Tall, Dark, and Nerdy: High School Billionaire #1

by Dallen, Maggie

  “Why don’t you at least give the app a try?” she asked.

  I didn’t answer. The answer was simple. Because I already have.

  I turned slightly so I was staring up at the ceiling. My chest was aching and her every attempt to talk about me and Jamie as a potential couple was another stab to the heart. She might as well have been holding up a sign that said “I don’t think of you that way.”

  And if she doesn’t? Do I really want to ruin our friendship if she doesn’t feel the same?

  This again. This was the eternal debate, the question that had kept me mute these past two-plus years whenever I was tempted to speak the truth. It was the questioning doubt I’d promised myself I’d ignore this weekend, but Liv was making it exceptionally difficult with all her talk of me and Jamie being the perfect couple.

  If I stood any chance of making it through this night with my sanity intact, I had to steer the conversation away from relationships, and far, far away from Love Quiz.

  “I liked Jamie’s nonprofit idea,” I said. There was a brief silence and then Liv made a vague noncommittal noise. I looked over and saw her biting her lip. “You didn’t hear a word she said, did you?”

  She pressed her lips together as her gaze met mine. She looked torn between guilty shame and laughter. “Um…something about luck?”

  I let out a huff of laughter and the weighty tension seemed to ease a bit. “Do you want to hear her idea?”

  Liv lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Can I get the Cliff’s Notes version?”

  “Sure.” I turned back to my side to face her. “I guess when I’d mentioned how I’d gotten lucky, Jamie started thinking about the inequality of it all. How some people were born into wealth or luck into it, and how others aren’t.”

  Liv’s brows arched. “Don’t tell me Jamie is going to singlehandedly reverse all of the injustice and inequality in the world.”

  I gave a snort of laughter. “No, but while working for her father’s nonprofit she realized that there were a lot of people our age out there who have great ideas on how to give back to the community around them, but not everyone has the same access to money and influence that she does.” I paused, the reality of my new position striking me now in a way it never had before. “Or that I do, I guess.”

  Liv acknowledged my sudden surprised realization with a little laugh.

  I took a deep breath. “Anyway, Jamie was saying that these teenagers and college kids don’t have the money or the experience to get their ideas off the ground.”

  “And that’s where Jamie’s new nonprofit would come into play.”

  I nodded. “Since Love Quiz was created by a teenager for teenagers, she thought we might be a good fit to be the first sponsor. Use the publicity of the sale, and all that.”

  “Use your new publicity,” she added.

  “Yes.”

  She stared at me for a long moment until I shifted beneath my covers. The idea of me being a public figure was still too weird to contemplate. I mean, by now I supposed I should have been used to it to some extent. There’d been a lot of speculation about the sale, a lot of attention. But one of the reasons my father chose this school was for their privacy and security. Now we had that PR guy who was running interference, and my father still handled a lot of the questions and interviews. While I was aware of the media interest, it hadn’t really affected my life. Not yet. But this magazine feature would change that, and when it did there would be no hiding behind school officials or my father.

  “You should do it,” Liv said decisively. “You could bring a lot of attention to a lot of great causes.”

  Theoretically I liked the idea, but not in the way she was thinking. “I’d be happy to give financial support but no one wants me to be a spokesperson,” I said. “I can’t even talk to my own classmates.”

  Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration.

  As if she could read my mind, Liv arched a brow in disbelief. “None of them?”

  I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “There are a couple guys in my advanced calculus class who’ve been inviting me to hang out.”

  “Mmhmm.” Liv looked way to smug for my liking.

  “What?”

  “I knew you’d make friends here.”

  “I wouldn’t call them friends,” I said.

  “Maybe not yet, but friendships don’t just happen overnight.”

  “And you know so much about making new friends how exactly?”

  She stuck out her tongue. “Shut up.”

  “No, I mean it,” I said. “You’re the one who cares so much about making friends and being liked, so why aren’t you getting out there and doing it?” Her flinch was there and gone so fast I almost missed it. But I didn’t and with it came a surge of guilt. “I know Harmon High doesn’t exactly have the best pool of candidates in the friendship department—”

  She snorted at the understatement.

  “But there is life outside of high school,” I said.

  She gave me a little pout. “I have friends at the nursing home, and in the knitting group that makes all those preemie hats with me, and—”

  “I meant people our age,” I said. “Or really, anyone under the age of eighty.”

  Her laughter made the tension in the room temporarily vanish. “Well, we didn’t all have the luxury of transferring to a new school, now did we?” She tilted her chin up. “Trust me, Jackson, once I’m in college, I’ll have plenty of friends. But in the meantime, you’re the one who’s finally in a place where you can thrive.”

  I thought about that for a moment. Thought about how much easier this school would be with Liv at my side. About how much I’d taken it for granted that I’d always had her to talk to between classes and over lunch. How much I’d come to depend on her to explain the social cues of our peers and to deal with people for me when I didn’t know how. “You know, I could afford your tuition, too, now that the sale went through…”

  She threw a pillow at my head as she laughed. “Don’t even tempt me, Jackson. I’m not going to ride your coattails, and besides, being here on your own is probably good for you. It’s probably something you need to do by yourself.”

