled voice choked out in anger.
Taylor was lifted off of me as my dad grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to his feet. Dad punched Taylor a couple times and red blood exploded down the front of his white tennis shirt.
"She's not even eighteen, you fucking bastard," Dad growled. "She's in high school."
“I didn’t know,” Taylor gargled, his mouth filling up with blood.
I scrambled to get up, but I couldn't. I tried to push myself to stand but my arms weren't strong enough and my legs felt rubbery.
"This is ridiculous. You are ridiculous," Elaine snapped. "How disgraceful. I can't believe you did this to your father."
She jerked my hand and pulled me up. I staggered and almost fell again but Becca and Elaine supported me on either side.
"I didn't drink," I moaned and my head felt like it was going to explode. "Not enough for this."
I couldn't focus, my eyes were blurry and light hurt them.
Dad let Taylor go beside us and Taylor bolted from the gazebo screaming about hearing from his lawyers.
Dad didn't seem to care. He kept giving me these long looks of betrayal and disgust, like he would never see me the same way again.