by Nora Cobb
“Where’s college?” I ask.
“Columbia.”
I don’t dare look over at Jacob, but I hear Lucas scoff. “Congratulations,” I say softly.
“I had applied before you mentioned going,” he explains.
“So,” Jacob starts. “You and your sister are going to live on your own?”
Troy matches Jacob’s steady gaze. “That’s the plan. I’ll rent an apartment and find a school for her to attend.”
Lucas shakes his head. “It’s like being a parent.”
“I was planning on being a parent already.”
We’re quiet for a moment as the change sinks in. I’m thinking about what might have been and wondering if I’ll have that chance again in the future. If I had had Troy’s baby and married him instead of Jacob, would I have ended up as Vicki’s stepmom? Shuddering, I force the thought out of my head quickly.
“Well,” says Jacob to Lucas, “do you have any family business you want to share with the group?”
Lucas gives Jacob a sharp look but doesn’t comment on the sarcastic tone. He sits up straight and leans his arms on his knees. “I talked to my parents about marrying you, Natalie.”
The conversation stalls again as Troy and Jacob stare at Lucas. My mouth drops in amazement. He doesn’t care that I have Jacob’s ring. He’d propose to me despite the fact that I’ve said yes to Jacob.
“And what did they say?” asks Jacob.
“They said no. In fact, if I choose to marry Natalie, I will probably be disowned like you were.”
“So, you’ll be out on your own, too,” replies Troy.
Lucas says nothing but nods.
“So, we’ll all be out on our own,” says Jacob.
“Will you be able to go to college?” I ask.
Lucas shrugs. “I doubt it, but college was my plan B. I’d planned to go start a business after graduation. My parents think that the only connections I have are through them. But I didn’t spend all my time in New York going to parties to drink. I was making business connections of my own.”
Lucas’ hand rests on my knee, and my hand covers his.
“If you need a place to live, you can come and live with me, of course,” I offer.
I notice Troy lift his eyebrows as I say it. And I realize too late that I didn’t make the same offer to him. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to backpedal, but I’ll mention something to him in private. But why have more secrets?
“If any of you need a place,” I announce sheepishly, “of course you can stay with me and Uncle Phil.”
Wow, that sounds tempting. My head feels dizzy, and the cool breeze off the water is chilling my arms. It’s because of me that they’re being thrown out on the street. Their status is lost to them, and I can’t even commit to marriage. I can only marry one, and I just can’t decide.
Jacob leans in. “Thanks, Natalie, but if we have a long engagement …” He places emphasis on the last two words. “I’ll be accepting the offer to go to Notre Dame.”
Before I can respond, Lucas says, “I think it’s a good decision, Jacob, and I’m not saying that for obvious reasons.”
“We’re not talking about anything obvious today,” Jacob grumbles.
I lean back into the chair, slumping against the flat wood back. Our relationship together is damaged from the unexpected twists and turns that have taken place recently, and I don’t want to push it and watch it break. It may not come back like a rubber band. It might snap like a twig instead.
“After graduation, I’ll be separated from each of you.” I make the statement and leave it there, and none of the captains respond. They look at the waterfall as if they’re waiting for the hikers to reappear.
CHAPTER 17
Natalie
Graduation is less than a month away, and due to the Gawk website, I’m almost back where I started socially in September. I’ve lost some popularity over the pregnant-by-three-men scandal. How I could be pregnant by three men doesn’t make medical sense, but it sounds a lot more scandalous than just being pregnant by one.
I’m tired of defending myself and ignore the stares.
Arielle has gotten a little bit back, and the teasing and taunting she had received has dropped off. Now, I’m the object of gossip behind hands held up to mouths as I walk through the hallway. No one dares to put condoms on my locker, but one bold person tapes a pregnancy stick on my locker. There are five unused sticks in the shape of an asterisk. It only takes a day for Jacob to find out who did it, and though our engagement is on hold, Jacob confronts the kid. And if the rumor is true, the twit pees himself when Jacob confronts him after school. After that day, everyone keeps their creative expression off my locker.
***
Cora, Lexi, Beth, and I go to the gymnasium of East Hall to pick up our robes for graduation. Six rows of robes are lined up in alphabetical order from front to back. Folding tables separate the students from the gowns, and admins sit at each table to hand them out.
Something that should have taken ten minutes, tops, is going to take an hour. Cora is annoyed when she finds out that the gowns are used. She doesn’t care if they’ve been dry-cleaned each year, and she sends the admin to scurry off to find the address where a new robe can be ordered.
We wait. And while we wait, there are opinions being tossed around as to who fathered my child.
