by Adele Niles
“I know,” I say and they both look at me, startled. “I mean, all guys are dicks. They were like that at my old school too.”
I watch as Jordan and Parker play beer bong against Titus and some other girl. The music continues to blast over the speakers as the party grows bigger and bigger. I blend in. I’m like everyone else outside of the spoiled rich girls and boys of The Hills. At least, that’s what I want.
Jordan gazes across the crowd and his eyes meet mine, sending my stomach plummeting. He winks and smiles and then Parker notices who he’s looking at and elbows him. I don’t need to be a lip reader to see what she says, bitch.
So much for blending in.
“Looks like someone is crushing on you,” Missy says as she bumps up against me, giggling. “Watch your back. Parker has already marked her territory. If she thinks you’re edging in on him, she’ll make your life hell.”
“I can handle myself. Besides, the last thing I want my senior year is a boyfriend, and even if I did, it wouldn’t be him.”
Jordan steals one more quick glance in my direction, and I wonder if he can see through me. I decide not to find out.
* * * * *
“Hey, wait up!” Alyssa calls.
I quicken my pace back to Alyssa’s car and then finally come to rest against the passenger side door. My beer is still in my hand, half full and warm, but it doesn’t matter. I down the rest and toss the cup into the ditch alongside the car, wishing I had something stronger.
“Sorry, I just needed to get out of there. I’m not much for crowds.”
“Crowds or guys named Jordan?”
“Who?” I play it off, trying to forget about him, but I can’t and Alyssa can tell.
“He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. My advice, stay away from him. He’s bad news. He’d fuck anything with a pulse and I’m sure he’d love to make the new girl his latest conquest.”
I cringe at the thought for a moment and then let it sink in and remember the way he smelled as he grabbed my arm earlier. Sexy. Hot. A mixture of sweat and musk.
I hate that I have even the least bit of an attraction to him and remind myself why I left Richland in the first place.
Chapter Seven
Lawson
I wake up to the smell of coffee, darkness, and my alarm blaring on my phone.
The noise of clanking dishes echoes outside of my door in the kitchen, and I can hear Dad shuffling around. It’s too damn early to go to school and face these people, but it’s exactly what I have to do in order to get out of Richland for good and go to college.
I squint with one eye and swipe through messages and instant chats to see a picture of Alyssa dressed in ripped black jeans and a white tank flashing a peace sign with her tongue sticking out. The caption reads, Time for trouble BISHES! and I can’t help but snort out a laugh.
The last week, since the party at Lane’s, had been pretty quiet. I had avoided running into any of the girls from The Hill and even better, hadn’t seen Jordan either.
I know I can’t avoid him all year, but I’m damn sure going to try. I’d rather be the girl with no story. I don’t want anyone remembering my fall from The Hill and how my father lost everything and my parents split up.
But I know these people are relentless. They will want to know everything about me. I’m not even sure how much my new best friend, Alyssa, really knows about me. I hadn’t told her anything all summer other than my mom moved away.
No one needed to know she took off with her junkie boyfriend and left me behind like that couch in the apartment. Unwanted.
Deep down, I wish I would have woken up to a text from Mom, wishing me good luck on my first day in hell. Maybe even a brief apology for putting me here and not allowing me to finish out high school in the place I wanted.
Nope. Not a single text since she left has been answered. Ghosted by my own fucking mother.
I pulled up the social media sites where she used to post her drunken stupors with her boyfriend and his friends. Nights out drinking tequila and acting stupid. I find nothing. She’s blocked me there, too.
As-if things could get any worse.
“You up?” Dad pounds on the door loud enough to wake the neighbors. “I made you breakfast. Something to get you through the day.” He rattles the doorknob like he’s going to burst in the room, but I know he knows better.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.”
I roll out of bed and pull on a pair of jeans. Showering last night was a smart move because I barely have the energy to brush my hair at this hour. Twenty minutes later and I’m ready. I look damn good. Good enough to turn heads but not good enough to stand out.
