“Thanks.” I smile as I fill up a red plastic cup and then turn back toward the crowded living room where the band is playing.
My hips rock in time with the beat of the fast song being played, but I refuse to get too out of control and draw a lot of attention to myself. I just want to blend in with everyone else who is having a good time in here.
It doesn’t take long before I recognize the feisty song that’s now being given a rock twist by the band. These guys are good. Maybe even the best band we’ve ever had play at one of our events.
The flimsy red cup in my hand is full of my drink of choice—a plain old beer—as I stretch my neck to get a better look at the band through the crowd. For some reason guys like it when a girl chooses a non-girlie drink, so that’s what I always go for.
When my eyes zero in on the guys on the makeshift stage in the corner of the living room, my breath catches the moment my gaze fixes on a familiar face. It’s Tyler—the guy who saved me last night—and he’s just as sexy as I remember him. Tall, lean, with shaggy, dark blond hair. Intricate tattoos cover his impressive forearms and the black wifebeater tank top he has on shows off his sculpted chest and broad shoulders. He’s the epitome of a rock star. I don’t know why it didn’t hit me last night that Tyler was more a rocker type versus the crazy guy I first took him for. This explains his bad-boy appearance.
It’s then that I notice his eyes. They appear even bluer than they did last night, if that’s possible. I stand there awestruck, unable to tear my gaze away from this breathtaking man in front of me.
Tyler pulls the microphone up to his full lips and sings the chorus of the song. His eyelids close, and the moment feels almost sensual, like I’m witnessing him baring his soul. His voice is as smooth as a silk ribbon sliding against my skin. It’s hypnotic and beautiful with a bit of rasp that turns it downright sexy.
He’s unbelievably hot—hotter even than last night. There’s just something about a man who commands the stage that’s undeniably sexy.
I push myself up to the front of the crowd, needing a closer look at the guy I haven’t stopped thinking about since he dropped me off outside my house. I had mentally prepared myself to never see him again, so seeing him again is a bit of a surprise.
Tyler opens his eyes and then flicks his gaze down to me, effectively pinning me in place. Our eyes connect and a slow, sexy grin spreads across his face.
I bite my bottom lip, but it doesn’t stop me from smiling like an idiot. It’s nice to be noticed, especially from a guy who looks like him. It’s also nice that his expression gives away that he remembers me too.
The rhythmic melody of the song has me nearly in a trance as I stare openly at Tyler while he continues to sing the song and strum the guitar in front of him. Watching his fingers move with ease causes a wicked thought to pop into my head.
Bet he’s pretty good with those fingers in other areas too.
A blush creeps over my face as I think dirty thoughts about my savior, and I’m glad that people in the room don’t have the ability to hear someone else’s thoughts because I would simply die from embarrassment if he knew what I was thinking right now.
When the last few beats of the song play, he glances back down at me and winks, causing my blush to deepen even more.
The crowd bursts out in cheers and everyone turns their attention to Tyler. He grins and says into the microphone, “Thank you guys so much! We’re Purple Haze and we’re just getting started for you! I’m going to turn the lead vocals over to Jimmy here—” Tyler points to a guy who looks more like a hipster than a rocker in his black skinny jeans and flannel shirt. Jimmy rakes his long bangs back out of his face, causing me to notice that one side of his dark hair is completely buzzed while the rest is shaggy. It’s a very edgy look. Jimmy jumps up from behind the drums and stalks toward the front of the stage. “—Be nice to him, ladies!”
Catcalls erupt all around and I join in by screaming along with the rest of the people in the house as Jimmy steps forward to the center of the stage. Tyler takes Jimmy’s place back on the drums and he looks just as comfortable back there as he does center stage.
“Are you ready to party?! Tyler, kick that beat, man!” Jimmy commands, and the music instantly fires into another fast song.
Tyler’s muscles stretch beneath his tattooed skin as he pounds on the drums, and it draws my attention to his large biceps.
I tuck a loose strand of my dark hair back behind my ear and nod my head to the beat. Most guys I know really only excel at one thing, but Tyler seems to be the exception to that rule. Not only can he sing, but he can play the drums like crazy! It appears he’s a man of many talents after all.
I throw back a gulp of my bitter yellow drink when Charity, my archnemesis, comes strolling up with a smirk on her face. I can’t wait to hear what’s about to come out of her mouth. She’s here to no doubt brag about her date with Chance.
Charity has never really made any attempt to hide her contempt for me for dating Chance. I was warned by my other sisters to stay away from Chance because he dated Charity when they were both freshmen, but seeing as that was nearly three years ago, I honestly didn’t think Charity would care. I even asked her if she was okay with it before I started dating him three months ago. She told me that Chance was no longer on her radar and that I could have him if I wanted him.
Guess she really didn’t mean that after all or else she wouldn’t have been out with him last night.
To complicate things even more, Charity is the president of our Kappa Kappa Gamma. She prides herself on our house being known as the well-off Greek house on campus, because we only accept pledges whose families have a certain number of zeros attached to their bank accounts. A practice I’ve always been totally against, but that doesn’t seem to matter much to anyone else but me.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face here,” Charity taunts. “If I were you, I would’ve killed myself.”
