Georgetown Academy, Season One

by Schwartz, Alyssa Embree

  “Brinley, I’ve been trying to find you. We need to talk,” Evan said, a little winded as she caught up to her. Her cheeks were flushed from the effort and it actually gave her pasty face a pop of color. If she wasn’t going to take the time to buy a Nars blush stick, she should seriously consider jogging everywhere she went. She certainly seemed to have an affinity for running-friendly footwear.

  “You can save your breath. I have no interest in helping you mend your friendship with Ellie.” Brinley had been surprised when she’d read Ellie’s teary email at Sagebrush about how Evan had kissed Hunter the same night she was supposed to be helping Ellie get back together with him. She had always figured Evan to be far too square to be a part of something so scandalous. “You reap what you sow.”

  Evan flinched and Brinley felt slightly guilty at her harshness. But only slightly. Evan had gotten herself into this mess and she would have to get herself out of it. Brinley was not getting involved.

  “Yes, it’s about Ellie. But it’s not about…that.”

  Brinley pressed the button on the elevator, willing it to hurry up and open.

  “It’s about Weston.”

  The statement piqued Brinley’s interest enough for her to respond, “What about him?”

  Evan glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation. Brinley hadn’t pegged her for a drama queen.

  “I was talking to my friend, Jana. She goes to Sidwell and she told me a pretty horrendous story about him.” She lowered her voice even more. “I think he drugged a girl at a party last year.”

  The elevator door opened, but Brinley didn’t step into it. True, Weston hadn’t given her the best first impression, but drugging someone? That was a different story entirely and not one she could take lightly for Ellie’s sake. “And your friend is a reliable source?”

  Evan nodded. “He tricked this girl, Ashley, into taking something. Jana didn’t have all the details, but it seemed pretty obvious that’s what happened. You need to tell Ellie.”

  Evan might have betrayed Ellie for whatever reason, but Brinley knew deep down she cared about Ellie as much as Brinley did. And she wasn’t exactly the type to embellish a story like this.

  “Does this Ashley girl go to Sidwell, too?”

  “No. She transferred, but I don’t know where. I saw her on Facebook, though.”

  Thank god for small miracles. And Mark Zuckerberg. “I’ll email her,” Brinley answered firmly. “If I’m going to tell Ellie about this, I want to know all the facts first.”

  Evan chewed on her chapped lip nervously. Had the girl never heard of lip balm?

  “Look, just go about your night, Evan. Let me handle it from here.”

  “What if she doesn’t email you back?”

  Brinley scoffed and gave Evan a searing look.

  “Of course she’ll email you back,” Evan mumbled. “You’re Brinley Madison.”

  For better or for worse.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Friday, 9:11 p.m.

  Taryn’s thoughts were still jumbled by the time she was sitting across from Gabe at the cozy, eclectic Indian restaurant he had brought her to. It was funky with its hanging lanterns and bamboo chairs, and the food was spicy and authentic. All the things she loved. But then, Gabe knew what she liked, because they tended to be the same things he enjoyed himself. If he was annoyed that their dinner date had begun two hours late, he hid it well.

  “So, what did you do this afternoon?” Taryn asked, as she took a bite of a veggie samosa. She knew she should be tightening the screws right now—that instead of asking questions, she should be recounting, in detail, how fun her day with Brooks had been in order to drive Gabe to jealousy. But after Brooks’s last comment of the day, she couldn’t bring the words to her mouth. It was ridiculous. What better way to make Gabe want to be exclusive than to tell him that Brooks actively had feelings for her? But there was something about exposing Brooks in that way that felt wrong.

  “Not much,” Gabe replied. “I read. Caught up with a few guys I used to hang out with. They said there’s a bunch of parties going on in people’s rooms later if we want to go. How was the afternoon with Brooks?”