  I didn’t argue because I knew she was right. We’d always relied on each other—maybe a little too much—but this school and my new position at Telecor were something I had to do on my own.

  “Working with Jamie would be a good start,” she continued. “The girl clearly likes you and she has friends in this school.”

  I hesitated to agree, only because I was afraid any talk of Jamie would set Liv off on one of her matchmaking jaunts again. Liv frowned at my silence, clearly misinterpreting. “You can do this, Jackson. You have an opportunity here and—”

  I cut her off with a groan as I looked back to the ceiling because I knew what was coming. “If you give me the Spiderman speech about great power and responsibility I’m kicking you out of my dorm room.”

  I swear I could hear her grin. Sure enough, when I glanced over she was smiling broadly and looked like she might burst out laughing. “Fine. No lectures. But… You can do this. You should. People back home might not have understood you, but now everyone knows how smart you are. They want to like you.”

  I thought I knew what she was trying to say. But what I didn’t understand was why her tone had turned almost…sad.

  I studied her from across the room, trying to figure out what was going on behind those big brown eyes. Trying to see what she wasn’t telling me.

  Her gaze flickered up and met mine. “You’re not just lucky, you know that, right?” Before I could respond, she rolled her eyes. “I mean, yes. You were born a white man in America, you are inherently lucky. I’m privileged, you’re privileged—I get that, but…” She sat upright quickly, the blanket falling away in the process. “You created something new and wonderful with Love Quiz. You should be proud of that.” I watched her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath. “You deserve this success and all the glory that comes
with it, Jackson.”

  You deserve…

  She’d been saying that a lot lately and every time my whole body flinched, but I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe because there was something she wasn’t saying whenever she mentioned what I deserved. There was a subtext there that I couldn’t figure out, but she was pushing me away. Whenever she uttered the words “you deserve” I felt a physical shove to my chest that I couldn’t ignore.

  I never had been good at reading between the lines, and with Liv I normally didn’t have to. That was one of the reasons we got on so well. She spelled things out for me. But lately when she talked about me and the changes going on in my life, I knew there was something she wasn’t saying and it was driving me nuts.

  I sat up and threw my legs over the side of the bed. Her eyes widened as I got out and headed toward her.

  I won’t deny it, my blood was pumping, my heart racing. I was a guy, after all, and the woman I loved was wearing next to nothing in a bed and we were all alone. Much as I knew this wasn’t the time, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I said screw it to talking, forgot all about what was said and what was unsaid, and just acted.

  What would she do if I kissed her?

  I sat on the edge of her bed and watched as her hands clenched the blanket that had bunched up at her waist.

  I met her gaze evenly. “What are you not saying?”

  She didn’t answer right away but I saw her swallow. At least she wasn’t going to deny that there was more going on here. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to speak, I reached out and pushed one of her brown curls back, watching closely to see her reaction. Her lips parted and those long lashes fluttered as she blinked rapidly.

  We’d touched…a lot. Friendly touches like impromptu hugs or arms slung over her shoulder. But this felt different. It was different. I couldn’t be the only one who noticed the way the atmosphere was thick with tension, and not all of it was because of unspoken words.

  Some of that tension was due to physical awareness. On my part, at least…but for her?

  I swallowed down a wave of nerves and tried again. “What are you not saying? Why…why are you pushing me away?”

  Her eyes widened in horror. “I’m not.”

  “You are,” I said. “Every time you tell me I deserve success, and I deserve this school and a fresh start and to date someone like Jamie and…” I trailed off with a sigh. “Why does it feel like you’re pushing me away?”

  She opened her mouth and closed it. Then she did it again, but this time I saw her eyes glisten in the dark.

  Oh no. No no no. I pulled her close and felt a tear soak through my T-shirt. “Don’t cry,” I said, my voice hoarse with desperation.

  There was nothing I hated more than seeing Liv cry. Her pain was mine, only I felt hers a million times more because I was helpless in the face of it.

  “I’m not pushing you away,” she said, her voice muffled against my shoulder. “I would never push you away.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn’t mean it as an accusation, I just don’t understand what’s going on with you these days.”

  She gripped my shoulders, fisting my shirt in her grip. “Me neither,” she said with a little laugh. The sound of her laugh, sad as it was, made me breathe out in relief. “I guess I’m just…” She pulled back and met my gaze with a rueful smile. “I guess I’m just happy for you but sad for me, that’s all.”

  “Why are you sad?” I asked. My brow drew down with concern and I tightened my arms around her waist. There was nothing more frustrating than seeing this girl sad and not being able to help.

  “Because I miss you,” she said quietly. “A lot.”

  A rush of adrenaline flooded my veins as hope filled my chest at the emotion in her eyes. “I’m right here.”