At least that’s the plan.
I grab my backpack and purse and see Dad sitting at the kitchen table, a stack of pancakes on a plate sits across from him. “That was a second?” he laughs. “They’re probably cold. Let me heat them up for you.”
“I’m not really hungry. I’ll just grab some coffee and get going.”
I drop my bag and purse on the chair and then trip over the suitcase sitting next to the table, hidden in the shadow. I glance down at it and then back up at Dad.
“I told you I was headed out of town this week, right? I’ll be back Sunday.”
Great. At least things haven’t really changed. I’m still on my own, just a different place and a different parent to leave me.
“I must have missed that conversation.” I pull a travel coffee mug from the cabinet and fill it with coffee. It’s black as tar and smells burnt, even though it smelled good when it was first brewed, and I was laying in my bed.
“Here’s some cash for anything you may need this week. You know, books, food, girlie things.”
Girlie things? I shoot him a look and roll my eyes.
“Come on, Lawson, cut me a break here, I’m new to this. I’m trying to do the right thing, but I have to travel for work.”
“What exactly do you do?” I ask but I don’t really want to know the answer. Dad always seems to have lots of cash around the house and I doubt he’s making frequent trips to the ATM.
“Logistics. Shipping, stuff like that.” He doesn’t look me in the eye or even at me when he talks about work. He grabs his plate and tosses it in the sink. “Do you mind cleaning this up when you get back? I need to get going. I can drop you off at school if you’d like.”
“No thanks. I’ll drive myself.” I grab the plate and immediately start washing it to try and tune out how awkward the conversation has turned.
“Okay, so… I’ll see you Sunday. Call me if you need anything.” Dad is hovering behind me. I guess he expects me to hug him or something, but I don’t. He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Love you, kid.”
“Yeah, me, too,” I say back without turning around. I keep washing the dishes until I hear the front door slam and his truck drive away.
Time to face the world.
* * * * *
Richland Heights High. It’s located smack dab in the middle of Richland Heights. Otherwise known as The Hill.
I’m amazed that they bus kids in from the poor side of town to go here. It’s like they want to show them what they don’t have and probably never will. The parking lot is a mix of late-model muscle cars and brand new Porsches and BMWs.
Even the cars are segregated at this school.
I park my beat-up pickup far away from everyone, in the back of the lot, and put on my headphones to begin drowning out the world.
Three years ago, I was more than excited to go here. I probably would have been driving one of those fancy cars. Dad used to like to spoil me and Mom before the incident, otherwise known as sleeping with the boss’s wife.
He doesn’t know I know, but I pieced it together. I guess it was probably for the best, at least for me. Otherwise, I would have never left and had all kinds of shit still following me, or maybe no one would have cared because I might have been besties with Parker.
I guess I’ll never know.
I walk into the school and I am blasted by the smell of fresh paint and bright red and black lockers. Cliques of kids stand in groups, talking, gossiping.
A guy and girl make out in the middle of it all. He has her pressed up against the locker, his hand is halfway up her skirt and neither seem to care who watches them.
No one really seems to notice though.
Instead, they turn and stare at me the moment I walk in the door. It’s like I had some sort of sign on me that said New Kid, except I’m not.
I know most of these people from middle school and the old neighborhood.
People I’d like to forget.
The girls give me crude stares. They probably view me as competition for the arrogant asshole guys. The guys look at me like fresh meat thrown into the tiger’s cage.
I can feel them sizing me up, staring at me. Undressing me with their eyes.
I keep reminding myself that I’m not the same girl who left here. I don’t look the same. I don’t feel the same. I’m stronger. Better. I can handle this.
All of the faces in the hallway are a blur as I walk past, trying to find my homeroom. Then Alyssa appears from nowhere.
Her lips are moving, but I don’t hear anything. Her voice is drowned out by my headphones and the blaring sound of The Cranberries. It’s what I need right now. Angsty, angry music.