  Upon hearing his name, warmth tinged her cheeks and she was surprised to find a small thrill of excitement whip through her stomach. But as she met Gabe’s eyes across the table, she immediately refocused. Gabe was the one she liked. Whatever excitement she felt about Brooks could probably be chalked up to flattery. With his handsome looks and impeccable grace, Brooks was one of the most sought-after guys at G.A. The fact that he liked Taryn was unexpected and yeah, an ego boost, especially when she had been waiting what seemed like forever for Gabe to commit to her. But that was it. Still, she avoided saying his name in her reply for fear that mentioning him would make her cheeks turn crimson yet again.

  “It was good,” Taryn said vaguely. She hated lying. Better to focus on something that was actually true. “The powder was amazing. Virgin snow. We did some unmarked territory that was cool and there were a ton of good trails that were practically empty, too. We were flying down this one run called Lookout. It was so awesome.”

  She found Gabe smiling at her from across the table.

  “What?”

  “You’re all lit up talking about it. You get so excited by things, you know? Genuinely excited. It’s rare. It’s one of the things I like best about you.”

  As he reached for her hand, interlacing her fingers with his, she suddenly realized how silly she had been the last few days. Gabe obviously liked her and he wasn’t shy about showing it. So then why had she gotten so fixated with making it official? She should’ve never let Lauren get in her head. It had only been two weeks. Gabe was a chill guy who wasn’t going to get caught up on labels, and Taryn finally realized that was okay. Instead of trying to force it, she should lean back, stop confusing things and appreciate what they had. Because it was pretty damn good. From now on, she was going to go back to the way things originally were with her and Gabe. Where both of them were just easygoing and relaxed with each other.

  “Thanks,” she replied, giving his hand a squeeze.

  “Hey, what if I went boarding with you tomorrow?” he asked suddenly.

  “Really?” Taryn replied. “I thought you didn’t want to?”

  “You made it sound too good to pass up,” he said. “And I want to see you in action…” It was amazing. Literally the second she stopped actively trying to make Gabe jealous and shoehorn him into doing what she wanted, he came around on his own. Such a good life lesson.

  “I’d love it,” she replied. There was a small part of her that felt a twinge of disappointment, having already planned in her head to tackle the east side of the mountain with Brooks tomorrow. But she quickly got over it. Because after a few days of feeling off with Gabe, the two of them were finally back in sync.

  ***

  Evan was making out with Hunter McKnight.

  Right after her encounter with Brinley, he had texted her that he was back from dinner with Narc and invited her to his room. She had immediately met up with Luke so he could approve her outfit and gloat in person about how his break-up story had ended up working out for her after all. He had tousled her hair to “give it volume,” rejected her sweater within thirty seconds for its lack of cleavage exposure and forced her to borrow one of Taryn’s slinky tank tops. Thank god the boutique in town wasn’t open or it would have been three o’clock in the morning before she made it to Hunter’s room.

  Before this moment, she had thought meeting her favorite journalist, Nick Kristof, in the green room at Today in Politics last year was the pinnacle of her freak out meter. But now that she was intertwined with Hunter on his bed, she realized she was wrong. This was way farther off the meter.

  She and Hunter pulled away for a second to catch their breath and laid down on their sides, their faces inches apart. He touched her cheek and she melted underneath his warm hand.

  “Do you want to go to
that party in Graham’s room?” he asked now that they had stopped kissing long enough to talk. That had been his original idea when she knocked on his door. He had just gotten out of the shower and let her in as he was putting on a white T-shirt, his blond hair still damp. They had quickly gotten sidetracked.

  “Not really,” she answered. She had zero desire to leave this room any time soon.

  He grinned. “I’m good with that.”

  There was also one other reason she didn’t want to go to Graham’s party.

  “Maybe it’s better if we don’t tell anyone about this yet,” she added carefully, hoping it didn’t sound too presumptuous. She wasn’t going to assume they were together overnight, but she still didn’t want anyone like Portia Davies to find out they were hooking up and that’s exactly what might happen if they showed up to Graham’s party together. She would seriously have no shot at resuming her friendship with Ellie if she heard about this from the press secretary before she heard it from Evan or Hunter themselves.

