by K. Walker
The freaking place was huge! As Wes pulled into a parking spot, I stared at the building. Well, buildings. The school wasn't one solitary building like I was used to. Instead, it was multiple small buildings connected together by stone pathways and covered awnings.
Shit, was this what it was like to go to a rich kid's school?
By the time Sebastian let me out of the back seat, I'd gotten over my initial shellshock. My original instincts about this place were right - I definitely didn't belong here. Even if the kids weren't all stuck-up snobs like Wes, there was no way I'd fit into a place like this.
Sebastian shut the door behind me, and the car chirped as the alarm engaged. Wes glared at the two of us, hiking his own bag higher up onto his shoulder. I'd been so focused on ogling the school I hadn't even noticed him get it out of the trunk. "Be back here by four o'clock, or you're walking home," he said. He locked eyes with me first, and I just stared back at him. Then, he turned his gaze on his younger brother. "And that means you, too, Sebastian. Don't think I won't make you walk. Your scrawny ass could use the exercise."
"It's not my fault I got all the brains and you and Chuck had to split the brawn," Sebastian teased with a lopsided smirk. Then, he hooked his arm into mine and practically dragged me toward the building. "Come on. I'll show you where your classes are since Wes still has a stick up his ass."
Chapter 16
Once Sebastian showed me where my classes were, he ran off, claiming he had to go meet a friend, which left me standing by the door to the building my first class was in, alone. I stared up at the building, still marveling at how different this school was.
The entire place was fenced off with a guard shack at the front gate. And yet, there were no metal detectors. No one was searching the cars for weapons or drugs. We were free to come and go from the various buildings at will. I could've headed over to the gym and watched Wes's wrestling practice. Or I could've gone to the cafeteria. Or, I was pretty sure I could just walk right off campus and no one would stop me.
Giggling caught my attention and jarred me out of my thoughts. I turned to watch a group of four girls head toward me, laughing about something. Normally, I would have just ignored them, but they all seemed to be watching me.
I stayed where I was, out of the way, and watched as they walked passed me and into the building. They kept glancing over at me as they spoke in low voices to each other. I could imagine what they were saying. They all had perfectly styled hair and more make-up than some hookers I'd seen. If we hadn't been forced to wear uniforms, they'd have all been decked out in designer clothes.
No doubt they'd already figured out I didn't belong here. I'd brushed my hair and tied it back into a ponytail and I had barely spent five minutes putting on makeup. I wasn't here for a boyfriend, so what was the point in trying to get all prettied up?
I didn't move until all four girls were inside, then I let out a breath and shook my head. I'd known this would happen, that people would stare and talk about me. It was what rich kids did, wasn't it? They'd all probably grown up together. Once they graduated, they'd all barter for favors between each other to help keep the rich rich and the poor poor.
"Don't mind the Plastics," a voice said from behind me. I let out a squeak and jumped, whirling around to see a girl standing a couple of feet away, smiling. She was a couple of inches taller than me, with wavy dark brown hair and large glasses. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I'm Adrian."
She held out her hand, and I took it. "Bella," I said in response. I glanced over my shoulder in the direction the girls had gone. "The plastics?" I asked, turning back to her with a smirk.
Adrian laughed, then walked over and put her arm around my shoulder. "That's what I like to call them. They're the girls who think they run the school because they're the hottest bitches around. But pretty much everyone knows they've all had plastic surgery."
"Hence, plastics," I said, smirking as I understood the joke.
"Exactly!" She smirked at me, and then led me up the steps toward the building. "See, I knew you would be a smart one. I think we're going to get along just fine! And don't worry about them. They're just jealous because you were hanging out with Sebastian."
I raised an eyebrow. Why would they be jealous of me hanging out with Sebastian? "You're joking, right?"
She turned and looked at me, her eyes seeming to go right through me. Then, she let out a short bark of laughter. "Oh god, you really don't know, do you? The Cabots basically run this school. Well, Wes does, and his brother Chuck before him. Sebastian may look sweet and innocent, but everyone knows he's tight with his brothers. Fuck with him and you'll have both of them on your ass. But get in good with him and you just might stand a chance."
"So... They're mad because Sebastian was showing me around campus?" Jesus, were the girls here really that shallow?
"Well, that and the fact that you're living with them. I'm sure they all think Wes is banging you." Adrian said it with such a straight face that I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
I shuddered at the thought. Part of it was in revulsion, just because of how much of a dick Wes had been since I moved in. And yet, at the same time, I pictured myself in bed with a naked, muscular Wes...
Nope, uh uh. I was not going to even finish entertaining that thought. No matter how smoking hot Wes was, there wasn’t enough money in the world for that. Even his flashy little sports car wasn’t going to make me consider letting him into my pants.
Adrian laughed. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna like you all right."
As it turned out, Adrian was in my first period English class with me, which gave us more time to get to know each other before the first bell rang. And she was in my math class after that. Unfortunately, I had science after math and she had government.
Then, it was lunchtime. I headed toward the massive building in the center of campus that served as a cafeteria. When I walked in, though, it was more like a mall food court than a school lunchroom!