She reaches over and pops out my headphones and a part of me wants to smack her for dragging me into the noise of the school.
“Hey! Aren’t you excited? Senior year!” Her voice is sarcastic, and it reminds me of how excited she is that this is the only thing holding her back from getting out of Richland, just like me.
“Yep. Totally. Can’t wait until it’s over,” I joke half-heartedly.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to some other people and can help you find your homeroom.”
Alyssa grabs my hand and starts to pull me through the crowd, but my feet stop moving and her hand slips away. My heart pounds as I look up and lock eyes with Jordan, who’s walking down the hallway toward me with Parker.
Parker’s lips curl up in a snarl and she tries to cozy up to Jordan, but he steps in the opposite direction, putting more space between them. Before I know it, they’re both standing in front of me. Alyssa is gone, probably not realizing what’s happening.
“You look really familiar.” Jordan’s dark eyes are locked on me, and I brace myself for what’s coming. He’s figured it out. Who I am.
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
“You’re the pong girl from the party with the wicked shot and quick moves.” He laughs and closes the gap between us. “Maybe we should team up and you can show me some more of that wrist action.” Jordan makes a motion with his hand like he’s masturbating and then starts to laugh.
He has no clue who I really am. Thank God. But then again, maybe it would be better because he might have ignored me. Still, I’m strangely turned on, which sickens me even more.
Parker’s eyes have locked on me. I’m definitely a threat to her.
I will my feet to move and turn in the opposite direction as a small group of onlookers has started to watch Jordan. As I spin to leave, I run into a wall of muscle that wraps its arms around me. My face buries into his chest, and all I can smell is his scent. Strong and sexy. I feel safe for a moment, then immediately embarrassed as I pull away.
“In a hurry?” The voice is familiar, and I look up to see Titus looking down at me. I watch as he stares at Jordan. No words are exchanged, and I don’t wait to see how things play out.
I pull away, dropping my backpack, and immediately laughter echoes in the hallway. It’s Parker’s distinctive cackle.
I don’t run, but I walk. Quickly, in the opposite direction, and duck down the first hallway I see. I keep walking and don’t look back. The thought of just going back to the parking lot and ditching the first day of school is a real option.
Somehow, I find a quiet hallway with only a few students milling about. They all look like they are about twelve years old. Freshman hall. Probably the only safe place for me right now.
“What the hell happened?” Alyssa yells down the hallway and now all of the freshmen are staring at me as well.
“Nothing. I just ran into Jordan… Well, actually, I ran into Titus trying to run away from Jordan.”
Alyssa laughs. “Great way to start off the first day.” She rubs my arm and smiles.
Chapter Eight
Titus
I can still smell her hair. Strawberry. Delicious, and it matches her auburn hair. I pull my shirt up to my nose to get a better smell, hoping it won’t disappear. Just the smell of her gets my blood pumping, and then all of a sudden, I’m pissed off as I remember the look in Jordan’s eyes, checking her out.
Just like he did the other night at the party.
“Tanner, have you seen Alyssa?” I yell down the hall over the crowd, and both Tanner and Lane turn around.
“Saw her headed toward freshy hall in a hurry,” Lane yells back. They both pause, waiting for me to catch up, but I don’t. Instead, I turn down the hallway past the office, leaving them behind and entering the freshman wing of Richland Heights.
I tower over most of the younger kids. My six-two frame parts the hallway as the kids scatter like cockroaches to each side. The first day of school as a freshman is scary enough, without a beast prowling their halls.
It doesn’t take long before I see Alyssa and the new girl making their way back toward the senior side of the school.
The new girl stands out.
Tall, curvy, and beautiful. The click of her heels echoes above the chatter of the kids in the hall and I quicken my pace. Each of my strides matches two of theirs.