“It’s basically common knowledge that you slept with all three captains,” says Lexi apologetically. She smiles half-heartedly as if she’s giving me the bad news that I’ll never stop being Trashalicious.
Cora adds, “At least you only slept with captains, unlike Arielle.”
Lexi rolls her eyes. “She’s hanging out with a freshman boy. He almost looks like the drug dealer.”
I wonder if Lexi knows Anthony’s name. I shrug and look at the ticket for my gown. Anthony took down Arielle, but he’ll only be remembered as a dealer.
It’s not much better than my new nickname. I’m called the black widow. When rich boys mate with me, they lose their money and status.
I find the row L to Q and hand in my voucher to Ms. Schneider.
She smiles at the ticket and then at me. “So, Natalie, are you happy to be leaving Montlake?”
My hand grips the table to keep my legs from bending. I’m shocked that she would even ask that question. In fact, I wonder if she might be making a cruel joke. But Ms. Schneider is sometimes a little clueless.
“Yes, I’m glad to be going.”
“And what college are you attending?”
“Tampa.”
“Oh,” she smiles as if she’s been there, “That’ll be nice. A lot of sunshine and beaches. Have fun while you’re there.”
“Actually, I might be too busy studying marine biology.”
“That’s a tough major.” She stares at me but makes no moves to get my gown. “But you’re a smart girl. A tough one, too.” Ms. Schneider leans in close and looks side to side to check before she speaks. “There’s news on Ms. Petrenko,” she whispers.
Though I have Ms. Petrenko’s number, we wisely refrain from talking about the case. I’ve heard no gossip about it, online or off. Probably because there’s no tits and ass involved. I’m eager to hear the gossip.
“What have you heard?” I ask.
“Part of the settlement requires that she be reinstated.”
I almost jump for joy. “She’ll get her old job back?”
“More than that, rumor has it that she’ll be getting an upper administrative role to safeguard this thing from happening again at the school. She has a lot of parental support.”
We stop talking when another student shows up to pick up their gown. I wait for Ms. Schneider to get the gowns and thank her. I can’t wait for Cora, who is on her cell phone demanding service. As I walk out the doors, I almost run smack into Arielle.
When her status started to gain traction again, her old look returned. She’s still wearing jeans, but with high-heeled sandals and silk peasant
blouses. She doesn’t have a lot of makeup on, just a little lip gloss, and blush.
Arielle looks down her nose as if I’d been planning to plow into her instead of the other way around. She likes playing innocent, but we tricked her into making one bad decision after another.
She sneers at me. “I guess you’re lucky that the gown fits loosely over your belly.”
“Is that lip gloss, or did you forget to reapply your lipstick after your last job?”
She looks at me as if I shouldn’t have said that. But after almost a year together, you’d think she’d get used to me flinging it right back at her.
“Don’t lecture me, slut,” she says. “With a baby to prove it.”
“I’m not pregnant. And you’re lucky you can’t get pregnant by swallowing, or you’d be on your tenth kid by now.”
She gets in my face, and I try hard not to take a step back, but unfortunately, I do. Damn self-preservation instincts.
“I’m surprised you have that attitude.” She twists her lips. “Because it’s you who’s been slutting it up, not me.”
“I don’t want to have this discussion with you.” I step away. “And if you were wise, you would drop the shit for good.”
Arielle stares at me in shock and then laughs. But her laughter is not genuine; she has to force it as an audience forms around us. The tilt of her chin means that Arielle is about to take it over the top.
“Montlake is mine.” She points at me. “It has always been mine. It will never be yours.”
“You do realize we’re graduating tomorrow, right?” I ask.
“And that will change nothing,” her voice is loud. “You have a fancy building, but your family is trash. I don’t care if I never see you again. I’ll still take you down.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” I snap. “Don’t you have anything worthwhile to do with your life? I don’t understand why you cannot let this go.”
She steps forward, closing the gap. “You took what you shouldn’t have. You are yesterday’s trash that needs to be tossed to the street. And I plan on making sure that you are put back in your place. You never belonged here, and you still don’t.”
This time, I take a step forward, and our noses almost touch. Surprisingly, Arielle takes a quick step back. “I’m tired of being civil toward you,” I whisper hoarsely.
“Civil?” she scoffs, “You call stealing my husband civil?”
I want so badly to tell her that Lucas wanted to marry me, but I don’t want to jeopardize my delicate relationship for a moment of glory.
“You only wanted him when he wanted me. And yes, I have been nothing but civil toward you.”
“Condoms on my locker?” she asks.
“I wonder who taught me that little trick?”
Her eyes narrow as her hands go to her hips. “You try to retaliate in any way, and I will come down harder on you than anything I’ve done before.”
“Is that a threat, Arielle?”