“If you think I care about you and Chance, you’re wrong.” I do my best to stand there and pretend that what she just said doesn’t hurt like hell. It’s hard knowing that the people who are supposed to be your friends are so catty.
So much for the unbreakable bond of sisterhood.
She might be the president, but I don’t have to take her bashing me whenever she feels like it. I have always stood up to her, even in situations when no one else would. It’s because I won’t go along with everything she says that she doesn’t like me. I know it.
This whole Chance thing is just a way for her to get back at me, but I want to make sure she knows that she still doesn’t intimidate me.
I square my shoulders and meet her gaze head-on. “If you’re waiting on me to break down and cry over the fact that you went out with Chance last night, you can go away right now. That’s not going to happen.”
Through the loud music, mock screeching and hissing sounds commence from the crowd around us. I turn and find Chance standing in the middle of a group of guys watching Charity and me intently. They’re no doubt waiting on a catfight to occur. The noises cease when I practically shoot daggers out of my eyeballs at Chance. He immediately shuts up and smacks the guys on either side of him so they’ll do the same.
“No. It’s not me who needs to go away. You’re no longer welcome.” Charity smirks.
I do my best to turn and ignore her, but I can’t help firing back a retort. “Fuck off, Charity. You can’t kick me out of the Kappa Kappa because you’re jealous over me and Chance.”
“He has nothing to do with it. The house took a vote since the news of what your father did was splashed all over the press and decided you being one of us isn’t sending out the right message of what we’re about.”
I roll my eyes and try to fight back showing how much that fucking stings. I can’t believe they are holding that shit against me. I’m sure not all the sisters feel this way. They have to know that the incident doesn’t represent the kind of person I am.
I lift my cup toward my lips to put on the act that I’m not fazed in the slightest by Charity and what she says. Before the drink touches my mouth, I feel fingers wrap around my wrist and jerk it, spilling my beer all over my shirt.
The nerve!
My nostrils flare as I slam the cup down on the floor. “You bitch!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Charity laughs as she covers her mouth in mock shock with her perfectly manicured hand. “Well, I guess you’ll have to go to the thrift store and get yourself another shirt. I’m sure your family can still afford to shop there.”
My jaw starts to ache from my clenched teeth. I want to hit her. I want to scream. I’ve tried for the past couple of months to forget—I had to, forgetting is the only way I’ve made it—but Charity rubbing my family’s tragedy in my face is more than I can take.
My life is crumbling because of the stupid mistake my father made, and I hate that everyone now knows about it.
I’ll admit when I first learned my dad was a thief, I wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere, shrivel up, and die. What girl wants to learn her dad stole almost a million dollars while he was the chief financial officer at McMullen’s Candy, a major corporation? Not me. Thank God he struck a deal with the cops and his company to stay out of jail. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he didn’t go to prison, but his whole mess has completely turned my life into a living hell.
I open my mouth to fire back at Charity, but she’s right. I no longer belong here. I can’t afford it.
Reality hits me hard, and the emotion I’ve worked so hard to hide comes out in full, embarrassing force.
Tears stream down my face, and Charity folds her arms across her chest while wearing a smug grin. “Now leave. Kappa Kappa Gamma no longer needs you.”
A crushing weight slams down on my heart. Being a part of this sorority was the one little piece of normalcy I had left, and now that’s being taken away along with everything else that’s been a constant in my life.
I spin around and notice most of the eyes in the room are zeroed in on me, and the overwhelming need to get out of here overtakes me. A sob rips through me as I turn and run out of the room. A ruckus behind me ensues as the music stops, but I don’t dare turn back to see what’s going on.
I have to get out of here.
I burst through the front doors, and the cool night air kisses the bare skin on my shoulders, causing me to shiver. People milling about in front of the house stare at me like I’ve grown three heads and sprouted a tail, and they quickly move away from me, probably worried I’m about to puke on their shoes.
I step out onto the grass and shove my hair back off my face while my breath comes out in little white puffs into the darkness. I focus on my breathing and try to calm myself down so I don’t completely lose my head in front of all these strangers.
“Avery? You okay?” a deep, familiar voice asks from behind me.
I suck in a breath and swat away the tears that continue to stream down my cheeks. I can’t bear to turn around and look at him. Twice now Tyler has witnessed me in some embarrassing situation. Twice now he’s been the one to make sure I’m all right. How sad is my life that a complete stranger is the one who’s been comforting me? I have no real friends. The only person on the face of this planet who cares about me is my father and he’s now a known criminal.
“Avery?” The concern in Tyler’s voice is clear. “Talk to me.”
My heart pounds as I turn to face him. His eyes soften as soon as he spots my face and he takes a tentative step toward me. I open my mouth to speak, but no words will come to me. I’m too overwhelmed, and for the first time in my life I can’t think of one thing to say.
He lifts his hand slowly as if to ask permission to touch my face. When I don’t move away, he gently caresses my face with the tips of his fingers. “Fuck those rich, uppity assholes. Don’t let them get to you. From what I’ve seen, you’re too good for them.”