“Hey!” I yell and the entire hallway of freshmen freezes. Alyssa and the new girl turn around and in a few more steps, I’m on them. I’m immediately met by her scent and feel my pulse quicken again. “You two in a hurry?” I can’t take my eyes off of her. “Seems we keep running into one another. You’re Lawson, right? I’m Titus; we haven’t officially met.” I extend my hand, and she cautiously extends hers. The moment her soft skin touches my paw of a hand, I know what I want. Her.
“Sorry about running into you before, I was just—”
“Trying to get away from that asshole, Jordan, I get it.”
“Something like that,” she says as the three of us turn and begin walking back to the senior hallway. The freshmen have started to chatter and mill about the halls again, fumbling to find their classes.
“I was just giving Lawson the tour of the school, showing her who to watch out for, you know, the basics,” Alyssa says and smiles. “Pretty much anyone Titus hangs out with you should stay away from.”
Alyssa jokes, but there’s probably some truth to what she says. We’ve loosely been called a gang, but we aren’t any worse than the Hill-boys. “There’s nothing wrong with the Furies,” I snap back. “At least we know where we come from and have worked for it, not like those bitches and assholes from The Hill.”
“Jealous much?” Lawson asks without missing a beat.
“Of being pretentious and spoiled? Hell, no.”
“So, the Furies, is that like a club or something? Sounds kind of fun.” Both Alyssa and Lawson bite their lips and fight back smiles.
“Exactly, we play mostly board games, shit like that.” The girls quicken their pace a bit and I gently grab Lawson’s arm. “There are two sides at this school. Us and them. You’re better off with us.”
“So, you’re basically bullies?”
“It’s a system of checks and balances. We make sure things don’t get out of hand, that’s all.”
The fight between The Hills and the Furies has been around for as long as I can remember. It’s not a turf war or gang war or anything that would be seen in a movie. It’s simply us versus them. Spoiled brats who think money buys everything versus hard work and strength.
Jordan Hawthorne has tried to
stake his claim on being the king of Richland Heights since his freshman year. Since he walked in the door with his stories of conquests and football. His expensive sports cars and clothes. A new girl every month.
Everyone sees it and, for whatever reason, are okay with it. They fear money and what it can buy. They overlook the bad shit he does for the things he provides them.
Parties. Drugs. Stories. Friends. Girls.
All bought with Daddy’s money and connections.
We round the corner and are immediately met by Dallas, Lane, and Tanner, who have perched themselves at the corner of the senior hallway and the cafeteria.
“And I guess these are your checks and balances?” Lawson says, obviously sizing them up.
“Boys, this is Lawson. Lawson, meet some of the Furies.”
Tanner scans Lawson from head to toe and then his eyes lock on me. I don’t have to say a word. He knows. Lawson is off-limits. She’s mine, she just doesn’t know it yet.
They all nod in her direction as Alyssa pulls her away before she can say anything else. “We’ll catch up with you later, Titus.”
Lawson looks over her shoulder, a final glance, and I can feel her sizing me up.
Chapter Nine
Lawson
“Looks like someone made an impression,” Alyssa says as she bumps shoulders with me. “Titus couldn’t take his eyes off of you.”
“I’m not sure about him. I mean, he runs a gang.”
“It’s not a gang, Lawson.”
“Really? A group of rough guys who keep ‘checks and balances’ in the school and have a defined us-versus-them mentality? Seems like a gang to me.” I let the words simmer as I downplay just how hot is it. How hot Titus is. The exact opposite of any type of guy I’d ever want. The exact opposite of Jordan, who was hot, but in a creepy asshole sort of way.
Titus is different. Mature. Real. Manly.
I shake my head. I don’t need a guy. Not now. Not this year.
“Well, I wouldn’t blow him off. Every girl in school wants him or Jordan. Seems like you can have your pick.”
It’s not a position I want to be in, especially with the repercussions that come with it. “This is me,” I say, glancing down at the sheet of paper that contains my schedule. I gaze inside the classroom as my stomach turns. Parker.