"So, pizza, burgers, or rabbit food?" Adrian asked from behind me, making me jump again. I turned and glared at her, but she just grinned.
I let out a sigh. Clearly, she was like Sebastian, I decided. Glaring at her wasn't going to get me very far. "Burgers."
Adrian and I were so busy talking I didn’t even notice one of the girls from this morning until we’d nearly collided with each other. Bleach blonde hair and tits that were far too large to ever be considered natural, she glared at me as if just having to be near me was hurting her. One of the other girls, with brown hair and highlights, was right behind her.
“Watch where you’re going, skank! God only knows what kind of diseases you picked up in that cesspit you called home.” Paisley’s eyes were drawn together in a sneer as she looked me up and down. Then, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked at me. “But I guess it doesn’t matter. I doubt it’ll be long before the Cabots put you out at the curb with the rest of the trash.”
“Fuck off, Paisley,” Adrian said, rolling her eyes. She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Why don’t you go find Wes before he finds someone else to suck his cock after school.”
Paisley glared at her and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, though, the other girl, Charlotte, I thought her name was, grabbed her arm and pulled her away. “Come on, Paise. Let it go. She’s not worth the effort.”
“You’re right; she’s really not worth it,” Paisley said with a sniff. She turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, looking at Adrian with a raised eyebrow.
“And here I thought Wes was the one with a stick up his ass,” I said dryly. Somehow, I was already starting to miss my old school, even with its metal detectors and drug dogs and all the trouble that went with it. At least that life made sense. Beefs back there had reasons behind them.
Here, everyone just seemed to want to be bitchy just for the sake of being bitchy.
“Come on, let’s go see if we can find somewhere to sit.” Adrian nudged me
with her shoulder and smiled.
I nodded and tried to put Paisley and her stupid friends out of my mind. I’d just spotted an empty one near the sidewall when I heard someone shout. "Hey, Bell! Over here!"
Turning in search of the voice, I saw Sebastian sitting with a group of boys who looked to be about his age. He nodded toward the two empty seats at his table, and I glanced at Adrian.
She smirked at me. "You know, I don't normally sit with younger boys, but I just can't resist the opportunity to annoy the hell out of the plastics!"
Laughing, the two of us joined Sebastian and his friends. Sebastian introduced me to them all, but even if you'd held a gun to my head, I wouldn't have been able to remember their names. My brain was quickly starting to fry.
"You look familiar," Sebastian said, leaning over me to look at Adrian. "Did you date my brother or something?"
Adrian snorted. "I'm not sure your brother 'dates' anyone. I'm pretty sure he just screws one girl until he gets tired of her, then moves on to the next. Though he does go back to Paisley quite a bit."
Eyes wide, I glanced at Sebastian. Even I knew how much he looked up to both of his brothers, and she'd just basically called Wes a man-whore. Sebastian just nodded though, his eyes sparkling slightly. "Sorry, did you fuck my brother then?"
"And that's why you're my favorite Cabot!" Adrian said, pointing at him with a French fry. "But no, I haven't fucked your brother either. My brother Jesse is best friends with Chuck, though, so that's probably why."
"Makes sense. I didn't think you were Wes's type. He usually goes for girls with fewer brains and more tits." That comment made Sebastian's friends burst out laughing. If what Adrian had said about the Cabots ruling the school was true, I doubted anyone other than Sebastian would be able to get away with saying that about Wes.
Then again, even if he wasn't related to Wes, I doubted anyone would care. He was just so good-natured; it was hard to even consider being angry with him about something.
Speaking of Wes, though, he walked by our table a few minutes later. When we locked eyes, he froze, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his lunch tray like he was going to snap it in half. He glared at me, his lips drawn into a light line. I frowned and locked eyes with him, silently letting him know I wasn't going to back down.
When I didn’t react, he turned and glared at his brother, but Sebastian didn’t even look up at him. He was too busy talking to his friends to notice his brother. A moment later, another guy who was nearly as tall and muscular, with short-cropped brown hair, appeared at Wes’s side, and the two of them walked off together.
I had to admit though, Wes may have been a jackass, but he looked damn good in that uniform. His khaki pants were practically molded to his ass. But it was his white button-up shirt that really made my heart skip a beat. It was tight enough to show off all his muscles, making it look like if he moved wrong, he would tear the thing to shreds.
And while Wes didn't have a huge bodybuilder's physique, he was still damned muscular, looking like a freaking statue of a Greek god. You know, a Greek god with the personality of a statue.
He went and sat at a table on the other side of the room. There were a couple of other guys already sitting there, guys from the wrestling team I assumed. Paisley and her friends were there too, and when Wes took his seat, she practically crawled into his lap, then turned and smirked at me.
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. Yep, when it came down to it, teenagers in high school were pretty much the same everywhere.
Chapter 17
God, I was so ready for this week to be over, and it was only Tuesday. For a school that was bigger than some small towns, it seemed like everywhere I turned, Wes or one of his buddies was there, sneering at me. And if it wasn’t the braindead jocks, it was their even more braindead plastic fan club.