“It is a promise, Natalie. You lay one finger on me, and I will press charges. And that also includes your made-up husband.”
Oh, I want to say so much more, but I have to keep my mouth shut. To lash out and tell her the truth would ruin my relationship with the captains forever. It has already been stretched by a pregnancy scare and surprise proposal, but I’ve never gossiped about us. Especially not to win a fight with a mean, heartless bitch.
“Are you finally backing down?” She rolls her eyes. “It only took you a year to learn how to do that. God, you’re slow. It’s a good thing you’re not breeding.”
I want to hit her hard, until her eyes roll back into her bleached blonde head. She has no right to judge me. Arielle never has sex with a man out of love. Instead, it’s all for power. Yet she has the nerve to call me a slut. But I’m in love, and it makes me back down.
The knowledge keeps me calm though I’m angrier than I’ve ever been before. Breathing deep, I keep calm. Uncle Phil will make sure I have the last word … in court.
“Nothing else to say?” she taunts me as her followers look on.
“You can have Montlake,” I tell her. It’ll be the only thing you have.
CHAPTER 18
Troy
Each June, graduation is held outside of the town hall in Montlake. It’s a tradition to have the new graduates climb the steps and receive their diplomas from the principal and the mayor. Of course, fifty years ago, the class size was less than a hundred students. Today, our class is triple the size. So the chairs are lined up in the parking lot, and the street in front is closed off for additional seating. And Cromwell has been replaced at the podium by the superintendent of schools.
From where I sit with the graduates, I notice the tension between my parents. In the past, Maya would always make it a point to sit beside Greg in public. But today, Vicki sits in between them like a barrier. My dad looks pale as he sits with his arms folded. My mother puts on a show, applauding loudly for each student from a good family that she socializes with. Her exuberant display is ignored, but somehow, my family is the center of attention.
My lawyer filed papers against my parents that I would make me my sister’s legal guardian. I wasn’t bluffing. And everything has been set in motion. And this morning, that dirty bit of gossip made it onto the Gawk website.
After the ceremony, I pose in my robe with my family as pictures are taken, and solo plans are made for tonight. We ride home in silence. The only people in the car speaking are Vicki and me, but we’re not sitting side by side. I’m up front with Dad while Vicki sits in the back with my mother. Another change. They say nothing to one another, but their angry glances say enough.
In spring, Mother redecorates the living room, and since I’m moving out, she has plans to turn my bedroom into a relaxation room for herself. Plans for a hot tub and a meditation corner are being designed. There are enough rooms in this mansion to house four families, most of which are hardly used, but she’s making it clear that my bedroom will no longer be available to me.
I don’t care. She’s welcome to it.
***
When we arrive home, it all explodes as Dad slams the front door shut. We turn to stare at him, and he glares back at each of us with a livid face.
“Greg,” Mother starts. “What has gotten into you?”
“Unbelievable,” he glares at her, “Absolutely unbelievable.”
She throws her purse down on a chair in the living room. “What does that mean?”
He follows her into the room, gesturing with his hands. “Did you not notice the looks we received during graduation?”
Mother stiffens and averts her gaze toward the mantel. A corny portrait of the four of us hangs over it. Stiff and uncomfortable would describe the artificial smiles accurately. I don’t see any love there.
“No, I didn’t,” she replies.
I suppress a groan, while Vicki rolls her eyes while we join them. It was obvious that we were the objects of speculation, as people turned slightly to look over their shoulders then turned away to whisper behind their hands. The worst part was the giggling.
“I learned today that my son is suing for legal custody of my daughter. Why am I finding this out secondhand?” He looks at my mother and then at me. “It would’ve been thoughtful if someone had mentioned it before I read it on a smutty website.”
“It’s just a little disagreement, Greg.” Mother flops down into a chair as if it’s a minor hiccup. “Nothing for us to worry about.”
Dad ignores her and turns to me. “Is it true? Are you suing us for guardianship of your sister?”
I nod but don’t comment.
His brow creases, expressing his hurt. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“How could I?” I ask. “When you were pushing for Vicki to marry Connor Bouchard?”
Dad’s face falls into a blank stare. “Vicki is marrying Connor Bouchard?”
Mother and I actually look at one another in disbelief. “Greg,” she asks. “How could you
not know that Vicki is engaged to Connor?”
Bewildered, he throws up his hands. “Aren’t they a bit young for that?”
“Darling, this is how it is done. We can’t have her just marrying anybody.”
“Connor Bouchard?” Dad asks. “The kid is a brat, and that’s putting it nicely. Why would I want my daughter marrying him?”
I point my index finger at him. “Wait, you went to their house with Vicki and met his family while I was in Tampa.”