I shake my head and sniff. “No I’m not. They’re right. I don’t belong—not anymore.” With that admission I cry harder. “I’ve got to go.”
I turn and run again—away from Tyler. Away from everything that is my life. It’s time for me to start living in my new reality, and letting go of a life that no longer belongs to me.
AVERY
I don’t want to be packing right now, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter. I haven’t been to any classes since the party two weeks ago and I’m too far behind now to even attempt to go back and finish spring semester. I withdrew from all my classes this morning and came to terms that moving out of the city to start a new life with my dad is the best thing for me right now. Since Dad filed bankruptcy, it’s not the best time for me to be getting mixed up in loans that I know my family has no way of repaying.
Dad and I are both completely broke. All we have left is the money my granny has floated us, along with the one car we are allowed to keep.
The entire student body now knows that I’m the daughter of the CFO caught in a recent embezzlement scandal. Charity’s been busy leading the charge to ruin my reputation with anyone who would listen—even my cousin, who also attends Ohio State, has heard the story. I’m sure by now all the people I know at school have had a good laugh at my expense.
Chance poked fun at me yesterday on social media, so I made the decision to delete all my accounts just so I won’t have to see the evidence of being the laughingstock of all my so-called friends firsthand.
I would like to say that we’re moving somewhere uberglamorous and exotic, so that we can put all this behind us and start a new life, but that’s not the case. Where we’re going is a total hole-in-the-wall town. I haven’t been there in years. I’m moving to Wellston, Ohio. Jeez, just thinking of the name puts me to sleep. Why Wellston? Well, that’s easy. That’s where Granny lives, plus we have nowhere else to go. I’m so not looking forward to living with her. She’s great and I love her dearly, but she smokes like a freakin’ freight train, she cusses like a sailor, and I know she’s going to be hell on wheels to live with. She’s not the little-old-lady-that-bakes-cookies type, that’s for sure, but she’s kind enough to allow her soon-to-be-homeless son and granddaughter to move in with her. I have to learn to make the best of the situation because I honestly don’t have any other options right now.
Dad loads the last of our things in the only car the court let us keep. Our Mercedes SUV is top-of-the-line. I pleaded with him to trade it in for something a little less flashy because it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb where we are going, but Dad didn’t want to walk into a car dealership and risk the embarrassment of being turned down due to his current credit predicament. We’re lucky to have a car at all right now. Wellston isn’t really known to be a wealthy area by any means. Matter of fact, it’s a part of what’s referred to as Appalachia—one of the poorest regions of the United States.
I know I’m going to hate it there. I’m already desperate to find a way back to Columbus as soon as I can. I even stooped as low as making plans with my cousin Stacy, whom I barely speak to. The plan is that I come back to Columbus and live with her and my aunt Donna, my mother’s sister, once Dad gets back on his feet and I find a way to pay for my tuition. I want to finish my degree even though I’m still not sure what I want to do with my life. College seems like the only option for a decent future. I’ll find a way to support myself, but I’ve always been told I need a college degree for that.
I don’t like the idea of leaving Dad in his current state. He’s been really depressed since everything’s gone down and is overly emotional. I let out a big sigh as I stand there looking at my room for the last time. This is totally heartbreaking. I’ve lost everything—my house, the people I used to think were my friends, and even my mom because of all this. She can’t take being poor. At least that’s what she told us when she left two months ago after Dad broke the news about what was happening to him at his job. Even though Dad explained that he wasn’t responsible for taking all the money that the inve
stigators claimed was missing, he did confess to taking a little extra money off the top of his company’s profits. Dad was the CFO, so he controlled the money, and when the VP of the company discovered what Dad had done, he took millions of dollars from the company and set it up so that my dad would take the fall for all the missing money. Once my dad’s lawyers dug into everything, they were able to provide the court with a paper trail leading back to the VP, which is how my father escaped without any jail time.
Even with that, the damage to his career was done. He says no other company will even consider hiring him after everything that’s happened.
My mother couldn’t stomach the fact that she was married to a broke criminal, so she left, and hasn’t contacted either me or Dad since.
Mom is now dating her plastic surgeon, according to her social media page.
Money is a crazy thing. When you have it, people stick to you like glue. When you hit rock bottom, people scamper away and never look back.
“You ready, kiddo?” Dad asks. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”
“Yeah, I’m ready. I was just, you know . . .” I mumble.
“I know,” he says softly, while giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I am so sorry about all of this, Avery.”
I pat his hand that’s resting on my shoulder. “I know, Dad. You don’t have to keep apologizing to me.”
“But I do. I feel like I’ve ruined your life.”
“It’s going to be okay, Dad. Me and you . . . we’re a team.”
He gives me a small smile. “I’m so lucky to be your dad. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
I turn and wrap my arms around him. “I’ll never give up.”
It’s taken a couple months for me to forgive him for everything, and a small part of me hoped that Mom would come around like I did, but I’m not holding my breath for that to happen anymore.
I put a lot of the blame for what’s happening to our family on her. If she wasn’t so greedy and hooked on impressing everyone, Dad probably wouldn’t have felt compelled to take money that wasn’t his to take in order to support Mom’s lavish lifestyle.
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