  She nodded but her smile wobbled. “Yeah, I know.”

  There was a ‘but’ there, yet she didn’t say it. Even I knew there was more she wasn’t saying and I never knew these things. “Vance?” I said.

  “Yes?”

  “You know I’m always here, right? I may have moved and am going to a new school—”

  “And are now a celebrity, and have more money than I can fathom, and are surrounded by the sons and daughters of the country’s most influential people,” she interrupted. Her tone was teasing but I didn’t like the flicker of sadness in her eyes.

  “And all that,” I conceded. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re my best friend and the most important person in my life.”

  She met my gaze. “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  She nodded, and I tried not to notice that her fingers were moving over my shoulders and down to my chest. I didn’t even think she noticed she was doing it, her hands seemed to be moving in a restless, nervous gesture, but I felt her touch like a branding iron through the thin fabric. It took everything in me not to lean forward and kiss her.

  “I guess I’m just…” I watched her swallow. “Seeing you here, and hearing about all this amazing stuff that’s happening.” She lifted her gaze to meet mine. “You won’t need me anymore.”

  I felt the force of her gaze to my bones. Gone was that shuttered look and I saw everything. Everything. The intensity of it made my whole body tense. She was scared that we’d change, she was terrified of losing me.

  My chest grew so tight I could barely breathe. “I will always need you.”

  Her eyes grew teary again but I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. When she spoke again, her tone was lighter. “I’m so proud of you, you know that, right?”

  I gave her a little squeeze in answer. I did know that.

  “I’ve always known you were a genius, but to create something that’s so universally loved and to have everyone else see how smart you are? It’s so great, Jackson.”

  Something about her tone made me chafe. She was trying so hard to be happy, to lighten the mood and to put us back on friend footing. Once again I got the sense that I was being pushed away even as I held her in my arms.

  “You know, I read the other day that Love Quiz is the fastest growing app worldwide. That’s so crazy.” She shook her head. “But I shouldn’t have expected anything less. You made something just as unique and wonderful as you are.”

  A muscle near my eye twitched as she spoke. She sounded absurdly like my grandmother, which was probably why I snapped. “How would you know? You’ve never even logged into Love Quiz.”

  Her gaze grew shuttered again but her smile didn’t dim. “No offense, Jackson, but how weird would that be? Getting love advice from the app that you created? I might as well ask you to pick out my next boyfriend.”

  I clenched my jaw to keep quiet. She was the only girl I knew who wasn’t on the app and never had been. I’d never wanted to ask why. I guess I’d thought—I’d hoped—that I knew the answer.

  But apparently I was wrong.

  Her nose wrinkled up as she thought about it. “It would be a little creepy having your app tell me who I was in love with.”

  I couldn’t stop myself. I leaned in closer until my nose nearly brushed hers and I could feel her breath on my lips. “Cliff’s Notes version?”

  Her eyes widened and she gave a little nod.

  “It wouldn’t be Mikey.” It came out as a growl and I saw the surprise clear as day in her eyes. Her lips parted on a gasp and I pulled back quickly, not trusting myself to be this close to her any longer.

  I headed back to my bed, ignoring the tense silence behind me. I’d shocked her with the intensity of my emotions, and I could only guess what she saw when she’d looked into my eyes.

  I was back in my own bed and under the covers when she spoke again. “If that magazine offers you the cover feature, you should take it.”

  I didn’t answer. The thought of that sort of publicity made me ill.

  “The world needs you and your brains,” she said quietly. “You can’t hide from it forever.”

  I stared at the c
eiling. I didn’t want to think about the new business, or the new app I was working on, and definitely not the stupid magazine article. The only thing that mattered to me right now was Liv and our future. I’d been so sure this weekend I could get past those walls she’d put up, but now…

  Well, right now it felt hopeless.

  Asking her to the gala had been a failure, and my offer to take her to homecoming had been construed as a pity date. I was officially back to square one.

  I’d do what I did whenever a new project hit a snafu. I’d take a step back. I’d analyze all the components and rework the problem, and eventually I would come up with a new game plan.

  A plan of attack.

  Something that would get it through to her in no uncertain terms that I wanted things to change between us. I was still staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out how to win this girl when she spoke again.

  “Hey, Jackson?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What do you think Stu and I would have scored on the Love Quiz?”

  I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh. “Go to sleep, Vance.”

  Chapter Five

  Liv

  I tried so hard to focus on my biology textbook, I really did. But it was nearly impossible to pay attention to biology when the gaggle of girls behind me insisted on talking about Oliver. My Oliver.

  I gripped my pencil so hard I heard it snap.

  “Did you see the picture in yesterday’s paper?” Julie Berns asked.

  This led to a fresh wave of irritating speculation and gossip.

  And yes, they had all seen the photo. So had I. I’d made a point of cutting out every mention or photo of Oliver these past three weeks since I’d gone to visit him. I’d become my grandmother, apparently, because I was scrapbooking Oliver’s life and achievements like a giant dork.