  Her stomach suddenly dropped when she thought about the other Ellie issue. The Weston Morris issue. Brinley had said she would handle it, but that didn’t make Evan feel any better about the situation. She would have to find her first thing tomorrow to see if Ashley had emailed her back. The story for Samantha didn’t come close to mattering as much as Ellie not getting hurt. But if Ashley did confirm the drugging incident Jana had told her about, that wasn’t exactly something that should be left unreported either.

  “Do you not want anyone to know out of respect for Luke?” Hunter asked, slowly grazing his hand down her back.

  Evan reddened. She wasn’t ready to bring up the Ellie thing yet, worried that the mention of additional drama might make him rethink everything all together. “Yeah, exactly.”

  “I know you guys literally just broke up,” he said. “I don’t want to move too fast if you need some time.”

  She had been in love with Hunter for three years. This was definitely not moving too fast.

  “No, I’m good.”

  “I’m glad we finally figured this out,” he said softly, his eyes blazing.

  This is really happening.

  He moved his body on top of hers and the passionate kissing started all over again. Both her hands grasped him tightly and the intensity was building with every movement. She wasn’t sure whose heart was beating faster because their bodies were pressed so close against each other. He squeezed her back underneath her silky tank top and just as she was wondering how far this was going to go tonight, they heard a key in the door.

  “That’s Narc,” Hunter whispered.

  Evan got up so fast, she almost fell off the bed.

  Narc entered the room and was clearly startled to see her. But the look of surprise quickly shifted into one of pity. Why was he staring at her like she’d just lost an election by two votes?

  “What’s up, Narc?” Hunter asked, picking up on the weirdness, too.

  Narc looked between them unsure. “I was coming back from Graham’s party but I, uh, left my bag in my friend Dave’s room. He gave me his key so I could get it and, um…”

  She and Hunter watched him expectantly as he tensely rocked back and forth on his heels.

  “And when I opened the door, I, uh, walked in on his roommate, Kyle.” He paused, then looked directly at her. “He was hooking up with Luke Jensen.”

  Evan’s jaw dropped. That was why he had looked at her with pity. Narc thought he was breaking the news to her that her ex-boyfriend was gay. But that was the least important thing that mattered right now.

  “Did you tell anyone?” she asked, her heart racing.

  Hunter shot his eyes up at her, probably shocked that that was the question she chose to ask. But there was no time to pretend she didn’t know about Luke. She needed to make sure Narc hadn’t spread the word.

  “No,” Narc answered. “I came straight here.”

  She exhaled. It was still possible to save Luke from being publicly outed. “You guys can’t tell anyone about this, okay?” Hopefully the seriousness in her tone was sharp enough for them to understand the gravity of the situation.

  She finally looked over at Hunter and he was staring at her like she was a complete stranger. “Wait, so you knew—?”

  She gave a quick nod then added desperately, “Just please promise me you both aren’t going to say anything.”

  “Of course not, Evan,” Narc said quickly. “I know who his dad is.”

  Hunter nodded, as well, though he furrowed his brow and frowned. Probably because he was realizing the extent to which she had overtly lied not only to everyone, but specifically to him. But she couldn’t worry about that right now. She had to find Luke.

  An hour later, she sat on Luke’s bed numbly, as he paced around the room in a basketball shirt and track pants, his anxiety almost knocking him off balance.

  “You’re positive they aren’t going to say anything?” he asked, rubbing a shaky hand over his shaved head.

  “Yes. Hunter never gossips about anyone and no one keeps a secret better than Narc.”

  “His name is Narc.”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s an ironic nickname and you know it. Everything is going to be okay.”

  His breathing slowly returned to normal, but when he sat on the bed next to her, he couldn’t stop his foot from tapping nervously on the floor.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Luke! Yes, I’m sure.” She put her foot on his to stop the tapping. “But what about this Kyle Price guy? How do you know he’s not going to say anything?”