The last bell had finally ringed, and I was heading to my locker to drop off the books I didn’t need for homework. My phone buzzed. Lucas had gotten it for me yesterday. I'd told him I didn't really need one. I'd gotten by until now without one, but he'd said he wanted to be able to get ahold of me whenever I went out. Not that I had gone out anywhere yet. There weren't many places I could walk to, and I felt weird about asking Thomas to drive me places.
And I certainly wasn't going to ask Wes for a ride, no matter how much I loved his car. Going to and from school with him was enough time in an enclosed space, thank you very much!
I reached to grab it from my pocket, glad I had switched to wearing pants instead of that stupid skirt. It had only taken me a single day to get tired of Wes’s idiot buddies trying to get a peek under it, though that’d stopped midway through the day after I threatened to cut the balls off the next person who tried it. Focused on getting my phone out of the stupidly small pockets these pants had, I didn’t notice someone stick their foot out until I felt something hit my ankle, and I stumbled forward, nearly dropping my books on the ground.
“Oh, my God. Watch where you’re going, you stupid ghetto bitch! Christ, don’t they teach you how to walk in the ghetto?”
I whirled around to face the girl, ready to clock her one. I was so sick of their petty bullshit even after just two days. Margo Summers glared at me, hands-on-hips as if she hadn’t just tripped me.
Stepping forward, I got right up into her face. “Say one more thing and this stupid ghetto bitch is going to rearrange your face. I hope you got the extended warranty on that shitty nose job because I’m going to enjoy breaking it.” Paisley stepped up beside her and I turned my attention to her. “What, you want me to rearrange yours too? Try something. I fucking dare you.”
If either of these two thought they could take me, they were in for a surprise. Like they wanted to keep reminding me, I grew up in the ghetto. I knew how to take care of myself, especially against two stick figure barbie dolls that couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet.
“What’s this all about?” a deep voice said from behind them. I glanced up to see Wes walking over, his two buddies, Hunter and Jaxson, right behind him. Wes was usually with a group of guys from the wrestling team, but I swear he didn’t go anywhere without those two. They were both seniors as well, almost as good looking and just as large as Wes.
Paisley glared at me again, and I glared right back at her. “Don’t worry, Wes, your little blowup doll here was just letting out some hot air,” I said, smirking at Paisley. “But I’m more than happy to plug the leak for you.”
Paisley pulled back like she was going to hit me, and I braced myself. Before she could do anything, though, Wes was there, his arm around her shoulders. He frowned at me, not quite glaring, but definitely looking unhappy.
“Come on, Paise,” he said, apparently choosing just to ignore my comment. “We’ve got some time before practice. Let’s go find a quiet corner to be alone. Then, you can come watch me practice.”
I shuddered at the thought of what the two of them would do in a corner alone. From all the rumors I’d heard about Wes, I wouldn’t put it past him to screw her pushed up against a locker or something.
Wes must’ve noticed my reaction. He gave me another look. To my surprise, though, he didn’t comment. He just guided Paisley away from me, the rest of his group of lemmings following right along behind him.
I let out a breath as I watched them go. It was probably a good thing Wes had shown up when he did. As much fun as it would’ve been to beat the snot out of both of them, I doubted Lucas would’ve been too thrilled if I got suspended on my second day.
Now I just had to kill almost two hours until Wes’s practice was over so he could drive me home.
Walking back and forth each day was starting to look more and more tempting.
Chapter 18
"So, are you coming with us to the party tonight?" Sebastian asked. He turned around in his seat to look at me, giving me his trademarked lopsided grin.
I had officially survived my first week at Forrest Grove Academy and all the trials and tr
ibulations that went along with it. Woohoo. But I didn't quite think that deserved a party to celebrate.
On Wednesday, I had gone into school late, having met with the detectives regarding Greg’s case. Lucas hadn’t been kidding when he had said I’d have a lawyer there with me. He’d had an entire legal team sitting beside me during the interview.
But it all went pretty smoothly, my testimony matching up with the rest of the evidence they had collected. That meant they could release the body to us. Instead of planning a funeral, though, I had decided to have her cremated. Lucas handled all of it, and now there was a gorgeous urn sitting on a shelf in my bedroom. Eventually, I would spread her ashes somewhere, but I hadn’t figured out where just yet.
"Party?" I raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what he was talking about. No one had mentioned anything about a party to me. Then again, other than Sebastian’s friends and Adrian, most people didn’t talk to me unless they had to.
Sebastian nodded. "Yeah. Every Friday, the kids from school get together on the beach and have a party to celebrate the week being over. You know, bonfire, loud music, enough booze to drown a buffalo."
Because, of course, a rich kid's party would be loaded with booze. And probably not cheap beer and bottom shelf vodka either, not like the parties I'd been to back in Compton. And something told me there would be more than booze there for the more adventurous in the groups.
"I'm sure Bella has better things to do tonight," Wes said, interrupting. He stared straight ahead through the car's window as he navigated the highway. His hands were wrapped tight enough around the steering wheel to turn his knuckles while. "I doubt she'd want to go to a party with us."
Sebastian pouted, and I frowned. Wes wasn't wrong. I didn't really want to go to a party with them. But I also wasn't a fan of being told what to do, especially by someone who couldn't go five seconds without glaring at me.