  He smirked. “He’s more in the closet than I am. At least my parents are cool with it. Not only does his mom give money to one of those ‘Pray the Gay Away’ camps, but she’s obsessed with him marrying into a family that will up their social quotient.”

  She winced in disgust.

  “Wait a second,” he said, his eyes suddenly wide. “So you told Hunter you knew I was gay?”

  The butterflies of excitement she’d felt earlier that night had officially been stamped out and replaced with an overwhelming sense of dread. “Yeah. I mean, basically.”

  “What did he say?”

  She swallowed, hanging her head when she remembered Hunter’s look of pure shock that she had duped him. “I ran out so fast I didn’t get a chance to explain.”

  Luke wrapped a long arm around her. “I’m sorry I got you into this, Evs. You should go talk to him. Make sure things are cool.”

  “I think I’d rather talk to him in the morning.”

  The truth was, she needed the extra time to decide what she was going to say. Why did this all have to go down right after he told her in the museum that her honesty was something he liked about her? Please let there be other things.

  ***

  “Got it!” Weston yelled, as he successfully bounced a quarter into the red plastic cup in the middle of the table. He shifted his eyes to the group of ten people who had congregated to play the game. “I pick…Ellie.”

  Ellie cringed and laughed at the same time. If you got your quarter in the cup, you got to call out someone to drink. Weston had picked her the last two times, as well. She chugged the remnants of her beer glass, thinking how remarkable it was that a few hours ago she was chugging her Evian with the same ferocity. But once she had gotten up to the room, Weston and his friends had insisted some “hair of the dog” would alleviate any remnants of her earlier hangover, and though she had been a little nervous to pound that first beer, now she was beginning to realize he was right. She felt totally fine, all memories of her nausea long gone and she was ready to party all night, if need be. Which was good considering Weston’s idea of a “few people hanging out” had turned into a full-blown bash with at least fifty students crammed into his room, two sets of drinking games and a music playlist that would rival any DJ. He had even employed a few freshmen to serve on a rotating chaperone alert at the end of the hall. And true to his word, Ellie was having fun.

 
; Cooper Fenton, the blond, Landon senior who Weston was rooming with, was up next, but his quarter slipped at the last second, sliding off the table, meaning it was his turn to drink.

  As he did, Weston turned to Ellie, swinging an arm around her. “You good?”

  “Yeah,” she said, giving him a beer-buzzed smile. “I don’t know how much longer I can play this game though. Do you want to go out to the balcony?”

  “Or should I kick everyone out of here so we can be alone?” He moved his hands to her shoulders, gently massaging her neck.

  “You don’t need to kick anybody out,” Ellie said, keeping her tone light. She had fun making out with Weston at the club last night, but that didn’t mean she was ready to do anything more. Hunter was the only guy she’d ever slept with and that was after a year of dating. She had known Weston for less than a week.

  Weston leaned in to her ear. “Or we could go back to your room right now. Cooper can man the fort.” Ellie hadn’t really wanted to get into the whole thing, but he was making it harder for her to simply deflect. She got up from the table and he followed her to the small square footage of bed that was available for Ellie to perch on.

  “I’m just…” she began. “It’s not the right time, you know?”

  “When is it ever the right time?” he asked, answering her question with a question and kissing her neck softly. She pulled away quickly.

  “I don’t know, but it’s not now.” She said it a little more sharply than she had intended, but she needed him to get the point clearly.

  He looked up and she held her breath for a second, wondering if he was going to be one of those guys who got angry when a girl turned them down, but instead he shrugged.

  “No worries, no rush,” he responded, giving her face a caress before kissing her. This time, Ellie leaned into it.

  “Weston! We need ice, man!” a red-faced guy yelled out, from the makeshift bar across the room.

  Weston gave her one more kiss. “I’ll be back. Don’t move.”